Syndicating the Second Life blogosphere
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second LifeWe will be deploying server version 1.23 to Second Life in a rolling restart next week, following the schedule:
Each region will be down for about 10 minutes; regions will receive warnings starting 5 minutes before they are restarted. If your region stays down for more than 20 or 30 minutes, please contact support. There is no way to delay the restart of any given region. No client upgrades will be needed as a result of this rolling restart.
Please help us ensure this code is as bug-free as possible! Test this code on the Preview Grid.
The code to be deployed to Second Life is currently available on the “Second Life Beta Server” channel of the Preview Grid. If you wish to test the changes, and make sure that your objects or scripts work properly, follow the instructions for logging in to the Preview Grid. The new server version is 1.23, and is on regions in the “Second Life Beta Server” channel; other regions on the Preview Grid If you find any problems, first make sure that you are in fact testing the new version; the above-linked Wiki page on about the Preview Grid instructions for figuring out the channel of the version you are in. Please report any problems or issues you find using our Issue tracker. Report the issue as a Server issue (SVC), and tag it as an issue with version 1.23.
Below is a list of the changes that are introduced with this server version:
I had to admit I gave a giggle when I spotted this number on SLX. Not a total snicker, but OMG It’s got a scarf at the shoulder and bell bottom swishy sheer legs. Uber fun! It includes SKIN, and several different hair colors. I’m not wearing the skin, it was more pale than I care for but it was stars and stripes forever, I promise you that! It was a lot of fun but I opted to break out Hatchy’s USA FLAG skin instead.
If you do not win the best in red white and blue contest in this outfit, then the contest was RIGGED I TELL YOU!
Click here to continue reading on It’s Only Fashion and for the freebie link
As part of our festivities, I was just on a panel alongside Kate Linden (moderator), Jeremy Linden, and Dimitrio Lewis discussing with our appreciated audience.
What about? One of my fave focuses in Second Life… Community Enlightenment — sharing and spreading knowledge to make your SL better!
From the Knowledge Base to the Wiki to those Video Tutorials, it RULES when answers to your questions exist… but SUCKS when you can’t find them. That’s what we’re here for.
Read the transcript, check out the links, and if you’re Stateside or honorarily so, have an independent weekend!
-Torley Linden 
R to the E to the M! POWER TO YOUR CREATION!
… and stay tuned for more KB Article and Video Tip awesomeness…
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
There’s nothing like a storm starting just as you leave the office to catch a bus home after working late into the evening to bring on a pity party. Fortunately, my outfit was just too cute for pity. Combining Honey Kitty and Schaudenfreude (just love that combination of words), I felt almost perky about the rain. I was wearing the brown Revenant outfit from Schaudenfreude, which makes up the skirt and corset here. The blouse was a lovely light brown, sleeveless top, but it had a skull pin at the neck. I just am not into skulls for clothing except maybe on Halloween, so I decided to wear another blouse. I had this delicious cream blouse from Honey Kitty in my closet - a blouse with loving attention to detail on the collar and cuff prims.
For more photos and style notes, see It’s Only Fashion.
The Unanswerable Questions:
Why do silly humans sleep at night, immerse themselves in water, and turn up their indelicate noses at raw meat? (despite a few enlightened ones who make an exception for sushi… cat rest your souls).
The Answerable Questions:
More importantly, what inspires the birth of a Neko in Second Life? How does an aspiring Neko uncover the velvety underbelly of Second Life Nekoism — be it whiskers, etiquette, couture, roleplay, or genre — while discovering the best dark alleys or cozy perches along the way? Where do Nekos roam for fashion, passion and amusement in Second Life?
Saunter on over to my new Virtual Neko blog and let’s start finding out together…
=^..^=
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second LifeJudge built a button, and placed it on IBM 7 at Wimbledon. He keeps telling people not to press it. (just saying)
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second LifeHi everybody! =)
Yes, i’m still alive and around ;)
I’m trying to be on more, but some of that time I won’t be talking much ;) Seems I’ve found myself a Dom, and he’s putting me through my paces and I’m experiencing a bunch of things you guys’re all used to with the RLV now.. Whew.. That thing should win some kind of award! Anyhow, I missed you guys and I’m glad to be back ‘in touch’, and with Vel’s new blog being so cute *points* and Lex being nice enough to keep in touch here while she’s out of touch.. I figured I should post something =)
*waves a lot* Hi everyone =)
crossposted to BISC104 in Second Life
crossposted to BISC104 in Second LifeToday we are releasing a new Release Candidate, 1.20 RC12. If you have already been using the Release Candidate (RC11), you will be required to update to RC12 with the latest bug fixes. But, the Release Candidate is always an optional series of viewers that you may choose not to use — or use side by side on your computer with the main viewer which is always offered on our Downloads page (or get.secondlife.com).
As I mentioned in the last RC announcement, we are currently developing code which will enable you to switch the User Interface between the classic grey color or a lighter Dazzle theme (as requested in VWR-5059). But this feature is not yet tested and ready to be released. In the meantime… we are releasing RC12 with the thread monitoring “watchdog” again disabled. Also, we have also eliminated the proposed change to Snapshot behavior that appeared in RC6– in which Uploading a Snapshot would crop your screen to enforce a powers-of-two dimensions.
Please continue to report any new issues in the Issue Tracker and be sure to set “Affects Version/s” to “1.20 Release Candidate”.
To get started with the new Release Candidate, visit the Test Viewers download page (Note: use the links at bottom of page, under Test Viewers)!
Release Notes for Second Life 1.20(12) July 2nd, 2008
=====================================
Fixes:
* Fixed: VWR-7178: ‘Upload a snapshot’ cannot take full screen snapshot; limited to square images
* Fixed: Allow the –set option to be specified multiple times on the command line
* Fixed: Disable the thread monitoring (watchdog) in settings again for the Release Candidate
Localization Fixes:
* Fixed: VWR-7086: floater_buy_land.xml still contains messages regarding First Land
In a world haunted by walled gardens and proprietary software and devices, the promise of open source and interoperability shines like a bright light (not the finest metaphor, but it serves it purpose).
Adam Broitman (http://amediacirc.us/2007/12/13/and-the-openness-2008-award-goes-to/)
“free” items seem to have a “final” and “consumerist” utility–its utility ends upon its “consumption;” whereas “open” items are constantly evolving–their usefulness transforms and adapts to new situations and scenarios.
Eloh Eliot (http://eloheliot.blogspot.com/2007/12/open-versus-free.html)
“Through my content creation process, I’ve come across many frustrations, many of it includes reliable resources for new residents, reliable resources for content creation, and clear help for many questions for Second Life… As a content creator, I feel that content should be accessible to everyone. While freebies are used primarily for marketing and promotional intentions, I would like to take it a bit further.”
Nexeus Fatale (http://www.nexeusfatale.com/journal/my-new-approach-to-second-life/)
These three quotes explain the core motivation for my new project The Avaverse. There is a plethora of open content available in many forms such as open source software, podsafe music, and Creative Common’s Attribution license. Open software and content aids in all expansion of the web by allowing consumer consumption, the creation of new developer tools, and access for hobbyists to learn new items. It also makes the web more accessible to new users and creates new forms of participation. While open has its benefits, many are still hesitant to the idea, open source seems to be synonymous with free including free’s lack of consumer utility. Open source can be an income generator; Wordpress and the recent purchase of MySQL by Sun Microsystems are examples of how open source software can be used as a legitimate business model. These applications have helped transform the Internet, the way business is conducted online, and the ability to develop new, useable, cross platform applications, and to help create a more usable web.
