New For Second Life Designers: MayaStar

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Cathy Foil sent me a note about a new tool, well updated one, for Second Life designers: MayaStar. This is the equivalent of AvaStar for Maya users. Awesome… not so much for me, I’m a Blender user. But, I suspect Maya users will be thrilled.

Cathy wrote me that she wanted to create something like AvaStar for Maya users. She’s apparently talked to Gaia about the use of the name MayaStar. My take from Cathy is that Gaia is somewhat flattered. Whatever, Mayastar is similar to Avastar in more than just name.

Kathy says she has figured out All the technical issues with collision bones. That may be reaching a bit, but she has made videos explaining what she learned.

Kathy is planning to remake her videos, because they’re out of date with her current Mayastar. Gaia had the same problems keeping her videos up-to-date with Avastar’s fast updates. 

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Net Neutrality 2015-09

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We still do not have the words  from the 332 pages of FCC rules that will be implemented in the name of Net Neutrality. What we do know is that a channel of free communication is being placed under ancient FCC Title II rules that already restrict what can be said on radio and TV. More and more people are waking up to another governmental power grab creating a government monopoly that will increase the cost of Internet service and cell phone plans. (Reference)

This was Wikipedia's Plea in 2012 - It has new meaning today - By: Wonderlane - Flickr
This was Wikipedia’s Plea in 2012 – It has new meaning today – By: Wonderlane – Flickr

Just as Americans for the first time are facing more of the actual cost of ACA (Obama-care) this tax season, 4+ years after its passage and the whole thing with 21 new taxes has yet to be fully implemented, in the next year we will start… and the keyword here is ‘start’, to see similar slow moving effects of the Net Neutrality change. 

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Is it Cold?

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In the USA we are having ridiculously cold weather across the eastern two-thirds of the country, north to south. On the west coast side I have the windows open and the fan on. But, only on local stations are you hearing about how extensive and record breaking the cold is. Drudge Report has more of the ‘collected’ headlines today and those stories lead to more stories:

Accuweather

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Second Life Needs… What?

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Shug Maitland wrote What Does Second Life Need? I like that she thinks. Now she has me thinking.

Shug Maitland Feb 2015
Shug Maitland Feb 2015

A recent article of Inara’s got Shug thinking. All signs are that SL1, our current Second Life, and what I call SL2, the new virtual world Linden Lab is building, will run simultaneously. Shug’s question is can SL1 compete with SL2? Good question.

I’ve heard and read lots of opinions. But, few include why they hold their opinion.

Shug and many of the rest of us agree we need a better avatar, Avatar 2.0. The starter avatars we have now are probably the direction the Lab will go with SL2. The skeleton, skin, and animation will likely all get better.

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Second Life Bits 2015-08 #2

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Server Scripting UG 2015-02 - Script Kiddie?
Server Scripting UG 2015-02 – Script Kiddie?

Sony Sells Online Entertainment

This is about the part of Sony that develops games like; Everquest, PlanetSide, DC Universe Online and the recently released H1Z1. This part of the company is being named Daybreak Game Company by the new owners: Columbus Nova, an investment firm. (reference)

Is Columbus Nova speculating on Virtual Reality or games in general?

Facebook & Oculus

Venture Beat has an article on Facebook developing apps for the Oculus. Well, gee, ain’t that a surprise… NOT!

Chris Cox, Facebook’s Chief Product Officer, explains their idea this way, “When you’re in Facebook, you’re just sending around these bits of experience — a photo, a video, a thought.” With Oculus they hope to create a fuller experience.

Some of these apps are so simple to build anyone can do it, or so says Chris.

See: Facebook says it’s developing its own apps for Oculus. 

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Cyan-Myst Related Fund Raiser

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Cyanist Jason Calvert’s sister is going to have surgery on the 24th of February. She needs to raise oney to cover the costs. To help Cyan Worlds people have contributed a couple of historic items to the fund raiser.

One item is a puzzle bottle from the original marketing materials from the initial Myst release. The second item is an Uru Developer’s hat. Both are being auction together on eBay.

You can find the items here on eBay: Very rare Myst Puzzle in a Bottle and Uru Development Team Cap.

The auction closes in about five days, the 25th, depending on your time zone.

Myst was the all time best selling computer game until the release of the SIMS. This is a very rare chance for Myst fans and collectors to scoop up a piece of history and help someone.