FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 20, 2012- Sand Castle Studios, LLC is pleased to announce that Hunger in Los Angeles, a virtual immersive journalism experience, will debut this week at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Written by artist Nonny de la Peña (who recorded the actual event) and commissioned by the USC’s Annenberg School of Communication & Journalism in conjunction with MxR Lab, Hunger in Los Angeles  virtually recreates an eyewitness account of an actual incident in a food bank line at the First Unitarian Church in Los Angeles, in order to call attention to the growing issue of hunger in the United States.

Sand Castle Studios modeled virtual replicas of the church and scene and used the Unity 3D development platform to to bring the project to life.  Premiering at Sundance, participants can suit up and use a head-mounted goggle display to walk around and interact with other characters in the fully immersive virtual reality simulation.  They will have the opportunity to experience a virtual reproduction, with audio from the actual incident, during which the Church’s available food runs out, provoking anguish and frustration among some of those gathered. Meanwhile, a man in line falls to the ground in a diabetic coma. An ambulance and two paramedics arrive to assist.

About Sand Castle Studios

Sand Castle Studios is a full service creative company dedicated to helping organizations maximize the full potential of virtual worlds and immersive media by creating interactive, social, and 3D experiences. Our strategic, creative, and technical teams are made up of some of the most experienced and talented minds in the world working to create unique and interactive user experiences.

For more information contact:

Kimberly Winnington (SL: Gianna Borgnine)

Sand Castle Studios, LLC

www.changingworldsbuildingdreams.com

kim@changingworldsbuildingdreams.com

1-302-559-5230

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This past weekend, August 12th-14th, marked the 7th Annual Second Life Community Convention (SLCC), which was held in Oakland, California this year and virtually in Second Life while being streamed over UStream.

I have to applaud Avacon, the conference’s organizers, as in my opinion this was the best the conference has been for virtual attendees.  The in-world SIMs were beautiful and well organized and the team made sure each of the 33 presentations were clearly streamed in-world and online.

In addition to the many community presentations, there were several Linden panels.

Linden Lab CEO Rod Humble gave a keynote address announcing:

• 16,000 people a day are signing up for and joining Second Life
• Linden Lab will be working on other new products in addition to Second Life.  Specifically they are working on other shared creativity tools/spaces, and addressing tablets and mobile markets as well.
• Linden Lab is focusing their current Second Life efforts on improving usability, lag, and service.
• Linden Lab is looking at several future new features including a Linden made curated area, ending the need for HUDs, improvements to UI/sidebar, more in-world creatitivy tools and more.
• Read more and watch Humble’s full keynote

Linden Lab’s product team announced several new ways they are trying to address community needs:

• the team created a prototype game in order to learn about building and better understand limitations and problems in order to work on solutions
• Linden Lab may develop a gamified new user experience
• the team has been focused on improving usability and engagement
• each member of the team is becoming a subject matter expert in order to understand and support those communities better
• Read more and watch the product team’s full presentation

Linden Lab’s mesh team addressed several key concerns:

• Meshes (and objects with a physics shape type) will use the newly introduced prim equivalent to measure impact and count against land prim capacity
• theft and IP concerns  are unlikely
• meshes offers several advantages over sculpted prims, but traditional prims are still an important part of Second Life
• Read more and watch the full mesh panel

Brett Atwood/Brett Linden presented on updates to the Destination Guide:

• the Destination Guide now has dynamic, time sensitive channels that feature hot events and locations as they are going on
• the Destination Guide is intelligently removing a location if it becomes too crowded
• the Destination Guide has an Linkshare affiliate program through which you can create a widget for your location and place it on your blog or website allowing you to earn money for visitors derived from your site
• the Destination Guide now appears on the front page of the new Second Life login screen
• the team monitors resident suggestions, blog activity, and social media for new locations
• they are looking for high quality locations with broad appeal, active communities, and unique locations
• in order for your Destination Guide submission to be approved you need to include a compelling and visually interesting screenshot and text that accurately describes your location
• your submission could also be denied if it is a duplicate, your location currently violates the SL Terms of Service, your snapshot contains promotional text over the image, or the text is incoherent or inaccurate
• Destination Guide entries are non-paid; they are not meant to be classified ads
• View the slides then watch Brett’s full presentation on the Destination Guide

The commerce team presented on economical and commercial concerns:

• the Lab has been focused on new users, registration, usability, service, performance, and growth to drive traffic and increase sales for merchants
• Q2 stats show positive growth in several areas
• Marketplace moving towards direct delivery
• users will receive purchases as a folder hierarchy directly in their inventory (without the need to unpack items)
• merchants will no longer need to use a magic box, but will simply have to drag their folders into an outbox
• users will receive notifications of deliveries and will not need to be online to accept them, they will be pushed into inventory
• eventually there will be guided warnings to aid new users (use this item right away, you need land for this item, etc)
• Linden Lab looking to expand the LindenX to additional countries/currencies to in to serve more and increase sales
• View the slides then watch the commerce team’s full presentation

Marc Viale/Viale Linden presented on social experiences and communities:

• the lab is moving away from Linden run events like “Kiss a Linden” towards “sustainable communities” like the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and LEA’s Month of Machinima
• community gateways have not disappeared and are highlighted in the Destination Guide
• Viale says Linden Lab respects privacy declaring “we don’t care what your parents named you, you can be whoever you want to be in Second Life”
• Watch Viale’s full presentation on social experiences and communities

For a closer look at the more funny and social aspects of the SLCC experience check out Draxtor’s footage from the event below:

Mesh support was formally announced at last year’s Second Life Community Convention (SLCC).  Since then we have learned more details about mesh, and Linden Lab officially began rolling out the feature to the main grid in July, with the promise for it to be completed by the end of August.  So, it was fitting that Charlar Linden opened this year’s SLCC mesh presentation by declaring “The future of mesh is now.”

During this presentation Charlie Hite/Charlar Linden and Dave Parks/Runitai Linden made several key points:

1. Traditional prim count vs. the newly introduced prim equivalent

Charlar explained that there is really “no relationship between prim count and the actual impact that objects have.”  As an example he said that a torus has more impact than a cube even though they are both one prim.  Therefore, to help residents better understand how an object will impact performance, Linden Lab have introduced prim equivalent (PE) as a easy way to display the computational/resource weight of an object in terms of traditional prims.  All mesh objects (and all objects with a physics shape type) will have a PE weight that will be subtracted from a land parcel or regions prim capacity.

PE is automatically determined by the highest weight of 3 performance factors:

• download weight (how much bandwidth is required to download and view the object)
• physics weight (the complexity of the object’s physics mode)
• server weight (the impact an object has on Second Life’s server resources)

To better help you understand here are some in-world examples:

This Buddha statue created by our own Reed Steamroller is only 1 prim, but because of the detail it is equivalent to an object made of 72 prims, therefore, it is 72 PE.

This adorable boat created by Bunnie Mills is 20 prims, but 133 PE because of it’s hidden details and scripts.

2. Theft/IP

Charlar addressed concerns of content being pulled from sites like Turbosquid and brought into SL in the masses by assuring the audience that this is unlikely because these meshes would “not look good” in Second Life.  Charlar further explained these meshes are often not efficient, result in bad performance, are missing physics and LODs which are then auto generated by SL making the objects look like “crap” when you zoom out, etc.

Charlar emphasized that content creation is “a craft and an art… it’s not magic”  He said creating mesh objects requires work and skill.    Charlar also pointed out that the Lab has put several other features in place to protect against theft by requiring uploaders to have payment information on file, complete a quiz, and pay additional upload fees for mesh objects.

3. Prims vs. sculpties vs. meshes

Charlar also reassured concerned content creators and artists who are afraid of prims being replaced by meshes that the Lab still loves the idea of prims and in-world tools (CEO Rod Humble echoed these same sediments during his keynote address, even stating they were interested in adding additional in-world tools in the future), he did however state that they would be encouraging residents to use meshes over sculpted prims because meshes offer several advantages:

• custom UV mapping
• custom LOD
• physics support
• rigging to the avatar skeleton
• more control

You can view the entire “Future of Mesh” panel below:

What do you think of the Mesh panel, PE, theft, and the other announcement by this team?

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The product team (John Laurence/Durian Linden, Sarah Kuehnle/ Esbee Linden and Michael Gesner/Gez Linden) announced at this year’s Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) that they have been building, exploring, and working on a prototype game in order to learn more and examine the current limits and problems that come up when creating in Second Life.

The game requires you to collect and place puzzle pieces in order to gain access to new areas.  While doing this you encounter box monsters and turrets that can “kill you” and send you back to the beginning of the games.

The team says the game uses point and click controls, but with the physical aspects of Second Life, they would like to examine click and drag in the future.  They also faced difficulties working in a “live environment” where for example a turret would be above on a platform, didn’t respect distance, and begin shooting at them and returning them to the beginning of the game while they were trying to work.  They also dealt with building complications where for example the buildings were originally more plain and they decided to add black outlines to give them more detail and then discovered they would have to change every texture on every face of every building by hand in order to update them.

This particular game is separate from the curated area that CEO Rod Humble spoke of, and is not currently part of any new user experience. Gez Linden addressed concerns about the game stating that the Lab does not plan on releasing the game, they just wanted to show users the work they are doing to learn more in order to better serve and address the communities needs.  Gez did however express that he thinks something like this game would be useful in acclimating new users to the Second Life platform:

“I do think that there is some value in creating an experience that is simpler, it’s more guided, it gives you prompts, it gives you almost quests or achievements, things that tell you what you need to be able to do to learn how to use Second Life, but I will completely agree with the fact that Second Life, itself, is not a game.  However, you can make some great games inside of Second Life, and you can use game mechanics, and game tutorials, and game systems to help people become more engaged and comfortable in Second Life.  So, we recognize that there are a number of different experiences that you can create in SL, we’re always in awe of the things that you’ve created, but we are trying to find a way to get people over that initial hurdle of using the software and taking our gaming experience to help get people over that.”

In addition to working on the game, the product team explained LL has been focused on two main areas:

1. Usability

• rez times (including avatars appearing as a cloud and prioritization of rezzing)
• avatar customization
• basic/advanced modes
• sidebar of Viewer 2
• direct delivery from the marketplace
• inventory management

2. Engagement

• mesh support  (the mesh team also presented updates at SLCC)
• creating and selling
• NPC (non-player characters)
• web profiles, interests, groups

The team also pointed out that to further understand and support the community each member of the team has an area which the are subject matter experts:

• Art – Durian Linden
• Gaming & Breedables – Gez Linden
• Roleplaying – Esbee Linden
• Adult - Charlar Linden
• Education – Geo Linden
• Music - Nya Linden
• Fashion - Cassandra Linden

View their the full panel presentation below

What do you think of the work the product team is doing to better address the communities needs?

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Linden Lab CEO, Rod Humble, gave a keynote address today at this year’s Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) revealing more about his current and future goals for Second Life and Linden Lab.

In addition to being informative,  Humble was also quite entertaining and humorous even joking about his own “inevitable firing” sometime next year.

Here are some of the key points he made:

1. There were 4 key elements that attracted Humble to Second Life

• Strength – Second Life is still growing!  Humble says there are about 16,000 people a day signing up for and joining Second Life.     Humble says that the fact that after 8-10 years there is still this huge level of interest in Second Life is an “amazing achievement” that you never see with other MMORPG’s.
• Creativity – Everything in Second Life is created by its users and Humble finds this to be a “phenomenally important and powerful thing.”  He says there is “no better feeling in the world” then you get when creating something.
• Shared Space – Not only can you create in SL, but Humble loves that you can do so in shared space and it can be a shared experience.
• Identity – Humble says he believes in and supports “the right for you to choose your identity and the ability for you to put barriers between various identities, particularly on the internet.”

2. Linden Lab is currently working on other new products

Linden Lab is a company, Second Life is ONE of it’s products.

Humble says the elements that attracted him to Second Life (listed above) are powerful, needed, and have a large audience.

With that in mind, Linden Lab is currently creating a new product (separate from Second Life). While this new product doesn’t have a proper name yet, Humble referred it it as “shared creative spaces”  or “shared creativity tools.”

Humble also said the Lab will be “addressing tablets in part and some mobile stuff as well” with these new products.

Even with the new products, Humble said Linden Lab’s role and goals will remain the same and that the Lab will continue to

• put customer privacy first
• allow customers to make the content (while only creating themselves in order to learn how to make tools to help their customers)
• develop spaces that are shared and social.

3.  Humble’s goal for Second Life is halfway complete

Humble wants a computer user of average intelligence to be able to get-in, use SL, and be grateful to have been introduce to it.  In order to achieve this Humble said the Lab focused their efforts in 3 main areas:

• Usability – In order to make the product more useful, the Lab created “basic mode” for new users.  Humble says they originally created this mode separately so that they could make changes quickly without annoying current customers, but that it will eventually be merged back into the regular viewer.
• Lag – Humble says you can already feel many of the changes in this area including a larger cache, improved chat and group chat experiences, progress with search, and better SIM crossing among other things.
• Service – Humble says customer service was improved, ticket times have gone down, and better quality service is coming.  In addition to these changes with customer service, Humble says in the near future they are working on “making life unpleasant for griefers, in an inhumane way.”

Humble says Second Life was losing 15,000 new users a day before these changes were complete.  He says originally most people wouldn’t even make it through the registration process.  Once they added a new signup page/process they found users couldn’t understand basic concepts such as movement and camera controls, but Basic Mode changed this.  Once users understood how to explore the virtual world, they couldn’t find places to go, but the new and improved Destination Guide now highlights areas of interest.   Humble says the Lab will now focus making shopping, buying, wearing, and creating easier for new users.

4. New features and upgrades are coming to Second Life

While Linden Lab is focused on the above aspects to improve the SL experience for new and current users, Humble also gave us some insight into some new features and upgrades that will be coming to SL in the future.

• Linden made curated area – Humble says the Lindens created this area for newbies in order to learn and make tools that would improve the SL experience.  One example of something they are looking into is one permission request/button that would allow you to define an area and remove the need for additional permission/controls or HUDs.
• Marketing Campaign and PR push to bring in more users – Humble said this should help merchants and service providers and assured them that LL doesn’t plan on “taking a cut” from their sales.
• Improvements to the Viewer 2 User Interface.   Humble conceded that it’s “not an ideal UI,” but said that there are “so many new bits of tech embedded in that new code (that they) just can’t give up on it (they) have to somehow fix it.”    Humble also said that he doesn’t “like the way that whole sidebar thing works” and is working to improve that as well, but don’t expect that until sometime next year.
• New features for Premium users (without additional costs)
• More in-world creativity tools
• Addressing Intellectual Property (IP) theft and Piracy in Second Life
• Continued balance of Open Source and Proprietary
• Improved and additional social aspects/features (including to web profiles and groups)

5.  Humble wants to be accountable/available

“The only reason I’m on twitter is because you guys asked me to be,” said Humble.  He pointed out that the best ways to contact him were his SL profile, twitter, and SL Universe.

You can watch Humble’s full keynote address below.

What did you think of Humble’s address and the changes/improvements he announced?

-

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

July 19, 2011- Sand Castle Studios, LLC is pleased to announce that The Virtual Mine has been nominated for an Emmy Award for New Approaches to News and Documentary Programming .

The Virtual Mine (SLURL) is an immersive, interactive, and educational 3D experience located in the virtual world of Second Life®. It was created to to educate, explore, and examine our nation’s struggle with mountain top removal coal mines, coal fired power production, and alternative energies in support of the documentary film, Deep Down, by filmmakers Jen Gilomen and Sally Rubin with funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the Independent Television Service (ITVS), and the Bay Area Video Coalition (BAVC).

The Virtual Mine allows visitors to take a closer look at the challenges of balancing the environment, power demands, and economic interests by inviting them to take part in a story as it unfolds through a series of three games.  While it was created with educators and students in mind, the games can be played in groups or by individuals alike.

Deep Down and the Virtual Mine first debuted on the Emmy-award winning PBS series Independent Lens.

“We are so honored to be singled out in our industry and recognized for the Virtual Mine with this Emmy nomination,” said Kimberly Winnington (SL:Gianna Borgnine), Chief Executive Officer of Sand Castle Studios, LLC.  “This nomination is a proud achievement, and a testament to all of the incredible hard work put in by our very talented team including myself, William Reed Seal-Foss (Content Creation) and Karl Stiefvater (Software Engineer).  It also solidifies how powerful virtual worlds are as way to connect with others, examine problems, and participate in activities in order to learn more about them in a way that might not otherwise be possible.”

About Sand Castle Studios

Sand Castle Studios is a full service creative company dedicated to helping organizations maximize the full potential of virtual worlds and immersive media by creating interactive, social, and 3D experiences. Our strategic, creative, and technical teams are made up of some of the most experienced and talented minds in the world working to create unique and interactive user experiences.

For more information contact:

Kimberly Winnington (SL: Gianna Borgnine)

Sand Castle Studios, LLC

www.changingworldsbuildingdreams.com

kim@changingworldsbuildingdreams.com

302-559-5230

###

The above picture was taken by Jeff Lowe.  The caption reads, “The SL Name Tag simply displays your real name and whatever affiliation you choose as text above the tag. Seems simplistic, but it’s really handy to have a quick visual reference to an avatar’s physical world identity.”

Second Life users have long wanted a way to change their avatar name in a way that did not destroy the history and links associated with it.  In attempt to solve this “identity crisis”,  at the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) amongst a slew a new features, Linden Lab announced that users would be getting Display Names.

What are Display Names

Display Names will allow Second Life users the ability to choose two names: a unique user name that cannot be changed and an optional Display Name that you can periodically change and that can be set to almost anything that you would like, whether it be an avatar name, your real name, a pseudonym, gamer tag, or even a description.  The change also means that new users will no longer be forced to choose from a limited set of last names (for current users, your existing Second Life avatar name will become your unique user name).

Torley Linden created the below video in order to expand on that what you can do with this new feature and why it’s so important:

Overall, Display Names offer increased freedom to express identity while still providing the ability for users to retain anonymity if they choose.  It sounds good on paper, but many long term users (also know as residents) are not happy with how it is being deployed.  In fact, the announcement seems to be causing more disappointment and concern, than enthusiasm.

What’s Wrong with Display Names

Some of the reasons I have been hearing are:

• It’s the end of an era.  Creative avatar names like Am Radio, TheDiva Rockin, GoSpeed Racer, and Space Dinosaur will most likely become John and Jane Smith.
• It adds a new level of confusion for new residents (as if there wasn’t enough to confuse them already)
• It’s too easy to “grief” someone using Display Names.
• It makes it difficult to report abuse, identify avatars, or find chat logs.

While all of these are valid reasons, with some scrutiny they are mostly inconsequential.

• I agree, it is sad to see the end of the last names lists.  We have come to know a lot about avatars by their last names and have grown found of them and the creative avatars they spawned, but if Second Life wants to move into the future, many potential users were lost at this part of the signup process and simply will not tolerate being forced to choose a limited name.  Virtually every other platform allows you to choose your own name.
• I don’t see Display Names adding a new level of confusion to new users.  In fact, as I stated above, a think it removes one and makes the sign up process that much easier.  Display Names are most likely not something that new users will even be aware of until after they have a better understanding of the platform and the more basic features of SL.
• I think abuse of Display Names will be more annoying than it will actually cause any real problems.  While they might fool someone at first, they won’t end up being any more effective then any of the other ways to speak as someone, etc
• The same thing goes for other methods of identifying avatars.   It might be a little confusing at first, but it is not any different from a friend changing their display name on something like Skype and having to resort to their user name to locate them.

The Real Problem

My concerns are not the result of the uneasiness that often accompanies change in SL, but my belief that we are comparing apples and oranges.  To me, my disappointment was not based on the details of how Display Names are being implemented, as much as that they are being implemented.

Users didn’t ask for a way to display a nickname, they asked for a way to CHANGE their avatar’s name.

It’s the difference between correction tape and an eraser.

While I am excited for this new level of expression, I still consider this a missed opportunity for Second Life/Linden Lab and I hope in the future there will be a better way to link our online presences, if we so choose.

The 6th annual Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) took place in Boston this past weekend.  It was an exciting weekend packed full of Linden Lab announcements as well as a plethora of resident-led discussions and presentations.

The theme that resonated throughout the Linden Lab keynotes was Fast, Easy, Fun which are also their new strategic goals.   While a vast wealth of information was delivered at SLCC, there were 5 announcements in particular that that I think will bring forth some  significant changes to Second Life.

1. Mesh Support

Mesh support  was actually first announced at last year’s SLCC by Linden Lab’s (now former) Chief Product Officer, Tom Hale.  After the recent layoffs of several key Linden Lab employees including Hale himself, there has been much speculation as to the status of mesh support.  Linden Lab Founder and CEO Philip Rosedale (aka Philip Linden) cleared this up in his keynote address when he candidly declared,. “We are going to ship mesh.”  He also stated that we can expect Mesh to go into Open Beta before the end of the year.

I was relieved to hear this, as I have been very vocal in regards to how critical I think mesh support is to the future of Second Life.  Not only does it allow developers an unparalleled level of control, but it could also decrease lag and increase overall performance.

2. New Users Directly to Content

Instead of the orientation experience current users had, new users will be sent directly to the content that they are interested in.  For example, if someone was interested in live music, they could click a link and be sent directly to a show and the orientation process would then be shifted.

Philip himself admits that this is a gamble, but he thinks it’s a good one.  I agree that in theory this could be very successful.  By sending new users directly to content, they have the opportunity to find the  communities and content that interests and engages them, therefore making it more likely that they will stay, explore, and return. How this feature is implemented though, will make all the difference.

3. Display Names

Currently we all use avatar names that we created by entering a first name and choosing a last name from an available list.  This is very different from most current platforms and while cute, it is simply no longer acceptable to limit avatars in this fashion.  With the addition of display names, new users will no longer have to chose from a list of last names.  They will be able to define their own user names and display names.  For us current users, our avatar names will become our user names and we will be able to define our display names.  This feature is currently slated for release in the next few days!

I still have a lot of questions about display names, but I am thrilled at the prospect of them.  They will allow users like myself to easily link their avatar to their real world persona while also allowing users who wish to remain anonymous the ability to do so.

4. Closing of the Teen Grid

Not all the announcements were happily received.  This announcement in particular has upset many educators who have worked hard to establish opportunities on the Teen Grid.  Unfortunately for those involved, the Teen Grid will be closing.  However, users that are 16 or 17 years of age, will be transfer to the main Second Life grid.

While I can understand the hurt and frustration of the educators and community leaders involved, I also understand that tough decisions had to be made.  I’m hopefully that Linden Lab and the educators involved can come to some agreement to make space and certain content available to younger users, but that is certainly a daunting task that must not be taken lightly.  Philip himself said that he would like to work with them to find a way for the younger teens to have a place on the main grid.

