Honorary Citizenship Bestowed

Firestorm: "Restore to Last Position Needs You!"

Jessica Lyon of The Firestorm team is asking for support from residents of SecondLife in trying to convince Linden Lab, the makers of SecondLife, not to block the feature "Restore to Last Position".

The Firestorm Team believes that if residents can supply "a well structured set of use cases that demonstrate clearly and concisely how useful and valuable this feature is to (us)" Linden Lab may be convinced of the features value and usefulness.

If you use this feature and would like to see it stick around please leave a comment on this post Firestorm: 'Restore to last Position' needs you!, detailing how you use it and why it is valuable to you.

Please note Jessica's sage advice: "Kicking, screaming and calling foul will not save this feature, nor will criticizing LL or anyone else for not understanding the feature. In fact actions like that will speed up its demise."

Hurry hurry, because the post has been up a week on Monday!

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As readers of my blog most certainly should know I am a huge fan of this feature, it has doubtlessly saved me from much agony and guilt and many, several nervous breakdowns and many hours of redoing things because of my inability to sometimes do several things at the same time, I delete stuff if I am distracted. Please, never ask me to chew gum and walk down stairs at the same time!

The latest major incident when I used the feature is described in this blog post,Bock in SecondLife: 'Thank You, Phoenix Firestorm Team!'.

For an interesting analysis, please go to Inara Pey's blog post: Living in a Modemworld: Firestorm seek feedback on “restore to last position” and the other links Inara provides there.

At the Linden vs. Residents Snowball War

Jessica Lyons (of the Firestorm team) in the center of all the action as always

Daniel Voyager was there to check out hot women

Frau Jo Yardley just dropped in to take a look

Inara Pey & Strawberry Singh meet...

Strawberry Singh running away shortly after meeting Inara Pey...

One of the many Lindens attending, this is Guy Linden

Special Firestorm Q&A Today

We will have Dennis Harper from OnLive on hand and on stage to answer any questions you may have about SLGo, but as always with our Q&A’s, it is an open venue for you to ask us your questions about anything you like.

Topics will be about SLGo, Firestorm, what’s coming in the future, whats next and anything else that may come up.

It will be held over voice as usual, recorded and streamed live to a webpage. I will update this post with the URL for that stream just as soon as I have it.

Region may or may not fill up quickly, hard to say at this time of year. Come early.

Sunday Dec 21st @ 1pm slt in the Firestorm Auditorium

Jessica Lyon
Project Manager
The Phoenix Firestorm Project, Inc.

UPDATE: Live stream will be here: http://www.slartist.com/pages/fire.html

Firestorm Q&A: "The Future of SecondLife"

(via my friend Neo Timeless' blog "Free Your Mind")

Jessica Lyon, of the Firestorm team, hosts a Q&A concerning the future of SecondLife, with Oz Linden and Peter Linden.

This is an interesting talk, especially due to the (in my opinion) somewhat excessive reactions among residents since news spilled recently that Linden Lab is investing financial and labor resources in creating the next generation of an immersive 3D virtual reality, i.e. a new SecondLife or a "SecondLife 2.0".

A Message from Jessica & al.

Well, this isn´t the worst career choice a group of talented young kids could make, is it?

The Interview With Oz Linden

(via Treet.TV)

Jessica Lyon, from the Phoenix viewer, interviews Oz Linden of Linden Lab on the Labs policy changes on Third Party Viewers (TPV). (Unfortunately parts of the interview is silent or inaudible.)

Oz Linden (Scott Lawrence in first life) is the director of Open Development at Linden Lab.

This is my humble take on some of the issues discussed in the interview (and please remember I am not a programmer):

1. Privacy
The change has been put on hold indefinitely by Linden Lab to investigate more on legitimate uses, except concerning whether someone is shown to be online against the users consent.

2. Identifying viewers, operating systems, IP-addresses and other personal data about the users
I support the change in policy as I cannot see a legitimate reason for anyone to gather, store and display this information about users.

3. Altering "shared experience" (the rendering of the world itself)
I support the change as long as testing in small scale is allowed as the Lab says it will be. Most of the brouhaha on this issue seems to me like the usual psychotic Linden-bashing and mostly comes from "the usual suspects", i.e the high-strung prima donnas.

4. "Feature surprises" by Linden Lab
I don´t understand why the Lab shouldn't be allowed to develop new features in private, just like the TPV´s can.

5. Cooperation vs. Competition between Linden Lab and the TPV´s
I highly approve of the fact that Oz strongly stressed the Labs wishes to cooperate with the third party viewers in improving the user experience and SecondLife as a whole.

Oz Linden on TPV Policy Changes

"This Wednesday, March 7th at 3pm SLT. I, Jessica Lyon will be interviewing Oz Linden from Linden Lab about the third party viewer policy additions and related concerns. I will be representing the Third Party Viewer Community and the resident community during this interview, not specifically this project. This is not a Phoenix Office Hour and is very likely a one time thing.

During the first half hour of the show I will be asking Oz questions based on input I've received from third party viewer projects and the SL community. During the second half of the show I will ask Oz your questions providing they haven't already been answered.

The interview will take place in a private region that will not be open to the public, however you will all be able to participate and watch on the live stream here. http://treet.tv/live Ask your questions on the live stream and they will be forwarded to me, then I will ask them for you to Oz during the second half of the show.

Director of Open Development at Linden Lab
(Scott Lawrence in first life) 

This is a very rare and in many ways historic event that will hopefully answer all your questions and concerns in regards to the new policy changes. The policy affects you! so be informed! Mark your calendars, invite your friends and spread the word.

Who: Jessica Lyon and Oz Linden
What: Interview with Oz linden for clarifications on the new policy additions and how they effect you and the Third Party Viewers you use.
When: Wednesday, March 7th, 3pm SLT
Where: http://treet.tv/liveWhy: Because it's important!

Hope to see you on the stream!
Jessica Lyon
Project Manager"

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I found this on the Phoenix Viewer blog, it should be interesting, but I will have to watch it tomorrow.

Thought-of-the-day: Why do all the Linden men looks so awful? Linden Lab really should hire a stylist to help them look halfway decent even if they are heterosexually challenged. (If need be I will force my straight buddies Apmel Goosson or Frostland Beornssen - both fashionistas -  to show them how to do it!)

Jago´s & Eddi´s Third Anniversary Party

After the long seminar with Jessica Lyon it was great to know I had a party waiting to celebrate my friends Jago Constantine and Eddi Haskell on their third anniversary as partners in SecondLife. DJ Insyx supplied the music as a real pro.

It was a fun party with both old timers like myself. Eddi, Jago and Jordyn Carnell and a some almost noobs and all the ages in between. Oh and dogs, dogs, dogs everywhere - even a lesbian bitch dog named Betsy that kept hitting on missK all evening.

Enough talk, here are the tell-all pictures. For even more pictures visit Eddi Haskell´s Second Life Photos from Our Third Anniversary Party Today

The happy couple, Jago and Eddi

We were all relieved that mtd wore a sock on it

Yours truly and sexy missK making some moves

Avacar, Esme and Cambieul grooving

Straight Talk With Jessica Lyon

I visited the Q&A seminar with the Phoenix/Firestorm team, yesterday. It was the three most informative hours I have ever spent in SecondLife. I must say it was an eyeopener for me, mostly though what was said by the very clever program manager and spokesperson for that group of talented developers, Ms. Jessica Lyon.

Jessica has a style and manner of talking that is both knowledgeable and creates faith and comfort in those of us that are listening to her, even when we hear her talk about some techie mysteries.

To sum up the almost three hours of continuous talk is not easy, but let me give it a try.

• Linden Lab is a company that is in it for the business and to create profit for the shareholders.
• Linden Lab has committed a great deal of time, resources and money to developing mesh.
• Mesh must succeed to create a profit for the shareholders of Linden Lab. Mesh is still in it´s starting phase, things will get better.
• The third party development teams must support that goal also.
• If Linden Lab doesn't start creating profits for it´s shareholders soon, we will lose our world. SecondLife will be no more.
• Viewers that do not support mesh are in effect outdated! They will have a minimum of support and updates and will be scrapped soon. (The Lab has previously said that the viewer 1´s would be dropped by the end of this year, but they may last a little bit longer.)
• It is high time for those on Viewer 1, Viewer 2 and Phoenix of all versions to make the transition and move along to Viewer 3 or Firestorm.
• The new viewers are as easy to learn how to use as the original viewers if you give them a fair chance. Studies show that those who have used them for three days very rarely go back.
• The brilliant FUI that was introduced by Linden Lab in Viewer 3 will be introduced in Firestorm in the future also.

I hope I got it all right, but I believe that pretty much sums up the three hours with Jessica, and I could not agree more with her.

I retract my earlier opposition against mesh being introduced into SecondLife, even if I will never buy clothes that I need to adapt my shape to use (other than shoes). I also retract my opposition against Linden Labs introduction of the inworld game "Linden Realms" and focusing it´s marketing on Vampires. 

If anything brings new users to our world, we should welcome them for whatever reason they come here, hopefully they will in time see what we have been fascinated by and remain for that reason.

Anything that is good for Linden Lab in the end is good for me by keeping my world online.

Please note: For a new viewer to work as well as possible it is always important to make a fresh install. Do so by following the easy instructions here  Install a Fresh Viewer

Telling It Like It Is

Ziggy Starsmith, my buddy and fellow blogger, isn't all brawn and sexiness, but has a well functioning brain to match.

I never understood the mesh mess and why we should  have to suffer from the introduction of that feature into our wonderful world the way we have been forced to do these many months.

Read what Ziggy has to say in the matter Ban Mesh, Back To the Old Phoenix Viewer.
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Rodvik Linden and all our other friends at Linden Lab, hear our cries of despair and our prays: Please, please, realize that mesh is a dead end and drop it now! You are killing us with lag and crashes and worsening our over all experiences inworld.

We want clothes that adapt to our avatars, not clothes that force us to adapt our avatars to the clothes. Back to the drawing boards again my wonderful, resourceful and creative team of programming geeks! (Yes, I do realize that there may be more to mesh than the bloody gawdawful clothes... but it still seems to stink.)

UPDATE:
Jessica Lyon from the Phoenix/Firestorm team invites us to a seminar today to discuss matters.

"The Q&A will be held at1 PM SLT at the Rockliffe university regions with the following landmarks.
Note: Due to the amount of people we expect to arrive, please arrive early and use the following landmarks based on the first letter of your first name.


A - I:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20I/2/32/29
J - R:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Rockcliffe%20Library/227/5/30
S - Z:http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Agile%203D/227/250/31"

BREAKING NEWS: Firestorm Viewer Impregnates Avatar

It is rumored that The Much Honored Bock McMillan, Laird of Southern Charm and Prince of Cascade Falls, has been taken to hospital in a state of shock due to suddenly believing himself to have been impregnated by the Firestorm viewer.

According to what has been pieced together from interviews with the lairds primatar (name withheld) and members of the McMillan household this is what seems to have happened.

The laird had been having an extremely enjoyable - although very crashy - evening at the 4th Anniversary of DJ World. When he got back in-world after his last crash of the evening, he landed on his back-porch where he has set "home".

You cannot believe his amazement when he saw the red clouds disappearing and he suddenly found himself looking like this.

"I was in total shock", the laird revealed to his spokesman Wild Zepp, "I couldn´t understand how this happened. I have been celibate for the past year and a half - I swear!"

The laird told Wild that as soon as he came to his senses he took a look at the bulge growing out of his belly in "Edit". "The edit told me that the bulge was not a baby, but a "Medium sized building block type rock" or something like that. It disappeared mysteriously seconds afterwards, but I better get this checked. It could still be growing inside me."

After the laird McMillan had been rushed to his private physician for a check-up he was sent to The Royal McMillan Hospital (a part of the BMcM Corporation) for surgery to remove the block from him.

Wild Zepp also told the assembled SecondLife media that he expects that the laird will want to pursue this event with litigation against the Firestorm-team. "After all we oldtimers are used to having our hairs moved to our crotches and our boots stuck up our asses should we now also accept the indignity of being pregnant with rocks also, I ask you? No way, I say, we cannot have primatars traumatized like this by sloppy technicians. The laird will naturally file his suit in the United States and is expecting it to result in damages in the range over and above what that stupid woman with coffee got from the McDonald´s fast food restaurant.* The laird is after all nobility, whereas she was only a commoner. His feelings are deeper hurt than hers could ever be. Before the household decides whether to sue or not, we will of course welcome any reasonable offer from Miss Jessica Lyon or any other representative of the Firestorm-team." 


*) Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants, also known as the McDonald's coffee case and the hot coffee lawsuit, is a 1994 product liability lawsuit that became a flashpoint in the debate in the U.S. after a jury awarded $2.86 million to a woman who was heavily burned by hot coffee purchased from fast food restaurant McDonald's. The trial judge reduced the total award to $640,000, and the parties settled for a confidential amount before an appeal was decided. 

I Switched To The Firestorm Viewer

I have been reluctant to switch from the Phoenix viewer because it has worked wonderfully for me. I have very seldom experienced crashes and almost never felt any lag expect when that must be expected.

Well with all the talk about mesh coming and how important it was to get ready for that change I finally dared to take the big step, especially after watching Jessica Lyon video tutorial four (4) times about how to configure the Firestorm to look like viewer 1. I also remembered the praises for Firestorm by my friends Ziggy Starsmith, my regular tech-head Vampi Twine-DeSantis and Sven Idyll.

So far everything seems to be working as promised, and I have all my stuff back in their regular locations on my screen. Next thing will be to see how it works for me when I am doing my thing, but I´ll leave that for another day.

Emeraldgate - some trust restored

I have just finished watching  "Tonight Live with Paisley Beebe".

About 34 minutes into the show there is a very good and long interview with Arabella Steadham and Jessica Lyon of the new and regrouped Emerald-team.

What I heard Arabella and Jessica say have restored some of my trust in the development team behind the Emerald-viewer, so I am now uninstalling and reinstalling the cleaned up version from the new Emerald Viewer site. I will be following future developments closely though.

Big thanks to my friend Suteruni for directing my attention to this show.