Tag: SL News

Whiskey’s shots: now to be savoured in real life

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’m going to say this up front: I’m posting this without the subject’s knowledge, because I do know how hard it has been for her to promote herself. I hope she won’t be upset with me for doing so.

I’ll also say that while Whiskey Monday and I don’t know each other in-world, I know her through Twitter and via her blog at Whiskey Shots I have a great affinity with and respect for her views, thoughts and outlook – not because we necessarily have a lot in common, but because every word she uses is beautifully crafted, from the heart and rich with insight and emotion, all of which naturally draw me to her. Whiskey is quite simply, one of the most creative and caring people I’ve ever encountered; and I’m far from alone in saying that.

Whiskey’s heartfelt outlook and creativity also combine in her images, which day after day never fail to stir one’s emotions. They reach well beyond the traditional nature of virtual world images and are works of art, which sit both independently from, and very much a part of, the blog posts with which they appear.

Now Whiskey has – in response to repeated requests from friends – now crossed over the digital divide and is offering her images as fine art prints for sale in real life, supplied through Fine Art America. The images are supplied as high-quality giclee prints on art grade paper, and Fine Art America offer them in a range for formats and finishes, from greetings cards through to full canvas print options, each in a range of sizes and very reasonable prices.

Once Upon a Time – one of Whiskey’s amazing shots, now available through Fine Art America

Each item Whiskey has selected for reproduction has not only been carefully chosen, it has been subject to very careful edited to remove every blemish and unwanted artifact which can otherwise result from tha vagaries of the snapshot floater / viewer image processing (such as the unfortunately tiling lines so common in high-resolution SL photography). The results are, even on the Fine Art America pages, stunning.

Pricing for items is given in local currency (and there is a converter on each page in case the website / your browser hiccups on displaying the required currency), and Fine Art America do ship worldwide. For those worried about their pseudonymity – relax! Fine Art America handle everything directly; as Whiskey herself says, “FAA handles all shipping and handling for me, so I’ll never see your real world or payment information. This seemed the easiest way to make prints available while protecting all of our interests.”

Depth Perception– one of Whiskey’s amazing shots, now available through Fine Art America

The initial set of prints on offer may seem small – but it stands as a huge amount of work on Whiskey’s part to prepare them, not to mention a huge leap of courage to make the crossing as she has. She is planning to expand the set further as time permits. In the meantime, if you are looking for that exception image, be it for a wall or a gift or as a message to send to a loved one / friend, Whiskey’s shots offer a very unique and beautiful way of doing so.

But don’t take my word for it; go see for yourself and read Whiskey’s blog.

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“-[L4L]- Gestures & Walkers (Freebies) <3" griefing object

Posted on by Inara Pey

During August / September a griefing object in the form of a “freebie gift” started circulating in-world. Called ”..::ExDepart::.. Gift Package 2012”, it is essentially a spoofing/griefing item which, when rezzed will create more items citing you as the owner, and attempt to pass them out.

Since it first appeared, the item has appeared in a number of variants, of which “-[L4L]- Gestures & Walkers (Freebies) <3” is one.

If you receive either item – do not rez it. Instead, file an abuse report, citing Governor Linden as the abuser, list any pertinent information on the object – and remember the person you received it from most likely did not create it, then delete it.

Similarly, if you receive any other item with a similar format of name, or which gives rise to suspicions on your part – particularly if the receipt of the item is unexpected – contact the person who sent it to you first and verify with them that they have legitimately sent you something before attempting to rez the item.

If you receive such an item and rez it, you will need to locate it and delete it – and you may find it has spawned several copies of itself. Typically, one rezzed, the item will move itself to around 4000m above ground, and will continue to spam you with items. To locate and delete the object(s):

  • Check the incoming dialogue pop-ups associated with the incoming items. These should provide the co-ordinates where the item is located. Alternatively, decline the object’s offer, and the co-ordinates should be recorded in local chat.
  • Position yourself on the ground using the X and Y coordinates for the object, then:
    • Either fly up to the Z coordinate for the object, or
    • Rez and cube, sit on it and use EDIT to elevate the cube to the Z coordinate, or
    • If you have a viewer which supports command line instructions, use gtp x y z  – replacing X, Y and Z with the object’s coordinates
  • Once in the location, enable Beacons for Scripted Objects (CTRL-ALT-SHIFT-N). You should see a small box with crosshairs on the offending object
  • Go to Edit and drag a selection box around the object to select it.
  • Press Delete to remove the object.

Note there may be more than one copy of the object nearby, so you may have to repeat the steps above to remove all of them.

The use of the object is known to the Lab, with Simon Linden commenting at the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday 20th November that, “It’s pretty much an ugly social-engineering griefer ploy.”

Miro Collas, of the Phoenix / Firestorm team has put together detailed advice on the object and removing it on the Firestorm wiki, from which the instructions in this post have been drawn.

With thanks to Miro Collas and Whirly Fizzle.

World map: vanishing region tiles

Posted on by Inara Pey

There have been ongoing issues with regions not rendering within the World map.  The precise reasons why this is the case is currently unclear; Andrew Linden has been trying to look into the matter since it was reported at the last of the Friday Simulator User Group meetings on the 9th November, but work on Interest Lists has kept him busy.

The problems appear to be twofold: tiles for some regions either entirely fail to generate in the World map, or their appearance is linked to the level of zoom being used.

The first issue is demonstrated with the region Sunny Point, which simply does not appear on the World map at all.

Sunny Point – failing to appear on the World map

With the second issue, Qie Niangao reports that strips of regions on the World map can effectively vanish at certain zoom levels (see JIRA SVC-8115), with some regions of the Zindra adult content apparently never having been drawn at some zoom levels of the Map.

Regions located close to Harshap demonstrate a part of the problem, in that they will appear in the map when zoomed fully in, but step out once on the zoom, and a strip of regions will vanish.

Regions near Harshap: visible when zoomed in…

While the issue has only recently come up for discussion at the Simulator UG meeting, the problem appears to have been persistent for a good while, and some have reported the map is missing strips of region tiles from as many as eight different locations.

Harshap: step out a level with zoom, and a strip of regions vanish, and are not re-rendered.

The World map is generated via a process which images regions from an altitude of around 350m (hence why builds above this altitude do not appear on the map). The information is then scaled for rendering at a number of levels to represent the different zoom levels within the World map floater. Currently, it appears is if the problem lies with the generation of these different zoom levels, at least as far as the “missing strips” issues is concerned. The data from the process is also used for generating map images at maps.secondlife.com, with the result that issues can also occur when viewing map segments there.

As it stands, the possible causes for the problem are still under investigation by LL personnel. However, anyone encountering problems with their region(s) failing to render properly on the World map should consider raising a bug report and /or attending the Tuesday Simulator UG meeting (the Friday meeting is now discontinued).

Regions absent from the World map, as imaged by MartinRJ Fayray for the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday 13th November

Using a virtual world can help improve your health

Posted on by Inara Pey

According to a study released by the University of Missouri (PDF), having a healthy-looking avatar can be good for our own health and self-esteem.

Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz, assistant professor of communication in the University of Missouri’s College of Arts and Science, who lead the study

Dr. Elizabeth Behm-Morawitz surveyed 279  Second Life users to study how their choice of avatars affected their real-world existence. She found that the amount of self presence, or identifying with a virtual representation, predicted the amount of influence an avatar had on a person’s life in the physical world. A strong sense of self-presence improved how they felt about themselves and promoted better health and well-being.

“The creation of an avatar allows an individual to try on a new appearance and persona, with little risk or effort,” Behm-Morawitz, communications professor at the University of Missouri, said in a press release accompanying the report. “That alter-ego can then have a positive influence on a person’s life. For example, people seeking to lose weight could create fitter avatars to help visualize themselves as slimmer and healthier.”

Those in the study who indicated they have a high degree of self-presence within SL indicated that they felt their relationship with their avatar improved how they felt about themselves in the real world. Self-presence also correlated to greater satisfaction with online relationships.

This isn’t the first published study to delve into the possible benefits of Second Life. In June of 2011 Indiana University reported that Second Life could be used to practical ends to achieve real weight-loss, with the results of a 12-week study involving both in-world and real-world meetings being widely reported in the media at the time.

In the Indiana University study, researchers found that, over a period of twelve weeks, people attending weight-loss / fitness programmes within Second Life tended to lose the same amount of weight as those attending equivalent real-world programmes. However, they further discovered that those engaged in the programme through Second Life reported significantly greater gains in behaviours that could help them live healthier and leaner lives – again underlining the strong psychological link people can develop with their online alter-ego.

The University of Missouri’s study – which actually pre-dates the University of Indiana’s study inasmuch as iot place in February / March 2011 – did not involve physical activities, but focused on participants completing an online questionnaire. The 279 respondents involved in the study represented 30 countries, with some 65% residing in the United States. Some 56% of respondents were female and 41% male, with the remaining 3% identifying themselves as transgender, male-to-female. The average age of respondents was 41 years, with an overall age range spread of 18 through 70.

The questionnaire iteself was structured to measure feedback against a number of hypotheses established ahead of the study as a result of factor analysis with five questions being asked of the participants.

Perceived avatar influence on health / appearance and relationship satisfaction (click to enlarge)

The format of the study means that it is somewhat flawed – the data has gathered from what is effectively a single point in time. A more accurate measure of the relationship between our real and online selves requires that study should be carried out over a more extended period, with experiences and the effects of their avatar on their human condition being tracked over multiple points.

Nevertheless, both this study and that of the University of Indiana highlight the very strong physical and psychological link people can develop with their avatar. This caused Dr. Behm-Morawitz’s team to extend the concept of “mirrored worlds” (as proposed by Joe Sanchez in 2009 to describe how ‘worlds complete with social and financial dynamics such as Second Life and World of Warcraft can “seep out”  of cyberspace to both mirror and impact offline life) to encapsulate the idea of “mirrored selves”, in which the investment we make in out avatars can be both reflected back on, and have impact with, our real lives in meaningful ways.

Many involved in Second Life will view the outcome of the study as unsurprising simply because they have an understanding and awareness of the investment they have made in their avatar. Even so, for those interest in the nature of our relationship with out virtual selves and the degree with which one can positively impact the other, it does make interesting reading.

For Dr. Behm-Morawitz, it has revealed that Second Life and virtual worlds are a rich source of behavioural study, and she is already investigating ways in which avatars may be used to encourage tolerance of diversity. “I am also interested in studying how using an avatar with a different race or ethnicity may increase empathy and decrease prejudice,” she said in the press release announcing the study. “This may occur through the process of identification with an avatar that is different from oneself, or through a virtual simulation that allows individuals to experience discrimination as a member of a non-dominant group might experience it.”

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Oskar confirms his departure

Posted on by Inara Pey
Happier times: Oskar’s profile picture (Tangent Eponym)

On Friday November 2nd, comment was passed (not from LL) on the apparent departure of Oskar Linden from the Lab. I commented on the matter in my last SL Projects Update for week 44, but at the time it was unclear as to what had happened and why.

A thread on the SL Universe forum started, some of which doesn’t make the most comfortable of reading given some of the attitudes expressed (not towards Oskar or the Lab, I hasten to add, but rather in comments passed by some SL users regarding other SL users). Yesterday – Monday November 5th – (and missed by me at the time as I was completely distracted with other things), Oskar himself popped-up on the thread to pass word himself on the matter, commenting:

To solidify all rumors, yes my employment was terminated by Linden Lab last Friday [November 2nd]. It was a surprise Skype call with the manager of my department and HR. At the same moment all my accounts were locked and I was told a courier was on the way to my house to take my laptop. This is standard operating procedure at the Lab. The reasons given were quite vague, but at the root of it was complaints from a griefer who I had banned from a private testing sandbox that I managed after he was harassing people and threatening to crash them and the region.

Oskar Linden at SLCC 2009 (image: Teagan Linden / Linden Lab)

I was also told that there were issues with my communications. I don’t understand that because I have operated in the role of public communicator for the lab for three years and have always had stellar reviews. It’s not like the reasons really matter anyway. When the Lab wants you gone it’s over.

To be quite honest this has all come as a surprise and a shock. I have known for a while that this would happen eventually though. All Lindens fear ‘the Skype call’. The old Linden culture is long gone. Many Lindens are disappeared in that way when the Lab no longer has use for them. It has been difficult working through the changes at the Lab the past few years. I could have left, perhaps I should have left on my own. I would have been better off. I did not choose to do so because I was dedicated to the wonderful residents I have met during my 4 years working on SL. I was committed to all of you and committed to making Second Life and Linden Lab a better place. I felt I was fighting the good fight and didn’t want to just run away. I felt that I was making a difference. I hope that I did.

I have no idea what is next for me. I have varied passions that I will follow until I feel the need to pursue further employment.

He goes on to add:

I greatly appreciate all of you who friended me and were so passionate about helping me make Second Life a better place. Your enthusiasm to help find bugs greatly helped the quality of the server code. You are all amazing. You are Second Life, not Linden Lab. Never forget that. I love you all and will miss working with you greatly!

I won’t pretend to have known Oskar well; we’d only spoken a few times, and I’ve only recently been attending his meetings – but I will say that I’ve also found him (and despite my one growl I unfairly gave him in these pages as a result of LL’s own communications policy), to be one of the most open and informative Lindens who faced the user community. His departure is going to take some adjusting to for those who did know him well.

To Oskar himself, I’d just like to pass on my personal thanks for all the effort he has put in over the years. I very much hope that all goes well for him and his family wherever his passions and career may lead. Hopefully, we’ll also see you in-world as well.

 

Of copyright, IP and product licensing

Posted on by Inara Pey

I’ve been watching a semi-interesting forum discussion going on since the weekend

In essence, some are getting upset over the fact that CBS, who now own the rights to the Star Trek franchise world-wide, have apparently “clamped down” on Trek merchandise for sale in SL, with the result that at least one creator has had all wares removed from vendors and the Marketplace, and may have also been banned.

While one may initially feel sympathy for those involved, it has to be said – as several have in commenting on the forum thread itself – that at the end of the day, copyright is copyright, period. Just because the holder happens to be a major entertainment conglomerate doesn’t make the fact that in building and selling content derived from their products, and thus potentially impinging on their copyrights, any less “wrong” than finding the guy on the next parcel over to yours is hard at work copying your own original builds.

Some of those expressing upset at the move do so on the basis that CBS (and before them, Viacom / Paramount) may have flip-flopped over matters in the past, and that holders of other franchises are more lenient. Sadly, none of this matters a jot. Nor does the issue of “fan loyalty” or any other argument.

The major issue in this matter, and the one that gets little or no mention in the topic, is that of licensing.

The fact of the matter is that over the years those holding the Star Trek franchise have made a considerable amount of money through licensing deals with other companies, allowing the latter to make Trek-related products (both real and digital) wither exclusively or in cooperation with others. These deals generally involve a significant upfront payment from the licence holder, usually coupled with a royalties payment scheme based upon unit sales.

As such, while CBS / Viacom / Paramount may well have wibbled over some matters, that licences have been granted at the exchange of large amounts of money, they do actually have an obligation to ensure said licences are protected, period. It doesn’t matter if the person in violation is a fan or not.

There are many great Trek-related (and other franchise-based) models and other goods on sale in SL. While there is no doubting the skill and dedication of those making them, many nevertheless are open to accusations of copyright / IP infringement

Some posters in the thread are calling for LL to get involved in matters. Yet the fact is, LL do not need to involve themselves in matters. I’d actually suggest that, on balance, it is far better that they don’t get involved in this, or any other licensing situation in terms of negotiations over rights even if they were so minded, as it is very likely that things would not end well for anyone.

A far better solution, as some have suggested, is for the Trek fans themselves to address the matter with CBS – and the roadmap for them doing so has already been drawn. At the end of 2010, the Battlestar Galactica community faced an identical situation Universal Studios took issue with BSG-related goods being sold in SL. At the time the fans responded by engaging with Universal and discussing the situation with them.

The result was that in February 2011, Universal Studios agreed to allow BSG-related merchandise to remain available in SL, so long as it was not being sold for personal profit / gain. One might question how actually effective this arrangement has been (there are admittedly a fair proportion of BSG-derived items on active sale in the Marketplace), but the arrangement at least leaves people knowing where they stand, and that those persisting in selling franchise-related merchandise which may be subject to licence arrangements elsewhere and / or are liable to be looked upon as copyright/IP infringing would know precisely where they stand.

At this point in time, there seems little reason to suspect CBS would not be willing to enter into such an agreement if approached positively, and I would hope that if they are not already doing so, Trek fans in SL are making overtures along such lines already. In fact, I’ll be rather surprised if this isn’t already the case. In 2010/2011 the Universal deal was reached through the able assistance of Anthony Haslage, (Ntanel Swordthain in SL), himself of the International Federation of Trekkers (IFT), and Entertainment Consumers Association (ECA) Second Life Chapter President. So not only is the roadmap there, the chief architect for bringing it to pass is himself well-placed to represent SL Trek fans.

In the meantime, perhaps the biggest question this situation leaves open is what will happen with regards to Star Wars merchandise in SL now that Disney has acquired LucasFilm, and, presumably, the rights to the highly lucrative merchandising arrangements related to that franchise.