New World Notes

Why Katharine Quit: Teen Second Life's prodigy explains exit from Teen Second Life

Last July, an unassuming British girl named Katharine Berry created AjaxLife, Second Life's first Web-based viewer, beating several real world companies (as here and here) to that goal by many months.  Her offhand innovation was widely blogged (as here, on Boing Boing), and it's not an exaggeration to say that what Katharine created substantially changed the entire Internet industry's perspective of Second Life as an online world, and a business.  (My reasons for saying so here.)  For all the Lindens' efforts back then, it was not chiefly them, but this 15 year old member of Teen Second Life, who kept the world relevant.  (At a time when so many were apt to dismiss it, no less.)  It's not surprising, then, that the Lindens recently flew her to San Francisco to attend a user feedback session, and also presented her with an Innovation Award honorable mention.

What is surprising, perhaps, is what Katharine Berry just announced on her blog:  she's leaving Teen Second Life.  Work on AjaxLife will continue, but she'll no longer be part of the world her software provides access to.  "Linden Lab continues to neglect the Teen Grid," she wrote there, listing her reasons, "[and] I actually can’t afford the extra 17.5% due to VAT."  (With no advance warning via anonymous e-mail, the Lindens recently imposed the EU's Value Added Tax on European Residents, sending economic and cultural shockwaves through the entire Second Life community.)

Her announcement was so surprising, the loss of her presence so staggering, I contacted Katharine to explain further.  She replied in detail with a set of reasons that might also explain another mystery: the unbelievably low population of Teen Second Life, while other teen-centric online worlds are so huge.

"Since the list of problems probably makes little sense outside the Teen grid," Katharine Berry began, "I shall expand slightly on my points. With screenshots, because I like those."  Katharine's illustrated essay (lightly edited by me) followed:

Open Forum: What are the big SL events this Halloween?

Post descriptions, times, and SLURLs here!  Also, Akela Talamasca of SLI has done some excellent wolf scouting for spooky locales:  a cobwebbed Straylight, a haunted manor, and an interactive tribute to Poe's classic "Masque of the Red Death", all with teleport links.  And, of course, there's Jimmy Thompson's Crimson Shadows.

Updates, 4:40pm, 5:48pm: 

- Need last-minute free Halloween gear?  Moo Money has a handy list of items.
- Starting at 7pm SLT tonight, entries in the third annual beloved, bedraggled Ed Wood Machinima Festival  will be screened for public enjoyment and mockery.  Even details and teleport at this link.

- Wanna see something spooky?  Sculptie expert Qarl Linden points us to Black Swan, featuring Light Waves' eerie statues, which Qarl dubs "one of the best uses of sculptie prims I've yet seen."  Direct teleport at this link.

Model Camper: Free money site adds ironic new twist to camping chairs

When Tateru and I began our search for genuinely popular communities in Second Life, free from camping chairs, we briefly scratched our heads over Puerto Banus, a place that's consistently crowded and in the Lindens' Top Twenty sites by foot traffic.  On my first visit, I saw dozens of fashion models striding along a row of catwalks in a kind of fantasia Miami Beach locale.  Must be big hangout with fashionistas, I thought, and teleported off.

Tateru wasn't as amazed: "It's just camping chairs."

I went back to double check, and so they were. The Residents weren't roleplaying models: they were fixed to an animation embedded in the floorboards, which was making their avatars automatically sashay across the catwalk like so many Tyra Banks marionettes.

Conversation Starter: Recent discussions in New World Notes

There's been some provocative conversations bubbling up in recent NWN posts, maybe worth joining in, definitely worth a look:

- Is the check in the mail, and if not, why not? If you're a metaverse developer or just contract for one, you should absolutely read this back-and-forth between several leaders in the biz, on the challenges with paying Second Life developers for their work.

- What is a "mixed reality site", anyway? Commenting on this blog's weekly Mixed Reality Headcount of Second Life locations sponsored by real world companies (as opposed to grassroots sites from unsponsoored Residents) Gwyneth forcefully makes a case for erasing that distinction.  Do you agree?  Register your own opinion.

Open Forum: What's the state of Linden-to-Resident communications?

Opinion Polls & Market Research

In recent weeks, I've often found myself talking about this subject, both with Residents and Lindens, current and alumni like myself, so I wanted to launch this open forum and survey, to let readers offer their own opinions.  Poll runs for the next week; please explain and discuss your selection in Comments.  I'll forward the results to the Lindens, to seek their official response.

Protest on IBM's SL campus causes exit of top IBM exec?

In late September, IBM's vast Second Life campus was inundated by an international coalition of labor union supporters, who arrived as avatars to protest a paycut levied against staffers in the company's Italy division.  (Among them, a pro-labor banana and at least two off-message geometric shapes.)  In recent days, there seems to be movement in the situation:  reports have confirmed that IBM Italy CEO Andrea Pontremoli has resigned his post.  In an announcement last week, protest organizer UniGlobal Union claims IBM has returned to the bargaining table, and describes Pontremoli's departure as a direct result of their Second Life action:

Griefing Dilbert: Famed cartoonist invites fans, groin kicks to October 30th SL appearance

At this point, I'm going to say that Scott Adams, creator of the blockbuster Dilbert comic, is very likely the most famous author to understand Second Life at an essential level. 

Why?  Because here's how he invites fans to his Second Life appearance tomorrow (i.e., Tuesday the 30th) at 6pm SLT:

I took digital photos of my head from all angles and had it turned into a 3-D character, called an avatar. I’ll be on stage answering questions in a public forum in Second Life tomorrow night. Each person will have a chance to come on stage and literally kick my avatar in the nuts... So you could be, for example, a giant squirrel. And if your spouse asks you why you are late for dinner, just say, “I’m a giant squirrel, and I’m kicking that cartoonist guy in the nuts.” For once, it will be true.

Not William Gibson, and certainly not Neal Stephenson.  As it turns out, it's the cartoonist who invented Catbert and Elbonia that understands the dizzy freeform possibilities of SL most.  Him, or perhaps Judge Richard Posner, who also engaged a giant squirrel with equal good cheer. 

At any rate, details on attending Adams' SL appearance to promote his latest book available at his blog.

Tateru Nino's Mixed Reality Headcount: Top 10* Corporate Sites in Second Life

How well did RL corporate sites engage SL's community?  Tateru counts heads...

Site	Est avg hourly visits	Est avg hourly visits (peak hrs)	Estimated total weekly visits
The Pond	65	32	10,920 (stable)
IBM	43	48	7,272 (up 10.58%)
The L Word	29	33	4,944 (down 4.41%)
Pontiac	27	23	4,656 (up 9.30%)
Greenies Home	25	31	4,344 (stable)
Playboy	21	32	3,684 (up 35.24%)
Virtual Holland	21	37	3,648 (up 41.40%)
The Weather Channel	17	21	2,976 (up 5.08%)
Nissan	15	12	2,652 (up 6.76%)
Sun Microsystems	11	15	2,004 (down 10.22%)

CSI:NY crime scene attracts thousands of investigators; Armani deemed unfashionable

With all the recent fuss about CBS' CSI:NY and their huge commitment to Second Life, as produced by the Electric Sheep Company, you might wonder if you're going to see them on the charts. The short answer is no. The slightly longer answer is that they have over 100 regions, and the counting process at the moment is manual. It's just impractical to tally them.  However, keen observers report that maximum concurrency for the CSI sims for their opening day was somewhere around 1,200, during East coast peak times. (The number was obtained by eyeballing CSI simulators, so is only approximate.) We're waiting on the final official tally, but considering there's at least 55 CSI game sims and assuming hour long visits each a day in those regions, it could potentially be up to 52,800 visits a day.  But probably much less.

Why?  Well, Second Life registrations as much as doubled from CSI's opening day on Wednesday through to Sunday with an extra 107,000 or so signups, but given past history, we only expect that 15-20% of those will make it through orientation, and into CSI's game sims. Not all of that 107K bump is attributable to CSI, by the way: there's been extra Second Life publicity in the New York Post (lawsuits), and other media tie-ins in the same period (The Office). Coupled with some grid problems and service outages after the CSI episode aired, the whole picture muddies considerably. In any case, we'll be contacting the Sheep and CBS to see if we can obtain more specific numbers. Smart money says they've been keeping a close eye on actual attendance.

Armani is synonymous with quality craftsmanship, fashion and style. Except in Second Life, anyway, where it's being eclipsed by the work of ordinary people. Compared to fashion emporiums created by average Residents, Armani's Second Life presence and Second Life products look positively pedestrian. New World Notes contributor Iris Ophelia turned a withering gaze on the Armani offering, and I wasn't much kinder myself-- nor were others it seems.

Consequently, Armani's Second Life presence attracted just 168 estimated visits this week; not rock bottom, saved only by Comcast which scored a mere 96. Even British sports apparel brand Reebok at 288 visits managed better. It's a long, long way to the top ten. I'm not sure Armani can even see it from down there.

Coming up - one of our corporates is closing their Second Life presence; Playboy still on the bounce.

Machinima master Robbie Dingo becomes Millions' first artist-in-residence

This is another lovely machinima from Robbie Dingo, inaugurating a lovely program: New World Notes'  partner Millions of Us just named Robbie its first "Artist-in-Residence", sponsoring his amazing SL-based creativity.  Like his classic "Watch the World(s)", which recast a Von Gogh masterpiece into Second Life, Robbie's "Meteors" is also about imagination realized into substance.  The gorgeously ethereal music is from KFH Pooraka, a renowned singer in both SL and RL, and the talk of the last Second Life Community Convention-- her real life site here.  There's an inexhaustible pool of talented Second Life artists and innovators who deserve patronage, so I'm very proud that my SL partner is behind this program; I hope other real world companies launch related initiatives, too.  More info on Millions' program (including application details) at this link.

Viewing inDuality: IBM-backed startup debuts fully-functional Web-based Second Life viewer

A large man with a walrus mustache pulled me aside at last weekend's Virtual Worlds Forum in London to show me the latest milestone in the Lindens' open source viewer initiative. With support from IBM's UK division, the small startup Pelican Studios has created inDuality, a universal metaverse plug-in that lets you run interactive, high-resolution 3D graphics on a browser.  Including, as the above screenshot shows, Second Life itself.   The web-based SL interfaces created by Katharine Berry and the Japanese company behind Movable Life only provide limited access to specific Second Life features, like chat and teleporting.  This offers much more than that.