Second Life: AvaStar Shape-keys Teaser

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Gaia is working on better and easier use of shape keys in AvaStar. Watch the teaser:

These are only for use in Blender. They cannot be transferred into Second Life. SL shapes are baked into the viewer, meaning users cannot change them. But, they should allow us to make our various shapes for clothing and transfer the clothing into SL.

For instance, if I understood correctly, the shapes we personally model for, say large, medium, and small, could be setup in shape-keys and we could click between them. That would make a number of things easier.

No release date.

Skin Fair 2015

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Opening March 13, Skin Fair 2015. Visit here: Skin Fair 1 & Skin Fair 2. There is no staging area so you have no choice but to teleport into one of the regions. The population limit is 45 per region. I haven’t yet been able to get in.

Mystic Canvass @ Skin Fair 2014 (starts March 14th!)
Mystic Canvass @ Skin Fair 2014 by Christiana Xevion, the slwonder, on Flickr

There is a strictly enforced script limit. 50 scripts max. That seems like a lot. I normally keep mine under 20.

Ebbe Linden & Second Life in Education

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Ebbe Linden (Altberg) gave the opening speech at Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education (VWBPE) earlier this year. (Reference) They have videos available.

Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable 12 March 2015
Virtual Worlds Education Roundtable 12 March 2015 by Sheila Yoshikawa, on Flickr

On March 21, 2015 Time: 9:00 – 10:50 a.m. in the Second Life Main Auditorium (SLURL) a panel of people from Second Life will be discussing and answering questions in Second Life about “…how NonProfit Commons has contributed to significant dialogue around the uses of virtual worlds like Second Life. The panelists will discuss how they have changed and grown, as well as the different opportunities and moments that have distinguished the group and the manner in which they promote and spotlight best practices.” (quoted from the VWBPE site) 

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New ransomware encrypts computer games and iTunes

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A new virus/Trojan encrypts your Minecraft, WoW, and iTune files then tries to ransom them to you. Be careful what you click on. Make sure your anti-virus is updating and actually running, do a scan or at least start one. If it runs, you know it is working.

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by Christina, on Flickr

This is a variant of the better known Crypto Locker ransomware.

Once these things encrypt your files, you are pretty much screwed. You can double down by paying them to release your files. All that does is tell them they have found a rube and empty or overcharge your account. They aren’t going to decrypt your files. All that would do for the bad guys is provide more tracking information for law enforcement. It’s not like they are trying to build repeat business with good customer service…

Linden Dollars and OpenSim

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Hypergrid Business has an article up on Linden Lab restricting use of the Linden dollar in other virtual worlds, OpenSim. See: Linden Labs halts use of Linden Dollars in other virtual worlds.

Money II
Money II by Jozef Purdes, on Flickr

I doubt this is a competitive thing. L$ incurs a legal liability for the Lab. They have to be able to show the government where those dollars are going. This is a measure of the government trying to control currency and thereby control crime.

If your into philosophy and have read the Federalist Papers, then the fallacy of trying to control crime this way is probably apparent. But, it gives the government more control and feeds the bureaucratic and politicians addiction to power.

Whatever the reason, the reality is L$ are now going to be restricted to Second Life. Expect to see their current use in various places disappearing.