Mojo And Styfy Linden Have Left Linden Lab

 

Two of the Linden Lab team, Andrew Kertesz aka Mojo Linden and Steven Feuling, have recently departed. According to an article by Inara Pey, they were still on in late December, but by mid-January were no longer listed on the company website. There was no announcement by Linden Lab the Newser is aware of.

Mojo Linden was the VP of Engineering, having signed up in August 2021, some months after the departure of the popular Oz Linden. Styfy Linden was the Chief Marketing Officer.

Mojo Linden has been at several Lab Gab events over the past couple years, and has been part of the team working on the mobile viewer, currently in a limited release public alpha. Styfy didn't appear at public events as often, but was at a Second Life Birthday's "Meet The Lindens" event last year in June 2023.

Inara would comment, "I had wondered as to Mojo’s whereabouts a couple of times of late; his absence from the CCUG meetings had become sufficient enough for me to notice." She would "wish both gentlemen well in their respective futures, and also thank Mojo (should he ever read this!) for taking the time to engage with users and in responding to nagging enquiries from the likes of myself."

 

Source: Modem World

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

News In Brief

 
There's a lot going on, and only a little time to write about it. So here's some news in brief that we will try to describe in more detail later.

The Veterans Tribute is back in Second Life. To check it out, head to Rainbow Dream (128/128/21).

The Film Threat Theater has a new movie, made by a small independent studio, being reviewed: "Corona Zombies," and they plan to review a new one every month.

In the official blog, Linden Lab has the "Spotlight" on noted artist Bryn Oh.

There's a couple new places for gaming in Second Life. One is in Bellisseria at Zwischen (79/228/33). The other is at Montecito Bay, their new Arcade at Montecito Bay (118/223/22).

In the Web User Group on November 3, Inara Pey wrote that the Lab says they haven't given up on making a mobile app, and is aware that many residents were disappointed at the news of development being halted. But the pause will likely last for "a number of weeks." There was also some talk about the Zenescope NFT Sweepstakes, there should be a new batch of last names around Christmas, and some Marketplace store owners are reporting drops in income of 30 to 50 percent.

There's more going on about Facebook changing its name to Meta, such as a computer company already having the name, and the owner asking for $20 million for it (IGN article). Neal Stephenson, the author of the the novel Snow Crash that coined the term "Metaverse," had a few things to say about Facebook's move (Axios article), as did Grumpy Linden in an interview with a French magazine (Modem World article).

More on these subjects, and more, when we have time. 

Bixyl Shuftan
 

"Premium Plus" Accounts Delayed

Last November, among an announcement on the upcoming option to change account names, Linden Lab also stated that there would soon be an option to upgrade their accounts to a level above Premium, called Premium Plus.

Changes are underway for Premium Membership. In 2020, you’ll see a new membership level, Premium Plus. This new option will join our classic Premium tier as an additional choice for Residents who want to get even more value from their Second Life.

According to an article written by Inara Pey, it seems the Linden Lab has delayed the rollout of Premium Plus. Grumpity Linden stated the two main reasons were wanting to focus more on the transition to the cloud servers, and with many residents hit hard financially by the Coronavirus crisis it was believed it wasn't a good time to roll out the feature.

We have made the decision to delay the deployment of Premium Plus based on two key factors:

1. We want to be focused on our Uplift project (move to the cloud) and to minimize distraction for our development, QA, and Ops teams. While we’ve laid a lot of groundwork, quite a bit more still remains to finish Premium Plus.
2. The pandemic has brought a lot of financial uncertainty to people all around the world and we know many of our Residents have been hit hard.

We are very happy that SL has provided an outlet for people where they can connect, escape, engage safely, and earn a living or supplement their income as well. But we also realise that introducing a higher-priced service level in this time would be really ham-handed.

It should be noted that a few days ago, Linden Lab stated earlier that there was a "Limited Availability" of new private sims due in part to their transitioning to cloud servers not complete yet. So that would be another reason to devote more time and resources to that effort. When the option of changing one's account surname was finally made available, one of the complaints was that due to the Coronavirus crisis, many wouldn't be able to afford it due to loss of income.

When asked when Premium Plus might be available, Grumpty answered that there were no guarantees, "but early 2021 is reasonable to expect."

Source: Modem World

Bixyl Shuftan

Tilia Needed For Second Life Accounts Starting August 1

While the Lindens gave some news of their upcoming plans during the "Meet the Lindens" events last week (many of which the Newser was hoping to describe in more detail in the next few days), there was one that wasn't mentioned: Tilia. On the Second Life blog yesterday, the Lab announced it would be part of "Important Changes to your Second Life Account."

