A German tale, stunning Machinima made in the 1920s Berlin Project

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"second life", film, machinima, ole etzel, The 1920s Berlin Project

Well known artist Ole Etzel, who was the subject of an excellent ‘Drax Files’ episode, moved in to a small dirty damp apartment in our 1920s Berlin sim and created a wonderful machinima in the dark streets and alleyways.

‘A German Tale’ tells us the story of an old man looking back at his childhood in Berlin.

I’m extremely excited with the end result and proud that Ole picked the city I build for this production.

In RL I’ve been to Filmschool, owned a tv/movie production company and have been a writer and director and I’m very impressed with this video, it makes me wish I had the time to start making machinima myself.

I started the 1920s Berlin Project because of my passion for history and saw in Second Life a way to share and even contaminate people from all over the world with this love for the past while at the same time teaching them a few things while learning new things myself as well.

This film does the same and I hope it grips you the way it gripped me.
It brought tears to my eyes, not just because of the story but also because I’m just so happy to see my Berlin used in such a way.

Enjoy this first episode, and of course, on behalf of everyone in 1920s Berlin; frohe Weihnachten!

New Second Life promotional videos

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"second life", commercial, linden lab, promotional, video

Linden Lab has just uploaded 2 new promotional videos.

The first one is a basic tutorial on how to start your Second Life, I must confess I’m not too excited about this one;

I have shared my displeasure with the current new user experience and it seems that most SL users don’t like it very much either.
So when I see the Learning Islands mentioned I think of all the confused people standing around there not knowing what to do or where to go.
And to be honest, I had to laugh when step 4 mentions connecting with the community and shows people chatting in one of those arrival spots where, if you’ve been there, you know that in stead of a casual ‘connecting with the community’, it is more likely that there are people screaming abuse trough their microphone, you’re being spammed or freakish avatars are making you want to wash your eyes with bleach.

On the plus side, it shows that SL has a LOT to offer, more than just shopping or chatting.

The second video I liked a lot more;

Here they show off what in my eyes is one of the most important things of Second Life; creativity and the freedom to build whatever you can imagine.
They have stuffed a very wide range of things into this video, something I’ve suggested before.
SL is so many things, show that, not just one side of it.
I’m glad they have now done this with this video and they show that you can biuld whatever you want.
Only thing I miss is perhaps a few more steps of the creation process, I’d like to see someone stick a few prims together, texture them, use them.
Not just the very fancy experienced builders making amazing stuff.
But, as I said, I like it.
It shows off what people can do in SL, that we can be creative, that we can sell our stuff and that there is SO much to do and see.
A much better message than suggesting you may come spend some time with babes in bikini.

Another (bigger) Facebook petition

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facebook, petition, signature

Recently I shared a link to a petition that was going to ask Facebook to allow avatars a profile.

Today I read (thank you Ayame Kintsugi for the tip) about a petition that asks Facebook to allow performers to use their stage names on their profile.

And although the cynic in me thinks that Facebook doesn’t care, I also think it can’t hurt to sign and share.

This petition is getting quite a few more signatures, at the moment of writing its close to 40.000.

That is enough to be a signal Facebook may notice.

If we truly want to keep using Facebook (love it and/or hate it, it has quiet a few handy features), we should try and reach out to Zuckerberg and his pals in as many ways as possible.

The more people let them know that they don’t want to use their real name, the more likely they are to listen to us, eventually.

You can read more about this petition and sign it by clicking here.

show #50: dmca

Drax Files Radio Hour show about the DMCA;

the drax files radio hour

show #50

our 50th anniversary has tracy redangel and kitty o’toole discussing legal matters with us & fatima mekkaoui tells us her stories imvu. fascinating:

now on to more reading if you will:

– firestorm is on sl go and sl go can enter multiple grids

shaken or stirred?

– congrats to rob [who are you though?] for winning a leap motion!

– nimble vr gets bought by oculus

– tele-presence still a thing?

iSee [heads floating in a theatre] – cory has just left the building…..

cory leaves FB

– neal stephenson joins magic leap & he is blogging

– remember when neal wanted to make a sword fighting game?

– petition to get avatars back on fb

hey zuck come on!

– our guest fatima mekkaoui aka imokon neox

– imvu mafia?

– our guests tracy redangel & kitty o’toole

– dmca on wikipedia

– official linden lab…

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Petition to get Facebook to allow Second Life avatars

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"second life", avatars, facebook, petition

A petition has popped up that asks Facebook to allow Second Life avatars to have a page, they however mean to ask Facebook for Second Life avatars to have a Facebook profile, because we’re already allowed to have Facebook pages, as long as they are managed by our RL profiles.

Will this make an impression on the Facebook people?

Probably not, I am not saying that because I am cynical but because Facebook only cares about publicity and numbers.

When cross dressers got upset about being forced to use their RL names, they caused quite a bit of fuss, demonstrated at FB HQ and received a lot of media attention.
Facebook listened to that.

Most people who have a profile on Facebook for their Second Life avatar are not going to demonstrate, we’re not going to get much media attention and to be fair, not that many of us are probably going to bother even signing the petition.

BUT… it can’t hurt to try, right?

After all, this will only work if a LOT of us sign it, if Facebook receives thousands of signatures, they will at least pay attention.

So why not give it a go and sign it.

Follow the link below and leave a signature;

https://www.change.org/p/mark-elliot-zuckerberg-facebook-allow-second-life-avatars-to-have-a-facebook-page

Firestorm now available on SL Go!

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"second life", firestorm, onlive, SLGo, viewer

For months the people at Onlive have been secretly working together with Jessica Lyon to build a version of Firestorm that works in SL Go!

In a press release Onlive says that an update to SL Go now allows its users to choose between the official Linden Lab viewer or the Firestorm one.

It works for both PC and Mac but not yet on mobile devices, development for that starts in the new year.

When you launch SL Go you will be presented with a choice between the two viewers.

You should have access to the full Firestorm interface, the edit menus, preference settings, etc.
All customizations are saved from session to session, even if you played on a different device.

The best thing about SL Go, for me, is that it allows me to run SL at ultra graphics settings on pretty much any computer.
You get to enjoy SL the way it should be enjoyed without having to use a top of the range device.
Even my 5 year old macbook can now be used to enjoy SL with shadows and more.

However, I don’t just use Firestorm because I just prefer it to the official viewer, I use it because I need all the extra options it offers.
Yes, I really do need them.
When building and managing a busy roleplaying community, I depend on the building tools, the radar, etc.
I’ve written about why I prefer Firestorm to the official viewer in detail here.

So although I really like SL Go and the ability to see SL at ultra settings again (I blew up my graphics card on the Alienware laptop), I didn’t use it very much because once in SL, I wasn’t really able to do very much as I missed all the Firestorm options I needed.

Unfortunately, for this first version, according to Jessica Lyon, some of the featuresI love a lot have been disabled, for now.
For instance, the contact sets you may have been keeping (like I do) won’t be found in SLGO because there is no access to the contact sets you’ve already created as the SLGo server is not connected to wherever your contact sets are stored normally.
You can start from scratch and make new contact sets in SLGo and those will be remembered.
You will probably also have to reset a few of the settings.

Nevertheless for me it is the difference between running around hopelessly not quite knowing how to do things, not having a proper radar and not being able to instantly see who is visiting my sim and if they are wearing proper 1920s clothes or a latex miniskirt with a Viking horned helmet (Vikings didn’t have horns on their helmets!).

This new option will make me use SL Go a lot more, now I no longer have to carry my Macbook (for RL work) and heavy massive Alienware Laptop (for SL and gaming) with me when I leave my home for a few days, I just use the Macbook for both.

If you aren’t using SL Go yet, you can sign up for a free 7-day trial by clicking here.
A monthly subscription costs $9.95 (£6.95) per month for unlimited access.

Yes, SLGo allowed me to explore SL at ultra settings on my 5 year old macbook!

Linden Lab wants to hear your ideas

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"second life", improvements, linden lab, suggestions

Linden Lab is continuing their new improved active way of communicating and being approachable by creating a new “Feedback & Suggestions” page on SecondLife.com

Here Second Life users are encouraged to leave their thoughts on how their virtual life can be improved.

I have a blog full of ideas and plans, so I’ll be spamming that page right after finishing this blog.

If you have some fantastic plans to make Second Life even better, make sure to let them know.

You can share your thoughts by clicking HERE.

And you can read the full official announcement HERE.

My first suggestion?
Show a message that the suggestion has been received in stead of sending you to the sign in page and then a help page.
I’ve send in the same idea 3 times but have no idea if it has been received.

*Update; it works fine in Firefox but it still happens when I try it with Internet Explorer.

Love to Decorate magazine features me!

Tags

love to decorate, ltd, media, press, The 1920s Berlin Project

The very impressive ‘Love to Decorate’ (A.K.A. LTD) Second Life design magazine has published a very nice article about me, my shop and the 1920s Berlin Project I started 5 years ago.

I hope you all go and read it, you can find it by clicking here.

Although design is not really a subject I usually get excited about, (unless its historical stuff of course), I have been very impressed with LTD because it is stunning.
The team behind it, led by Editorial Clarity, has done an amazing job.
It would not look out of place on the shelve of a RL magazine kiosk.
Not just the pictures but also the layout, the look, the ‘feel’, is spot on.

