Jo Yardley

Dresden Ceriano wrote: Ebbe Linden wrote: Nobody knows what may happen in the future. But we have no intent to steal your stuff. I can imagine scary scenarios that are more likely to happen, that none us have control over, that would concern me more. I don't see how SL as we know it could be successful if we started to steal your stuff. I certainly don't see a business model based on stealing stuff that could last very long...so I don't really see the logic in this conversation. It sounds scary to some of you but how it could really become a real problem I don't really know. For me, is not that I believe that Linden Lab will steal my stuffs... the problem lies in the fact that most people rely on various third party templets, models and textures that have End User License Agreements which do not allow them the ability to grant Linden Lab the licensing rights which the Terms of Service now requires. This is why CG Textures has disallowed the use of their textures in Second Life (link). But, what makes matters worse is that even textures bought in Second Life are subject to the same problem unless they're sold with an almost unlimited EULA, which most are not. This situation will either cause people to stop being able to create content or resort to creating content with elements which they shouldn't be using according to the ToS as it now reads. The only real way around this is to create everything yourself, which, IMHO, goes against the spirit of working together, which was fundamental in helping to make SL the wonderful place that it is now. I really don't want to see that creative, interactive process stifled over some legalese. ...Dres Exactly. I trust LL as much (or as little) as any other huge company that provides me services. But the fact that these ToS makes a lot of people and third party websites so very nervous means that at the least someone has to look at the language used. There is a difference between saying; "We can do with your stuff whatever we like" and "we can do with your stuff whatever we like but only in connection with SL promotion or with your permission.".

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Perrie Juran wrote: Pamela Galli wrote: Jo Yardley wrote: Ebbe Linden wrote: Brilliant beautiful art and experiences. Tough and sad if it's not commercially viable for us or the resident. True however there are some sims that pop up now and then that are so stunning, show such a new and unusual site that it might be something SL should consider supporting or at least help to survive. It is not all about commerce, it is also about showing new users, the media and everyone else that there are amazing places in SL that are not just about playing Barbie or the hanky panky. Chalk these up to marketing expense and use them to showcase the best that SL can be. I was about to reply in a similar vein. I understand there needs to be a ROI. The biggest ROI is showcasing what can be done in SL. I'm not talking about a lot of places. And while I know little nooks and crannies, Nemo for instance was something that went above and beyond. Right now I don't really know any place that equals it. You wouldn't even need to keep them all on line all the time. The Lab could build a small library of places to cycle through. The installations 'AM Radio' made comes to mind, I think a little part of that is still here, it is famous, you know, the old steam train in the corn field with the floating chairs. There used to be a whole set of displays like that, all stunning. I think every photographer in SL went there at least once. A great place to show how beautiful SL can look. Maybe LL could also invite some artists to build a little setup on one of the Linden Lab regions. After all, they can then invite their PR relations, press people, etc there. Interview Ebbe in a mysterious cottage on a snowy plain with violins floating in the air! Then they may stop using random screenshots from 2007 to illustrate their articles. This video was made in 2009 and still looks better than a lot of other places I know today;

Ebbe Linden wrote: Maybe the German museum would have been willing to pay the creator to keep it going? Not sure if the creator tried? And if they did, why didn't it work? I think the RL museum did support it, unfortunately the press release was a big vague on why they closed it; "The Dresden State Art Collections have decided not to extend the project since they see themselves unable to commit further capacities to the maintenance of the virtual gallery and have set new priorities regarding their digital strategy." http://primperfectblog.wordpress.com/2011/12/15/sic-transit-gloria-mundi-the-dresden-art-museum-closes-in-second-life/ That could mean anything, could be tier, could just be that they felt SL was no longer interesting, or a combination of both. In the end you can only spend those 300 dollars once and even big museums have a budget. But maybe this is not the perfect example, but a sim nevertheless that was in my eyes very good for SL and the one example that popped into my mind. I am sure other people can come up with better examples! Sadly we often hear about sims being in (financial) trouble after it is too late, after they announce they are going to close down.

Ebbe Linden wrote: Yes...and then who qualifies? It's like we'd need a museum director with funding (from somewhere)...interesting topic. Glad you agree, yes finding sims that qualify is the real issue here. Maybe we can use the Linden who works on the destination guide to help out here, there are a few great sims there. But sometimes it is also clear, for instance we had the Dresden Gallery in SL for a long time. A huge amazing reproduction of a RL German museum. It showed 'outsiders' that we care about art in SL, not just latex miniskirts. But it was also just one of the most amazing buildings in SL at that time. Sometimes you bump into a sim and just know it is good that it is in SL, for PR reasons, just to show off the latest technology SL offers, to show one of the many sides of SL, etc. Or maybe we could just ask the users. I don't know but I do know that some sims vanishing just because they can't pay the tier is not good for SL.

