New World Notes

AjaxLife Update: Now With Item Transfer/Management!

I keep expecting irrepressible young Katharine Berry to create a killer app feature for AjaxLife, her Web-based Second Life interface, something that takes it from a cool gimmick to practical necessity.  With her latest version, she might have very well done just that: inventory management and object transfer.  Now you can handle a lot of your SL grunt work from a Web browser without having to download/log into the client.  Read about it on her blog.

Love And Seraphine

"You've simulated my ventral tegmental, Northie" isn't exactly the most romantic line you'll ever hear, especially when it's said over the blood-spattered wash sink of what seems to be an illicit, underworld surgery room.  But in the hands of Seraphine Khorana, who on a near daily basis weaves real world opinion, rezbian love, and snappy, geek-witty dialog with gorgeous SL photos into a unique illustrated blog, it kinda sorta is.

Self And SL: Dialog Between Immersionist & Augmentationist

Who are you, and how much of yourself do you bring into Second Life?  That's the underlying theme of a perceptive conversation between Sophrosyne Stenvaag and CyFishy Traveler.  Using Bennetsen's famous distinction, Sophrosyne speaks as a role-playing Immersionist addressing Augmentationists who casually share details of their offline lives in SL communication:

You think it's weird, maybe a little cute, maybe a little creepy, that I don't talk about my carpal tunnel, my mortgage, my co-workers, my partner, my self. You think I'm hiding who I really am... [But] when I'm not online, I don't exist. There is another mind I share a body with - they're not me in any meaningful way.

In that vein, she goes on to explain why people she knows refuse to use VOIP chat:

And Harper's Award For Best Oscar Gown Goes To...

We're coming up on Oscar weekend, but rather than gaze longingly at the clothes of the over-paid and over-exposed, why not watch it while your avatar is better dressed than Julia?  Harper Ganesvoort is searching for Oscar-worthy gowns, including this silky number from fashionista Connie Sec, depicted her in Shenzen.  Go to Harper's post and suggest what other gowns she should feature.  I'm half-tempted to mention Nylon Pinkney's classic take on Björk's infamous swan dress.

Ryker Explains: Depth/Color Screenshot Enhancement

Looking to add more life to your Second Life photos in post-production, say for a New World Tableau submission?  Fashionista Ryker Beck just uploaded an extended, narrated video tutorial on combining depth with color snapshots.

Undazzled: New UI Adds Extra Shine To Utter Chaos? (Updated)

Last Tuesday the Lindens introduced Dazzle, a new "First Look" version of the client which adds a translucent, glowing hue to the confusing user interface, universally reviled as the chief culprit behind Second Life's paltry 10% retention rate.  It's a project described by fronted [See Update below] Torley Linden, who's promoting it as a major step to improving SL's usability.  Gray windows now look glassy, dark green frames changed to a silvery blue.

Pham Neutra of SLOG gave it a try, however, and remains remarkably unimpressed:

What has happened is basically nothing more than the application of a new skin and color scheme. Cosmetic changes... The illogical grouping of commands into menus with arcane or misleading names is still the same. Some important commands are still well hidden, rarely needed ones appear in the menu top levels.

As a First Look client, Dazzle may add user suggestions before becoming part of the official release, so we should give Torley and team the benefit of the doubt.  (Especially Torley, whose dedication to SL is unimpeachable.)  On that score, Pham has some great questions for the Lindens, which will make Dazzle a real improvement:

New World Tableau: Elfod in the Vernian Sea, New Babbage

Barely visible in the foreground framed by his glowing epaulets, Elfod Nemet stands at the ornate and rapturously imagined docks leading to the Vernian Sea, located in the steampunk-themed New Babbage sims.  (Direct SLURL teleport to Vernian at this link.)  Guidance for submitting your own Tableau of the world after the break.

New World Newsfeed: Lawrence Lessig, Second Life's Thomas Jefferson, Considers US Congressional Run

I describe Lessig as Second Life's Jefferson because shortly after the Resident Tax Revolt of 2003, he advised the Lindens to let users retain the underlying intellectual property rights to their in-world creations-- a revolutionary policy move that transformed not just SL, for it was quite influential to the direction of many other Web 2.0 systems.  (Also known in Second Life as "Lawrence Lessig", here he is at an in-world appearance from 2006.)  He is now considering a run for US Congress, a move with many pros and cons on both sides.  Cory Doctorow (also known as "Cory Doctorow" in SL) provides more background to the "Lessig '08" campaign at Boing Boing.  For myself, I have deep admiration and gratitude for Larry, but I'm genuinely unsure if his keen intellect and ideals are best served in democracy's scrummiest trenches.  But decide for yourself, and go here to let him know.

Rik's Second Life Event Picks, 2/21-24: a Virtual Dance-a-thon, Nude Avatars, Transgender Support and More

Rik Riel's weekly round-up of upcoming SL events...

The Relay for Life is not the only cancer-focused charity in Second Life. The UK-based MacMillan Cancer Support Group and the  Avon Breast Cancer Foundation have both held in-world fundraisers and education events in the past months.  And now there's the "THON."  The THON is a two-day dance-a-thon to fight childhood cancer held every February at Penn State University. Over the past 35 years, the THON has raised millions of dollars and have helped thousands of children and families fight pediatric cancer. On Friday February 22, a "Virtual THON" will be held in Second Life at Mill Pond (click here to teleport) to coincide with the real world THON. From 6PM to midnight PST, the event will feature live musicians, DJs and other festivities.  Come out to dance, donate and fight for a cure!

Also Coming Up This Week: a state fair for a new e-learning initiative, avatars in the buff, scripting HUDs for fun and profit, supporting user communities in the metaverse, new country, old school blues, rock n' roll and much much more...

Ziggy's Guest: Talking Up *The Making of Second Life* This Friday at Noon SLT

Information Week's smart and incisive reporter Ziggy Figaro will host me for a voice chat about my book The Making of Second Life: Notes from the New World in the CMP Amphitheater, my first straight-up media appearance (with many more to come.)  Details on attending (and very kind words about Making) at Ziggy's real world blog.