Midnight at Linden Lab

Midnight at Linden Lab. No particular meaning, other than tonight it was 'round Midnight when I happened to walk past Linden Lab.

Comments

[Mycroft]

.
.

Steam rises off the San Franciscan streets.

In the early morning, as clubbers stumble home.

Wagner, SF Night Ranger, snaps a photo, and the music plays:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZU-w-N8iL4

.
.

[Ann Otoole]

looks like LL is scaling back concierge support. More layoffs? No announcements of support changes?

Whats up?

[Rob Knop]

That the office is closed and silent has nothing to do with concierge support. When I was at the lab from 2007-2009, the office always closed up at night. Much of concierge are remote employees-- telecommuters. I was myself, but I would visit the lab once or twice a year. Typically, people would empty out of the main office by mid-evening. There was one time when I stayed until about 9PM trying to get something finished (I don't remember what), and I was the last one out.

DNOC, concierge, the typical folks who are online around the clock were always made up heavily of telecommuters. And, even people who work from an office are able to work from home. It's the 21st century, after all.

[argo nurmi]

Ever notice that with NWN, the hundreds of blog, various fora and an apparently informed SL commentariat we really have no idea what is actually happening at LL/LR until it happens? I, like many residents, wondered about SL fate. Especially those of use who have invested time and money in this experiment. We scanned blogs, read newsletter, listened to rumor trying to judge the speakers credibility. I talked to well known residents, one of very few words saying only "there was a disturbance in the force." Probably no more than a dozen words had passed between us in the few years I'd been in-world. It was one of those jaw dropping moments when you realize in your gut that this ship, our ship, that we love to hate and hate to love may sink. There's a cliche now -- along with the modern jive about the wisdom of the crowd-- that if you read enough blogs you will know whats going on. No, its not true. The truth is not out there. Despite everything we never knew that M was lossing the confidence of the board, why selective Lindens were getting axed or that massive layoffs were about to break. Nor that Phil would return or be called back, or even what LL is now going to do (outside of their usual PublicSpeak) See, we really don't know the what or whys. Despite everything that was written, conjectured and rumored, LL remains a black box, speaking rarely, opaque and inscrutable. An organization that knows how to keep its secrets.

.

[Adric Antfarm]

Thank god you had no chalk.

[Hamlet Au]

Argo, that was even true when I was *at* Linden Lab. In 2003, for example, I didn't know LL was planning to lay off 30% of its staff at the time until the very moment Robin called me, audibly shaken, and told me not to come into the office, because the announcements were happening right then.

Then again, that's true of most tech companies -- leaks are very rare. Remember a few months ago when Gizmodo reported that some dude with Apple left an iPhone 4 prototype in a bar? The reason it was so unbelievable to so many people is because Apple is more secretive than the fricking Pentagon.

[Hamlet Au]

Haha, Mycroft!

San Francisco insider tip: If you're going to hang out in North Beach/Chinatown at night, do NOT try to park your car right in that area, it's aggravating and near impossible. Instead, park a few blocks down Broadway, on Sansome or Battery near Linden Lab, there's always free spots from around 6pm on.

[Lili]

Are there even people there during the day? The last four tickets I've filed, now over a month old, are still listed as new. I got a survey request from each of them a few days later, but the link to the survey was broken. I didn't feel it was important enough to go with live support, but I'm about to, just to see if anyone is there.

I'm starting to have a bad feeling about all this. I was enthusiastic for a few days following Philips return, but that's faded now. The worst thing is, there's really no other place to go. Blue Mars sucks, seriously so. The alternative grids aren't there yet and I don't think they ever will be. Maybe I can learn carpentry, so I can build in my own back-yard.

[brinda allen]

@ Lili...perhaps give Inworldz a look. It's a lot like Secondlife circa 2004/5 with a lot of the 2004/5 bugs worked out but the same intimacy.

[Winter]

Did you go in to see if the server hamsters needed feeding?

[Little Lost Linden]

It looks really dark in that photo, and it looks like an opportunity was lost. It looks like you had the opportunity to take that SL sign as a souvenir and also as a science experiment to see what kind of sign it would be replaced by if that one happened to go missing.

Oh well. There's nothing you can do about it now...