New World Notes

BREAKING: Linden Lab Updates Second Life's Official Flickr Group to Leverage ONLY User-Made Images/Video for Future Marketing, Chair Confirms

Originally published on my Patreon

The description and rules to Linden Lab's official Flickr group for Second Life images were recently updated to emphasize that user-made images and video uploaded there may be used in future ad campaigns for Second Life:

By submitting your photos or videos (the “Submissions”) to the Second Life Official Flickr feed of Linden Research, Inc. (the “Company”), you acknowledge and agree to the following terms:

You agree to participate in the Company’s marketing campaigns program  (the “Program”). As a participant of the Program, you hereby grant to the Company a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, and cost-free right and license to use, distribute, or sublicense (through multiple levels), and otherwise exploit in any manner whatsoever, all or any portion of your Submissions, for the purposes of marketing, promotion, and/or outreach for and about the Second Life virtual world.

After top SL creator Bars Simpson noticed this change, I confirmed with Linden Lab head Brad Oberwager that the purpose is indeed to leverage SL user-made images for future marketing.

"It is correct that we only want to use Second Life content for future ads," Oberwager just messaged me. "And anyone who wants to submit ads, we will review and test." (Emphasis mine, as it bear emphasizing!)

This Flickr rules update, by the way, was led by SL social media doyenne Strawberry Linden.

This comes after a recent dust-up due to Linden Lab using AI/stock images and videos to A/B various messaging, in preparation for an official campaign, and community members subsequently outraged by the artificial depiction of the virtual world -- especially when there's so much user-created content out there that's far superior.  

"After talking to you about how people feel," Brad explains to me, "I had all our terms reviewed to make sure we did not violate anything if we used Second Life 'stock footage'."

That final point is important:

Favorite Photos from a Whole Huge Flickr Group Shooting Midnight in Paris... in Second Life

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

“Midnight in Paris” by Pedro may be the name of this gorgeous, exciting picture of the Eiffel Tower but it’s also the name of the Second Life sim where it was shot and of a Flickr group dedicated to the sim. I love how dynamic this picture is and it is just one of a surfeit of fantastic pics in the Midnight in Paris Flickr group. The sim is extraordinary and the pictures in the group reflect that. [To check out the sim, click here to teleport.]

For more from Paris in Second Life, click here:

 

Extraordinary SL Images by Elisha -- Including Two Photographs from Sims Inspired by Paris & Blade Runner!

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

Elisha has many extraordinary photos. I found this enigmatic pic from two years ago among her most popular photos. There is something threatening about a stopped vehicle with its lights on in the dark. It could be a scene out of a Coen Brothers film. Or perhaps she is simply looking for a lost contact lens. The title, “an unreliable witness's account of last night's events,” puts it firmly in Coen Brothers territory. 

For more of Elisha’s extraordinary pics, click here:

The Official Star Trek Experience in Second Life Was Cancelled Long Ago, But SL's Cosplay Community Has Lived Long & Prospered Without It

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

Editor's note: Fun fact -- CBS once planned an official Star Trek experience in Second Life, but when that didn’t happen, the SL community went where CBS had not gone before.

Eupalinos Ugajin boldly takes us where no man or thing has gone before -- the sim Japonica. But avatars have been there as well as an orange cat masquerading as a loaf of bread. 

This picture is so whimsical and completely not what I expected with its title riffing on Captain Kirk's famed “Where no one has gone before" line, so I thought I might search for more Star Trek roleplay in Second Life. (I recently saw a promo for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4 and wondered how I did not know this show existed for three seasons.)

So, there’s no better place to find strange new worlds than Second Life. Let’s look. 

For more SL Trekking, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Fun, AI-Free SL Photos by Lake Solee-VII

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

Lake Solee-VII. shows the power of “less is more” in “Reviviscere.” I imagine more than one person could be brought back to life by this pic, metaphorically of course. Imagine for a moment how she could have framed this, standing against a post or a wall, a full body or three-quarter. Would it be half as interesting? Would it catch your eye or would you page down, just one more fashion pic in a stream of hundreds of new fashion pics every day. But this, this is arresting. It requires a closer look. Pictures of a woman wearing a pair of jeans are a dime a dozen, but this is sui generis. I had to stop. .

For more of Lake’s uniquely fresh vision, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: The SL-Based Imagery By "Awesome Fallen" Are Awesome Indeed

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

Awesome Fallen has one of the most powerful photostreams you will find in Second Life Flickr, heavily post-processing SL screenshots into something transcendent. “On Social Media……” captures the effects social media can have on a person, tightly wound, sharp but internally vacant, with detritus flying too fast to comprehend and understand, leaving us stunned, but also hostile. It’s amazing and immediately, I knew I had to feature her work. 

For more from Awesome Fallen, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Charmingly Casual Slices of Virtual Life by Shakilyn Peppermint

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

Shakilyn Peppermint gives us a slice of trailer park life in “Just a Girl with a Dream.” She has a great set up, though, with her swimming pool and her chickens. She’s unusually lax about allowing that German Shepherd to harry the chicken. I love how naturalistic the dog is. Animals have come a long way in Second Life.

For more Peppermint, click here:

Our Second Life Flickr Group of the Week is Decidedly Edgy & Different!

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

Charlotta Jackman aka Handdrawn posted this intriguing picture she called “Keep playing with fire…You’ll never be able to handle the heat.” I love this picture. For one, it’s so different from the usual pictures of body or headshots or landscapes. She zoomed in close and is sending a message, a warning to all who would trifle with her. 

I found this picture in the group Second Life's Edgy -Different. So what is edgy or different? I spent some time browsing through the group to find out. This is an adults-only group, but don’t worry, if you’re okay with occasional explicitness here or there, it’s a lovely group of photos. 

For more edgy and/or different pictures, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Lally O’Leary's Vibrantly Varied Second Life Imagery

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

Lally O’Leary is a fun account to follow, in part because you never know what she will do next. I said something similar four years ago when I wrote about her back when she called herself Lally Starsparkle. Whatever her last name, Lally is sure to please. I love “The Photographer” where she makes the intriguing decision to leave a lot of space bin the field before the subject. It creates a sense of vastness that would be lost if her subject were up close in the foreground. 

For more exciting photos from Lally, click here:

Cajsa's Choices: Elise's Avatar Portraits Exude James Dean-Like Coolness

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

Elise chooses to work in black and white which, in my opinion, is a perfect fit for her rebel with-or-without a cause aesthetic.

Truly, looking at her stream my first and strongest reaction was if James Dean were a woman.

It’s not the occasional cigarette, either, it’s the stance, the way she poses her body, relaxed, confident, cool, raw, and rebellious.

She has that style, her stance is everything. 

For more from Elise, click here: