Update on Mieville

 

 

 On Monday night, February 6, there was an announcement in the Mieville community group about the future of their sims. The statement came from Annakari Dragonsworn (Annakari Genesis).

 

We now know that the regions must be transferred to new owners. Linden Labs has provided us a number of benefits to enable us to save our Mieville community regions.

IN addition to that there are a number of things that everyone must understand. The benefits afforded to us for the Mieville Regions are FOR the Mieville regions. Please do not ask to purchase regions and move them elsewhere, this request will be denied. Linden Lab's generosity is intended to preserve the regions as part of the Mieville community.

Regions that are still in need of sponsors and or purchase:

Mieville Docks
Mieville Lakes
Mieville Poe
Mieville Chesterton
Mieville Dickens
and
Mieville Kipling

Mieville regions in need of sponsors, on the condition that they continue as is with no changes:

Mieville Mt. Rose

Possibly Mieville Twain (this one may be covered, but we might need a backup plan).

We will be rolling out sponsor packages to help save and keep Mieville Shelley.

Regions not listed here are already spoken for, or have transfer plans.

YOU MUST SEND ME A NOTECARD if you want to be included as a potential owner or a sponsor of a region.

(use properties and click on my name and send me an IM that includes the Notecard with your information and your request).

Other important information:

From Madori Linden:

We will be able to have regions moved free to keep the remaining regions together after all the transfers are complete (we will do the process of allowing neighbors). Downgrading to a homestead will be free of charge. There will NOT be any transfer fees.

Talking to Annakari, she told me things are okay for the moment, and scheduled events are on course to go on, but, "Regions without potential owners could disappear as early as later this month." The most vulnerable were "the homesteads of the Mieville Docks, and Mieville Lakes, the full regions of Mieville Poe and Mieville Chesterton. ... We are hoping to have some regions protected by the SL Historical Preservation team, but we are still waiting on that information. Three of us will pick up regions, on the bases that we can get sponsors to help support them, those three regions will disappear too if we are unable to fund them."

Annakari went on to say, "We will be approving or denying region owners, because these are to be purchased with the intent to remain a part of the Mieville community, with similar themes to the other regions... not for greedy landlords to snatch up and take somewhere. If the regions are not part of Mieville, the deal with Madori will not apply either."

So if you're looking to help out a long-lasting Steampunk-themed community, now's your chance. Once again, inquiries need to be sent to Annakari Dragonsworn (Annakari Genesis).

Bixyl Shuftan

Announcement: This Week At The Science Circle : Archival and Digital Legacy, Preserving Your Digital Work

"Archival and Digital Legacy, Preserving Your Digital Work"

March 9 at 10AM PST

by Budd Turner

Background:

• When a person dies, their digital footprint persists.
• Digital providers assume ownership of Intellectual property (IP) created on their servers.
• Family and workgroup attempts to archive or maintain deceased works are blocked.

Approach:

• We worked within system permissions shared by the creator.
• We tested possible workarounds
• We contacted providers for account/work access

Findings:

• Limited Copy, Move, possible
• Edit (update), Delete, not possible, without creator account access.
• Providers reluctant to discuss or allow access to deceased work,(IP).

Conclusion:

• Advance planning needed for adding Trusted Friends and/or family member access to digital accounts in Trusts and/or Wills
• Everyone needs to learn provider policies and legal requirements for establishing a “Legacy” path of transfer of ownership.
• Passing your digital footprint when you can no longer login

For more information, Click Here

The Science Circle (61/127/32)

Reaction to the Return of "The Lost Gardens of Apollo"

Since we (or rather Anne Brightstar and Shin Klaar) revealed that the beloved classic sim "The Lost Gardens of Apollo" was back online, there's been a number of reactions. Among them from Dane Zander, the sim's creator, whom thanked us for letting him know the location was back online.

Hamlet Au in his article about the return of the Gardens reminded readers what had happened to cause the location to close. Dane had been having financial problems at the time, bad enough for him to apply for debt relief, and "Doing so involves detailed scrutiny of my personal finances," he stated. Counting the European Value Added Tax, the sim was costing him $250 USD a month, and on his limited income, he couldn't afford it. While he had been able to cover most of his expenses through donations, he was far from alone in being hit by financial troubles, and the amount of Lindens in his donation jars dwindled.

Zander had written to Linden Lab at the time, suggesting to them they could take the sim and keep it running. But he never did hear from them. Nor is there anything to suggest that he had been contacted by the Lab before they restarted his sim. He was quoted as saying, "I only just heard about it. I am pretty shocked ... I had no idea. I'll have to ask LL what is going on. Thanks for the heads up though!"

The reactions from residents have been overwhelmingly positive, many fans happy to see it back. That the sim could be brought back years after it's fading away apparently without the permission of the owner was brought up by a person or two, which brought up the question of does this mean Linden Lab could do this with any sim. But that one person thought some statues seemed to be missing suggested that perhaps some data could have been lost.

And what of the "Lost Gardens of Apollo Memorial" by Delphi Bernard? She says she plans to keep her sim up as long as she is able to. She feels with the restored sim's broken animations and the lack of music, people will want to head to hers.

So will Linden Lab bring back another sim anytime soon? Right now, that's something only the Lab can answer, and it's probable they haven't decided whether or not to yet. Already some residents are making suggestions such as Forgotten City and Starry Night. Anne Brightstar had one other suggestion, one aimed not at bringing back a place but putting some activity back in one it already had: the SS Galaxy. She felt Linden Lab could easily get a few people to help organize parties on the ship, keep an eye on the music stream, and rent out rooms to people interested. While bringing the ship back by itself was better than nothing, no activity at all made it simply a museum piece, which to longtime fans of the ship was a sad reminder of once was.

For longtime residents whom once could only look at screenshots and old articles about favorite places which had vanished years ago, the return of the "Lost Gardens of Apollo" offers hope that maybe, just maybe, they will someday return.

Addition: Hamlet got in touch with Dane, and he had a few more things to say, about the return of his masterpiece.

Image credit: Hamlet Au

Bixyl Shuftan

"The Lost Gardens of Apollo" Has Returned, "Historic Build" Under Lindens

More good news. For the second time in less than two weeks, another admired lost sim has returned to the Second Life Grid. This time it's "The Lost Gardens of Apollo," built in 2005 by Dane Zander, it had been a well designed and picturesque build, with a number of spots where couples could relax, and a platform they could dance or watch the sunrise or sunset. It closed in June 2011 when Zander could no longer support it. In May of this year, a tribute sim was made by Delphi Bernard. While it wasn't Zander's creation, it was an excellent and well-done build based on his style. But now, the sim really is back.

Anne Brightstar had informed me that the sim was back, referencing an article by Shin Klaar. The sim was listed as being under Mogura Linden, the same Linden who is listed as the owner of Mont Saint Michel, the picturesque build of a real life historic structure that vanished in September and was brought back by the Lab a little more than a week ago. The name of the place has changed a little. It is now called "The Lost Gardens of Apollo Historic Build."

This is different from the previous times Linden Lab has brought back a vanished area. The most obvious difference, they've done so a lot faster since the previous time. With Svarga, the sim was brought back months after it's closing. With the SS Galaxy and Mont Saint Michael, the places returned weeks after their vanishing. More than five years have passed since the passing of the Gardens.

Did Linden Lab decide maybe it was time to bring back some of Second Life's popular lost sims under a kind of preservation program, which has been suggested in the recent past by the Newser? If so, could we soon expect to see even more lost treasures to appear? Or perhaps a fan of the Lost Gardens spoke or did the right thing at the right time and got things finally rolling?

In any event, this beautiful sim is back, and once again people can come again and enjoy it.

Thank you again, Linden Lab.

Lost Gardens of Apollo (173, 120, 25)

Bixyl Shuftan

Mont Saint Michel Returns, Linden Lab Involved

Mont Saint Michel is back on the grid.

