New World Notes

SLer Survey Shows Strong Preference for Luxe Box Subscriptions

Results from our survey of subscription services for Second Life users last week: With 66 responses, far and away the most preferred is Luxe Box, a collection of top brand fashion items for female avatars. Unsurprisingly, Luxe Box has a strong online/social presence, and even has a stylish real world brand promotion video (see below). Somewhat surprising (at least to me) is the second favorite (over and above other avatar fashion subscription offerings, mostly), is Deco(c)rate, offering virtual home decor items.

That said, the survey only attracted 66 responses, whereas a typical response rate on this blog runs between 200-500 -- strongly suggesting most SLers don't have a strong preference/interest in any subscription service.

Survey: What's Your Favorite Second Life Subscription Box Service?

Strawberry Singh has a very valuable compendium of SL subscription boxes, along with dozens of YouTubers who shoot unboxing videos for them. A relatively recent phenomenon in the SL economy, I'm fascinated by how popular these subscriptions for discounted virtual items have become, so here's a survey to take over the long Memorial Day Weekend -- select your favorite subscription service below:

Kirsten's Viewer, Reloaded: Legendary Third Party SL Client With 3D Glasses Feature Gets Bento-Compatible Update

Kirstens' Viewer has a brand new update you can download here (for Windows). Since 2009, Kirstenlee Cinquetti's third party client for Second Life has been among the very best of its kind, but it also hasn't been updated for many years. But as Kirsten explains, it was time for some Spring cleaning.

"Lee just saw people kept downloading it so he just updated it to version five," his partner Sylvia Thevissen tells me. "We are certainly not back [to frequent updates] but people can expect every now and then some updates. He is doing it in his time outside work, so it will not be a regular thing. Bento works and the anaglyph also works of course."

"Anaglyph" is the fancy word for "3D, like in the movie theater" -- in other words, if you have a pair of red/green glasses handy, you can use the viewer's anaglyph function to see the virtual world in true 3D, like so:

Should the Second Life Community Keep Supporting Relay for Life?

For over a decade, the Second Life community has held a yearly Relay for Life virtual marathon (along with other events) to raise money for the annual event run nationwide by the American Cancer Society. With their dedication and talent, SLers often raise $350K or more in US dollars worth of Linden Dollars, then converted to cash and sent to the ACS every year -- meaning several million dollars total since its inception. However, longtime Second Life blogger Emilly Orr recently pointed out some issues with the non-profit which may give one pause:

The Susan G. Komen Foundation has improved over the last few years; it used to be far less than half of donations went back to administration and fundraising efforts. Now, donations going directly to research institutions, hospitals, and patient needs are clocking in at a little over 80%. Relay for Life, on the other hand, is an event run by the American Cancer Society, and their scores are...lower. As of the last figures published on Charity Navigator, their donations to research, hospitals and cancer patients aren't even 60%... That's not ideal.

Here's the comparisons straight from Charity Navigator:

Meet SL's Many YouTubers in Mixed Reality Intro Videos

Strawberry Singh's SL vlogger challenge has already attracted dozens of entries worth a look -- YouTube videos of SLers introducing themselves to the world at large, featuring video capture of their avatars matched to their real life voices. (Just check out her Comment thread for all the video links.) Here's one of many good ones above, featuring Isabelle Cheren, who makes it clear that, contrary to the silly stereotype, she has quite an active and successful first life, and enjoys SL to relax. As Ms. Singh puts it:

Professional 3D Designer Defends Advocating for Better Optimized Digital Design in Second Life

Veteran Second Life content creator and real life designer/visual arts consultant Penny Patton posted a pretty funny FAQ based on feedback she's gotten from her incredibly valuable posts on how to optimize SL builds (as here and as here). To judge by the questions she's responding to, a lot of SLers get strangely defensive about her advice:

* Why should the average SL user have to be an expert on digital design?   

I frequently talk about how optimizing content can greatly benefit your SL experience and this has lead to some people mistakenly taking this to mean that I believe the average SL user should be doing these things.

I do not. My position has always been that the average SL user should not even need to think about optimization or any other digital design issues. Good content should be made available by proficient builders.

* So then you believe only those who are experts on digital design should be allowed to create content?

 Again, no. I believe there are things LL can and should do to make it easier for the average SL user to follow some basic practices which result in a better shared experience for everyone, without SL users even thinking about it.

Here's another question with an answer that should be set in virtual stone:

My, Ms. Lilliehook Likes the Best Second Life Photos on Flickr

Cajsa Lilliehook's latest "What I Like" compilation of the best in Second Life-based imagery and photographer is online. I love how she reviews each with an art critic's eye and applies where appropriate the Golden Ratio rule. Above is one of my own favorites from her favorites, Taleah Mcmahon's fashion photo from a unique angle with a really nice, life-like treatment of avatar hair.

Go Under the Second Life Sea With Cica Ghost

Metaverse artist Cica Ghost's latest installation is built under the virtual sea and SL adventurer Kara Trapdoor is there to explore. (That's her, below, the tiny figure beneath massive and strange fishes). Go here to visit yourself.

(Wonder if Cica will also build something like this under High Fidelity's own virtual ocean.)

Friday SL Flickr Fashion Photo With Sloth Fashion Accessory

May all your fashion come with gratuitous sloths. Let Mericat Ireland tell you about hers:

SL Tutorial: How Huckleberry Hax Creates Cool Animated GIFs

Watch this .GIF, it's seriously cool -- not just because it animates a Second Life screenshot, but also for the arty, moody use of focus. It's created Huckleberry Hax, who wrote this in-depth tutorial for created animated .GIFs from Second Life, Hax style:

In the picture [above], I’ve set my ‘in focus’ zone to be an area about halfway between where my camera is and where Huck is standing. I’m going to get him to walk towards the camera, starting off blurred and then moving into focus and then out of it again. This technique will add depth to the scene and make it feel more real.

Much more here. And here's another cinematically stylish one from Mr. Hax, full of fisticuffs: