Problems with Heavy Metal Collar Updates

I just discovered that I had swapped the IDs for the Heavy Metal Tall and Heavy Metal Slim Collars. So nobody could update having those two models :(  I’m not sure how long this has been going on, but if you have tried to update in the past, and couldn’t get it to start, I apologize.  This problem has been resolved, and you should try updating again.  

Note this is only for the two models mentioned, Heavy Metal Tall and Heavy Metal Slim Collars.

       

Unplugging your Second Life

I read a lot of forums, blogs, and news sources associated with Second Life and virtual worlds, far more than I participate in. And lately I notice a trend that i find worthy of concern. It’s what I would call a disintegration of the very cohesive aspects which make Second Life a world. There is no one defining factor, but when looking at the big picture, a pattern emerges:

• Individuals who want to break sensors so they can be ‘invisible’ while in world, basically as the Lindens are. There’s no consideration for the fact this will break many features people have come to depend on, they simply want to be in world-but not have anyone know it.
• The AWG (Architecture Working Group) has proposed separating the Agent from the Avatar. That is to say, you could log in, read IMs and notices, manage inventory, etc, without actually having a visible avatar present in world. Basically this would be similar to above, you would be logged in, but for many intents and purposes, invisible.
• Stand-Alone Sims, OpenSims run on your local computer, so people can do their own thing, free from having to be ‘bothered’ by people in world. People seem intrigued of the idea of doing all their building, texturing and everything else offline, and just connecting long enough to dump their creations in world so it can be admired and maybe sold, so they can get back to their solitary little sim.

So that leads to the question, is this what everyone really wants? A world where they are off by themselves, out of contact with everyone, isolated in their own virtual pocket?

Would things end up where the grid is just a virtual museum, filled with the creations of a multitude of creators churning out things in their own private grids, but nobody actually there to use and admire them? Sounds like a horrific direction to be heading. But I doubt it will ever reach those depths.

I can perhaps see why some like the idea. You can do what you like, you don’t have to consider the needs or feelings of others, or worry about breaking some rule or Term of Service. And egotist’s dream.

But I have to wonder how long before these people miss what makes worlds like Second Life so Intriguing, the ‘everyone else’ out there. All the world may be a stage, but an actor is hard pressed to perform without an audience. Everyone needs some private time now and then, but you *can* have too much of a good thing.

You be the Judge

Some people can be very uncooperative in SL. What do you think of this person?

Nasty Umanof: darien, i just bought a collar script and it disappeared from inventory
 Darien Caldwell: what do you mean disappears?
 Nasty Umanof: i started to put it into a neckring ring
 Darien Caldwell: well i don’t know what you mean disappears
 Darien Caldwell: the box was delivered, then you accepted it
 Darien Caldwell: then it just vanished?
 Nasty Umanof: it is gone from my inventtory and is not in my neckring
 Nasty Umanof: thus gone
 Darien Caldwell: did you follow all of the instructions?
 Darien Caldwell: setting the descriptions, placing the PIN scripts, etc?
 Nasty Umanof: forget it
 Nasty Umanof: i will buy another
 Nasty Umanof: thank you
 Darien Caldwell: well hun, if you don’t follow the instructions, it will just happen again
 Nasty Umanof: i wont be buying it from you
 Nasty Umanof: i will to excite or sensations
 Nasty Umanof: thanks
 Darien Caldwell: lol ok
 Nasty Umanof: last time i spend my money here
 Darien Caldwell: fine hun. sorry you can’t read instructions
 Nasty Umanof: drop 400 and you dont give a shit
 Darien Caldwell: i do
 Darien Caldwell: but you wont’ answer my questions
 Darien Caldwell: so I can’t help you
 Nasty Umanof: i lose the script and tough shit
 Darien Caldwell: i ddin’t say that
 Nasty Umanof: you could send another
 Darien Caldwell: but I have to understand what you did
 Nasty Umanof: i just bought it
 Darien Caldwell: or I could be doing this all day
 Darien Caldwell: if you aren’t installing it right, it will keep happening
 Nasty Umanof: iunderstand
 Nasty Umanof: good god
 Nasty Umanof: forget
 Nasty Umanof: it
 Darien Caldwell: ok bye
 Nasty Umanof: i will buy a KAS neck corset
 Nasty Umanof: idiot
 Darien Caldwell: banned and muted

Ah well…  :\

Collar update, 5 New styles, and 1 Collar upgrade released!

The collar update 1.11 is in the updaters.  Fixes, addtions, and tweaks are as follows:

Why Bridge Worlds?

It hasn’t been widely publicised, but there is a group of people who have been working with both Linden Lab and IBM on a project of Interoperability, or in simpler terms, creating bridges between various virtual worlds. The ultimate goal is to grow Second Life, and other virtual worlds like it (OpenSim, HipHi, WoW, etc) into a entity as large as the Internet itself. Of course if this mass was ever reached, then Virtual worlds would absorb their host, and become the replacement for the Internet. I have been following these goings-on and attempting to discern the hows, whys and whens of all of this.

Just recently, last week, the first teleport from a Sim in SL to a sim in OpenSim was accomplished, although very crudely. It earmarks the first step toward this goal of a ‘global grid’. There is still a long road ahead before these dreams of the AWG (Architecture Working Group), LL, and IBM are realized. Which may lead you to ask that question, why? Why is putting all this effort in important, why does IBM care, and what does it mean for you and I in the future? Well, since LL and IBM aren’t talking, I can only give you some of my theories based on what I know, what I’ve experienced as a Technical Professional in real life, and past history of technical advances.

First of all, Linden Lab has little choice but to go along with this plan. The realistic fact is, The grid simply can’t grow much larger than it already is. You may know that Virtual worlds like WoW are sharded, in that there are multiple copies of the same world on multiple servers, each handling their share of users. The same concept must come to Virtual worlds, only in a more connected way, each ’shard’ hosting thousands of sims with tens of thousands of users. Its the only way to realistically scale.

Secondly, there is the money factor. Grow the world, grow your profits, i don’t think that needs much explaining. If LL can offer code/support/services to other grids, all the better. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind getting that 3.5% charge on Lindex transactions from a multitude of worlds. By doing everything first, they hope to become the standard, and secure their place in the Virtual Universe that will come. For IBM, the opportunity is vast. Just imagine all those servers that will be needed by all the various virtual worlds which are yet to come. And if they come pre-configured with the server code needed to run a Sim? even better. It remains to be seen if LL every released the server code open source, I will be surprised if they do. The viewer? Sure, that’s the free printer. The money’s in the server, or the ‘ink’ in this analogy.

Thirdly, is control. The whole idea for this virtual world Internet has centered around everything being accessed by one login. Imagine if the Internet worked like that now. Can you say ‘banned from the internet’? Seems like a joke now, but if all this comes to pass, it would not only be possible, but likely commonplace. One thing that has always bothered Businesses is the freedom and anonymity of the Internet. With this one login scenario, anonymity would become a thing of the past, and if your posts, opinions, content, or creations don’t jive with the powers that be, you could be removed from the ‘Information Superhighway’ with the click of a mouse. A huge step backward for personal freedoms, and freedom of information in general.

It is this last point that concerns me the most. Who will oversee this one login, and what will be in place to ensure access is not removed for the wrong reasons? And can LL or IBM really believe this type of situation would be allowed, given the anti-trust laws which are currently on the books? No, I think this part is just a pipe dream, at least I hope. The Internet, and any future incarnation of it has become too important to be placed in the hands of just one, or even two companies. Much like Electricity or the Telephone, the Internet is becoming more and more something considered a Utility by the people of the world, a basic service. Access to such services should be protected.

So where do users, and content creators fit into all of this? That’s still not clear. AWG, is mostly concerned with the how at this point. Nobody has really said why a bunch of crap loaded sims on another grid would be any more compelling than the crap loaded sims here, but I don’t think that’s a question anyone has even considered. Linden Lab, IBM and the AWG have all stated that they care about creators, acknowledging that content is what makes virtual worlds compelling. However It’s too early to say how far they will bow to the vocal minority that insist everything on the grid should be a homogeneous layer of free, full perms content. Only time will tell. And if there are any major developments, you can be sure I’ll let my readers know.