Dwell On It » virtual worlds

Wagner James “Hamlet” Au defecting to Blue Mars

Tateru Nino — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:16:54 +0000

Make way for “Blue World Notes” apparently. Seems our man Au is going to Avatar-Reality and Blue Mars as the in-house journo.


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When did it it suddenly become important?

Tateru Nino — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:07:31 +0000

Push-up bras, eye-liner, girdles, control-top pantyhose, heels, eyebrow-pencil, lipstick, blush, concealer, foundation, eye-shadow, nail-varnish, gel, false-eyelashes and false-nails.

When polled about what they most look for in a partner, most people say “honesty.”


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Great free tools for Second Life content-creators

Tateru Nino — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 06:35:31 +0000

Content creation in Second Life sounds great, until you start looking at the price-tags on some of the pro software that’s commonly used to create it.

If you’re a content-creator who cares about creator-rights, you probably shouldn’t be using a bootleg copy of Photoshop (for example) to make your stuff. You can do better.

Here’s a short roundup of some great free tools that get the job done, do it well, won’t stress out your PC, and won’t blow your budget … on account of, you know, being free.

What is it about the term Residents?

Tateru Nino — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:20:59 +0000

Once upon a time, I thought the term was quirky. That Linden Lab’s use was little offbeat, but that it had its own sort of comforting charm.


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How do you spell gullible?

Tateru Nino — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 01:54:56 +0000

“!quit”

These ‘copyright protection’ devices are scattered all over Second Life. People are still actually buying them. At best this is like burying an iron knife under your threshold to keep witches away and then telling everyone who passes about it.

What Second Life users like least

Tateru Nino — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 04:37:23 +0000

Having thought about things long and hard for the last several years, it’s finally occurred to me what it is that Second Life users like least of all.

The one single thing that causes more widespread discontent than any other. No, it isn’t that Second Life is referred to as a game by the shortsighted or ignorant, though that’s right up there.

The specific thing, dear readers, is surprise.


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Public side-effects and the search-engine of flesh

Tateru Nino — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 00:48:46 +0000

Linden Lab doesn’t have a very easy time of things. They can barely move without it winding up in the news, whether its something they would prefer pass unremarked, something not yet ready for release, something speculative, or who knows what.

That’s because, as users, we’ve got one of the largest flesh-based search-engines around working for us.

Vote for Sasie

Tateru Nino — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 21:26:13 +0000

Netflix is down to the 10 semi-finalists of their Find Your Voice film competition. There’s only a few days left, and it’s a bit of a brutal popularity contest as it comes down to the wire.

Sasie Sealy recently got in touch with me (and frankly, I should have posted about this sooner) about her semi-finalist entry, SARAHN_12. The short is virtual-environment related, haunting, and it quite grabbed my interest once I was finally actually able to get around to looking at it.

Metaplace worlds can now be embedded on the Web

Tateru Nino — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 18:07:28 +0000

Metaplace now allows embedding in Web-pages, and even in blog posts. Check out Dalian Hansen’s Steampunk world in Metaplace after the fold.


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Second Life viewer and dashboard – unresponsive

Tateru Nino — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 13:19:28 +0000

Having had a look at the new Second Life community dashboard I find myself groping for a word to describe it, and find that the same word applies to the Second Life viewer: Unresponsive.

I’m not just meaning slow (though that may be a factor also). What I mean is that neither of them actually meet my requirements, nor is there any sign that either of them will attempt to accommodate me better in future.

Could Australia be barred from Second Life access?

Tateru Nino — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 13:01:10 +0000

Darn straight they could. Second Life could be on the hitlist, the more so because of the Zindra continent for adult content.

While Second Life clearly isn’t a game, I doubt that anyone involved in the process really cares about that trivial little detail. We’re all pretty sure this isn’t really about games anyway, right? After all, the current list also censors religion, political opinion, veterinarians, and school lunches.


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Third-party Second Life viewers

Tateru Nino — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:36:00 +0000

I’m looking forward to getting responses from the Lab’s PR people about – well, all sorts of things – but one in particular that I’m waiting on is more information about component licensing of the Second Life viewer.

The problem is that I’ve been planning a roundup and comparison of third-party viewers for a while (a frequently requested feature), but as near as I can tell, more than half of them constitute license/copyright infringement, some of it quite egregious.


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Procedural City

Tateru Nino — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:00:51 +0000

Sometimes I wonder if some virtual environments shouldn’t just provide a hefty chunk of infrastructural content that can then be tailored adjusted and replaced by user-generated content.

It could certainly serve as a starting point for user-generated content and customization. After all, empty spaces just plain turn folks away. You need some seed content to start unless you’re willing to patiently wait a few years.

Virtual environments need living documents

Tateru Nino — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 06:52:55 +0000

Short version: New user documents, particularly FAQs, need to be reviewed (and updated if necessary) at least monthly. At least if you’re serious about keeping your new users.

Here’s why …

New comic: Differences of perception

Tateru Nino — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 04:22:47 +0000

A brand new comic for your pleasure. Enjoy. Especially you, Philip.

Or click the banner to begin at the first one:

Second Life 2

Tateru Nino — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:43:34 +0000

Read all about it! It’s surely not final, but at least we get an idea of where they’re going with this.

Why virtual ‘worlds’?

Tateru Nino — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 03:58:50 +0000

You’ll notice that I don’t use the term virtual world very often, preferring to use the more correct term virtual environment.

There’s a good reason for that. The term virtual world seems to largely exist without meaning.

German Quick Start guide for Second Life

Tateru Nino — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 04:41:10 +0000


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Patenting a cup of coffee

Tateru Nino — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 04:27:53 +0000

US Patents cover all sorts of things, and for the record, I’m for strong patent protections. But patents have a problem too. Actually, they have several. You may have seen them.

In theory, procedures aren’t patentable but inventions and devices are. One problem is that software, which is merely a set of instructions for how to do something blurs the boundary between a procedure and a device.

It’s like patenting the steps to make a cup of coffee, rather than patenting the coffee machine.

How to tell if you actually own something

Tateru Nino — Sat, 30 May 2009 13:02:52 +0000

Really. Because it is actually a bit harder to figure out than it looks. A lot of what we’re accustomed to thinking of as owned property isn’t necessarily what we think it is, and there’s an especial implication for virtual environments like Second Life.


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