New World Notes

Visit Venexia, A Spectacular SL City for Vampire Roleplay

"I have recently explored a place called Venexia, an incredible gothic version of Venice," Ms. Mariko Nightfire recently told me. "Sometimes we need to be reminded that there is still magic and wonder in SL." And so it seems, a spectacularly ornate city for vampire roleplay. Read and see Mariko's report here, and when you're ready for a visit yourself, click here for a direct teleport to Venexia.

Celebrate Oscars in SL with Rebel Hope's Latest Mesh Gown

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

I'll admit that I'd nearly forgotten that The Oscars are taking place this weekend, but it makes the release of this new gown from Rebel Hope Designs quite well-timed. If you're unfamiliar, Rebel Hope Designs is practically an institution in the SL fashion world; they're an enduring and high-end brand that's recently embraced mesh wholeheartedly. Their latest dress, Stephanie, comes in ten different colours to satisfy any palette preference, and the sheer ruffles along the bust are adjustable and removable (in case you prefer a sleeker silhouette).

Mia Dagger Deftly Does Dreamlike Depth of Field

I like this scrumptious series of (mildly NSFW) screenshots by Ms. Mia Dagger for SLuicide Girls, because they make deft use of SL's depth of field capabilities to create a sexy beach encounter tableau that's hyperreal, dreamlike. Great use of composition and light, too.  See the full the series here.

Mocap Suit-Powered, Real Steel-Style, Real Time Robot Control Created by VR Researchers

This is the latest, seriously cool innovation from Anton Bogdanovych (shaqq Korobase in SL), the University of Western Sydney VR researcher who developed software that connects a motion capture suit to a Second Life avatar. Using similar technology and working with other engineers, he's developed a mocap suit capable of controlling a physical robot in real time, pretty much like what we saw in last year's movie Real Steel. Watch, gape:

Of course, I had to ask Anton more -- how does the technology work, what hardware does it use, and what applications does he hope to use it for? Read on, read on:

Animated Mesh Tears Will Win Your SL Heart By Breaking It

Iris Ophelia's ongoing review of virtual world and MMO fashion

Nyagos Kidd of ++NODe++ [Teleport to NODe in SLOW] recently released a set of stunningly animated attachable mesh tears that stream down an avatar's cheeks when worn, and understandably, they have fashionistas all aflutter. I'm no stranger to tears in Second Life-- at least, trying to find a good set as an accessory for a photo-- and these are easily the best ones I've ever tried. Tattoo layer tears never look as crisp as they should, and many sculpted tears look goopy and cartoonish.

So naturally I was so taken with this new alternative that I slapped together a melodramatic little clip of them in action. See the video (and read more about these beautiful tears) after the cut!

Indie Free-to-Play MMO Kingdom of Loathing "Quite Profitable" With 45K Regular Players

Kingdom of Loathing, a deliriously wacky, web-based free-to-play indie MMO where heroes are illustrated by stick figures and mix cocktails and fight villainous monsters [assisted by familiars] like Ninja Pirate Zombie Robots, is "quite profitable", even with a current audience of nearly 50,000. This from a recent Reddit community interview with Josh "Mr Skullhead," Nite, co-writer of the game:

International Society for Technology in Education Leaves SL for OpenSim

While community outrage and Linden intercession saved the International Spaceflight Museum in SL, other education-oriented efforts are not as lucky: On March 1st, The International Society for Technology in Education will close its in-world presence. At least in Second Life, that is, because the large organization is setting up a presence on the OpenSim-based Jokaydia Grid. Educator Joe Essid has a sad summary here.

SL's Spaceflight Museum Returned to the Grid After Community Outcry & Linden Intervention

Click here for a direct teleport to Spaceport Alpha, an entry point to the International Spaceflight Museum, because it is now once again back in Second Life. This after the sims were put in limbo due to various reasons. But thanks to "the community response in the blogosphere, and the rational reaction of a higher-up Linden," as ISM's Katherine "Kat Lemieux" Prawl puts it, the museum was quickly returned to the grid last night.

Now, Kat tells me, the hard part begins:

Second Life Returns to Nielsen's Top 10 PC Game Ratings -- But Total Average Minutes Played Drops by Half from 2009

Well this is interesting: Second Life has returned to the latest Top 10 PC Game chart compiled by Nielsen, based on data the venerable ratings service gathers from application activity in 180,000+ US homes. (The latest ratings are from December 2011.) Last June 2011, SL dropped off the Top Ten chart, falling to position eleven, and then last October 2011, fell even further, to rank fifteen. Interestingly, the MMO Dungeons & Dragons online was in the top ten in October, but has been supplanted by SL and another virtual life simulation toy/platform/game/whatever, The Sims 3. At the same time, SL's market share is slightly down from October 2011 to December 2011, falling from .96 to .74. Overall that's a relatively slight drop, but if we look back at the Nielsen charts from 2009, there's a very notable usage falloff:

Earn L$1000 by Taking a 20 Minute Survey for RTI International, a Research Non-Profit

SL users, click here to take a totally confidential survey for L$1000 run by RTI International, a non-profit research organization (and now a sponsoring partner of this blog) which will ask about your RL technology use, health and wellness, your exercise habits, and medical conditions. The study is totally confidential, the report’s results will be featured on New World Notes, and again, you get L$1000 for participating.

Some background on RTI International and the survey: