Author: Otenth

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Wyre arises from the seas

Today Wyre, the first [only?] island of Orcadia, rose from the [frigid? warm?] waters of the [stormy? rough? tranquil? calm?] seas of Second Life. Still under the influences of [tectonic? volcanic? glacial? sedimentary?] forces, its topography is as yet wildly unpredictable. The digital winds blow wildly over its primitive contours.

What kind of land will Wyre become? Who will settle on its [verdant? welcoming? sunny? harsh? windswept? quaint? magical? majestic? rustic?] shores?

Only time will tell.

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Island woes

The Official Linden Blog said recently that “residents will usually get their new island within 4 days of the order being placed.”

NOT.

Update May 7: Sim delivered today. Not so much longer than four days, unless you’re anxiously awaiting a new plaything!

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Project Open Letter

While I have not personally experienced each bulleted item in Project Open Letter, I’ve had some of those bugs as well as being tired of other, “ambient suffering” glitches that seem to be perpetually with us. I fully support the open letter’s plea that Linden Lab give priority to stabilization and scaling over new features. I’m especially glad that the authors added this:

We remain fully supportive of Second Life and are more than willing to continue doing our part to help, . . .

I enjoy SL so much, most of the time I’m just delighted to be able to be at play there and overlook the ongoing problems. But it would be so much nicer to have teleports and sim crossings always work, and attachments to stay put, and friends, groups, and search working consistently! So I’ve signed the letter.

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Quakerism classes

Because the Quaker group in Second Life includes both experienced Friends and those discovering Quakerism for the first time, I’ll be offering a series of four classes on Quakerism. Come for one or all!

Four Tuesdays: May 8, 15, 22, and 29, 6:30-8:00 PM SLT/PDT (9:30-11:00 EDT)*.

Classes will be held at First Friends Church of Second Life (Quaker/156/22).

SYLLABUS
A class of four sessions begins with the assumption that most things are left out! Here are the topics I plan to present:

May 8: Quaker History
The Religious Society of Friends from the 17th century in England to today all over the world.

May 15: Biblical Origins of Quakerism
We will be using the Friendly Bible Study method on John 1:1-9. If you have a preferred translation of the Bible, please come prepared to share the text in your version.

May 22: Meeting for Business
How do Quaker meetings and churches make decisions? What are the roles that are involved?

May 29: Quaker Spirituality
What are the distinctive elements of Quaker spirituality? What practices do Quakers use to deepen our spiritual lives?

The classes will include a combination of presentation, exercises, and discussion; the balance will vary considerably from week to week.

  • I’m sorry that I’m not able to commit to a series of weekend times that would include people far from my own geographic location.
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New “governance” options on the horizon

Linden Lab announced what they are calling Estate Level governance, and reaction has been, to say the least, mixed. I really like Tateru Nino’s take on it: Rule of the sandbox

This way the system balances itself. People join communities with compatible rules and comfortable enforcement levels. Nutjobs (that’s apparently a technical term) running sites and services ultimately wind up running them for no audience. Far from celebrating the mean, or the mediocre, the Internet Rule of the Sandbox elevates choice and moderation.

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Pissing and moaning

If you want to get a bad opinion of your fellow residents in Second Life, check out the impassioned comments on the official blog entry Removal of Ratings in Beta. What Linden Lab has to say is pretty straightforward, it seems to me:

As Second Life has grown, the ratings system has become less and less useful.

All I can say is “Amen” to that. Well, I could also ask “Was it ever useful? What on earth for?”

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The official word on voice in SL

Joe Linden has a post on the official Linden blog: Bringing Voice to Second Life «

For me, Second Life has always been more about human communication, collaboration, and spirit than about technology. When I talk to Residents about their experiences, one of the recurring themes is improving our communication methods. For so many, Second Life is a place to make and meet new friends and collaborate with others, whether that’s in a business, educational or purely social context.

Blah. Blah. Blah. Talk to the hand. I do not consider this a feature in my typical use of SL. The improvements in live entertainment do seem attractive, and I can see the usefulness for group events (like church services). But I don’t want to have to hear people blabbing when I’m in SL. The sound effects some bozos run are bad enough. I strongly disapprove of a new voice capacity being automatically enabled on the mainland.

I’m also very concerned about the effect on communication between people who do not share a first language. Written communication in a second language is often far superior to vocal communication. And then there are the deaf and hard of hearing. What happens when someone tries to use voice communication with them?

I guess someone will have to create a group that will provide a title “I can’t hear you.”

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Things still screwed up

Although the official blog says problems from earlier today have let up, I’ve had repeated problems getting into SL this evening: long (10 minute) logins, hung logins, crashes in SL, buggy behavior.