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My Five Things 28 Feb 2011 5:20 PM (14 years ago)

No, I'm not dead. Just been busy elsewhere, that's all.
 
What brings me back? I read a great piece by my friend Mitch Wagner, who listed five hypothetical actions he'd take to revive Second Life if he were in charge. Well, Mitch isn't in charge, so they might not get done. I'm not in charge either, but that won't stop me from listing my five actions.
 
Choosing five actions should be done carefully, as Linden Lab's Second Life grid is at a turning point. Will it grow? Will it implode? Or shut down? I think it's possible to recover at least some level of growth, if the right combination of actions are undertaken and successful. Here's my thoughts:
 
Increased sim capacity. One of the biggest issues, I believe, is the extremely low capacity of each sim. For all practical purposes, a sim really can't hold much more than 40 avatars before things go south. Sure, the sim itself can run well at that level (usually), but rendering by avatar's PCs begins to break down and pretty soon you're looking at a lot of sloth-like grey shapes.
 
This problem is insidious because I think it's at the root of many other problems. For example, if more people could exist in a sim, there could be fewer (and denser) sims. The per-avatar support cost could go down. This could (ideally) mean lower rates for tier and rent and more businesses could survive. If capacities were high enough, it might become possible for true large-scale virtual events to take place. Today it's just not possible to stage such events as your live audience tops out at 60 (or 200 if you use multiple sims). What could you do if you could bring in 1,000 - or 10,000? Marketing SL would be quite different.

Solving the capacity issue will be very difficult, since there are fundamental issues, not the least of which is that all scenes and information must be downloaded from LL's servers. I think there may be different ways to think about the problem that could address the situation. For example, as capacity increased, perhaps rendering accuracy could decrease - instead of trying to render a scene to an impossible accuracy, just render what you can without resorting to grey shapes. Some of this is done already, but we should be much more aggressive.

Search that works. Let's face it: it's pretty much impossible to reliably find anything in SL these days. My own business has been crippled by this, as have many others. I suspect that the "act of finding" things now has basically degenerated into various forms of word of mouth. That's why you see certain shops growing and others dying - no one can easily find anything other than a small set of familiar stores. Capacity gets at the amount of time required to use SL effectively. Activities take MUCH longer to do if you can't find things. I would fix search, classifieds, landmarks, and perhaps introduce new mechanisms for finding things since all of the above aren't very good anyway.
  
Console version. You want more residents? Why not produce a version of the SL viewer for XBox, Wii and PS/3? There are tons of such machines with many tens of millions of people using them. If you were to combine a small set of great ready-to-go in-world experiences with a simplified consume-only viewer & set of instant avatars for consoles, you might dramatically raise the resident population. Of course, a sim capacity increase would help this a lot, too. Some of those consume-only console users might even graduate to become full-fledged creators in the future.

Communication That Works. I used to like viewer 2, mainly because it attempted to simplify things. However, the more I use it, the less I like it. In particular, the messaging system is almost unusable and highly confusing - notifications pop up all over and seem to make little sense. Between voice, IM, text chat, emails, group chat, notifications, broadcast messages, etc., it's far too confusing to easily communicate. I think the entire communication system needs a serious rethink and simplification.
 
Rebranding. I really hate to say this, but it's probably time to reboot SL - the brand. For some time now, "Second Life" has gained a poor reputation among the general public. It's undeserved, of course, but I can't tell you the number of times I mention "Second Life" and immediately hear the words "Naked Avatars" right back. That perception just kills off many possibilities even before they are properly considered. Current residents may think otherwise, but I think at least a few people are scared off and never even consider SL because of this. What to do? A new brand is required, with a new and improved reputation. And it wouldn't hurt to fix up the points above at the same time.

So that's what I would consider if I were in charge.

But alas, I am not in charge. I'm also not dead yet. Peace to all.

Second Life and Blogging Doldrums 9 Jan 2011 5:09 PM (14 years ago)

You may have noticed I haven't posted anything in a while. Am I dead? Nope. Busy? Maybe. Less interested? Um, yeah, I think so.

I haven't posted because I simply haven't felt I had anything useful to say. Sure, I could comment on the latest party or event, but that's just not meaningful enough for a post, for me, anyway.
 
I was wondering why that is so.

The fact is, SL seems to be slowing down lately in some respects. I've noticed several friends fade away, or others tone down their SL existence for reasons unknown. Many businesses have closed or shrunk.  I've been fading a bit too. Perhaps it's just part of the Two-Year Effect? It's been over four years for me so far; maybe I'm overdue?

And it's not just the SL in world community, either. Linden Lab has dropped numerous staffers, strangely including most of the management level. Since the departure of M Linden, there haven't been any significant strategic moves - largely because interim CEO Philip really hasn't been playing the role, other than perhaps focusing on finding his own replacement. Indeed, when we spoke to Philip in person in Boston at SLCC it was shocking to hear that he hadn't signed into SL for four months. I'd be surprised if he's been in world very much since that time.

So now we learn of a new CEO to take over from Philip later this January. When you think about it, it's an excellent time to get fresh leadership in: largely clean management ranks, stagnant user base, poor media reception and of course, cranky residents. There's no where to go but up.

I really don't have any idea where new CEO Rod Humble will take Second Life, but I do know one thing: it must be a different place than where it's been. Current approaches have largely failed, in my opinion. What, you say things are not so bad? Maybe, but when you compare SL's progress opposite many other online services, which have grown hugely and continue to grow while SL seems to have plateaued. Maybe it's the poor scalability, or the heavy hardware requirements, or perhaps virtual worlds are just too complicated for most people.
 
If I was an investor in Linden Lab, I'd be seeking a new strategy to protect my investment. I'd do that by getting a new CEO with fresh ideas. They've already done this once, with M Linden - but as we know, that particular strategy failed and they had to start over.

Expect many different things to happen once the new CEO gets settled, probably starting later this spring.

The Coral Reef: It’s Alive 7 Nov 2010 7:42 AM (14 years ago)

I don’t know why I haven’t written about this, but I guess I should tell you about something special I’ve worked on a few months ago. My team and I have completed construction of a lifelike virtual coral reef on contract from well-known SL entrepreneur Veritas Raymaker. Veritas, if you don’t know him, is perhaps the most polite person in the known universe. He’s been putting together a rather interesting series of educational displays on Praxis island.

Our build is actually hidden underwater in an air-tight platform from which you can observe the coral reef. But it’s more than that - the display is organized into several interactive displays, each describing and showing you how coral reefs can be damaged. The displays take you through a short sequence explaining the issue in chat, as well as demonstrating the effect for you to observe directly.

The build illustrates several real environmental factors that can affect the health of the world’s coral reefs: climate change, pollution, eutrophication, over fishing and sedimentation. Each of these effects are actually in play today in our planet’s coral reefs, and from the platform you’ll be able to see exactly how they affect coral ecosystems.

There is a separate station for each of the environmental factors, each with a dedicated observation bubble through which you can see a lively coral reef, complete with colorful corals, algae, bubbles and some of the most amazingly realistic fish you’ll ever see in SL.

To visit the underwater platform, you’ll have to teleport to Praxis, a truly beautiful sim where Raymaker has organized a variety of environmental displays. Follow the paths down to the dock - you won’t see the reef or the platform, as they are completely submerged. A the end of the dock, you’ll see a teleporter that takes you underneath the waves directly to the platform where you can engage the interactive displays. Start at station one by touching the display and reading the text. Be sure to look out the observation bubbles to see the coral reef die as the effects take hold.

The reef build was a team effort, made by the new Construction Division of Electric Pixels. Scripting and Sculpting was done by the very capable Thickbrick Sleaford, who by the way is available for complex contract scripting work through Vermont Enterprises;  Design, storyline, signage and particles was done by myself; Quality control and testing by Haley Salomon. If you’re looking for someone to help you produce an amazing display, please consider Electric Pixels - Construction Division.

It’s Halloween Again 3 Oct 2010 8:16 PM (14 years ago)

Viewers, Viewers, Viewers: A Way Out of This Mess 5 Sep 2010 5:29 PM (14 years ago)

Readers may have noticed controversies and discussions over Second Life viewer software in recent weeks and months. In some cases scandal, in others too much change, still others are simply inoperable in many situations. A constant question is, "which viewer should I use". There have been many answers - as many as there are viewers. Clearly there's lots of opinions and few are satisfied.

Meanwhile, new users continue to have challenges learning the environment. Let's face it: SL and 3D worlds are quite a different experience and it takes time for people to get accustomed to using them. Linden Lab knows this, since we've observed them trying to address that problem by deploying the controversial Viewer 2.0.

Viewer 2.0 seems to work for some, and yet not for others. Why is this so?

I've thought this for a long time now, and I'll say it again: there are two different audiences making use of viewers. First there's the new residents, who are frequently confused by the complexity of the interface, give up and never return, and the experienced existing residents, who yearn for more function to customize or simplify their sophisticated virtual existence.

Here's the problem we've been having all along: we're trying to service two entirely different audiences with a single viewer. Hence, Linden Lab creates Viewer 2.0, which includes features designed to simplify life for new residents, while still trying to address the needs of experienced residents. In my opinion, it didn't go nearly far enough in the simplicity direction for new residents. In the opinion of many long-time residents, Viewer 2.0 confused their operations and made their complex virtual lives more difficult. Viewer 2.0 missed the mark for both audiences.

While Viewer 2.0 marginally improved the experience for new residents, it was rejected by a great many experienced residents, a vast number of whom fled to use a variety of third party viewers. Unfortunately, one of the major third party viewers ran into issues and many residents now scramble to find an alternate viewer - and many of them wouldn't consider Linden Lab's Viewer 2.0.

I've seen situations like this before many times in real life, and a good solution approach is to realize the root cause and directly address it. In this case the root cause of viewer difficulties is that there are two audiences that have very different requirements. Thus, the answer is quite simple: we need Two Viewers, one greatly simplified suitable for stark newbies devoid of advanced and confusing features, and the other a more complex viewer filled with all the features one could imagine.

Of course, the challenge will be that Linden Lab is able to muster resources only sufficient to support one viewer. Right now, their efforts try to do it all for everyone, addressing both audiences but in fact doing so in a less than optimal manner.

Here's my proposal to make life a lot easier for everyone: Linden Lab should abandon development of the advanced viewer entirely and leave it to evolve independently by third parties through open source approaches. Publish and maintain a secure specification for accessing the grid and the underlying open source code, and let others do the job of building advanced viewers. This has worked in the world of web browsers and many other environments; why not here too? To some extent, we've already seen this happening, albeit somewhat placed in shadow by Linden Lab's highly visible Viewer 2.0, often selected by residents simply because Linden Lab made it. But imagine how well these third party viewers could advance if they weren't competing against Linden Lab's viewers?

Meanwhile, Linden Lab could then focus efforts on a truly simplified viewer specifically designed for new residents, one that could actually achieve the vision of "five minutes and you're in" that really has no chance of happening in Viewer 2.0. Consider how well they might do if they didn't have to worry about including all the features required by existing residents. New users could "graduate" to one of the more advanced viewers when they feel confident enough to do so.

Let's make things simpler for everyone. Linden Lab desperately needs a simplified viewer; Residents want (and have proven they can make) an advanced viewer. For me, two viewers is the obvious solution. What do you think?

The Emerald Implosion 23 Aug 2010 5:10 PM (14 years ago)

If you’ve been reading any SL blogs lately, you’ve probably come across the incredible events surrounding the famous (or infamous) Emerald Viewer. Resignations, reformations, scandals, possible criminal acts and other mayhem ensued throughout the week. I’m not going to detail any of that stuff; it’s been well-covered elsewhere.

Instead, I am going to bring forward my thoughts on how it came to this. There’s definitely reasons why this week’s implosion occurred, and why it may not happen again. All these events are connected at a very high level.

But let’s start at the beginning.

We have a certain company, Linden Lab, who market a very unusual product: Second Life. This product is amazing, but it is also a very complex thing to deal with. In fact, it’s so complex that no one really knows how it should be set up.

The product, SL, is so complex that while it is amazing, relatively few people from the public are able to manage to successfully use it and stay using it. Everyone uses the standard viewer through which everyone experiences the product.

Advanced SL residents grow to want more from the viewer, as they’ve managed to learn many things about the environment, well beyond the basics. But they’re frustrated because they have only one option.

The Lab recognizes this need and responds by open sourcing the viewer code. They hope that the community will adopt the freely available viewer code to develop the advanced features that it wants, while leaving the Lab to put their limited resources against other problems and ventures.

The Lab focuses on growth. They believe that to attract more residents, they need to somehow simplify the experience so that it doesn’t scare people away. Indeed, the survival rate for new signups is abysmally low, perhaps as low as 1%. One of their simplification strategies is a less complex viewer. They begin a project to develop this new simplified viewer.

Several groups adopt the open sourced viewer code and begin tinkering. Some happen to be professional or near-professional developers, but others are not. Hackers and griefers also take a stab at making their own viewers - sometimes for nefarious purposes. A variety of viewer options emerge, all with differing features, support, release schedules and reliability. Some residents try them and begin to have opinions on their favorites, usually based on their particular needs.

One third party viewer (TPV), Emerald, becomes somewhat more popular than others, perhaps based on its frequent release of interesting and unusual features. This viewer is in fact the opposite of the Lab’s work: it’s a complex viewer including *more* features, not fewer. But these features are well-received by many long time residents in the community.

With popularity, more information comes to the surface about Emerald and the folks behind it. It turns out that several of them have known histories as griefers, some being suspended from SL in the past. It is further discovered that mysterious encrypted information is being sent from the viewer to Emerald’s server. The Emerald team does not reveal their real identities, thus making it very difficult to ascertain their level of responsibility.

Aside: it was at this point I concluded it was too risky (at least for me) to continue to use Emerald. Code written by anonymous former griefers, known to be sending unknown information to parts unknown, was simply too suspicious. I, and several others, deleted Emerald from our systems and changed our passwords in case they had been somehow recorded by Emerald. I feared an incident of some kind would occur at some point in the future and didn’t want to be part of it.

The Lab releases their new, simplified viewer: Viewer 2.0. Amidst fanfare, V2.0 included features intended to simplify things for new residents, but for existing residents it was too different, too simple and worse, beset with annoying bugs.

Viewer 2.0 becomes the default viewer - but because it doesn’t match resident’s needs, they flock to alternatives. Which one should they choose? Emerald was the most popular of the TPVs, and it’s usage grew significantly. Legitimate developers join the Emerald team, and it continued to be improved with additional features. Emerald gained many supporters as residents tune into its unique features.

Suddenly, there’s an incident.
 
The Emerald home screen was modified by one of its developers to perform an attack on a rival site, thus using the computers of all Emerald users for this activity. Poor judgement? Yes, indeed! Just as I had lost trust in Emerald months earlier, this incident resulted in a loss of trust by many former Emerald supporters. In fact, Linden Lab removed Emerald from its official list of TPVs.

The Emerald team breaks apart due to the incident and its aftermath, but reforms under new, hopefully more professional management. Time will tell if this is so, as trust is easy to lose but very hard to gain. Good luck to the new team!

But both problems still remain: existing residents need an advanced viewer and new residents need a basic, simplified viewer. Neither group is adequately served today, and Linden Lab needs to develop a strategy to address this critical issue before they will begin growing again.

SLCC 2010: The Resurrection 19 Aug 2010 4:28 PM (14 years ago)

It was with great nervousness did I watch the unfolding of 2010’s Second Life Community Convention earlier this year. I had attended two previous instances of this famous event, 2008 in Tampa and 2009 in San Francisco. The 2009 event was announced rather late in the cycle, leaving little time for presenters and attendees to get organized. It nevertheless took place, fun was had by attendees, but the convention’s sessions and organization were not exactly optimal.

Meanwhile, this year’s event almost never happened.

Weeks passed, with no announcements of any kind regarding the 2010 event. Like those who attended previous events, I was looking forward to attending and meeting up with virtual friends. But no announcements. Was there even going to be an event at all?