Beginning on August 1, 2019, Tilia will take over certain aspects of the Second Life service. Tilia enables Linden Lab to continue the Second Life service in its current form through enhanced regulatory compliance protocols.  To achieve this, Tilia will assume responsibility for managing your USD denominated account, which will be referred to as your "Tilia Account."  After August 1, Tilia will handle process credit requests and payments made from your Tilia Account.

 

Effective August 1, in order to continue using Second Life you will have to agree to Tilia’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.  A Tilia Account associated with your Second Life Account will automatically be created for you and you will not need a separate username or password to access your Tilia Account.  

 

In order to stay in compliance with regulatory requirements, if you wish to process a credit, we will need certain personal information to verify your identity, including your name, address, date of birth, and social security number (or government-issued identification if you are not a U.S. Citizen).  You may be required to provide additional information to complete the transaction. Tilia will securely store this information so that you should only need to provide it once.

 

Additionally, please note that customers under 18 years of age will not be able to process credit after August 1, 2019 until they reach the age of 18. 

 

As always, Second Life remains free to access and enjoy!  However, if your Tilia Account is inactive for a period of 12 months we will charge your Tilia Account a fee to the extent permitted by applicable law.  If you have questions about the inactivity fee, please see Tilia’s Terms of Service.

What is Tilia? Linden Lab bought the company in late 2015. The name had been registered in 2002, but the business, whatever it's purpose, had shut down. When Inara Pey asked Linden Lab what it was for, the response by their Director of Global Communications was " a subsidiary of Linden Lab, focused on payments and the compliance work associated with operating virtual economies, and it will provide services for both Second Life and Project Sansar." It's also the genus name of about thirty species of trees that are sometimes called "linden trees," which may be why Linden Lab was interested in the name.

The response by the residents has been more than a little confusion, on both various Discord servers and the Second Life forums. The "Tilia Takes Over" thread has already reached 18 pages as of the writing of this article. There were a number of questions such as would people be hit with bills for not buying or selling Lindens? Was this Age Verification all over again? And there were no shortage of comments such as "Linden Labs, I am very disappointed in you. ... Some have accused you of a bait and switch over the Linden Homes and they were wrong. But inducing people to re-up for another year and then springing a change in the terms of service a week later is a true bait and switch."

While some expressed worry, others such as Becky Nosferatu stated there wasn't much for most residents to worry about. Some however would be paying more.

This took me nearly 20 minutes to figure this out. For those who are in the know, there is a new law and a new ISSUE now, involving the way Linden Lab works with real-world money.

When you buy or sell Lindens, you have a middle ground where the Lindens goes to. So think of that as your virtual wallet. This money just sits there until you cash out (send to Paypal) or your buy in (convert it to Lindens).

Now, what the above means is if you have 0.00 in that "wallet" let's call it, it will do nothing to you. You won't get any fees, you won't be charged, etc.

For people who DO cash out or in, if you have money IN that wallet, and you LEAVE IT THERE FOR A YEAR, they will count that as being inactive and start hitting you with fees. It will take from your "wallet" until you either cash it out or use it, or until your balance reaches 0.00.

Everyone, unless you are under 18, are required to pony up your valuable info IF you want to use the cash out/buy in feature to get Linden dollars. This is EXPECTED of you. As of August 1. this new system will take effect. They're already making a new account for everyone on SL.

What it also means though, if you are over 18 and want to cash out, you must offer up personal info, including your social. A ton of people are not cool with that concept, but trust me, they wouldn't ask for it if they didn't have to.

Why are they doing this? There is a new law in place that affects US and international citizens. This new law means that if you are working with crypto (virtual) currency, you CAN NOT hoard this currency for "better prices" before you cash out, because that is LAUNDERING and that is a big no-no. It's like if you get word fhe stock market is going to crash, you pullout all your funds from said stock and sell it. That, my friends, can net you prison time.

If you don't ever cash out or buy in? You don't have to worry about this at all. You are completely immune and nothing will come of it for you.

If you're like me, however, you are subject to fees when you cash out; Linden Lab's fees, and whatever Tilia's going to charge as well. Nothing we can really do about it.

Becky cited an article in Coindesk.com, referring to a statement from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

There's plenty of information and more than a little legalese to go through. But it seems Tilia being put into action isn't just for the Lab to put up more hoops for residents to jump through and another fee to pay (and maybe higher tier prices from landlords having to pass down feed imposed on them to break even). It appears Linden Lab is doing this due to wanting to avoid legal trouble from the US Government.

As Second Life has adapted technically to change to fit with the times over the past sixteen years, it seems it has to adapt to changes, or at least greater enforcement of, laws dealing with the Internet and commerce as well.

Source: Modem World, Wikipedia, Coindesk.com

Bixyl Shuftan

Update on the "Teleport Disconnects"

Earlier this month, Linden Lab came out and admitted what the residents had more or less figured out, Second Life was much buggier than usual, especially when it came to teleporting from sim to sim or crossing sim borders. So has there been improvement since then? Maybe some. Checking "Modem World," Inara Pey stated "There have been mixed reports on the outcome of the deployment made on Thursday, April 18th, 2019, with some indicating matters have improved, others reporting no real change. In particular, people visiting Fantasy Faire and travelling around the new Linden Homes continent appear to be faring a lot better than had been the case."

Simon Linden was quoted as saying at the Simulator User Group, " for server news, many of us are focused on the teleport issues … I hate to promise anything, but we all know a lot more about TP internal problems than we used to (smile) . We do understand they’re annoying and a frustrating problem – we definitely want to fix it and make it better."

Earlier, some residents wondered if the Lab moving data to Cloud servers was the cause of the glitches. Lately, there's been a new suspect, the EEP or Environmental Enhancement Project. Simon did admit that the problems appearing just after the release of EEP was "suspicious" and they were "trying to sort out is if somehow the environmental work caused the TP problems." He didn't think the glitches were related to avatar complecity, though stated "that said, the more complex your AV is, the more work it needs to change regions. It’s always been better to have fewer scripts and data for teleports and region crossings."

On a personal note, I myself seem to be having fewer problems with teleport disconnects, though there are still other glitches such as the viewer freezing for a bit. Some friends of mine are still crashing when teleporting around, so it seems the problem is still around.

Source: Modem World, SL Wiki

Bixyl Shuftan

Is The Lab Rethinking Sansar As a World?

Although Linden Lab has had high hopes for Sansar, it's been something of a hard sell. Despite moves such as trying to attract comedy acts, and making it accessible from Steam, it's usage numbers remain small. While the Lab isn't giving up on it, they are still wondering what could be holding the place back. When Inara Pey wrote about a recent Sansar development meeting, Chief Product Officer Landon McDown seemed to wonder if emphasizing the Next Generation grid as a number of separate experiences rather than a single world was part of the reason it hasn't caught on.

We asked ourselves what was really missing from Sansar and what we wanted to add to it, and one of the things that kept coming up consistently is that one of the magical things in Second Life is it feels like a world. It feels like place. And when we designed Sansar, we didn’t really implement that; it was a design decision where we wanted the individual worlds to stand alone, and be disconnected and independent … [Now] we feel that lack of place, that unification across all the experiences, is something that we’re personally missing and something we want to add into Sansar.

McDown stated in the sound clip, "We have a couple of initiatives to help achieve that." So how soon will one be able to travel between the sims of Sansar like those of Second Life and will it help increase numbers? Time will tell.

Source: Inarn Pey
Image Credit: Ampel. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Scammers Using Fake Firestorm Website

Firestorm has become the most popular of Second Life viewers. Unfortunately, according to an article by Inara Pey, someone is taking advantage of it's popularity for the purposes of doing harm.

Inara's article stated someone is using accounts in Second Life to message residents about fake websites that appear to promote a "pro version of the Firestorm viewer." But there is no "pro version" of Firestorm. The link instead leads to a "scam site that is particularly nasty, as the Windows download link is infected."

Linden Lab has asked those who get these messages to please file an abuse report.

When filing a report, make sure you take a screen shot showing the message / notice displayed in your viewer – the abuse report screen shot feature will automatically capture open IM windows, etc. Reports can be filed under the Harassment category.

Source: Modem World

Themed Learning Islands in Development by Linden Lab

First impressions, while not everything, can mean a lot. And for Second Life, the first impression new users get is Learning Island. Having been around since 2013, they're part of a two-step process in which new arrivals first arrive in a place only they can be, and after some basic instructions head on to Social Island to continue their orientation, though possibly with the guidance with established residents. In 2017, they were remodeled with a new look. In a recent article in Modem World, Inara Pey stated over the past few months there's been something new in development by Linden Lab: themed Learning Islands.

