Living with the me…

You see, I keep firing off messages on Twitter that I might otherwise save and collect into a larger, cohesiver thought.  Of course, once they’re gone, they’re gone and this space is most wounded by those lost thoughts.  I do want to stick this in here tho,  KoinUp has done a swell job of cataloging interesting places in Second Life and making them easily accessible to the masses.  Take a look at the little slide show here to see some of the slick builds and avatars people are working on.

<a href=”http://www.koinup.com/places/”>Second Life Places</a>

Tags: secondlife, twitter, koinup

/me looks around at all the dust

Thursday is Go day at the Go Center
posted by Veeyawn Spoonhammer on Vineland using a blogHUD : [blogHUD permalink]

This announcement is a pretty big deal:
IBM and Linden Lab Interoperability Announcement

Perhaps you don’t really care now but take a moment and imagine where this could really go.  I know it takes a lot of convincing with some folks when you discuss virtual worlds and the experience had through avatarian representation.  Most just shake their head and say, “That’s nice.”  The reality is this, the 3D world truly acts as an extension of the ‘real’ world (20% chance it’s not real).  We don’t become someone else when using a virtual world we become a more concentrated and in some sense truer version of our selves as the traditional social barriers don’t exist. 

I’m rambling a bit but the point is virtual world interoperability is the only way for virtual worlds to be accepted as a viable business, social or entertainment tool.  Congrats IBM and Linden Lab…I hope the future gets here soon.

Tags: virtualworlds, ibm, linden labs, second life, opensim, future

Not to be melodramatic but this is it.  The end of civilization commences on July 15th:

(via LAist)
“There’s so very little to watch tonight. It’s strange to think that between now and July 27th (the season premiere of AMC’s “Mad Men”), the only thing we’re waiting for is the July 15th series premiere of G4’s “Hurl!” Yes, the reality show in which contestants force feed themselves vast quantities of questionable substances and then subject themselves to various stomach turning abuses”

See you on the other side.  Wear a helmet.

Tags: tv, the end, what have we become, gluttony, fame whores, america

I can’t help but wonder why, among the many virtual worlds, Second Life stands out for me.  I’ve stepped into most of them and have many accounts that I no longer use but I routinely, almost daily, return to Second Life and carry on some sort of existence there.  The ability to create almost anything keeps me trapped in the expansive world Linden built.  If I am so trapped, why aren’t more people logging in, becoming ensnared?  Why has concurrency seemingly flatlined?  How is it that more people prefer the 2.5D experience of something like Habbo Hotel as opposed to the imerssive 3D world of SL? 

It then occurred to me.  It’s the same reason Wal-Mart is gigantic and immensely successful and art stores tend to be smallish and hard to find. 

Most people don’t want to create anything. 

Second Life, at it’s best, is a world of user created content.  The content isn’t always easy to create and, mostly, it’s a multi-part, time consuming process.  Generally speaking, time consuming doesn’t translate to entertaining.  From my experience users logon, find a game they like and play that.  Perhaps the only creation they want to dabble in is the creation of a new outfit from the plethora of shopping outlets in world.  The various other worlds tend to focus on consuming.  You gain experience or some sort of money and then go purchase things which you may use to furnish a room.  These items may contribute further to your experience and may lead to more money which leads to more consuming.  There are exceptions but almost every other virtual world works this way. 

The slight image problem that SL has of an empty world with nothing to do has plagued the PR efforts of Linden Lab because most people want to be entertained and want an experience to unfold for them.  SL is very much about going and making your experience.  It’s hard to say if the global populace will ever flock to a world where the onus is on them to make it their own.  I say this slightly in gest but maybe avatars should be given a level when they enter the world and for every interaction they earn some sort of skill points.  To what end?  It doesn’t matter but it gives a user an immediate goal.  It’s very MMOG but isn’t that what the average user expects when they first land on OI?  Let the urge to advance in levels lead them to explore the supposed empty world.

There are, of course, many things to do and places to visit and one could say that most SL entrepeneurs are not adept at marketing themselves to the new av’s dropping in on Orientation Island.  And there are, of course, many people making things in world hence all the places for others to go shopping.  Technical hurdles aside, for SL to reach truely awe inspiring concurrency there needs to be a central metropolis where users can zone out and play games, watch videos, consume, sit passively and watch an experience unfold before them. 

Tags: secondlife, virtual worlds, creation, consumerism

In another world it was used to teach emperors about war and strategy. In today’s world it is of enormous popularity in Asia. In our world it exists mostly in a small pagoda, tucked away on an island named Vineland.

A brief history of Go
Originating in ancient China the name ‘Go’ actually comes from the Japanese word for the game. The games true origin is shrouded in legend and its creation is traced to somewhere between 2300 and 2200 BC. Reportedly a Chinese emperor by the name of Yao had his counselor design the game for Danzhu, the emperor’s son. Of course, there are other stories of the game’s creation as no one can be sure of the exact details.

Playing Go
The first impression can be a bit confusing. Go is played on a board marked with a grid (officially 19×19 lines but games can be played on smaller grids) and there are two color stones; black and white. Players take turns placing their stones at any intersection of lines. Once a stone is played it does not move unless captured by the opponent and moved off the board.

The game itself is incredibly simple to learn. There is, essentially, one “rule.” The ko rule which states a player cannot make a move that returns the game to the position before the opponent’s last move. (this prevents infinte loops). Otherwise, the game continues as players place stones. If a group (chain) of stones is surrounded by the opponent’s they are captured and removed.

Once the basics of the game are learned the player embarks on a path of learning detailed strategy that will take many played games to understand. To get into strategy here would be a disservice as there are plenty of resources for improving your Go skills.

The Go Center of Second Life
Created by Zarf Vantongerloo, the Go Center currently hosts 6 tables for heads up play. Every Thursday there are scheduled, hosted games beginning at 3am SLT and running all day. It’s also terribly easy to find a pickup game at this time. I highly recommend you announce your level of Go skill before sitting down to a game. I consider myself a beginner and I have had many a gracious opponent help me through the strategy and play. It’s the only way to learn. When you do find an opponent and kneel on the cushion next to the Go board you can touch the start button on the side of the board. It actually looks like a power button which I find comically ironic. The face of the board will become a menu with which you will configure your game. If you are completely inexperienced let your opponent handle the setup. For a first time I would suggest a game on a 9×9 board. When your done setting up the grid will appear and play begins. To finish a game there are spoken commands. If you say resign the board will resign you from the game and score a win to your opponent. The games and scores are kept in a database accessible on the web. I could go on but the best way to experience the Go Center is to teleport there and begin playing.

Tradition
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the deep tradition within the world of Go. Like many games that have existed for centuries Go is steeped in it. The board that is uses and the quality of the stones is very important as the sound the stone makes when placed on the board is part of the Go experience. I mention this specifically as the creators of the Go center have taken care of these small but important details to make the game as authentic as possible.

Reference
Go Center
Wikipedia entry on Go
For more information and updates on events, join the group “The Game of Go aka Wei’qi aka Baduk” in Second Life

Look for a follow up interview with the creator of the Go Center soon!

Using Drupal to run Warner Bros artist sites. One Drupal install runs many many sites.

50 sites based on same code base and module stack. All code managed with subversion. Still have db synch issues between development and production db’s.

Brainstorming/Discussion about technology and the use of it in politics. Eric Bidwell is presenting, he’s running for SD mayor. (look up Twitter balloon widget)

I need to collect some links and post them here.

Kicking off with talk of nodes and references…I may be in over my head. Yep, in over my head…I need more basic Drupal experience before I get all up in this. Now demoing the use of Panels to layout Drupal pages. I need to study.