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Nuhai Ling

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Everything posted by Nuhai Ling

  1. Leans over and whispers... its Linden Lab, not Linden Labs.
  2. I have seen this type of attack happen elsewhere and its always frustrating. Lately the griefers have been rezzing the exploder on Linden-owned land like a road and then shooting it over to private parcels that seem to be uncared for. Since no one can contact the land owners quickly and Linden Lab is slow to respond (if at all), it becomes a real pill to deal with. Sadly, one or the other will have to respond to get it returned / stopped. Best defense against this is to know thy neighbors! Talk to them occasionally and find out how to contact them if something like this happens. Everyone has some way of being contacted in an emergency even though you have to be creative sometimes. I have a few friends that know my RL contact info, so my neighbors know if I am not on to send help messages to them which get relayed to me. A lot of us also have our off-line IMs sent to our e-mail and its just a matter of knowing. Hope you get it taken care of and good luck!
  3. I know I am addicted to Second Life when.... I see someone in RL and want to read their profile before saying hello! I call somone in RL a newb when they say or do something stupid! I am impressed with a RL guy who does not start off a convesation with, "Wanna f*ck?" I ask a RL guy to resize it for my comfort! I blank out during a RL conversation and then appologize by saying I crashed! And one that is totally true... I take a pic of my avi to the hairdresser and say I want the same haircut!!!
  4. How sad... Brian was the one ray of RL hope for all the SL beastiality clubs to be validated as mainstream. At least his dream of legalizing pot is coming true though. Thank you Brian for all your inspiration! :matte-motes-big-grin-wink:
  5. Neat pic, makes me feel like part of the universe! But um... which dot in particular?
  6. This made me laugh... According to a recent post from Linden Lab about Project Interesting, they have already applied "... a set of improvements to how the Viewer and server work together to know what scene objects to draw. We’ve already made the server smarter about sending the important, "interesting" stuff first..." Who else would have loved to attend the Linden Lab meeting when they decided what was "interesting" (second only to the day when they made the "Naughty Word List" a few years ago)?!!! We will never know what was said behind those closed and double-bolted doors but we can imagine! What would top your list of "rez first" things in Second Life?
  7. I think the comments got off track from the original question although I have enjoyed reading them! Yes, I friend people on occasion but I let them know the invite is coming first. I also friend people "temporarily" to get their calling card which I use in all kinds of ways... and yes I tell them to be ready for unfriending too! :matte-motes-big-grin: I usually write something snarky instead of the general "Will you be my friend" tag like... Will you stalk me after accepting this? Friends [X] Lovers [ ] Enemies [ ] Undecided [ ] Choose "Accept" to dispute Linden Lab's TOS You have been chosen! Click "Accept" to f*ck me again! You are not Neo, "Accept" your fate Mr. Anderson! By accepting this you agree my future messages are not spam! F [X] BF [ ] BFF [ ] BFFL [ ] BFFSL [ ] FU [ ] And my all-time favorite... Its only friendship, not a committed relationship!
  8. By definition SL is not a game; it has no defined rules, goals, or conclusion. Some argue - and rightfully so - that it is becoming more video game-like as we loose the ability to be self expressive, pursue unhindered experiences, and "own" what we create. That still does not make it a game, just a repressed virtual landscape where the unpaid work and skill of many make a few people very rich. Aside from that, SL is an extension of my RL self in that I see it as a creative hobby and means to socialize in a different way than Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. Facing reality head on, its pretty cool I can bump pixels in-world without messing up my hair and having to lock the door after a guy disappears!
  9. My funniest moment happened about an hour after I first rezzed my avatar. Imagine this... I am sitting in my college library plugged into the system (yep, before WiFi) when I go through enrollment and then a lengthy building showing me how to walk, fly, and click on things. When I get to the end there is a sign saying click this, this, and this to get the world map and start exploring! Sounds easy and innocent enough, so I click a random point on the map, hear my first whhhoooosh-clink of the teleport and am whisked away.... where I land on a huge open sandbar with one small building in the middle. There stands another avatar - a male - who looks at me and walks up. "Yaaaaa!" I think, and have the following conversation: Me: Hello! Them: Hello! How are you? Me: I am great! I am new in Second Life [notice I didn't know the shorthand SL yet!]. Can you tell me what there is to do here? Them: Welcome to SL [What the frick is SL? Oh, he meant Second Life!]! This is a gay beach for men. Were you looking for a place like this? Me: Oh no! I am sorry, I am a girl! Thank you! Them: No problem. [I didn't read that because I was clicking like mad at the map and trying to remember how to teleport!] Have a great day! And that is why I think SL is filled with gay men to this day! LOL!
  10. I hate to burst everyone's bubble but Real Life companies left SL in 2008 after Linden Lab changed their TOS policy concerning copyrights and ownership. At the time there were several legal questions being raised about copyright infringment and ownership of virtual property on Second Life servers. In response, Linden Lab ammended their TOS. What drove companies out almost immediately was this gem: 7.2 You grant certain Content licenses to Linden Lab by submitting your Content to the Service. You agree that by uploading, publishing, or submitting any Content to or through the Servers, Websites, or other areas of the Service, you hereby automatically grant Linden Lab a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicenseable, and transferable license to use, reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works of, display, and perform the Content solely for the purposes of providing and promoting the Service. You understand that this license enables Linden Lab to display, distribute, promote, and improve the Service. You agree that the license includes the right to copy, analyze and use any of your Content as Linden Lab may deem necessary or desirable for purposes of debugging, testing, or providing support or development services in connection with the Service and future improvements to the Service. The license granted in this Section 7.2 is referred to as the "Service Content License." Following sections also allowed Second Life users to use any content displayed in public areas as if they were licensed to do so. This completely killed the concept of Real Life advertising in-world. The sections were: 7.3 You grant certain Content licenses to users of Second Life by submitting your Content to publicly accessible areas of the Service. 7.4 You also grant Linden Lab and other users of Second Life a license to use in snapshots and machinima your Content that is displayed In-World in publicly accessible areas of the Service. In short, no company was willing to give up their property rights to Linden Lab and its users just to have a virtual world presence. At the same time there were also the lawsuits brought against Linden Lab by Stroker Serpentine (the infamous SexGen cases) which started in 2007 and concluded in 2009. In short, Linden Lab was scrambling not to be the target of mass legal actions and consequently distanced themselves as much as possible from offering any binding property rights to SL residents. This happened before the economy tanked and users under 18 years old were allowed on the main grid. As logical as it seems that companies like Coca-Cola and H&R Block left SL because they could not afford it and were afraid of naked avatars on their sim, those issues had nothing to do with their decision to abandon SL. Sorry! As a side note, Linden Lab's aversion to legal battles was not limited to the copyright cases. Before that they eliminated in-world gambling because of congressional and legal inquiries, and more recently they changed their policy about third-party linden exchanges to avoid running afoul of federal regulations. No matter how innovative Linden Lab is, they are a company focused on making money rather than being a crusader for virtual reality.
  11. Always be careful of the groups you join and check ALL of the roles you belong to for the group liability status. Some groups lure members in specifically to spread their fees, including the costs to buy land. If you join a group this should be the first thing you check. If any roles share liabilities, leave immediately. You will not be charged until fees are incurred. Also send a note to the group owner explaining why. Most of the time the group owner does not have a clue that the liability defaults to everyone. Also keep your eye on your expenses every week. Some owners have been known to turn on group liabilities the day they are charged and then turn them off again before any members know. It is rare but can happen. Don't be a victim, be aware!
  12. I am glad you can get deposits from your clients and it sounds like you have built a solid reputation, BUT I still advise to never, ever, ever pre-pay for SL work. Although a buyer could refuse the creator's work, if it is completed per the contract it is extremely doubtful they would not buy the item. The "risk" is always on the buyer just as in real life. The only way contract work should be done is to have the builder make the product and then offer the full-perm final version for sale. FYI, when I do custom work it is always with two conditions. The first is that I will supply the full-perm product by using the in-world sales function once it is accepted by the buyer. Second, I do not sell or offer copies of custom work I made for clients. They paid me to make their product so they also gain exclusive rights to it. The caveat is that if they back out at the last minute - and again, I have never had that happen - then I have the right to sell it as I see fit. Remember... buyer beware! It will keep you happy all your life!!!!
  13. Why did you pay for the work up front? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but never, ever, ever pre-pay someone to make you products in Second Life. Responsible SL builders will work with you to make a product and then rez a full-perm copy for you to buy. That way you get your product and they get paid without the fuss. It also leaves a purchase trail just in case. If you pay up-front, it only looks like you transferred money from your account to theirs, leaving Linden Lab no information that it was for something specific. I would chalk this up to experience and move on. There is really no recourse to compel the builder to provide a finished product at this point. I know its tough but don't dwell on it... just keep going and don't forget.
  14. I have a couple close friends who still manage university sims in SL but a ton (most) left after Linden Lab discontinued their education / non-profit discount a year or two ago. At the time many universities got in a bind because they were working with fixed budgets or grants, so the only two options were to cut land holdings in half or leave altogether. Since then education budgets have been slashed left and right by the states and federal government. Added to that is the decline of Second Life overall, fewer students purchasing high-performance desktops for school, and the huge learning curve of the viewers. Their is also a new nail in the coffin. Linden Lab recently changed its policy requiring invoice-paying members - most universities in other words - to have a minimum of 5 sims. After hearing about all these things, I realized why Tyche's weekly sim roundup reports education sims consistently closing. The exodus must have been enough to finally catch Linden Lab's attention this winter because they quietly reinstated the education discount for many schools and offered the same to those that recently left. So far though they have not made it an official policy so those in the know are not calculating it into their budgets or project proposals. Even if the pricing was guaranteed, universities are also considering the impact of upcoming changes such as the server-side viewers. They are expecting it to mirror the viewer 2 fiasco which drove off residents for months while bugs and function issues were fixed. The difference between that disaster and today is that Second Life was in a growth stage about as steep as the decline is right now. That means fewer incoming students will be familiar with Second Life and those that are will be discouraged from praising its classroom potential. The universities (which are in their budget talks now) are also calculating the costs for upgrading their systems to accommodate the new viewers, the time needed for students to learn how to access it, and the option to move to open sim (which has benefits beyond financing). Overall I think it would be a hard sell to convince schools to enter Second Life and a difficult one to keep the few that are still here. This leads to why I think the New Media Consortium and other education-based groups have slowly faded or left altogether; their "customers" left before them for all the reasons I mentioned above. In fact I have not heard a peep from NMC since last May which coincides with what you are seeing in their user log-ins and web portals. I think they were a very active group whose membership and interest simply departed Second Life for better opportunities. Hope that helps and reflects what other education and non-profits have been experiencing as a whole!
  15. I didn't see anything on the forum about this, so pardon me if its a repeat. Usually news like this hits here pretty fast... Wagner James Au reported in New World Notes on March 14 that Linden Lab appears to be offering educational groups a discount again... under the table and only to those who have recently left Second Life! Here is the link: http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2013/03/second-life-education-non-profit-discount.html Of course this has lead to many others picking up the story and tons of comments being generated about fairness (especially to the few schools that have stayed in SL) and what it implies about Linden Lab's financial condition. So what do you think?
  16. I wanted to attend raves but knew I might get hurt (90 lb girls in large crowds don't mix well!). When I heard about all the pixel bumping I thought it might be a safe alternative! I have been doing it ever since! :matte-motes-big-grin-squint:
  17. Dang, I so totally fell for it! Ha ha! No soap, radio! So funny! :matte-motes-big-grin-squint:
  18. According to yesterday's blog, "... [Linden Lab] recently added some banner ads to SecondLife.com. Today, we’ve also added them to the Marketplace, and we’ll soon expand the program to other Second Life web properties as well. The placement of these ads is designed to be unobtrusive, as we don’t want them to interfere with your Second Life experience..." So there you have it, the Marketplace is only the second of many places we will start seeing banners added to our SL experience. The unobtrusive part I have doubts about though. I am not a marketing genius, but isn't the goal of buying ads to get them put in the most obtrusive places possible? Even I know that from advertising my little Second Life shops! Speaking of marketing, this made me think of a new Linden Lab slogan: "Going the way of Zynga since 2012!"
  19. First check that the money was sent to the right PayPal account, your SL account states the transaction is "complete" and not "in process," and it is still not in-process with PayPal itself. Its been my experience that the larger the USD transfer from Linden Lab, the longer you have to wait, sometimes up to two weeks. I don't think anyone knows for sure why transferring USD out is taking longer and longer but my guess is that it is tied to LL's income stream. Since they do not keep a pot of cash equal to the market value of all linden they have to rely on current revenue. That has been declining (at least in tier and linden purchases) for over a year... in fact, all the way back to when they announced USD transfers to PayPal would not be done the same day. Don't forget the LL mantra; "Investors first, customers last."