By March I had personally concluded that it must be over. There is no way a major convention can be organized in such a short time, particularly by SLCC’s previous organizational track record. Saddened, I wondered how this would play out. How would the SL community go forward without a foundational event around which we can come together?

Worse news: Linden Lab suddenly revealed massive staff layoffs and a vague change in direction. The Linden Dollar significantly slipped in value for the first time in eons. Both the annual convention and Linden Lab itself appeared vulnerable and perhaps even in jeopardy.


Amazingly, SLCC 2010’s date and location were announced only weeks before the actual event. This is incomprehensible as far as event planning goes; there is no way you can expect to have a successful convention with only a few weeks notice. Nevertheless, to support the community I registered immediately, not knowing what would happen.

I arrived in Boston a day early and learned the dramatic sequence of events: The previous SLCC’s were run by “The Future United”, a group which earlier this year folded when the last board member admitted they could not put on the convention. It was at that moment that concerned and leading residents put together a plan to save SLCC: the new body, AvaCon, formed and then began lengthy negotiations with the Lindens to secure the licenses to put on the official convention. Only after these documents were signed could AvaCon announce dates and location - and then they had only eight weeks to put it all together for real.

And they did, truly magnificently. I’ve attended many conferences and this one was run as well as any. The sessions were interesting and well planned; the hotel was near-perfect for this event (especially the blazing fast and free WiFi network); the off-hours events were terrific; the logistics, program, badges were better than any previous SLCC I’d attended. I give my highest compliments to the New SLCC organizing team, led by she-of-no-rest uberorganizer Fleep Tuque, for doing an impossible job in an impossible time.

As for SLCC 2010 itself, I remember it as a series of moments:


Gwampu Lomu singing with the totally awesome Tamra Sands. Well, at least he sung the last note of the song, anyway. Tamra is a far better singer than Gwampa.

Listening to the endless puns from master comedian Lauren Weyland, whose distinctive voice could be heard almost everywhere. Example heard in the extraordinarily elaborate main ballroom: “This room must have been built when America was China!” Have you found your shoes yet, Lauren?

Having an impromptu iPhone FaceTime party in the executive lounge, where several of us FaceTime virgins realized we could video call each other! So we did across a coffee table - a true NerdOut.

The discussions and arguments taking place every evening in the lobby, bar, restaurants or suites that ranged over any conceivable SL-related issue. For certain, we all had the answers to every problem, or so it seemed.

Meeting the notorious Prokofy Neva in person, who is actually more reasonable than many blog readers may think.

Spending time with the IBM virtual reality team, including the brilliant Zha Ewry, the delightful Dale Innis, Oura Scribe and the lovely Ahuva Heliosense, whose incredibly sultry outfit was seemingly ruined by the absence of a single rhinestone on her rather complex shoes. Or so she thought. But I didn’t.

Meeting a most amazing person: Pooky Amsterdam, whose dramatic presence simply took over every room she entered. If you’ve heard her voice on one of her shows, let me say that her personage matches her distinctive voice in every way.

Taking over the famous Cheers bar in Boston, with perhaps thirty avatars occupying the entire section. Fortunately, Cheers did not know our real names.

Meeting the SL-banned Woodbury group, who surprised everyone by showing up to register for the conference. After initial fears of RL griefing subsided, they were an interesting group to speak with in the dark hours of the night.


Observing once again the astonishing real-life charisma of Philip Linden, who simply bent over backwards to meet and talk with everyone and anyone. Philip spent considerable time talking to the grumbly educators after the surprise announcement of the denouement of the languishing Teen Grid. It was also fascinating to watch certain women simply melt in his presence. One unnamed melting individual kept saying, “I want one of those”, while gazing dreamily at Philip. No, it wasn't Pooky!

Discussing the surprising outcomes of permitting intergrid teleports between SL and Other Grids with Philip, who has evidently thought quite deeply about the subject. I’m sure we’ll hear more about this in the future.

The never-ending post convention “secret” party, which was not so secret because it was being broadcast live over UStream. As soon as the stream went up, missing attendee Eshi Otawara videoed in and joined us virtually. Miss you, Eshi!

Spending time with Noona and Noele, who were perhaps the most unique attendees: they were simply residents! They did not own virtual businesses, perform any artistic works or organize anything. They simply enjoyed SL shopping and decided to come to SLCC for fun. While there were few sessions directed to them, their perspective on things was quite different from the ultra-creative types who normally inhabit the convention.

The continual exhaustion and exhilaration caused by endless hours of meeting new avatars and discussing everything. Some were totally spent, yet could not leave the party - like Dirk McKeenan who fell asleep on the lobby floor at 4AM. Dirk was an unstoppable force. Until he fell asleep.

A windup dinner involving all who assisted the convention at the longest possible restaurant table. I squeezed in beside Filthy Fluno, Prokofy Neva and Fleep Tuque, and had delightful conversations on a wide variety of topics.

Appreciating the several exLindens who still came to the event, even though they were no longer employed by Linden Lab, including Kate exLinden, Joppa exLinden, Teagan exLinden and Pathfinder exLinden. They are those who truly support SL. Yes, that is Joppa stuck on the window. Don't ask.

Watching the full-length documentary “Life 2.0” with many other avatars, and discussing it afterwards. Indeed, I found myself in the middle of a debate on the merits of the piece with Prokofy Neva, Tuna Oddfellow and Zha Ewry, a highly unlikely combination of avatars to be seen. I liked the film immensely, as it accurately portrayed (and made you feel and experience) the confusing emotional transformations that are so common in SL. This film is unlike any other SL-related piece I’ve seen, and if you are in SL, you must see it. How? You will be able to see it next year on the Oprah Winfrey network.

Catching up with old friends (well, they’re not old, the friendship is) such as Feline Slade, Daphne Abernathy, Roland Legrand, Loki Clifton, Ham Rambler, Beyers Sellers, Sloan Skjellerup, Apple & Nasus, Katydid Something, Rhiannon Chatnoir, Tuna & Shava and of course Dirk McKeenan and many others.

Meeting wonderful new friends, such as Explorer Dastardly, Spiral Theas, Anastasios Aurotharius, Landau Shippe, Tamra Sands, Fleep Tuque, Filthy Fluno, Winter Nightfire, Maggie Marat and so many others I cannot remember them all.


But by far the most special moment for me was also a special moment for two others: Chestnut Rau and Zha Ewry, long-time partners in SL who had never before met each other in real life. In fact, Chestnut had not met ANY avatars in real life before this event and was quite nervous about doing so. I am happy to say that I had a tiny role in their meeting.

Fortunately Chestnut had reluctantly posted a rather obscure RL photograph of herself some weeks earlier, and based on that image I was able to identify her standing in the hotel lobby. I approached her and introduced myself, but she seemed a little awkward as those were her first moments meeting avatars. We had a brief discussion, when suddenly over her shoulder I observed someone entering the lobby pulling a suitcase: Zha Ewry.

I immediately held up my hands to beckon Chestnut to stop talking and said in a totally calm voice, “Turn. Around. Right. Now.” She looked at me quizzically and rotated. In less than a picosecond she recognized Zha, who did not notice her. I will never forget the look on Chestnut’s face at that moment, as her emotions radiated brilliantly in all directions. After a moment she strode forward cautiously and began speaking to Zha, who still did not yet understand who this strange woman was talking to him in the lobby. But suddenly he realized it was Chestnut, and the rest I cannot say.

One memory I will definitely not cherish was the loss of my camera, which somehow became separated from me during the convention. I did not notice its absence until I returned home - having used my iPhone for most pictures. If anyone has seen a stray Canon SD980, give me a shout!


There was one more important impression I observed: the announcements from Linden Lab. We’ve all heard the new mantra: Fast, Easy and Fun, which appears simplistic is in fact what’s needed, if it can be pulled off. Philip’s announcements told a story of how they are going to do it by reorganizing their development process and focusing on critical bits first.

For sure, Philip didn’t mention a number of things that people really want fixed (search, for example), but that’s not fixable within this year - search is an extremely complex topic that will take time to sort out. I checked later on with Tiggs Linden, who is in charge of server development. He confirmed that the list of items shown by Philip was indeed achievable, although it will be tough. I’d rather have a shorter list of things that will actually get done than a longer list that won’t. Remember, the list shown was only the 2010 list. There will be more lists in the future, and that’s the nature of the new development process: fast iterations focused on specific features. The impression I got was that the Lab is very serious about fixing these things - and fixing SL overall.

SL is not dead. SLCC is not dead. One was resurrected this August, and the other is underway.

Avoiding The Spiral Of Death 1 Aug 2010 2:02 PM (14 years ago)

Fast, Easy and Fun. How has it come to this?

Fast, Easy and Fun is the new direction of Linden Lab for their product, Second Life. It’s a reaction to the troubles they’ve gotten themselves into in the past year or so. Here’s how I see the sequence of events:
 

• A company discovers and builds a service around an amazing concept
• The concept, while breathtaking, is so new it’s not fully understood by anyone yet, even its makers
• The service is implemented in the only way possible, given everyone's limited experience with the concept: it’s difficult to use
• Reasonably large numbers of early adopter users, who are tolerant of difficulties, begin using the new service
• Beyond the early adopters, few people use the service because its difficult interfaces are forever past their capabilities and tolerance
• Company notices growth stalling as the pool of early adopters is exhausted 
• Company seeks ways to break into the mainstream market by simplifying the system
• The simplification attempt fails because the system is still not fully understood
• A few early adopters begin to leave for alternative services
• Management panics and makes big changes. New approach: Fast, Easy & Fun.

When I say “not fully understood”, I mean that while we may fully understand the use of the existing tools and interface, we really don’t understand the *right* way to do the interface. For example, the permissions system is simply unable to deal with many day-to-day situations. How should someone be introduced to the service such that they don’t immediately give up? No one really knows the true answers to these any many other key questions yet. This is a system still figuring itself out. It’s still an experiment.

Experiments are for early adopters.

I’ve written of this before, but it is a phase all companies must endure: the transition from initial “early adopter” mode to a more mainstream “easy to use” mode. Some tech companies don’t survive, others are utterly transformed and some are overtaken by alternatives that have a better approach.

But that doesn’t answer the question of the panic. Why panic so much? Why layoff huge numbers of people? I suspect it has to do with what I call “the Spiral of Death”.

Consider the situation myself and many SL shopkeepers find themselves in: we spend huge amounts of time setting up a shop in SL, making products, doing promotions, etc. and just barely make a living. Suddenly, some users panic and move away to other grids. They say “it’s wonderful, please join us over here!” It may be wonderful if you are, for example, an educator or business person who simply needs to build some type of installation. But if you’re a seller, it’s quite a different situation.

A seller needs a market, and right now SL is still by far the biggest grid with the largest number of potential buyers on it. Yes, there are OpenSim grids all over, but all of them are tiny compared to SL. It’s hard enough to make a living in SL even with its giant user base, let alone grids one one-thousandth the size. It’s even worse because in order to gain any significant amount of OpenSim market, you’d have to set up separate shops in multiple grids (thus spending time building multiple shops and paying multiple tiers. OpenSim grids may be cheaper per square meter compared to SL, but when you need several parcels on several grids, it probably costs more). It just doesn’t make economic sense to move virtual businesses to other grids.

But it would make sense if large numbers of users begin to bail from SL and move to a single popular alternative grid. If that happened, then SL would lose something very critical: its size. When the market moves, so will the sellers. And with them will go even more buyers. And so on, developing into “The Spiral of Death”. Once the user base starts shrinking, it will inevitably go down, faster and faster.

I suspect this is what Linden Lab fears the most. And it’s certainly worth a panic, because they risk their entire business. It could happen: more and more OpenSim grids are appearing, each with some type of innovation or another, but none with massive market share. Yet. Eventually, one of these grids will accidentally or on purpose hit on the right combination of services and interface and they’ll begin to win users over. Linden Lab, if they are to survive, must prevent the Spiral of Death at all costs.

That’s why there’s an “all hands on deck” mode and a focus on the basics. Fast, Easy and Fun are indeed the basic keys to success. If these are achievable, then existing early adopters will stay and newcomers will not abandon the service nearly as much as now. That should result in a growing service once again.

But only if it works. I’m terribly interested to hear how “Fast, Easy and Fun” will be achieved. Perhaps Philip will enlighten us at SLCC 2010?

A MOO For SLCC 17 Jul 2010 6:22 PM (14 years ago)

Above you'll see my new business cards, specially printed up for me by MOO cards. They exist in real life, but are for my virtual identity. Why, you ask, would one need real life business cards for an avatar? Because I intend on using them at the upcoming Second Life Community Convention, taking place this year in Boston from August 13-15th.

I've attended two previous conventions, 2008 in Tampa and 2009 in San Francisco. Both were tremendously awesome experiences, and I expect similar from this year's in Boston. Some might find the idea of meeting other avatars strange or even a bit creepy, but it is nothing like that at all. It's perhaps one of the deepest experiences an avatar can have.

SLCC is how you can become your avatar for a weekend.

That's right - everyone refers to each other by their avatar name, and real names are pretty much never heard. People act like their avatar, and sometimes they even dress like their avatar, even if it involves a tail or wings. People sit and chat, listen to music, have adventures - all just like you would in Second Life. But this time it's avatars doing such things in Real Life. The fidelity of the experience is far better, but the teleportation sucks.

If you're still doubting the value of attending, please read my account of Tampa in 2008 and San Francisco in 2009. Both events meant a great deal to me.

Back to the business cards. When I return home I usually have a small collection of fascinating business cards from avatars I knew from before or those I just met at the convention. I keep the cards in a small pile beside my computer, a tiny physical reminder that those pixelated avatars on my screen are in fact very real people.

I hope to see you there.

The Memorial 10 Jul 2010 8:24 AM (14 years ago)

Tonight I visited Codebastard Redgrave's Linden Memorial, located in Bowness. This is a relocation of the original memorial she constructed at her own sim, Rouge. It's a brilliant idea that leverages the magic of Second Life into a very moving experience.

The layout is simple: gravestones on a hillside, each representing a recently-departed Linden. (No, they're not dead, they were simply let go from Linden Lab employment.) Nevertheless, I found myself strolling among the rather long rows of headstones, searching for people I know. Knew.

The feeling I had was eerily similar to similar real-life experiences in actual graveyards. Reading unfamiliar names; wondering why there are so many flowers on this stone, and none on another; unexpectedly finding someone's name whom you thought was still alive, er, employed. Just like RL.

The gravestones may be "paid" to produce a flower, and many indeed have flowers. There were many on the graves of Data, Jeska, Minerva, Matthew, Aimee, Babbage, Mia, Harmony, Tofu and my friend Joppa Linden (above), who I spent time with at SLCC. The most flowers by quite a margin were found on Blue and Teagan's headstones.

Interestingly, there were no flowers on T Linden's stone, and I could not locate a stone for M. Perhaps it just hasn't been done yet?

The property is group owned, and they would appreciate any donations you can provide, either through flower purchases or direct donations as indicated on their welcome board. Be sure to visit - and note the ominous "Unknown Linden" headstones at the back awaiting additional announcements.

I Am Canadian! 30 Jun 2010 4:29 PM (14 years ago)

Yes, if you didn't know, I am indeed Canadian - and tomorrow, July 1st, is Canada Day. I'm off work and celebrating, but I want to remind everyone that I do offer several Canadian-oriented particle products at Electric Pixels. Pictured above is the very beautiful "I Am Canadian" effect. I really should post a video of it, since the still image doesn't really show the subtle motion and fading of the maple leaves. When you wear it, there's no doubt where you're from.

If you're interested in this and related Canadian products, why not drop by Electric Pixels and take a look? Not Canadian? I have similar products for many other countries - and if yours isn't there, drop me a line and I'll make it if there's sufficient demand.

Chasing the Bar: The Linden Lab Layoffs 10 Jun 2010 4:20 PM (14 years ago)

I read the latest news from Linden Lab, where they abruptly announced they were letting go approximately 30% of the staff, closing and consolidating distant offices and changing strategy. On the surface, and indeed for the unfortunate 30%, this seems to be very bad news. Is Linden Lab on the ropes? Are they desperately cutting expenses in a last ditch effort to buy a few more months of life before the inevitable cash crunch?