If you’re not a LTD reader yet, you’ve been missing out.

I’m not the only one who realised the amazing talent of the LTD crew.
Draxtor Despres made one of this wonderful Drax Files episodes all about Herr Clarity;

More about LTD on their website;
http://lovetodecoratesl.com/

So I’m very proud they asked me for their November/December issue.

What made it extra special were the wonderful pictures made by Absinthe (aka sinontherocks Resident) that I’ve uploaded (with her permission) onto Flickr for you to enjoy there.
Check them out by following this link.

Picture by Absinthe (aka sinontherocks Resident)

Inara Pey strikes back at bad article about Second Life

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inara pey, journalism, marlon mcdonald, media, press, rebuttal

After reading the terribly written and lazy “article” about Second Life by Marlon McDonald that I wrote about, well known blogger Inara Pey wandered into the lion’s den and wrote a great rebuttal on the same website ‘Moviepilot.com’.

This article is of course a lot better and introduces people to the other side of our virtual world and also shows (how unusual!) up to date screenshots.

In short it is everything the article mr McDonald wrote wasn’t; knowledgeable, informative, up to date, well written, etc.

Make sure you read it but also share so that as many people as possible read it.
Because that is how those websites work, the more ‘reads’, clicks, etc, the more attention it gets and the more likely it gets that other readers also get to read this story and not just the nonsense mr McDonald wrote.

So, go on, check out this link, read the story and if you want, also leave a comment and show your support.

Well done Inara!

Bad journalism strikes again

Tags

cliches, journalism, media, press, publicity, reputation

Those of us who art part of the Second Life community are used to negative publicity.
For years the media has been filled to the rim with scare and shock stories about lots of dirty, kinky, disgusting and generally weird stories.
And lets be fair, there is a lot in Second Life that most people will find disturbing or at least odd.

But so is reality, and internet, and tv, and books… have you ever heard of ‘Lady chatterley’s lover’?
Disgusting!
And don’t get me started on that pervert Shakespeare….

But somehow when it comes to Second Life, we just don’t seem to be able to shake that bad reputation, so many “journalists” keep writing about that side of our virtual world, as if that is all there is and has been for over a decade.

Still, it can be annoying, even infuriating when yet another bit of lazy journalism rears its ugly head and this article on a website I’d never heard of called “moviepilot“, takes the biscuit.

I guess the writer Marlon McDonald was told to quickly write some ‘click bait’ and to finish it in 20 minutes.
Or at least I hope so, it doesn’t seem like a lot of effort was put into his article.

When I first read it I thought it was a story from 2007, with matching images.
But no, it was written yesterday.
The screenshots though…. the first one isn’t even from SL but from IMVU!
Which is telling…

It is quite obvious that the writer just wanted to write a little dirty story about the adult sort of pervy side of Second Life.
Which, let me say it again, is absolutely not my cup of tea but I also don’t care about what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own sim.
But it does annoy me when people make it seem like that is all there is to Second Life.
Because it is not part of my Second Life and even those only involved with the adult entertainment part of SL know very well that there is so much more to our virtual world.

In his conquest for a little story Mr. McDonald did manage to find the Second Life destination guide, because that is where the first (non IMVU) picture comes from.
That sort of gives the game away.
He saw the list of all the types of sims we have in SL yet he only seems to have found the kinky sims.
If… he bothered to actually try SL at all and just randomly snatched a few pictures of the internet.

The most recent picture used in that article is from 2010, 4 years ago.
Try using a 4 year old screenshot when writing about any other game…
And clearly it wasn’t even made with a half decent computer.
The oldest picture is from 2007.
Yes even the ‘flying penises’ story was mentioned, something that happened 7 years ago!

Now, if this was an article about the ‘darker’ side of Second Life as it used to be and how it looked several years ago, it might have made a little sense.
Especially if the writer had bothered to write about how things have changed since then.
Because these days even the sexy side of Second Life has decent graphics!

This is a story about what Second Life was like several years ago, but nowhere in the article this is mentioned.
By “forgetting” to share that information, uninformed readers may think that Second Life still looks that way, but even worse, that adult entertainment is all there is.

A good journalist who wants to write about this side of SL would at least mention that there is more to SL and that the images are a bit outdated.

This article is everything journalism shouldn’t be; unfair and unbalanced.
Sadly, this is what journalism often is, not just when it comes to SL.

My story here is not one about yet another negative cliche ridden article about our SL, it is about one that is the mother of them all.
And I feel that it is up to all of us to make sure that people who write this nonsense are confronted.
Not just because bad journalists need to be called to order but also because people who read this drivel will perhaps also read our comments and thus get confronted with the other side of the story.

So go on, do your bit, leave a comment, tell people what SL is really like.
Defend your world.