In April, I followed the Lab’s lead in reporting on a new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) designed to help Spanish-speaking educators in the use of Second Life as a starting point in their interaction with emerging and innovative environments that can be used for education.
Professor Max Ugaz, UMSP
Since that time, and as the Lab again reports, the course has been improved and updated, and a new session is set to start on Monday September 29th. The course has been developed by the Universidad de San Martín de Porres (USMP), located in Santa Anita, Lima, Perú, under by the university’s Project DirectorofVirtual Worlds, Professor MaxUgaz. The course will comprise three week-long modules with a total of 17 lessons and an average workload of around 5 or 6 hours per week.Details on the course, together with a registration form for interested parties, are available the university’s website, which includes an introductory video for the course (in Spanish). The course will take place at one of the USMP’s teaching areas in Second Life, commencing on Monday September 29th, as noted. As my own Spanish is poor to non-existent, I’ve taken the liberty or reproducing the Spanish portion of the Lab’s blog post below:
l Proyecto en Mundos Virtuales de la Universidad de San Martín de Porres de Perú, inicia este 29 de setiembre la segunda edición del curso en la modalidad MOOC (Curso Masivo Abierto En línea) titulado “Introducción a Second Life para Educadores 2da. Ed.”. El curso es gratuito y está diseñado para capacitar a educadores y público en general de habla hispana en el uso del mundo virtual Second Life, a fin de ofrecer conocimiento que permita desempeñarse en este entorno y aprovechar su potencial, especialmente en el ámbito educativo.
Si tú o alguien que tú conoces pueden beneficiarse de un curso como éste, pueden acceder al vídeo de introducción y registrarse en la página web. Inicio: 29 de Set.
Además se puede visitar la sede del curso dentro del mundo virtual desde nuestra Guía de Destinos.
There has always been a shadow hanging over H.P. Lovecraft’s fictional town of Innsmouth, Massachusetts. That much has been known since the town first appeared in Lovecraft’s writing, when it made its début in the 1936 novel The Shadow Over Innsmouth. It is a place with a long and mysterious history, involving shipbuilding dating back to the mid-1600s, the rise of the Esoteric Order of Dagon, intrigue, strange happenings and more.
Innsmouth is also a town which has been lovingly recreated in Second Life, forming a centre of role-play, an homage to Lovecraft’s writings and very much a famous and significant landmark. Dark and atmospheric, it captures the spirit of the deserted Innsmouth and its air of mystery and menace quite perfectly.
But now a new shadow is, as SLexplorer and Ciaran Laval indicate, falling over the SL Innsmouth and threatening its future.
The news of the threat first broke via a post on the H.P. Lovecraft Festival website, and which reads in part:
On September 15th, Darmin Darkes, the owner of the Innsmouth-themed Sim announced the following: “Innsmouth sim is for sale. I’m giving first dibs to you folks in the hopes that someone will want to keep some of the build. Worst case is having to flatten it and sell it. I just can’t afford it any longer. I’m not leaving SL, but I have to cut back my sims. Thank you for your years of support and friendship and the passion you’ve given to Innsmouth. It’s only pixels and I’m sure there are better versions waiting to be built.” — Darmin Darkes
Innsmouth in Second Life has enjoyed passionate and loyal support, and the news has led to a group being formed, The Innsmouth Preservation Society, which has Darmin Darkes’ blessing and is working on ways to secure a continued future for Innsmouth.
The group, led by Arik Metzger, who is the Coordinator of the HP Lovecraft Festival in SL, and Founder/Producer of the HPL-RPG (HP Lovecraft Roleplay and More Group), has already set out initial plans to try to save the region.
“The first goal is to raise enough funds to purchase the sim and cover one month of rent,” he informed me when I hopped over to Innsmouth to speak with him. “Beyond that, there are ideas and plans for returning regular events and activities to Innsmouth, replacing older-style builds with more prim-efficient reproductions of the current structures, free up prims and increase potential for residential and commercial tenant options.”
The group has already held an initial meeting to discuss these plans and more, and a second meeting is scheduled for 19:30 SLT on Thursday, September 18th, at the Innsmouth Opera House. All those wishing to support the preservation of Innsmouth are invited to attend, listen and get involved.
“We boosted the Innsmouth Preservation Society group to 33 members. A number of people expressed concerns and interests, and ideas were shared along with an overview of the immediate goals involved in saving the sim and revitalizing it for all,” Arik informed me in discussing the initial meeting. He’s been spending a fair amount of time spreading the word since the news broke, and visitors at the region will likely find him walking the streets of Innsmouth, imparting news on the group’s work, handing out meeting flyers and more.
Further details on the group’s plans, and information on how to get involved in donating towards keeping Innsmouth alive in Second Life will be given at the upcoming meeting. In addition, updates and other information relating to preserving the region will be posted on the HPL-RPG website.
On Thursday September 18th, the windows version of the UKanDo viewer released version 3.7.15.28043 (at the time of writing, the Linux version is to follow), the first update to the viewer since April 2014.
Given the passage of time since the last release, this new version brings with it both a significant jump in version number and a lot of merges with the Lab’s official code. As well as these, the viewer also has a number of tweaks, fixes, additions and removals, which come from both the UKanDo team and other sources.
The following is a quick overview of some of the significant changes to the viewer; as always, please refer to the release notes for the full list of changes and updates.
Lab Code Updates
UKanDo 3.7.15 comprises merges with the following LL code releases:
Release 3.7.7 – viewer-side Project Interesting improvements to how the viewer and server work together to know what scene objects to draw, and how the viewer utilises the information it has cached
Release 3.7.8 – Maintenance release with crash fixes and performance improvements
Release 3.7.9 – the “Memshine” release, incorporating the Sunshine / AIS v3 updates and a variety of fixes to address memory leaks in the viewer and improve crash rate
Release 3.7.10 – the SLShare two release, with uploads to Twitter and Flickr and updated upload to Facebook (to incorporate the filter support also included in the Twitter / Flickr image uploads)
Release 3.7.11 – Snowstorm contributions release which includes the requirements that Windows XP users have Service Pack 3 (Win XP 32-bit) or SP 2 (Win XP 64-bit) in order for this (and future viewer releases) to install
UKanDo includes a large number of Lab-driven updates, right up to the more recent (at the time of writing) 3.7.15 release with the unified snapshot floater
In addition to the above, the viewer is also brought up-to-date with Marine Kelley’s latest updates to RLV.
Preferences Updates
Version 3.7.15 of UKanDo includes the following Preferences updates:
A button to clear inventory cache has been added to Preferences > General > Miscellaneous
Option added to toggle between web or legacy profile floaters added to Preferences > General > Miscellaneous panel, with web profiles the default
Preferences > General > Basics tab has been cleaned-up
An option to display your avatar’s name in the viewer’s title bar has been added to Preferences > General > Miscellaneous (via Kokua (?))
An option to set teleport action when clicking on the Mini-map has been added to Preferences > Move & View
New option to select teleport action when clicking on the Mini-map
Other Updates and Changes
This release of UKanDo also features the following updates and changes from various sources and the UKanDo team:
The viewer now uses the Catznip multi-user log-in in drop-down code
Options for raising Abuse Reports have been added to the various chat context menus
The text entry widget’s background colour will change according to chat type (via Kokua (?))
The Avatar height offset slider (from the Restrained Love Viewer) has been removed, together with all associated code
The viewer logo and version number has been added to progress screens (e.g. teleport progress)
The region restart countdown displays in minutes and seconds rather than just seconds
Inventory folder icons have been updated
Various tweaks to buttons / icons on the Nostalgia skin.
Summary
A comprehensive set of code merges from the Lab’s repositories brings UKanDo back up to parity with the SL viewer, while the nips and tucks offered by the development team and from other TPV sources serve to further enhance the viewer.
The news of Joe Miller’s passing has been circulating through the SL community for the last 24 hours, and has included a short tribute to his time with Linden Lab published on the Lab’s blog.
Mr. Miller served as the Lab’s Vice President of Platform and Technology Development from May 2006 through until December 2010, and as such, oversaw many of the key technical developments within Second Life.
Joe Miller’s alter-ego at the Lab: Joe Linden, as seen on his Twitter page
These included such activities as moving the grid away from the traditional “black Wednesday” downtimes while things were being banged upon for around eight hours, and users were faced with having to find something else to do with their online time; overseeing the arrival of voice in Second Life; improving the look of SL with the introduction of Windlight; and improving the overall stability of the viewer.
Throughout all of this, Mr. Miller, through his robotic alter-ego, Joe Linden, was popular among SL users, and not averse to meeting residents and participating in meetings. Via the Lab’s own podcast series, Inside the Lab, he discussed many of the challenges involved in running a service such as Second Life which, as Ciaran Laval (who has my thanks for providing the link) pointed out, can be as pertinent today as they were six years ago.
