Second Life

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ This is how I view the Second Life grid. Okay, not really, but a way to describe how I view the grid – with regard to the bigger picture. Second Life has become incredibly diluted. And this is the problem. Linden Lab relies] on the community, no borders, too big.

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ The fact of the matter is this stuff (ripping textures and prims) is not stoppable and there is nothing Linden Lab or you can do about it because it happens after the scene is downloaded to the local computer. Think of the technology as a “cache sifter and extractor” because that’s basically what it’s doing (for descriptive purposes anyway.) If you can see it or hear it, you can steal it. So why is everyone so paranoid about this stuff? I have a real and genuine proposition for you… However, there are a couple of caveats: I mean, Second Life is just for fun, right? I mean, because people do actually know better than to feel entitled there, right? Copybot has been around since 2006. And now, there are grid viewers with the same capability built-i   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ The simple matter of fact is: if you can hear it, you can copy it and steal it. If you can see it, you can copy it and steal it. As for copybot: it works the exact same way. If you can see it, you can steal it. it always has been this way on the internet. I mean, what would you have Linden Lab do specifically? Surely Linden Lab can placate we creators by adding more permissions restrictions or whatever else, but then we will chastise Linden Lab for not going far enough. They really don’t care if you are here tomorrow or not. That, dear friend is the majority attitude on the grid. Copybot and entitlement attitudes were given their birth at the onset of the open-sourcing of the Linden Lab grid viewer. The cat already is out of the bag and there’s no setting him back in.   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Dear Second Life Resident, You have a parcel or classified ad listing that appears to contain adult content, but is not located on an Adult region. On September 15th, the Adult Content Policy transition period will end. After the 15th, adult content may only be advertised if it is located on Adult regions. On September 17th, we will be turning off auto-renew for any classified or parcel listings that are advertising adult content on PG or Mature regions. This means that these listings will expire from Search. To avoid having auto-renew turned off, please make sure your listings are in accord with the Adult Content Policy. Here’s how: The Linden Lab indexing computer is now the thought-police.   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ The next stunner is the sheer size of the download. It is a 1.3 GB – (GIGA-BYTE!!!) beast. Yes I have broadband. Yes I have enough bandwidth allotment to download it, though I know there are those with tighter bandwidth caps than I have. Am I impressed with what I saw? No. Now, I don’t mean to say it’s bad. it’s not. Actually it has huge potential, but it’s nothing like Second Life. Not in terms of the viewer (/me shivers at the requirement for Adobe Flash,) not in terms of the interface and how it operates, not in the ‘look’ of the art (environment), and certainly not in the interaction. Well, people like the ones who frequent Second Life. Except those people in Second Life like Second Life on so many different levels they aren’t even aware of yet. Until they exp...   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ There is nothing there. Funny how he doesn’t mention Second Life, Linden Lab or Open Simulator at all, yet turns-on the selling pitch to full-throttle. There is no doubt what this person is talking about. Indeed! Wow. Just… wow. If you really feel the need to sign-up so you can make bank before Anshe Chung gets there, go here. Apparently it officially opens on September 25 and is currently in beta. Personally, I’ll stick with Second Life Grid until Mycosm moves another inch. Because, love ‘em or hate ‘em, Linden Lab is a reputable company and a known quantity. From New Second Life alternative !!! - Cheating Network] Here we go again. The horrible Second Life Grid, owned and operated by the evil Linden Lab is not g   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ While running some routine analyses of the user concurrency figures for Second Life from 2006 to the present, we noticed some interesting things. Median concurrency, one of the indicators we’ve traditionally eyeballed to indicate the health and growth of Second Life took a recent dive after many years of steady increase. From Second Life median concurrency declines as bots/campers progressively purged] And so the grid grows. All those people flooding-in. Many of them after that pot at the end of the virtual Second Life rainbow. Of course if you’re one of the honest ones it means creating, creating, creating. And selling it all.   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ We are closing Black Swan, follow the path, in Second Life as soon as the ticket goes through. Probably next few days/hours, so you might get another chance to see it for a last time if you zap over asap. Otherwise you can visit “Black Swan Revisited” on our OpenSim-based private grid. And to close: why do I choose the word “riddance” even if placed into a “sad” connotation? Because I am personally sick and tired of people who use drama to “threaten” they are leaving Second Life – and then not (they keep reappearing annoyingly so.) Or, they appear to leave Second Life, but rather just create an alt and live there for awhile.   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Customer Support Linden Lab So there it is. Good news is at least this time they actually tell you where the ‘offense’ is occurring so you can evaluate and take appropriate action. And we now know the date is officially chosen and the word spreading. However, because I tossed the email, I went searching through the Linden Lab (Second Life) Knowledge Base; Help; FAQ; and Blogs for any mention of this date and that it is the day the eart… er, Second Life stands still. So, good residents of Second Life, do ensure your bomb-shelters are well-stocked, remember: powdered milk, not liquid and be sure not to forget your proper tools as it’s a real bitch to have a year’s worth of canned foods and no can-opener.   [read the full post]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Does it mean I agree with all or even any of it? The answer to that questions doesn’t matter, does it? I am a guest in Linden Lab’s house. Does it mean it all makes me happy? It doesn’t matter. I am a guest in Linden Lab’s house. Does any of it make me angry as hell? God, I hope not, I am not so conceited as...

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ However, the down side to this also has to do with the way all content is created as we choose. You could, in simplistic terms refer to the Second Life grid as a three-dimensional web page. Okay, each sim could be a page, group of sims be a web site and so on. This is a good thing. This is a bad thing.

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ The parts of the golden rule are: If you want proven techniques and ideas for business success in Second Life, read my 270-page book all about it. It’s true in Second Life as it is in first life: making money requires the golden rule to be o

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Many have shouted out in shrill form, angry that Linden Lab is doing this. Others angry not at what is happening, but how it is being implemented. Most simply don’t care. I think it’s a good idea and probably one that is very late in coming. “Zoning” of the grid is perhaps something that should hav...

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Linden Lab releases it’s own ‘after-market’ viewer, which I find funny, especially since I had just run the gambit on after-market viewers for Second Life Grid in my most previous post. Now in addition to the “official” Second Life viewer from Linden Lab (LL), said company releases anoth...

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Isn’t choice a wonderful thing? Where “Emerald” relates to Second Life, it also is a Grid Viewer and a damned good one. Viewer links: Alternate Viewers page by Linden Lab (this list does not include all alternate viewers one can find on the Internet.)

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Many residents will claim ‘child avatars creep me out’. And I can understand that. They don’t bother me, per se, but if I witness one in what would be a highly inappropriate place in first life, even though it’s Second Life – I don’t care if the typist is a verified adult. I will join the “that’s cr...

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ In direct response to this diatribe beyond that it’s entirely uncalled-for, anyone running a business actually expecting to earn real life money from it have better damned well be conformable giving their real life info to Linden Lab. Anything else is fraud in a legal sense. An there are ma...

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ Obviously there are not many people not on the Linden Lab payroll who really know in-depth what the plans are for things including the grid and the viewer. Perhaps the in-viewer help-clicks will point to this new “Q&A” blog? I applaud Linden Lab for really working diligently to make th...

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ That’s the name of my JIRA entry on the Second Life Public JIRA. From [#VWR-13874] Visibility of Inactive Avatars on MiniMap – Second Life Issues ] That’s the name of my JIRA entry on the Second Life Public JIRA. Most established residents of

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ For the most part, the vast majority of residents have followed-through on this self-policing decree and the grid has been more or less loosely segregated between PG and Mature spaces and regions (sims). From Adult Content Changes in Summary - Features - Second Life Blogs]

By Ⓟ Ari Blackthorne™ I see the MetaCard and all the European Linden Dollar Exchanges all over the place. From Further Clarification on Bots and Camping - Land and Sea - Second Life Blogs] The thread on the Second Life “Land” blog is growing daily. There’s enough there t

By Ari Blackthorne™ Then there are all those “Second Life is Dead or Dying” news reports and blog entries. But SL has always been dying because commercial endeavors into Second Life are utter ‘failures‘ according to the ‘authoritative’ media ‘in the know’.

By Ari Blackthorne™ So reading through this highly negative diatribe about how bad Second Life is and what losers all the residents are, I still couldn’t help but smile wide, feeling seriously nostalgic. And it brings back what are now fond memories, but brutally disappointing experiences at the time.

By Ari Blackthorne™ Yes, there is a lot of good news coming out of Second Life, too. Especially in the areas of education, science, healthcare and so on. Second Life is a stunning platform for art, including many striking, interactive art such as Immersiva.

By Ari Blackthorne™ Slow down. Rethink the strategy. Allow more user input. Simple enough. Why aren’t Linden Lab able to do that? From Virtual Worlds News: FTC Reporting To Congress On Virtual Worlds, Kids, And Explicit Content] Can you really blame Linden Lab for “Project Ursula”? Why?

By Ari Blackthorne™ Our favorite Linden, Torley has posted links to the SL Quick-Start Guide, available in PDF format for download. Hurray for Torley, still at it with helpful tips and tutorials and all thing edification-wise regarding the gris, viewer and Second Life in general.