So, I'm pretty psyched about my new toy, the ASUS eee. I'm on day 3 now, and although there has been a bit of an adjustment period required, I am quite pleased. Day 1 brought the initial excitement of a new tech toy, along with addition of a 2 gig RAM chip. Day 2 brought the advanced desktop, providing me with a lot more flexibility and familiarity. And what has Day 3 brought? Second Life!
After some relatively minor headaches regarding SD card permissions and a lot of guidance from the SL Linux Client forums (there is a *really* good post that I should get the link for), Second Life now runs on my eee.
Now, just because its running doesn't mean it is your standard SL experience. With only some minor tweaking, the client is running at about 4 fps. Yes. 4 fps. Well, I was in Neufreistadt, which is pretty graphics intensive, but I need to look into some of the tweaks people have utilized to get their frame rates into the double digits. I believe a kernel update will help a bit and I know that there are some other tips and hints in the SLUniverse forums, here.
Of course, my goal for accessing SL in the end is not to replace my regular computer, but rather to provide the ability to increase my accessibility when away from home. With my current setup, I should be able to sit in on RA meetings, keep up to date on e-mail, and more, as long as I have an internet connection.
Anyways, enough about this. Now to actually use this for something productive, researching potential legislation regarding C.D.S. code simplification. Just remember if you see me awkwardly wandering around CN and I ignore you for a bit, I'm not being rude, I'm probably just experiencing some crazy framerates.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Social Networking and the Metaverse
The day is almost here. What day, you might ask? The day when the third thing you receive when entering this world, after a blanket and little hat, is a blog and a myspace. As more people become comfortable with the idea of web sites such as MySpace and Blogger, more are becoming willing to use them not only to present their First Life personas but also that of their Second Life Personas. This evolution of a web solution that originally was geared towards tech-savvy College Students to aid in connecting people and their avs seemed inevitable, but is it desirable?
Ok, that was a rather moronic question, as I can simply answer it with a Yes. However, the thought process on the possible implications might take a few more words.
Obviously, profiles of our Second Life personas are nothing new, as we are given one automatically in Second Life upon signing up, albeit it is blank until we start filling it in and defining our image. This is accomplished both passively, through the groups that we join and are automatically added to the page, or actively, when we add a picture and some pithy quote or a sappy dedication. At first, these profiles did the job, as many, although not all, early Second Lifers seemed to keep a distance between their Avatar and Real Life personas. Second Life profiles were (and still are) solely available in world, limiting access to other residents. In addition, these profiles are severely limited in terms of viewer interaction, especially in comparison with social networking sites such as Myspace, where users can display their network of contacts, put up music and video clips to share, and receive and post comments on friends' profiles, all of which is currently unable to be accomplished while using the Second Life Profile system.
These limitations, combined with the availability of Myspace, helped fuel this increasing trend towards external profiles for Second Life residents. In addition, a number of Second Life specific networking sites have emerged, including http://www.slusic.com and http://www.slprofiles.com.
The first site specializes in social networking for musicians, listeners, and venue owners interested or participating in the Second Life music scene. This is particularly interesting, given that musicians may have been one of the demographics participating in the social networking arena that have gained the most from their actions. Myspace has allowed even the smallest band out of garage in Peoria to reach a global audience in the way that a thousand demo tapes could never have accomplished. Second Life, in itself, actually takes that experience and exposure to the next level, giving artists a platform they can use to reach out to a global user base and present a dynamic, live music experience. Combined with a web profile to support their identities when they are not able to be online or performing, it seems safe to say that Second Life is providing some very exciting, very tangible opportunities to musicians who take advantage of the social networking capabilities.
However, where does that leave all of those who can't carry a tune (myself included)? Does Joe Avatar really need a profile on MySpace or are we just creating a sense of importance and relevance that may in fact be overstated? In addition, is it really wise to create those links between Second Life and Real Life personas in the way that many people are doing with these profiles? It isn't without precedent - our Second Life inworld profiles have a tab for First Life information. I guess it all comes down to your comfort level and how you view the interaction between your Real Life and Second Life personas and those of the people around you.
