Second Fiddle

SLiding the SLippery SLope, SL SLapping Ageplayers in Standard SL SLapdash Style

I jutht got back frub the dentitht, my bottub lipf ithn't working all that welb.

This story is still developing as I'm writing this, and even I can't guarantee where this one will end up.

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 12:09 PM 0 comments

Napping Through the Apocalypse

Copybot!

There, I said it. I bucked the trend, and am running like the rest of the hordes of mindless sheep that are stampeding to and fro through the SL world at this moment. I have decided to not think for myself, but to gleefully take up arms and try to lynch the nearest person that might even vaguely resemble a bot or a bot lover. Who needs logic, when mass hysteria is so much easier, and gives one a reason to run about in splendid panic-stricken horror?

Ahh no. Not gonna happen.

It is just my luck that the LibSL team headquarters it located in the same sim as myself. Not that that's a bad thing in of itself, I've talked to them on a number of occasions and compared ideas and thoughts. They generally keep to themselves, and only on occasion have I seen hordes of lookalike avatars come stomping through. All in all more of a speck of interesting outcome more than any real cause for concern.

In the last 24-48 hours though things have significantly gone downhill. I've received untold hundreds (maybe even thousands) or automated IM's stating !quit !quit !quit !quit as if that's all it would take to stop the spectre of piracy. Protesters and flying to and fro, waving signs and accusing everyone else of being a potential Copybot. It's a level of paranoia that's unprecedented in SL's history. Reminds me of in SL's early days that ActiveWorlds had an auto-ban feature installed that ejected a person if they spoke the word "SecondLife".

Logic may be a wonderful thing, but mass hysteria is far more popular.

Personally, other than the endless stream of anti-Copybot-Security spam, I've been relatively unperturbed by the recent turn of events. Technically, I speak wrongly - this is not a recent turn of events. This has been a preexisting design weakness in SL since day one. It has been discussed endlessly, both among the SL residency and LL's circle of confidants. In fact, it's not even specific to SecondLife. The only notable thing with the Copybot is that it brought the issue up from a low-simmering, let's-ignore-it-and-hope-it-goes-away riddle to instantly being a front-page, extra-large bold print splash disaster. It took a topic that was little understood for most non-techie laymen and laid it out to them in neon technicolor brightness how their content was - is - and will be for the noticeable future - protected only by a thin veneer of half-implemented software controls and (maybe to a degree willful) ignorance.

I am not upset by the concept of the Copybot, because I was expecting it - or something like it - since the early SL days. Digital content cannot and will not be protected by means of "security through obscurity" - ie, by trying to suppress knowledge of how the technology works. It is human nature to want to learn, and to understand. It is also sometimes human nature to try to improperly profit from that knowledge.

The protection mechanisms implemented in SL are not adequate to prevent a sufficiently motivated person from copying others' content. Then again, that's not a secret, and it's not been a secret for a long time. Many people have known that the protections were not up to par, and that sooner or later someone was going to tap that well in a significant way. Even Linden Lab's half-hearted promise to 'protect your IP rights' could not do anything for a person until after the damage was done.

Like many people in SL I run a business with content I create. I've had to deal with content infringement in the past, and I likely will in the future. Heck, Copybot may have already scanned my storefront and is prepping a new shop in some far flung corner of SL. But I'm not going to lose any sleep over it. I knew when I joined that whatever I made in SL would - sooner or later - be a candidate for theft. Not a matter of "IF". "WHEN". To assume any less would be little more than denying reality. When the time comes that I find my creations have been copied, I'll do like I've always done, which is to file the DMCA notices, fight tooth and nail, and protect my creations to the best extent I can. But dont get me wrong, I knew that would be the risks I took when I clicked the upload button. It's the same risk we've all taken.


The IP protection apocalypse might be rolling through, but we can't say we didn't see it coming. Keep that in mind while running along in that herd of panicking sheep. So if you all dont mind, I'm going to return to my nap and wait for the mass hysteria to burn itself out.


- Newfie Pendragon

Labels: Copybot, LibSL, SecondLife

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 1:20 PM 0 comments

An AfterLife for SecondLife?

As you may all have seen by now, Linden Labs in their typical way have announced a significant increase in private island setup and tier fees. If you're anything like me (and I truly pity you if you are), then you had two immediate reactions: first, slack-jawed incredulity at the nature of the change, quickly followed up by a rapidly growing anger at the realization that yes, they really are serious. No, this isn't a misscheduled April Fool's day joke, or a practical joke by Philip on one of his middle-of-the-night corporate liquor closet raids. This was a sober, straight-faced announcement made with the calm and steady nerve that only stem from extreme foolhardiness or cold, hard indifference to the victims of such a move.

Despite the obvious motive that one can ascertain for Linden Labs taking such a bizarre and malicious move - namely, unmitigated greed - I am not 100% firmly convinced that this is truly the primary reason. Before you start scrolling down to find the reply button, and commence calling me a blathering sycophant, let me explain first. Yes, I do believe unmitigated greed is a significant influence on the decision, but I'm of the opinion there's a deeper, more systematic problem here, of which the new price hikes are little more than a symptom of the fatal disease that festers below.

Before webefore go any further, I've come to a number opinions based my own experience in corporate tech world, my observations of LL, both their public actions and inside stories I've heard over years from people on the inner circle:

• SecondLife - at least to Linden Labs - started out as an experiment in immersive telepresence technology a.k.a. "Virtual Reality" or "The Metaverse". In essence, the hobby of a single man with a big idea. A very well-funded and interesting hobby, but a hobby nonetheless.


• The technical capabilities of the LL staff are enormous, filled with many talented individuals. However, professionalism and customer commitment are sorely lacking, due to a lack of clear separation of employee's "on duty"/"off duty" roles, and a lackluster company ethic that focuses on personal employee enjoyment instead of customer commitment.


• Linden Labs has shown a distinct dichotomy in their view of customer support. On the one hand, LL is extremely reluctant to act on customer's behalf to deal with Terms of Service enforcement, especially in areas of immediate crisis support. (I personally have had my own regions attacked, with no less than six different Linden employees involved, who all did the same thing - took photographic proof of the attacks as they took place, but made no effort to halt them. An automated reply was sent to me two weeks later, stating the issue was resolved. I did my own investigating, and learned that two of the instigators were given a warning, and one a three-day suspension.) On the other hand, LL has made very little effort to provide customers with the ability to self-moderate on their own. Larger, more coordinated system attacks have largely been handled via a system-wide shutdown and lockout of all customers.


• Steps to mature the SecondLife platform have all but stagnated since mid-2004. Added features are minor or only to improve immediate issues. Projects to add significant features, such as Havok 4 support, or HTML rendering on a prim, have either been dropped completely or are languishing indefinitely.


• LL has demonstrated an aggressive and self-benefiting philosophy when it comes to the growth and control of its developing economy. All steps taken in manners of the LL economy many times are presented as an effort at customer service, but frequently has a side-effect of skimming more real $ into the LL wallet. Direct competition from customer business has been met with predatory moves and technological changes deliberately aimed at destroying the competing business.

It is in my opinion Linden Labs has many deep rooted issues within both its structure and management that will likely bring about their own eventual collapse. Between their dismal customer relations history, their lack of dedication growth customer focus, and nonsensical pricing model, LL is setting itself up for a failure that may now looming and will be all but impossible to reverse.

Many SecondLife customers believe SL has a huge future in both business and personal consumer segments. However, to reach its full potential, SL must accepted adopted by both businesses and individuals alike. New rate hikes only make goal that much more difficult. Some individuals may pay a $295/month fee (and some companies as a marketing gimmick), but the large majority of those who use SL will not be willing to spend the equivalent of a car payment for it. If customers then many corporations will leave with them, having lost their target audience.

What will private land owners do once LL raises tier fees for them? It's not a matter of "if" LL decides, but "when". After watching LL perform this insane price hike, there's no doubt in my mind that premium account fees will be be raised to match. LL has demonstrated that their focus is not on customer commitment, but rather on squeezing them of as many pennies as possible. This will inevitably result in a further alienation of their customer base, especially among those that have a true investment in the success of SecondLife as a pervasive platform.

Linden Labs know that they can do this right now because there is currently no viable competition to SecondLife. They know that they can employ predatory monopoly tactics, because the only choice customers have are to bear the cost or abandon SL altogether. It is not that the customer thinks $295/month is a fair price, but that we as the customer could not bear going back to a flat world of web pages and shallow chatboxes. SecondLife has been like technological crack to us, and now that LL has hooked us, they are ready to use our "habit" to drain us dry.

This will not be forever though; Linden Labs has dug their own grave, and have decided now to lay in it. How long will we have to wait before a competitor rises to the challenge and slams the coffin lid shut on LL? Further alienating and fleecing their customers only add to the demand for an alternative system. Sooner or later competition to LL will arise, and when it does, LL will be left with little more than an empty world full of ghosts.


- Newfie Pendragon

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 9:33 AM 0 comments

For Want of a Nail...

As I write this, it's been roughly two weeks since the final closing of this year's Burning Life festival. As it is every year, Burning Life is a wide variety of artistic expression, novel builds and a loose expression of the general state of mind of people in SL.

Generally I haven't participated in the Burning Life festival, much preferring the winter festival around the Christmas holiday season. As many of you might have noticed, this year I broke with that trend and tossed my hat into the BL festival.Before I continue, below is a little snapshot (as hosted by Snapzilla) of the theme of the plot:



You might have noticed in addition that I've also been unusually quiet in expressing my opinion on the demise of the SL Forums; that is, if you don't include my BL plot build. There was a reason for that in particular, which was to let the BL plot do the expressing of my opinion. In addition, there just wasn't anything in writing I wanted to say that wasn't already said by others.

And yet...here I am, posting on my blog about it, ramping up to do exactly what I resolved not to do. Snort if you will, guffaw if you must, chortle if you dare; I can handle that. In fact, I debated even writing this for a while. What pretty much convinced me to write this anyway was the range of feedback I received from my BL build. As expected, I received about equal amounts of positive versus negative responses, from those who agreed with the sentiment to those who basically accused me of being little more than a sh*t disturber.

What really surprised me was not the range of feedback (I expected from the beginning the display would be controversial), but the acidity level that was flung at me for - *gasps* putting up "no entry lines" around the plot. Most of the vitriol that I had to endure was not about the content or the subject of the display, but rather that it was inconvenient to have to fly around it. Yep, you heard it here - the worst of the yelling and accusations came from people who accidentally bumped into the no-entry lines. Forget about being moved by the closure of the forums, or incensed that someone would dare mock the Lindens. Oh heck no! How can one think about that little crap when one's convenience is being meddled with!? Heaven forbid these people are too lazy go stop and fly around the no-entry lines, but were perfectly willing to file dozens of ARs and spew oodles of bile in IM over it.

You know...sometimes I wonder about people.


Basic Parody Art Builds - For Dummies

Believe it or not, there were many people who looked at my plot and just didn't understand what the point of it was. That's not too surprising, after all it is supposed to be art. If it's easily understood, it's not really art.

Did that clear up the confusion any?

No?

Well ok...here's a quick point-list of what the "secret message" was behind the build:

• Teh For-Ummms was a form of parody. Basically a form of expression that makes a comment on a subject by distorting the subject in a sarcastic way.
  
  
• The plot was kept largely empty and unused for deliberate purposes. It was to represent the potential good uses of the forums that were wasted when LL closed them.
  
  
• They aren't ban lines! The plot does not have bans set, they have the access list set. Namely only those named listed to attend the "Second Life Views" meeting were permitted to enter the plot. This represented the tunnel-vision attitude LL employs when dealing with their customers. In this case, the no-entry lines were meant to convey the meaning that if you weren't one of the "Chosen Ones", your feedback wasn't welcome.
  
  
• The Trash Cans - pretty direct message there - your feedback, even when you give it, is not used, but instead is thrown out. In addition, at the bottom of one of the cans was a prim representing an Abuse Report - in paper form, wadded up and tossed out.
  