The idea is that Linden Lab will run various Internet advertisements with a certain theme, such as the science-fiction one pictured in Inara's article. Clicking on the ad brings up a page in the theme of the ad, and those signing up through it will be taken to a Learning Island that is in the style of the theme of the ad and page. These are not yet complete, still in the testing stage as Brett Linden told her.

Linden Lab is still in the early weeks of testing the concept of Themed Learning Islands. The initiative began quietly a month or so ago with a Romance-themed island test that is not currently active. Next up is a Sci-Fi-themed learning island that we’ll begin testing very soon. We’re also looking at several other themes for future tests, [and] it is also possible that we’ll revise the Romance and Sci-Fi themes as we gather more data on them.

Besides the themed ad campaign and sign-up process, the Lab will be looking into just how well it is working. It will also be looking at smaller elements as to what works and what doesn't, such as offering the new user a lot of information or having them find out more on their own. Patch Linden would state the new Learning Islands would not usually be open to established residents during testing.

We actually want to discourage public access to the islands while in testing so that our statistics, measuring and data-gathering don’t get influenced by having the islands inundated with established users coming into them and possibly preventing new users from naturally proceeding through the anticipated test flow. That way, we can gather as accurate information as possible on what’s happening in terms of acquisition and retention against everything else.

Talking to Brett, Patch, and Leira Linden, Inara came to the conclusion that the Lab was making a more intensive effort at user retention than before, "One thing that struck me ... is just what is going into user acquisition and attempts to improve user retention, when it is perhaps a little to easy to assume the Lab is just “tinkering without understanding”. Considerable thought is being put into trying to increase new user engagement and retention, and it does involve a lot of number crunching, analysis, and trying to build on what is shown to work, as well as trying entirely new approaches. ...it’s clear from talking to Brett, Keira and Patch that the Lab is pouring a lot of effort into this approach, as well as looking at other avenues of user acquisition and retention."

The earliest effort at the newbie experience, Orientation Island, was estimated to have only a ten percent retention rate. Destination Island, which was around from 2012 to 2013, was a bare-bones experience that was much more confusing and frustrating to new users and most likely had a much lower retention rate. Why a fair experience was replaced with a bad one back then, one can only speculate at the reasons why. But it's clear several years later, Linden Lab is making a much more serious effort to not just bring new people into Second Life, but to make a good first impression in the first hour or two that can make all the difference in which a new user decides whether or not to keep coming back.

Source: Modem World

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: 2017 Winter Showcase and Art Show in Support of Team Diabetes of Second Life

DATES: December 1 to 10, 2017

SLURL: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Water%20Haven/145/138/26

WEBSITE: https://teamdiabetessl.org/winter-showcase-winter-artshow/

Join Team Diabetes of Second Life for the 3rd annual Winter Showcase and Art Show! Team Diabetes of Second Life is an official and authorized team of The American Diabetes Association. Activities at the event include 2D and 3D art, live performances, a special Models Giving Back winter fashion show, ice skating parties, two hunts, an advent calendar, ice fishing, dj parties, shopping, and fun!

Participating merchants include: OYO Breedables, Aleutua , alme., Blossom, BRYNE, ChiC Buildings, Chiffon, Chop Zuey, Cosmos Boutique, Dixie Dandelion and Designs, DBS, Emerald Couture, Fjordian Slip, Get Jiggy, Ghee, Gidget's Styles, Go Frock Yourself, Just Ordinary, Kades, Kiliki Bikini, LC Fashion, Le Fashion Whore, Love, Lunar Seasonal Designs, MadCatCreations, Mara's Mysteries, Mahlberg Tailors, Metal & Stone,  OMG! Inc, Park Place, Pharmacist, Potomac Signature Homes , Roth's, Rush, Shiva, Simply Shelby, Sohoe Shoes, Spyralle, Starlight Designs, Steelhead, Tayren's Fantasy Fashions, TRS Designs, Tylar's Treasures, Winterwood, Wood Works, Xanna Wahwah Designs, & Xplicit Designs.

Participating artists include: AlexAvion, Anjelikka, Bri Graycloud, CalystiaMoonShadow, Caresia Adored, Carisa Franizzi, Carlotta Ceawlin, Catalina Staheli, Chanasitsayo, DAKOTA LAVAROCK, Eucalyptus Carroll, ilyra chardin, Inara Pey, Jamee Sandalwood, JolieElle Parfort, John Brianna, Layachi ihnen, maaddi, Paaie, roadrabbit resident, roxaane Fyanucci, Sandi Benelli, saoirseheart, Sheba Blitz, Slatan Dryke, smalldoll resident, talligurl, tessagrace51, Veruca Tammas, & wintergeist.

About The American Diabetes Association:
The American Diabetes Association’s mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. The American Diabetes Association leads the fight against the deadly consequences of diabetes and fights for those affected by diabetes by funding research to prevent, cure, and manage diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association delivers services to hundreds of communities and provides objective and credible information and resources about diabetes.
Free resources are available in English and Spanish at http://www.diabetes.org and 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2382).

For More Information:
https://teamdiabetessl.org/winter-showcase-winter-artshow/ (Website for the 2017 Wintershowcase and Art Show)
http://main.diabetes.org/site/TR?px=11304578&fr_id=11965&pg=personal  (The official American Diabetes Association page for Team Diabetes of Second Life)
www.diabetes.org (Official website of The American Diabetes Association)
http://www.idf.org/membership/meet-our-members  (Website to find diabetes information in your home country)

Press Release: Filling the Cauldron: Artists, Musicians, and Creators Come Together to Suport One of Their Own

                                              
Residents are familiar with the large scale fundraising activities on the Second Life Grid: mustering a world-wide volunteer base on an economic virtual platform to raise thousands of dollars for such causes as the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life, Live and Learn in Kenya's "Feed a Smile," Creations Park’s work to benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. Hundreds of volunteers donate time, talent, and treasure to make these virtual activities have a real world impact. Every now and again the opportunity comes along for such efforts to be personal. Filling the Cauldron - Saturday April 1st through Sunday, April 9th - is such an opportunity.

Elicio Ember is a brilliant Second Life creator and artist, known for highly imaginative plants and fantasy designs provided through his Cerridwen's Cauldron brand, and for his generous spirit and his involvement in charitable events such as Fantasy Faire. A serious stroke suffered by his father has left Elicio and his sisters with profound medical expenses. The medical situation in Mexico, where Elicio and his family reside, does not provide reasonable medical support for the care and rehabilitation that will be required. Dozens of artists, musicians, and creators who only know Elicio through his creations and generosity have banded together to fill his "Cauldron" - raising money to help Elicio and his family.

Filling the Cauldron is a week-long celebration of Elicio's work in Second Life beginning this Saturday, April 1st. The nine day jubilee will feature live performances, music, over 20 vendor stalls (including Roawenwood, Ozimals, and Fallen Gods), an Art Show with the work of supportive artists as well as Elicio's own works, and both silent and live auctions of unique items contributed to the fundraising effort by their creators.  Live events kick off at 9 am slt Saturday with musician Lazarus Doghouse.

The Holly Kai Estate is host to all these features and more.  Over half a dozen designers have created fanciful gardens using pieces from the Cerridwen's Cauldron catalogue for the Design a Garden Contest.  Visitors can vote for their favorite garden creation, as well as place their votes in the Filling the Cauldron Photo Contest. Cerridwen's Corner will provide an opportunity to purchase a sampling of Elicio's creations, and to visit his main store.

This amazing gathering of talent clearly pays tribute to Ember's contributions to Second Life as both artist and generous spirit, including pieces from his real world artworks available in the silent auction.  "So many people have been touched by Elicio's kindness, and found joy in his art," said Inara Pey, organizer, "This is such a tremendous tribute to the many lives he has touched."  "There are so many unique one-of-a-kind items to be got at this event," added Saffia Widdershins, also among the organizers, "I hope that people will take advantage of the opportunity to get some of these items and have it benefit such a wonderful person and his family when they really need the help."

Filling the Cauldron officially opens at 9:00 am SLT on Saturday, April 1st and continues until 7:00pm SLT on Sunday, April 9th.

More information on the event including schedule, and letter from Elicio himself, can be found at: https://cauldronweb.wordpress.com/

Letter from Elico: https://cauldronweb.wordpress.com/about/a-letter-from-elicio/
SLURLS

FTC Main Welcome Area:
http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/198/104/29


FTC Entertainment: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/53/152/23

CERRIDWEN’S CORNER

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holly%20Kai%20Estates/218/43/23


Direct enquires should be forwarded to Inara Pey or Saffia Widdershins at the e-mail addresses below, or via notecard in-world.

Inara Pey (inara.pey@gmail.com)
Saffia Widdershins (saffia.widdershins@gmail.com)

https://cauldronweb.wordpress.com/

Press Release: "Filling the Cauldron" For Elico Ember And Family

CONTACTS:   Inara Pey (inara.pey@gmail.com)
                    Saffia Widdershins (saffia.widdershins@gmail.com)

WEBSITE:        https://cauldronweb.wordpress.com/

 FILLING THE CAULDRON - SUPPORTING ELICIO EMBER AND HIS FAMILY
                                              
Elicio Ember is a brilliant Second Life creator and artist, known throughout Second Life for marvellous plants and designs provided through his Cerridwen's Cauldron brand, his generous spirit and his involvement in events such as Fantasy Faire, where his region-wide builds are breath-taking in scope and vision.

Sadly, Elicio's father recently suffered a serious stroke leaving him with neurological damage. Because of the medical situation in Mexico, where Elicio and his family reside, he and his sisters are faced with some serious medical expenses.

To help the family meet these costs, we are excited to announce Filling the Cauldron, a week-long celebration of Elicio's work in Second Life, with a coming together of musicians, artists and friends to raise money to help Elicio and his family.

RUNNING FROM SATURDAY APRIL 1ST THROUGH SUNDAY APRIL 9TH, Filling the Cauldron will be a region-wide event at Holly Kai Park in the beautiful Blake sea, and we will be featuring:

-   Live music and DJ performances at the park's main events venue
-   An art display inspired by Elicio's work
-   An auction
-   A special Design a Garden contest with a very special prize
-   A photo contest with special prizes
-   A market area
    Cerridwen's Corner - a mini-store of Elicio's creations, allowing you to buy his items & visit his main store.


Right now, we are seeking applications from / for the following:

-   Musicians, DJs and performers willing to give up one or two hours of their time to perform on stage
-   Artists wishing to participate in our Art Show
-   Artists and creators willing to donate to our Auction
-   Merchants wishing to be a part of our marketplace and gacha
-   Volunteers willing to help run the event during the week

PLUS we're also seeking artists and designers to participate in our Design A Garden Contest.

Full details of the event and how to apply for any of the above can be found on the Filling the Cauldron website at:

https://cauldronweb.wordpress.com/


Direct enquires should be forwarded to Inara Pey or Saffia Widdershins at the e-mail address above, or via notecard in-world.

A Correction: Sansar Won't Require Users to Use Real-Life Names

By Bixyl Shuftan

A the Tuesday "Meet the Lindens," I showed up and listened as Ebeb Linden, the CEO of Linden Lab,was interviewed by Jo Yardley. The event being held in voice, I took down notes on paper the best I could, and after logging off I wrote about the event. The notes I had taken suggested Ebbe had been leaning toward having residents use their real-life identities in Sansar.

This caused me to scratch my head, but from my point of view this wouldn't be the first time the Lab had made a questionable move. So I went ahead and wrote the story, confident I hadn't missed anything important. Later in the week I saw some transcripts on Inara Pey's newsletter, and it seems I had only written down part of the information (link).

Second Life is on, I would say, the far spectrum of the anonymity side; and on the other side you have what we call real names, real identities, like probably the most successful real system on planet Earth is Facebook. 

And there’s a reason why they’ve been extremely successful with that; and there’s probably a reason why 100% anonymous networks like Twitter and Second Life run into some really interesting challenges. And there are pros and cons; and we’re trying to think of ways of potentially mixing these models, but we have not made final decisions yet.

I have a preference, some other team players have slightly different preferences, so we’ll see where it ends up. But I think what would be best for Sansar would be real names, and then the ability to have personas underneath that.

so I could go into a role-playing, or into an experience as an anonymous user in that context. But to the platform, I am not anonymous. And so, without making that too complicated and confusing, is that the right answer? We’ll see. But I think to, it would certainly help with griefing and other things. And it also supports a lot of interesting use-cases where anonymity is actually just really confusing, and actually gets in the way.

You can think of a lot of professional use-cases where there are teachers and students and professionals having meetings where these anonymous identities makes things really confusing; “I know Bob, I want to talk to Bob. Who the hell is this Jumping Jack guy?”

So we’re still debating this, and I’m pushing in one way, and people are pushing in different ways, and we’ll see where we end up. I mean, unfortunately, to implement real names is also really complicated. Do you hitch a ride with Facebook, or do you have to somehow build your own real name system.

