Second Life – Page 159

October 22, 2013

TOS Debate – It’s A Cyn

The TOS debate goes on, there’s an epic three hour (TLDL) video of a legal panel meeting inworld, which you can view here: http://youtu.be/jifM2n4ttSE. Now if that’s too daunting for you, Bixyl Shuftan comes to the rescue with a summary of the meeting (although Bixyl does point out that the video really helps to understand the details).

Personally I feel that the TOS oversteps the mark and really, Linden Lab should explain to their users where this is headed because the new TOS makes very uncomfortable reading. However when concerns like this are raised others see opportunities. Kitely have already done this with a blog post explaining their more friendly sounding TOS when it comes to content creators.

Now into the fray comes Cloud Party. Hamlet Au over at New World Notes posts information regarding a blog post from Cloud Party’s Cyn Skyberg. Cyn Skyberg used to go by the name of Cyn Linden and parade around Second Life as a pirate with a peg leg whilst being a fearless leader of the support team, she also had a taste for eels …… oh wait, that was the band, The Eels! I’m not making this up! More of that later, for now, the blog post from Cyn states:

“In short, our TOS states “Cloud Party does not claim any ownership right in any Member content”.

Photos, textures, materials, objects, models, scripts and all other content uploaded to our platform are owned solely by the user. We do reserve the right to use them for shameless promotion of the platform via marketing, but the content you create is, and always will be, yours. In fact, there is a “download original” button for everything you put into the service, so you can grab it whenever you like.”

The devil of course is in the detail and below the cut I’ll go into more detail about the detail, unless you’re already below the cut, then the detail will be right below this sentence!

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October 22, 2013

Second Life For Mobile Devices In Beta Testing

Second Life is not dead, it’s far from dead and development is not decreasing. I received an email today inviting me to apply to be part of a beta testing version of Second Life for Mobile Devices …. not quite sure why I’ve got this considering recent events but hopefully some of you will be able to participate in what could be an interesting development.

I won’t post the email in full as it contains links as part of the beta application process and I imagine that initially LL wanted a limited number of applicants but here’s part of that email:

“Hi Ciaran Laval,

We’re looking for enthusiastic beta testers to evaluate a version of Second Life designed for mobile devices.

Sound interesting? Then simply…(follow the secret steps I’ve excluded).

We’ll email those selected when the program begins and check in periodically over the next couple of months to get their feedback.

This is your opportunity to be among the first to try a new mobile version of Second Life, and we hope you’ll help us to make it a great product with your input.

Thank you for your consideration!

Linden Lab”

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October 19, 2013

Out Of SL

Former Linden Qarl (Mesh Deformer) Linden has announced he is leaving Second Life due to the updated TOS. I’m also leaving Second Life but for entirely different reasons, although I do agree that the new TOS oversteps the mark. I am leaving because I fell behind on my tier payments.

I have to say that during this troublesome period, Linden Lab provided me with some fantastic support, in particular from TJ Linden and Izzy Linden, who were very understanding but ultimately they can only be sympathetic for a limited period of time.

I’ve had a blast with Second Life, a very expensive blast but a blast none the less. I’m still hoping that I can resolve my account issues at some point but that doesn’t look like it will happen in the short term.

Now as for this blog, I will keep it going for a while at least. Reporting on Second Life is going to be painful, but not impossible. I may also report on other virtual worlds or experiences. There’s a whole heap of issues to blog about and now I have more time on my hands I may be able to look at a wider range of angles.

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August 30, 2013

Blackened Mirror Season 2 To Feature Babylon 5 Star

Above you can view the first trailer for The Blackened Mirror Season 2, which is filmed in Second Life. The word on the street, and I’m not making this up, is that Season 2 will feature a star from the science fiction series Babylon 5. Those of you who pay attention may already know who it is, but for now my lips are firmly sealed!

For those who are unaware of what The Blackened Mirror is, it’s a machinima based drama filmed in Second Life, with a noir setting. Season 1 can be viewed on Treet TV. The first season, featured people who have real world experience of stage and film and the second season will too, but there’s also the opportunity for Second Life residents to get involved as extras.

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August 30, 2013

The Drax Files Episode 10 – Robin Sojourner

The Drax Files Episode 10 features Robin Sojourner, even I’ve heard of Robin Sojourner, I mean since my very early days in Second Life back in 2007. There’s a reason for this, Robin Sojourner is Robin Wood, the T-Shirt lady, who? you may think, but for those of us who have been here a while, that T-Shirt tutorial and template have been an absolutely awesome introduction to creating content in Second Life.

So when Drax tipped me off earlier in the week as to who this week’s Drax files was about, I was rather excited and the end result of the episode is one that leaves me with a warm fuzzy feeling. The inerview is superb, Robin talks of how much the Second Life world has changed, how mesh has made so many things look different but one of the best points in the video is when Robin talks about how people who have no idea that they are creative come in to Second Life and find out that they can make things, and that is such a wonderful concept and one that I can agree is true. I am, to say the least, artistically challenged and whereas my creations in Second Life are hardly going to win awards, the fact of the matter is that my creations exist in this virtual world and it’s a wonderfully empowering feeling.

I certainly agree with Robin when she mentions that we are taught that creativtiy is reserved for the creative types and that they are special, but it’s just not true. I’m not trying to undermine the creative types in Second Life, there are some wonderfully creative people, but what Second Life allows is for those of us who don’t think we are creative, to create, and although being at the top of the game does take extra skills and extra imagination, the very fact that so many of us in Second Life can create to a degree, is what makes it such a wonderful platform.

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