  
• The ResMods - If you were to talk near the spot, you might have been "shhh"ed by a ResMod script. Basically, they represent the (wasted and unnecessary) actions of ResMods to perform censorship on the rest of the community.
  
  

And if you *Still* Don't Get it....

Teh For-Umms was a commentary on LL's decision to close down the more controversial of the topic groups on their LL-hosted forums.secondlife.com. While claiming to do this as a work-reduction goal, the result is a further stifling of communication between LL and their customer base. Yes it was a drama-filled area, and yes emotions ran high, but the forums was largely the lifeblood of LL's dedicated customer base. People get rude, people get nasty, and they get indignant when it comes to subjects that matter personally to them, and the level of lava that boiled on a regular basis only emphasized the importance of the subjects endlessly debated within.

Instead of listening to their customers, LL has decided to instead shut down the mechanisms that allow them to provide feedback at all, be it negative or positive. In it's places they've forcefully fragmented a once lively community and replaced it with slogans and heavy blog censorship. Unless you happen to be on the inner circle of the Linden ear, then your opinion is neither heard, nor wanted.

The unfortunate thing is....the bell that is tolling is the knell for all of us in SL.


- Newfie

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 10:28 AM 0 comments

A Streetcar Named Derailed

I just looked back through this blog, and realized, "holy crap, it's been a year since my last post already!" Scary thought too, considering the unusually large volume of bile I've ended up spewing into the SL forums in that time, that I couldn't find the time to stop, step back, and make a posting here. What a rotten, shameful thing to do, I agree. So please let me grovel and plead for forgiveness, for I was naughty over the last year. Most of the time I was watching in horror as SL took a steady spiral plunge towards the cold hard ground, and did not blog about it for fear of what I would say. Meaning it was...unpleasant thoughts.

Now that it has passed, this last year, and I've had (lots of) time to gather and compose my thoughts, it's time I waxed philosophically about it. Sorry it's not going to be a rerun show like Fox has, and there wont be musicals, but please, do feel free to hum some light ditty while you read onward. Heck, even tap your foot along to the beat of the drummer in your head if so inclined.

So, faithful reader, please grab a bag of popcorn and put on some cozy slippers. I'll try to make this a smooth ride.


Thoughts On...The LindeX
Ouch, jumping right into the thick of it! I could spend a month writing a novel on this one, but it's a long year, so I'll keep it short. With the way LL introduced the LindeX, LL showed that they were more than willing to use their power as platform host to take over a lucrative and profitable segment of SL, even if it meant causing catastrophic failure of resident-run competing business. The success of the LindeX is still in doubt, although it offers no improvements over the innovations spear-headed by GOM (Gaming Open Market, the resident-run L$ exchange). Most actions taken by LL on stabilizing the in-world economy has resulted in little change - with the (not-so) coincidental side effect of siphoning off more real US$ into their pockets. Not only a case of the fox guarding the proverbial henhouse, but very little effort of even pretending to hide the blood and feathers strewn about.


...Havok 2
This was the year that our illustrious captain, Philip Linden, finally admitted that Havok 2 was a low priority and was not likely to happen. Ever. Not that it matters any, as we've now moved on to Havok 4. It took two years for them to admit to it, but I guess they deserve credit for finally fessing up. In retrospect, it now makes sense why they were so stubbornly silent about commenting on it all this time.


...PTP (Point-to-Point Teleporting)
On this one, I am a very happy camper. Artificial limitations like the telehubs cannot force people to come together as a community, it merely caused business sprawl to clutter together and further irritate people. This was a good step.


...FlexiPrims
Ooh - shiny!


...Local Lighting and Occlusion Culling
Things do indeed look better. FPS is still abysmally slow, and steadily sinking. This is an area where LL has been steadfast in their ignoring the issue. Enjoy the pretty scenery, because you'll be spending a lot of time just standing and looking at it.


...The SL Map API/SLURLs
Ooh - shiny! It looks good an operates well, but how many valuable developer hours were wasted on developing a tool that's only useful to a miniscule fraction of the SL community?


...Wholesaling of Regions/Land
Historically in many RL countries, whoever held the land, held the power. SL has proven itself no different, even though it could have been avoided. With LL switching to selling new land in whole-region hunks, they've essentially locked out nearly the entire SL population from participating, and further tightened the grip certain few land barons have on the grid. Like the LindeX/GOM debacle, this is a fine example of LL's willingness to pad their profit margin at the expense of its customers.


...SecondLife Community Convention
A grand idea, but then wasted due to big egos, self interests and closed minds. The community was in name only, but had little to nothing to do with it, first nor last. A prime example of how petty people can be when someone else dares to speak concerns about their self-aggrandizing. I still hold out hope for next year, but when it's run by the same closed minds and the same shortsighted opinions, I have to admit the hope I do have is thin.


...The "FIC"
I admit, this isn't a new concept from the last year, but I've had evolving opinions that have prompted me to include it here. For those that don't know what the FIC is, it's short for "Feted Inner Core" - an inner group of individuals that is in cahoots with LL to control all that happens in SL. It's utter bulldoody (yes - I said 'doody'), but it has a small kernel of quasi-truth. LL has shown a number of times that they do have 'favorites', and that they are interested more in the opinions of a select ("chosen") few, more than they are the remaining 99.9% of their customer base. Submitted humbly for you are examples: The custom SL client with mouth-synch animation capabilities for the creation of the Bells and Spurs video, the creation of the ResMod (Resident Moderators) group, the "Chosen Ones" (SecondLife Views). Throw on top of that the recent forums and the still-ongoing popularity of the #secondlife IRC channel for LL employees to socialize, LL's recalcitrance in being open and welcoming to the community only fans the flames of suspicion and conspiracy. The FIC may not be real, but the effects of LL's pro-FIC attitude sure makes the waters muddier than they need to be.


...Torley Linden
Even to this day, the one person in SL who truly, really, honestly - ever "got it". Their presence in SL has shown all what can happen in SL if one truly puts their heart and spirit into it. It's a shame LL hired Torley and used him as the corporate scapegoat.

Since the hiring of Torley, LL has further retreated into their cave, leaving Torley to deal with complaints, feedback, angry rants, and all the other unpleasant effects of having to deal with a savvy and intelligent customer base. It will be a sad day when Torley finally gets fed up with all the BS, and leaves for less abusive pastures. Who will LL hide behind then?


...The Tao of Linden
I love the concept. I also like the concept for a world without war, a world without famine, and the end of disease. They have one thing in common though, is that it takes hard work, sweat, frustration and dedication to make happen. A corporate policy that encourages their workers to work only on the 'fun stuff' is a policy that also brings half-completed projects, shallow 'Ooh - Shiny!' features, and an ever-growing list of unresolved bugs, design issues, flaws, and instability. It's ok to have 'fun', but get the danged job done first. Otherwise those that have to deal with the flood of bugs/crashes/griefers - namely the customer - will find other places to spend their money.

---

In retrospect
As you can guess by now, for myself it's been a very disappointing and disheartening year. I'm still a hardcore fan of the potential of SL, but disillusionment has set in, doubts growing, and a heightening unease that SL might not reach that potential. For what's been such an amazing start, LL has hamstrung themselves with aging technology, shortsighted interests and a lack of interest in communicating with their customers.

Who knows if this continue will continue into the next year? I am hoping so, but only time will tell. In the meantime, I've decided to take on a new viewpoint when it comes to SL, and have decided that instead of waiting for LL to improve things, I'm for one will be working within the dubious limitations that SL provides. Well....that, and/or work around SL altogether, with my hopes held high for the next company that comes along.


- Newfie Pendragon

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 10:15 AM 0 comments

A Quick FYI

Hi all:

Am not making much of a posting here in this one, but wanted to let everyone know that this blog is starting to get spammed. As such, I've turned on the 'word verification' feature to discourage the slimeballs that think the blogosphere is their personal advertising boards. What the word verification does is require a commenter to type in a specific word when posting a comment.

I hope that everyone understands why I need to do this, and also hope it isn't too much of an inconvenience.


- Newfie

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 12:57 PM 2 comments

Requiem for a Dream

I have a meme. My meme doesn't have a name, or a place, or even any particular phrasing to it. Untold numbers of people in the world have their own similar meme, cousins and relations to each other, spawned and spawning to and from each other, since the time that the first intelligence on this world thought to themselves there could be more to existence than this. With each passing of the meme from one individual to another, the meme grows, matures, changes, and with it, changes us, making us grow and mature with it. We are the world that hosts our meme, and the meme the world that makes our hosting worthwhile.

It used to be that all humanity could do was stare up at the night sky, and dream about worlds unseen that flit and flicker through their minds at night. We shared our memes with others, and in the passing, created more memes and inspired countless wondrous worlds and stories, which all cried out to be made and expressed. We became a people of artists, craftsmen, philosophers; thinkers all. We craved to create that which teased and tantalized our thoughts and minds.

Then came along the virtual worlds, far-away lands and cultures that existed only in the form of bits and bytes, worlds crafted and sculpted in the image of the great memes, finally coming to fruition and completion. At first, they were games, sandboxes for play and idle entertainment. Then came along SL, and our memes rejoiced. Your World, Your Imagination, the architects of this new world proclaimed. A world in which not just nearly anything was possible, given enough time and enough people, anything would become...inevitable. It was the Garden of Eden for the mind, a rich soil in which our memes could take root and flower. We were offered a new life - a Second Life.

One of the many dreamers out there came up with a name for their meme, and in the naming, gave it one for many of us too - the Metaverse. A universe of the mind, a world-within-a-world. To some, SL became synonymous with that fabled Metaverse, our first and brightest hope that our dreamed-of lands and tales would finally coalesce and launch a new age and new wonders. In many respects it gives us all hope finally, and a real, actual taste of that new age. For many of us, it still has the potential to be that which our memes cry out for.

To who do we owe this vast opportunity, this great growth and newfound stretching of our horizons? The hale and hearty captain of Linden Labs, known in-world as Philip Linden. He has shown us that the Metaverse is finally coming within reach, and that with great imagination and resolve, we can create that world built on dreams and creativity, that meme within us all. His vision has led the ship called SL through troubled and turbulent waters, taking us through where before the map has been labeled "here there be monsters".

Our intrepid skipper has taken us out past the shoals and rocks of technological and corporate limitation, and now we're facing the open seas of the electronic ocean. Now comes the next stage of our voyage. Where, though, will Captain Philip be charting our course, and what lands will we strike out for? If his recent remarks are correct, it will be a course of increased growth and a revolution in SL's virtual economy. The good ship SL will sail into a bright future, and we will all dream and dance in the lands of the Metaverse.

It sounds like all a wonderful dream.

The strange thing though about the Metaverse - and more specifically about the memes and propel us endlessly towards realizing that dream - is that it has its own impetus, its own direction, it's own drive to grow. It is beyond any one of us, but is rather in all of us. It is the sum of all of our individual parts, it is our infinite imaginations unleashed in infinite ways. It cannot be guided, nor can it be forced. Only through the embracing our memes in all its forms can we truly see it grow and flower. Ideas - and the ultimate in ideas, our memes - they can only grow when they are free.

This is where our hearty Captain Philip cannot lead us, and simply should not lead us. His decisions to take ideas from the resident population and usurp them as LL creations are well intentioned, but they by nature cannot help grow our Metaverse. This ship called SL must be sailed and moored by us all, and only by being an enabler can LL guide us across this vast ocean. Our journey is set before us now, the rudder cannot be turned without altering our path. A Metaverse cannot exist when only one group controls its destiny. Its the fact that it is all things to all dreamers is what makes it become Real.

There are tales among certain North American aboriginal tribes that the world exists on the back of a giant turtle. SL must keep true to that image, to be the provider of the foundation of our world, not a competitor or monopoly-wielding force within it. If we want to see the Metaverse dream become real, we must embrace and rejoice in all the memes of ourselves, not just those of a single Captain with a vision.


- Newfie

posted by Newfie Pendragon @ 10:17 AM 1 comments