And building a real name system is incredibly difficult. Facebook did it in an extremely clever way, by basically relying on the social graph to ensure real names. Because just having everybody having to put a credit card down, or identification to prove their real identity is super cumbersome. So, interesting topic. 

Taking a look at the transcript, there's room for interpretation. But it seems while pondering briefly how certain parts sounded, he was asked about the question of anonymity, being identifiable to the Lab through Paypal, though anonymous to everyone else.

If we have to reply on like, for some it’s PayPal, for some it’s this, for some it’s that, it gets really complicated for us to do that.

It’s definitely something we’re thinking a lot about. but do I want that people in Sansar should be able to walk around anonymously? Absolutely! You can in the physical world. I don’t have to have a name tag on myself and show my ID to every person I approach on the street. not that I’m trying to hide anything, but I also don’t think everybody should know what the hell I’m doing all the time. It’s none of your business; it’s my business.

So I totally want to have that mix of, we know who you are but you can also be whoever you want to be, and still have a somewhat functional society going on within that. So we’ll see where we end up.

So it seems by brief inattention caused me to miss an important line.

I apologize for the error, to you the readers and to Ebbe Linden, and resolve to be more careful in the future.

 Bixyl Shuftan

SL Video: "Frisland in Winter"

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Inara Pey on Dec 2014, showing the sim with a winter look.

The sim is closing today, with it's farewell party at 1PM SL time.

May 4 Lab Chat Videos and Transcripts Now Available

For those who missed the Lab Chat some days ago, hosted by Saffia Widdershins and Jo Yardley, along with Ebbe, Oz, and Troy Linden, there are now videos and a transcript of the event.



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The videos, the above, part two, and part three, were posted by Linden Lab. Inara Pey provided the transcript, in addition to a summary of the event: "Lab Chat #3 in 10-ish Minutes."

Sources: Lab Chat Blog, Modem World.

Press Release: Announcing Windlight Magazine’s New Literary Journal, The Quill and Pen

Windlight Magazine is continuing it’s commitment to the arts and is pleased to announce the formation of The Windlight Quill and Pen Literary Journal. The Windlight Quill and Pen aims to highlight the voices of gifted and innovative writers in both real life and Second Life.

The first edition of The Windlight Quill and Pen will be released on June 15, 2016 and the second will be released on December 15, 2016. The publication will be released on the Windlight Magazine website and will be published in ebook format, so that all participants will have the chance to become published.

Categories in the journal include nonfiction, poetry, and fiction. Mini shorts also known as flash stories can also be submitted. Interested participants can find category guidelines and submission information at the following link: https://windlightmagazine.com/2016/04/13/announcing-the-windlight-quill-pen-literary-journal/

Windlight Magazine’s founder, owner, and publisher Johannes1977 (John) Resident will be the editor in chief of The Windlight Quill and Pen. Co-Editors are Windlight Chief Operating Officer and The Edge Editor in Chief Eleseren Brianna and Windlight Lead Contributor and Living in a Modem World owner, Inara Pey.

About Windlight Magazine:
Windlight Magazine is an award winning publication about the art, cultural, and photography world of Second Life. The goal of Windlight Magazine is to support artists, photographers, galleries, and related events. Windlight achieves its mission via the Windlight Artist Fellowship Program and by providing free ebooks, photography and art tutorials. Windlight Magazine consists of The Windlight Art Gallery, The Edge (fashion division of Windlight Magazine), and 30/31 (artistic shopping event).

For More Information:
www.windlightmagazine.com
https://www.facebook.com/windlightmagazine
https://plus.google.com/+Windlightmagazine/posts
http://windlightmagazine.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/windlightmag
https://www.flickr.com/groups/windlightmagazine

SL Video: "Project Bento Examples"

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On Monday, Draxtor Despress met up with some content creators in the Preview Grid, or Aditi Grid, to see what they had come up with using Project Bento, Linden Lab's latest project for improving Second Life avatars. Among those there was Inara Pey, whom later on her newsblog posted "a short piece I stitched together at the filming session." Note the flexible fingers on the Bento avatar, and the smooth walk of the rear legs of the centaur.

Source: Modem World.

News and Commentary: New Terms of Service Provoke Questions.

Logging into Second Life yesterday, I was greeted with a new Terms of Service to read and click "Accept" on in order to go about virtual life as before, which can be read in this link here: http://www.lindenlab.com/tos. And as soon as I logged on, I was IMed multiple times by friends bringing up certain lines, asking if these changes meant things from the Lab stating that legally any content uploaded belonged to them, of which another change in the ToS in August 2013 on thie matter caused a controversy that lasted for months, to clearing Lindens of wrongdoing should they decide to ban someone for sending reports against someone whom had some influence on the Lab. The Second Life Universe forums didn't take long to come up with a thread on the topic, "Ah well, at least the responders to your support tickets can still be snide to you, even if you can no longer be snide back."

The announcement announcing the ToS changes stated there were three major ones, (1) to "remove outdated references to Desura and Authorized Resellers," (2) to "explicitly address our intolerance of harassment of Linden Lab employees," and (3) to "clarify the arbitration provision in accordance with applicable law." The first was the result of their selling of the Desura game and application program provider service over a year ago and their banning of third party virtual currency exchangers, such as Podex.

Inara Pey touched upon the second and third statements in her blog. Of the second, "There has been speculation this relates to certain personal attacks directed towards Ebbe Altberg through the likes of Twitter. However, it would seem more likely (I would hope) that this section is intended to address similar attacks which have been made through the Lab’s own forums, etc., over which they have full jurisdiction." Of the third, "While I am not a lawyer – and so the following statement is purely speculative on my part – it would appear that included in these changes is an attempt to prevent class action suits from being bought against Linden Lab as a part of the arbitration process:"

My own opinion, Linden Lab could be trying to protect themselves against a class action suit by banned residents, such as the one Intilibber Brautigan was a part of. And of course the Lab has a history of trying to cover their behinds with lines and lines of poorly written legalese that can be interpreted quite broadly, leading to distrust by residents whom have learned to assume the worst at every change the Lab makes.

So what do you the readers think? Please leave your comments below.

Bixyl Shuftan

Press Release: Grand Opening of the November and December 2015 Windlight Art Gallery Exhibition

DATE:  NOVEMBER 15, 2015

LOCATION: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Froien/172/111/23

The November and December 2015 Exhibition at The Windlight Art Gallery will open on November 15, 2015. A formal reception will be held from 4pm to 6pm slt and will feature live performer Donn Devore.
The November and December 2015 exhibition features the November and December Windlight Art Fellows: Kaijah Chrome, Bamboo Barnes, Honey Bender, Valium Lavendar, Dean Yao, Benivinudo Moskalev, Twotone Rhiano, Van Caerndow, Dawnbeam Dreamscape, and Inara Pey. The Windight Artist in Residence, Wicca Merlin, and past Windlight Art Fellows SaoiriseHeart Resident and Ilyra Chardin are also showing in this new exhibition.

About the Windlight Artist Fellowship Program:
The Artist Fellowship program will provide free gallery space to both new and established artists for a period of 30 days. This program is open to both new and established artists in Second Life. The goal of the program is to provide promotional and artistic resources to artists in Second Life.

About Windlight Magazine:
Windlight Magazine is a publication about the art and photography world of Second Life. The goal of Windlight Magazine is to support artists, photographers, galleries, and related events. John nee Johannes1977 Resident is the Owner, Publisher, and Editor in Chief of Windlight Magazine and Gallery. The magazine is published on a monthly basis.

For More Information:
www.windlightmagazine.com
http://windlightmagazine.com/fellowship-program/
https://www.facebook.com/windlightmagazine
https://plus.google.com/+Windlightmagazine/posts
http://windlightmagazine.tumblr.com/
https://twitter.com/windlightmag

SL Video: "SL12B Sneak Peek: 'As The Days Count Down...' "

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Inara Pey's third, and final, sneak peak video of the SL12B exhibits, posted June 16, 2015, "This year, Second Life marks its 12th anniversary, and once again there will be a week long celebration in-world featuring the rich creative and artistic diversity present in this virtual world. On offer will be live entertainment, DJs, talks and presentations, incredible builds by users; games, and more. All at the SL 12th Birthday Community Celebration."

Come join the fun 21st- through 28th June, 2015.

Event blog: http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/

SL Video: "SL12B Sneak Peek: 'And So It begins' "

(Click here if the video fails to play)

From Inara Pey on Jun 9, 2015, "This year, Second Life marks its 12th anniversary, and once again there will be a week long celebration in-world featuring the rich creative and artistic diversity present in this virtual world. On offer will be live entertainment, DJs, talks and presentations, incredible builds by users; games, and more. All at the SL 12th Birthday Community Celebration.

"Come join the fun 21st- through 28th June, 2015. "

Event blog: http://www.slcommunitycelebration.info/