  20. Is anyone experiencing "missing right hand syndrome" lately? Recently I have noticed that every avatar's right hand "blinks" by disappearing for a moment and then reappearing in rapid succession. This includes my own hand! It is not preventing interaction but it is a little annoying. I recently started using Firestorm in preparation for the upcoming server-side changes. I wiped all previous viewers from my system before loading it so I should not have an over-write issue. I am also a Window user so that takes the Mac factor out. I have been fapping more than usual though (spring must be coming) but that should affect my RL eyesight and not my avatar, right? :matte-motes-big-grin-squint:
  21. I have to agree with Dana, Phoenix has better frame rates. This is both true for newer systems and older or less capable computers. People are also resistant to change, especially when it comes to relearning such a complicated viewer (the viewer 2 fiasco proved that). Both won't matter though when LL switches to server side loading and "breaks" all but the newest viewers. Sadly, I think it will be a massive blow to SL. For whatever reason, LL is not aware that the world is generally moving away from high-capacity desk and bulky laptop computers that can handle the requirements SL viewers demand. Instead, people are favoring tablets and smart phones that serve most of life's general needs (e-mail, instant messaging, video conferencing, imaging, and basic gaming). This is nothing new for LL though; as long as I have been a resident they have outbuilt the viewer compared to the average user's computer systems. I think the upcoming change is going to finally widen the void too much - especially considering computing trends - and cause the community to shrink dramatically. I don't want to say SL is doomed but it will certainly be a changed place before the end of the year compared to today. :: Sent from my tablet prior to using Lumiya to access SL for basic interactive needs :: :matte-motes-big-grin:
  22. Amethyst Jetaime is completely correct about how Linden Lab makes money from all accounts, even the free ones. The only people that don't contribute to LL's bottom line in some way are those that do not spend a single linden or receive paid gifts. How many do we know like that? No one really knows the financial condition of Linden Lab but linking the appearance of ads with the 12% decline in private sim revenue last year and another 2% already this year is easy to do (according to gridsurvey.com, 12% equals just over $6 million in lost revenue compared with 2011). Like most US companies though, the "stress" is less likely about covering bills and more about paying what their investors expect in returns. I seriously doubt those who receive LL's profits even play in Second Life or care about the user's experience. As long as returns are good and growth is promised, they are happy on their real-life yachts boinking real life strippers while their real life wives are out spending real life money on real life Armani! Personally speaking, the ads bother me because I feel like it signals Linden Lab is cashing out Second Life more than usual. Perhaps they are taking notes from Zynga too; they started interrupting actual play with advertisements that are literally labeled "Sponsors of free game play." If that is the case, it won't be long before free SL accounts are paused for 16 seconds during their in-world pixel boinking to watch an advertisement for Britta.
  23. I am kinda shocked hearing people defend Linden Lab's poor service considering their core business is providing a service. Think about this for a moment... Unlike WoW and other on-line games that provide entertainment and controllable content (a product in other words), Linden Lab's Second Life is merely a display grid for their residents who provide their own content. Their is no product, only a service. As such, most company executives would naturally strive to provide the best service support possible to retain customers. This has never been the case with Linden Lab though. They have consistently considered themselves a product-based company with service being a low priority. That is why they have never been able to retain residents (clients) who either opt for other entertainment or cheaper same-service alternatives like OpenSim. Consequently Linden Lab now has a continual decline in revenue which will eventually wipe out profits unless they change their corporate mentality. Sure it is ok to defend a service company's poor service record but that is equal to saying they have a right to fail. Personally speaking though, I don't invest in companies that are bent on self-destruction and I think few others do too.
  24. Did anyone else read the Phoenix-Firestorm Project's warning about all TPVs going on the fritz as early as March? Here is the link to last week's Q & A Meeting with a 20-minute "We are warning people now..." statement by Jessica Lyon. Make sure to read the blog reviews and video. The link is http://www.firestormviewer.org/qa-results/ I thought for sure this would make a bigger splash here but ya'll might still be recovering from VD (Valentine's Day for those of you with PG minds!). For me, it triggered memories of the huge drop in retention and visitation SL experienced after Viewer 2 was launched, and back then a smaller percentage of residents used TPVs. Anyone want to gander a guess as to the overall effect of making Firestorm and other viewers unable to work for weeks or even months? I won't speculate yet but hope everyone else does! I am leaving the discussion wide open...
  25. I just think this is sweet poetic justice. For a while after the Zindra migration I know many owners were wondering how long it would be before Linden Lab banned adult places altogether. Now that question is off the table and replaced with a new one... how much of their bottom line is being dragged down by maintaining all the vacant land that is NOT adult. I will also echo some comments above... not all sim owners are deciding on an adult rating for sex-based reasons. I think more and more are going that way to gain the most freedom, especially for role-play, art, and even education. Interestingly, the trend also indicates how the adult rating is meaning less and less. It has always been a joke and never enforced. Sim owners seem to be realizing that and understanding the stigma behind the title doesn't affect their bottom line at all.
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