General News

Who in Second Life has a clue?

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Hamlet posted an odd one… Mid-Week Open Forum: Say Anything About VR, AR or SL. The post is obviously to encourage input from readers and see what’s on people minds, which isn’t odd. At least that’s what I infer from it. The odd part is in the comments. But what are people thinking and saying? And are these people exemplary of who is reading Hamlet?

Jan 2012-Oct 2015 Concurrent Users
Jan 2012-Oct 2015 Concurrent Users

First the comments then I have some push back.

To summarize the comments:

Linda Evans thinks the decline in SL regions is due to Ebbe Altberg… really!?! 

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What is: Second Life’s Lab Chat…

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Tuesday, 11/10, the Lab posted Introducing Lab Chat – A New Q&A Show in Second Life.

It seems on November 19 @ 10:30 AM in the Linden Endowment for the Arts Theatre Ebbe Altberg/Linden, the Lab’s CEO, will meet with residents for a Q&A session. The Lab is proposing that this be a regular event. I suppose like the Linden Monthly Meet Up.

Frenchy
Frenchy

For many this is exciting. Ebbe can speak without inhibition. He is the one that decides what is confidential and what is ready for public consumption. So, we often get new information from him. He will be answering resident questions at this first Lab Chat. There is no word on whether or not he will be a regular participant, we can hope.

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Second Life Has New Avatars?

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Did you know Linden Lab has new avatars for the noobies? I had not realized it. But, Cerise @ SLUniverse posted about the new avatars and I noticed that post. Want to see some of the new avatars and mesh clothes?

Linden Lab's New Starter Avatars - Classic is now the default.
Linden Lab’s New Starter Avatars – Classic is now the default.

This image shows the first page one lands on after clicking JOIN. By default they now have ‘Classic’ avatars selected. It is still possible to select Vampires and People. Those are mesh body avatars. But, the Classic Avatars look to be all new. The older avatars are still in the Library. I just don’t see them on sign-up process. 

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Firestorm + MadPea

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Inara has an article up about the new testing of Community Gateways. We have seen the idea of community gateways appear a number of times over the years. We are now on the eve another iteration. In this one Linden Lab, Firestorm Developers, and MadPea Game Designers have teamed up to create a new gateway.

See: Firestorm ready to launch Gateway; MadPea join as partners.

The new gateway will be open Saturday 10/31 with events at; 13:00 SLT – Mankind Tracer, 14:00 SLT – Nance Brody, 15:00 SLT – The Changhigh Trinity Sisters Fire Show, and 14:00 SLT onwards – DJ Quad.

Check Inara’s article for more information.

Wayward Peaks Halloween

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There are a lot of interesting places in Second Life™. Dolls and Demons, love the pictures, has an article up about a Gotcha Event: Hanging With The Bad Boys. Checking out the regions mentioned I came across Wayward Peaks. It is an awesome Gotcha event. There are Gotcha vendors are all over the region. So, you’ll be exploring.

Do you believe in Angels? *FGC Nov 2015*
Go to AllesIst Klaar’s photostream – Image by AllesIst – Outfit @ her blog

The region is full of mesh. Much of it has poor LoD modeling. If you have set your RenderVolumeLODFactor set to 4, a bad move, you won’t notice. Using 1.125 I noticed. At 1.125 you have to be close to things for them to look right. But, in general the place is interesting. 

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Second Life in the News – Week 43-2

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The Boston Globe has run an article titled: Second Life shows new promise as virtual forum for diabetes education. The article is about the Boston Medical Center training diabetics how to manage their condition via classes in Second Life™.

Blowing my diet on Food Friday 9.13.13
Blowing my diet on Food Friday

The Center did a study to see how effective the class was. They assigned half the study participants to a class in SL and the other half to a class at the hospital. Quoting the Globe:

The trial was a hit. Mitchell said the Second Life participants didn’t just sit in on the course sessions. They made friends, swapped recipes, had dance sessions, hung out. Most tellingly, participants wanted to know if they could involve their families in the game too.

The results were both groups progressed at the same rates and improved in equal amounts. But, it was the SL group that evidenced more engagement and learning persistence.