New World Notes

Watch: Sharing Gifts & Predictions in New World VIdeo's Holiday Edition!

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For New World Video vlogcast Ep 7 - holiday edition, we chat about my upcoming book, selling TikTok dances for avatars, and we solve Second Life’s infamous retention problem. Plus we make and review 2023 predictions from viewers and ourselves, and take a look at several fun holiday gift ideas!

 

And here's the Marketplace/website links to the items we feature:

• Dutchie's Walk-In Closet
• Aardvark Ginger Bread Fighters 
• [Jester Inc.] Snow Angel Mounds!

And as a bonus: The Wednesday dance by Phia Sims.

These Evocative Images Look Like Bygone Photos But They're Actually of Second Life Locations You Can Visit!

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Mr. B’s photostream would be perfect for a game of “Is it Life or Is It Second Life?” except every picture is Second Life. I think Second Life looks more real in black and white and his pictures harken back to a time when all pictures were unless they were hand-colored by the photographer. The white frame on these pictures make me think of old slides that usually had a number stamped on them and the name of the photo studio that developed them. 

This is a picture of Jodis Old Train Station, Jodis. [To teleport, click here]

It reminds me of a single page my sister found from some long lost photo album (at right). It was a piece of that heavy paper old photo albums had and it had two pictures on it, one of my dad when he was a young man, the only one from before he got married. The other picture was of the river that went through the family farm. 

This was taken some time in the 1920’s and you can see the similarity in how photos were developed. I suppose they needed wide margins for those little paper corners you had to stick them on with.

For more of Mr. B’s extraordinary Second Life travels, click here:

 

My New Metaverse Book Has a Cover & New Title -- Please Pre-Order!

Excited to reveal the cover of my upcoming book cover and its new title: Making a Metaverse That Matters: From Snow Crash & Second Life to A Virtual World Worth Fighting For. Set to publish next June -- Second Life's 20th anniversary -- I hope you consider pre-ordering now. (Lovely stocking stuffer for the holidays?)

• Pre-order on Amazon here.
• Pre-order on Barnes & Noble here.

The original title, Why the Metaverse Matters, has been tweaked to better fit the times. It already matters to the half billion+ people heavily active in multiple metaverse platforms. The goal now, in my view, is to better explain the vision's origin, how it's been realized in Second Life and other pioneering platforms -- and how it can be cultivated as a beneficial place for one billion+ people more. After writing about that topic for 19 years, I have some opinions there.

Meta's New Vision of the Future Doesn't Mention the Metaverse Even Once

In case you missed it, Meta CTO and Reality Labs' head Andrew Bosworth recently published the company's vision of the future:

Meta began 2022 with a new name and a new vision for the future, and at Reality Labs it’s our job to bring that vision to life. We never thought it would be easy or straightforward, but this year was even harder than we expected. Economic challenges across the world, combined with pressures on Meta’s core business, created a perfect storm of skepticism about the investments we’re making...

[W]e’ve made tough calls this year to stop doing some work so we can maintain focus on those things we feel are most important. But I can say with confidence that after one of the hardest years in the history of the company, Meta remains as committed to our vision for the future as we were on the day we announced it.

Bosworth proceeds to lay out the company's confidence in its vision, in which VR/AR and mixed reality displays will become a pervasive part of computing.

Notable in its absence:

This new vision of the future from Meta.

Does not mention.

"The Metaverse".

Not even once.

See for yourself.

Which is pretty interesting! After all, the link in the very first line, "Meta began 2022 with a new name and a new vision", leads to this post from last year:

Wonderful Wednesday Avatar Cosplay for Wednesday

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Grazia Horwitz shared “If you don’t woe me by now” is magnificent. She did it after my column about SLers offering homage to the Netflix series. I have nothing to add. It’s perfect. 

For more Wednesday on Wednesday, click here:

This Artist Photographs Second Life Foliage & Presents Them Like Paintings

Cajsa Lilliehook covers the best in virtual world screenshot art and digital painting

Mariza on a Journey is a Second Life explorer-photographer who finds the beauty in the small and lovely bits of the virtual universe. “True as it can be” is a lovely shot of Queen Anne’s Lace, one of my favorite flowers. I love the delicacy of the umbels of flowers. They are useful flowers. Dried, the tiny seeds are a tasty spice. The roots can be cooked. They also have medicinal uses, a sort of “Morning After” pill. I love how the picture is blown out leaving only the forms of the plants with a limited color range. [To teleport: Click here]

For more ways of looking at this flower, click here:

How to Improve Second Life New User Retention: Reader Recommendations

Whoever Linden Lab hires to fix its first-time user experience, they may want to take a look at what New World Notes readers recommend:

Optimize the first-time orientation for low-end computers. Ideally it should look halfway decent on even a PC/Mac laptop with no 3D card. More from Yves Firlan:

Update the default settings so any system they might have runs halfway stable with decent graphics after installing the viewer for the first time (like: did they ever change the default setting for bandwidth from 500 to 950/1000 which is one of the main reasons things rez frustratingly slow for Newbies?)

Immediately connect new users with affinity groups:

I don’t think there is a single new user experience in the history of Second Life’s carrier that prompts you to join groups you may be interested in. Such a no brainer for social. -- Adeon Writer

[I]t's astounding Linden Lab never figured that one out. To take it further, groups need to be improved. (Or maybe we need a feature separate from groups that can act more as a social hub, as current groups are tied to land ownership and other features that limit how many groups we can have, cause group chat issues, etc.) -- Penny

Yes, exactly. I'd go so far as to say new users should be able to choose groups on the webpage sign-up.

A couple more important recommendations:

Top 6 Posts Last Week Featuring: Why AI May Not Disrupt 3D Worlds & A Clever Way of Connecting Metaverse Platforms With TikTok & Instagram

Above: The procedurally-generated No Man's Sky

• I'm Not Leaving Twitter (Yet) But Please Follow Me On LinkedIn
• LOOK: These Beautiful Paintings Are Actually Second Life Screenshots Processed Though Stable Diffusion AI
• Metaverse Creator Finds Dances Trending On TikTok, Quickly Recreates & Sells Them To Sims 4, Second Life & IMVU Community
• LOOK: Breathtakingly Posed & Dynamic Second Life Images By Keinenbika
• AI Probably Won't Disrupt 3D World Creation, Argues Veteran Game Artist
• Linden Lab Hiring Senior Product Manager To Improve First-Time User Experience -- Here's Who I'd Recruit

Holiday Home Décor Shopping Ideas from SL Blog Virtual Design Notebook

I love the decor for A Farmhouse Christmas, especially the cat-proof Christmas tree. It’s a recent post at Virtual Design Notebook, a great home decor blog by Augusta Godenot. She’s done several Christmas decor posts recently, but this was my favorite simply because of that tree. There are three other trees as well, a living tree that can be planted after Christmas, a “tree” of wrapped gifts, and that mini-tree on the package. There is a great post of pet vs. tree solutions. If you’re concerned about your pets and decorations, the FDA has a guide. I read through it today after getting a Christmas arrangement and my cat going right for the cedar branches. I am passing it on to a cat-free home. 

• tarte. pine tree in basket - dark green B @ Marketplace by Alessandra Dallas
• Trompe Loeil - Farmhouse Rustic Tree by Cory Edo
• DaD Virtual Living - "Pile of Christmas presents @ Marketplace by sheerpetal Roussel
• Astralia - Getting ready for Xmas gift box (blue) @ Marketplace by Astralia XOXO

For more, click here:

I'm Not Leaving Twitter (Yet) But Please Follow Me on LinkedIn

I'm on LinkedIn and often post and chat with connections there. As for Twitter, well, I'm still there too, despite all the recent Elon Issues. Whatever's going on with Twitter the company, my Twitter network of people who are fun and interesting remains incredibly valuable to me. And long as that's the cast, I'll remain on Twitter too.