It’s like looking down on someone because they don’t have a smart phone or cable tv (I have neither, by the way). Or not hiring someone because they don’t like your favorite sports team.

I would be MORE likely to hire someone who understands the potential dangers of putting personal information on a website that shares it with the world, and who therefore shuns social media or at least uses it responsibly (is there such a thing?)

~~~

(from MSNBC Political Cartoons)

FB, in my own opinion, is probably the worst offender in the history of the Internet when it comes to privacy violations (if you don’t believe me, spend some time with a search engine and look at the dozens of lawsuits and millions of dollars in settlements that FB has paid out).

And Google, by the way, is headed in the same direction, though I still use their search engine occasionally. Their old slogan of “We’re not evil” may or may not still apply.

If you DO have a FaceBOO account, it behooves you to place little or no personal information on it, due to the fact that it is searched thousands of times a day by would-be identify thieves, scammers, and even the CIA and the FBI. No, I’m not paranoid. I’m just reminding you that FB is basically a freakin’ huge billboard about as big as the sky, for all to see. And it can be used against you by predators, identity thieves, employers, insurance companies, etc.

(I used to have a Facebook account, which I used mostly to help keep in touch with soldier friends overseas. It is now deactivated, and shall remain that way. I’d “close” it, but we all know FB keeps the data forever, so what’s the point?).

I think FB has its place, for SOME people in SOME circumstances. For me, the risks (and wasted time online) far outweigh any supposed benefits.  I refuse to be a participant, for the above reasons, and because they want me to post personal information, which they often sell to 3rd parties, while paying me exactly zero dollars.

Be very wary of any site or platform that has a privacy policy longer than 100 words or impossible to understand without a team of lawyers. How hard is it for a company to just say “We will NEVER share your information with ANYONE, in any form whatsoever, unless you expressly opt-IN.”? Wow, wouldn’t that be refreshing?

I also don’t get the insane-ness (is that a word?) of giving OTHER websites your FB login and password so you can “LOGIN HERE WITH YOUR FACEBOOK ACCOUNT!!!!” Yeah, like I trust them any more than I do Zuckenboy.

~~~

Did you see a while back that France has banned the mention of Facebook on all news stories (unless the story is about FB itself)? They said (and I paraphrase here)

they refuse to give free publicity to a billionaire corporation that gives them nothing in return,

and that spouting FB-this and FB-that is NOT to be used in the place of real, actual reporting. And, after all, is saying “go the their Facebook page at….” at the end of every news story a good thing? NO.

Go, Team France!

Ever notice that when someone is arrested, found murdered, etc., it’s usually their FB photo which immediately gets plastered all over the media? (Better make sure you have your best photos on there, I guess!) What happens when someone dies? Does their FB page remain up forever, a kind of surreal reminder of them (the answer to that question is complicated, but FB has this form: http://www.facebook.com/help/contact/?id=305593649477238 )

~~~

I think it sucks that FB discriminated against Ener and other “avatars.” I thought the Internet was the last bastion of (responsible) freedom of speech? And how can you have that without some degree of anonymity? FB and social sites know all about YOU, but what do you know about their employees who have access to your data, on multiple redundant servers? Having said that, a company has the right to exclude anyone they want (“We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone”), just as you can opt not to hire someone or not hang out with them. But FB’s explanation of avatar-discrimination is a bit nebulous and self-serving, says I.

As Ener and others have already said, who cares what your “real” name or address or age or eye color is? That information belongs in Real Life, F2F (Face To Face), meat-space, or whatever you call it… not on the Internet, where it can be potentially abused by Very Bad People.

But, not to worry. Remember when personal home pages were all the rage? Or an AOL account? Or Yahoo chat? When was the last time you visited MySpace? FB one day will fall into relative obscurity. Unfortunately it will probably be around longer than its fallen predecessors, so be careful out there. And do be careful of The Next Big Thing That Swallows The Internet and Your Free Time, lol.

I’ve already blabbed too long, and I apologize. We already have perfectly good “identities,” based on our Avatar names, looks, and speech. What more do you really need?

Oh, by the way, LinkedIn is also a big target for identity thieves, so be careful there, also. When you post your past employers, schools, graduation dates, etc., that is a gold mine for the baddies. *Giggles*

The meek might inherit the earth, but the paranoid will outlive them.

this is very crude (2 clips arts stuck together), but maybe a stylized version of it:

Maybe with a PINK globe ;p

What is the ONE thing that drives you crazy about Second Life or Open Sim?

The one “bug” that really lessens your enjoyment or satisfaction of virtual worlds?

I’m tempted to say “Viewer 2+” from Linden Lab. But as horrible as it can be (especially for those of us who cut our virtual teeth on Viewer 1.23), one can learn to live with it (or embrace third-party viewers).  What really gets my pixelated goat is a problem that’s been documented by thousands of users since at least April 2007, and remains unresolved even now.

Yes, I’m talking about INVENTORY LOSS in Second Life. If you’re lucky (and you keep your inventory small), maybe it’s never happened to you.

Random missing inventory items were reported from the early days of SL, but the problem appears to have picked up steam since the introduction of third-party viewers (TPVs) and LL’s 2.x viewers.

(see https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-114  and dozens of other similar pages… or just Google/Bing for “Second Life Inventory Loss”).

No resolution for me, or many others *sigh*

I never thought much about it (or noted any missing items) until I was foolish enough to install Viewer 2.0 a few months ago. Since then, every log on is an adventure, as I discover that another random item or two (so far, nearly always clothing) has disappeared.

Part of the reason is that 2.x viewers handle inventory loading a bit differently from the older viewers, but there are supposedly a long list of things can ultimately lead to inventory loss:  large inventory size, too many items in the main “Object” folder, use of multiple viewers, etc.

I sometimes log into SL sans pants these days, or (permanently) missing a favorite left shoe, or find that a favorite jacket has vanished forever from Inventory. Sometimes I rezz in naked, or wearing a mix of two or three completely different outfits/hair (yes, even after clearing cache etc.).

I submitted a detailed ticket to LL technical support (as instructed for specific missing items), and what happened?

They keep “closing/resolving” the ticket, and I keep re-opening it. And my inventory is still missing items. Yes, I know I’m wasting my time, but I see no point in letting them close and “resolve” an issue that they did NOT resolve, and which is clearly stated as unresolved in several places on the official SL website.

“One week ago, we provided a resolution for your issue. The case has not been re-opened, so we are changing the issue’s status to closed. If you wish to re-open…”

This is the “resolution” they spoke of: 

Unfortunately, I cannot restore the missing inventory. Once its gone, we have no power of returning it. Hopefully, the creator will get in touch with you and be able to help you out. Good Luck…”

Gee, so wrong! How can it be resolved when stuff is still missing? 

I did thank the LL tech support person for their timely responses, cause I’m nice.

According to several others who have researched the issue:  if you are a premium (paying) SL’er, you can ask for an inventory restore/fix (and occasionally someone reports that a LL person listened and fixed the problem, but not often).  If you are a non-paid member (even if you spend gobs of money in SL), good luck submitting a ticket to tech support. I was happy to even get a (useless) response.

We would be outraged if Microsoft Word ate our precious novels, or if iTunes wiped out our music, yet many of us accept the mysterious loss of inventory in SL… simply because there is often no fix, and apparently little sympathy from the LL Gods/Goddesses.

Many users have reported loss of half of their inventory, or of hundreds or thousands of items vanishing at once, permanently. More commonly, like myself, it’s an item or two here and there that simply vanishes from Inventory.  I’m not talking about non-delivered Marketplace items (a completly different issue!), but loss of items you were wearing or using last time, or that were innocently slain while sitting unused in your Inventory.

“Oh you silly avatar,” some of you are saying, “just clear your darn cache and relog!” 

Yes, that occasionally works for some people, and of course is the first and easiest solution to try!  And there are a myriad of other “tricks” that sometimes help, such as:

• The “official” fixes:  http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Inventory_loss
• Upgrading to the latest stable official LL Viewer (this is what started my problems, lol).
• Clear cache, logging into the Beta grid or an empty sim, and let inventory slowly load.
• Uninstalling all TPVs viewers, manually wiping out old cache folders,  and using only the latest LL viewer.
• Using separate cache locations if you use multiple viewers.
• “Boxing up” excess inventory to get your total count under 10,000 items, or at least to reduce the number in your “Objects” folder.
• Wiping your hard drive and starting over.
• Slathering yourself in All Purpose Machine Oil while singing Cyndi Lauper’s “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
• Contact the content creator for replacement (none of mine replied; some have left SL for good).

I’ve done all but one of the above, and have only had ONE missing item (out of dozens) reappear. No, LL wiki people, I did not lose something below ground. No, my wayward items were not returned in the wrong folder, in Lost & Found, or as a stupid coalesced object. They are gone from the virtual universe.

I’ve spent days perusing blogs and websites and wikis, and have come up with the following unofficial statistic, based on SL user stories and posts:

The “tricks” only help about 50% of the time, and even when they do, they often only partially restore missing inventory.

One of hundreds of unresolved threads/reports since 2007

You might wonder why I waste time complaining about SL inventory when this blog is based on the premise (pardon me, Ener, if I take liberty here) that Second Life is becoming more of a suckfest, and we should really consider spending more time in OpenSim.  By the way, I don’t disagree with that sentiment!

I offer all this as a warning to content creators in SL and Open Sim, or those normal peeps who simply love to virtual shop.  Sooner or later, you will likely lose some precious inventory. Yes, it’s only pixels. Some of it you can buy again. But much of it did cost us real money, and loss of inventory (data) in this day of cloud computing and redundant backups seems like it should be nearly nonexistent. Yet LL apparently refuses (or is incapable) of debugging this long-standing, horrible problem. Perhaps they need a visit from some Amazon.com programmers or other experienced bigwigs who understand how to operate and backup a frickin’ database! I’m no expert, of course, and maybe I’m completely wrong.

Will inventory loss one day plague Open Sim worlds?  I don’t know, and I hope not!  But at least for now, there is one HUGE difference between using SL or your own Open Sim world:

With your own OpenSim world (and even in some that you merely own land/server space in),  YOU CAN BACK UP EVERYTHING, or darn near everything!  

Ener has been able to backup inventory, avatars, and of course entire Sims (OAR files).  Isn’t that awesome?  Imagine if LL started letting users do the same. Would it destroy Second Life? Would content theft become even more of a problem? I don’t know, but one wonders how long people will put up with SL inventory loss (I know my patience is thinning).

See these previous related posts:

http://iliveisl.com/opensim-inventory-backup-how-to/
http://iliveisl.com/backup-backup-backup-its-virtual-but-its-real-work/ (entire PC backup)
http://iliveisl.com/trash-talkin-backing-up-and-ibm/
http://iliveisl.com/back-dat-sim-up-like-a-dumptruck/
http://iliveisl.com/oar-backups-plus-a-bonus-science-lesson/
http://iliveisl.com/iars-inventory-backup-files/

In the meantime, what can you do to help prevent tears in Second Life?  Well, honestly, you can’t do much about items you didn’t create yourself, or items that are not full perms. With Imprudence and many third-party viewers, you CAN backup full-perm items fairly easily, and even export them to some Open Sim worlds.  Yes, there are programs like Second Inventory ( http://www.secondinventory.com ), but they are limited in their ability, and are not free.

The best that some users can do is to keep a copy of the most important items in Inventory, and another copy or two in a box (preferably rezzed on 2 different sims), or to send a copy to a trusted friend (or, ahem, alternate avatar).  Of course, with (purchased) no-copy items, you don’t have those options.

Sim on a Stick sounds more awesome all the time, doesn’t it?  Who doesn’t want control over their world? Or the ability to do some sort of backup?

Cheers!  I’m off to find my pants and a missing right shoe.  Wish me luck on my impossible journey.  Should I find resolution, I will let you know.  If you have answers, kindly enthrall me with your superior knowledge.

By “service disruption”, I mean the inability to successfully log in, remain logged in, or perform the basic functions of SL or an OpenSim world, due to circumstances beyond your control.  In other words, Suck Time.

I am no expert at the inner workings of SL, Reaction Grid, or any OpenSim world.  But, I am curious (um, nosy?) as to what causes the various glitches and crashes we sometimes experience.

You probably know that a virtual world runs on a ton of complex server software and databases that exists on distant computers in some magical land (typically California, or some place with electricity, lattes, fish tacos, and corporate tax shelters).

The fairy dust that comprises SL/OpenSim worlds, unlike in “regular” games*, is a lot of data and messages  streamed almost entirely from the “corporate” end (computers far, far away), and not from your hard drive.

Service Disruptions are generally limited (only a few Regions/Sims misbehaving or kaput), but sometimes several areas or all of SL or the OpenSim world is affected. If the powers that be see (or get enough reports of) problems, they usually post a message (such as on the SL Status page, http://www.secondlife.com/status).

Service Disruptions suck, but fortunately are not as common in SL as they once were. In OpenSim worlds, which are still growing/changing, things can be in a bit more of a flux, but are still generally “stable.”  I won’t bore you further except to say that disruptions are caused by problems with one or more of these, which you can read all about if you are interested:

1. Asset Storage Cluster
2. Central Database Cluster
3. Agent (“Inventory”) Database Cluster
4. Other Database Clusters
5. Transient Data Services
6. Simulators
7. Dataservers
8. Login Server Cluster
9. Web Site
10. Linden Network
11. Internet

SL runs on dedicated servers, while OpenSim worlds may instead run on virtual servers (the latter of which creates opportunities for increased efficiency, but there can be some trade-offs as well).

For the average virtual citizen, all you need to know is this:

When LL or your OpenSim peeps tell you that things are currently funky (um, “we are experiencing issues”), and to NOT make monetary or important transactions…  do as they say, or don’t cry when you lose $Lindens or stuff.

Your viewer may give you important status messages before you even log in, so take the time to read any news that is there.

If your viewer won’t connect at all, check the SL Status Page (http://www.secondlife.com/status) or your Reaction Grid or other website for status updates every few hours. Or take a nap. You remember naps, don’t you? Not sleepy? I vaguely remember some things called “books” and “taking a walk outside” and “talking to real humans.”   ;p

——

Or, Social Networking, if you prefer that term.

It’s everywhere, duh!  Twitter, Facebook, blogs, LinkedIn, MySpace (well, still kinda there), and dozens of others.

(Image from Mallorie Rosenbluth's blog. Click image to visit)

Seems like everyone is using it.  And, often, overusing it.  Apparently some young adults can’t go 20 minutes without using social apps… or withdrawal sets in.

Many older people are just as bad. Of course, when the seniors (or the US President) are Tweeting, perhaps its a sign that we need a new paradigm.. cuz how can it be cool if everyone is doing it?

I’ve read several news articles lately that say about 1/3 of people feel “overwhelmed” by the constant barrage of tweets, updates, emails, blog feeds, news updates, and so forth.

Do you find it invading your life to an unwelcome degree? Or are you already an addict?

I’m going to go admit something that many people will not: Social media, for me, is mostly a waste of time. About 2% is gold, or at least silver or bronze quality. The rest is trumped by the dog turds on the lawn of my apartment building.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a hater! I love technology. I love apps. I love angst-driven musicians (oops, aside). I love innovation. But I’m not afraid to admit it:  I am not a social media whore. I have tried most all of them, and found them less than satisfying. No, I don’t need therapy.

I am also not a fan of reality TV shows or other inane chatter that does not improve my own life. Call me selfish, but I also don’t care about the details of your visit to your cute gay dermatologist, your boyfriend’s snoring, or your ferret’s bowel habits. Nor would I impose the boring details of my personal life on quasi-friends, much less blast that crapola out to the entire planet. For the most part, Facebook is about as entertaining to me as those ugly (and primitive) personal websites at Geocities that everyone just “had” to have back in the 1990s.

I have a Twitter account (I check it twice weekly or so), and a Facebook account (maybe twice a month). I hear you laughing!

I have some military spouses and soldiers that I keep in contact with via Facebook, but that’s the only real reason I have it. I block all games, gifts, apps, and other annoyances there. If I want to know the intimate details of your life, I’ll come move in with you. Or worse, attempt to date you. At least then I might get a real meal once in a while, instead of virtual beers and flowers! And I’m still peeved that Facebook kicked Ener Hax off, for not being “real!”

Twitter I find a bit more useful, mainly because I appreciate the brevity of 140 character messages! And I can easily follow members who have similar interests, or un-follow them without offending them. And occasionally there’s some real news there that affects me.

http://bjcblog.wordpress.com/2009/02/20/social-media-overload/

But I also have a dozen personal and work-related email addresses (although I can check them all at once, via Thunderbird).  And I have lots of  websites to keep up with, and a few awesome blogs (especially iliveisl.com).

I refuse to let all the social messages eat into more than a few minutes of the 16 or so hours a day that I’m awake. I don’t use any social media at work. I have banned all social media apps from my phone. I am in control (or so I like to think!).

Of course, some of you kinda sorta do need Facebook and company. It helps promote your blog, helps get out word about your new Etsy stuff, or helps put a few dollars in your pocket in this recession. Or maybe it’s the only easy way to keep in touch with a good friend who lives a continent or two away. That’s awesome, and I applaud you :)

But for most of us, too often, social media is often just another form of couch potato-ism, right?).  It’s right up there with funny kitten videos on YouTube.

Hmmm, just where on Maslow’s heirarchy of needs does Facebook and its kin fit in?

I can understand the “need” to feel updated or current (especially when it comes to shoe fashion). But social media doesn’t feed, clothe, or shelter you. Maybe it makes you feel part of society, or closer to your friends or grandma. Maybe it’s a way to discover an awesome new band, or get a coupon to your favorite restaurant, or orgainze a reunion.

But is all the so-called “information” (95+% of which is pure drivel) slowly driving you insane?

If you are feeling overwhelmed, ask yourself a few questions:

1.  How many different types of social media sites/content do I really need? (probably zero, but I’ll allow you one or two).
2.  Why did I sign up for a particular site/app? Because I needed/wanted to, or simply because some bozo invited me?
3.  How many times a day do I really need to check in? For that matter, why every day?
4.  Does my job/work/relationship depend on me being well-versed in social media? (ok, some jobs do, I know).
5.  Have I had a friendship/relationship hurt or destroyed due to a social media faux pas ?
6.  Are social media apps taking time away from more appropriate means of human interaction?
7.  Is social media working for me,  or am I a slave to it?
8. Do I spend more time on [insert name of social app] than I do interacting with my real family?
9. Would my reality collapse if I spent less time updating my “status” and posting trivial stuff?
10. Should I limit my access, or limit the amount of time I spend on Facebook/Twitter, etc?

Zombified by Social Media? (image from the movie 'Zombieland')

I could ask lots more questions like those, but I simply want you to realize that it’s okay if you take a few hours off. Heck, take a whole week. I dare you. If your friends don’t understand, maybe they aren’t your friends.. or maybe their brains have been zombified by social media.

It’s okay to cancel your membership on (or simply ignore) media sites you no longer want or need (although doing so on Facebook is quite a challenge). It’s okay to pare down your friends list on any site (including Second Life!). Real life will continue. It’s okay to not use every device in your arsenal to access every possible social media all day long!

Will Facebook (the current king of social media) reign supreme forever?

People’s attentions are fickle, and we are always looking for TheNextBigCoolThing.
When was the last time you logged into your MySpace account? Mmm hmmm.

Will the new Google+  — with its video chat hangouts and cool “circles” you can put people into — finally dethrone all others, becoming the One Ring to Rule Them All?  Time will tell.

Do you have any good tips for managing social media ? Or a plan that keeps you from going crazy? Do you place limits on your time tweeting/posting/updating, or are you already hopelessly addicted? Do share, if you wish. We can all use some good tips, or a good laugh!

For example, you can create Lists in Twitter to make it more manageable:
http://support.twitter.com/entries/76460-how-to-use-twitter-lists

Or you can block/hide all or some of Facebook’s apps:
http://www.labnol.org/internet/block-facebook-applications/14046/
http://echeng.com/journal/2008/01/26/how-to-block-and-hide-facebook-applications/

There are also lots of apps that automate/centralize your social media streams, but make sure you are cutting out clutter, or getting it all organized, and not just creating a barrage of more fluff!

Every minute you shave off checking your social apps is a minute that you can enjoy in the real world. Where there are beaches, family, flowers, dogs, and really cool stuff to see and do (and no batteries or 4G network required).

Social media, when overdone, reminds me of those tourists  who are constantly hidden behind a camera or camcorder, attempting to capture every moment, trivial or not.  I’d rather have actual memories of the real thing.

Gotta run… I’m walking over to my neighbor’s house. To talk to her face to face.  Now that is being social.

And I won’t even tweet about it.

Let the Music Play !  (Remember the great 80s song by that title?)

Many people say that listening to awesome music is one of their favorite things about Second Life.  But what about Open Sim?  Why is it so quiet on most Open Sim Worlds?  Maybe they just need a good radio to make life easier  :)

If you own your own land, you can set your land music URL to a station of your choice.  Granted, in Second Life I usually have my music & media turned OFF. But sometimes a girl likes to dance!

Most of you probably already know how to set the music URL on your Second Life or Open Sim land parcel:

Click   WORLD –> “About Land”,
Click the  [Audio] or [Media] tab  (depending on your Viewer),
and enter your music URL (or .mp3 location)  in the appropriate box.  Done!

And of course have your viewer Audio & Video  Preferences set to “Play Streaming Music when Available.”
(If  you are having trouble with the viewer settings, visit this wiki page for help, or check out Torley Linden’s awesome video).

You can enter streaming URLs, .mp3 locations, etc. here

Fortunately, music URLs WILL work just fine in most Open Sim worlds I’ve visited, and it works just like in Second Life.

SL/Open Sim music is actually streamed from the Net (from a particular website or server);  Second Life or Open Sim viewers or servers don’t do any of the work!  If you have a really slow Internet connection (less than 1.5 MBps), playing music while SL’ing or OpenSimming (new term?!) might slow things down a tiny bit.  If you have a 3 Mbps or faster connection you are probably fine.

FREEBIE TIP:
If you need your own free Open Sim parcel where you can play with music URL settings, look for grids with free land on the Grid List , or just download and use Ener Hax’s awesome free Sim-On-A-Stick ! (Ener, I’m assuming that music/media still works on SimOnaStick, depending on the Viewer used?).

What if you have several music URLs (Internet radio stations) that you like, and want to make a simple radio in Open Sim?

Cutting/pasting URLs to the “About Land”–>Media/Music window gets tiresome, so let’s make a radio with a few stations to automate the process!

It can be done in a single script, based on one simple command.  The same Second Life LSL (Linden Scripting Language) command for changing the parcel music URL can be used in Open Sim:

llSetParcelMusicURL();

where you simply enter a Web URL of your radio station (or .mp3 file, etc.) in the (),  and enclose the URL in ” “, as in:

llSetParcelMusicURL(“http://67.212.174.226:10001″);

This command changes the music URL for you!  This means it is pretty simple to script your own Open Sim radio that tunes between several “stations,” without the need to cut/paste URLs into the “About Land” window!

All you really need is a few music URLs from the web.  Shoutcast station URLs will do, or visit http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Music_streams for a list of some more.  (No, I’m not going to tell you how to find the URLs behind the Shoutcast stations; that can be your homework!). Internet radio stations sometimes go out of business or move to a new URL,  so be prepared to replace station URLs if they die one day.

You could also enter the location of a .mp3 file, or certain other media (read http://tinyurl.com/3vqr7h2) for a bit more info on types of audio/music URLs you can enter.

You can find a very basic radio script at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LlSetParcelMusicURL . The sample script (shown below) changes stations twice a day (based on whether it is “day” or “night” on the Sim).

The first URL (nighturl) in the script is a Shoutcast “Ambient” channel.  The  second URL (dayurl) may be a dead link,  so replace it if necessary with your favorite music URL:

//----start cut below this line---------

// This script changes the music URL based on time of day.

integer night = FALSE;
string nighturl = "http://205.188.215.228:8006"; 
string dayurl = "http://208.122.59.30:7156"; 

default
{
 state_entry()
 { llSetTimerEvent(10); }

 timer()
 {
 vector pos = llGetSunDirection();

 if ((pos.z < -.75) != night)
 { night = !night;
 if (night)
 { llSetParcelMusicURL(nighturl); }
 else
 { llSetParcelMusicURL(dayurl); }
 } 
 }
}

//—- end cut above this line ——

The above script doesn’t give you much control, and limits you to 2 stations, but it works. Now, I’ve made some pretty fancy menu-driven radios.  I sell a few on  SL Marketplace (shameless plug: http://tinyurl.com/4x5pbpb ).  But these radios use pretty complicated scripts, and require  separate notecards to hold lots of stations.

For Open Sim, I wanted to make something a bit simpler, for peeps to use or improve upon. Below is a script I wrote (and tested) in Open Sim. It’s nothing fancy (no float text, no pop-up menus).  I’m sure you real scripters can improve on my work! There are no separate notecards needed. You’ll see messages whispered (heard within 10 feet) in Local Chat.  The sample radio script has 6 stations (all working as of today).

Instructions:

1.  Copy/paste the script below as a New Script inside a prim/object.
2. Touch the prim to cycle through the stations.
3. (OPTIONAL):  Edit the script if you wish to add more URLs, turn on Access control (group only/public),  or  change stations automatically every X minutes.

***  You may freely copy or modify the script below for use in Open Sim worlds, but please do not re-sell it in Second Life. ***

Basic OpenSim Radio Script (copy all code below here):

//---SCRIPT START
// Simple Parcel Music URL Changer script  
// by DreamWalker McCallister / Dream Walker  (June 2011)
// Drop this script in a prim/object to make a radio!

// Touching the Radio will cycle thru the list of stations.
// For GROUP-owned land, Radio must be deeded to group to work.
// Radios do not work on Public land.
// Consult land owner or group leader if problems deeding.

//---User Global Variables (OK to change)

// List your Music URLS below, one per line, each in " "
// and a comma after all but last entry.
// If listing lots of stations, add some extra  "OFF",   lines
// so radio can be turned OFF at several points!

list listStations = [
"http://205.188.215.230:8000",   
"http://67.212.174.226:10001",
"http://216.218.159.151:8020",
"OFF",
"http://81.173.3.20:80",
"http://66.225.205.8:8020",
"http://205.188.215.225:8002",
"OFF"                 //NO comma after last entry in list
];

integer GroupOnly = FALSE;  //Group Only operation?  TRUE or FALSE
integer PublicUse = TRUE;   //Allow anyone to operate?
integer TimeLord = 0;       //Minutes between timed change (0 for NO timer)
//Note that manual (touch) station changes also reset the timer.

//--Do Not edit below here unless you know what you're doing

//--Global Variables
integer accessOK;
key keyToucher;     // holds UUID of last avatar who touched me
key keyOwner;       // holds UUID of my Owner
integer countStations;
integer currentStation;

//--Subroutines & Functions

ChangeStation()
{   llSetParcelMusicURL("");
 llWhisper(0,"Tuning....");
 currentStation += 1;
 if ( currentStation > (countStations -1) )
 currentStation = 0;

 string tempURL = llList2String(listStations,currentStation);
 llSetTimerEvent(TimeLord*60); //reset any timers

 if (tempURL == "OFF")
 {   llSetParcelMusicURL(""); // "" (no URL) means OFF
 llWhisper(0,"Radio is OFF.");
 if (TimeLord > 0) llWhisper(0,(string)TimeLord + " min Timer is ON.");
 }

 else
 {   llSetParcelMusicURL(tempURL); llSleep(0.5);
 llWhisper(0,"Playing Station: " + tempURL); llSleep(1);
 }

}

default
{
 on_rez(integer start_param)
 {   llResetScript(); 
 }

 state_entry()
 {   llSetParcelMusicURL(""); //OFF
 llSetTimerEvent(0); //all timers OFF
 keyOwner = llGetOwner(); //save OwnerUUID
 countStations = llGetListLength(listStations);
 currentStation = -1;
 llWhisper(0,"Radio Ready. Touch me to change stations.");
 if ( TimeLord > 0 )
 {   llSetTimerEvent(TimeLord*60);
 llWhisper(0,(string)TimeLord + " minute Timer is ON.");
 }

 }

 touch_start(integer total_number)
 {   accessOK = FALSE;
 keyToucher = llDetectedKey(0);

 //Simple Access Control Check:
 if ( llSameGroup(keyToucher) && GroupOnly == TRUE )
 accessOK = TRUE;
 if ( keyToucher == keyOwner) 
 accessOK = TRUE;  //Owner always has access
 if ( PublicUse == TRUE ) accessOK = TRUE;

 if ( accessOK == TRUE )
 {   accessOK = FALSE; //reset access, just in case
 ChangeStation();  //call subroutine
 }

 else
 {   llInstantMessage(keyToucher,"Sorry, you don't have access.");
 llSleep(3);
 }

 }

 changed(integer change)
 {    if (change & CHANGED_OWNER)
 llResetScript();
 }

 timer()
 { ChangeStation();
 }

}

//---end of script

We’ve talked about the awesomeness of cloud computing, but it’s still smart to backup your data locally, in addition to any remote backup.

I’m not talking about running OpenSim on a cloud here, but just simple automatic backup of files you can’t afford to lose, and an easy way to access them from any computer. You can backup the novel you are writing, your family photos, or even your OpenSim oar files on free cloud storage.

But cloud data can and does fail, as many customers found out recently when some of Amazon.com’s cloud servers went down in April 2011.

So… backup the really important stuff to at least 2 places (for example, a USB stick + a remote location, or 2 different remote locations). An external hard drive is awesome as well, but a USB stick can survive a drop better, and they ride well in your purse or pocket, or on a keychain.

And don’t forget another form of cheap backup you probably have lying around:  blank CDs and DVDs.  I  use them to backup photos and files that I don’t need every day, or to move non-critical stuff off my hard drive. A burned CD/DVD in your closet (or a bank vault) is also pretty darn safe from solar flares or electromagnetic radiation (for you doomsdayers out there). And they are a lot easier to hide than a desktop computer, if you are worried about burglars (or zombies with eclectic tastes).

Of course, really important stuff should not be trusted to a single CD, or a single flash drive or hard drive. You need local backup PLUS remote/cloud storage.

The simplest way to backup a file or two remotely is to email small to medium sized files to yourself (Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo, etc.). If your computer dies or is stolen, your files will still be safe on the remote email servers. Some email services don’t allow certain file extensions (.exe, for example), so you may have to re-name the file or compress (.zip) it to get around that limitation.

For security, I do recommend that you compress (.zip) you files with a password before emailing, because no free email service is 100% secure from prying eyes.  If you need a good, free compression program, get  7Zip at  http://www.7zip.com , or find other free file compression programs at http://www.download.com .  For Mac users, you might try a paid version of WinZip (yes, they make a Mac version), WinRAR, or WinACE.  Do remember that email servers can go down (or get hacked), so don’t rely solely on email as a backup.

If you need more than just an occasional backup of a file or two, you should look into all the nice services that are available in the cloud.  Here are some free and cheap ones:

MOZY
One of the most full-featured and best-known backup services
http://mozy.com/
(2+ GB free storage, or $5.99 per computer for 50GB)

ADRIVE
Lots of free storage!
http://www.adrive.com/
(50 GB free storage)

CARBONITE
Easy to use, lots of features, but not free (except for trial)
http://www.carbonite.com/
(free trial/$59 per year)

iDRIVE
(the one I currently use the most)
http://tinyurl.com/6ycewp7
(5 GB free storage)
Easy automated backups

DriveHQ
http://bit.ly/jHb0xc
(1+ GB free storage)

WINDOWS LIVE MESH
http://tinyurl.com/3l79vce (review)  or  http://explore.live.com/windows-live-mesh
(5+ GB free storage)

DROPBOX
http://db.tt/Y9TwfYY
Very easy to use, and very popular
(2 GB free, get more space by referring friends)
If you can drag & drop files, you can use DropBox (mom!)

SKYDRIVE
http://skydrive.live.com/ (from Microsoft)
(25 GB storage, I think.  Simple to use, especially if you already use Hotmail/MSN Mail).

EVERNOTE
http://bit.ly/jcnJHW OR  http://www.evernote.com
A bit different from the others; it’s basically an awesome organizer. Lots of cool features and definitely worth looking at if you have been saving screenshots, website clips, or photos all over your hard drive, but would rather be able to access them in one place from any computer.

Windows Live SkyDrive

All except SkyDrive also offer automated backups/sync (unless Skydrive has recently added that).  But SkyDrive is handy if you already have a Hotmail/MSN Mail address, as you can use the same login info.

Most of the services also let you share certain files or folders with friends (or everyone) if you wish.

Dropbox, Windows Live Mesh, and Evernote are a bit unique in that they “act” more like local storage; you can easily drag/drop/update files to a folder right on your desktop.  The folder then automatically syncs with the remote backups. With DropBox (and most of the other backup plans above) you can access your files from any Internet-capable computer.

For beginners,  I’d recommend DropBox, Windows Live SkyDrive, or iDrive.
I’ve not tried ADrive, but it might be worth a look simply because it offers a whopping 50 GB storage.

If you mostly just need to get organized, take notes, or clip web content, Evernote is awesome (although it can do a lot more, such as interface with your smart phone).

For corporate users:  Carbonite, Mozy, iDrive, and DriveHQ offer good pricing for more storage.

I didn’t mention Google Docs above, but it can be used for document storage, and has tons of other uses as well (especially if you need to share/collaborate files with other people). If you mostly work with word processing documents and Spreadsheets, Google Docs makes your life a lot simpler (it can free you from the MS Office upgrade cycle!).

How safe is your data on these remote backup services?

Pretty safe (safer than on your hard drive), but be careful!  Your data is typically encrypted & compressed on all the services. If you want double security, compress/zip your files with a password before backing them up remotely (The paranoid shall inherit the Earth, ya know).

DropBox (a very popular service, and one that I use) recently had an authentication problem that for 5 hours let anyone access the accounts without knowing the password. My Yahoo account was hacked a few years ago (along with thousands of others), and I got no joy from Yahoo customer “service” about the problem.  Hotmail, Gmail, and other services have been breached before (hello, Sony). I’ve learned to password protect anything critical in email/remote storage BEFORE I send it there.

No cloud storage solution is 100% safe, but with all this free cloud storage available and a bit of planning, there’s no excuse for losing your important files to a hard drive crash! Test drive a free one today, and get a little peace of mind for your most important files.

ADrive

PS:  If you just want to keep your passwords safe in a very basic format, I highly recommend (free) Steganos Locknote. It’s as simple to use as Windows Notepad.  The Firefox web browser can also securely remember your web passwords (you only need remember a single master password), or use RoboForm if you want a password management program with more features.

• There are already good SL tutorials that are 90% applicable to Open Sim
• Open Sim is still sort of in beta and therefore a moving target (tutorials would quickly become outdated)
• Video tutorials take a LOT of time and effort to produce
• Google/search or Wiki sites can provide answers to most Open Sim issues

I’d like to mention one other thing. Some people, by nature, just suck at virtual worlds (and many video games as well), or they find them too “confusing.” It’s difficult to make tutorials that are detailed yet simple enough to help such folks.

SL & OpenSim are great for people I call The Clickers. Clickers don’t need tutorials. They are explorers!

Clickers will click on every little thing on the screen, look through all the menus, and find out every little feature. Clickers also don’t mind doing a Internet search or perusing an application’s “help” file. In Windows, Clickers know that they can RIGHT mouse click on most stuff and get a very helpful contextual menu. Clickers are often “early adopters” who like new gadgets.

Clickers do quite well in SL, Open Sim, or most any new software they try, simply because they have no fear of clicking, exploring, learning, and customizing.

Then there are the other people, who I will call The Timids. Most of them will probably never do well at OpenSim.

I am NOT talking here about people who have physical or mental issues that make navigating a virtual world more challenging than usual. Those types of folks are some of my best SL friends, and they constantly amaze me with their virtual skills (often putting me to shame, and I’m 90% functional in RL, lol).

The Timids are people who want everything dumbed down, explained to them in excruciatingly detailed pictures, or want someone to hold their hand. They won’t explore the features/settings/preferences in an app because, quite frankly, they are either lazy, or they are scared of “breaking” something. This may describe your 80-year old grandmother, who only uses her PC to play solitaire, and unplugs it from the wall to turn it off. It may describe you, or someone you know. (My grandma is pretty swift on her PC, actually!).

If you have a friend who calls you every time he/she “messes up” the satellite TV remote, don’t even think about recommending SL/Open Sim to them. Tell them to stick with Bejeweled. Or coloring books.

SL Viewer 2.x, as well as the ‘basic’ Viewer were both attempts to help The Timids. I think they both are complete failures, and they also pissed off many of the Clickers. But it points to the difficult of making a Viewer or a mode of interaction that fits everyone.

Some video games do this well, using a hands-on “intro” level rather than a printed manual, or letting you set a difficulty level from “Don’t Hurt Me” to “Death Comes Quickly,” or somewhere in between.

SL is not one of these. “Help Island” is about the sorriest intro to a game I’ve ever seen, and SL/OpenSim basically starts and stays at Level “Difficult/Experimental/Potentially Rewarding”. These days, there are nice SL wiki pages and so forth, but in the beginning you were pretty much on your own (sounds like Open Sim, right?). Most of the good “walk thrus” in SL were not created by LL, but by helpful SL users.

Some people will never “get” SL/Open Sim, because they are timid, lazy, or perhaps just too uncoordinated (“I have to press CTRL-what AND my mouse? Huh? How do I do that?). If you have the attention span of a goldfish, OpenSim may not be the best leisure activity for you. I’m not saying you are dumb or inferior in any way, just that your skills lie elsewhere. And thank God for division of labor, because we all can’t excel at everything, and we need each other’s help. A world of nothing but geeks would crumble as soon as we realized none of us knew how to make Mountain Dew or USB drives that hump like dogs.

Maybe tutorials will help the non-geeks or the The Timids. I don’t have the time or patience to make that sort of thing (and my apologies for once suggesting to Ener that she did! She has too much to do already, and she does it for free… for us).

If you need a detailed, 15-step instruction list tacked on your wall to remind you how to attach an image to an email (and that list begins with “Turn on Computer by pressing the power/on button”), then there is no tutorial that can make you proficient at OpenSim in a short amount of time.

For us Clickers (and you are probably one if you are reading this), Ener’s blog/video clips, Torley’s YouTube clips, a wiki site, or Google are all we need in the way of occasional help. But usually we figure it out on our own, because that’s half the fun!

Isn’t it nice to know that most people over 30 days old on SL/Open Sim have already passed a sort of intelligence/proficiency/curiosity test, just by getting that far? Maybe we are all geeks, but we are the people who keep the gadgets of the world humming along. We usually have tons of patience, except when we have to explain something more than once.

The point is that you are all soooo right. Making tutorials is not easy, and making one that works for people at all skill levels is even more difficult… especially when virtual worlds are constantly evolving. But shame on LL for not doing a better job in the beginning. If they had, I think that their “concurrency” numbers would be a heck of a lot better these days.

I hope that one day the world builders (be they OpenSim or the next evolution) will include good “intro” levels for newcomers who need it. Then I won’t be assualted by newbs who say things like this to me in the sandboxes of SL:

How you look like that?
Where I gets skins?
This place is boring. What do I do?
How to get the sex, yes?
I want to build house, how to start?
Where to get rich here?
I stuck cannot walk.
My penis is missing.

As it is now, I have to point newbs to a myriad of resources (Ivory Tower building course, SL help/wiki pages, Youtube videos, notecards I’ve put together, Caledon Oxbridge University classes, etc.). It’s time for better _in-world_ tutorials, if OpenSim/etc. wants to appeal to the masses. Or maybe some virtual world creators just want us Clickers there, hee hee.

I ♥ virtual worlds, but they need to be thought out like big console game designers do. You shouldn’t have to LEAVE the game/world to (hopefully) find help on Google, Wiki pages, etc. Can you imagine if every PS3/XBox/Wii release was as difficult to learn as your first day in SL/Open Sim? That is the root of the problem, at least for The Timids. It’s not entirely LL’s fault, and I admire the open-ended, “goal-less” world they have created (or rather, let the citizens create for them)… but they still don’t do much to make it easy for newcomers.

Help Island still sucks.

(No offense to you Timids out there. We need you, because you remind us to leave cyberspace and eat/bathe/work!).

Sorry, gotta run. I have to explain to someone, step by step, how to RIGHT mouse click. And I have an email from another person asking me to find something for them on Google. (Yes, I really get these requests).

Imagine a viewer with a familiar interface (think “pie wheel”), lots of new 2.x capabilities (minus the crazy changes and sidebar), some 2.x/Phoenix/Imprudence goodies, and some unique features. Welcome to the Singularity viewer for OpenSim/Second Life!  Windows/OS X/Linux versions available.

OpenSim (Enclave Harbor)

Most of you smart, sexy avatars have used at least one non-Linden viewer in OpenSim.  Imprudence seems to be the fave. Ener mostly loves it, which is good enough for me!

The newer LL (Linden Lab) 2.x viewers usually work in OpenSim. So does the old LL 1.23 viewer, at least last time I tried it.

Meerkat viewer still works, but development seems to be dead on it.  Hippo is still favored by some users, but it’s been a year since their last update.

Kirsten’s viewer is awesome for SLers (and works with OpenSim). It is often used by photography freaks and/or those with super-duper computers.  Kirsten’s is basically 2.x with more options and some improved interfaces.

Phoenix is now one of the most-used Second Life viewers. It has many extra features and a pretty dedicated development team (some of the same folks who created the no-longer-approved Emerald viewer).  I never trusted Emerald (thank goodness) and some peeps had their login info stolen… but Phoenix is LL-approved and seems to be doing just fine.

We all have our faves.  I mostly like SnowGlobe for SL and Imprudence or SnowGlobe for Open Sim.  SnowGlobe is like an evolution of the old 1.23 viewer (more stable, a few more features, a bit faster).  But most older viewers and many “alternate” viewers don’t support the 2.x “features” (42 group limits, new tattoo layers, display names, etc.).

But today I ran across a (sorta) new viewer.  It’s called  SINGULARITY and I gave it a quick SL & Open Sim test!

Pie Wheel (yay!) & Blue Skin (SL)

Singularity is a hybrid viewer of sorts.

It’s very much like a viewer you pre-2010 avatars remember well… with a few added cybernetic implants thrown in.  Think of it as the familiar 1.23/SnowGlobe interface, with support for many of the new 2.x features, some stuff from Imprudence or Emerald/Phoenix thrown in, and some new stuff as well.  It looks old at first glance, but underneath it’s pretty sweet.

Singularity is based on SnowGlobe 1.4/1.5 (which the 2.x viewers are also partly based on) as well as the (approved) Ascent viewer. There are Mac and Linux versions for Singularity and, of course, one for Bill Gates.

