New World Notes

Get Imprudent: New User-Friendly Open Source Version of SL Viewer Now Available

More than two months after Jacek Antonelli and team launched an initiative to create a more user-friendly, open source version of the Second Life viewer, cheekily dubbed Imprudence, the first release candidate is available for download.  The UI improvements are not yet available, but, he says,

[T]his version does contain a wide variety of small improvements created by SL Residents — JIRA patches that LL hasn’t (yet) accepted.

Since it's not an official viewer, the team selected a new logo to replace Linden's eye-in-hand:  seen here, the "shaka" wave from Hawaii.  "As the symbol of this project, it stands for the relaxed and welcoming atmosphere we should always keep."  Being from Oahu myself, of course I think that's the best sign Imprudence is on to something important.  Or as Barack Obama and I might say, were we there, "Good kine li' dat, bruddah."

Go here to read the Imprudence developer notes and download it--Mac, Windows, and Linux clients available.

Will Immersive Workspaces Work? Rivers Makes The Case

Dusan Writer has a long and info-rich interview with Justin Bovington of UK development studio Rivers Run Red, which recently partnered with Linden Lab to provide "Immersive Workspaces" for enterprise use.  Known as Fizik Baskville in SL, and someone I've known through Second Life since early 2004, Justin argues for their usefulness in today's fallow corporate climate, where executives are looking to save money on travel costs.  Here's an interesting example he gives:

"[O]ne of my classic stories is the guy who turned around and said I found out that I was going to be on the same problem as the guy was three floors below us [IRL], and by combining our efforts through the virtual space, by meeting there, we actually saved x amount of time and problems."

Be sure to scroll down to read the post's comments, which include Justin in dialog with Wikitecture co-creator Keystone Bouchard and Rezzable CEO (and NWN partner) Rightasrain Rimbaud, who have some questions about how this might work, and how Linden Lab implemented it.

SAP Developing RFID-to-Second Life Inventory Tracker For Consumer Goods-- But Is It A Good Idea?

If I understand this prototype video from SAP, the enterprise software giant is developing a system for tracking consumer goods in real life via radio-frequency identification codes embedded on products, which are then displayed in a mirror reality grocery store in Second Life.  (That's Erica Dubach of SAP below, explaining and demoing the technology.)

So for example, instead of looking at a dry spreadsheet which only displays numbers of products in a given location, you can actually see them moving through a 3D representation, from supply to display to consumer.  (I suppose if a shelf collapsed on Aisle 5 in real life, you'd actually see the products strewn every where in the SL version.) Mixed reality immersive visualization seems like a good idea, I just wonder if it makes sense to create a 3D mirror world model of the store that you need to navigate through.  Wouldn't it be better to represent the products with smaller icons in a scaled-down version of the store, small enough that you could get an instant visual snapshot from a single glance? 

Hat tip: Jeanricard Broek.

Love Letters To Avatars From Shanghai's Literary Bad Girl

Want a virtual love letter from the author of a bestselling underground erotic novel that was considered so scandalous, the Chinese government banned it?  (I know, who doesn't want that?)  It's the latest feature to the RMB City project from my friend Cao Fei (China Tracy in SL.)  You send a screenshot of your avatar and a modest payment to an intermediary named RMBArtDealer Xue, who in turn sends it to an avatar named MianMian Sorbet-- who is, in fact, the Shanghai author Mian Mian (above left), author of Candy, a story of sex, drugs, and rock and roll in the new China, among other works.  She writes a love letter from her avatar to yours-- sort of an Anaïs Nin-style patronage deal for the metaverse age.  Full details on the poster after the break; click for more.

I asked Mian Mian if she found it a challenge, writing amorous missives to unknown avatars. 

Second Life Peak Concurrency Now 76,000 (Up 2K In 2 Wks)

Given Second Life's peak concurrency growth rates over the last few months (it was 74K on November  3rd) the world was due to hit 75,000 today, but instead, kept right on growing, and only began receding after hitting around 76,000.  Late last week there was a round of salacious (if not very original) international news articles about virtual-to-RL adultery in Second Life.

Last Week In New World Notes...

- I argue that Second Life is in a malaise period, and needs an "Elect Obama" moment to rejuvenate.
- Improvise, adapt, overcome: US military veterans (many wounded during their years of service) create a support network for each other in SL. 
- In the wake of the Openspace controversy, some of our land goes missing.  And even after a policy alternation, some continue their exodus.
- As more people consider an OpenSim alternative to Second Life, a leading developer creates a fork in the metaverse.
- What should we do with the bots who make up 10-15% of SL's user activity?

Five Favorites From The SL Blogger Mix-And-Match

The Second Life blog swap is going full-force, with several dozen posts already online.  Here's five of my favorites so far.

- Writing for Brandy Rasmuson's blog, Quaintly Tuqiri of Quirky Quaintly offers a slew of advice on keeping men interested in Second Life.
- Writing on Danni's Blog, Chestnut Rau of SLofDreams shows you how to write a good user profile-- and what pet profile peeves to avoid.
- Writing for Alphonsus' Random Drivel, Torley Linden of Torley.com discusses his many flavors and perspectives on gender play and sexuality in SL.
- Writing on Common Sensible, Botgirl Questi of Botgirl Lives has a smart appraisal on the "Immersiva" art of Bryn Oh.
- Writing for Rikomatic, Merrick Thor of N0nslensical memorably wonders, what's the deal with Philip Linden's awful avatar hair?  Since I've talked about this topic with Philip first-hand, I can say Thor's theory is close to the mark.

More next Friday.  Meanwhile, Mix-and-Match co-host Vint Falken has a full round-up of links to mix-and-match here.  Thanks to Residents on my Plurk feed for tips!

Wanted In Second Life: A Community Organizer

Sarah Palin mocked Barack Obama's credentials as a community organizer, but the US electorate made him President anyway.  Like most Americans, SL Resident Chestnut Rau watched these results with renewed optimism, despite a cynicism from her many years working in "the sausage factory" of government policy.  Emboldened by that real world outcome, and observing the ongoing turmoil over Openspace pricing policies, Ms. Rau makes a clarion call for what basically seems like, well, a community organizer:

I think Residents of Second Life need some way to organize ourselves. We need to find a way to represent our many divergent interests and needs to Linden Lab, in a way that makes it possible for them to hear us clearly... I do know that while LL has been ineffective in implementing policy changes that impact our lives, we have not banded together in a way that effectively moves SL forward.

And you know what I say to that? Yes we can.

But how will they?  That might require reading some Saul Alinsky, who formulated principles of community organizing that appeal to a group's shared self-interest.  (In other words, activism that might even unify otherwise apathetic fashionistas, furries, Goreans, blingtards and more.)  Alinksy's ideas seemed to work for President Elect Obama, one of his former pupils.  But what are the rules for metaverse radicals? 

Photo of Chestnut Rau by GoSpeed Racer.

What's Sarah Nerd Looking At?

"I just found a nice [blank] hanging out all in [blank]," reports Sarah Nerd. This subsequent screenshot she took depicts:

a - A popular new avatar inspired by H.P. Lovecraft.
b - A totem pole of avatars using the latest in sculpty technology.
c - An unexpected consequence of an open source initiative.
d - A server "burp" while several avatars crossed a sim.
e - None of the above.

Read Sarah's post on Your2ndPlace for the full hilarity. 

And read this NWN post for more context.

Exploring Rez, A Beautifully Abandoned Openspace Coastline

Elven fashionista Sai Pennell has a gorgeously foreboding travelogue through Rez, a coastal sim that made Koinup's top ten most popular sites last week, and her images immediately make you understand why.  "The really sad thing," she notes, "is that it's a OpenSpace sim, so it might be going poof soon, with the new LL rate changes and stuff. So, I think- if you want to check it out, it might be best to hurry up and see it, just in case."