• About me

Jo Yardley's Second Life

~ The adventures of a virtual time traveler

Jo Yardley's Second Life

Monthly Archives: April 2015

The 1929s May Day Riots are coming to Second Life

27 Monday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

It is that time again, things are going to get violent in Berlin.

The 1920s Berlin Project

During the first days of May we will be re-enacting an infamous riot that took place in RL Berlin 1929.

In this blog post you will find information about what is going to happen in our sim and the historical background to the real riots.
blutmai poster kpd mayThe 1929 Berlin riots in our Sim

We will try and recreate the real 1929 riots as realistically as we can with the limited options SL offers us.
Our sim is not like the Wild West, we are not a combat sim, so please make sure you know the projects rules and understand them before you take part in the madness of May 1st, 2nd and 3rd.

On May 1st at around 2PM SLT German Communists and sympathizers will gather outside the KPD HQ in the narrow Mieze Gasse, a side street of Friedrichstrasse.
There are rumours that the mayor has given permission for the march…

View original post 1,458 more words

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

show #64: pathfinder

17 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

The latest Drax Files Radio Hour episode;

the drax files radio hour

show #64 show #64

john “pathfinder” lester formerly linden was creating communities for people with disabilities at harvard medical school when 3d persistent virtual worlds and vr headsets were still a dream and/or simply way to expensive to ever get into the hands of the average user.

in the early days at the lab he was instrumental in explaining a concept that was [and is] quite esoteric for many stakeholders in education and the medical field.

times have changed but pathfinder is still focusing on the secret sauce of virtual worlds: the people whose dreams we are allowed to step into.

listen and be inspired:

more for your reading pleasure below:

– john “pathfinder” lester, formerly of linden lab:

rezzing a cube at SIGGRAPH '06 rezzing a cube at SIGGRAPH ’06

– originator of brain talk communities:

– facilitator for marvelous projects at ll such as the adventures of wilde cunningham

[profile from cbs news 2008 >>> http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/new-life-in-cyberspace/ ]

–…

View original post 237 more words

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

The SL Go interview; past, present and future of cloud streaming Second Life

10 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in Improving Second Life, SLGo

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

"second life", cloud, sl go, SLGo, streaming

In todays ‘Drax Files Radio Hour’ we air an interview with Dennis Harper, Sr. Product Manager of SL Go.  The SL streaming service that recently announced it would not continue after Sony bought important patents from OnLive, making it impossible to continue the service.

In the interview Dennis talks about how SL Go came to be, the future he imagined for it a, how the SL Go community grew and how SL Go got a huge boost at the very last moment thanks to the inworld paying option.
I’d love to see Linden Lab put that in Second Life, allowing us to pay our tier and premium fee inworld!

About the sale Dennis says that Sony never intended to own or run the service, they were only interested in the intellectual property and patterns. Buying these meant Onlive simply had to stop in their tracks.

Onlive was put on the market because it was not profitable, but they were getting close to turning this around. Cloud steaming itself is a very good business but it just took a lot of investment, time and effort to get the customers they needed.
The long time yield over a customer was just not enough and as Dennis describes it; Onlive just ran out of runway and money.

Onlive was ahead of its time, like Second Life once was.
Dennis feels that they could have made it an incredibly viable business if they had had another year or two. Cloud gaming is the future. Onlive had been looking for a buyer for some time, several parties were interested and some of them did want to take over and run the service, but in the end they decided to sell to Sony.

Linden Lab did show some interest in SL Go and did come to discuss the service, but I personally don’t think they actually made an offer.
Dennis said that Linden Lab and OnLive had some discussions on closer business partnerships, but nothing solid ever came from it.  Ultimately, OnLive might not have been the best solution for Linden Lab, as Second Life represents hundreds of thousands of potential users.  OnLive has a great service, but that number of users may have swamped them.  However, OnLive was actively working on new technology that would allow for this volume of users.  If given time, he is confident that OnLive would have solved that problem.

But the end of SL Go does not have to mean the end of streaming Second Life.
I’ve written before about how I felt LL should offer SL Go as a free or cheap service for premium members and it seems they actually did look into this.

One option could be the service Amazon hosts called ‘Amazon Appstream’, something I never heard of before till I read about it on Inara Pey’s blog.
Amazon has lots and lots of servers all over the world that are far from being really pushed to their limit. Most of the time they even stand idle. Linden Lab could perhaps rent those servers. It is at least something Linden Lab should look at and perhaps experiment with.

Dennis thinks that Linden Lab has now realised the possibilities of streaming SL and what it means to many users and potentially many more people who use their virtual world. Thanks to SL Go, SL finally worked on mobile devices and finally looked good.

Dennis also mentions that now that SL will soon no longer be supported for people using  XP or Vista OS on their computer.
These users, according to a reputable source at least 40-50.000 people, will soon be stuck on older viewers, unable to update to any new feature SL introduces and eventually making it impossible for them to use it.To them SL Go was a (second) life safer.

They will be left in the cold and so will those of us who can’t afford the big computers you need to run SL the way it should be running; with awesome graphics and no lag.

Forget about Sony. If you want to enjoy SL the way you did with SL Go you need to ask Linden Lab, they are the only ones who could get this done.

Personally I think that SL Go has proven that streaming Second Life works, that there is a market for it, that it means a lot to many SL users and that it could have a drastic effect on the reputation of our virtual world by flooding the internet with amazing high quality graphics and eventually perhaps even machinima.
Linden Lab is going to look running the Next Generation Second Life on mobile devices anyway, so it would be a good idea for them to start experimenting with streaming Second Life now and use that experience to make NGSL even better.

So the ball is in Linden Lab’s corner. They are the ones that could bring back SL streaming and I think they should. Linden Lab has the talent and the technology and the former SL Go staff have the know-how and experience. I also think that if they work together on building something from scratch that will just concentrate on streaming SL, there would be no issues regarding the patents Onlive sold to Sony.

SL Stream will improve SL for a lot of users and may even find a way to get more of them to sign up as premium members or even “Plus Premium” members who’ll pay a little more for the streaming service.

So forget about Sony and politely, patiently and friendly tell Linden Lab why you think streaming SL is a good idea.

Make sure you catch the interview in todays Drax Files broadcast, you can listen to it by clicking here.

To end this article, I’m sharing a few quotes, stories and opinions from SL Go users about what the loss of this service means to them and why it is important to try and find or create an alternative.

Melissa Ussy
OMG i had no idea water was SUPPOSED TO look that way!!!!

Adrian Mondrian
“I’d been hoping to get my mom into Second Life soon. She’s coming to visit me next month, and a tablet would have been a much more feasible purchase right now than a high-end laptop, for both financial as well as technical reasons. With SL Go gone, our options are more limited. I still want to introduce her to the world somehow — I actually think she’d love SL once she got used to it, especially since she feels quite isolated where she’s currently living — but it becomes a more complicated undertaking and not nearly as “accessible” an experience for her as it could otherwise have been.”

Elrik Merlin
I think the loss of this service is a great shame. Although I don’t know how popular the service was, I am sure there are quite a few users who will now no longer be able to access SL, and a great potential for expanding the reach of virtual worlds to people with almost any kind of end-user device, is being lost – at a time when the whole business of virtual reality is getting additional attention and environments like SL are being shown to be a decade ahead of the curve, and when increasingly tablets and mobile devices are increasingly the internet access equipment of choice.

Selena
I am an estate owner and pay the premium membership. Normally I use my own computer to run SL but recently my mother had a life altering surgery that has required me to move in with her and use her new but not meant for graphics computer. SL GO has allowed me to continue to service my estate and keep in touch with my residents. The closing down of SL GO will be a hard blow indeed.

Aelggyva Fenwitch (Effy)
Once i saw what Second life and its many artists and creators meant me to see in previously unattainable graphic settings my virtual life underwent a major change . I was able to visit some astounding visual creations and interact with other visitors in a much more rewarding way.
I am really not looking forward to returning to my virtual life which consists of walking through treacle surrounded by grey blocks.

DevinVaughn
With SL Go, I could be film maker. The frame rates were smooth while normally my computer skips. …And I could do it with advanced lighting too. I could also do amazing things like waltz into the super busy The Arcade sim, and yard sale hunt at Epic without choking on all those avatars, textures, and meshes densely populating a small area. … I even figured out how to use SL Go for my blog photos. SL Go photography saved the day but when I would otherwise crash trying to get the shot. (Yes, I was brutal with SL Go photography, pushing it past it’s limits with ultra advanced lighting, 16x anti aliasing, and trying to do a larger image size than double my screen resolution and it would crash on me of course. lol) But when I needed fast and reliable, SL Go photography was there for me. … I had big plans to use SL Go for my coverage of Fantasy Faire. I was planning to make movies while the sims were crawling with people, filming them all in thier wonderful and wacky outfits, and I would do all it on Ultra settings too. …. It sent me reeling that something so useful, SL Go, was taken away suddenly without warning and no way to fill void left behind. …. SL Go was a great tool and I enjoyed having it. I hope in the future there will be new ways to solve the problems of making VR faster, stable, able to handle busy sims, be beautifully lit, and of course, do it while waiting in line at doctor office or sitting on the beach.

A.
I used singularity – graphics setting as low as they’d go, a draw of 32 – max avis 3 at the most – often 2, so i could see my partner and i dance.
In crowded places, i looked like a whirling dervish – i couldn’t control my movement and anyone moving in front of me took my fps from 7 – SEVEN mind you, at the best – to 2 and i’d crash. You can’t run a venue like that.
Then sl go and FS – and i became so dependent SO very quickly.
I’m so crushed – and i know from using it again now, that singularity is if possible going to continue to be worse.
I’m looking at closing both venues, and leaving second life – i can’t afford a new box.
Maybe going to InWorldz to see if it’s better there, that’s what losing sl go means to me. The fact that i’ve never seen a framerate over 10 in my three years in sl says it all, i think.

Ali V
It means i have to buy or build a new computer in order to continue being on sl.
LL is out “tech’ing” themselves from mainstream people.

Sarah Snow
It means the end of SL as it should be experienced.  for me at least

Jaska BloodMoon
It means my fiancée will be unable to join me in SL until sometime down the road when I’m capable of breaking free from the chains instilled by bills and bloated prices, and finally buy a better laptop that she can use.

Ed Merryman
well it does mean that I won’t be able to use my xp pc for sl much longer,, but LL won’t be worried about that 😛

Jaska BloodMoon
It’s bad enough that I have more money going out to bills than I have coming in right now, paying a bloated price just to stream a viewer so that my laptop can run it just isn’t in the cards for me, at least not at the moment. That’s why I liked OnLive as an option, paying by Linden took quite a bit of weight off my shoulders.
The hardest thing for people right now is that Second Life is changing and becoming more and more demanding of computers. A low to mid-range computer that used to be able to run SL is now barely able to function properly, and these low to mid-range computers are “new” computers that are literally obsolete right out of the box. Most people can’t afford to pay a one lump sum for a high-end rig, especially when the rigs that are capable of running SL the way it’s meant to be run is well over 1 to 2,000 USD. x.x Some folks could probably afford that and save up for it rather quickly, but with so many places price gouging on their Internet services or electric, or what have you, bills just aren’t permitting for some folks. Some of SLs residents draw a monthly disability in RL, and SL is pretty much their reality, and it’s a reality that they can’t truly enjoy.  -shrug- Just my thoughts.

Katy
for me the effect personally is negligible except when i’m away from home and have to use my laptop.  But what bothers me is the large number of people who have had their first experience of being able to see and function in SL as it is meant to be, and will no longer have that ability.

show-63 sl go drax files

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

What does the end of SL Go mean to you? Share your opinion.

09 Thursday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in SLGo

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

comments, opinions, sl go, SLGo

I want to know how you feel about the SL Go service coming to an end.

I’ve heard from people to who this actually means the end of their Second Life because they just can’t afford a new computer or don’t want to go back to a slow grey laggy virtual reality.

In short, a lot of people are really sad for all sorts of reasons and I want to hear them so I can use them in a blog post I’ll be writing after the Dennis Harper interview that will be broadcast this Friday on the Drax Files Radio Hour podcast.

He is going to share some interesting new information, you don’t want to miss that episode.

I’d love to use some of your opinions on SL Go or what streaming SL in general means to you in that article.

So please let me know your opinion in the comments section.

slgo logo

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

SL Go CANCELLED after Sony acquires Onlive

03 Friday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in SLGo

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

sl go, SLGo, sony

I’ve only just received this rather shocking news directly from Dennis Harper, Sr. Product Manager at SL Go.

I’m quoting from his email here;

It breaks my heart to tell you that OnLive (OL2, Inc) has been acquired and will be closing down the game service, including SL Go.  The official press release is attached.
SL Go Island will continue to exist for a while, but we have removed the Pay with L$ feature.

The OnLive and SL Go services will continue to operate in full capacity until April 30.  All services will be free to anyone who has or creates an account.  All prices for the service have been set to $0.00, including SL Go.

From the Press release;

OnLive today announced that Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. will acquire various assets of OnLive, including its U.S. and foreign patent portfolio covering its substantial innovations in cloud gaming.

“These strategic purchases open up great opportunities for our gamers, and gives Sony a formidable patent portfolio in cloud gaming. It is yet another proof point that demonstrates our commitment to changing the way gamers experience the world of PlayStation,” said Philip Rosenberg, VP, Global Business Development of SCE and SVP Business Development and Publisher Relations of SCEA.

Users will continue to have access to OnLive’s services until April 30, 2015, including the OnLive Game Service, OnLive Desktop and SL Go (Second Life). After today’s date, no further subscription renewals will be charged for any of these services. Users whose subscriptions renewed on or after March 28 will be refunded. Following the termination of the company’s services and related products, OnLive will engage in an orderly wind-down of the company and cease operations.

The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Just to be clear; SL Go as well as Onlive will cease to exist.

Sony bought Onlive just to because they wanted the patents for a new product they are working on or to improve their own streaming service.
Maybe something new is planned in connection with their VR headset.
And they of course don’t care about the people using any of the Onlive services at the moment.

Personally I am very sad because I really enjoy using SL Go, it allows me to enjoy SL on my 6 year old macbook and make snapshots with full ultra graphics settings.
My snapshots will decline in quality dramatically and I’ll also have to start carrying my very heavy Alienware laptop with me every time I leave home but want or have to access SL.
To me, at the moment, this was the only way to experience SL the way I think SL should be experienced.

Onlive has been looking for a new owner for months and Sony has shown interest for even longer than that, but they always made clear they only wanted the patents.
So the Onlive team looked for a buyer who would continue the service, but in the end they had to go with Sony before the deadline of their (probably very generous) deal came.
It would have been great if LL had bought Onlive, imagine, they could have given every SL user streaming service, allowing everyone to enjoy a Second Life that looked good and worked on almost any machine.

After all, SL Go was Onlive’s most successful product!

So, I am sad for myself, but even more so for the SL Go team.
In a very short amount of time they got stuck into SL, spend many hours there, actually understanding what the users wanted and needed.
They really tried hard to listen to the user-base, they interacted with us inworld in the SL Go group and on the SL Go island, they really cared.
And now it is over, not just is something they really loved over, they are actually losing their RL jobs.
I fear that on top of all this, they will now also get quite a bit of flak from the SL users.
So if you’re reading this and as upset as I am, keep in mind that for the SL Go crew its even worse.
Keep that in mind.

One good thing to come out of this is that the SL Go people who have come to SL for this project have discovered a place they really liked and will keep visiting our virtual world.

I can’t help but thinking that this is just one battle in the VR wars I’ve been talking about, one of many still to follow.
Companies are all preparing for the new world and the battle will be fierce and dirty.

SLGo_StillImage_768_432

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

High Fidelity Alpha goes public

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in High Fidelity

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

alpha, hifi, high fidelity

In a blog post published today by Philip Rosedale it was announced that the Alpha testing of High Fidelity is now open to the public.

Several people have already been testing HiFi for quite a few months now, myself included, but it is great that the world is now advanced enough to welcome everyone else to this early stage.

Downloading the Alpha client will enable you to download client and server installers, deploy your own domain servers, create user accounts, register unique placenames, and start building and experimenting.

New users are reminded that HiFi is still in Alpha testing and there are still plenty of bugs and things that will be improved in a later stage.

There is also an alpha version of their own marketplace!

I have to admit that I haven’t been in HiFi for a long time because, well to be honest, I’m only interested in being able to build historical roleplaying places and when I was last there, it was just too early to get started on that.
But HiFi is moving fast, so I reckon its time to take another look, perhaps I’ll see you there!

You can read Mr Rosedale’s blog by clicking here.

hifi alpha

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Leaked video shows footage of Second Life successor called ‘Digital World’

01 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by Jo Yardley in SL2

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

april fools, Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, SL2, sorry I couldn't resist

A Linden Lab employee who wants to remain anonymous today send me this video that is top secret and shows what Second Life Next Generation will look like, it also seems to suggest it will be called ‘Digital World’.

The video is apparently some sort of introduction video.

I for one am very excited and think it looks stunning although I am a bit worried about the Sesamestreet-ish style.

For more information on this leaked video, click here.

digital world

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Reddit
  • LinkedIn
  • Pinterest

Like this:

Like Loading...

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 1,879 other followers

Recent Posts

  • Gachas banned in Second Life
  • Sonatta Morales has died
  • Rewarding long-term SL users
  • Mr. Moon & Vertiigo’s Second Life
  • Last names are back!

Archives

  • August 2021
  • April 2021
  • June 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • June 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • July 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012

Categories

  • 1920s Berlin Project
  • 360 degrees
  • Augmented Reality
  • avatars
  • Bright Canopy
  • Complaining
  • documentary
  • Drax Files
  • Drax files radio hour
  • Events
  • Facebook
  • Facts & Figures
  • Games
  • Head mounted displays
  • High Fidelity
  • HMD's
  • Improving Second Life
  • Lab Chat
  • linden lab
  • Live and Learn build a school
  • Machinima
  • Me in Second Life
  • New virtual world
  • News
  • Oculus Rift
  • Rant
  • Realistic scale
  • Sansar
  • second life
  • SL in the media
  • SL troubles
  • SL's reputation
  • sl12b
  • SL2
  • SLGo
  • Technology
  • Time Portal
  • Uncategorized
  • Virtual reality
  • VWBPE
  • Weimar!

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Entries feed
  • Comments feed
  • WordPress.com

Create a free website or blog at WordPress.com.

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Jo Yardley's Second Life
    • Join 1,879 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Jo Yardley's Second Life
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: