21,133 new signups bringing us to 9,410,492 signups total.
We're still on track for the ten millionth signup in the first week of October, approximately 24 days from now.
A peak concurrency of 50,501 at 2:00PM, and a minimum concurrency of 26,498 at 11:55PM. Median concurrency for the day was 37,935.
Another mildly rocky day on the Second Life grid with reports of problems through most of the morning hours, though most of the glitches had settled down by approximately 3PM.
Gwyneth Llewelyn has a lot to say on IDV (Identity Verification) this week. One of the most interesting things she has to say, however, is the observation that Aristotle-Integrity (have you ever noticed how modern folks almost never trust businesses with the word 'Trust' or 'Integrity' in them? Probably because those are among the first words in the scammer's toolchest) the Identity Verification provider chosen by Linden Lab is more of an insurance company than an identity verifier.
It seems the love affair of the media, however 'interesting' the research, continues apace.
It also appears that, with the exception of those that hate SL we're moving past the attacks into more or less balanced pieces, and, in some of the mainstream media away from sex in SL as the core of the story at long last.
The NY Times is carrying another article. This one is making SL appear to be horribly bourgeois and all about keeping up with the Joneses, clothes, cars, sex beds and all. It's slightly misleading - in fact if I were a furry I might be downright insulted by "But the largest slice of the population follows the crowd, and the crowd is not dressing up as dragons." Even if I had to acknowledge the truth of it.
Finally, Education World carries a potted but interesting and useful guide to some good education spots in Second Life - along with a good piece of general advice: "these sites admittedly stress the 'wow' factor of a 3-D virtual environment. As Sean suggests, once you are hooked, you can find the more practical, but less dramatic, places."
More like these please in the mainstream media - certainly steps in the right direction.
(I've been thinking of a way to approach this subject delicately because there's no easy way to put it. I welcome all opinions and comments regarding the subject, so please weigh in.)
When I rejoined Second Life in December of 2005, I had no idea that I would be known for anything. Pretty soon I was making lots of friends and having the time of life. So much so, that after spending $185 USD in a single month on virtual shopping, it was time to get a job in SL. I asked around and ended up promoting Machinima.
While many people still have no clue who I am, I was very surprised to see the reception to me at the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC) in 2006. Everyone wanted to hang out in such a short time and, for the most part, I was able to. Then I stepped into an organizer role for SLCC 2007 and things went downhill from there.
After putting much thought into this, I'd like to address the rumors surrounding me. People have been saying that I was a bitch, or unapproachable, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I also hope that this helps you reconsider your initial meetings with all of the virtual and REAL celebrities that you may have negative thoughts about.
Read on to find out my thoughts on virtual celebrity ...
Under the motto of "social engine for Second Life", Robbie Kiama has recently launched a new and interesting product – MetaHUD. This new gadget is a neat combination between a Digg/StumbleUpon network for SL and an in-world, easy-to-search marketplace. The interface is very friendly and reminds users of a regular web browser. The buttons are nicely designed, with graphics that cut across language barriers. You can access the Digg/StumbleUpon feature under the Travel tab at the top and the marketplace under Items.
I typically use the gadget to tag favorite places as I encounter them, but MetaHUD also has a system for people to buy items (without needing to teleport to a store). Simply search under "Items" for things you wish to buy or do the search "/8 meta mart" and grab the partner kit to learn about advertising here.
Much like SLExchange, this MetaHUD does charge a percentage/commission of sales. The other similar service is OnRez, which has free listings for shop owners. It features both in-world and on the web purchasing options. (Thanks for that clarification, Forseti).
MetaHUD's search method seems to be more more efficient than the classifieds and it does allow sellers to input a picture and tags for specific objects (much like SL browser). If you're a fan of digg or del.icio.us, you'll definitely love this. Get your own free copy here and let us know what you think!
18,901 new signups bringing us to 9,367,410 signups total.
A peak concurrency of 47,225 at 2:50PM, and a minimum concurrency of 26,154 at 1:45AM. Median concurrency for the day was 37,178.
Not a smooth day on the Second Life grid today, with minor to moderate login, teleport and asset issues at intervals throughout the day, though these mostly eased in the evening. There are bonus presence issues today as well, so the status of people in your friends list may not be as they appear.
Molotov's Dispatches in Search of the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey is a 35-minute machinima devoted to one man's (or avatar's) look into SL. It was recently picked up by HBO, which makes me wonder if LL stands to gain anything by this purchase. While LL says that anything created in SL belongs to the creator, does it cover something like this?
Additionally, to further confuse me, the article reveals that 'The 35-minute doc may also end up being submitted to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for consideration in this year's race for Best Animated Short.' Typically, you think of this award as going to actual animators -- you know, the guys who labor over the actual movement of a digital actor, rather than simply filming an avatar's pre-programmed movements. I mean, you don't give this award to people who film ants walking around, right? Where's the actual animation?
In this press release, MoU announces that it has hired Peter Phillips, previously of LL, as Technical Director. Phillips has also previously worked as the Live Team Lead on Ultima Online, so he knows a little about MMOs.
Curiously, the following snippet seems to be implying that MoU will be doing more than just building and setting up events:
' As it develops trading systems for virtual goods on multiple platforms ... '
Is this news to anyone else besides me? MoU moving one step closer to providing a full-fledged world-building suite of services? Perhaps positioning themselves to create a rival virtual world? I'm here to speculate; that's what I do. Best part about it is my guesses don't have to be accurate, or even plausible. As long as I get someone thinking about it, I'm happy. And think about it: doesn't 'Millions of Us' sound like a virtual world?
Linden Lab have provided an explanation (commonly called a post-mortem) for the grid problems yesterday evening (We'd love to see more of these post-mortems). The problem was related to the Squid software, but was not actually with it. It was, essentially, a file-permissions problem.
I've put together a bit of a cheat-sheet to help with the explanation, after the fold.
I don't know about you, but this isn't news to me. The relationships, sexual or otherwise I have formed in Second Life are real and meaningful. But then I'm strongly in the "It's not a game" camp, and despite Tateru's piece, I'm an immersionist, not an augmentor.
But, as well as the inevitable (and familiar in outline) anecdotes, there's an interesting statistic: "... one in three women who met partners through online dating sites had sex with them "on the first date" -- and that 75 percent of those women didn't use condoms.
The study contrasts this apparently risky behavior with the extensive care women take to stay safe in other ways, like doing formal background checks, meeting in a public place, telling a friend whom they're meeting, and setting up check-in calls."
Even if online relationships aren't real for you, it looks like they are for a lot of folks, even when they spill over into real life.
Perhaps it's just me - I'm paranoid, or special - but it seems like it's affecting lots of people, certainly several I can talk to.
I'm logged in at the moment, not that you'd know it. The amount of emails I'm getting saying "X sent you an IM" or "Y has offered you inventory" beggars belief. My own presence list is also borked, people showing as online that aren't, or as offline that I'm talking to, face to face.
There's no official word on this, and yes, I've bug reported it, so, beware - your friends might be there, just SL is lying to you. Again.
Today in Second Life we had:
Gwyneth Llewelyn has a lot to say on IDV (Identity Verification) this week. One of the most interesting things she has to say, however, is the observation that Aristotle-Integrity (have you ever noticed how modern folks almost never trust businesses with the word 'Trust' or 'Integrity' in them? Probably because those are among the first words in the scammer's toolchest) the Identity Verification provider chosen by Linden Lab is more of an insurance company than an identity verifier.
It seems the love affair of the media, however 'interesting' the research, continues apace.
(I've been thinking of a way to approach this subject delicately because there's no easy way to put it. I welcome all opinions and comments regarding the subject, so please weigh in.)
Molotov's Dispatches in Search of the Creator: A Second Life Odyssey is a 35-minute machinima devoted to one man's (or avatar's) look into SL. It was recently picked up by HBO, which makes me wonder if LL stands to gain anything by this purchase. While LL says that anything created in SL belongs to the creator, does it cover something like this?
In this press release, MoU announces that it has hired Peter Phillips, previously of LL, as Technical Director. Phillips has also previously worked as the Live Team Lead on Ultima Online, so he knows a little about MMOs.
Linden Lab have provided an explanation (commonly called a post-mortem) for the grid problems yesterday evening (We'd love to see more of these post-mortems). The problem was related to the Squid software, but was not actually with it. It was, essentially, a file-permissions problem.
I don't know about you, but this isn't news to me. The relationships, sexual or otherwise I have formed in Second Life are real and meaningful. But then I'm strongly in the "It's not a game" camp, and despite Tateru's piece, I'm an immersionist, not an augmentor.
Perhaps it's just me - I'm paranoid, or special - but it seems like it's affecting lots of people, certainly several I can talk to.
