[Improving our Lines of Communication with the Community]

It’s also important to note that we are going to remove the “voting”  feature in JIRA in one month. Today, we do not use voting to triage or  to make product decisions and the last thing that we want to do is set  false expectations.

Have you considered that supporters of a particular Jira will simply tell their friends to "watch" that item?  Given the much greater numbers of people who now vote than watch issues, be prepared for vastly increased load on your Jira messaging system.

Facebook is the best place to find out about cool things going on in  Second Life, share ideas, and get the inside scoop on inworld events,  contests, machinima releases, PR activities, fun discussions, and more.

From Facebook TOS: Facebook users provide their real names and information, and we need your help to keep it that way.

Are you saying that no one in LL's marketing department finds it the least bit ironic that you are pointing to Facebook, a no-fly zone for SL avatars, as the best day-to-day source on what to do in SL?

Also, please note that next month we will be rolling out a new community  platform--an integrated system that will include SL Blogs, SL Forums,  SL Answers, and the Knowledge Base.

 

[Getting Immersed in Second Life]

Welcome, Rod, great start in communicating with the residents!

I hope you are blessed with a similar ability to communicate with the real world, and can salvage the reputation of virtual worlds in general by bringing SL the success it so deserves.  Steady as she goes, though.  SL currently lures many thousands of residents away from their TV sets and IPads for hours and hours daily.  Do not destroy its current appeal when you attempt to broaden it.

And, whatever you do, put in place some sort of personnel evaluation system that rewards results instead of reputation (ala the Love Machine)!  It's easy to believe that LL needed to lay off a third of their workforce last year, but some of the specific layoff decisions were incomprehensible to residents.

[Valentine's Day in Second Life - Call for Submissions]

/me stands in Caledon Oxbridge ... what is that noise?

Even in this rarefied atmosphere I can hear waves of subterranean laughter.

You may wish to reconsider the title of this blog entry, my dear Brett.

[Linden Lab's New CEO]

Since no one is reading this anyway, I suppose it doesn't matter if I say this:

Yo Rod.  What'ja do to Joe Miller?

Looks like we're down to 4 execs at LL again, folks.  Maybe Mr. Humble will be bringing along a whole new gang when he shows up.  Let's hope they're not TOO shiny, and that they actually know how to get things - really, almost anything, the list of potential improvements is immense - done.

[Linden Lab's New CEO]

Welcome Rod, and thanks to BK and other LL execs and managers for holding down the fort during recruiting!  Perhaps we'll see the exec team fill out again now.  (Interesting to see the recent addition of Legal Counsel to the team again, maybe she should be introduced too?).

SL is definitely an entertainment product, but it is not a game.  Rod, I'm cheered by your background and stated interest in SL: ""I have a long standing interest in the how the boundaries of society and economics change as communications evolve in new ways."

Rod, have fun here, help us make an ever more interesting and vital SLworld, and Happy Holidays!

[A Farewell From Jack]

Fare well, Jack.  Never had to deal with land issues, but always respected you for not being afraid to deliver tough messages, as well as running clearly useful office hours.  Train up someone else on how to do that office hour thang before you leave, please?

*smiles*

Nika Talaj

[[QUICKTIP] Running multiple Viewers? Separate your cache folders!]

The issue with multiple instances of the same viewer is different, in that case the trouble is that only the first instance is given write access to the cache, the rest are read only if they do not get their own folders. The third party viewers share this limitation and Torley's advice applies to them too.

I was unaware that multiple instances of a viewer had read-only cache access, but I can see how it came to be.  This just causes a performance hit for viewers 2-n, rather than any errors, yes?

I'm wondering if Linden support has been seeing an increased volume of crash complaints due to cache incoherency, and that's why this hint is (finally) seeing the light of day.  I have suspicions that something has happened server-side that is leading to cache errors.  I've been using the same ancient viewer (Snowglobe 1.5x) since it was posted, and in the past - oh, two months? - I've begun getting intermittent series's of rapid crashes that are fixed by clearing cache.  I've seen friends encounter this on other viewers as well.

 

ETA: I'm seeing this on both of my machines, very different environments, one Win7, one XP, etc..  Never was a problem before a couple of months (or so) ago.  Goes away every time with a simple cache clear.

[[QUICKTIP] Running multiple Viewers? Separate your cache folders!]

I'm glad you gave this basic truism - different viewers each need their own cache - more visibility, Torley!

It would be ideal if something could be done along the lines of what Ann suggests - if the Linden codebase could contain a snippet that automagically appends a unique string to the standard cache name for each viewer.  Of course, that presupposes that each viewer has a numeric unique identifier, which perhaps requires more coordination than the TPV community could be expected to demonstrate.  You COULD hash the viewer name, but ... hmmm ... prolly lead to a proliferation of abandoned cache folders.  Ah well.

[[QUICKTIP] Toggle offline instant messages (IMs)]

Forwarding of offline messages/notices seems to work intermittently; it's been that way for me since 2007 at least.  (And yes, I've checked my spam filters.  I've even turned them off for periods just to test).  I'm very sure I'm not alone in this.  If I have two avatars that are members of the same group, they each seem to get a random subset of the notices that actually are sent.

I'm resigned to this always being the case.  My question is: does anyone know enough about this to be able to give guidance as to how to send a notice so that it is most likely to be forwarded successfully?  For example, if the problem is in SL's messaging servers, then presumably it would be best to send them when the grid is most idle?  Or, if the problem is with a 3rd party message gateway service that SL uses, perhaps when that gateway is most idle?

Any clues?

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

So I am wondering, is this normal with the blog?... then I guess there's always that possiblity as long as it remains open, eh?  Unless I missed it, I'll just keep reading.

I'm checking back occasionally.  The major nonprofits in SL are doubtless contacting LL directly, and they would probably hear first if LL decides to reconsider.  However, it is not at all promising that no Linden has even posted a "We're reading your comments with interest".

If they do reconsider, they would probably update the OP on this thread to indicate the time frame for a decision, which would be announced via a new blog post.  But I wouldn't hold my breath - LL surely anticipated both the outcries and subsequent sim closures.  In absolute numbers, the number of closures may not be a problem for them.  In loss of future growth, it will be a big problem.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

(Well, probably.  #2 would be almost as difficult as... oh, say, moderating a discussion forum.)

*smiles*  Well, only if LL were terribly concerned with maintaining an image of completely even-handed giving.  But, they're in a budget crunch, I'd really suggest that they simplify the process instead.  Many fewer projects approved, and less bending-over-backwards to give folks the benefit of the doubt.  Isn't this how it would really come down?

> Some sims, even after 2 email warnings to their administrator, would not respond to the requirement to resubmit.  Result: 1 further warning in January, sim deletion Feb 1st.

> Some projects have already been up for 6 months or more with no significant traffic.  Result: unless the new submission outlines a dramatically new project, sim deletion Feb 1st, because the project appears to have failed.

> Some projects really are just sandboxes.  Again, sim deletion Feb 1st.

Going forward, of course, traffic cannot be used as a criteria, it's so easy to game.  But at this moment in time, it can be used.

Also, the splitting of sims for short-term fundraising off from the nonprofit discount enables LL to impose a stricter budget on them, so that otherwise worthy projects can be simply denied because LL's yearly budget for charitable fundraising has been spent.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

If the problem was widespread abuse or discounts that were unaffordable, then let me suggest an alternate message.

----------------

We are experiencing widespread abuse of the nonprofit discount.  Therefore, we're forced to take the following measures:

1.  As of the next academic year, starting MM/2011, the educational/nonprofit discount for full sims will be reduced to 35%.  Plus, <description of deal for homestead/open sims>

2.  We are tightening the criteria for the discount as of January 2011.  We wish to focus on permanent projects by accredited institutions that  provide structured programs (as opposed to sandboxes and/or social  spaces).We realize that this may cause some of you additional paperwork, and we regret the necessity.   In an attempt to mitigate this, we have run traffic statistics on existing discounted estates, and reviewed our relationship with some institutions with which we have long-term relationships.  That has resulted in a list of organizations that need not resubmit for discount approval: <url>.  The others of you must submit the expanded set of forms, <url>.

3.  Some nonprofits receive nonprofit discounts for sims for short-term fundraisers, such as RFL.  These will no longer be covered by the nonprofit discount, but instead will be administered by LL's own charitable giving office.  Projects already approved for 2010 will go forward without change; however, events scheduled in 2011 must apply for a charitable grant <url>.

Again, we apologize for any inconvenience.

-------------------

My consulting fees are $150/hr.  This took 20 minutes.  You can pay me in Lindens.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

The Board of Virtual Ability would like to express our deep disappointment....

Gentle Heron
for the Board of Directors of Virtual Ability, Inc.

Am I correct in gathering that this policy came as a surprise?  I am astonished that LL would announce this without at least spinning it to prominent non-profits.  Virtual Ability's work in SL is quite widely known and respected, partly through LL's own press.

Does that mean that this will come as a surprise to RFL as well?  That could be noisy.

[Two Important Updates on 2011 Land Pricing]

I'm not involved in education in SL, but I'm sure LL feels they have analyzed the pros and cons of supporting it, and evidently they are happy to see schools go.  This is incomprehensible to me, though.  Are they aware of how many educators own or rent land in SL which is NOT on the school's property?  The Steamland's library system, Metanomics, Oxbridge ... etc. etc.  ... how many institutions grew out of academics in SL?

The timing is particularly bizarre - just when LL's supposedly figured out how to create safe areas for teens, and in the middle of the school year.

What a boon for ReactionGrid.  I don't suppose LL's plotting any sort of merger with them?

ETA: I always thought it might be good for LL to have one grid for business/education, and a separate one for entertainment.

[Introducing Kim Salzer, Our New VP Marketing]

Welcome, Kim.  With your arrival we're one step closer to that gold standard of kewlness, having an ad for SL done by William Shatner!  *WOOT*

Your background seems very much in line with LL's renewed dedication to SL as an entertainment platform, certainly SL's sweet spot.  Is it the final death knell for enterprises in SL?  Or am I missing something in your background?

ETA: also, re: "I’m excited about the prospect of helping to build a product that  really  empowers people to express what they’re about, and that can make a real  difference in their lives.".  Keep in mind that human reinvention often involves expressing, sometimes extremely, what people are NOT YET about.  SL is very different from classic games in that it has no built-in goals and thus is very freeing, very capable of being a sketchpad for new RL traits and accomplishments.