Merchants: Rule Change

Linden Lab has announced a change in how brands will be treated in SL. New World Notes (NWN) writes about it and provides some links for more information in “Unbranded: Lindens To Ban Unauthorized Virtual Copies of Real World Brands on Ecommerce Site”. The Linden Lab announcement is here: Updates to XStreet SL Listing Guidelines.

There is a small conversation in the comments at NWN. There is a large conversation going on in the XStreetSL Forum. See: New Guidelines Forum Thread There is also another thread of conversations here: Chat About XStreet SL Listing Guidelines In the Chat there are several clarifications on subjects beyond just branding issues. Also, Pink Linden states there is a group of Lindens working on the same issues in-world. So, we will likely see this rule change coming into the SL world.

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XStreetSL Currency Exchange Tutorial

For those doing business in Second Life the Currency Exchange is a tool that can improve their profit margin when they are taking L$ out of world to RL currencies. One just has to understand how it works, which is what this Second Life Currency Exchange Tutorial is about.

If you are a resident that just needs a few Linden dollars on occasional bases to purchase something, you can still gain from understanding how the Currency Exchange works and knowing what it is and how to use it. You won’t need some of the more esoteric information I’ll provide. Knowing the basics will save you a few L$.

The Exchange

Exchange
XStreetSL Currency Exchange

XStreetSL has a Currency Exchange, which is now owned by Linden Lab. This is a place where you can easily buy and sell L$ as well as other stuff. It is a fun place to shop also and has loads of free stuff. There is no StreetSL fee for moving funds between SL and PayPal. Using PayPal is the only way to take cash out of XStreetSL.  URL: https://www.xstreetsl.com/

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Imprudence Viewer 1.1.0 Review

Second Life Viewers
Imprudence Logo

Update 10/12/2009

October 12, 2009 – Another Beta version has been released. See Imprudence 1.2 Beta 2 Viewer Review here for a link to more information.

Update 10/1/2009

A new Beta version 1.2 is of the Imprudence viewer is out. New World Notes has a good review of Beta version.

Original Imprudence Review

I have been hearing about this viewer. I decided to try it out in my ongoing quest for the best Second Life viewer. While looking for information I came across Gwyneth Llewelyn’s review of Imprudence (11m/25d/09y). It is an interesting read and covers much of the philosophy of the Imprudence developers, of which the sort summary is, they are developing a viewer for Second Life Power Users. Ok… sounds cool.

The Imprudence Viewer release notes tell one what is new and what is still a ‘known’ problem. I’ll give you the short version here.

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Greenlife Emerald Viewer Review – Continued

Viewers are changing rapidly and there is lots of new information and mis-information. For Combat RPG’s some of the information is critical. (Continued from GreenLife Emerald Viewer Review)

Update 12/3/09: This viewer updates rapidly. I have made several posts here about the different features being added to Greenlife Emerald viewer and provided reviews. There is a trail of links you can read through to read them in order. Or you can click on the Archive page and select the Emerald Viewer Reviews to see all the posts that relate.

12/3/09: I’ve added an index to all the Emerald Viewer Reviews. See: Emerald Viewer Review Index

Emerald, to Lag or Not

Emerald03
Emerald's Built in Radar

Most of the new viewers have a thing some call Radar and in Emerald it is labeled Avatar List (Ctrl-Shift-a or via menu Emerald -> Avatar List). In some other places in Emerald it is referred to as radar. In Emerald it is a handy floater listing all the nearby avatars and some handy information. See the image.

Once upon a time the mini-map was called radar, until Linen Lab renamed it for a better new player experience. But that is not the radar usually meant in comabt SIM’s.

Radar in Second Life previously was a script in a prim or HUD that used a SCAN feature in Second Life’s LSL scripting language. SCAN’s are notorious for creating lag. It’s just the way it works in SL. Good programmers avoid it as much as possible. Combat SIM operators simply ban prim/hud based radars or any high lag producers within their games. There are several reasons for the radar ban with lag being the biggest one. Since prim/HUD based radars were the only ones in existence, SIM operators never bothered to specify which types radars were banned or why, they just simply said radar is banned.

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Warning – Neil Life Viewer

Update 10/5/09

Today Massively is reporting that a number of those using the Neil Life Viewer for IP theft have been banned. See; Linden Lab rounds up and ejects a bunch of copyright infringers

Original Post

New World Notes posted a warning about the Neil Life Viewer. The viewer is said to have been made by Gwyneth Llewelyn, it was NOT! This viewer may be a phishing attempt (steal your password). UPDATE 8/10: Massively has added their voice and a few details to the saga. See: Dodgy Second Life viewer doing the rounds

This viewer claims to have all the tools one needs to steal content in Second Life. News of the ‘new’ viewer is being distributed in SL via note card announcement. It appears someone took one of Gwyneth’s note cards (she has loads of full permission cards out there) and changed the content so it would look like she sent it. Obviously they think her name recognition will get them in the door.

Avoid the Neil Life Viewer and tell your freinds to avoid it. Most important of all… Please help Gwyneth as she asks, “I should say that my abuse report to Linden Lab (#1606110) might probably be ignored since I couldn’t identify either the creator of the spam item or of the “Neil Life” software. So I’d naturally appreciate if anyone gets the notecard, or any information related to the creators of the illegal software, and report it to Linden Lab as well, or, if you prefer, to let me know so that I can follow up on my own reports.

Roadmap for SL Content Creators

Second Life
SL Content Creation Roadmap

New World Notes has a summary of Cyn Linden’s post on the SL roadmap for content creators. If you are selling or plan to sell in SL then this is something to know and join in shaping as it will affect you. Some of the highlights and issues are described below.

At the present time it is easy for alternates with no payment information to rip-off goods and sell them. There is a whole big thing about Stroker Serpentine versus anonymous, unregistered Volkov Catteneo. It’s hard to go after an anonymous person. This new system, if done right, has the potential to stop these content theft problems. The Lindens expect to see many of the new features implemented this year. So, get involved in the discussion in the forums.

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