EOTB: Second Life University

 

On Wednesday, Linden Lab announced on their blog "Second Life University." These will be livestreams viewable on Youtube that can be seen at any time later made with the purpose of instructing residents about Second Life.

Welcome to Second Life University, a new project that aims to teach people all about the vast virtual world of Second Life! 

There are many videos and tutorials out there for Second Life already, including Second Life Tutorials on our YouTube channel as well as those created by our Residents, — and we’d like to consolidate information in one place as well as ensure that all content is up-to-date. We will begin with topics that are particularly relevant for newer users. This is a huge project that will take time, and we’re excited to work on and collaborate with the community to make it easily understandable and fun.

The first of the livestreams, "Viewer Basics," was yesterday, Thursday April 7 at 2PM SL time, hosted by Strawberry Linden. A better title might be "Official Viewer Basics" as the Firestorm viewer, which is more popular, isn't necessarily the same. It handles things like customizing the toolbar, editing one's profile, using the Destination Guide to explore places, and more.

In the forum thread on the topic, there seemed to be qualified overall approval, one saying, "Depending on the quality of the courses for 'advanced learning and building,' I think this could be a good thing.  In fact, I think it's a LONG-overdue thing.  LL should always have taken responsibility for teaching SL at all levels with this sort of program.  So, congratulations LL! But I think this announcement would have been MUCH more graceful had it acknowledged the resident-run universities that stepped into the vast knowledge gap over time, and still offer inworld in-person interactive classes where actual humans answer actual questions." She would bring up two places to learn inworld, Builders Brewery, and Caledon Oxbridge University. 

There will be more such videos in the future, some may be hosted by different Lindens.

To check the blog post, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan
 

News and Commentary : Looking Back at Torley Linden

Torley is gone.

If you were a resident in Second Life from 2007 to 2010, Torley was one of the Lindens you heard about the most, if not the Linden you knew about the most. He was the Linden who did various videos for Second Life residents, both tutorials with basic information and tips for more experienced residents. They often started with the cheerful opener "friendly greetings," which became an unofficial trademark of his. So was his going about in bright green and pink avatars, his "watermelon" look.




When interviewed by Saffia Widdershins in 2016, Torley stated he joined Second Life in 2004, "I was in a really hard place in my first life, and I discovered Second Life through various sources ... and I was reading a lot of cyberpunk and transhumanist literature at the time, thinking about a brighter future for my whole life. And I soon found myself – well, there’s no nicer way to put it than I was utterly obsessed with being here every day." After several months, "I basically sent this crazy,  rambling note card to Char linden at the time." She and a few other Lindens "gave me the opportunity to apply. So I went through that. Guess it turned out OK."

Torley would say of his time in Second Life, "I’ve mostly been a nomad explorer. I have had homes, and I have had full regions. I still do in fact. But I think the prime thing that always drives me is really the force of discovery, and to share those discoveries, and I really get curious, and I love asking people 'where did you get your avatar?' or 'did you make these parts of your avatar?' or comment on a cool build they’re making. And finding the connections. I love introducing wonderful creative minds in Second Life to each other, and we’ve had so many over time."



Torley would make his Tips and Tricks videos from 2006 to 2009. They can still be found on his Youtube channel. In February 2010, he would announce there would be new Second Life tutorial videos on their own channel. He would do a few of these newer tutorials, which were not as numerous as the ones he did before. He would explain in the 2016 interview there had been a "shift in focus" at the Lab for him to promote newer features and his time was more limited, "I wish I could clone myself." He did feel that numerous bloggers had helped fill the role he had earlier.

Despite no more of his "friendly greetings" videos, Torely was still around. He would appear at events such as Burn2 and the Linden Snowball fights, either as a Linden or in a "civilian" avatar. And he would appear at the Second Life Birthday as well. Although obviously male in real life, his avatars were often female. He would also post thousands of screenshots on his Flickr page.

In 2017, he would be among the Lindens moved to the Sansar team. There he would remain until last month February 2020, about the time of the layoffs in which the next generation virtual world's staff was reduced to a skeleton crew.

Exactly why Torley was apparently let go, one can only speculate. His old position on the Second Life staff had long been filled by others, but he could have been given a position in public relations, which the also popular Xiola Linden left after stepping down from in January with her leaving Linden Lab. Perhaps he wasn't dismissed, but like Xiola decided it was time to move on. But this is all speculation. Linden Lab isn't talking and neither, at least for now, is Torley.

In any event, the "watermelon man" will remain a part of Second Life history. Whereever he goes, we at the Newser wish him well.

Source: Modem World

Bixyl Shuftan

Saving Prims

Becky "Sha" Shamen took a break from her exploring to reflect on an issue familiar to any of us whom have a home, office, or any other kind of space in Second Life: the prim count. Over time, she found ways to personalize her space better by looking for low-prim furniture, which doesn't always have to be expensive, and can sometimes be found for free.

Read Becky's article in Design.

SL Videos: Firestorm "Tool Tip Tuesdays"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

Jessica Lyon stars in what Team Firestorm says will be a weekly series of videos about the features about their viewer: "Tool Tip Tuesdays." Here's the first of them which aired January 27, "Camera Controls."

Firestorm has so many features and functions most folks don’t even know about that we decided to do a series of short videos showcasing a hidden or lesser-known feature once a week. Starting today, and every Tuesday after, we will have a new video showing off something cool! This first video covers camera functionality that might be new to you!

More can be read Here.

New Feature – Be a Noob, Just Don’t Look Like One

Today our inventive reporter DrFran Babcock starts what could be a new feature, depending on reader feedback, "Be a Noob, Just Don’t Look Like One." DrFran offers a few tips on how to get one's avatar to look stylish with a few quality freebie goods.

Read DrFran's article in Fashion.

Eye on the Blog: New "QuickTips" for Second Life Newcomers

Longtime residents remember Torley Linden and his turorial videos from about six to three years ago. He'd greet watchers with the expression "Friendly Greetings!" Then he would proceed to give instructions about a particular topic, such as editing textures or adjusting preferences. Well, it seems Torley Linden is back and narrating a new series of instructional videos.


Over the next few weeks, you’ll see several new “QuickTips” clips that are designed to help new and existing users learn the basics of Second Life. Forthcoming tutorial clips will help teach the basics of shopping, socializing, connecting with communities, finding interesting places and more.

The first video tutorial in this new series focuses on customizing your appearance in Second Life. One of the first things most Second Life users do upon arriving inworld is to personalize their digital identity to reflect their own style.



The blog post then encourages readers to visit the Knowledge Base's "Controlling Your Avatar's Appearance."

Watching the video, I noticed a few things. It certainly sounds like Torley's narrating it, though it doesn't say who is. It's also noticably shorter than most of Torley's video's, which could go on for ten minutes or longer. This one was exactly one minute long. And of course the "Friendly Greetings" opening was gone.

The Youtube had several comments. People were glad that Torley was back, but to some viewers, the video just didn't seem right. The lack of the "Friendly Greetings," the push to visit Marketplace, it just seemed a bit forced some.

But most everyone feels that the return of these videos is a good thing. The big thing many miss is Torley's "Friendly Greetings" remark.

Bixyl Shuftan