Back in February 2013, the Lab introduced advertising on Secondlife.com. The move brought a mixed response from users, some positive, some negative. In March, the programme was extended to include the SL Marketplace, and the Lab indicated they’d be adding advertising to all their web properties over time.
Merchants and businesses are now being offered the opportunity to advertise on SL web properties
In extending the advertising presence in March, the Lab’s blog post commented:
These ads are a great opportunity for advertisers to reach the large, global audience that visits the Second Life web properties every day, and we want to extend that opportunity to Second Life merchants as soon as we can. For Merchants, advertising on the Second Life web properties will be a new way to get their offerings in front of potential customers, while at the same time making the ads extremely relevant to every Second Life user who sees them.
The Lab has now started contacting merchants to offer them the opportunity to make use of the banner space on the various Second Life related web properties – Second Life.com, the dashboard (/My Account – what you see when logged into Second Life on the web), the Marketplace, etc.
The programme is called Advertise with Us, and there is an official FAQ on the subject.
Space can be purchased on a campaign basis, based on number of impressions, and the marketing can be geographically targeted – so a campaign can be specifically targeted by language, for example, or by region.
Two sizes of ad are available:
728×90 horizontal top & bottom
160×600 vertical right side
However, there is a bite to the offer. The minimum expenditure for a single campaign is $1,000 USD (L$ payments cannot at this time be accepted), with individual advertising costs as follows.
Adverts across more than one property can be purchased as a part of a campaign, and merchants can specify their requirements via the Advertiser Information Form, which must be submitted in advance in order for a merchant to signify interest in the scheme and receive further information / instructions from Linden Lab (no payment required at the time of submitting the form). All ads must conform with the Ad Unit Guidelines.
There is no upper limit to campaigns, so long as the minimum fee of $1,000 USD is met, and campaigns of $10,000 or more can be invoiced. Additional requirements are outlined in the FAQ.
While the minimum cost of a campaign may seem expensive, the cost per 1,000 impressions is roughly equitable to charges made by Google for banner advertising. With a high monthly number of uniques (estimated at around 350,000 for properties such as the dashboard / My Account and the SL Marketplace), the advertising might be seen as highly targeted at an audience liable to have an interest in products and services on offer – assuming they are not using browser-based ad blockers.
For further details please refer to the links below.
The Lab is making a further offer to US residents this weekend, with a three of the Amazon Second Life packs on special promotion until Sunday September 8th.
The three packs in the offer are:
The Premium Vehicle Pack – which includes L$4000, thee hoverboard, premium sailing boat and dune buggy – is now 30% off at $17.49
I’ve commented before on why I feel that these packs are potentially a missed opportunity, and the promotional offer would perhaps suggest the packs aren’t proving particularly popular.
Perhaps of greater interest, although only warranted a passing one-liner in the blog post, is the fact that the SL viewer and the above packs, together with the “deluxe” vehicle packs, are now available through Amazon in the UK and Germany.
The viewer and SL packs are now available on Amazon in the UK and Germany
While the current offer does not extend to either country, likely as a result of local management boundaries, etc., within Amazon itself, rather than anything on LL’s part to limit things, the announcement that SL is now available through Amazon in the UK and Germany does carry the promise that future promotions may well include both countries.
A new SL project viewer was released on September 3rd. The Snowstorm Project viewer 3.6.5.280476, brings with it a number of issue fixes, and includes two capabilities new to the viewer:
A “request teleport” feature (STORM-1838) contributed by Jonathan Yap, which allows users to request a teleport form another user (currently with caveats – see below)
A group eject confirmation pop-up (STORM-1952), submitted by Cinder Roxley, which some may be familiar with from using TPVs such as Firestorm.
Request Teleport
The new request teleport capability, which I first reported on back in week 4, requires both viewers to be using the code for it to work (so for the time being it is limited to the project viewer). Where this is the case:
Select the person to whom you wish to teleport (from your Friends list or Nearby list, etc.), and select Request Teleport
Enter a message in the pop-up, if required, and click OK.
Request teleport: making a request
At the “other end” the recipient of the request will receive the request as an initial pop-up notification and within CHUI:
Receiving a teleport request – pop-up and CHUI message
The recipient can than either accept the request, sending a teleport offer, or reject it, in which case no message is sent.
The teleport offer is again displayed in the requester’s viewer as both as an initial pop-up notification (below) and within CHUI.
Receiving the teleport offer
Note again, that the system will only work where both viewers are running the new code (e.g. the Snowstorm project viewer for the time being). If someone on a viewer with the capability to someone using a viewer which does not have the teleport request code, the request will not be received / displayed.
Group Eject Confirmation
The group eject confirmation sees the official viewer get a new pop-up asking for confirmation when ejecting someone from a group, in order to help with issues where the wrong name is selected and ejected.
The new group eject confirmation pop-up for the official viewer
Again, as noted above, the release notes for the viewer provide a full list of updates in the viewer.
June 2013 saw Second Life celebrate its tenth anniversary as a publicly accessible grid. Now September marks the anniversary of SL’s (and OpenSim’s?) most popular viewer as Firestorm turns three.
Anyone who takes time out of their lives to sit down and work on a viewer, providing code and capabilities to enhance our times in-world, and the support so often needed by users, is an unsung hero of Second Life and virtual worlds. It’s no easy task, as I’m sure everyone at Firestorm and other TPVs – even at the Lab – can attest; get one thing wrong and you’re liable to get chased up the nearest tree by a group of users who, if not actively bearing pitchforks, tend to have pretty barbed tongues!
In this, it’s easy to forget that every TPV, including Firestorm, is built, maintained and managed by volunteers. They don’t get paid for their efforts; they don’t consider themselves to have any better grasp of Second Life and virtual worlds than the rest of us – they, like most people, just want to have fun and at the same time they want to make SL more fun for the rest of us. I think that sometimes, in calling for this feature or that feature in a viewer and then getting the hump when it doesn’t appear, we all lose sight of that simple fact.
Join the Party!
So it’s good when an opportunity comes around which lets us celebrate the work that goes into a viewer to take the time to say “thank you” to the folks behind the work. Firestorm users will have just such an opportunity to do so on Tuesday September 3rd, as the Firestorm team throw a Firestorm Third Birthday party at the Phoenix Firestorm support island. The kick-off time is 13:00 SLT, and there is an open invitation from the team to their users to come along and join the fun (well, region limits allowing!).
If you do want to attend, please keep in mind:
It is only the one region, so headcount will be limited. Sadly, with over 200,000 users, the team can’t host a party for everyone. However, people are liable to be coming and going throughout the celebrations, so if you don’t get in the first time – keep trying
As the party is liable to be very popular, please go along as script-light as possible; it’ll help the region, it’ll help others and it’ll help you. Detach anything you can do without when dancing / chatting – HUDs, scripted attachments, etc.
The Firestorm Kustom Kitty and a Special Pendant
To further mark Firestorm’s third birthday, Jessica and the team have joined forces with KittyCatS to develop a special, limited edition non-breedable custom Firestorm Kitty. The offer is limited to one per avatar, and the kitties are No Transfer. The kitty is fully functional & rumoured to be the cat that dined on the Phoenix. Whether this is true our not, the folks at Firestorm aren’t saying!
The collectables will be available from 09:00 SLT on September 3rd through until 09:00 SLT on September 10th, via vendors in the following locations:
Note that If demand is high, you may experience delivery problems. If a vendor faisl to deliver, please follow these instructions to initiate a re-delivery.
In addition, Zuri Rayna has produced a beautiful limited edition Firestorm 3rd anniversary pendant. This is available from the Phoenix Firestorm Support island until midnight SLT on the 3rd September – and it is stunning!
So Happy Birthday, Firestorm, and many thanks to Jessica, Ed and the rest of the developers, testers, helpers and the support volunteers at Firestorm. Here’s to many more birthdays and celebrations!
On Sunday September 1st, the University of Western Australia, in association with Virtual Ability Inc., and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses announced the launch of The Freedom Project: A 2D/3D Art and Film Event.
This is not a competition per se. Rather this is an opportunity for artists suffering from a disability or chronic illness, or associated with those suffering from either, to demonstrate how virtual life has enabled them to engage in activities and interact with others in ways which may not be possible in the real world.
As such, the organisers are inviting artists and film makers from all over the world who self-identify as having a disability or a chronic illness, to create an artwork or a film/machinima on the theme of ‘Freedom’, showing how virtual worlds have in some way helped them or those around them.
Films and artwork can be submitted any time between the 1st of September 2013 and the 28th of February 2014. Artwork should have no more than 200 prims, and films should be around 3-5 minutes (although no hard limits on film length will be enforced). Artwork will go on display immediately at the UWA Virtual Gallery, and films will be put on the UWA Second Life Blog.
Submissions do not have to be created in isolation or alone; they can be collaborative, so long as the project leader or primary driving force behind the creation is clear. The extent of collaboration and assistance by others should be detailed in the submission note card, and credit given as appropriate.
Submitted pieces will be displayed at the UWA gallery and blog through until the end of the project, when a number will be selected by a panel to appear in a special journal marking the project, which will be made available in print and on the web.
It is hoped that the journal, along with all the artwork, machinima, and stories, will inspire others, and will demonstrate how virtual worlds can be used to help some people who may have had difficulties finding other means of expression to believe in themselves more, or to connect with others. Those artists selected to appear in the journal will each receive a copy, and machinima selections will be represented as stills and a link to their on-line presence. In addition, ten pieces submitted to the project will be selected by the panel to each receive L$10,000.
Commenting on the project during the launch on September 1st, Dianne Elton, representing the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses said:
The Freedom Art Project invites people with illness and disabilities not only to showcase their art, but to share how SL may perhaps provide opportunities not available to them in real life. In my own case, being housebound, SL has extended my social world exponentially. I now have many friends right around the world. No longer able to attend art galleries, I was delighted to find I could come to UWA and enjoy stunning innovative art without leaving my bed. My illness has taken away many activities I used to do in real life but as I don’t have to leave my bed, I can do things in SL including attending and facilitating bookclubs. meditation and guided relaxation sessions and I can even go dancing with hubby!
This is how SL gives me “freedom”. Freedom to be active within the limitations of my health. Freedom to interact with others from the confines of my house. I am really looking forward to seeing the artworks produced for this event and to learning how sl might give others “FREEDOM”.
Key Details for Entering the Project
Artwork and film entries should reflect the theme ‘Freedom’, and should attempt to show how the virtual world has helped or how it could help
This event is open to all who identify as having a disability or a chronic illness (of any nature)
A maximum of 2 entries per artist for the art event with a 200 prim limit per artwork
A maximum of 3 entries per artist for film/machinima (preferred length between 3-5 minutes)
Entries will be received beginning 1 September 2013 until 28 February 2014. (Note that the earlier work is submitted, the longer it will be on view.)
Artists are additional invited to add, in 100-300 words, how the virtual world has assisted them and/or those around them, has helped create community, or has helped them to transcend difficulties and challenges real life has posed. This is an optional aspect of the project, but the organisers hope all artists opting to participate will provide such a description.
Entries should be placed Place the artwork in the receiver (drop box) for the Freedom Project at the UWA Art Challenge platform, along with a completed Artist’s Notecard form. (No perms required, but copy is appreciated if possible.) If you have problems with the receiver, you may give artwork directly to FreeWee Ling or Jayjay Zifanwe along with the note card.
For the complete set of rules and technical requirements for the project, please refer to the UWA blog post announcing the project.
About Virtual Ability and the Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses
Virtual Ability
Many disabilities in the real world can be a barrier to entry into the digital as well. People may have difficulties in dealing with the keyboard due to illness or disability; others many be reliant upon voice recognition software, and so on. Virtual Ability, Inc. helps people with these kind of challenges get into and become successful in virtual worlds like Second Life.
From an individual skills assessment undertaken during a unique intake process, Virtual Ability inc., are able to refer clients for help with assistive hardware and software as appropriate, and provide customised training and orientation. Once clients are in-world, Virtual Ability Inc., helps them integrate into the virtual society, and provides an ongoing community of support. The community offers members information, encouragement, training, companionship, referrals to other online resources and groups, ways to contribute back to the community, and ways to have fun.
The organisation runs a number of in-world centres, which can be read about on their website.
The Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses
The Centre for ME/CFS and Other Invisible Illnesses provides resources, support and guided relaxation sessions, for people with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Gulf War Syndrome, and other invisible illnesses. They host general and research discussions once a week on Mondays at 18:00 SLT, and guided relaxation sessions every day, twice a day, at 08:00 and 20:00 SLT, in the Centre to help people manage their illness. This Centre is open to all, and all are welcome, including anyone with an illness, their families and carers to meet here and help each other. The Centre is located in Curtin University in Second Life.
The really terrific news is that Ty and Truck have managed to re-organise things so that only two regions – Bay of Belfalas and Sea of Nurnen – have gone. While both will be missed, particularly the latter with its underwater “garden” with sea turtles and mer-friendly dance area, it means that the rest of the park remains intact and ready for a new season.
Ty and Truck: keeping their vision alive
During the month-long closure, Ty and Truck have been busy right across the parklands, which are displaying signs that autumn is upon us, and we’re entering the shadow months of the year. Dimrill Dale and the Grey Havens have seen the most extensive changes, although there are touches and changes right across the entire estate.
“We added more romantic areas and new dances in the intans, too,” Truck informed me, when I dropped in on him and Ty shortly before they opened the gates once more. “We have three new gallery shows on main street,” he continued. “I’ve discovered Hamish Blakely, a RL artists we love… and of the period. And we have new rideable whales and dolphins.”
When looking at the issue of continuing to finance such a large public environment such as Calas Galadhon, Ty and Truck had considered allowing a small number of rental properties into the estate to help offset the costs of running so large an estate. Another idea they were toying with would be to limit park access. However, after giving both options cosiderable thought, they’ve decided to reject both, and continue to run the park as a place open to all.
“Considering our original vision of ‘Calas’ as an unique Estate destination (and haven) in Second Life, both in its size and natural beauty … we felt we’d be cutting off opportunities for those good folk who have not yet found us,” Ty comments in the blog post announcing the re-opening.
So when visiting, please do remember the donation points scattered throughout the regions and pass on a few Lindens so that many more can continue to enjoy the estate.
Live music will also continue to feature at Calas as well, with a new programme of events kicking-off in September at both the Dolphin Cafe and OZ Nightclub. Details of events and performers can be found at the information hubs across the park.
Sadly, my semi-preview visit was cut short by the needs of real life. However, I managed to see a good deal of the park and can say that while two regions have gone, what remains is even more stunning than ever. The Calas Galadhon parklands aren’t simply to be explored and enjoyed, they are to be savoured, each of them a feast for the eyes. If you’ve never visited before, I really do implore you to do so; there is so much to see and to do, whether you opt to hike the tracks and trails, take to a horse, pilot a boat or ride the winds in a balloon. And don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled above and below ground (and ready to peek under water as well!), or you still might miss something!
Adverts across more than one property can be purchased as a part of a campaign, and merchants can specify their requirements via the Advertiser Information Form, which must be submitted in advance in order for a merchant to signify interest in the scheme and receive further information / instructions from Linden Lab (no payment required at the time of submitting the form). All ads must conform with the Ad Unit Guidelines.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 