Maybe, but I don't think so.They're profitable, but not growing fast enough.

As a business, Linden Lab's role is to provide a good return to the shareholders for their considerable investment. As business managers, they do this by executing strategies that hopefully will accomplish that goal. Like any business, strategies sometimes don't work out and alternative strategies must be developed and deployed. If it doesn't work, try something else. I think this is the case here.

From his beginning at The Lab, CEO Mark Kingdon has spoken about simplifying the user interface, improving the first hour experience and growing the user base substantially. I even seem to recall seven-digit numbers being bantered about.

Over the past year we've seen some moves that theoretically should have supported those goals: viewer 2.0, Linden Homes, policy changes and several others. However, we are now in mid-2010, and we just haven't seen any significant growth in the user base. We also haven't seen growth of the business client base, in spite of the release of the Second Life Enterprise private grid server. These strategies, while good intentioned and reasonably executed, haven't done the job.

For me, the main problem that still exists is the incredibly difficult user experience. Yes, viewer 2.0 did simplify some things for new users (although complicating things for some existing users), but it's no where near the level of simplification required. Let's face it: users who can have a good time in minutes on innumerable other simpler systems just won't spend the time to learn the mysterious intricacies of the SL viewer and the virtual culture.

The Lab has been spending efforts trying to simplify their total experience, moving towards an invisible goal of easiness. But the bar has just been moved.

This spring the iPad was introduced and it is a monstrous hit, so much so that it's expected to be in the hands of tens of millions of people a year from now and many more after that. I'm not saying we should run SL on an iPad, but there's an interesting phenomenon taking place: the iPad has revealed that many people want ultra-simplified computing. Its amazing to watch seniors, very young children and those unfamiliar with computers to immediately use an iPad. It turns out that many people (but probably not you) just want instant on, touch and a reliable simple interface. They don't want software versions, graphics cards, DLLs, viruses, upgrades and all the nonsense you have to put up with to use a PC. Sure, techies will still want and use PCs, but who among us hasn't found ourselves helping a baffled relative with a PC problem - and you just know they have no business owning a PC as they have no chance of ever properly operating it. Those are the new majority of computing users, the folks who will be using very simple interfaces on simple devices - and not just the iPad, but many similar devices that will inevitably follow. The bar of simplicity has just been raised.

Back to The Lab. Their new strategy involves creating a new web browser based interface. You know, something that would run easily on all these new simple devices? The ones to be owned by tens or even hundreds of millions of people?

Does this mean we'll all have to use it? I think not. I think we'll see existing and sophisticated users keep the main downloadable viewer to create SL content: the content needed by the (hopefully) huge numbers of new simplified users. Perhaps some of them will like SL so much that they'll take the time to download the "full" viewer and become content creators themselves.

Meanwhile, there should be a great many new users seeking content - from the content creators, property owners and service providers who could enjoy a new boom. At least I'd imagine that's the theory; we'll see if it comes to pass.

One more thing: this post was entirely created on an iPad.

We of the White Suits 24 May 2010 9:56 AM (14 years ago)

I'm not saying we are or should wear white suits, Hamlet Au aside. I'm referring to the 1951 comedy/science fiction flick, "The Man in the White Suit" starring Alec Guinness, who would later on become Obi-Wan Kenobi in the Star wars series.

The premise of this 60 year old film is straightforward: a nerdy chemist working at a textile factory produces an amazing invention: a fabric that is virtually indestructible and automatically repels dirt, staying clean forever. Even better, the suit slightly glows white due to its "radioactive content". Well, perhaps that isn't so good.

Nevertheless, the story unfolds and the protagonist, Sidney Stratton, attempts to convince his textile factory to produce clothing with the new miracle fabric. Initially interested, the factory owners soon realize that if they were to produce clothing with the new fabric, they'd be out of business because people would never need to buy clothes again! Even the workers found the possibility to their detriment, and they united with management (unprecedented in the 1950's) to force Stratton's idea out.

It's a fun movie and an interesting premise. But could it be true? I believe we're living this science fiction story out in Second Life today. Consider the clothing our avatars wear: it never wears out; it never gets dirty; and, if you are so inclined, it can slightly glow. Our clothing doesn't have to be white, however.

And thus we'd never need to buy any more clothes, and the virtual clothing factories would close?

Apparently not. An inspection of anyone's inventories shows at least hundreds, if not tens of thousands of clothing items that don't soil, never wear out. The virtual clothing factories are not closing. They are thriving, mostly.

Why is this so? What is the difference in attitude between the 1951 movie and 2010 virtual life? I think it's that people think differently about life today - we are accustomed to living in a universe of creativity and options, whereas the people of 1950 were less well off, with far fewer options for creative outlets. They were satisfied with less, while we are never satisfied because we know something new is merely as distant as the next imaginative thought. Sure, there were no doubt 1950s fashion hounds, but none of them had 17,000 items of clothing as our avatars do.

I believe this attitude is one of the success factors for virtual reality. People want to create. They want to consume new things. In fact, many proceed through their virtual lives almost with the sole purpose to acquire new (indestructible) clothing designs.

With the exception of Hamlet, of course, who has only one white suit.

Virtual Peace 27 Apr 2010 7:09 PM (14 years ago)

Yesterday I caught a tweet from Friend Joshua Fouts (@josholalia) who had retweeted Yoko Ono’s tweet from eariier in the day:

@yokoono: Join us when IMAGINE PEACE TOWER lights at #SecondLife sunsets http://bit.ly/2LIPT 3:20 7:20 & 11:20SLT (SLT=PT)

I attended this event last year, and I returned this year to the 7:20PM SLT lighting.

The display is simple and beautiful: luminescent blue beams, reach far into the sky from a pleasant, meadow-like island. The beams are a soft blue, but when placed together in symphony towards the sky, something wonderful happens. The tower is a reproduction of a real life exhibit in Reykjavik, Iceland, first unveiled last year.

The Imagine Peace Tower inspires people to think of peace, consider our world as one and just maybe, take some action to make it a better place. From Yoko’s manifesto:

So let’s work together to save this planet. Since destiny is created by first imaging what destiny we want for ourselves, we should IMAGINE PEACE in a big way with total conviction. In the old days, gurus sat and meditated day and night. That was pretty powerful. But we live in a different world. Time is so precious to us now. A million kids can be killed in one second as we are wondering what to do. So we can’t just sit and meditate. We should IMAGINE PEACE day and night, as we go about our daily lives.

 
There were not very many people there, that night on Yoko’s island. Haley and I sat quietly and awaited the lighting. As I looked at the unlit platform, I recalled the song that began the movement, Lennon’s “Imagine”, that I first heard long ago. While some may argue with its ideals, I believe it influenced me throughout my life by making me perhaps a little bit more peaceful than some, striving for something better - for everyone.

Suddenly, the lighting ceremony began as I heard Yoko’s voice. She welcomed us, and explained why the tower was made, calling it the “Light of Wisdom”. Then the familiar piano strokes of the famous song began to play as the tower lit up and it all came together for me. Amidst the peaceful scene, the towering lights, the song did its magic. As it continued, both John and Yoko spoke of their immense ideals, and challenged everyone to join their movement.

For me the experience was brief and wonderful, because it reminded me of our obligations in this troubled world. Each day we see, read or even participate in conflicts large or small, many of which are unnecessary, distracting or hurtful. Of how we must pause our conflicts and try our best to make life better not only for ourselves, but everyone. In my immersed state on that lonely island, the light of wisdom shone brightly.

Thank you John, and thank you, Yoko, for leaving us this place and these ideals, where anyone in the world can visit, and Imagine.

A Volcanic Eruption! 10 Apr 2010 9:24 PM (15 years ago)

It’s been a while since I released a new product, so I wanted to make sure it was something big. And indeed, this one is huge! It’s called “Volcanic Eruption”, and it does just that.

Volcanic Eruption provides more realism to Second Life volcanoes. Most volcanoes are simply a dead mountain with a cone-shaped depression at the top, and the odd one might have smoke percolating out of it. However, I wanted to do something better.

Originally a custom build for a private estate owner but now available to all, the new Volcanic Eruption particle emitter provides a realistic twist to your virtual volcano. Simply place the emitter into your volcano’s cone and it does all the rest for you. And what, exactly, does it do?

It erupts!

To be more precise, it follows a sequence typical of real volcanoes:

• It remains idle for a time. (You can specify how long you’d like it to remain dormant)
• The eruption commences with a stream of smoke flowing skyward
• Suddenly an explosion occurs, releasing flying ejecta in all directions!
• A column of fire rises from the volcano’s cone
• The fire collapses, resulting in a deadly pyroclastic flow that runs down the sides of the mountain

 
In real life, the most dangerous part of a volcanic eruption is the pyroclastic flow. It’s a superheated mix of toxic gases and dust that speeds downward at velocities far faster than you can run, cooking and choking everything in its path. That’s what kills people during eruptions.

And now you can have it for your volcano too. Just drop by Electric Pixels, where you can find the new Volcanic Eruption in the Garden and Weather departments. 

ArminasX has a Sexual Encounter! 3 Apr 2010 7:40 PM (15 years ago)

No, it's not what you think. But it does involve sex. This week I visited a place where Second Life's virtual capabilities were used to the extreme: The Tour of the Testis.


It's one of those amazing automated tours, where you board a vehicle that takes you through interesting and usually educational displays. This tour is definitely educational, as you actually fly through a truly gigantic testis and observe the entire biological process from the inside.

The tour is presented by The Ohio State University, Second Life Campus. Specifically, it's for their Medical Center, and was built by DrDoug Pennell.



Strangely, your vehicle has a wiggly tail and is shaped like something familiar. It seats four, so bring your friends. You choose between an audio or text tour. I chose text.


The tour takes you inside the relevant body structures, as if you are cell-sized, where you can actually see cells being generated and swimming through tubules. The sperm particles are represented as fluorescent green particles! They're pretty easy to notice as you can see in this image.

The biological explanations in text are well beyond my meager medical knowledge, but they seem quite comprehensive. Here's an example:

Normally these spaces would be filled with sperm in various stages of development.
However in patients with Sertoli Cell Only Syndrome, they only have ....
Sertoli Cells :-).  They are azoospermic (have no sperm) and as you might expect, are infertile.
We are now outside the tubule.  However, we would still be INSIDE the testis.
Note that the blood vessels as well as some cell types such as the Leydig Cells (orange/brown) are OUTSIDE the tubule.

I suspect medical students would benefit from the explanations more than casual visitors such as myself. 


The display shows incredible biological detail in a massive and intricately built model. Key structures are highlighted and animated to show you precisely how things work.


The tour ends at a dramatic platform where you can examine a breathtaking overview of the tubule. Don't leave yet, because there are additional animations you can access from the platform by clicking on the signs.

This tour is very well done and provides some great educational value. But here's the key question: is this a good place to take a date? Heh, it depends. Why don't you find out? Here's the SLURL.

Another SL Blogger's Party! 27 Mar 2010 3:36 PM (15 years ago)

Quite a few bloggers were in attendance, although many of the old-time bloggers did not show up this time. Lalo Telling and Snickers Snook dance together here.



UberFashionista Callie Cline showed up, but for some reason wore a "Happy New Year" hat. Had a late night, Callie?


NWN events reporter Chestnut Rau made an appearance. Why not, it's a big event!


SuperBuilder Anhalya Lycia somehow snuck into the event! There were at least 40 others in attendance, far too many to mention. Please come to the next event!

A Retail Experiment Concludes 21 Mar 2010 5:50 PM (15 years ago)

Some weeks ago I attempted to improve the in-store experience for my customers by reducing the number of visible textures. The theory was this: visitors appear at the teleport landing point, but their viewers are instantly overloaded by texture loads and their world is gray. You see, my store’s design concept is an open one that makes all items very easy to find because it’s mostly open to view.

The open concept worked at first, because I perceived an issue I had when shopping: some shops have far too many rooms, hallways and areas in which to look for items. It makes shopping nearly impossible for those in a rush, although some may find difficult shopping experiences fun. I wanted to avoid that situation, especially where customers don’t even see your products because they were in a room the customer never encountered. So I simply laid out all my items in easy to view locations. My first store had no ceiling and very few walls.

However, as the store grew and more products were added, the requirement for more textures (mainly on product boxes) continued to grow. It came to a point where a visitor would be faced with loading (albeit automatically) over 150 textures in order to see the store. Tracking software indicated some visitors would appear and then quickly leave. The obvious conclusion was that they were overwhelmed by the gray view and simply went somewhere else without shopping. Not good!

The experimental solution was to block off each of the store’s areas from general view, requiring shoppers to enter them before they could see the products and require texture loads. This way the store would become visible much faster and this should be a better experience for shoppers. I even placed helpful signs and arrows indicating where people should enter each area.

After weeks of running in this mode, I now conclude the texture load theory was wrong. While the store did come into view much faster when teleporting in, sales dropped off significantly. At first I took this to indicate a continuation of the degraded economy in general, but several friends (Amber, Haley and Marlee) suggested the visibly blocked store sections conveyed a different impression to shoppers - hidden products must be creepy! Since shopping is a very psychological matter, especially in SL, I thought there’s probably something to this theory.

Ten days ago I took down the obscuring walls to once again reveal the entire store to view. As expected, long texture load is now quite evident when teleporting in, but what would happen to sales? After ten days of “open” operation, I can safely say that sales are up significantly!

The conclusion? While texture rezzing performance is always important, the psychological factors that develop from the store’s visual appearance trump performance when it comes to shopping.

SL 2.0: Carnage and Cathedrals 9 Mar 2010 7:43 PM (15 years ago)

There’s a very disruptive change coming from the Real World and it’s going to hit Second Life later this year.

That’s my conclusion after thinking about the implications of the new SL Viewer 2.0 beta that’s been making its way into computers around the SL world for the past couple of weeks. Pieces of the master-plan jigsaw puzzle are coming together and The Lab’s strategy is now becoming much clearer. Let me explain.

Viewer 2.0 is part of a larger strategy for vastly expanding the scope of Second Life. We’ve heard their execs fancifully describe a future where they might have a million simultaneous residents, an unimaginably large number compared to today’s mere 80,000. As unbelievable as that number is, I think they’re not kidding.

To achieve this, they must have: even more compelling content to attract and retain more residents; the ability to hold more simultaneous residents per region; many more new residents; and a great first-hour experience to keep them once they arrive. Viewer 2.0 addresses several of these points, but not all of them.

While much has been written about the features of the new viewer for good or evil, there are two things that stand out above all the rest in my mind. First: Shared Media and Second: Mesh import. Yes, Mesh import has not yet been released, but The Lab has indicated they’ll be releasing it “later this year”. It’s my belief that these two features will change the landscape so utterly there will be a New Virtual Order.

Shared Media, if you haven’t heard, is the ability to bring web content directly into the Grid. At first glance this might appear to mean you can view your spreadsheet or powerpoint presentation in world. Perhaps you’ll watch a YouTube video. Yeah, that’s likely quite useful for some, but many residents question what value it could possibly do for them. Who needs spreadsheets, anyway?

My belief is that viewing plain old web pages, videos and documents are not the best use of this feature. Instead we’ll see a complete revolution in the control systems for in-world items. Gone will be those bush-league blue dialog boxes that make operating many virtual items terribly frustrating: makers must fit their system into only twelve identically ugly buttons, and this makes almost every complex item confusing to use.

Instead we will soon see the development of very professional control systems that are as beautiful and functional as you’d see on contemporary web pages - because they WILL BE web pages! And you can do this all from within LSL scripts. It's not about viewing YouTube on a prim - it's about using the maker’s easy-to-use web-like controls on a prim.

We’ll also see a flood of data entering and leaving the Grid via these new web interfaces, providing unimaginable capabilities. One simple very example: an in-world game with a terrific interface that you can also play outside the grid via the website - using the exact same interface! The applications that could be made are almost limitless. Let’s face it, the previous development environment was extremely primitive and it severely limited what creators could build. Many doors open with Shared Media, and The Lab is no doubt hoping for significant innovation.

Mesh Import is the ability to load existing 3D designs from the outside into the Grid, without having to tediously build things in-world with the rudimentary 3D tools provided. Sure, lots of amazing things have been built using them, but consider this: there are immensely powerful 3D modeling tools outside the Grid, used by tens of thousands of professional modelers to produce perhaps millions of incredibly detailed 3D models. These models, with a bit of tweaking, will soon be rapidly flowing into the Grid, and their quality will probably trump existing content. When word of the ability to convert these models into dollars gets out, I expect to see many new content developers arriving with vast libraries of amazing items.

There will be a great fog of skepticism throughout The Grid over whether these new features are good things. Many will say they have no use for them and question why they are being introduced when many other issues could be addressed instead. But I think they are necessary, even if we don’t know precisely what we’ll do with them. I think this because these are very powerful tools, and in the history of mankind powerful tools are always picked up by creative people to produce wonderful things. In the 1920’s skeptics said talking movies would be the end of film, and many asked why bother with sound at all? Were they right? The introduction of voice and many other innovations to film eventually made it possible for James Cameron to produce Avatar, an experience beyond the conception of a 1920’s filmgoer. Second Life must also innovate to take us to amazing place we can’t yet imagine.

What does this mean for existing makers? Generally it’s not good, because if you’re not a 3D model mesh importer or a web coder, you might have a hard time keeping up with amazing products made with the new techniques. Gadget makers in particular may be forced to convert their products to the new web interfaces simply to keep up with the competition - and that’s at best. At worst their products may simply become irrelevant if they are replaced by direct web content. Since most existing content makers are part-timers who might not have the time or training to make the transition, I’m expecting a large turnover in the maker population.

I anticipate two more developments: something to significantly increase server scalability and a broad advertising strategy to attract a very large number of new residents - and perhaps advertising specifically designed to attract new makers. We’ll see this advertising appear once all the elements of SL 2.0 are in place. They’ll all arrive on the Grid using Viewer 2.0, of course, since that’s a key part of the strategy. There will be a tidal wave of new residents and makers.

The new makers will build most energetically, while carnage awaits many existing makers. But when the smoke eventually clears, we’ll see a million residents, walking through the new cathedrals of an awesome virtual reality.

New Viewer, New Thinking 23 Feb 2010 9:35 AM (15 years ago)

I can now reveal that for the past few weeks, I’ve been a member of a very secret group that was invited to preview the much-anticipated new Second Life Viewer 2.0. Since the viewer was publicly announced today, I am now legally permitted to write about my experience.

I’ve been intensely interested in this topic; readers may recall my recent post detailing the complexity of the existing viewer. In the post I discovered the old viewer included a staggering 1,708 controls (or 3,792 if you enable the advanced menu). This is far more than any normal human can comprehend, and I believe a simplified viewer is a key element of any strategy to restore resident growth in Second Life.

You’re probably wondering what I think about our new viewer. To cut to the chase, I like it. I like it a lot. It’s similar to the old viewer, but new at the same time. Many things are organized differently and in my opinion, mostly in better ways. There are some terrific new features, but mostly it’s all about reorganizing the presentment of function.

Menus

Menus killed me in the old viewer, and I am very happy to report they are vastly simplified in the new viewer. Many items have been relocated to logical places, and it’s visibly far less complex. The first menu item, plainly labelled “Me” epitomizes the process of making a user-centric viewer. Under “Me”, you’ll find quick access to all aspects of your avatar.

The “Communicate” menu is similar and includes all appropriate items. One item that you’ll be certain to look for are the parcel audio controls, which are no longer on the bottom control bar - look for them instead under “Nearby Media”. It took me a while to realize that’s where they were, while suffering to undesirable loud Abba music. Initially I was annoyed at the time required for me to figure the location of this control, but once found it seems to make a lot of sense.


The Side Tray

The Side Tray will be where you spend the most time. It’s a series of tabby icons pasted on the right hand side of your screen. When you touch an icon, the relevant controls slide out from the right into your view. You can access a great many things from the tray, including inventory, friends, groups, profiles, etc. It’s all very consistently prepared, and once you “get” the icons, you’ll quickly zoom to and fro in the tray. One issue: when the tray opens, the entire screen view shifts to the left - including any HUDs that actually slide off the right hand side of your screen.

Preferences

Preferences seem to be somewhat simplified and it is less of a struggle to get things set up. I’ve kept most of the default settings so far, but if I wanted to change things, the preference options have been consolidated, making it simpler to locate settings.

Inventory

Surprisingly, the Inventory window itself is mostly unchanged. Yes, it’s found within the tray, but once you pull it out, it appears very familiar. This is one of my big disappointments with Viewer 2.0 - managing and using inventory is still a horrific task and it should be addressed in the future. On the other hand, residents will find their inventory management methods almost the same as before.


Messaging And Notifications

Instant messages, group notices, payments and inventory offers now use a different scheme. Gone is the familiar baby-blue box that appeared in the upper right corner of your screen. instead you see contemporary style notification boxes appearing at the bottom right of your screen with friendly “X”s to send them away. Clicking expands them to the right detail. I feel the new messaging scheme is mostly good, but because the system is not as prominent as the old blue box, important events don’t poke you in the eye as they once did. I find this change to be the most difficult to adjust to, as you’ll quickly see messages stacking up and icons flashing on the bottom bar. It’s taken me a couple of weeks, but I think I’m fine with it now.

Look And Feel

The color scheme is very dark, and it seems to match the new styling of the Second Life web homepage. While it is a consistent style, it sometimes makes things hard to read. I found certain types of local chat hard to read due to color contrast issues. I expect many will demand different skins.


Advanced Menu

The old viewer has a special “debug” mode that enables a secret menu from which you can access a large number of unusual features. I always enabled this menu in the old viewer, because there were things I really wanted to use that were found only on that menu. However, in my Viewer 2.0 experience so far I have not had to access any hidden features; a good sign for the design. For example, many people use the advanced menu to turn off that horribly annoying typing animation (set PlayTypingAdmin to OFF). The new viewer has replaced this as a simple ticky box in your preferences. The new viewer seems to have identified the popular hidden features and revealed them in more appropriate places. That said, the Advanced menu still exists, albeit somewhat simplified, if you really must have it.


Pictures

Taking snapshots was tricky in the old viewer as there were different ways to do it. The new viewer includes a very handy button at the bottom of the page that instantly captures images. Even better, the controls will easily layout the image in a variety of commonly requested formats and sizes.

Voice

For readers who use voice (and I do constantly), you’ll find Viewer 2.0 provides a superior voice experience. You will find yourself worrying less often about the “Talk” button, as the new Viewer correctly turns it off and on automatically most of the time, unlike the previous viewer. There’s a “Speak” button on the bottom bar that’s easy to use. Even better, according to Joe Linden, the new voice will soon include an automatic gain adjustment (e.g. quiet voices will be boosted and loudmouths will be moderated) and *hallelujah* automated echo reduction. This means those evil ones who play voice through their computer speakers will no longer destroy everyone’s audio experience. Thank You!

Amazing New Features

The new viewer includes a few new features, and my apologies, I have not spent much time using them:

• Shared Media is perhaps the biggest new feature, intended to replace the hokey mechanisms used today to view web pages, video and listen to audio on your parcel. You assign any URL to the face of a prim, and assuming the correct web plugins exist, it simply works. For example, in the top image, I’ve placed my URL on a box and I can use it just like a browser. Scrolling, clicks, etc. all work just fine. I’ve even watched YouTube movies! There is little doubt gadgets based on this tech will often replace the now-archaic parcel media. 
• No pie menu exists; instead you get a simple, hierarchical popup menu that I believe is faster and more flexible to use than the pie.
• Tattoo layers now exist for the head, upper torso and lower torso. This should make tats a little bit easier to use when wearing a complex set of clothes or attachments.
• In addition to Friends and Groups, you now have a Nearby tab as well. Very handy!
• Outfits are special folders that “point” at items to be worn all at once. This is very similar to existing protocols with one major difference: you don’t need extra copies of items, since you need only point at them. In other words, you can have no-copy items in more than one outfit!
• Navigation is quite different; the new viewer has a web-browser style of interface, where you can paste in SLURLs directly - and even use the Back button to return from where you came. This should be very familiar to new residents who know how to use a browser.

And there's much more I haven't mentioned.

My Expectations

I like this viewer. It may not have the dozens of minor added features cluttering some third party viewers and it is certainly not bug-free at this early stage (especially the slow texture load bug), but I strongly believe it’s heading in the right direction.

Nevertheless, I believe there will be a truly massive outcry against this viewer by almost everyone, because most people don’t like change. That said, I further believe that after a few weeks, most people will adjust to the new viewer and begin to like it. Because it IS much simpler to use. The only way to make things better is to change, and I think this is a good change.

How will the new viewer affect the Lab? I’ll save that for a future post.

Shady Effects 21 Feb 2010 6:37 PM (15 years ago)

I’ve decided to change the URL for my blog. From now on, you can use this URL:

http://5z8.info/facebook-of-sex_a1t5x__init_download

Wait, you ask - that URL looks just SLIGHTLY suspicious. And you’d be right. But do click on it. Really! It works!

I obtained the new URL from the hilarious ShadyURL service. It works like a URL shortening service, like Bit.ly or TinyURL.com, but with a difference: instead of providing a short URL for quick posting, it gives you a Shady URL. Really shady. They definitely work if clicked, but it takes courage to do so.  Did you click on that link above? Come on, try it!

As a service to the SL blog community, I’ve selected a few popular SL Blogs and ran them through the Shady URL service and obtained their new URLs. Click on them, if you dare:

Second Life Blogs http://blogs.secondlife.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/smut_g9x0o_turkeyporn

iHeartSL http://iheartsl.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/56-DEPLOY-TROJAN-287.mw9----_t0k4w_freeporn

New World Notes http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/ becomes
http://5z8.info/10101110010110101001_v0a9m_bomb-plans

Torley http://torley.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/hack-outlook_y7r2u_creditscore

SLFreestyle http://slfreestyle.blogspot.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/twitterhack_q8c7v_amazon.com-phish

KittyWitchin http://kittywitchin.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/the-most-dangerous-game_p0q9k_cats-being-dropped-into-the-sea

Ana Lutetia http://analutetia.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/killallimmigrants_r3p9m_this_persons_account_has_been_hacked

SecondStyle http://blog.secondstyle.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/hackwebcam_j1k3q_gain-inches

AlphaVille Herald http://foo.secondlifeherald.com/slh/ becomes
http://5z8.info/pornnow_m6o2r_amazon.com-phish

Shopping Cart Disco http://shoppingcartdisco.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/worm_v0b2p_hookers

Second Thoughts http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/hitler_y1f1y_getPersonalData-start

Gwyneth Llewelyn http://gwynethllewelyn.net/ becomes
http://5z8.info/amazon.com-phish_r0t2d_white-power-rides-upon-stallions-unstoppable

Dusan Writer http://dusanwriter.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/dogporn_r1o4h_stalin-will-rise-again

Tymmerie Thorne http://girlwonderspeaks.com/ becomes
http://5z8.info/molotovcocktail_m7f0y_how-to-skin-a-gerbil

All great fun. What's your new shady URL?

A Special Valentine Sale for Readers! 7 Feb 2010 1:33 PM (15 years ago)

Peek Into Second Life From The Web! 4 Feb 2010 6:17 PM (15 years ago)

That’s right - you can now go to a web page and view almost any location in Second Life!

I received a note from Chenin Anabuki, Founder and CEO of Avatrian, LLC, who’s built a new service that let’s you do exactly that. The service is quite simple to use:

• Go to http://www.avatrian.com/Peek360/index.php 
• Enter your region and coordinates, and type in a short description
• Enter your email address
• Hit “Send Request”

That's when the fun starts. The service sends a bot to the specified location, which slowly rotates taking pictures. The images are stored on Peek360's server, and then are melded together into a seamless 360 degree panorama. The panorama is loaded into a unique URL that is then sent to the email address you specified earlier. Then just hit the URL and you'll see your own panorama!

Some ideas for using the service:

• Show your non-SL friends at work what your virtual home or business looks like
• Email the link to relatives so they can see what you're up to in Second Life
• Check on your virtual premises while you're at RL work

I suppose spying is also an option, as you could send the bot to any public location at any time. So if you're up to no good and suddenly see "Pararazzi Artful" appear and slowly rotate, you'd better disappear quickly!

Discussing the iPad 1 Feb 2010 7:42 PM (15 years ago)

Last Sunday I had the opportunity to be a guest on Mitch Wagner's excellent Copper Robot podcast for a second time. On this occasion, I, along with Joe Linden (a.k.a. Joe Miller in Real Life), discussed the implications of Apple's latest announcement: the magical iPad.

Unlike most of the blogosphere, both Joe and I felt the device was going to be quite successful, if not a monstrous hit. Sure, it doesn't have this or that technical feature, but that's not what it's about. We believe the device is targeted at those who don't really use computers today, or as a secondary machine for folks with more powerful devices. The potential for interesting applications is truly huge, as it really hits an area that's not served very well today.

We puzzled over the lack of features, such as a camera, or the aspect ratio and tried to rationalize them. But in the end it's just the first version of probably a long line of more advanced devices. I spoke of the sensual feel of the device. Well, at least I suspect it has one, since I have a MacBook Air that seems similar.

There was a tiny bit of Second Life content in the podcast. Host Mitch asked Joe whether SL will show up on the iPad. Of course, Joe could not reveal any of Linden Lab's secret plans, but did indicate there are at least two existing iPhone apps which will no doubt work seamlessly on the new device.

Another very interesting tidbit from Joe spoke of new audio features in Viewer 2.0 voice: automatic echo  cancellation and automatic gain adjustment. What do those mean, you ask? Echo cancellation is the elimination of echos that come from someone who's microphone picks up sounds out of their own speakers and sends them back to everyone else. Very annoying indeed, except for the perp, who doesn't hear the echoes! Automatic gain adjustment will place the audio levels at the right amount - in other words the loud folks will be brought down and the quiet folks will be brought up a bit. These two changes should change voice in a significant and positive way.

The podcast has not yet been published, but you can watch for it at Copper Robot.

It turned out that I was the only non-metallic guest, and was sandwiched between the two robots as you can see in the image above. Who's the pretty girl? That's Callie Cline, who insisted upon getting her photograph taken with some ultra geeks.

No Clean Feed 25 Jan 2010 6:58 PM (15 years ago)

Imagine - you turn on your computer and begin surfing. But the website you just tried to visit is "not available". You try another, and it's not available, either. It seems that your access is being controlled, and you are only permitted to view certain websites. You decide to be devious, and ferret out secret websites that contain the information you desire. They are found by whispers, and exist only temporarily. But that's taking a big risk - the authorities might trace the access back to you. They may come for you. In the dark of the night.

Frightening. But where is this scene taking place? North Korea? China? Saudi Arabia? Possibly, but that's not the one I'm concerned about today.

It's happening in Australia.

That's correct. The vast southern democracy, otherwise so similar to the west, has somehow decided to erect a "Great Wall of Australia" to protect it from perceived Internet dangers. But in effect it could be more or less identical in form to the "Great Wall of China" that censors their citizens' access to the Internet.

For reasons unknown to me and apparently many Australians, that country is about to do the same. This will not only introduce censorship, but also a means of control the could be terribly mis-used in the future. And it probably will slow things down a lot, too. Innovation, free speech and the flow of ideas will be hampered in a world where such things are essential for progress and development. The worst part is, it won't really achieve what it's intended to do - and it will cost all Australians to create and maintain it.

I would never erect such a wall, and so I've decided to make a statement about it here. I don't live in Australia, but I do support those who oppose the proposed Great Wall. For this week I've changed my Twitter and Plurk profile pics to the above to participate in a worldwide protest against the Australian plan. If you support free access to the Internet, I ask you to read more here and here and participate by following the instructions found right here to change your profile, too. 

Long Live Free Access.