Have You Seen Leo?

Leoline, Tauren Hunter

If you’re asking that question, then this post is for you!

Shortly after things launched with CritCom services, my personal health took another nosedive.  After more doctors and tests provided no relief from my now-third-year of frequent migrane headaches, I pretty much just pulled the covers over my head and let the days pass.  Being in-world took effort.  I had done everything I wanted to do, and so frankly, SL held no interest to me.

Some of those close SL friends started playing World of Warcraft (WoW), and I joined them there.  Unlike SL, WoW is a game, with quests, adventures, story arc, etc. where you can adventure with a group of others.   It was more exciting to me than dancing mindlessly to a danceball and typing occasionally to folks coming on and offline.  I’m no stranger to MMOs, having played Star Wars Galaxies, Lord of The Rings Online, Everquest II,  Age of Conan and others (some I was in the beta stage helping test).

Summer turned to fall, and I’m still in WoW.  I’m still with one of those SL-to-WoW friends, and we’re in a guild that seems full of good folks making new ones.  This Thursday sees the official launch of the next expansion in Wow, Wrath of the Lich King, and I’ve decided to go and get it, joining the tens of thosands of folks who will be racing to the next level cap, anxious to deck out their characters in all the best armors.

The good news (buried in all that historical personal minutia) is that my health has improved since I started in on the DASH-SALT diet from the National Institute of Health.  This diet (or eating plan) has literally eliminated my migraines.   It is not a pill, it is not a drug.  Simply keep your sodium to under 1200mg a day.  It is harder than you think.

I have no immediate plans to return to a daily SL presence until we’re well into the new year. I would like to rejoin my friends (if they’ll have me) who organize and execute the SL Remembrance Day event, which is in April.  Rather than scripting, perhaps I will serve a larger role in planning and execution… then again, scripting is easier.

So, my virtual life is now played out in Wow as a Tauren Hunter rather than an equine of above predicted intelligence in SL.  I still have a few things I plan to write about, but don’t expect another post tomorrow, ok?

Knowledge is Good, Ignorance is Bad

I have been pondering long and hard about the experiment LL has designed with regard to knowing what a resident’s avatar costs in terms of ‘rendering’.  In more basic terms, it will tell you how hard your graphics card is working to draw you and others residents, their clothes, and attachments by displaying a number above them and color coding it (green = good, yellow = moderate, red = bad).  The higher the number, the more graphics resources needed, the lower the frames per second, the poorer the experience for you… and everyone else.

I see this upcoming feature (currently only in the Release Candidate) as a useful tool to tell me why I’m getting 2 frames per second (FPS) with my expensive high-end graphics card at a gathering of only 20 residents.  Is it my computer? My internet? What’s causing this… I want to know.  What I do with the information is up to me.  I prefer knowledge over ignorance – ALWAYS - and you should too. 

I read the official blog replies (only took 5 hours to cap at 150), and frankly, there are a lot of ignorant and self-centered residents out there.  I wonder how many of them actually downloaded the Release Candidate client and tried it out. 

This blog is about my crossover thoughts in both worlds, but I’d like to have some fun with this and take the virtual world issue out into the real world.  Say you have an attachment on your cell phone that tells you how bad or good someone smells.  Nobody can tell that you’re using it, so you enjoy total privacy over the information revealed (of course, everyone has an phone attachment just like yours, and you know they have it and are using it too).  You now arrive at a large party and begin to mingle.  Most of the numbers are green, a few yellows, and one stand-out red.  By looking at them, you could have probably guessed they reeked even without your tool.  They stand out and they know it.

The smell is everywhere; you’d have to leave the party to escape it.  It is ruining everyone’s good time here, people are murmering hints.  Some of your friends whisper to you saying they can’t stand it anymore and leave for another party.  The hosts are beginning to panic, all their hours of planning and hard work to put this party together are going downhill fast.

Someone should just ask this stinky one to leave.  That will fix the problem, simple.  Don’t they understand that they’re ruining this party for everyone?  Do they even care?  If they would just go home and change, that would make it so much better for everyone.  But they have rights too and do as they wish.

After all, you showered, shaved, primped, perfumed or cologned and dressed properly before you came to the party.  You care about what others think about you.  Yes, its a shame that expensive personal scent you bought last week came up as red on your phone – thank goodness you checked!  But, at least you know now, so you can save that for a smaller gathering where it will be more appreciated.

Now ol’Stinky here could have put some effort in like you did, but they just chose not to.  Surely the have the same phone that you do, so they obviously know.  Perhaps this stink bomb isn’t really here to have a good time, but to ruin everyone else’s time?  How selfish! How rude! How insensitive to the hosts, the guests, and you!

___________________________________________________

And that’s really at the heart of the matter here – how the community will change.  Linden Lab (LL) does not seem to be ignoring other (arguably bigger) problems thrown out in the blog replies like the asset server (Prospero in office hours last week told residents about upcoming hardware upgrades as well as sim-side code changes to ease the load).  LL gave us a tool, and that gives everyone the same information. 

If I meet someone who affects my in-world experience, I may choose to offer assistance to help them understand.  I may offer them something less render-intensive.  If they refuse, then that says to me ‘I don’t care about your experience’.  And that serves as information to form my opinion of them.

I think that vendors will soon show Avatar Rendering Cost (ARC) on their products.  Before, they had no way to tell – they do now.  Has uber-high resolution clothing, flexi hair and complex attachments always affected experience?  YES!  Can residents so informed now choose what to buy? YES!  I’m even inclined to buy something more expensive if it has a lower ARC – that’s going to be a win for the vendor who puts a lot of work into making their product.

So I for one welcome the new tool.  I look forward to the time where this can be expanded so a builder can look at what they’ve made – not just wearables, but buildings, trees, etc) and optimize it for best user experience.  I’d love to see a LSL command like “integer llDetectedARC(key id)” so scripters can build tools to allow others to manage this information effectively (hmmm, that’s a good idea, actually…). 

Fact #1: We all stink.  Fact #2: We all have stunk.   Now we know how bad or good, thanks to this information.  Just like in the real and virtual world, we can either adapt or die; the choice, as always, is ours.

Me?  I’m getting a flexi haircut!

RL + VL = ML

I’ve recently returned from Washington, DC where I attended the Federal Consortium on Virtual Worlds, held at the National Defense University and organized by the Information Resouces Management College. In short, it was designed to be a gathering of different branches of our US goverment to learn, share, and collaborate what virtual worlds are. There were also vendors there – showing and telling, smiling and selling.

Linden Lab’s Second Life had a significant presence in most of the presentations I saw. Sue Linden (perhaps better known as the winged goth nymph) and Pathfinder Linden (you all know him) ran Introduction to Second Life classes the day before the main events. I was lucky enough to be in the area and have the time to volunteer and help out in the classes. There were computers for about 25 students per session, and there was a morning and afternoon session. These were totally full, and in fact, we had one person so interested, he chose to just sit in without a computer. I heard from someone who should know that there was 200 inquiries for those 50 slots.

This demand for on-site education and orientation (note the distinction – outworld, not inworld) set me to thinking. And thinking I did, refining an idea as I listened to others talk of thier learning curve to figure Second Life out, sharing the frustration of how they couldn’t even move and blue windows kept popping up, nodding sagely as the explained how they could not simply access Second Life from inside the government networks (to which I said “aw” to them, but really thought to myself “yay! my government understands network security!”).

And so, on the flight home to good ol’ Minnesota, I started writing a new business plan. Something that could mix my enjoyment of virtual spaces and experiences, my ability to turn techie talk in common understanding and my need to help people and make a difference in life (real and virtual).

And, so, let me introduce: CritCom

CritCom is a specialized group off my Critical Computer company, which provides all the same services and attention to business to small companies that an IT manager provides for large companies. It will be focusing on bringing an orientation and education about virtual worlds – specifically Second Life – to folks in state, county and municipal offices. Hands on, over your shoulder, good old fashioned face-to-face, my-pencil-taps-the-place-on-your-monitor-I-want-you-to-see education and consulting.

So Real Life plus Virtual Life now equals My Life.

I think there will be some adjustment for my SL friends to understand why I may be so doggon busy all the time now when I’m online, but I think they’ll understand over time. I’m not sure how I can balance a social life and a work life either… so it will be a learning curve for me, too. I doubt I’m the first, nor will be the last, to log into a presentation on a big screen to have a *hug* saved up in my IM buffer for all to see (note to self, turn off external video to log in).

In my time, I’ve trained young and old, CEOs and new hires, the eager and the disinterested. I’m realling looking forward to putting those skills back to work.

When Hello Was Just Hello

“Heya!”

That’s the greeting I usually use when saying hello to the folks that appear online in my instant message program and on my friends list in SecondLife. Between the virtual world friends list and my IM accounts, I would safely say I have 40 folks that I could communicate with regularly, about 10 of which are on at any one time. I go down the list of who is online and type my happy greeting, then get on with my day.

While I work from my home, I’m still used to having coworkers about me. My IM contacts become my virtual office mates, so when I log in I am compelled to give a short happy greeting… identical to a wave or hello said to another coworker that you pass on the way to your desk with your brimming cup of hot coffee.

“Heya” is not meant to be an overture to a sustained conversation. When those times come, I usually add a “Are you busy?” or “Do you have a minute for me?” to my greeting because that’s just polite.

Admittedly, I don’t greet everyone I see online every day, usually because I forget to or I am coming online specifically to talk to one person (yes, ok, it’s Roxanne, easy guess) and then log off and do non-at-keyboard tasks.

But here’s where my problems start.

Seems most folks use the one-word greeting as an “IM test” to see if you are really there. The network engineer in me calls that a ‘ping’, referring to a packet of data that is transmitted from one computer to another over the network to see if it is online and communicating. I think that because folks don’t consistently use the status indicators, the need to ping before entering a longer message has become commonplace. Because who wants to type a whole bunch only to find out that the other side is not paying attention, right?

So, I recently added a new friend (he gets to stay anonymous), and as fate would have it, he was online when I logged in. So I delivered the standard greeting. 4 minutes later, he replied “wtf! why are you bothering me?” (exact quote).

I was a bit taken aback from that reply, and as we chatted more, he explained that he had interpreted my greeting as the overture to a lengthy conversation. Seems he was waiting for 4 minutes for me to communicate why I was IMing him, and because I didn’t continue, he got mad because he had stopped what he was doing to chat with me.

Was he right? Is that how IM works now? Are we all too busy to say hello, type 5-6 characters to folks we know just to pass on a greeting without fear of engaging in a conversation with someone we don’t have time for?

I pressed for more information. Here are some things he said he also does:

• If someone he does not want to chat with IMs him, he just ignores them. “They’ll think I’m away,” he says. “Isn’t that rude?” I asked. “They do it to me,” was the reply.
• The only time he IMs someone is when he wants or needs something from them. “Sending an IM is faster than writing an email.” “Do you ever just say hello?” I asked. “Why?” was the reply.
• He friends everyone. “How do you keep in touch with all those folks?” I asked. “What? I just add them so I can see if they’re online. They’re not really my friends.”

In chatting with others, it seems his opinions and behaviors are indicative of the majority of folks. While this is personally disappointing to me (oh, the world is cast not in thine own image), I also realize that my friendly greeting is probably being perceived as daily harassment to the folks with the misfortune of being online when I am.

So, I apologize to my friends and contacts in IM and SL. Really, all I intended was to acknowledge your presence with me in the virtual space as I would if we passed in the hallway. What I thought was a gentle way of pointing out that you are a special person to me was, it seems, an impolite interruption.

I will now remorsefully join the throngs and herds and become passive about my IM experience. I will add friends to monitor their online status for my own needs and not because I want to stay in touch with them socially or professionally.

I will, however, say a silent but heartfelt ‘Heya’ in my head and smile when I see your name online… just as I have sadly noted other names on my list that don’t ever show online anymore, hoping they’re doing well, wherever they are.

You can’t stop me.

Small World

Infrequency is the mark of the occasional blogger; such is the case with myself. I’m visiting friends in the Bethesda, MD area and – shocked to say – they don’t have internet! The neighbor has generously allowed me to use their wifi, but the signal strength is weak and thus unreliable. That, and a four-year-old who I’m caring for have conspired (that’s a power word here, so near DC) to keep me offline. I’ll be back in Minnesota next week. I’m meeting lots of new folks and it made me remark… about how small a person’s world can be.

Small world event 1: All is not fun and games here. We’ve put up an antenna (yes, no cable either), re-insulated the attic (pulled the old stuff out – nasty!), replaced electrical outlets, fixed appliances, rewired lights, lots of cleaning, and doing some VHS->DVD production work. All these projects aside, I did have a wonderful dinner with a Director from The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and their family. NOAA is one of a few government organizations which has a professional island in SL (Slurl here). Looks like the build was done by a variety of MDCs. Second Life Insider has a old story about it. We spoke briefly about the island; pretty, but empty. I encouraged more live events to educate residents in addition to the static displays.

Small world event 2: The neighbor (the generous one with the wifi) grew up in the same city I live in currently. Graduated the same high school as my oldest is graduating in May. His son’s name is the same as my son’s. He works from home (ok, that one’s a stretch, I admit it). I think the odds are pretty long on that, especially coming from a smallish-metro city.

Small world event 3: While discussing with the many school moms I’ve met, one remarked about needing to ‘log in and check sales’. “What kind of sales?” I asked. Why, she has a clothing store in SL. So we talked about SL a bit, and retail sales dynamics (virtual and practical). What’s more surprising is that I found out that she has one of Leo’s original smart greeters given to her by a mutual friend. “It works perfectly!” she said. So, virtual kudos delivered in RL.

This has been a pretty emotional month for me on many levels. I tend to get thoughtful and ponder (ponderous? ponderful? one of those) when strong emotions swamp me. It has been a few years since I shared a life with a four-year-old, and it has had many challenges.. and rewards. I got some of the old kid-management chops back, aided by the near constant playing of kid music. Love it or hate it, “It’s A Small World” by Sherman and Sherman is probably in the top 10 most recognizable kid-related songs. So, you can see why I’ve titled as I have this post. Circles in circles. Deep, huh?

And, the last case of small world-itis: While finishing this post, I went looking for a link for the music and lyrics to “It’s a Small World”. First one I found was offered by the National Institute of Health (NIH). Which is in… huh, Bethesda, Maryland. Which is… oh, a block from where my friend lives. I can easily see part of their 3 acre campus by turning my head left and looking out the window.

Do you live in a small world? Perhaps you just need to look around…

Thousands of Us

On January 25th, 2008 at the Geekend Event on Orange Island, my favorite MDC Metaversatility and more specifically Dr. John Plevak unveiled (announced? proclaimed?) their project named AfterLife, a service using functionality from libSL to enable thousands of users to share the same space at the same time.

Sadly, I was traveling at the time, so all I really know about it was reported on MV’s site and out at SLOG (be sure to check the comments as MV CEO Peter Haik replied to comments there). It would be nice if someone could parse and post a chat log and/or slides from the presentation… hint hint.

Why is this important? Such an ability would allow for large social gatherings (concerts, performances, presentations) to happen without the expectable server lag and simulator crash. It’s the next step from passively watching a streaming video to being ‘there’ virtually, allowing interaction.

Getting a large volume of folks in a common space at the same time is not an easy nut to crack. In my MMO experience, places like Star Wars Galaxies’s Corellia Cantina, EverQuest II’s Harbor in Quenos, Dungeon and Dragon’s Stormreach Harbor and Lord of The Rings Online’s Bree usually have too many avatars, resulting in loss of fps and more than likely the client crash.

Historically the solution has been to use a world-mirroring technique and virtual instances to split a population into compy-chewable chunks. For gaming, this is reasonable; for a social event, it is highly limiting.

In SecondLife, other MDCs have used bots to clone performers into identical parcels and let the users self-balance the load. The most common way to host a large group without a lot of programming is the “junction-of-four-parcels” thing, putting the performers in the intersection and syncing all the parcel’s music URLS like at the Heron Island Performance Space.

Final thoughts: While I am eternally hopeful AfterLife is a hit, I remain skeptical of a solution without dramatic changes to the client and server sides. If I can’t move and look around in the event, I’d just as soon watch it streaming from the comfort of my lodge without lag.

Net Addicted

When it comes to being entertained, I far prefer the internet over television. I read blogs of folks I respect, check emails, chat on IM, peek at Youtube videos, play some TeamFortress, check the latest news and lolcat pictures (which is my secret passion). There are two, maybe three tv shows that I even watch on television, and Tivo gets them for me.

Recently I accompanied my oldest son to a large, metro hospital to correct the break in his thumb that he incurred New Years Eve (whole story there, I’m saving it for some time when I get writer’s block). The same-day surgery was simple enough; but surgery is surgery, and they used anesthesia, so it was done carefully and correctly as any other surgery. From beginning to end, I would say we were there 8 hours.

For most of that time, we just waited. I cleverly brought my wifi-ready lappy with, thinking that I would be infinitely entertained while we waited. Youtube here I come!

To my chagrine, I found out that the surgical waiting areas have no wifi hotspots. These waiting areas are not only in the basement of the hospital, they occupy the space was formerly used by the radiology department (no windows and lead-lined walls)… which means absolutely no signal – even for the cell phone.

I’m frankly surprised (and at the time, really frustrated!) that this very modern hospital, which presents itself as a very professional organization, has yet to come to the realization that the public is net-connected these days. While I can respect that hospitals still fear that a cell phone will cause an equipment failure (there are articles for and against), I would point out that the prestigious Mayo Clinics in Rochester, Minnesota have wifi hotspots in every lobby and waiting area.

As soon as we arrived home, I think I was on the internet before my coat hit the floor. Do you think I’m net addicted?

No Deposit, No Unregulated Return

The powers that be at Linden Labs have dropped the block on banks and financial institutions to make Second Life (dba your world and your imagination) a better place. Read all about it on the official site here.

I never understood how a virtual world bank could operate in a traditional sense, which is commonly making loans with a higher interest rate than it pays its depositors. The deposit part is easy, the loaning is hard. How secure can the collateral on the loan possibly be? Say the loan goes into default… what inworld agency or controlling power can step in and reposess to recoup the loan? The answer is none.

I wonder… if a real life bank (that passes the new regulations) will be able to go back to LL now for assistance in collections and repossessions?

First Blog

Blogging has been calling/taunting/haunting me since its early inception. As an amateur-never-published-because-he’s-scared author, the opportunity for expressing my opinions to the online world is both fascinating and scary. And, I have a lot of opinions… whether they are interesting to anyone but me is anyone’s guess.

But, I’ve committed to trying it. I’ve been a subscriber to a variety of blog sites for a very long time, and I think I can do at least as well as they did.

To start, I’m going to have a limited number of categories:

Linkies: links to things I have found on the internet that I would like others to experience. Most likely YouTube videos, the random blog post. These will come with short comments and in no regular time period.

My Take: these will be things I’ve written about the worlds (real and virtual). Expect my sarcasm and dry wit to start, fill and end these posts. Hopefully there will be some humor in there too.

Uncategorized: where all the horse apples will go that I can’t fit in anywhere else. Like this post.

*** Edit March 27, 2007: I have added the category ‘observations’, because it seems like ‘uncategorized’ is too catchall.