5. New Development Methodologies

The Lab is changing the way they develop things.  Instead of spending large amounts of time working on a project, they are switching to short release cycles and implementing the use of an auto-updater.  This will allow Linden Lab the ability to quickly implement changes and present the community with the opportunity to provide essential feedback along the way.   The Lab currently has about 15 scrum teams working on different areas of development.  During this weekend we were introduced to one of the teams focusing on improving the Second Life Viewer aka the Snowstorm Team.  Project Snowstorm hopes to improve the performance, reliability, and ease of use of the Second Life Viewer while rapidly releasing new improved “development” viewers as often as bi-weekly. The best part is they plan to be completely open about the whole process.  Each day, the Snowstorm team will meet in Second Life for an open Daily Scrum, where each team member will give a short status update. The status updates will also be published on the Wiki and the team will be blogging as well.  They will also be looking to the open source community and welcoming them to contribute to the viewer development.

Philip outlined upcoming fixes to several bugs including fixes to group chat and region crossings.  He also stated that they plan to make SL twice as fast on start up and improve the crash rate.  In addition they are also working on having more avatars per region,  and reducing lag issues by implementing controls on avatar complexity.   He promised that these fixes and others would soon be outlined in a official published roadmap.

These change are quite radical compared to some the recent methods of the Lab, and I am looking forward to this new level of transparency and accountability.  The lab is not only welcoming feedback and new ideas, they encourage and asking for them.  They have asked though that these ideas be well thought out and constructive.  Several months ago, I wrote about how much of the Second Life community had adopted a sort of culture of complaining.  I suggested ways that the community could bring forth their complaints in a more constructive manner, and proposed that by doing so, they would have a better chance of being heard.  That time is now.  Assuming the Lab honors their part of the deal, the ball is now in our court.

Philip’s Keynote

Project Snowstorm Keynote

What did you think of the SLCC announcements?

Linden Lab, the company behind the virtual world of Second Life, issued a release today stating that they will be restructuring their company in order to become more efficient and to allow them to delve into new platforms including the social and mobile web.

The release reads:

SAN FRANCISCO, June 9 /PRNewswire/ — Linden Lab®, creator of 3D virtual world Second Life®, announced today a strategic restructuring to increase focus on the company’s consumer business including investments intended to enhance ease of use and participation in its virtual goods marketplace through browser-based and mobile applications.

As part of the restructuring, Linden Lab will also improve its geographic and cost efficiencies. The company’s product and engineering divisions will be combined.  The software development teams will be consolidated in North America and customer support will be reconfigured to provide more scalable services.  As a result, Linden Lab anticipates staff reductions of approximately 30 percent.

“We’ve emerged from a two-year investment period during which, among other things, we’ve spent a considerable amount of time improving reliability and the overall user experience. Today’s announcement about our reorganization will help us make Second Life® even simpler, more enjoyable, relevant and engaging for consumers starting with their first experience. It will also enable us to invest in bringing 3D to the web and will strengthen our profitability,” said Mark Kingdon, chief executive officer of Linden Lab.

According to Kingdon, the restructuring also better aligns Linden Lab with its two longer-term goals.  First, the company aims to create a browser-based virtual world experience, eliminating the need to download software. Secondly, Linden Lab will look to extend the Second Life experience into popular social networks. “Ultimately, we want to make Second Life more accessible and relevant to a wider population,” he said.

About Second Life and Linden Lab

Developed and launched by Linden Lab in 2003, Second Life is the world’s leading 3D virtual world environment. It enables its Residents to create content, interact with others, launch businesses, collaborate, educate, and more. Since its inception, Second Life Residents have logged more than one billion user hours and generated more than $1 billion in user-to-user transactions. With a broad user base that includes everyone from consumers and educators to medical researchers and large enterprises, Second Life has become one of the largest repositories of user-generated content and the largest user-generated virtual goods economy in the world.

Privately held Linden Lab, founded in 1999 by Chairman of the Board Philip Rosedale and headquartered in San Francisco, develops revolutionary technologies that change the way people communicate, interact, transact, learn and create. For more information, visit www.secondlife.com.

SOURCE Linden Lab

UPDATE – M Linden (aka Mark Kingdon) posted on the official Second Life blog that he intends the changes to move Second Life forward.  He writes,

Dear Residents of Second Life,

Earlier today, we announced the undertaking of a significant restructuring of Linden Lab. (Read the press release for details.) Though the company remains in a solid financial position, it has become clear that we need to make some hard decisions in order to bring current and future Residents the kind of product and experience we feel they deserve. After three years of intensive hiring, we’ve come to a place where it’s important that we reorganize our teams and find a renewed level of discipline and momentum as we move forward.

Our restructuring plan has three main goals:

• to improve our focus as a company on the projects that matter most to Residents
• to simplify our organizational structure and operate more efficiently
• to achieve cost savings so that we can invest in platform improvements, new products, and new lines of business.

Reorganization in a company the size of Linden Lab is never easy, and this restructuring will result in the loss of a number of jobs, at all levels of the organization. None of these cuts are easy for us to make. I am extremely proud of the team we’ve assembled in recent years, and am not happy to have to say goodbye to any of them. But as an organization, we need to become more focused and more efficient, and this is the path we’ve chosen to meet those goals.

Linden Lab remains a great business. We have a strong balance sheet, and our revenue will reach record levels this year. The inworld economy continues its solid growth as Resident creators of great content and experiences do what they do best, and new Residents continue to join the phenomenon we know as Second Life. Here at the Lab, I’m concentrating on our reorganization. In coming weeks, I’ll blog more about our focus for the remainder of the year. For today, I’m sorry to have to bid farewell to some great employees, but I’m also looking forward to what the newly streamlined company will be able to bring to our Residents in the months ahead.

Thank you,

M Linden

The restructuring comes as no surprise to most SL residents as rumors have been flying for weeks when the Lab began making changes.  While the announcements are exciting (and overdue), it will certainly be sad to see the departure of approximately 30 percent of Lindens we love and who have helped build this amazing platform.  While a report from Analyst firm Next Up Research valued the company between $658 million and 700 million about a year ago, these changes will obviously not come cheap, and investors are certainly hungry and eager for a larger payback.

I will discuss my thoughts on these transitions shortly, but I wanted to give you the news first.

Over the last few days, I’ve read dozens of articles covering the newly updated Second Life Terms of Service (TOS) and the Class Action Lawsuit that has been filed against Linden Lab and Second Life creator Philip Rosedale.  These reports have frustrated and perturbed me, but I expected there to be some melodramatic “news” surrounding these events.  I can see how these events would be fodder for many of the sensational stories that are written about Second Life, most of which are about as accurate or thorough as you would expect to see in any common place tabloid.   However, this afternoon when I saw that the Los Angeles Times and Mashable (who I hoped would have more integrity) had jumped on the bandwagon of sensationalism then I could no longer bit my tongue and keep my facts to myself.

Second Life’s newly revised Terms of Service

Second Life’s newly revised Terms of Service (TOS) officially took effect Friday.  Though they were released a month ago, many reports are just beginning to surface about the updated TOS.  While most users (in typical online fashion) probably just clicked ACCEPT before even bothering to read them, there were multiple changes, that whether you read them or not, you are now legal bound to.   The changes mostly involved further clarification of Service and Content Licenses, including a new Snapshot and Machinima Policy.

The updates were consolidated by Linden Lab into the following reference chart:

Snapshot and Machinima Policy

The most significant of these changes (in my opinion) was the introduction of the completely new Snapshot and Machinima Policy.  The Snapshot and Machinima policy grants Linden Lab and other Second Lifer users a license to use snapshots (without permission) and machinima (with permission) of Content that is publically displayed in-world.  Creators who want to reserve their rights can do so by placing their creations in private areas or by altering the Covenant of the land to prohibit snapshots or filming of machinima.  The EFF spoke out in support of Linden Lab, praising this new policy, by stating,

Instead of running from the new kinds of fair use enabled by new technologies, Linden Lab has embraced them… Linden Lab’s behavior should be an object lesson to movie studios and major record labels, who have alienated their own fans by trying to thwart new fair uses as they come along, whether through DRM or DMCA takedowns. Linden Lab has shown that there are innovative new ways to give the green-light to fair uses while still giving users the freedom to protect their creations. We hope that movie studios and major record labels are taking notes, because Linden Lab is showing them how it’s done.

Service and Content Licenses

Mark Kingdon, CEO of Linden Lab described the other licenses on the official Second Life blog:

…We’ve clarified the service and content licenses in the Terms of  Service.

• Linden Dollar License: This is the license that allows you to transfer Linden dollars to other Residents. When you get Linden dollars, you get a license to use them, and when you transfer Linden dollars to other Residents, you are transferring your Linden Dollar License.
• Virtual Land License: The license you get when you acquire  virtual land in Second  Life works similarly to the Linden Dollar License. When you transfer virtual land to other Residents, what you are really transferring is the license you get to use that virtual land.  This license reflects  what virtual landlords are doing already in Second Life when they rent land parcels to other Residents.
• Service Content License: To enable us to provide the Second Life experience to you, we need to be allowed to “use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform” content in Second Life. However, the content you submit to Second Life is your content, not Linden Lab’s; you retain the intellectual property rights in your content. And, we’ve added a provision that ends the Service Content License for copies of your content that you delete from Second Life.
• User Content License: By submitting content to publicly accessible areas of Second Life, you allow us to display it and allow other Residents to see it. You also allow other Residents to “use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform” your content “solely as permitted by you through your interactions with” Second Life. Your interactions include your use of  the Second Life permissions system. The User Content License reflects how our content creators are using the permissions system. The User Content License also clarifies that content creators remain the intellectual property owners of content they transfer within Second Life. Simply receiving content and becoming the  “Second Life owner” of the content does not make you the intellectual  property owner.

Evans et al vs Linden Lab

I have read the entire newly updated TOS and the previous version (that just was replaced) as well.   I recommend that you take the time to do the same.  While I am NOT a lawyer, I did not find these newly updated TOS to be (second) life changing.   However, a new Class Action Lawsuit was recently filed against Linden Lab and Second Life creator Philip Rosedale that includes in its arguments the Second Life TOS.  The Plaintiffs of this case: Carl Evans, Donald Spencer, Valerie Spencer, and Cindy Carter, are claiming misrepresentation and fraud, among other things.  As I read the Complaint, the Plaintiffs allege that Philip Rosedale tried to “bait the hook for potential customers” by intentionally misleading them to believe that by buying virtual land, they would own that land outright and therefore acquire ownership rights to it, only to turn around and seize their land/items/$L, without compensation, and without honoring any of their rights as owners.  The complaint actually goes as far as to compare Rosedale to a “hawker sitting outside Second Life’s circus tent, singing marvels of what was contained inside to entice customers to enter.”  The sarcasm that seeps from its pages puts this blog to shame.  So much so, that well respected and informed virtual world blogger Ren Reynolds responded to the Complaint by asking, “you’re having a laugh, right?”

The reason many of us find this lawsuit to be a joke is because it’s widely know, understood, and accepted that while Linden Lab affords us many rights that most online game/MMO/virtual world companies do not, in the end, they own everything on their servers.  It is also included clearly in the TOS, both now and in the prior version.

2003 TOS – 4.3 All Data Is Temporary. When using the Service, you may accumulate treasure, experience points, equipment, or other value or status indicators and contribute to the environment (“Accumulated Status”). THIS DATA, AND ANY OTHER DATA RESIDING ON LINDEN’S SERVERS, MAY BE RESET AT ANY TIME FOR ANY OR NO REASON. ALL CHARACTER HISTORY AND DATA MAY BE ERASED IN WHICH CASE EACH CHARACTER MAY BE RESET TO NOVICE STATUS. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY COPYRIGHT OR OTHER RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE WITH RESPECT TO ITEMS YOU CREATE USING THE SERVICE, ALL OF YOUR CONTENT AND ACCUMULATED STATUS HAS NO INTRINSIC CASH VALUE AND THAT LINDEN DOES NOT ENDORSE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS (SUBJECT TO ANY UNDERLYING RIGHTS IN THE CONTENT), ANY VALUE, CASH OR OTHERWISE, ATTRIBUTED TO CONTENT OR ACCUMULATED STATUS.

2010 TOS – 4.3 [..]
You agree that Linden Lab has and may exercise the right in its sole discretion to pre-screen, refuse, or delete any Content or services from the Service or disable any user’s access to the Service without notice or liability to you or any other party, including upon our belief that such user’s conduct, Content, services, or use of the Service is potentially illegal, threatening, or otherwise harmful to any user or other person or in violation of our Terms of Service, Community Standards, or other policies.

In fact the previous version made it extra clear by stating,

2003 TOS – 3.3 Linden Lab retains ownership of the account and related data, regardless of intellectual property rights you may have in content you create or otherwise own.  You agree that even though you may retain certain copyright or other intellectual property rights with respect to Content you create while using the Service, you do not own the account you use to access the Service, nor do you own any data Linden Lab stores on Linden Lab servers (including without limitation any data representing or embodying any or all of your Content). Your intellectual property rights do not confer any rights of access to the Service or any rights to data stored by or on behalf of Linden Lab.

The TOS both prior and currently make it quiet clear.  I don’t think I “own” my virtual property any more than I thought I owned Park Place when I bought it playing Monopoly last weekend (even though their ads told me that I “can own it all” when I “buy, sell, and trade famous properties” and become “the next billionaire.”)

Virtual Entitlement

After people understand that legally we all agreed to (in a sense) give our ownership rights away, they want to know, why?  To answer that you must first understand how content in a virtual world works.

While, like in Monopoly, we habitually use words like buy, sell, and own because they have become sort of a native language that we are accustomed to using, we never actually buy, sell, or own anything physical, nor is it ever equal to a real life purchase.   Yet, some people feel entitled due to the immersive experience of virtual goods.  You paid for that whatever, so you must be entitled, right?  In reality, all you really paid for was a license.  When you “buy” something in Second Life you pass on a license (i.e. your $L) and in return you receive a license that grants you access to block a of code/data that in-world we see as an object rezzed by the SIM that is running on LL’s Second Life servers.  With Second Life hosting and storing everything, is there any wonder that it belongs to them?

Many online games/MMOs/virtual worlds all operate on a similar set of rules.  Blizzard owns everything in World of Warcraft, or CCP Games owns everything in Eve Online.  They all have clear TOS that you must accept to play.  They all have the right to seize your account.  They all have creative advertising.  These aspects are an industry standard in these types of online/virtual environments.

Virtual worlds are not the only environment where you see this type of “ownership” either.  It is very common and well known that University professors who create something or formulate an idea might be permitted some rights, but their work overall belongs to the University.

Enter Bragg

So now looking at the big picture, it kind of takes the bite out of the lawsuit, right?  Or does it?

While most people would agree that for multiple reasons paying for a license doesn’t entitle you to many rights (as defined by the TOS), there is some previous precedent in this type of case against Linden Lab.  Back in 2007, Marc Bragg sued Linden Lab claiming essentially the same thing.  He purchased a series of land and was selling this land, when Linden Lab terminated his account and seized his virtual assets.  Bragg admitted that he had, “learned of a way to purchase virtual land significantly below market values,” and was reselling it for a profit.  Linden Lab argued that they proceeded inline with their TOS as Bragg admitted he was using an exploit to buy the land.  The judge did not see it as open and shut.

In the first paragraph of his opinion the Honorable Eduardo Robreno states, “While the property and the world where it is found are “virtual,” the dispute is real.”  He then continued, “Presently before the Court are Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Personal Jurisdiction (doc. no. 2) and Motion
to Compel Arbitration (doc. no. 3). For the reasons set forth below, the motions will be denied.”

The reasons he set forth described Linden’s Terms of Service as a  “contract of adhesion” and therefore unconscionable.  Judge Robreno further explained this by stating,

“Linden presents the TOS on a take-it-or-leave-it basis…”

“In effect, the TOS provide Linden with a variety of one-sided remedies to resolve disputes, while forcing its customers to arbitrate any disputes with Linden.”

“…the arbitration clause is not designed to provide Second Life participants an effective means of resolving disputes with Linden. Rather, it is a one-sided means which tilts unfairly, in almost all cases, in Linden’s favor…”

Linden Lab then settled the case a few months later for an undisclosed amount.

What that means for this current case is still unknown.  What we do know is that the case is being heard in the same court, before the same judge, by the same lawyer (Jason A. Archinaco) who handled Bragg’s case, and includes much of the exact same text/claims as the Bragg case.   I would argue that the Lab is not in a position to simply settle this case.  While many of the of terms that will be discussed might be typical contract law, this case is anything but typical.  As Ciaran Laval points out, this case could open a massive can of worms.  With Judge Robreno already having an understanding of the case, Archinaco having some experience and time to build the case, and the Plaintiffs having requested a jury trial, I can’t begin to predict where it is going, but it is certainly the case to keep an eye on.

Will we even recognize the virtual world after imposing so many suppressive real world influences onto it?  Are we really ready for the consequences of our selfish complaining?

Last week, Blue Mars announced they were becoming a “cloud based service” featuring server side rendering.  This led many people, including New World Notes’ Wagner James Au, to ask, could Second Life do the same?   To settle the matter, Au posed the question to Linden Lab.  Joe Miller (aka Joe Linden) the company’s VP of Platform and Technology Development offered a VERY interesting answer, stating:

“Rather than using the ‘cloud service’ metaphor here, it sounds like what you’re talking about is better termed ‘server-side rendering’ and streaming that content down to machines that would otherwise be unable to run a full 3D client. That is technically possible with Second Life, and we’ve actively demonstrated it internally, with a full Second Life client and all graphics settings set to maximum, while maintaining an impressive framerate. However, we’re not announcing any future plans for new ways to deliver Second Life today. While using the ‘cloud’ metaphor is a bit of a misnomer for the above, standing up a Second Life grid in the cloud is something that we already do; we have customers running instances of Second Life Enterprise in the cloud, and no dedicated hardware is required to stand up a private grid.”

Au then interpreted this as, “So if you pay for a private, firewalled version of Second Life, you can get the cloud option. For regular grid users, expect to access SL with a high-end computer for the foreseeable future.”

This is not entirely true, because the “cloud option” that some Second Life Enterprise customers are apparently using most likely does not provide server side rendering. A platform can operate “in a cloud” without providing server side rendering. Therefore, those paying for the private, firewalled version (Second Life Enterprise customers) and using the “cloud” option would still need high-end computers that meet the Second Life requirements, just like the rest of us.  Joe Miller was simply using these particular SLE clients as an example of how they can and are running SL “on the a cloud.”

As for server side rendering (what most people are really interested in) Joe Miller said that they have “actively demonstrated it internally,” but they are “not announcing any feature plans today.” This is VERY interesting!  I couldn’t believe how many people missed this important sentence!  In fact, Joe Miller came back TWICE to comment and re-iterate it saying,

“I didn’t say there were no plans to offer server-side rendering. I said we had no plans to announce anything in that regard today. There is a big difference.”

“The facts are we can (and have) run the SL client on machines that render in the “cloud” and interactively stream that experience to laptops, netbooks, low-end computers, and mobile devices that otherwise aren’t capable of rendering rich 3D content on their own. That was the question that Hamlet asked.

It’s also true that we’re just not ready to make any announcements about how we might deploy such technology in the future. There are many factors involved in moving to such a model.”

While nobody can say for sure what this means, I think we can all read between the lines here and interpret this to mean that Linden Lab is looking at and considering options such as these and may even be working on something along these lines.  Very exciting stuff!

Since the difference between “cloud computing” and server side rendering was very confusing for many of us, but obviously an important topic, as one of Second Life’s biggest limitations is it’s hardware requirements… I’ve asked Sand Castle Studios’ own Reed Steamroller to further explain what these terms mean and more importantly how do they affect Second Life and us.  His synopsis is what follows.

Cloud Computing and How it Applies to Second Life

What is a “cloud”, and just what is it computing?

Wikipedia has this to say on the matter:

“Cloud computing is Internet-based computing, whereby shared resources, software and information are provided to computers and other devices on-demand, like a public utility”

For example, Amazon.com offers a prominent web hosting service knows as EC2. EC2 allows paying clients to rent hosting on Amazon’s “cloud.” The software EC2 is hosting for its clients isn’t being run on any one computer in particular. Instead, whatever is being hosted by EC2 (a website, or what have you) is run on a virtual machine, backed by bucket loads of server computers being maintained by Amazon.

I know, now you’re asking “What the heck is a virtual machine?” A virtual machine is basically a software program meant to mimic a full-blown computer. So, interaction with EC2 would be a simulation of working with a single computer. You would even be able to think of this virtual machine interface as the one computer at Amazon that is personally hosting all of your files. But this is a mirage, and behind the scenes everything is made up of a virtual sea of computation.

So there you have it, the cloud, a metaphorical method of providing different services over the Internet. When people say a web service is “on the cloud”, what they really mean is there is a group of servers on the Internet, running whatever software solution that service is providing. There is no one cloud, there are many. The semantic distinction here isn’t really being made over where these computers/servers are located, who owns them or what they’re doing, in as far as how they’re configured and being utilized.

To some people, the Second Life main grid sounds like it could be a cloud, but, personally, I wouldn’t consider it that way. The main reason being that each SIM is dedicated to a specific server core, with a specific allotment of RAM (etc…), and that’s it. The grid’s severs can’t say to themselves “Oh, well, there is less traffic on these SIMs over in this region, so let’s throw some of their resources at these other, crowded SIMs over here. A SIM’s resources are static, and the main grid isn’t just a blob of computing power ready to mold itself to different computing situations. Thus answers the age old question: If a tree falls in Second Life, and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound? The answer: a big ol’ YES. It would be fantastic if this weren’t the case, but I’m no expert on the ins and outs of the main grid’s design, and I’m sure there are a number of reasons why things are the way they are.

Second Life Enterprise, however, is a different situation. Recently, Joe Linden was quoted saying: “…standing up a Second Life grid in the cloud is something that we already do; we have customers running instances of Second Life Enterprise in the cloud, and no dedicated hardware is required to stand up a private grid.”

Normally, Second Life Enterprise is meant to be a sort of mini-grid, out of the box, for companies to utilize within their own, local communications network. A corporation would be provided the necessary hardware and software needed to integrate a Second Life Enterprise solution within their existing IT network. It would then work alongside the standard office network offerings, such as email or intra-net FTP, all behind the company’s Internet firewall.

What I think Joe Linden was referring to was the doings of a few Second Life Enterprise clients. Some companies don’t have a basement full of equipment dedicated to IT, or the resources to justify upgrading their office’s internal IT infrastructure to handle the hardware elements of Second Life Enterprise. I mean, in this day and age, a smaller business’ IT setup could feasibly consist of a broadband connection and a wireless router. So, in some cases, it may be more cost effective to have the server side elements of Second Life Enterprise hosted on rented server space (the “cloud”). I didn’t know Linden Lab was allowing that, but hey, sounds pretty cool to me.

What is “rendering”, and what’s so special about it being “server side?”

Something I’ve realized more and more is that anything you do on a computer is just an abstraction of some finer, more detailed process. Example, everything you see on your screen really just an abstraction of a bunch of ones and zeros being processed by your computer. And, all those ones and zeros are just an abstraction of a bunch of electrons, and volts and what have you, being tossed around your computer’s hardware. Rendering is just the generation of a level of abstraction.

The data being sent to your SL client by the grid is in the form of, like I said, ones and zeros. This data makes up things like the environment your avatar is in, the makeup of all the other avatars around yours and that of your own. Some of this information makes up visual aspects of Second Life, like textures, prims, etc. Some of it is other sorts of information, like sounds and animations, etc. Instinctively, your computer sends the visual information to your video card, which then processes it and turns it into the virtual world you see on your computer’s screen. That process is rendering, and how well your computer handles this task depends on its hardware.

Does anyone remember the dark days when Second Life upgraded the client’s rendering software to “Windlight”, and the flame storm that followed? Suddenly a large number of residents, struggling with older computer hardware, couldn’t use Second Life anymore. So, when new features are again added to the Second Life client’s rendering software, you can expect that at least a few residents won’t be able to experience them. As time goes on, computer hardware becomes obsolete. This is just a fact of life, and I like it about as much as everyone else does.

In comes “server side” rendering. Imagine all the rendering computations needed to display the virtual world of Second Life on your computer’s screen being handled by somebody else’s, much more powerful computer. The virtual world would then be streamed to your computer; with graphics settings at the max, much like streaming video is when you watch a movie or TV show on a website. No longer would you need to upgrade your computer’s hardware to match the new requirements of whatever new rendering feature Linden Lab decides to incorporate into Second Life. That is now the job of server-side rendering guys.

Another boon to server-side rendering would be the virtual impossibility of content theft. As it stands now, everything you come in contact with in Second Life is sent to your computer (and everyone else’s), so that it may be rendered. If the rendering is done someplace else, that content is no longer being distributed to residents, let alone anyone who would want to steal it.

There are a couple of examples of server-side rendering services being put into action. OnLive is one, selling itself as a small console that can be plugged into your computer or television, allowing you to play the newest games from these platforms, regardless of the hardware qualifications. OTOY is another service in the same grain of OnLive, allowing unsurpassed video games graphics on anything from an iPhone to an old Pentium 4 PC. A similar service (of special interest to me) is mental image’s RealityServer platform, allowing raytraced rendering and indirect lighting effects far more advanced than any game technology on the market. However, this is because RealityServer isn’t game technology, and doesn’t provide frame rates anywhere near needed to be considered “interactive.” One last note, all three of these services are run within the cloud computing paradigm.

The Downside

Implementing a Second Life server-side rendering solution would be expensive. I have no idea what the finances are like at Linden Lab, but the costs would be substantial, and switching to server-side rendering (in part or in full) would be a major company decision. They would have to cut a deal with one of the major server-side rendering providers, or build their own “rendering cloud” from the ground up. Joe Linden stated that they had done internal testing for proof of concept, but that was the extent of what they’re willing to release to the public. However, he didn’t deny that server-side rendering could be part of Second Life’s future, which is interesting to say the least.

The downside to the residents of server-side rendering would be bandwidth consumption. I think the current services offering server-side rendering recommend connection speeds of 1.5 MB/sec or more. I’m just guessing, but I don’t think the majority of Second Life users would fall into that category, and, if they didn’t, they would experience a new definition to the word “lag.” You know when you watch something on Hulu or YouTube and the client will tell you that it is “buffering” the video. That can NOT happen in an interactive environment, or else you risk losing the interactivity of said environment.

Lastly, at this time, Linden Lab has not publically announced plans to move the Second Life grid specifically to any cloud based computing platform. That is an entirely different subject. Like I said it would be nice, but that would be another giant, super humongous headache, on top of all the other headaches Linden Lab is dealing with right now. Again, I have no idea how Linden Lab runs the grid, and I won’t pretend to, but moving it to a “cloud” could feasibly affect grid stability negatively, that being the direct opposite effect of its intention. Do the benefits of cloud computing in Second Life outweigh the possible risks taken during the transition? Are these risks that everyone is willing to take?

While the Second Life community was buzzing about the long awaited (Beta) release of the new Second Life Viewer 2.0, Linden Lab also made another big announcement.  On the official Second Life blog, Niko Linden announced the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) program.   The LEA program is being created to help support, encourage, and highlight Second Life artists and their work.

In the upcoming months, it is our pleasure to take a more active role in encouraging the arts inside of Second Life. We are excited to announce the creation of a Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) program which will help support, encourage, and highlight Second Life artists and their work. We hope that the collaboration between Linden Lab and the wealth of talented Second Life artists will contribute to a vibrant new chapter for the arts in Second Life.
The Linden Endowment for  the Arts (LEA) program’s goal is twofold:

1. To create an immersive space for artists to share their art, build connections, and prosper in the Second Life community
2. To provide a new way for artwork to live on within our ever-changing virtual world.

While still under design, this program will be a partnership between Linden Lab and Second Life artists, with the additional objective of gathering, displaying, and maintaining art at an inworld Arts Hub. We are currently building the LEA organizing committee, which will include members of the Second Life artist community and Linden Lab employees, to guide the program’s management. Under the creative direction, organization and guidance of the LEA committee, we will hold biannual art exhibitions, highlighting the most creative artwork happening inworld.

Niko says that they are currently looking for a “small but dedicated group” of Second Lifers who are willing to make a commitment to the program, which (at least for now) will be headed by CEO Mark Kingdon.  Those interested in joining the committee can apply here.

While this extraordinary endeavor is long overdue, it also faces some challenges.  Despite the fact that Niko says, “the key to understanding art is not in trying to decide what it is,” that is exactly what Linden Lab will have to do.  The announcement is already full of comments arguing this very question… What is Second Life Art?

So far, most of the controversy stems from Crap Mariner’s insistence that Second Life music is art.  He argues that the Second Life musicians are not always just “one guy with a guitar playing on a stage.”   He says that some SL musicians create immersive experiences as part of their shows, and that they cannot be “pushed to the back burner” anymore.  I agree and disagree.  Music is absolutely and undoubtedly an art, but just like not every painting is art, not every musical performance is an art either.   Having said that, musicians like Grace McDunnough and her full out live music production Musimmersion, most certainly fit the billing of art.  But where do we start and end that thin defining line?

I tend to lean towards definitions in which Second Life actually facilitates the experience and/or emotions that the art provokes.

Bryn Oh described this better in her response to the announcement:

We are in the frontier of a new art movement which is unlike others before it.  As an oil painter i would not expect a jpeg of my work to be considered for inclusion, as all the element which make up the beauty of a painting are lost when converted to this format.  All the brush strokes which convey emotion are no longer seen, the colour is often changed when scanned and they lose the presence which an oil painting can have in real life.  I think we have to look at it from an art history point of view.  What, in ten years time, would an art historian say defined this new medium?  What is unique about SL art over other forms of art we can find in rl.  A 2D painting on a wall can be appreciated for its colour theory and composition but we remain passive observers. The ability we have in Second Life is to create paintings that you can enter and explore.  Instead of paint we use sound, prims, particles, scripts, narrative, and many other tools which allow us to create a new form of art.  Immersive environments allow the viewer to be drawn into the virtual experience and forget rl for a time.  That interaction is unique to this medium except for perhaps installation art or earth art.  Determining what is unique about this medium should really be the guideline as to determining what should be included.

Wagner James Au also attempted to create his own similar definition of Second Life art on his blog:

Second Life art is art that attempts to essentialize an important aspect of the human experience in a way that’s only feasible in SL, leveraging most or all of Second Life’s unique affordances.