Ebbe Linden wrote: Brilliant beautiful art and experiences. Tough and sad if it's not commercially viable for us or the resident. True however there are some sims that pop up now and then that are so stunning, show such a new and unusual site that it might be something SL should consider supporting or at least help to survive. It is not all about commerce, it is also about showing new users, the media and everyone else that there are amazing places in SL that are not just about playing Barbie or the hanky panky. Some look amazing or are about a very important subject. It doesn't happen often but sometimes a sim vanishes and people all over the forums are sad about it. And in these rare cases a true gem can be lost that should have perhaps survived. Because some of these sims are art and art often needs a little extra support. Often not that much help is needed and just a little Tier discount or perhaps some good advice on how to make the sim commercially viable or some free publicity on the SL site can be the difference between life and death for a sim.

Ebbe Linden wrote: Thanks! But not my thing. I will just have to ask someone across the hall to re-instate my account. Best of luck though! Don't worry about the virtual hanky panky Ebbe, I've been here for 5 years exactly (today is my sl birthday) but I've never even been near that sort of thing. And my account has never been deleted. But I am sure you can find a volunteer to keep an eye on that side of SL and get some first hand experience.

Hello Ebbe, we meet again! Hello everyone else, I was one of the people meeting with Ebbe yesterday, I wrote a blog about it here; http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/02/19/chatting-with-ebbe-altberg-new-ceo-of-linden-lab/ Great to see Ebbe chatting with everyone here, lets hope communication lines between Linden Lab and us users remain this way. We will be discussing all of this during the next Drax Files Radio Hour, with some sound clips from the actual chat we had and opinions from other SL users. http://draxfiles.com

Just got myself a new headset, logitech 960. Works perfectly fine with skype, plug and play and all that. But with SL, computer says no. It seems to get my microphone imput but I can't hear SL. Has anyone used USB headsets with SL and got this issue?

Get Mesh Studio, it allows you to turn anything you can build inworld to mesh in seconds. I would like to suggest LL incorporates something like this into the regular building tools. A big fat "mesh it" button will bring creation of amazing stuff back to the masses.

In my book that is a better sign than no communication at all.

Yes there are, there are sime decent "welcome to SL" posts and some warnings and complaints. He responds well. So far so good. Let's hope he doesn't stop tweeting in a few days.

He is communicating with users on Twitter. I know, should use the official website for communication and SL forum and such, but at least he is talking.

Let's hope his communication skills are up to par....Dres So far, so good.

My blog on the matter, with some extra info I found on his linkedIn profile. http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/02/05/ebbe-altberg-new-ceo-of-linden-lab/

My view on Rod's leaving and our next CEO, http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/01/29/rod-has-left-the-building/

PS I am already a CEO

Exactly, The CEO or his second in command or the LL press officer should communicate as much as possible, SL has a facebook page and twitter, so they should use it more. Of course official announcements should be made on the SL website first and then share via other ways.

Well said. But I also think that part of running a company is making people feel you care even if you're busy. For instance, we want communication, we want to feel that LL is a company that cares with employees that care. Regular communication, wether the users actually listen or not, will bring a lot of goodwill. It was nice when Rod used twitter and his SL account, it was not nice when that was cut off. I want regular messages from Lindens on what they are working on, I want to see Lindens walking around SL, I want them posting pictures on flickr. There are different kinds of communication. When LL sends us a message and nobody listens that is one way communication that doesn't work. When we ask LL for information and they don't listen, that is another type of one way communication that doesn't work. But bumping into a Linden at an event, even if they don't tell you anything or if you get to ask them anything, is a type of one way communication that does work. We want to know they care, we want to see them care. Dead silence is not doing anyone any good. If I was CEO I wouldn't want every single person in SL contacting me every day with their issues, but I would post on the SL facebook page to share a sim I've visited, I'd upload screenshots to twitter, I'd be seen at big events. That kind of communication matters as well.

It is weird (but not surprising) that LL is not doing very well communication wise. That is something the new CEO really has to work on. As for who the new CEO should be, I reckon it should be someone with experience in the field and who knows how to run a company like LL, perhaps Will Wright from The Sims? Either way, this new CEO should select 20-30-50 people who are "extreme" SL users. People from all walks of life who have different experiences but who are actual current users who know whats going on from the inside.

I've also posted the actual IM Rod send me. This is starting to look like a History Channel special on conspiracies http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/rod-humble-leaves-linden-lab/

Torley for CEO!

Of course, it also depends very much on your own perspective, things I found important were improved but perhaps things other people found important were not. Either way, no matter who the next CEO is, there is a LOT they should do and they rarely fix the things we're actually waiting for

From my personal perspective it did seem like Rod did a lot, mostly because the CEO's before him did so little. He communicated via the Drax files episode and seemed excited and interested in SL, during his time chat lag has improved a bit, avatars now rez faster, we got mesh, super sized prims, more groups, oculus Rift support (almost ready), etc. In total it may not have been much, but just in my experience over the last 5 years of SL he was the first CEO that stood out and seemed to do something, anything. At least something that was usefull for me in my tiny corner of SL. He probably wasn't responsible for everything I just mentioned, but I just feel that during his time with LL, SL did improve. And in the years before he joined, nothing much changed at all. But maybe that is just me. I am old, have leaky brain, memory malfunctioning. Why did I come into this room again?

We're without CEO; http://joyardley.wordpress.com/2014/01/24/rod-humble-leaves-linden-lab/