The Concept
Second Life is an area that has major conflicts with “open”. While the Second Life viewer is open source, and there are open-source scripts or applications, there are little or none open content. The Second Life permission system is, at best, rudimentary and would be best replaced by a Creative Content like system. There’s also free content and pay-to-use however you like, these items exist largely in the Second Life world and don’t transfer outside of Second Life well, or at all. With the continuing problems of Intellectual Property Theft, the continued hysteria of content thievery, and a hodgepodge of resources on content creation, it becomes very hard to find reliable multiplatform content, to create new items using more [...]
In the spirit of Second Life, M Linden was on hand to answer questions in text chat on Teen Second Life!
Our Teen Residents’ enthusiasm is irrepressible. Upon our gathering at the TSL BIRTHDAY region, we were swamped in excited IMs, friendship offers, and bear requests! Numerous teens simply could not help but express their enthusiasm out loud.
If you missed it or are simply curious, here’s the chat transcript. M and moderators Blue and Mia have been colored for ease-of-reading. Enjoy!
by Brad Reason/DJ Doubledown (noreply@blogger.com) at July 03, 2008 08:25 PM
Although my decorating preferences run to architectural detailing and monochromatic color schemes rather than flamboyance or over-accessorizing, the fact that my name is “Diva” should tell you something. In my view, “tasteful” is not a synonym for “overly-cautious”. One of the benefits of an overall simplicity of style is the “ka-pow!” that a terrific decorative item can bring to the mixture.
This gorgeous piece is the Genghis Kahn sideboard by SkyeRyder Varriale. I am entranced by the thought of placing this in a dim dining room, surrounded by stone walls in taupe tones with plenty of candlelight. This is the kind of design that could create a focal point and color scheme for an entire room.
Skye and her partners are the developers of the Coeur sims, a recollection of France at its finest. This lovely shop, Varriale Designs, is on Provence Coeur. It deserves a visit.
AdAge has our CEO Reuben’s latest blog post up and it has provoked a lively discussion. “Has the internet failed to create stories? I think it has (and often begin my presentations by throwing down this gauntlet). Let me explain….”
(more…)
crossposted to babygravesWhile I was on my wonderful vacation in Great Britain I got the wild idea to pick up a little notebook. I used it to jot down things that I found of interest. You know - turns of phrase, colloquialisms, verbal oddities. Things that made me go hmmmm really.
"Manky"
________________________________
"Manky" - gross
When your food "goes off" it starts to get all manky.
"The Adventures of Dolmere Talamasca" - "Different-yet-the-same continued - Manky" »
A huge explosion marks the end of a smugglers' complex somewhere in Lirsautton space. Actually, it's deadspace - special areas for missions, only accessible to those involved in the mission.
Blowing up stuff in deadspace can yield some nice visuals, even with the relatively limited ATI card in my laptop.
Something for everyone today! M will make his appearance on the Teen Grid at 11am. Author Tom Boellstorff will be discussing his new book on SL5B Linked at 12pm SLT and there will be a Community Enlightenment roundtable at 3pm SLT, also on SL5B Linked.
M will be addressing teens in TSL, recognizing the great work they’ve been doing as well as organizations like Global Kids. Moderated by Blue Linden, he’ll also be answering some of their questions and concerns about TSL. The session will be done in chat, and transcripts will be made available as soon as possible
‘Coming of Age in Second Life’ shows how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Bringing anthropology into territory never before studied, Tom Boellstorff’s book demonstrates that in some ways humans have always been virtual, and that virtual worlds in all their rich complexity build upon a human capacity for culture that is as old as humanity itself.
Second Life is full of features and services ready to be explored. Our panel, which is a mixture of Lindens and Residents, will introduce information about Groups, Content Creation, as well as Educational Resources and how they relate. Join our casual gathering of Q&A and enhance your in-world experience.
As always, the full schedule is available on wiki
We have just released two new animated pose from the Super Hot range. Its simple, yet sexy and classy for you to burn up the runway. The new pose is in the vendor on the left of the elevator with the rest of the Super Hot Items.
We have been busy with a new range of Super Hot poses that will be previewed in many shows taking place around the grid, including the Wedding Show and numerous SL5B fashion Shows. Be the first to try them out on the “coming soon” stand at the middle of the store. News of when these wlll be released will be announcd via our beta testing group and our user group.
Freebie - This week, we have a new pose freebie in the centre of the store. Come over and find out.
We are also looking for capable sales managers and marketing people. If you are interested, please send me an IM for an interview. Previous SL or RL experience is required.
This week we will be working on some exciting new poses that we hope to release next week, so stay tuned. Until the next release, enjoy!
http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ischia/194/108/25
It seems there is to be some kind of an announcement by Linden Lab at the end of the fith birthday celebrations of Second Life (that would be July 7). On Dusan’s Writer Metaverse I read about a shocking discovery:
The following is embedded in the source code of a blank page:
“placeholer page for XBOX, PS3, and iPhone versions of client when they launch next real soon now”
I went to have a look for myself, hours later, and only found ‘placeholder for search’.
Do not despair however. The Metaverse Journal announces that some progress is being made on a mobile client for virtual worlds - Aqros (across). Second Life is the focus of the initial development, with Aqros up to its first beta version.
The source of this information is Dr. Yesha Sivan, who writes about this development on his blog DrYesha.
All observers seem to agree that it is far from certain that Linden Lab is anywhere near a launch of Second Life on game consoles or on let’s say the iPhone. But the idea is interesting of course, just imagine the potential audience. As far as the mobile Second Life is concerned, imagine the effect on the hardcore residents. Allthough premium Second Life accounts shrank in the year to May 2008, total user hours climbed by more than 50 percent. The interpretation by the Reuters journalist in Second Life:
The data suggests that while Second Life is failing to attract to new users, existing customers find the virtual world more engaging than ever, spending ever-greater amounts of time there.
I think that by becoming available on consoles and on mobile phones, this virtual world could attract new users and also make the existing users spend even more hours in-world. As Dusan Writer says: “Fun to dream anyways”.
Roland Legrand
posted by Gidge Uriza
French Elegance designer Myshail shows us that the Marquis de Lafayette isn’t the only one who loves a little American Revolution action. She’s set up a lovely gazebo of July 4 themed complete outfits- INCLUDING blingy fun shoes!
This outfit features a sweet flexi skirt with a stylized American flag design and solid color tanks depending on which one you pick up. These shoes and classic and perfect for this bright summer ensemble.
click here to continue reading on It’s Only Fashion!
Some Resis have asked whether I’d be doing an event during Second Life’s 5th Birthday (SL5B). Yes, indeed I am!
Alongside Kate and Jeremy Linden (of our Documentation Team) and some of our Residents, we’re hosting a Community Enlightenment panel at the SL5B Linked stage, pictured above. It happens TODAY (2008-07-03) @ 3 PM PDT.
Description from the panels event list:
Second Life is full of features and services ready to be explored. Our panel will introduce information about Groups, Content Creation, as well as Educational Resources and how they relate. Join our casual gathering of Q&A and enhance your in-world experience.
It’ll be in text chat. Bring your questions, including your curiosities about video tutorials. You know I always love those!
Two days ago, RightAsRain Rimbaud of UK based Rezzable announced something that should have sent shock waves through the SL blogs, but surprisingly has only been picked up by one major blog so far: paid admission to the Black Swan sim.
With immediate effect, you have to buy (and wear) a device for 199 L$ in order to visit Black Swan. The device allows permanent access to the sim - if you don't wear it, sentry drones hovering around Black Swan will eject you. RightAsRain said paid admission in Black Swan is a test run and might be implemented in other Rezzable sims, and in fact the drones hovering above the sims are a familiar sight for visitors of sims like Surfline.
The 199 L$ are not a large sum of money for me, and certainly money well spent to see the truly magnificent creations of Black Swan. For Surfline, on the other hand, while being one of my favorite places, I would not spend the money. And also not for Crimson Shadow which - apart from being a stunning build - is predominantly a shop.
What strikes me as odd - and concerns me to a degree - is that this move on behalf of Rezzable has DESPERATION written all over it.
I still remember the early days of Rezzable. Beautiful sims started to appear, and its creators hid under a veil of secrecy. Residents speculated about the purpose, while enjoying the barely-seen-before wonders. Slowly, the veil got lifted, but still there was no apparent business model recognizable. The most likely explanation was that they were building an impressive showcase in order to acquire corporate clients for custom built sims. Well, maybe I have lived under an SL rock, but no corporate account brought in-world by Rezzable comes to mind. In fact, RightAsRain Rimaud even explicitly named L'Oreal as a corporate account that pulled out from sponsoring Rezzable.
Yes, after a certain time, we saw a little commerce going on on Rezzable sims. Some clothing on Surfline and Crimson Shadow, or the availability to purchase statues and miniatures of exhibits. Certainly nothing to sustain Rezzable as a company. And now the admittance fee to Black Swan. So let's do the math. Rezzable has at least 25 sims. Even after the reduced pricing of late, this will amount to some 7500 US$ on island tier alone. Per month. Throw in staff and office locations in RL, to end up with a very significant monthly cost - and no apparent business model to generate revenue.
Enter the admittance fee. Traffic in SL is an issue on its own, so let's just speculate. I think it is safe to assume that Black Swan attracts 100 visitors a day, which makes 700 per week or 2800 for the month (let's disregard repeat visitors for the moment). Those 2800 visitors multiplied by 199 L$ for the admission fee leaves Rezzable with a comfortable 1500 US$ revenue, enough to pay the tier of 6 sims. But there is a flaw in the calculation. Several flaws indeed. Flaw number one is repeat visitors. I personally was probably 10 times or more on Black Swan, and a lot of my friends visited multiple times as well. For the sake of this example let's assume 10% repeat visitors. Then there is a lot of people who can simply not afford the 199 L$ admittance. Half a year ago, I would have thought it over several times before spending that money. So let's assume 1/3 of people who CAN'T pay the fee. And certainly a number of people who have the standpoint that sims in SL should be free and therefore refuse to pay the cover charge. Let's assume another third of those. [...]
by Peter Stindberg (noreply@blogger.com) at July 03, 2008 04:33 PM
Second Spaces has updated the series of blog posts to highlight ‘The Top 12 Places You Should Know About If You Have a SL Home’, as decided by Elle Kirshner. 
Go see the newest post, highlighting CAS by Casandra Jackson. Hungry??
Since I’ve read through PHP Objects, Patterns and Principles (2nd Edition)
The overall result was an Excellent.
Obviously, I need to read up on database access- though with things moving towards PDO I’m unsure as to how much effort I should put into non-PDO database access.
Again, I need to improve my knowledge of streams & network programming with PHP, though with a Pass, I may just need to find a project to do that uses streams & network programming as opposed to doing intense research.
XML & Web Services is the only thing I lost ground on, so that’ll be another thing to read up on.
It seems my theory regarding my previous failure on PHP4/5 Differences was correct- I’ve been working exclusively in PHP5 when creating new code, with most of the 3rd-party code I work with consisting mostly of PHP4.
A slice of cool, fresh watermelon is a juicy way to top off a Fourth of July cookout and one that researchers say has effects similar to Viagra - but don't necessarily expect it to keep the fireworks all night long. Watermelons contain an ingredient called citrulline that can trigger production of a compound that helps relax the body's blood vessels, similar to what happens when a man takes Viagra, said scientists in Texas, one of the nation's top producers of the seedless variety. Found in the flesh and rind of watermelons, citrulline reacts with the body's enzymes when consumed in large quantities and is changed into arginine, an amino acid that benefits the heart and the circulatory and immune systems. "Arginine boosts nitric oxide, which relaxes blood vessels, the same basic effect that Viagra has, to treat erectile dysfunction and maybe even prevent it," said Bhimu Patil, a researcher and director of Texas A&M's Fruit and Vegetable Improvement Center. "Watermelon may not be as organ-specific as Viagra, but it's a great way to relax blood vessels without any drug side effects."Torley's giving a community talk thingy at three today on the SL5B sims. I'm hoping to catch as much of it as possible, barring another last-minute work meeting or disaster with METRO routes.
It's my mutha&%$*ing 39th birthday, folks!
In between coordinating a virtual fossil dig and heading to Cali for a family wedding, I haven't had any time to plan anything for my birthday, unfortunately. I'm hoping to rally the troops for some dance outing next weekend, though.
Meanwhile, here's some reasons why I'm not getting older, I'm just getting bad ass-er:
Seriously, I feel so grateful for being given another year of a wonderful, rich life, and looking forward to what's to come.
[Photo Credit: Cliff Weissman]
One (of many) kewl things in Second Life is print media can be enlarged so it’s bigger than an SUV. Witness my wife and I, standing atop a copy of the July 2008 issue of The BEST of SL, for which I was interviewed by Cherie Parker and photographed by Keiko Morigi.
Get the magazine inworld, I’m on the cover. I talked at length, so I’m sure it was a challenge to transcribe my run-on sentences which are allergic to punctuation… thanks for enduring, Cherie, and good news, everybody! Thanx to Cherie Parker and Fricker Fraker, there’s an audio recording.
It was a very fun time! Cherie exuded passion and did her research (OMG). I smiled when she referenced the Torley Council, as I’ve had lacking experiences with people claiming to be interested in me and Second Life and didn’t even do basic fact-checking. Those suck.
One of the best parts of this interview was when avatar-friends began teleporting in to listen and hang out; it was surreal and delightful to sit at the table while this all transpired. It reminded me of the spontaneous, social nature of SL.
My interview is seguewayed by Cherie’s Forward Thinking and begins on page #106, with lots of related pictures. The emag interface is somewhat difficult to navigate and I couldn’t find a way to select-by-article, so try this:
(I wish inworld textures loaded as fast as images in a web browser, too!)
Originally planned to be held at the 'Church of Greenies' SL5 ' disastrous' B, unable to take place because of constantly crashing birthday sims, then ported to the Greenies Home Kitchen Table for a small but loyal and enthusiast public and eventually 'reperformed' at the new Greenies Lawn for a broad public of dedicated Greenies Believers, skill full virtu
Okay, well... um... crazier.
Spence Wilder has been working up a crazy set for the clocktower, and we're pulling the trigger on Monday July 21 at 5PM.
So my wishlist for the tower's rotation is: Dolmere, Spence, Etherian, Charles, SRV/Acidloop, Komuso, Lyndon.
Energy. Madness. Wild kinda crazy/funny.
Folks that see the place and fireworks of weird go off in their minds.
Throw in Michelle and Paper Scott, and some Phil Rossi when he's in the mood to mix it up.I thought I'd mention, that as I'm broadening the horizons of this blog, I'm also going through anti-depression medication withdrawl. It sucks...so I turn to youtube. Over the next week or so, I'll probably post a youtube video that I find hilarious, and also fitting with my current state of mind.
by Brad Reason/DJ Doubledown (noreply@blogger.com) at July 03, 2008 02:38 PM
In honor of all the drama that swirls on the blogs and in-game, I present to you “Drama Queens”. This is my latest pose pack and also perhaps my favorite one so far. Let’s face it, we will never get away from drama in our SLives, so why not embrace it and look fabulous doing it? 
In order from left to right:
Marlene Dietrich
Bette Davis
Joan Crawford
Betty Grable
Ginger Rogers
Ann Margaret
Suzanne Pleshette
Natalie Wood
Jane Fonda
Lana Turner
Come on, you know secretly down deep you wanna be a drama queen.
Striking Poses Store
ShopOnrez Storefront
SL Exchange Store
Striking Poses Blog
Striking Poses Flickr Group
by noreply@blogger.com (caLLie cLine) at July 03, 2008 12:51 PM