In the end no one can ever truly define art.  In my opinion, the keys to the success of this program will be (as Bryn said) determining what is unique about this medium and the art in it and also remembering the distinction between a craft (music is a craft) and actual art (Musimmersion is art).

Today, in a much anticipated announcement, Linden Lab launched the Beta version of their new Second Life viewer.  It will undoubtedly completely revolutionize the way we view and use Second Life, not to mention the first user experience.  There a heaps of changes and new features (small and large) included in this version and lots of additional features and changes in the works.

To get started you need to download the new Viewer 2 (Beta).

New Interface Introduction

The first thing you are going to notice is how it looks cosmetically.  The look of this new viewer is so smooth and clean.  A major upgrade.  Next you will notice a completely different user interface (UI).  This new UI is so much more intuitive than an other viewer before it.  It is made of up what Linden is calling the top bar, the bottom bar and the side bar.

While new users will find this new UI very intrinsic and much less overwhelming then before, it will take quite some time for experienced users to get used to, as it is radically different.

Most of these features are the same, or at least familiar, but have been relocated so that they can now be found more easily.

The new UI looks and functions very much like a browser.  It includes a browser-like navigation bar with forward and back buttons (history) and easily accepts SLURLs.

My favorite new features that are now easily available on the UI are the teleport history which can be accessed several ways, and the ability to bookmark a location (landmark) with one click. You can then even customize that landmark and add information about the location to the landmarks.

Appearance and Outfits

Another one of my favorite new features is something that designers have been asking for since as long as I have been in SL.  Under Appearance, users and designers now have two more sections.  One gives you the ability to add a tattoo layer.  The other allows you to make parts of your avatar invisible.

Perhaps the best new feature for the resident fashionistas of SL who love to mix and match their clothing wardrobes is the ability to create new outfits using links for no copy items.  Links do not break any permissions, they are simply shortcuts that point to an original no copy item.  This has long been a problem of mine and I’m so glad to see it included in this new viewer!  Also helpful is the addition of the Wearing tab which shows the items you are currently wearing.  Many of us have been used to this from other third party viewers, but its great to see it added here as well.

Shared Media

While all of these features are great, and there is a whole slew more of them… there is something bigger.  Perhaps bigger than the launch of the viewer itself, is the launch of Second Life Shared Media (SLSM).   SLSM is 100% a game changer for Second Life.  It will allow you to display fully interactive, shared web content on any surface of a prim in Second Life including Flash, Javascript, and embedded movies.

Many people are already using it to play games, watch YouTube movies, collaborate on Goggle Docs, check email, display web pages, and the list goes on it.  The applications of SLSM are only just being explored and will most definitely will change the way we use SL for education, collaboration, social media, augmented reality, etc.   This video gives more details about SLSM including how to set it up yourself:

Other Features

There are so many new and updated features I could never cover them all in one post (at least not one you would read).  Luckily Torley has posted several video tutorials to help you learn about them all.  These features include:

Coming Soon

In addition to all of today’s new debuts, we know there are a lot more new features in the works!  In the near future Linden Lab has said that they will still be unveiling some more game changing features like Mesh Support, the addition of C# as a scripting language, additional tools to better integrate social media, and more!  In fact, Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon appeared on building43 this morning to discuss the launch, what the company has been up to, and where it’s going.

As you can tell its been a BIG day for Linden Lab, Second Life, and all of us!  I would love to know some of your thoughts on the new viewer and today’s big news.  What do you love or hate?

This morning, tech enthusiast, blogger, and social media superstar, Robert Scoble (aka the Scobleizer) sent the Second Life community and Twitter world into a frenzy with his post, “Is Second Life about to enter its ‘second life?’” He begins by rehashing the usual “failings” of Second Life.   Yet, even after all his experiences with Second Life, he still got why the initial flow of corporations left SL completely wrong.  However, what followed was more interesting… He announced that tomorrow everything is going to change.

Anyway, one thing happened that I find very interesting: it continued to grow in users, time spent on the site, and dollars spent in it.

On Friday I sat down with Mark to find out why.

First, the users remained very evangelistic. Second, corporations like IBM found other uses for its islands and kept investing (they now use these islands for training and replacements of expensive conferences). Third, the technology has been steadily improving. Fourth, the company has found new ways to bring new users in and make the experience easier to get into.

But he admitted that they had been pretty quiet and avoided doing more PR work until just recently.

Why is that changing this week? You’ll see why tomorrow morning at about 11 a.m. on building43.

But to tease a bit, I find that their new direction, the first part of which you’ll see tomorrow in the video I did with Mark, is interesting and represents a new life for Second Life and its host Linden Labs.

Of course there was an immediate reaction from the Second Life community across Twitter.

Much of the talk centered around whether Linden Lab CEO Mark Kingdon would be discussing the new Second Life viewer affectionately called “Viewer 2.0” by the community.

Regardless.. this is an announcement that you will not want to miss!

So tune in Tomorrow Tuesday February 22, 2010 at 11 a.m. on building43.

I’m a ball of emotion tonight as I read on Linden Lab’s Official Blog that the founder of Second Life Philip Rosedale has decided to leave Linden Lab.  The decision comes about a year after Rosedale passed the CEO position over to Mark Kingdon and took over as Chairman of the Board.  Rosedale claims that he will continue his role as Chairman and all that the change really means is that he will no longer be working full time at Linden Lab and will be restricted to “outbound and media type things.”  Instead, Rosedale will be working on a new company that he says is Second Life centric.

“I’m starting a new company, and wanted to let you know.  It’s a big idea – something that actually depends on Second Life existing to get started, and that I have been thinking about almost as long as I’ve been thinking about Second Life.  I don’t want to try to explain the idea here, because it is a decision I’ve just made and honestly I don’t think I can do a good job describing it yet.  But I did want to tell the whole SL community, because I don’t want you to worry that anything is wrong.”

Though Philip did not give us much to speculate on, my best guess is that it is related to “The Rig” which is what Philip actually started Linden Lab to develop and he has talked about numerous times.  “The Rig” refers to a contraption based on haptic technology that could be used as a body-driven interface.  In 2008, original Second Life investor and Linden Lab board member Mitch Kapor unveiled Handsfree 3D and demonstrated how it could be used to control virtual worlds (specifically Second Life) without a keyboard or mouse.  Kapor later said that project was discontinued.  Since then Microsoft introduced Project Natal and provided proof of concept that a body-driven interface not only was completely possible, but also inexpensive to the user as it is expected to cost only $50 USD.  At E3 2009, Lionhead introduced their Project Natal-enabled interactive character named Milo.  The demo is quite amazing.

With technology having advanced so much since Philip last concentrated on “The Rig” if he does indeed base his new company on this type of technology, I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.  Until we know more, Philip says we can find him at a new location not surprisingly in-world.

“I’ve got a new island in-world – it’s called ‘P Squared’.  I’m thinking it can become a sort of extended space for my new work life.  Please come and visit, and don’t be surprised if I give you something to do.”

Many of us have gathered there (SLURL TELEPORT LINK).  Some mourning, some celebrating, some full of intrigue and excitement.  Whatever you are feeling, with the diverse microcosm of SL residents gathered there, all of us having been changed in some way by Second Life, you can’t help but feel the energy that Philip must have felt when first creating the virtual world.

As for the future of Second Life, Rosedale says he feels that the virtual world is safe in the hands of Mark Kingdon and the other Lindens, though he doesn’t always agree with them.

“It’s like when your teenagers leave home – of course you still worry and wish they would listen to you more!  But at some point you believe that they are safe enough to live on their own.  I believe that the mission of building the digital world is safe in the hands of the Lindens, which means that I can start working again at full intensity on this new project.  It’s very exciting.”

How this will effect the virtual world and its residents remains to be seen, and though I am sad to see this chapter close, I am anxiously eager and excited to see what the future holds.