Milkshake Viewer 3.2.6 (2) Review

I found a notice today that Svensk has linked a new article to my Milkshake Viewer review. It was his new article on the Milkshake Viewer. It is in Swedish but Google does a pretty good translation of this one. Whatever, it seems there is a new release of Milkshake out. I don’t see that much new in this release. So, this review is about a controversy that started up around the Milkshake Viewer.

Milkshake? Logo

The last review of Sven’s and possibly mine stirred up some drama, mostly about Milkshake’s author not properly attributing where parts of the viewer originated. That has been corrected in this version and Cinder has spoken up.

People that create things often graciously share those things. In the viewer development world related to Second Life and in other open source game worlds, creators expect some recognition for their work. Considering that this is often the only payment they will ever receive it is understandable they get annoyed when it is denied. But, such upset usually signals the donation was not as freely given as it might have been.

The failure to provide the expected acknowledgement is not surprising in Milkshake. It appeared, at least to me, the viewer was made mostly for the developer and her friends. Unfortunately, it seemed so obvious to me I failed to mention it in my previous article, Milkshake: a New #SL Viewer. Cinder’s recent comments verify that.

I imagine that she was mostly busy getting things to work and having fun building a viewer. Obviously since there is no blog, forum, formal announcements, and etc. this was not a formal viewer production effort.

Source code is also an issue in Second Life viewers. People want to be able to read the code to know what they are typing their ID/password into. While most of us are not going to spend our time reading the code, there is hope someone will. Whether the assurance given by having code available for review is a realistic assurance or not is hard to say. Remember the lessons Emerald taught us.

Prior to this release people could not find the source code. The code seems to be in Codeplex, Microsoft’s open source storage site. Reading code trees is not my thing. I have trouble following the forks and merges and little incentive to do so. Notice the Source Code tab on the Milkshake download page.

Cinder Roxley confirmed my thinking and posted the following on SLUniverse.

Hi! I’m not meaning to rip anyone off. 🙁

The viewer isn’t ready for public release. I was never even sure I would give a public release, nor would I want to steal or take credit for anyone else’s work! I had no idea Nalates had reviewed Milkshake, and I was trying to build a viewer for myself and five friends.

Please forgive me Hitomi and Lance for any lack of respect I may have shown you for your work, but I haven’t released this viewer. If I ever release it publicly, it will, of course, give full credit where credit is due, including to Hitomi, Lance, Marine, Chalice, PinkiePie, Tankmaster, HG Beeks, Firestorm, Haste, Ascent, NaCl, Linden Lab, and the Snowstorm Project.

No reason to add it to the list Chalice, because it’s not a publicly distributed viewer, that’s why the link to mediafire (now taken down) was set to private download, you have to have the url to get the file. I don’t know how it slipped out.

Again, apologies to those who felt I ripped off their work. It was never my intention. 🙁

Reference: SLUniverse Milkshake Viewer

Facebook Strikes Again

I got my original hints of Milkshake’s existence from Sven’s first article. He has since posted in SLUniverse that he found Milkshake on Facebook. In a following post on SLUniverse Cinder states her surprise, thinking she had put the Facebook information on a private group/page.

I have all kinds of issues with Facebook. I would be surprised if anyone understands how to use Facebook privacy/security settings. Also, why anyone would trust Facebook with personal information is beyond me. Read Gwyneth Llewelyn’s Goodbye, Facebook.

Summary

Milkshake Viewer is a personal project made for the developer and a few friends. Several people got their feathers ruffled and went off half-cocked. Some just noted acknowledgement of their code used in Milkshake was missing and let it drop. A few people seemed to be ready to break out the tar and feathers.

When it comes to deciding who to trust in a community like SL we often have little to go on. People’s behavior in the forums and in SL is often all we have to go on. Since Psych 101 explains transference being about people seeing their behavior in others, those seeing misdeeds in others behavior should be a warning to the rest of us.

The download link to the Milkshake Viewer versions has changed. You can find it here: Milkshake Viewer Download page. I left the link to last. Consider what you have read before downloading a copy to try out. If you think you can be supportive of the developer, trying it may be a good thing. If, on the other hand, you are one of those that got upset, went off cocked, or were condemning Cinder, forget it. Instead get Firestorm or Linden’s viewer. Their teams are used to the flack.

Cinder obviously felt bad about the situation. I regret adding to her problems. I just liked the viewer and thought it neat. Since I could find it on the net, I wrote about it. I write about what interests me and try to keep it positive. Plus Milkshake has a yummy nice cupcake logo. I wish Cinder well.

3 thoughts on “Milkshake Viewer 3.2.6 (2) Review

  1. Pingback: The Return of Milkshake | Svens(k) Idyll

  2. @Nalates – you omit one of the most important aspects of attribution and that is where others should go to get that ‘neat feature they like’ to incorporate in their viewer. It always makes sense to go back to the original developer so they get the most up-to-date version and can keep up-to-date. For example say someone liked the ‘Film’ menu in Milkshake and wanted to use it, then it would be more sensible to copy it from StarLight’s source rather than take it from Milkshake (and then you know who to shout at, or ask for detailed info from).

    I think it was a shame that it was not emphasised this was a private viewer in the original article as the review does not read like that. I chatted privately with Cinder after and I am sorry that this matter arose and wish her all the best with Milkshake and whatever else she does – playing with the viewer and everything else in SL should be fun, maybe we all forget that at times.

    • I mentioned Milkshake in a comment here on the Nalates blog in a post that was about something completely different and it was after that Nalate did the review.

      There was nothing that initially showed that Milkshake would be a purely private projects. The way to the viewer walked through Youtube to Facebook. It was only after the Milkshake has become known as it emerged that it was not public.

      Milkshake is now out again on a new download service, and there’s nothing there that describes the viewer as a closed project

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *