Second Life Sex Debate Devolves

Second Life has been banned from Twitch, surely you have heard. Motherboard, a tech reporting blog, has an article about that banning that features comments from Wagner James Au (Hamlet Au) of New World Notes. See: Second Life Is Banned From Twitch Because Cocks Can Happen at Any Moment.

The article is accurate enough based on what I know and can find. But, that has not stopped some from placing blame on Hamlet for what various reporters are doing to capture readers.

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Over the years I have found Drax to be a very talented but emotional supporter of Second Life. He has done an amazing job of finding the high points of Second Life an reporting on them. His ability to portray the good side of Second Life and the people that use SL to positive effect surpasses all others. (Please notice the period) 

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Windows 10 is Almost Here!

This morning I found a tiny icon on my Windows 7 Tool Bar. The official release date is July 29. Now I am wondering how well it will or won’t work with Second Life.

Windows 10 Icon Notice
Windows 10 Icon Notice

This icon is a link to a Microsoft promotional about Windows 10. According to it, you can reserve a copy of Windows 10. I supposed if you haven’t been following Win 10 development you may think this is some great free offer you need to jump on. I have no doubt a large number of people will.

Windows 10 is a free upgrade. Microsoft is no longer charging for operating system upgrades. They are following Apple and Google. Both have been giving away their upgrades. The idea is the original purchase and install of an operating system is made by the hardware manufacturer. After that all upgrades are free. 

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Second Life My Viewer Problems

Every so often I hit a point where my Second Life™ experience sucks from poor viewer performance. When that happens I start changing viewer brands in hope of an improvement. I troubleshoot starting with the easy and work to the hard. But, this time I over looked an obvious problem.

I Still Remember
I Still Remember by Thurkearan of Darrath, on Flickr

These days I mostly use the Linden made viewer and it is almost always one of the RC versions. I like being on the cutting edge. Over the years Imprudence, Emerald/Phoenex, Exodus, Kirsten’s, and Niran’s were the viewers to use, at various times, to be on the cutting edge. That has changed. 

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Second Life: Adult Content Problems

I am writing more about sex in virtual worlds and Second Life™ than I’m getting… Ciaran Laval has an article about Twitch: Twitch Explicitly Prohibits Second Life With Rules Of Conduct Update. The TL:DR is simply they have banned all content from Second Life, by name. The official details are in the Twitch RoC Update. I think there has been another edit since Ciaran posted his article.

Walk on through a red parade
Walk on through a red parade by Wendz Tempest, on Flickr

They say added for clarity:

If a game’s US version is rated Adults Only by the ESRB, you should not broadcast that game on Twitch. However, ESRB rated Mature versions of Adults Only titles are permitted for streaming, such as Mature versions of Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas and Fahrenheit: Indigo Prophecy.

Games rated 18+ by other rating systems are fine to stream, so long as they are not rated AO by the ESRB, and they don’t violate the standard language of our RoC and ToS.

The peeps at Twitch are making it clear Adult Only… meaning sexual, content is NOT welcome. They list the games by name and SL is one. I suspect this is a move to save time and effort on their part, they are deciding what is too sexy by the game not the actual content. That saves them time looking at and deciding if the content crosses their line.

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Second Life Premium Membership Update

The lindens posted about 11 AM today that Premium Members will now have a group limit of 60 groups. Regular or free account members will still be limited to 42 accounts, a magical number.

Back to Basic
Back to Basic by Graham Collinson, on Flickr

That is not a big addition. But, it is significant. I just recently went through clearing out groups I don’t often use so I could add others.

What happens if you later downgrade your account from Premium to Free? You keep all the groups you have. If that is 60 groups, you still have 60 groups. But, even if you only have 50, you won’t be able to add new groups until you get below 42. That is a nice feature. Obviously the Lindens were thinking.