On the larger scale, I do see social networking and Second Life as a good thing, both to increase the level of adoption of the Second Life platform and to increase the means of communicating with other residents. In addition, with the addition of the Web tab to the inworld profiles, it is now possible to link your Myspace, Slprofile, or whatnot to your inworld profile, creating an experience that is getting increasingly seamless. When HTML on a prim finally comes out (ETA: Unknown), we will be that much closer to an immersive experience.
I'll probably be expanding upon this topic a bit more at a later point, focusing a bit more.
--BL
Ok, that was a rather moronic question, as I can simply answer it with a Yes. However, the thought process on the possible implications might take a few more words.
Obviously, profiles of our Second Life personas are nothing new, as we are given one automatically in Second Life upon signing up, albeit it is blank until we start filling it in and defining our image. This is accomplished both passively, through the groups that we join and are automatically added to the page, or actively, when we add a picture and some pithy quote or a sappy dedication. At first, these profiles did the job, as many, although not all, early Second Lifers seemed to keep a distance between their Avatar and Real Life personas. Second Life profiles were (and still are) solely available in world, limiting access to other residents. In addition, these profiles are severely limited in terms of viewer interaction, especially in comparison with social networking sites such as Myspace, where users can display their network of contacts, put up music and video clips to share, and receive and post comments on friends' profiles, all of which is currently unable to be accomplished while using the Second Life Profile system.
These limitations, combined with the availability of Myspace, helped fuel this increasing trend towards external profiles for Second Life residents. In addition, a number of Second Life specific networking sites have emerged, including http://www.slusic.com and http://www.slprofiles.com.
The first site specializes in social networking for musicians, listeners, and venue owners interested or participating in the Second Life music scene. This is particularly interesting, given that musicians may have been one of the demographics participating in the social networking arena that have gained the most from their actions. Myspace has allowed even the smallest band out of garage in Peoria to reach a global audience in the way that a thousand demo tapes could never have accomplished. Second Life, in itself, actually takes that experience and exposure to the next level, giving artists a platform they can use to reach out to a global user base and present a dynamic, live music experience. Combined with a web profile to support their identities when they are not able to be online or performing, it seems safe to say that Second Life is providing some very exciting, very tangible opportunities to musicians who take advantage of the social networking capabilities.
However, where does that leave all of those who can't carry a tune (myself included)? Does Joe Avatar really need a profile on MySpace or are we just creating a sense of importance and relevance that may in fact be overstated? In addition, is it really wise to create those links between Second Life and Real Life personas in the way that many people are doing with these profiles? It isn't without precedent - our Second Life inworld profiles have a tab for First Life information. I guess it all comes down to your comfort level and how you view the interaction between your Real Life and Second Life personas and those of the people around you.
On the larger scale, I do see social networking and Second Life as a good thing, both to increase the level of adoption of the Second Life platform and to increase the means of communicating with other residents. In addition, with the addition of the Web tab to the inworld profiles, it is now possible to link your Myspace, Slprofile, or whatnot to your inworld profile, creating an experience that is getting increasingly seamless. When HTML on a prim finally comes out (ETA: Unknown), we will be that much closer to an immersive experience.
I'll probably be expanding upon this topic a bit more at a later point, focusing a bit more.
--BL
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Where are my Sculpty Wreaths?
It's the holiday season again, with just over two weeks before Christmas, but I am in a bit of a quandary. Part of the fun of the holidays is decorating to reflect the season, complete with wreaths, lights, garland, the whole package. However, for the life of me, finding nice looking 3D items that aren't 900 prims seems impossible.
I was hoping this year, with Scultpies having been out for several months, that we would be presented with a number of options for sculpted wreaths, garland, and other decorations. I figured that those who specialize in holiday decorations (and there are entire sims that host these shops year round) would have jumped on the sculpty bandwagon to be among the first to bring high-quality, low-prim items to the public.
Alas, no such luck. The few sculpted wreaths I have found have resembled something akin to a green donut and I have not located any sculpted garland or lights. Again this year, it seems that the vast majority of the Christmas and Holiday decorative items seem to be alpha textures, which I suppose is fine if you put them up against a building. I mean, it'll pass for Holiday atmosphere, but a flat wreath against a light pole is just wrong.
With my attempts at finding suitable Scultpy decorations an apparent failure, I have resorted to looking for quality prim decorations. Amazingly enough, this has been a rather painful search as well. I found one shop in my travels so far (and I am still looking) that had some nice prim wreaths (25 prims a piece, which isn't terrible, but still a bit heavy). The shop is called "A.K '3D' Christmas" and is located at Toko 178, 128, 26. The wreath we picked out was $250L, but at least it was well designed and copy enabled, so for that $250L, the Neufreistadt Platz and other areas of the CDS can have nice looking wreaths.
The lesson learned from this whole experience is that I need to learn how to make sculpties and how to make the well, as I think whomever can make a realistic looking wreath that is in the area of 10 prims will be able to put some serious presents under their tree for several years to come.
--BL
I was hoping this year, with Scultpies having been out for several months, that we would be presented with a number of options for sculpted wreaths, garland, and other decorations. I figured that those who specialize in holiday decorations (and there are entire sims that host these shops year round) would have jumped on the sculpty bandwagon to be among the first to bring high-quality, low-prim items to the public.
Alas, no such luck. The few sculpted wreaths I have found have resembled something akin to a green donut and I have not located any sculpted garland or lights. Again this year, it seems that the vast majority of the Christmas and Holiday decorative items seem to be alpha textures, which I suppose is fine if you put them up against a building. I mean, it'll pass for Holiday atmosphere, but a flat wreath against a light pole is just wrong.
With my attempts at finding suitable Scultpy decorations an apparent failure, I have resorted to looking for quality prim decorations. Amazingly enough, this has been a rather painful search as well. I found one shop in my travels so far (and I am still looking) that had some nice prim wreaths (25 prims a piece, which isn't terrible, but still a bit heavy). The shop is called "A.K '3D' Christmas" and is located at Toko 178, 128, 26. The wreath we picked out was $250L, but at least it was well designed and copy enabled, so for that $250L, the Neufreistadt Platz and other areas of the CDS can have nice looking wreaths.
The lesson learned from this whole experience is that I need to learn how to make sculpties and how to make the well, as I think whomever can make a realistic looking wreath that is in the area of 10 prims will be able to put some serious presents under their tree for several years to come.
--BL
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Undecided
You'll have to forgive this missive, as I have been a bit scatter brained today, not fully able to put together a coherent thought. Then again, in all reality I am the only one who will likely read this so I'll have to forgive myself for this post and I think I am capable of doing that. Either way, I've been thinking for a bit about what exactly I am going to attempt to tackle today and have one topic that I would like to touch upon and probably go deeper into in the relatively near future. So without further wasting of your (my) time, I suppose I'll commence:
It seems that whenever I mention to non-residents that I play Second Life, it seems that the general response is that they've heard the "game" is either pointless or a cesspool of smut. After which, it usually falls on deaf ears that there is much more to do in Second Life than pretend to be a stripper or walk around aimlessly. There are thousands of people utilizing Second Life daily to try to improve the lives of people around the world, dedicating their time and money to improve the human condition.
Several years ago, residents launched what was likely the first major aid organization within Second Life, VERTU. Virtual Economies Realizing True Usefulness was organized to support Real Life non-profit organizations by raising awareness of the organization among Second Life residents and harness this awareness to raise funds to donate to the designated Non Profit. What VERTU did particularly well was to reach out to people who may not have been inclined to write a check to an organization and permit them to easily donate what they could right from In-world. Bhodi Silverman, the head of VERTU, expertly leveraged working relationships she had developed to organize large events and campaigns with large amounts of donated materials and manpower. Even though it no longer operates, VERTU served as a vanguard of charitable works in Second Life and helped to clear a path for future organizations to follow and branch off from in their own particular directions.
That was over three years ago. Presently, a brief glance at the daily events list will result in at least one or two charitable events a day and a basic search will yield a number of resident groups organized for charitable causes. The Relay for Life has taken place in Second Life for the past three years, raising over $41,000US for the American Cancer Society in 2006 alone. During December of 2006, the Asociacion Mensajeros de la Paz took a different direction by having a "homeless" avatar spend time in a number of SL public places in order to raise awareness and funds for the organization which runs several hundred foster homes. In the case of that campaign, Reuters reported approximately $8000L was donated, but a higher level of awareness was raised amongst those who interacted with the avatar.
My point in this post is not to try to chronicle all of these works, but rather to try and rebut the rather vile reputation that Second Life has been assigned by the media and outline one of the many reasons I find Second Life so utterly intriguing, even after almost four years. Second Life truly is what you make of it and by harnessing the spirit and creativity of its residents, great things can result.
--BL
It seems that whenever I mention to non-residents that I play Second Life, it seems that the general response is that they've heard the "game" is either pointless or a cesspool of smut. After which, it usually falls on deaf ears that there is much more to do in Second Life than pretend to be a stripper or walk around aimlessly. There are thousands of people utilizing Second Life daily to try to improve the lives of people around the world, dedicating their time and money to improve the human condition.
Several years ago, residents launched what was likely the first major aid organization within Second Life, VERTU. Virtual Economies Realizing True Usefulness was organized to support Real Life non-profit organizations by raising awareness of the organization among Second Life residents and harness this awareness to raise funds to donate to the designated Non Profit. What VERTU did particularly well was to reach out to people who may not have been inclined to write a check to an organization and permit them to easily donate what they could right from In-world. Bhodi Silverman, the head of VERTU, expertly leveraged working relationships she had developed to organize large events and campaigns with large amounts of donated materials and manpower. Even though it no longer operates, VERTU served as a vanguard of charitable works in Second Life and helped to clear a path for future organizations to follow and branch off from in their own particular directions.
That was over three years ago. Presently, a brief glance at the daily events list will result in at least one or two charitable events a day and a basic search will yield a number of resident groups organized for charitable causes. The Relay for Life has taken place in Second Life for the past three years, raising over $41,000US for the American Cancer Society in 2006 alone. During December of 2006, the Asociacion Mensajeros de la Paz took a different direction by having a "homeless" avatar spend time in a number of SL public places in order to raise awareness and funds for the organization which runs several hundred foster homes. In the case of that campaign, Reuters reported approximately $8000L was donated, but a higher level of awareness was raised amongst those who interacted with the avatar.
My point in this post is not to try to chronicle all of these works, but rather to try and rebut the rather vile reputation that Second Life has been assigned by the media and outline one of the many reasons I find Second Life so utterly intriguing, even after almost four years. Second Life truly is what you make of it and by harnessing the spirit and creativity of its residents, great things can result.
--BL
Monday, December 3, 2007
VWRN: News Radio for our Second Life?
Recently I've changed the stream for my hangout in Colonia Nova from Magnatune's free Jazz stream to the Virtual World Radio Network. VWRN hit my radar only recently (I'm a bit late, I realize), but it has been interesting to listen to and I find it a bit more accessible than video options such as SLCN, a topic for another post. I can keep it on in the background and work while listening passively.
Inworld media has always been pretty intriguing to me, as the effort required to keep it timely and interesting is often more than many startups seem capable of gathering. Myself, I briefly ran an inworld news "television" network prior to the introduction of streaming video. SLBN, the Second Life Broadcasting Network, broadcast on the Onorous (sp?) network, which consisted of timed sequences of textures that were edited offworld to combine relevant images and text. Needless to say, it was quite time intensive. At the peak, we ran 3 programs, 'SLBN News', 'This Old Build', and 'What's Hopping?', but it's timespan was really rather short, probably under 6 months. As such, even though it is a completely different media format, I can feel confident saying that I do understand the dedication and perseverance required to be successful and remain relevant.
VWRN seems to combat this issue by breaking its broadcast into a series of linked segments, interspersed with occasional sponsorship ads and announcements. In an environment such as Second Life, where many people may come into contact with a particular stream for under a minute, grabbing their attention and quickly providing them with information that is both useful and interesting is really the best way to go in regards to this format. Longer segments will likely result in lower listener attention and less effective dissemination of your message.
However, it seems that one of the biggest obstacles to VWRN's success is going to be that very same problem that most startups face, getting the word out there. Second Life obviously isn't the size it used to be, giving companies like VWRN a larger potential listener base but also making the task of getting the word out regarding their service that much more difficult. To their credit, I've noticed in their advertising rate card (I'm working on promotion for Alpine Meadows), they offer a deal that gives advertisers a significant break on the advertising rate if they help promote VWRN on their land with a kiosk, setting their stream to the channel, and more. It's an interesting method of drumming up support and listenership, one which I am surprised i haven't seen other media sources utilizing.
So in short, I'm pretty impressed. The big question is whether they will be able to drum up enough support to keep things going. I certainly hope they do, for as the SL grid keeps growing rapidly, word of mouth really isn't going to cut it much longer. Having a number of healthy, active media sources will help to tie the grid together and create a more informed, dynamic resident base.
For those interested, I *believe* the VWRN Headquarters is located at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/nantucket/6/133/22
Otherwise, feel free to listen on my land in Colonia Nova (46,230,44).
--BL
Inworld media has always been pretty intriguing to me, as the effort required to keep it timely and interesting is often more than many startups seem capable of gathering. Myself, I briefly ran an inworld news "television" network prior to the introduction of streaming video. SLBN, the Second Life Broadcasting Network, broadcast on the Onorous (sp?) network, which consisted of timed sequences of textures that were edited offworld to combine relevant images and text. Needless to say, it was quite time intensive. At the peak, we ran 3 programs, 'SLBN News', 'This Old Build', and 'What's Hopping?', but it's timespan was really rather short, probably under 6 months. As such, even though it is a completely different media format, I can feel confident saying that I do understand the dedication and perseverance required to be successful and remain relevant.
VWRN seems to combat this issue by breaking its broadcast into a series of linked segments, interspersed with occasional sponsorship ads and announcements. In an environment such as Second Life, where many people may come into contact with a particular stream for under a minute, grabbing their attention and quickly providing them with information that is both useful and interesting is really the best way to go in regards to this format. Longer segments will likely result in lower listener attention and less effective dissemination of your message.
However, it seems that one of the biggest obstacles to VWRN's success is going to be that very same problem that most startups face, getting the word out there. Second Life obviously isn't the size it used to be, giving companies like VWRN a larger potential listener base but also making the task of getting the word out regarding their service that much more difficult. To their credit, I've noticed in their advertising rate card (I'm working on promotion for Alpine Meadows), they offer a deal that gives advertisers a significant break on the advertising rate if they help promote VWRN on their land with a kiosk, setting their stream to the channel, and more. It's an interesting method of drumming up support and listenership, one which I am surprised i haven't seen other media sources utilizing.
So in short, I'm pretty impressed. The big question is whether they will be able to drum up enough support to keep things going. I certainly hope they do, for as the SL grid keeps growing rapidly, word of mouth really isn't going to cut it much longer. Having a number of healthy, active media sources will help to tie the grid together and create a more informed, dynamic resident base.
For those interested, I *believe* the VWRN Headquarters is located at: http://slurl.com/secondlife/nantucket/6/133/22
Otherwise, feel free to listen on my land in Colonia Nova (46,230,44).
--BL
Blogging from In-world
Good evening from inside Second Life! The next few posts are just testing a variety of methods of posting from in-world. Currently, I am using a blogging terminal that I had helped develop several years ago and recently dusted off. Walker Spright polished up the code a bit, which I adapted from some code that Strife Onizuka had developed for bug reporting. It's a long chain of adapted code and so on :p
I am really hoping that this works, as I have been looking for an easy way to blog from inworld that does not require juggling between windows. There is something particularly immersive about being able to jot down some thoughts in world. I know, there is that SL Blogging HUD app, but the nice thing about the system I am using now is that it allows me to use virtually any blogging site I wish.
Here goes nothing...
--BL
Note: After reviewing this and the following blog post, it has become apparent to me that either the script or Blogger is truncating some of my text, causing entire paragraphs to disappear. I'm going to have to take a look at the code and see what's up with it. Until then, it's back to blogging via the web.
I am really hoping that this works, as I have been looking for an easy way to blog from inworld that does not require juggling between windows. There is something particularly immersive about being able to jot down some thoughts in world. I know, there is that SL Blogging HUD app, but the nice thing about the system I am using now is that it allows me to use virtually any blogging site I wish.
Here goes nothing...
--BL
Note: After reviewing this and the following blog post, it has become apparent to me that either the script or Blogger is truncating some of my text, causing entire paragraphs to disappear. I'm going to have to take a look at the code and see what's up with it. Until then, it's back to blogging via the web.
Saturday, December 1, 2007
This page intentionally left blank...
Blogging has certainly taken off over the past 5 years of so. Seemingly everyone and their grandmother's cat now posts their thoughts, recipes, dreams, television reviews, and other miscellaneous text excerpts of dubious quality and various subject matter. They issue these missives to their internet browsing brethren, but for what reason?
That thought being left to fester for a bit, it is not that blogs are useless. Social networking tools have become immensely powerful tools, lowering the skill set requirements needed to be able to publish information to the world via blogs, youtube, and so on.
Needless to say, here I am, joining the fray. Well... re-joining. I've been dabbling in the blogging area for several years, on a variety of topics. This time around, I am developing a mission statement of sorts, a central theme so as to anchor my thoughts, provide some continuity, and perhaps result in my sticking to this outlet a little longer than the normal 14 day lifespan of my ventures.
The goal of this blog is to chronicle my experiences in Second Life on a daily basis. Anything is fair game for a topic, as long as it meets three major criteria:
1) I haven't covered it in the past year (I'm taking bets on how long it takes me to break this)
2) It is of enough interest and substance to write more than a sentence on. (I hate those three word "I'm Happy!" posts. Just a pet peeve of mine)
3) It includes at least one link to an in world location. So even if I get into a diatribe about theoretical physics and their impact on the velocity of a rolling, physics-enabled torus, I'll at least have to tie it to an inworld location (perhaps the Ivory Tower of Prims in Natoma?)
In retrospect, this particular post is going to annoy me in the future. Hell, it annoys me now. It is your typical, self-serving blog post, but with any effort, will be the last. It's a necessary evil, in order to set a framework for myself. And on that note, I am going to end this post for the betterment of anyone who may read it. Seriously, its for your own good.
Until later,
Brian Livingston
That thought being left to fester for a bit, it is not that blogs are useless. Social networking tools have become immensely powerful tools, lowering the skill set requirements needed to be able to publish information to the world via blogs, youtube, and so on.
Needless to say, here I am, joining the fray. Well... re-joining. I've been dabbling in the blogging area for several years, on a variety of topics. This time around, I am developing a mission statement of sorts, a central theme so as to anchor my thoughts, provide some continuity, and perhaps result in my sticking to this outlet a little longer than the normal 14 day lifespan of my ventures.
The goal of this blog is to chronicle my experiences in Second Life on a daily basis. Anything is fair game for a topic, as long as it meets three major criteria:
1) I haven't covered it in the past year (I'm taking bets on how long it takes me to break this)
2) It is of enough interest and substance to write more than a sentence on. (I hate those three word "I'm Happy!" posts. Just a pet peeve of mine)
3) It includes at least one link to an in world location. So even if I get into a diatribe about theoretical physics and their impact on the velocity of a rolling, physics-enabled torus, I'll at least have to tie it to an inworld location (perhaps the Ivory Tower of Prims in Natoma?)
In retrospect, this particular post is going to annoy me in the future. Hell, it annoys me now. It is your typical, self-serving blog post, but with any effort, will be the last. It's a necessary evil, in order to set a framework for myself. And on that note, I am going to end this post for the betterment of anyone who may read it. Seriously, its for your own good.
Until later,
Brian Livingston
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