It was several weeks ago that this replica of a historic structure in northwestern France, a sim once listed as one of the top ten places based on real life locations to visit in Second Life by Newser writer Becky Shamen, had vanished from the map. It was in September 2015 that it's owner Moeka Kohime announced that she could no longer afford to keep the place afloat and it would soon be closing. But the sim would remain standing for about a year longer before finally fading away, seemingly gone for good. Only two times before in the thirteen year history of Second Life, with Svarga and the SS Galaxy, has Linden Lab intervened to save a sim from vanishing into the virtual nether.

Apparently the Lab has decided to make Mont Saint Michel number three.

Taking a look at the information about the sim in the viewer, a look under the "Covenant" tag revealed an owner other than Moeka: Mogura Linden. Mogura Linden made news last year for being the founder of the "SS Galaxy Preservation Group."  So she's involved with what seems like transferring the ownership of the sim to Linden Lab.

I was able to visit the sim and look around a little. Some of the shops there are still active, at least for now. And there were some chimneys with smoke coming out of them that I hadn't noticed before. Did I overlook them earlier, or something just added?

It's unclear whether or not the transfer of ownership will mean the sim will be temporarily closed for a while. So those interested in seeing the place again are advised to drop by sooner rather than later. But it's good news that this picturesque sim will be around for good.

http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mont%20Saint%20Michel/78/34/21

Hat Tip: Daniel Voyager and Tyche Shepherd

Bixyl Shuftan

Commentary: Second Life Could Use A Historical Preservation Process

It's been spoken that change is the only constant. In real-life people make the news and either die or fade away into obscurity, land gets built-on and the buildings are either bulldozed and replaced or rust away. Well, it's not always the case with the latter. Occasionally a battlefield or a building deemed of historic value may be preserved by law as a public resource.

In Second Life, most places quietly go up, exist for a short time, and fade away without much attention. But some become well-known and popular. While popularity can sometimes help a location stay afloat, such as donations or sales if the place has some means of making money, it does not always help. Sim owners finances can sour, or their real lives can otherwise get in the way. And so people are saddened as a favorite spot of theirs closes down, sometimes after having been up for years.

Over time, a number of well-designed places have faded away. Many of these are memorials, such as the Vietnam Veterans Memorial,  the dAlliez Land Headquarters September 11 Memorial, and the Pearl Harbor Memorial. Others are reproductions of real life historic areas such as the picturesque Mont Saint Michel, the cleverly-built "Crooked House" (which was up as late as July 2012 but does not appear in recent searches), Shakespeare's Globe Theater, and others. Sometimes a favorite location is saved, such as the International Space Museum. There has been one case of a vanished place being brought back: The Lost Gardens of Apollo. But so many times an owner looking for help to maintain his/her location cannot find it.

Only twice has Linden Lab stepped forward to save a location. The first time was with Svarga, an artificial working ecosystem that was considered one of the virtual world's seven wonders. The more recent time was with the SS Galaxy, which announced it's closing following a blunder by Linden Lab, but the Lab would soon step in to preserve it.

But will this be it? Will these be the only two places that Linden Lab will intervene to save?

One thing Linden Lab could do is start a process of preserving the most noted sims. Perhaps every year or every six months, it could ask the residents on it's blog "Which area should be preserved?" There could also be an option for residents to write-in a location to be brought back (or perhaps rebuilt by volunteers) should no noteable location popular with the residents. Depending on how Linden Lab stores sim data, this could take some time.

Could there be another kind of process? Possibly, though without listening to the public it would be a tricky business. One complication for any process is for places like Insilico and Steelhead, part of what made them great was the people. Having them around as preserved museum pieces would be of mixed news to their fans as they would no longer be "alive" as active roleplay and community areas.

But in any event, Second Life could use a way that allows some sims that help make Second Life great from fading away when their owners are no longer able to keep them up.

Bixyl Shuftan