Brave New World – HyperGrid…

Recently I posted about the Sim-on-a-stick.  At the time I was able to get the server running on my laptop and access my own sim.  But I couldn’t manage to invite any friends.  Later that day I tried to do the same from my Win 7 desktop.  Sadly it didn’t work.  (Probably a 64-bit issue)  In the process I loaded the Apache server, MySQL and PHP5 on my desktop…  it still didn’t work.  Eventually I became distracted by my Dreamweaver project.  After posting about the Sim-on-a-stick and talking about it to a few folks I didn’t think much of it.  Obviously if I was thinking about it others were as well, others with far better technical skills than I.  Today I learned Oberon Onmura set it up successfully and at the invitation of my friend and fellow metaverse explorer Jo Ellsmere, I was able to log into an independent OpenSim running on Oberon Onmura’s “older & not so fast” desk top (running Vista and a single Gig of memory!)….

Some may wonder… what is the big deal?  OpenSim right?  Yes… sort of… more like OpenGrid… or as several have labeled it… Hypergrid.   A completely decentralized Grid – You want one Region of your own to control completely?  Go ahead install it. Run it & invite your friends.

Like so many advances, it raises more questions than it answers.  What of inventory?  As it stands today… you Create it … you move it around the Hypergrid.  Will it stay that way?   How will creative freedom and copyright be impacted?  What of “the Boys at the Lab” as sororNishi calls them?  If the Hypergrid is so completely decentralized, what value do they still bring to the table – scale – community - history?  What type of economy will develop… will there be common currency?   Or will I have to make my own hair?  Will the technologically savvy rule the roost?   And just what is that ‘roost’?   How will being connected to ONLY those you want to connect to change things?  Will the serendipity of community be destroyed?  Perhaps it is as Dusan wrote recently… perhaps the lab created (unintentionally) a critical mass of emotional bandwidth allowing us the experience of Place.  How will Placeness be impacted by a hyper-decentralized-grid, it remains to be seen?  Clearly we are entering new space that will likely create a new Place. At this point (particularly for the Artists I know) it is the ultimate Sandbox… in more ways than one.  

Stay Tuned… More to come… 

Perseverance Matters… a gentle counterpoint to “Fast, Fun & Easy”

Much has happened this last month. The Metaverse continues to expand and we continue to see Linden Labs struggle to find its footing in the evolving landscape; such as possible additional layoffs and the ongoing debacle of Viewer 2. Some hope the return of Philip Rosedale will keep Second Life from becoming a stagnant backwater. While, vision is not something Philip lacks, it remains to be seen if “Fast, Fun, Easy” will increase growth and retention. If Second Life becomes Fast and (more) Fun few will complain; yet it is the possible meaning of "Easy” that gives me pause.

Yet I remain optimistic, and believe we are witnessing an inevitable cultural stratification across the Metaverse. Many (not all) who were most disturbed by Viewer 2 tend to be veterans; users who need and want deep level control over the tools for the creation of their content. Viewer 2 fails on this count, yet what is most disappointing to me is that this deep level control was never its point. I count myself among the builders and those whom see ourselves as “Transworlders” (to use BotGirl’s term) but I also want my tools and experience to be Fast and Fun. AND I want the damn tools to work and to allow freedom of creation. Clearly this is not “Easy”.

What is meant by “Easy” seems not to be about the viewer or the tools. I think it is about the initial new user experience. I’ll admit my memory is poor, but I recall having a fairly embarrassing and confusing 1st hour. Many who 1st enter second life are overwhelmed by the complexity and most everyone is surprised at the emotion of those first few moments. But like many things of value in this world perseverance matters. Those of us, who stuck it out, allowed the embarrassment, chose to dig in and learned what a virtual world offers. We found rich and valuable experiences. We learned new skills, created beauty and met wonderful and amazing people ALONG with putting up with lag, asset allocation errors and asshole griefers.

I think it is fair to say that your 1st hour of Facebook was confusing and unclear, but hardly embarrassing. Reducing the angst of that first hour in Second Life is what I hope Philip means by “Easy”. But I would also suggest Linden Lab be careful NOT kill off the challenge completely of learning how to navigate within a virtual world. From the facing of these challenges come our growth, power and beauty. I call on Philip and his team NOT to lose sight of the thrill of discovery felt when you rez your first prim or finally figure out how to put on hair that doesn’t look painted. Do not dumb down second life. Design tools that both ends of spectrum can use. How Linden Labs or any virtual world accomplishes this is up to them. Developing an entry level tool that clearly links to a separate more complex and creative tool is perhaps the way to go. Either way, as long as there are multiple worlds and third party viewers (and we avoid more idiot episodes such as the recent EmeraldGate) there is hope.

 Enough ranting… What do you get if you persevere?

Stunning creativity

A clear example is the work of sororNishi and her “The Tree of Trees” installation in one of the IBM sims. While I doubt its creation was fast and certainly was not easy; I am sure much of the time it was fun. Her deeply color-saturated magical world is a joy to explore. Soror’s work often has reminded me of the brilliant glass work of Dale Chihuly. Judge for yourself. Let go for a moment of the drama and frustration of “Fast, Fun and Easy” and enjoy a relaxing drift thru Soror’s world. This is why Virtual Worlds will survive and flourish; whether Second Life will flourish is for Philip’s vision and the creative souls toiling away deep within “The Lab” to figure out. My suggestion? Get cracking because we are moving on without you.

Tree of Trees

Dale Chihuly's glass ware

Second Life - Never Boring

It has been quite a week, so there is required reading today...

NWN ,  Dusan Writer, Crap, sororNishi or SaveMe Oh

It is a lot of reading, I know… but a lot happened this week.  As for my thoughts... have a look... I tried to be brief.

• There were the 30% Layoffs at the lab – never a good sign when it comes to feeling confident that this amazing world will still be here when I wake up.
• Mark Kingdom – was mysteriously absent from controversy marred SL birthday celebration… can’t say I was that interested in his comments anyway.
• Philip – Filled in for M. Linden with some interesting but vaguely apologetic comments… and the rumors flew.
• Yes Alice – Some rumors do come true. The dramatic return of Philip Rosedale as interim CEO and the flurry of M. Linden bashing reached its peak. So the guy with the passion and understanding for SL returns, despite the fact he has a reputation for making us cringe on occasion. It will be certainly be interesting.
• Rumors of Mesh imports… cool, wow, fun, concerned… (anxiously scratches head) … hopefully when and if this rumor proves to be true, Mesh Imports will be introduced into SL with some careful thought, both from a technical point of view regarding how a flood of rich but complex mesh based objects will impact the grid AND how it will impact the economy of sl (if I were a current not so skilled content provider… I would be wondering how many 50 prim houses will sell when a 5 prim mesh import house is put on the market). But over all I am all for mesh imports… I am also working thru a wide variety of Blender tutorials… for those interested here is long list of Blender user and tutorial sites.
• And then there was the whole art censorship issue… a complex and messy debacle to be sure. True… the Labs owns this virtual world (In the end we are only renters of server space) and they are allowed to control what goes on that server. Of course what they ‘allow’ greatly impacts the socio-economic vitality of SL… which has a direct impact on investor returns. It seems to me that open markets, open source, user created content, be it commodities or art (sold or not), etc would be encouraged. I would think they would want a wide and deep pool of creativity. So why ban stylized nudity from an art submission by Rose Borchovski? Fearful of the old “flying penises” argument? Fear of what, human depravity? Sad this puritanical fear of a lewd public perception stopped the lab from treating the artist in question honestly and fairly.
  Here I will quote Rose Borchovski via SaveMe Oh’s blog:
  
  
  

   I raised my voice because of the way it was handled. When I came online I found my installation in my lost and found folder with a formal message in IM from a Linden. A moderator of the SL7B GROUP saw the installation on my sim before it was put down at SL7B. Several Moderators helped me while I was setting up the installation. I had sent all the information about my Susa Bubble Story by forehand to Linden: video, LM of my sim and notecard with info. I admit, I was absolutely naïf about my Susas being naked, I do not see them as being naked anymore but as vulnerable and lost. I’m not insensitive about other people’s feelings, the SL7B was not opened yet for an audience, they could have asked me to come down and explain the problem before deleting me.

  

  To me… in the very least the Lab was cowardly and disrespectful in their dealings with Rose.
  
  PrimPerfect's recent post looks closely at the art work in question... you decide... what were "they" afraid of? 
  
  I know I've been reminded once again - powerful art such as this impacts individuals differently and our reaction to such art reveals more about who we are as viewers than anything else.
• 
  
  And last but not least, soror Nishi – offers a list – Philips List. Topping her list at number 1 in the hearts of all who love sl - Sack the PR Team.  This might seem odd given other critical issues like repairing chat, search, voice, etc.   Yet I agree with soror.  In my opinion even with Philip back , public relations (internally and externally) is a huge weakness of Linden Labs
  
  (Word to the wise Philip – you can drop the cod piece… funny – yes, ironic – yes, professional – no… imo... I'm just saying...).

Well… as you can see… lots of opinions, lots of heat, smoke and even fire. Not an easy week to summarize… so given my incomplete, partially informed musings… I will stop.

To be sure – Second Life & Linden Labs are filled with passionate opinionated people… not boring in the least.