Category: Reviews

Web Profiles – a further look

Posted on by Inara Pey

Over the last couple of months the layout of web Profile pages has undergone a series of progressive enhancements. As it has been a while since I’d last looked at web Profiles, I thought a little update was in order, particularly given the most recent change to Privacy Settings, which has come out entirely unannounced by LL.

The first noticeable revision is the provision of a new drop-down list of options that can be accessed by clicking on the down-pointing chevron next to your name at the top right of the Profile page.

Clicking on this displays a drop-down list of options, namely: EDIT PROFILE, PRIVACY SETTINGS and LOG OUT. Clicking on either of the first two options will automatically open your Profile / settings for update, regardless of whose Profile you are actually viewing.

Defining your reach

An issue with earlier iterations of the Web Profiles was that they carried all information about your avatar out into the web. This generated a lot of criticism from users, some of which was valid. While options were later added to limit how far real world and other information in a Profile could be broadcast, it was impossible to disable or stop the About Me section of a web Profile being visible from across the web without it vanishing from Viewer 2’s in-world search, effectively making you a non-person, Profiles-wise.

This has now been rectified. A new option has been added to the Privacy Settings, which defines who can see the About Me section of your Profile page.

As with earlier iterations of the web Profiles, the options for defining how widely the various sections of your Profile can be seen are:

  • Everyone: the information is available to the whole Internet and can be picked up by search engines
  • Second Life: the information is available to all Second Life residents who are logged in to the website or in-world
  • Friends: only your Second Life friends can see the information.

Setting all of the Privacy options to Second Life / Friends means that anyone casually browsing the web (via search or whatever) who comes by your Profile will only see the top section of your Profile page – name, rezdate, etc., together with a button to join Second Life. This should be ample to allay the worries people had about having their Profile information broadcast across the web, and it means that even if access is restricted to Second Life or Friends, a profile won’t completely vanish from Viewer 2.

Social media connections

A further nice addition to web Profiles that I’ve not looked at previously is the ability to connect SL Profiles to other social media accounts (FaceBook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Flickr and YouTube) should someone wish to do so. A drop-down list of available options is located towards the bottom of the Profile page when in Edit mode, under the title Social Identities.

To use it, click on the arrow and display a drop-down list of networks and click on the the one to which you wish to connect and follow any on-screen prompts or requests. Repeat for any other accounts to which you wish to links – and don’t forget to click SAVE when you have finished.

Each social media network added to your profile will be displayed in the edit screen directly below the drop-down list, together with an option to remove it later, should you wish.

Once saved, your various social media connections will be shown in the middle column of your Profile’s Second Life tab, in a field entitled Elsewhere. This will be directly under your Picks and / or Group listings, assuming these are visible to people perusing your Profile.

Worthwhile enhancements

These updates are likely to prove popular among users, providing as they do greater control and flexibility over how the web Profiles can be used.

While there are still issues with the web system that need to be examined and resolved – including load times and the loss of data entered into Profiles – which tend to impact the effectiveness of web Profiles, these new changes demonstrate that LL are listening and making changes in response to user requests, as well as providing greater choice as to what can be done with web Profiles. Both of these points are to their credit.

If there is anything upsetting about these new enhancements, it is in the fact that once again, LL have made no announcements concerning them; I only found out about the Privacy Setting changes from Ann OToole. Given the amount of concern previously expressed by users on this particular issue, this has to rate as another mark-down in LL’s ability to communicate, and shows (again) the Lab has a lot of ground to make up where keeping its user base informed is concerned.

LindenWorld – Revised

Posted on by Inara Pey

With thanks to Soft Linden, a unique look at an early iteration of Second Life, circa 2001, when it was still called LindenWorld.

Note: updated with copy from YouTube.

SL’s got talent #2

Posted on by Inara Pey

Second Life is an amazing environment for fostering creativity, be it for business, fashion or simply pleasure. A goodly while ago now, I started a little series looking at talent in SL, but never really followed up on it.

Well, today I’m changing that, I want to follow up on both Rena and Latexia by talking about the work of another outstanding artist it has been my great good fortune to meet: Himitu Twine.

Himitu is remarkable for a number of reasons. For a start, she is one of the warmest, caring people I’ve met in SL so far. From our first meeting she was friendly, approachable, warm  – someone who can instantly establish a rapport with you.

Secondly, she has one of the most stunning avatars I have seen in SL. Her look is simply amazing – as the self-portrait to the left more than demonstrates. The look – from skin (and tone) through make-up, hair and oufit is always nothing short of exquisite.

Thirdly, she is one amazing photographer – or more correct photo-artist, seamlessly blending avatar shots with both rl and rendered backdrops, weaving both together to create evocative and sensual works of art that each tell a story, with the story itself neatly summarised in a flowing caption. Encapsulating everything from period costume through fetish to high-concept science-fiction, Himitu’s works are simply breathtaking.

It wouldn’t be fair to reproduce more than a couple of her works here – they really should be seen over on her Flickr stream, where they flow together as a collage of artistic expression I personally find inspiring – and I invite you all to go and browse her work for yourselves.

However, there is one last image I must reproduce here; just a few days after meeting Himitu for the first time – a meeting of pure chance (or possibly serendipity) while browsing a shopping mall – she asked me if I would consider posing for her; a request that was in and of itself utterly flattering. Of course, ego demanded that I did just that; I had no idea what to expect, but to be honest, anything I had imagined would have faded into nothing when compared to the picture she unveiled to me earlier today – a picture that honestly moves me in ways that I cannot express. It is called Serenity and within it, Himitu has captured not only my avatar, but also my very genuine love of the Orient. That she has done so, and so perfectly, is testament not only to her skill as an artist – but also to her insight as a person. All I can do is thank her, deeply and sincerely and encourage all of you, again, to go and look at her work – and leave comments!

All images reproduced here are Copyright Himitu Twine and used here with her permission. They may not be reproduced through any medium or in any form, digital, mechanical or photographic, without the express permission of Himitu Twine.

Images in order:

  1. Chinese Study: Just a little study in composition
  2. Tarantula on the Roof: She was a hunter in a world where life is cheap
  3. Serenity: Don’t say anything, just feel the serenity in this place…

My grateful thanks to Himitu for her time and for allowing me to reproduce these images here.

SL7B: Underwhelmingly Conventional

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’ve just finished a tour of the Second Life 7th Birthday (SL7B) “celebration” sims. The “theme” for this year is “unexpected collaborations” (aka, “you never know whose exhibit you’re going to end up sharing sim space with”). The truth of the matter is, it might just as well have been “underwhelmingly conventional” inasmuch as once again, it demonstrates a complete lack of original thinking among those “guiding” the event within Linden Lab, and a reliance on the principle of the “same old, same old”.

To be sure, there are a lot of imaginative builds and exhibits, and hidden away among the avenues are some startling examples of what can be achieved within Second Life – kudos to those behind them! But it does remain a sad fact that “the” major talking point around the event is not about SL or the remarkable diversity of cultures, imaginations and ideals it represents….but is rather all about a nipple or two.

Of course, LL are caught between something of a rock and hard place; given the recent layoffs, any loud trumpeting of the event on their part could be taken in some quarters as crass and extreme poor taste. BUT…that doesn’t mean we should lose sight of the fact that seven years on, SL *is* still here; we’re all, despite our moans and groans, getting on with things. So in that regard, the relative lack of promotion from LL is surprising,

Aside from a minimal blog posting, there has been very little said. Unless I’ve failed to get the e-mails (a distinct possibility), I’ve seen nothing advertising,  or anything else on upcoming talks or presentations or even parties. Even the Wiki carries scant up-to-date information. Instead we’re left with the Resident’s SL7B blog as a source of information. While this is undoubtedly good, it doesn’t even get much of a mention anywhere but at the foot of the Wiki page, and is conspicuously missing from the official blog announcement.

Not even Philip Rosedale’s address gets a direct mention anywhere in the official blogs (outside of Torley’s attempt).

Away from this and Nipplegate and the lack of anything above General / PG rating (come on LL, so some maturity yourselves!), SL7B is, it has to be said, a saddening exhibit of much that remains wrong with SL and which upsets so many residents so much of the time.

  • The lag, even on relatively empty sims, is appalling
  • It is impossible to move freely between connected sims without (sometime violent) rubber banding
  • Rezzing takes an eternity
  • Get 20 people in an event and the sim may as well be hovering on the edge of a black hole.

It may sound bitchy raising these points – but the fact is, they represent four reasons why, for every person visiting SL7B, there are liable to be 2 people who won’t.  They are also why, when he talks about LL getting “back to basics”, Philip would do well to get his Executive Management team to focus on ensuring effort is put into resolving such basic issues.

For me, though, the major disappointment with SL7B is that  – with due respect to all those who have worked hard to build exhibits and provide interesting features and displays  – there is simply nothing that compels me to tour SL7B. Oh sure, there are live events: singers, performers, etc., but these events are localised to just five stages. And truth be told, I can see them elsewhere in SL at times of my own choosing.

Of course, part of the responsibility for making the exhibits compelling lies with the exhibitors – but part of it also rests with Linden Lab. Hanging the entire event on some clever “theme” that actually doesn’t really inspire isn’t enough.

I’m sure that, come the end of the event, it’ll be hailed an “outstanding success”. After spending over two hours rambling . flying and tping around the sims looking at exhibits, my own thoughts are once again, and very sadly, “missed opportunity”.

I love music

Posted on by Inara Pey

I love to sing; I enjoy playing both the guitar and the piano. While I have a very eclectic taste in music, I was raised on the classics when it came to piano – although I managed to sneak in my fair share of ragtime and popular pieces from the Great American Songbook without getting told off.

I’ve tried to reflect my rl love of music in-world in a number of ways: I’ve supported various clubs that reflect my style of music and I’ve considered the possibility of singing live at a venue somewhere (the major problem here being I have absolutely NO idea how to go about doing so…).

Given all this, it will come as no surprise that a piano features as a central part of my SL home. My particular piano is a concert grand (something I’d love to have at home in rl, had I the physical space), made by the outstanding Persephone Milk as the flagship in her Musical Alchemy range. I’ve been the proud owner of this piano since version 3.0, and it has featured in every home I’ve built for myself in Second Life.

My Musical Alchemy concert grand in my current home

For those not familiar with Persephone’s work, it is – quite simply – the finest in SL where musical instruments are concerned. Her attention to detail is simply stunning. While her attention to detail and styling is seen throughout her range of instruments, it is with the piano that I think she has achieved something of outright beauty.

Sitting at Persephone's piano in my lounge

From the brass castors of this wheels, up through the ornate legs, right to the top edge of the raised lid, absolutely gorgeous. Not only that, it is packed with features, including:

  • The ability of up to 3 people to play the keyboard at one time
  • A series of high-quality poses for use by individuals and couples, allowing them to sit, lie or simply rest on the (closed) lid of the piano and listen to the music
  • A hinged, multi-position lid: have it fully open, half open or simply with the front open
  • A hinged keyboard cover that can be raised or lowered
  • Colour options for the exterior finish and interior detail
  • A selection of rezzable “extras”

Take these features, and combine them with the selection of pre-recorded pieces Persephone has taken time to put together, and her piano becomes a hands-down winner.

I learned to play using pieces like Fur Elise and Moonlight Sonata (who didn’t) – so these tend to be staples of many pianos in-world (which isn’t to say they are not favourites of mine). With them come another couple of “popular” (as in recognisable) pieces by Mozart: his Sonata No 11 and Sonata Facile. But Persephone adds (for me) a winning combination of pieces that place here piano well ahead of the rest, even allowing for the huge range of features.

The stunning level of detail (credit: Persephone Milk)

There’s an excerpt from Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier (a piece that is simply superb when heard on the harpsichord), Satie’s haunting Gymnopedie No 1 (which I originally learned as a result of hearing John William’s arrangement for Sky’s debut album while I was little) and even Joplin’s Maple Leaf Rag.

The music selection is rounded-out by Schubert’s Impromptu D899 No 3 and Persephone’s own Persephone’s Theme – itself a wonderful piece.

And as if all this weren’t enough, Persephone has just release version 6.0, which not only refines the look and styling even further – it removes almost all of the stuttering playback common to in-world musical instruments when they play and adds a built-in “speaker” system that massively enhances the listening experience compared to other systems.

One of the endearing poses included in Persephone's concert grand

All-in-all, Persephone’s concert grand pushes my buttons musically and aesthetically. It has been – and remains – one of my all-time favourite purchases within Second Life; I really cannot recommend it enough.

If you’d like to see Persephone’s concert grand – and the rest of her excellent range of musical instruments, why not drop by her in-world store? I doubt very much that you’ll be disappointed.

I’m United!

Posted on by Inara Pey

Well, while there may be more to LL’s acquisition of Enemy Unknown and the Avatars United website than meets the eye, I’ve opted to take the plunge and sign-up.

The major reason I did this is because as it stands, anyone can lay claim to an Avatar’s name; and while I’m not *quite* paranoid enough to believe anyone would set out to impersonate me, Inara Pey has become something of a part of me over the years, that I hated even the idea of the name going elsewhere.

Registration was straightforward enough – and not reliant on real life information. Once registered, AU presents an environment not too dissimilar in approach to Yahoo Connections: you get a profile page on which you can add personal details, a picture of yourself; you can set up your own photo albums, upload applets, etc. It also tracks your friendship connections with other avatars and also lists your most recent activities. This latter point is something I could actually do without, particularly as activities also get reported to the “Activity Feed” on the main page of the virtual world associated with your AU avatar name. This means that every photo you post, every group you join, is subject to immediate (if short-lived, given the frequency of actions) review by anyone viewing the AU Home Page for the virtual world linked to your avatar. Cyber-stalking lives on AU…

That the system includes blog and forum features is interesting – particularly as you can set-up your own. In the case of the latter, it raises interesting questions over moderation and freedom of speech. We’re all depressingly aware of LL’s heavy-handed approach to the former and curtailing of the latter, particularly where critiques of the company is concerned. One wonders how well critical, avatar-created forums within AU will fair, and whether there is any means for LL to eavesdrop forums.

While I’m not big on applets, there IS a useful tool for Second Life users. It comes in the form of a thing called BLIP. While primarily a means of enabling communications between your avatar in-world and your AU contacts / pages, BLIP also allows you to link your avatar in AU to your avatar in SL – thus verifying you are really you, rather than having someone else use your name.

Given the vast number of “Linden” names sprouting across AU, the use of BLIP to link AU avatars to in-world avatars should be mandatory for all LL staff joining AU to ensure imposters are kept to a minimum, especially when there are over 200 avatars registered with the “Linden” last name…

Leaving aside the fakers, AU certainly does seem to be popular among the Lindens. A lot of LL staff have signed up, from Mark Kingdon on down (could there have been a corporate directive ordering them to do so?). Does this mean AU will become one of the few remaining means we have of engaging with LL staff? Hard to tell. Those who have joined seem to fall into two camps: those only willing to Friend with other Lab employees (why? can’t they simply chat over lunch or around the water fountain…or is using AU all part of LL’s drive to reduce their carbon footprint *cough*); or those willing to Friend with others but only trade banalities.

That said, there is something about AU that is compulsive: I genuinely only signed to “protect” my avatar name, but….

….there are opportunities within AU, particularly for those of us running SL businesses, which I do find rather attractive:

  • It is possible to set-up an AU group for your business, and encourage people to join it. While linking of in-world and AU Groups isn’t possible, this might still be a awy for people to overcome group limitations *if* AU really proves popular with SL users. Add to that the slightly viral nature of AU within itself, as there is a chance you AU group might generate further interest in your business
  • Similarly, the forum offers the opportunity to post about your products and reach a potential “new” audience of users
  • The photo album means you can share your Second Life moments away from Flickr and other third party sites –  a useful factor if more go down the Facebook road…
  • The aforementioned blog could be attractive to those wishing to keep a similar diary-style blog of their thoughts and activities.

I’ve already started linking my AU bits more solidly with i-Squared Designs than I have with my “in-world” self, per se, and will likely continue down this road for a while.

Of course, as with everything else, AU does present some things that need changing (and in saying this, I’m pointedly ignoring the over-arching question of WHY LL should choose to pull this thing into their fold *now* – that’s a topic done to death elsewhere):

  • Coins: no. No, no no, no. They are intrusive and unnecessary. Get rid of them. That you have to PAY to do any decent customisation to your profile page is bad enough, but monetising the site (and, I assume, encouraging others to create bits for it) is the wrong way to go.
  • Navigation: could be a lot smoother in places. I’m tired of finding myself hitting HOME and winding up on someone else’s profile page or in some other territory I don’t recognise.
  • Shouting: can someone at least change this into something a little more friendly? I don’t shout at friends (unless I’m really, really upset) – I converse with them; I chat with them; I engage with them. I don’t wish to be seen shouting at all and sundry. Yes, I appreciate there is a private message function, but the concept of “shouting” comes across as very anti-social.

Right now, AU is quirky, potentially useful and not the cloaked monster some have portrayed it to be elsewhere. I have to admit, I’m curious as to the direction it will now take.

ADDENDUM

One thing I meant to say above. AU can be intrusive. Applications, whether installed or not, can spam you with unwanted e-mails. Further, installed applications can access information not otherwise seen in your profile (date of birth, gender, timezone, etc.). To avoid both, you must actively opt out of the associated settings (something that is a black mark against the site – giving out this info should be opt-in). To do so:

  1. Go to APPLICATIONS at the top of your profile.
  2. Click on MANAGE APPLICATIONS to display the Manage Applications  page.
  3. Click on GENERAL SETTINGS to expand this section.
  4. UNCHECK those options you don’t want intruding into your life beyond AU.
  5. Click on the blue SAVE SETTINGS button.