Virtual Worlds
Articles from my voyage through the virtual worlds of Second Life, Kitely, Avination, Inworldz and others.
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Avination about to Close?
Currently, Avination is still open for business. However, it appears that their customer service is no longer active and for at least some accounts, they didn’t take last month’s tier payment. Their forum has been removed and there’s nothing I can find on the web referencing their latest plans.… Read the rest
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Closing the book
Alexia first stumbled inworld on the 28th of August 2006. Second Life had only been open to free accounts for a couple of months and from the moment she stepped inworld the human behind her has been in turns entranced, frustrated and amazed by what she saw and those she came into contact with. … Read the rest
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J’accuse
All of you who work for LL are complicit in the decline. You’re spoilt teenagers who take the piss by ignoring the business needs of the company as you stroke yourselves, and each other, as you indulge in things that look great on the CV.… Read the rest
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Is Patterns the gateway drug to second life?
Since the announcement of patterns and the stablemates it’s Thanks to Inara Pey’s post I was directed to this interview with Rod Humble on second life. The title is somewhat misleading but at least it wasn’t a “where are they now” article which how is the impact of the demise of phoenix, whose users make up something like 30% of the grid, be managed?… Read the rest
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Unhinged – A festival for Eku’s head. 15 November – 15 December 2012
A festival for Eku’s head. I know everyone has a head but Eku’s is special and needs some TLC. So to raise funds for this, there’s a fundraiser for the next month. There’ll be gachas, items for sale and tip jars all trying to part you from your money to help make it happen.… Read the rest
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How to make Second Life look better – hide the problems
So, Linden Lab has decided that: Because we want to make it even easier to report bugs, today we are making some changes that will streamline the bug reporting process, allowing us to more quickly collect information and respond to issues.… Read the rest
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Merry Christmas Everyone!
Have a wonderful Yuletide season!
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Musings
Today marks 5 years since I first decided to enter Second Life. This was my first post on the subject all those years ago, at that stage I’d been inworld barely three weeks. Real Life (RL) bands play, people buy land and build houses, become merchants or sell their skills, live happy fulfilling lives… and all of this is true.… Read the rest
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Metamorphosis and other stories. Will Second Life finally become a butterfly?
It’s been a long two years but finally the covers are slipping off the revamped Second Life. Do I like what I see? No. Do I think it’s a good business move? No. Do I think it has a chance of sucess?… Read the rest
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Linden Lab wants to rebrand Second Life. I think they have bigger problems than that.
Some of you may know that Linden Lab is considering a rebranding exercise in the near future. Most likely it will be a concerted attempt to change public opinion of Second Life from being basement dwelling sex fiends into young, cool, content creating hipsters. … Read the rest
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Linden Lab displays skewed values. How unusual.
Is it me or is there something wrong with LL when it will continue to fund at least 4 adult regions which do nothing to promote Second Life or even adult activities yet allows such gems as The Lost Gardens of Apollo and many others (including the AM Radio region in a few months time) to vanish from the grid?… Read the rest
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SL8B – Through the Looking Glass
Finally the preparations for SL8B are over and I can give you a sneak peek at the build I’ve done for it. Well, the outside only as I don’t want to spoil the surprise. The theme this year is “the magic of Second Life” and that can mean whatever you want. … Read the rest
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About the garden art works
Click here for more information on “Through the Looking Glass” The miscellanea in the garden comes from my gallery. Or in the case of the trees, from the library (credit where it’s due, I’m a fan of those Linden trees, I admit it).… Read the rest
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About “Through the Looking Glass”
TL;DR? – just clear your camera controls (hit the Esc key twice) and walk in, there’ll be instructions whispered to you when needed. There’s a goodie bag giver stashed on the land, so take your time and enjoy! 🙂 Click here for information on the garden art ~~~ This piece started out in 2006 when the human behind Alexia read about Second Life and despite the fact I’d never even been in a chat room before or played any computer game more complex than Solitare, I willing stepped down into the rabbit hole.… Read the rest
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Through the Looking Glass at SL8B
This year I decided to participate in the SL8B as an exhibitor. After not getting an invite to the press preview last year I decided this would be the best way to make sure I get to check it out. … Read the rest
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Is spyware the root cause of this data leak?
Linden Lab published this yesterday to remind people about basic internet security. In a roundabout way it is very forcefully reaffirming Linden Lab’s position that these spam emails are as a result of user machines being compromised. Unfortunately it ignores what is being said by those who have been affected. … Read the rest
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Data breach discussion thread moved
The forum thread discussing this issue on the Second Life forums has been moved to here, where anyone can access it without being logged in. Kudos to Linden Lab for making it accessible to everyone. There are others affected who are stating that it is highly unlikely it is spyware but I won’t be able to properly look at it until the weekend. … Read the rest
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Linden Lab and the Dragonfish data breach
True to form, Linden Lab are now blaming its customers for the leak of card names and email addresses. They claim that the data breach is due to poor computer security on behalf of those whose data has been compromised. FJ Linden responded in the form thread (post 31) and said 01-06-2011 05:26 PM Thanks for raising this issue with us.… Read the rest
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Linden Lab in another data security breach. Possibly payment details, definitely cardholder name and email address
Linden Lab has outsourced the processing of payment details to a company called Dragonfish, who claim to be “The Leading Provider of Online Gaming Solutions”. How true this claim may be is for others to decide, one thing is certain, they appear to play fast and loose with their customer’s credit card data.… Read the rest
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Second Life, the Dash Deal and You. Welcome to the virtual Walmart
The cynic in me choked a little more when I finally read the details of the Dash Deal. For those of you who are blissfully unaware of the term, it’s the latest marketing ploy from Linden Lab to try to make Second Life look popular and to use the social media version of recommendations to snare the unwitting.… Read the rest