Frank Ambrose, Senior VP of Global Technology, departed Linden Lab last week (with thanks to Hamlet Au for the pointer).

Known in-world as FJ Linden, Frank Ambrose joined the Lab in 2008, and while rarely seen in-world, he was responsible for instigating a major overhaul of the grid’s hardware infrastructure, work that resulted in both some bumpy times – but also in very welcome and continuing overall improvements.

I’ve personally long been a fan of FJ – his blog posts were always honest, open and articulate, and gave valuable insight into the operation of the platform and the goings-on at Linden Lab.

The reasons behind Mr. Ambrose’s departure are unclear, but he is the second member of the senior management team to depart LL in recent weeks, following on the heels of Kimberly Salzer.

Whether their departures are in any way linked in terms of either the overall direction the company is taking or as a result of Rod Humble “cleaning house” ready to appoint his own team, is entirely speculative at present.

Wheatever the reason, Frank Ambrose’s departure from the Lab is sobering and a little sad. I’d like to pass on my best and good wishes for his next endeavours (which aren’t currently listed on his LinkedIn page).

(A semi-lighthearted look at the arrival of the newest member of Linden Lab’s Board)

Last week’s Phoenix Hour had something of a cryptic start, allowing for the fact this is the season of Halloween. As the show opened, Phaylen drew attention to the fact she was wearing a green gem over her head.

“D’you seen the little green thing above my head? It’s time, ladies and gentlemen, for Halloween; so this year I thought I’d do something extra special and spectacular and arrive on stage as something we’ve all come to love  – a Sim!”

The mystery apparently deepened when Jessica cryptically commented:

“It’s actually interesting that you have The Sims theme. I have this feeling that we might be seeing more of The Sims theme in the future…”

Now, I admit I’ve never played The Sims; I’m genuinely not into computer games per se. However, I am aware (Google is still sometimes my friend) that a green gem is very much associated with that game.

What’s more, I’d venture to say that The Sims isn’t somthing people would size upon as a theme for a Halloween costume. Well, not in my household and neighbourhood at least; around here it’s more sheet-over-the head, Dracula, witches and zombies – but then, this is  rural England…!

Of course, the comments were more than likely made in complete innocence and sans any deeper meaning than referencing the season itself (by Phaylen) and perhaps concern over the yet-to-be-released new UI (from Jessica).

Howeverm the comments did prove to be remarkably prescient, because it now appears that at some point (possibly during the last week*), and entirely on the Q.T., none other than Will Wright joined the Board of Linden Lab.

Will Wright is, of course, the man originally behind the massively-successful The Sims – hence the precient nature of Phaylen’s and Jessica’s comments.

The Sims, as we all know, is also a game that is very dear to the heart of one Rod Humble, who worked on both The Sims 2 and The Sims 3, as well as serving as EA Games’ Executive Vice President and Head of The Sims Label.

Just how involved Wright will be in Linden Lab’s development and direction is far from clear, as Tateru Nino notes in commenting on his arrival.

The Board as a whole has been very quiet since mid-2010, in marked contrast to the past, where they appeared to be far more vocal in matters relating to Second Life, with Bill Gurley making statements as regards the platform in 2009, and most famously, Mitch Kapor for his 2008 SL8B address, which could best be summed as an attempt at a, “So long and thanks for all the fish,” kind-of farewell to the user community as efforts were made to push SL aggressively towards becoming a “business application”.

Of course, a quiet Board doesn’t mean an uninvolved Board, so it will be interesting to read precisely what Tateru can ease out of LL by way of comments on Wright’s arrival and possible contribution / involvement in the company’s development.

Certainly, Wright and Humble have much in common. Humble, as we know, is very focused on “creative spaces”, and Wright has always been fascinated by what he dubbed “possibility spaces”; and Hamlet Au notes that Wright himself sees MMOs very much as environments that should encourage user creativity – which could be taken as a very positive sign for Second Life.

Quite when he joined the Board is unclear – there was no Press Release or other form of announcement, possibly by mutual agreement that this should be the case; something that is not actually as unusual as one might expect in these matters.

Was there a hint at all anywhere that this was happening / about to happen? Did it in fact occur after The Phoenix Hour was broadcast on the 18th? If either is the case (and to return to a more lighthearted frame again) then given the season, there is only one way to respond to Phaylen’s and Jessica’s opening comments in the show in light of what has happened…

Spooky!

In the meantime, and more seriously, welcome to the wacky world of Second Life and Linden Lab, Mr. Wright!

*Thanks to Ciaran for his observation that Will Wright may have joined LL in August and we all missed it!

As reported by Tateru Nino, Fredrik Bjork – better known as Fredrik Linden – is leaving the Lab this Friday and off “on new adventures.”

Fredrik has been at the Lab for around 18 months, predominantly as the Director of Web Engineering. Most recently, he’s been in the limelight with regards to the new web profiles & the social media tools that have been added to them.

As Chair of the Web Profile User Group, Fredrik has always been one of the most attentive and responsive members of the Linden team, seeking-out feedback from users and taking on-board ideas and requests to ensure concerns are met and improvements made. This was very much highlighted with the launch of the social media add-ons to web profiles; when a large number of users voiced concern (via Twitter) over the lack of an option to completely opt-out of the Twitter-like Feed aspect of the software, Fredrik ensured there was such an option within an hour of the launch. Nor did he limit his input to the UG meetings – but clearly sought out views and ideas as expressed through blogs, etc. – as his comments on this blog clearly demonstrate.

Nya Linden will be taking over Fredrik’s responsibilities within the UG from next week, where she’ll doubtless receive Friendly Greetings. To Fredrik, I repeat the words of my Tweet from earlier:

Sorry to hear you’re leaving; but hope the adventures are fruitful. All the best to you 🙂

Tateru Nino, her eye ever on the ball, reports that LL are looking for a “Senior Software Engineer, Mobile“.

The job specification is pretty interesting to read, but I tend to side with Tateru when she says, “I wouldn’t expect this job to involve putting a Second Life viewer onto a mobile device, and neither should you. Most likely this will involve a very lightweight application..” 

There is much that is going on that would tend to point in this direction: SLim was canned last year (but then it never really worked), we have the upcoming new web-based profiles which will offer an initial level of “social networking” tools – and which will, apparently – be enhanced and built upon in the coming months. Users themselves are calling for easier and more flexible ways of accessing Second Life while on the move which are potentially free of some of the constraints found in the current crop of text-based “viewers”. Ergo, it seems fitting that LL move to provide some form of toolset that can leverage (at least initially) the new web profiles and offer the potential for improved interaction with those in-world when one is mobile.

Perhaps where I’d diverge from Tateru’s view is that I might be tempted to add, “At least, not yet” to the end of her comment. While it is difficult to see a more interactive element of SL existing on small handheld devices (phones, etc), there is nevertheless a vast opportunity to be mind in the field of tablet devices, which looks set to open-out this year, with just about every hardware manufacturer trying to push funky devices running a multitude of OSs into the hands of anyone willing to buy them.

Therefore, it would make sense – further down the road perhaps – for LL to see how they can leverage this burgeoning market and provide something of a richer experience within SL for those routinely using such devices that goes being merely texting and IMing from a frozen avatar in-world.