I didn’t actually get to meet by Joe Miller in-world while he worked at the Lab, but we did seem to share something of a passion for space exploration and astronomy. On Twitter and elsewhere, he would point to stunning astronomy and space images; one in particular that springs to mind is also a favourite of mine – a shot of the Earth and the Moon sitting against a backdrop of stars as captured in 2010 by NASA’s Messenger space vehicle when it was 183 million kilometres away, en route to a rendezvous with Mercury.
Joe Miller, a keen sports fan, joined Sportvision as VP, Engineering after leaving Linden Lab in 2010 (image courtesy of Sportvision.com)
Outside of his tenure at Linden Lab, joe Miller had a wide-range career in technology spanning some 30 years, and included time at Atari, Convergent Inc., Sega America and SegaSoft Inc. At the latter two, he respectively served as Senior Vice President, Product Development; and Executive Vice President, CTO, and board member.
Alongside of this, he also founded a number of companies and organisations during his career, including the Perilux Group, a product design company, which was engaged to develop several award-winning products now offered by LeapFrog (he is credited as one of the co-inventors of the original Leapster hand-held educational gaming console for young children), Bright Things, Apple, and Fitniks. He also founded the Knowledge Universe Interactive Studio, where he served as both President and CEO as well as serving on the board of directors.
Following his departure from the Lab, he went on to work at Sportvision Inc, as Vice President, Engineering,
Mr. Miller passed away peacefully on July 27th, 2014, with his family at his side. A memorial page has been established by his family where those who know him can remember him and perhaps leave a few words.
Linden Lab has issued a further reminder that the new Skill Gaming policy comes into effect as of Monday September 1st, and that it will be enforced. This means that as of that date, all games of skill operating in Second Life must:
Have been created by a skill games creator approved by Linden Lab
Be operated by a skill games operator approved by Linden Lab
Be located on a Skill Gaming region operated by the Skill Games operator.
In case there are any wondering what might be classified as a skill game, and thus falls under the above requirements, the Skill Gaming policy provides the following definition:
A game, implemented through an Inworld object: 1) whose outcome is determined by skill and is not contingent, in whole or in material part, upon chance; 2) requires or permits the payment of Linden Dollars to play; 3) provides a payout in Linden Dollars; and 4) is legally authorised by applicable United States and international law.
The policy also notes that, “‘Skill Games’ are not intended to include and shall not include ‘gambling’ as defined by applicable United States and international law.” Gambling is, and remains, against the Second Life Terms of Service.
The new policy means that as from September 1st, 2014, anyone wishing to play games of skill also must meet certain criteria, which the Lab again defines as follows:
Should you wish to participate in Skill Gaming in Second Life, you represent and agree that you: (i) are at least nineteen (19) years of age; (ii) have the legal authority to agree to this Skill Gaming Policy; (iii) reside in, and are accessing a Skill Gaming Region from, a jurisdiction in which participation in Skill Gaming is legally authorized; and (iv) are of legal age to participate in Skill Gaming in your jurisdiction.
Additionally, those wishing to play gamers of skill must, “establish and maintain a Second Life account with accurate, current and complete information about yourself, including a valid payment method.”
The official reminder from the Lab further makes things clear:
Remember: if you are not an approved* Creator or Operator, you must cease the creation, distribution, and operation of skill games (as defined in the Skill Gaming Policy) by September 1, 2014. So if you haven’t already removed any unapproved skill games from your Marketplace shop, for example, or haven’t yet ceased operating them inworld, now is the time to do so. From that date forward, operating and/or creating skill games with L$ payouts, among other criteria as specified in the Skill Gaming Policy, without Linden Lab approval (and/or outside of Skill Gaming Regions) will be subject to enforcement measures.
If you live in a jurisdiction where skill gaming is permitted and you plan on playing these games in Skill Gaming Regions in Second Life, you should not need to do anything differently. However, adding payment information on file now is a good way to help ensure you’re able to play as soon as Skill Gaming Regions are live.
*As noted in the FAQ, creators and operators whose applications are under review at the deadline may continue to operate skill games while their applications are reviewed, provided that they have submitted all required documentation and continue to promptly respond to any inquiries from Linden Lab.
As I recently reported, a number of approved operators and games have appeared on the official Skill Gaming Approved Participants wiki page, but one of the concerns expressed by potential creators and operators is the remaining lack of clarity around aspect of the new policy. for example, the Lab still had yet to give any indication of the likely quarterly fees which are to be levied, and this may still be causing people to hesitate in submitting an application as a creator and / or operator of skill games.
However, this doesn’t escape that fact that all operators and creators of skill games will have to be in compliance with the policy from Monday September 1st – and for those who have not yet submitted their application, that means ceasing creation, distribution and operation of skill games, as noted in the Lab’s blog post.
During the Server Beta meeting on Thursday August 21st, it was confirmed that the first region to be rated a Skill Gaming region had arrived on the main grid. The region – called “Crunchy”, isn’t actually open for gaming; it’s a test area currently being poked at by Gecko Linden.
In addressing the arrival of the region, Simon Linden pointed to the Skill Gaming Approved Participants wiki page, and I noticed that the first set of Skill Gaming operators and the first batch of games have now been listed.
A warning is displayed if you attempt to TP to s Skill Gaming region you are not permitted to access
The test region is already set-up to exclude access to avatars which don’t meet the access requirements, which can be found in the Skill Gaming FAQ and on the Approved Participants wiki page. The access restrictions appear to work, as I was unable to reach the test region with my Crash Test Alt, but could enter it without a hitch with my primary avatar account.
There are some other tests going on in the region which are likely to be readily to performance testing, etc; robots fly and shoot, MOAP boards are displayed (and Gecko Linden seems to be a bit of a space science fan, like me).
Crunchy: the Lab’s FOB for Skill Gaming regions, and “Base Camp Gecko”
Some 45 games (a fair few of them variations on Solitaire) were added to the Approved Participants wiki page on Thursday August 21st, split among a number of operators. In addition, some 30 Skill Gaming regions were listed as approved as Skill Gaming regions, although they have yet to actually be converted to the new region type.
With the revised September 1st deadline looming for the introduction of the updated Skill Gaming policy, these additions are the first sign that people are actually applying to become operators / creators, and it will be interesting to see how many more appear over the course of the next week. As it is, there still seems to be a lot that is still up-in-the-air with regards to the Policy and its associated FAQ – the latter of which hasn’t been updated since August 7th.
One area still to be cleared-up is that of quarterly fees, which may well be delaying some from applying to become licensed operators / creators. The lack of any clear indication of the fees was raised as a matter of concern at the August 2nd presentation Agenda Faromet gave on both Skill Gaming and the July Terms of Service update (transcript and notes to both available here).
In many respects, it is hard to understand why the Lab hasn’t announced quarterly fees. According to the FAQ, they are in respect of are in respect of “processing and compliance-related costs associated with maintaining this program”. Taking this as the case, then it’s not unreasonable to assume the Lab has an idea of the compliance related costs and other fees they are themselves facing in order to allow skill gaming on their platform, and so should have some idea of what the quarterly fees are likely to be.
This is not to suggest the Lab are attempting anything untoward in not revealing the fees; a was pointed out during the SLBA presentation, the likely reason the fees haven’t been announced is because the Lab have (or hadn’t at the start of August) got that far in their thinking. Even so, it is potentially causing people to hold off applying.
What also doesn’t help the Lab here is that Skill Gaming regions already have a higher tier associated with them ($345 + VAT where applicable) “due to the greater degree of ongoing administrative work associated with administering our rules concerning Skill Gaming in these regions”. So applicants are faced with that, the application fee, the cost of converting their existing regions – and then still have a possibly large question mark hanging over their potential total operating costs.
It doesn’t inspire confidence.
There are other aspects of the process that would seem to need clarification or risk confusion. As Ciaran Laval pointed out on August 13th, it has been suggested (not by the Lab, admittedly), that SL-focused stock exchanges are possibly exempt from the updated policy, but at least one is going through the application process (SL CapEx, again as indicated by Ciaran); ergo, further clarification on the status of exchanges would perhaps be welcome.
There is also the requirement (section 9 of the FAQ), that applicants engage a US-based and licence attorney to help with the legal aspects of their application (e.g. provisioning their RLO). However, this hardly seem correct when it comes to applicant from outside the USA, as a US attorney is unlikely to know the gaming laws applicable to another country (or can even give a legal opinion on the laws of another country). So where does that leave applicants from outside of the USA? Again, further clarification might well be welcomed.
In his article, Ciaran notes the fact that the Lab are willing to push back on the date from which the new policy comes into effect is good – and I agree (although like him, I’d also like to se some indication on whether they are also willing to push back the date from whence the nebulous quarterly fees kick-in).
But that said, the fact that more than a month after the updated policy was first announced people are still waiting for clarification on some matters relating to its introduction, does suggest the Lab has perhaps put the cart before the horse (and I admit, I’m tempted to put “again” at the end of that sentence).
Obviously, those wishing to create and / or operate games of skill have little choice but to comply with the new policy. Even so, it would perhaps be nice if the Lab didn’t continue to give the impression that the best way for people to decide whether they want to be or not is down to a roll of the dice, the current batch of applicants listed on the wiki page notwithstanding.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 