The holidays have been nuts for me, along with getting used to a new First Life job that has alot of travel, hence my lack of recent posts, I hope to pick it up again in the new year. But from me and all the designers at IDG, a blessed and Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
So there is no concert at Natalis today, because Stella is singing for charity again, which she does quite often. I fully support her and you should go help out her cause today, it's Make a Wish charity for children. Look it up in events and go listen to her beautiful voice and support her cause.
Sick. Dealing with Holidays and Family. Trying to adjust to a new job and travel. Unmotivated. Frustrated. very very tired.
So I've not been around alot. Thank you to those of you who asked, and those of you who didn't but pounced when I got back. The concert went off with Damian on Sunday and I owe huge thank yous to him and Nikki his manager and Neit, the woman who pulls my butt out of the fire when it comes to things like that. Our next concert should be Stella on Sunday but I need to confirm. I hope I'll be around more, but it's hard to get into Second Life when I've not sold anything all month. It begins to look like a money pit more then it looks like fun. I'm trying hard to rediscover the fun and not worry as much about the business. Bear with me.
Thanks for your support again,
Noel.
What I'm Thankful For:
My friends and designers in IDG. I won't put out their names because I don't want to embaress them, but they know who they are.
My family.
You, my loyal readers and customers.
I hope Thanksgiving finds you with more blessings then not and that the bright side blinds you.
Well, my streak has been broken, I was posting every day but Saturday for quite awhile, but I've tripped and fallen. This is due to lack of creativity and a ton of stuff hitting all at once. Yes I'm ok, and everyone at IDG is still ok. But I haven't been posting.
Tomorrow I get on a plane to go do family time for Thanksgiving and I won't be back until Monday with very limited internet so I won't be posting then either. Because it's Thanksgiving there will be no Live Music event on Sunday. Thank you all for your support and everything else. Hope you have a great Thanksgiving.
I am sitting at the airport waiting to pickup my boss to go to install servers for the clients after driving 4 hours, so that's why you didn't get a post earlier. Couple of articles I'm thinking about....
Wrong Answer, Mr M Linden by Gwen, one of the smartest commentators on SL ever.
The Light at the End of Tunnel… by Veyron.
Think about these and I'll comment later.
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's Today at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
You have received a message from Second Life:
Your 9 objects have been returned to your inventory lost and found folder by XXX near parcel 'Endless Nights' at Endless Nights 147, 199 due to parcel owner return.
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's this Sunday at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
Tomorrow will be an interuption in your regularly scheduled broadcast of my thoughts...
Vinthas written up the official instructions to follow from this point:
Write your blogpost.
Check on the .pdf which we emailed you what you'll be writing about and for whom. Write an well-researched, incredibly funny and kick-ass blogpost that exists of a maximum of 1000 and a minimum of 500 words. There should be at least one snapshot/illustration/graph/... to go with it. Make sure those are 'safe for work'! You will email both to your 'blog host', the person that will be publishing the article before Sunday November 9th 2008.
Publish the blogpost
All blogposts should be published on Wednesday November 12th*, the format for that:
- Introduction by 'blog host' (optional)
- Blogpost and pictures. Style at will.
- Author name (+ link to his/her blog)
- Person who suggested the subject (+ link to his/her blog)
- Link to the blog where your blogpost will appear (optional)
- Link to the person who will blog the subject you suggested (optional)
So Wednesdays I usually post about my upcoming singer but this week I'm taking part in the first ever SL Blogger's Mix and Match. The idea behind this was cooked up by two venerable SL bloggers, ArminasX Saiman and Vint Falken. Each person who signed up suggested a topic, and offered up their blog to be posted on by someone else. Well, it turns out that My topic is being blogged by Vint, and I'm posting on Arminas' blog! Talk about exposure. This should be fun. So on Wednesday you will get a post by Joonie Jatho here, and you'll have to go to secondeffects to see my thoughts on something I didn't come up with. To see someones thoughts on what I did come up with you'll have to go to Princess Ivory's blog. (Whew!)You can read the new policy here.
This is what I suspected and several smarter people told me would happen. Linden Research has this irritating habit of saying something really bad, then doing something slightly better but still bad, then saying, "But we listened!" It's a distraction technique and either it's planned which is disturbing and frustrating or it's not which means they need to work on their communication skills a ton.
So, Natalis will survive one way or another, either as a Homestead sim, or if I can find partners and renters as a full sim with skyboxes. We'll still be around.
"If you can't say anything nice..... publish it on the Net."
Hamlet Au over at New World Notes has an interview with the CEO of Linden Labs, he says about the subject of the interview:
Mark Kingdon, new CEO of Linden Lab, in which we mostly spoke about the first grassroots uprising to test his leadership: the ongoing rebellion over the fate of Openspaces, which are currently set for a steep price increase in January. In the next few days, however, Kingdon says the company will post an update to this policy which will incorporate feedback from Openspace owners.
What percent of Openspace owners were abusing their land?
"In some cases they have beautiful builds so I'd hardly call that abusing the land... I don't have a percentage of that for you, but it was substantial enough that it led to us repricing the product."
Isn't "light use" a vague definition?
"I think we need to put more definition around it and be clearer about what we mean by it... I think we articulated what the intention was [when they were first put on sale]."
Didn't giving Openspace owners a several thousand prim allotment tacitly or even explicitly suggest they could build on them?
"That's a far lower prim count than our [standard] island product... some of the larger landholdings you see, the content is far more extensive than we expected."
I know this post comes late, there's a good reason for that. I was so upset over the recent LL decisions regarding OpenSpace (aka Void) sims that I knew if I posted anything I would not make any sense. Plus, I wanted to see how the fallout came down from the people way more intelligent then I am.
Lillie Yifu originally posted about this issue or at least she's the first one I read about it from, (Helps to have a blog starting with a number Lillie!) and I immediately went to read the Official Second Life Blog. Then jumped in world to whine and complain to my fellow bloggers and friends. Here is selected from the original notification:
So Openspaces have been incredibly popular as a perk for estate owners, but sadly there is a twist. Unfortunately most of the Openspaces are being used for much more than light use. Based on analysis performed in August and September, Openspaces are being used about twice as much as we expected, in other words being loaded with double the content/avatar load than we’d expect for a region that is supposed to be light use.
Rather than being employed as open areas like ocean with little or no content and traffic, the majority are being rented out to residents looking for a place to live. Because they were never intended for that level of load this is causing problems. For some people this has meant a less than great experience with performance fluctuations. The overuse of Openspaces has also put additional strain on some of our network and database infrastructure at a much higher ratio than is reflected in the current pricing. So higher traffic to and from the servers along with heavier demands on the asset server, both of which impact the overall experience people have inworld.
...I wanted to clarify one issue. As mentioned in the post, Openspaces were intended for space, empty areas of ocean or forest. Take a look at the Knowledgebase article description here. By that criteria, the large majority of Openspaces have more going on than was the original intent. We are not suggesting this is a bad thing, and of course we’re delighted that people have found them to be so useful. And we’re not saying that everyone is abusing resources. We are saying that the use has changed, and continues to do so as people find more creative ways to use them. So the revised pricing is about recognising that change of use and the additional costs and value associated with it.
Over the next few days we will be continuing to review the feedback and keep the dialogue flowing with as many of you as we can. If you have something to say, the forum is the best place to say it. It is clear that some Openspaces are being used as they were intended originally, so we recognise that there are different levels of usage that we need to account for.
Unfortunately Stella is travelling this weekend (I'm still trying to find a replacement.) and so the following post is invalid, but just so you know about her it would have said this:
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's this Sunday at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
Wanted to show you my favorite cars in SL, they are made by Primouth Motors and they are awesome....
UPDATE - Unfortunately Stella got stuck on the road and so today's concert has to be canceled.
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's Today at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
This is an interesting topic, read this here, and tell her she has class in the comments.
There are definate lessons there. Post every day, accept your readership, whatever evidence you do or don't have of them, and keep your voice. That's my advice anyway.
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's this Sunday at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
This will be extremely condensed. My new real life job has me home all of 8 days this month so I'm not nearly as able to think and blog like I want but I also am committed to talking to the smartest people on the internets (that would be you) every day. So...
Having read Gwyn's article yesterday? Good. Here's what is interesting about having such a powerful tool in SL. If you're one of the ones who builds and creates here... then you may not bother buying because you want to see if you can do it yourself. I haven't bought a building in over a year. I admire buildings that others do, some of them I can't even compete with, but I don't buy them either. So learning and teaching about the power of this world/tool trains people not to be customers.... this is true of Real Life as well though, it's why apprenticeships and certifications cost so much in time and money.
The second part of the equation is the 'hobo' culture that is endemic in second life, it's an extension of the information must be free attitude of the early adopters, giving things away is it's own culture in Second Life and the stuff you can get free now is 100's of times better then the stuff that used to be around. The quality trickles down... This is noble, but not a great economic model.
So why do this? Don't do it for money, do it for fun, do it for the lessons learned, do it because you love it. Do it because the money is a way to keep 'score' in a scoreless 'game'. But I don't recommend to people that they can get rich here, it can happen, but it takes a ton of work, and until/if the adoption and expansion includes the non geek consumers (Which is different from the non-geek non consumers.) then it will be a tough road, not an impossible one, but a tough one.
This became kind of stream of conciousness, it's late, I'm tired and I'm on the road, forgive me, I'm sure I'll explore these themes again.
Go read Gwynn if you run a business, or just want to know more.
Alicia is a darling DJ, a funny intelligent person, and a builder who has never lost her sense of fun. She also looks better with an insulin pump then I do. Her thoughts on it are here.
10/10/08 Update: Unfortunately Damian's travel plans didn't work out and he won't be able to make this concert so this has been canceled.
Please join us next Sunday for the gorgeous Stella Silvansky!
If you are an astute reader... I know you all are the smartest people on the internets cuz you read me but smart dosen't nessecarily mean astute, don't look at me like it's an insult... you may have noticed that my blogroll down there on the left has gotten smaller. This is a problem with the widget I was using to populate it. I used bloglines to show you all what I was actually reading, and though I still use it to read my feeds it often has a 'plumbing problem' as they call it. When that happens because it's in the sidebar to the left it hangs the rest of the page. This is unacceptable. So... I typed in quite a few of my favorites to the blogger sponsored blogroll widget and they are now down there. If you read my blog and used to be in my blogroll, or didn't used to be in my blogroll and read my blog and want to be included, drop me an email or comment this post. I also didn't replicate my full blogroll as it's well over 700 blogs, so don't be offended and think I don't read you, I probably do.
This change has been put out there on other sites, but since I'm an SLX merchant I thought I should share, this dosen't change anything, you can still use the link on the left there to buy my products and it's still a safe and reputable Second Life Company. You can get my products here. The email they sent is reproduced below for completeness sake and to help others who may be considering using them as a business tool:
Dear Noelyci Ingmann,
As of October 1st, 2008 SL Exchange has become Xstreet SL!
When SL Exchange was formed in 2004 it was never intended that we would operate solely within Second Life. "SL Exchange" is a service name owned by Virtuatrade, LLC and the intention has always been to create new service names as we expand into other areas. When Linden Lab announced their trademark licensing changes earlier this year we decided to take the opportunity to re-brand, with our sights set on the future.
The name Xstreet was chosen because it represents our purpose, being the crossroads of exchange between buyers and sellers within virtual worlds. That purpose and vision has been at the core of our endeavors since the very beginning, to which our main Avatar's name, Exchange Street, can attest.
Frequently asked questions regarding our name change:
1. What is your new URL?
http://www.xstreetsl.com/
2. Was SL Exchange bought out by someone else?
No. Xstreet SL is a service of Virtuatrade LLC which is primarily owned by Apotheus Silverman who founded SL Exchange in 2004.
3. Do my SL Exchange links still work?
For now, yes. For one year, all URLs pointing to slexchange.com will be redirected to xstreetsl.com. We highly encourage you to hange your bookmarks to www.xstreetsl.com and uncensored.xstreetsl.com (for those wishing to view our adult content) as soon as possible to avoid any webpage redirection delays.
4. Are my L$ still safe with Xstreet?
Yes. Nothing has changed but our name and URL. All of your account information has remained unchanged.
5. Are my items and item listings still safe?
Yes. Nothing has changed but our name and URL. Your listings have not been affected by this change.
6. Do I need to download a new Magic Box?
Eventually, yes. The current Magic Boxes will continue to work but we encourage you to download new Magic Boxes as soon as possible. In the near future we will announce a schedule to which we plan to decommission older Magic Boxes over the next 6-12 months.
Magic Box Link:
http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&file=item&ItemID=14129
7. Where can I get new Xstreet logos?
New Xstreet SL Logos are available here:
http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Marketplace&CategoryID=390
8. Will the Terminals still work after the name change?
Yes. The Terminals will display the new Xstreet SL logo within the next few weeks but they will continue to work as always.
For more detailed information on how this change affects you, please visit this link:
http://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=69568
Regards,
Xstreet SL (formerly SL Exchange)
www.xstreetsl.com
This message was sent by Xstreet SL. For help with your account (or with this message), please contact us by mailing to support@xstreetsl.com.
So, I got a new RL job, but it includes 50% travel and I'm litterally exhausted, tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to manage a more normal post, but today you're stuck with Link Love.... these are not sl related at all, just stuff I read, so here you go:
Download Squad
High-Def Digest
Cinematical
TV Squad
Go check out Pheobe, she looks much cuter with my Insulin Pump then I do.
10/9/2008 Update: I added the photo here...
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's Today at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
Okay...so Stella is a girl who has no problem being the center of attention. :)
Stella Silvansky is now playing a one hour set every other week for us and it's this Sunday at 5pm! Please come hear this talented singer and support her continued success.
Now, I'm not as much of a fan as Electric Sheep as I used to be. They made some decisions that have lowered them a peg or two in my book, but they still have very smart people working there. One of whom is Sibley Verbeck, he wrote this article, I recommend you go read it now.
Read it? Good. Now I have been in many of those worlds mentioned that no longer survive and if you've read this blog for any length of time you know I'm a geek. The point of the article is well taken however, there will always be people who think a light switch just works by magic and those who can wire a house. The search to de-geek shouldn't take away the power of the platform. This is my fear with all the moves lately to 'demystify' Second Life. If they take away our ability to make beautiful complex things in this pursuit we will have lost more then we gain.
Just my two cents, chime in in comments.
I occasionally get asked to work on a profile pic by people who know I do it. It's not my main gig and I don't ever really want it to be so I probably shouldn't share it here, but this one just turned out so well....