Singularity supports  Open Sim worlds (most of them anyway, just like any other viewer!) and Second Life. Though Singularity has been available for less than a year, it is on the Approved Alternate Viewer list from LL.

Singularity has 2 skins (the familiar “blue” one from 1.23) and a darker one. Both skins are nice and, in SL, the Dark one is silvery and very legible (unlike some 2.x skins). It is just gothy enough for me! There are also old-style chat/IM windows (although this can be changed in the Preferences) and some unique settings for itself (security, spam, building, etc.).

Some of the many Singularity features:

• Avatar display name support (on/off/both)
• Multi-attachments / multi-wear
• Double-click local teleport (when allowed by Sim)


I spy extra options!

• Avatar Radar
• Alpha Skins and Tattoo Layers
• Enhanced Friend and Groups panels
• Script counting to check impact on the simulator performance
• Vertical IM tabs (option to change in Preferences)
• Quick settings for performance and windlight
• Command line from Emerald for common operations
• Area search
• Windlight editor
• Supports up to 42 groups, as in LL Viewer 2.x
• Free texture upload for testing textures and sculpties
• Copy and Paste in build panel
• Math expressions in build panel, from Imprudence
• Alignment tool, by Qarl Fizz
• Measure distance between any 2 prims – available in pie menu
• UUID display for various things
• Fake away status
• Bouncy Breast physics effect
• Emerald-style privacy controls

Shadows in Ultra graphics (SL)

Enclave Harbor

Singularity - Dark Skin (SL)

In my 1 hour Second Life test today, Singularity performed just as advertised at http://www.singularityviewer.org/about.  Singularity did not crash on me and Frames Per Second (FPS) rates were usually 40+  on Mid/High graphics settings on most regions I visited.  I even hit 100 FPS on Medium at times, in the Ivory Tower Sandbox!  Mostly it swung between 20 and 80 FPS, like most other viewers I use, depending on the Sim and the number of textures around me.  Your mileage may vary  *giggles*

In a shorter (30 minute) OpenSim test in Ener’s awesome Enclave Harbor world, graphics and framerates were also good, and I didn’t crash. Towards the end I did get that aggravating “Cannnot Teleport. Inconsistent attachment states” error…  but that is a bug in the current OpenSim release, not due to the viewer or Ener’s world!

"Ultra" Graphics Setting (SL)

I don’t have a super-duper PC… it’s a 3 & 1/2  year old Windows Vista 32-bit machine with 4 MB RAM and a NVIDIA 8800 GT video card thingie.  By the way (as I go on a tangent) use  “Speccy” to get good info about your hardware:  http://www.piriform.com/speccy .  Speccy is made by the creators of Defraggler and CCleaner, so it can be trusted. I can never remember what card I have; Speccy tells me without digging through the Windows control panel. It give VERY detailed specs on everything and does it super quick.

One word of caution (actually 10, if you count): there is not a huge team behind the Singularity viewer. In fact, it appears to be mainly ONE (very talented) person and a few helpers who have experience on other viewers. So, read some other reviews of Singularity at http://tinyurl.com/3fpf7mv (most of them are favorable). Don’t rely solely on my 1-hour test in SL!

Also, LL’s stamp of approval does not mean there will never be issues with a viewer!  Remember, Emerald was approved and much-loved till it went rogue, and peeps’ info/money got stolen… allegedly.

If you decide to test with any new viewer, I recommend using an alternate avatar (aka “alt”) until you are sure you like & trust the new viewer. Go to some busy areas, teleport a few times to some landmarks, and do some of the tasks you normally do in-world, and you’ll have a good idea of stability. You could also try buying a free or $1 item in-world to see if transactions work without crashing your world.

The only odd thing I noticed with Singularity (in SL and OpenSim) was that on Ultra settings, I sometimes got white lines around tree trunks or waterlines, but I’m pretty sure that’s an issue with my older NVIDIA card/driver, and it disappeared when I turned off an advanced rendering option in Preferences.

I didn’t test out all the features, but the ones I tried worked fine, and I had no problems finding menu items or Preferences I needed. With more testing my opinion might change, but for now I’m satsified that Singularity is a decent viewer with interesting extras, and definitely worth a try.

Singularity gets an “A-”  grade for now, pending further SL/Open Sim tests. I like the extras hiding behind the old familiar interface!

So far only SnowGlobe has gotten the same grade from me!  It’s stable, fast, and plays well with SL and OpenSim.

The old LL 1.23 viewer I rated as “B”, because it was very usable, but I sometimes crashed or had texture load slowdowns.

Imprudence also gets a “B”.   It’s a very capable OpenSim/SL browser. It’s not perfect but the updates keep coming!

Kirsten’s Viewer gets a “C+”, although it probably deserves better. It’s definitely better than 2.x and is updated frequently. But it’s overkill for my needs. If you have a good graphics card and are into SL/Open Sim photography, check out Kirsten’s!

I give Viewer 2.x a “D-/F+”  for features I don’t want and can’t disable, poor legibility, dang sidebar, & insane menu changes.

Most other viewers get a “C”.  They work but crash more or offer no advantage over Imprudence or SnowGlobe, my faves.

And I’ve yet to try Phoenix, so no grade there. I have trust issues, ya know… and besides, I don’t need all the extras there.

VIEWER DOWNLOADS:

• LL Viewer 2.6.something:  http://secondlife.com/support/downloads/
• SnowGlobe:  http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Download_Snowglobe (1.42  or 2.02 are good)
• Singularity:  http://www.singularityviewer.org/downloads (currently Version 1.5.something)
• Imprudence:   http://wiki.kokuaviewer.org/wiki/Imprudence:Downloads
• Hippo:  http://mjm-labs.com/viewer/
• Old LL 1.23 viewer (bottom of link page):  http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Alternate_Viewers
• Phoenix, Kirsten’s, Firestorm, Singularity, Ascent, etc: http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Downloads

If you’ve tried Singularity, or have a favorite Viewer for OpenSim or SL, tell us about it!

♥
DW

_______________________________________________________________________________

If you’ve never set up a viewer for OpenSim, visit your OpenSim world website (reactiongrid.com, inworldz.com, etc. for help), or see some general info at  http://opensimulator.org/wiki/Connecting

If using multiple viewers/versions, I recommend you check to be sure you are using separate CACHE locations to avoid inventory issues. For more help with this, see this post and the comments on it: http://iliveisl.com/ener-almost-abandons-imprudence-1-3-2/

Examples of virtual spaces where real people spend real money on… pixels !

Well, not so much in most OpenSim worlds, yet, as many don’t have in-world currency or tons of cool shops…yet.  SunnyGirl (InWorldz) and many others are leveling the playing field, though!

It’s very awesome that many OpenSims focus on education, science, or non-profit activities (especially since Linden Lab seems to be moving away from that direction)… yet many also provide meeting places and fun activities, and at least some form of shopping.

Strong Wind Today in Virtual Land (by fdecomite)

It is always interesting that people DO spend real money for, well, stuff that we can’t even touch. Virtual goods. Pixels, really.

Yep, most of us like new virtual skins, hair, clothes, and household goodies. Oh, and shoes. Definitely shoes! It seems that virtual goods can be just as exciting as owning ones we can touch and feel in our atomic (real) world.

But let’s think about virtual and digital goods for a moment. I came across a MSNBC blog dealing with just this:

(“Online we’re as likely to buy digital goods as ‘real’ ones, says study”).

Ok, no surprise to most people reading this blog.  Here’s an excerpt, based on studies by the Pew Research Center:

• 33 percent of Internet users have paid for digital music online and for software
• 21 percent have paid for apps for their cell phones or tablet computers
• 19 percent have paid for digital games
• 18 percent have paid for digital newspaper, magazine or journal articles or reports
• 16 percent have paid for videos, movies or TV shows
• 15 percent have paid for ringtones
• 12 percent have paid for digital photos
• 11 percent have paid for members‐only premium content from a website that has other free material
on it
• 10 percent have paid for e‐books
• 5 percent have paid for tools or materials to use in video or computer games

(and 2% admitted to buying “adult content” … believe that number if you wish, hee hee).

I encourage you to read the article, ( http://tinyurl.com/2dau3lx ) but here’s some more factoids from it:

“Two-thirds of Internet users go online to buy “tangible” products like books or clothing, and nearly the same percentage — 65 percent — now are also turning to the Web to buy “intangibles” like software, games and digital music, ringtones, books and newspaper subscriptions.”

Ah, more digital stuff (made of bits) and virtual stuff (made of pixels and/or bits).

“The average expense for those who have paid for content was approximately $47 per month for material they have downloaded or accessed, including both subscription (an average of $12 per month) and individual file access (an average of $22 per month). However, some extremely high‐end users pull the average higher, with most purchasers spending about $10 per month.”

Hmmm. very interesting! It also makes me realize that (not only due to the sucky enconomy), perhaps people are becoming less… gasp… materialistic!  Yes, we may be accumulating massive amounts of digital stuff, but we no longer feel the need to buy so many things that clutter our homes (books, photos, CDs, etc.).   How many external hard drives and USB sticks do you have? Uh oh, more “stuff”… to hold our virtual stuff! Oh well, at least most of us have trashed our huge collection of VHS movies.

Maybe in the not-so-near future, we will be living in those Star Trekkie cubicles, with only a handful of personal items. And getting most or all our news, entertainment, and recreation in digital/virtual form, from handheld devices and some sort of holodeck (which SL and OpenSim already are, if you think about it).

E-readers replaces libraries. Email replaces snail mail. Where will it end, and in what new and fascinating ways?

I saw a newspaper headline yesterday…  “2010: The Year We Stopped Talking (and Texted Instead)”.  Ok, not the actual title, but you can read it in USA today at

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/parenting-family/2010-12-30-1AYEAR30_CV_N.htm

Track your own digital and “virtual” buys for a month or two. You might be surprised :)

Happy 2K11. Don’t forget the Real World, but have fun in your Virtual One(s).

Hmmm, should we make virtual New Year’s resolutions?

Thanks for everything, Ener and everyone else who is making OpenSims more awesome.  You spend your own time, money, and heart… and it shows.

The BrandReact blog (which I know nothing about, really)  had a post that made me think about big businesses, brand loyalty, Linden Lab, Open Sim hosts — and how they treate residents (um, customers).

And why peeps leave Second Life, or stop doing business with a company.

As the blog post said, maybe companies need a CLO (Chief Listening Officer). A real one, who has the qualities of a good bartender.

And what does a good bartender do?

Hmmm, sounds like a virtual world plan for success:

• Help the newbies more.  Make Day 1 better, and maybe kill that sucky Viewer 2.yuck.
• Don’t forget your residents. They are the people who made (and make) your world what it is.
• Don’t screw over your long-time residents/educators/creators.  Instead, make them feel special.
• Treat the assholes nicely. Hmmmm, what if the assholes are the ones in charge?
  
• Listen to your residents.  Stop doing stupid things they hate. Duh!

Polygon Mesh Dolphin

What is Mesh? It’s a way of making very detailed textured objects, instead of more limited prims with “painted on” textures.  It’s also known as “polygon mesh” graphics. Think of it as prims or sculpties on steroids.

Though the average resident probably won’t be using mesh anytime soon, it’s a great design tool for builders and  machinima/filmmakers.

According to Maria Korolov, meshes  “can also be useful for manufacturers who need to import files from computer aided design systems. Advantages of meshes go beyond importing buildings and widget prototypes. They would also allow more realistic avatars, clothing, and hair.”

Most nice video games (Crysis, Far Cry, etc.) already use Mesh for characters and objects. Second Life (SL) and Open Sim virtual worlds are catching up. Yes, Blue Mars is ahead of most of them!

When do we get it?
Mesh Beta starts Oct 13th 2010 in Second Life. More info here. Upload fees and prim “cost” in-world is not set yet, but SL should be letting us know by the end of 2010. During the Beta, it will probably be free to upload and play around with Mesh in-world.

See video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlIn35BuNfU&feature=related

Technically, Mesh support has existed in Open Sim for over a year, but only in special releases that public sims don’t use.  OpenSim core developer Justin Clark-Casey says OpenSim will have mesh support for the public soon, although the implementation might not be exactly the same as in SL.

You can’t make mesh items in-world; instead you use a 3D design program on your computer, then import to SL/OpenSim.  The software can cost hundreds of dollars, but Google Sketchup and Blender work, and are free (see MESH SOFTWARE list below).

Mesh is NOT easy or quick to learn, unless you already have some 3D design skills. However, it will bring a lot more “beauty” to virtual worlds, and might be worth the time investment for serious creators. If you have not mastered prim building and have no idea what a sculpted prim is, you are already waaaaaay behind. (No worries, I’m there myself!).

A good summary of the latest Mesh news:
http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2010/09/opensim-to-have-mesh-soon-after-second-life/

Next steps for mesh in SL:
http://tinyurl.com/38uj5ve

Mesh demo videos:
http://bit.ly/cwTEWG

Nice links from a free notecard by Wordsmith Jarvinen, Caledon Oxbridge University, Second Life:

SL Mesh YouTube page:  http://bit.ly/cwTEWG

Sand Castle Studios: The Status of Mesh Support in Second Life
http://bit.ly/b38yRN

Dusan Writer: Mesh In, Wisdom Out: How Second Life May Inform the Next Generation of 3D Content
http://bit.ly/92akqV

Machinimatrix: Preliminary Tutorial on Meshes
http://blog.machinimatrix.org/2010/09/15/meshes-i-a-preliminary-tutorial-about-meshes/

MESH SOFTWARE

Google SketchUp
http://sketchup.google.com/
http://sketchup.google.com/intl/en/training/

Blender
http://www.blender.org/

JASS-2 Blender Package (includes sculpty scripts & Python)
http://blog.machinimatrix.org/3d-creation/jass-2-3/

3ds Max
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=13567410

Maya
http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/pc/index?siteID=123112&id=13577897

ZBush
http://www.pixologic.com/home.php

Collada (digital interchange file format)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COLLADA
http://www.collada.org/
https://sketchup.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=114347

Hate some (or all) of Viewer 2.x?  You’re not alone.

But…  there are some fixes/tweaks available, none of which are difficult!

Here are some links,  should you want more info. Use at your own risk! I’ve done the “StarLight” tweak and find it improves things a bit for me. I’ve not tried the others listed on the wiki page.

• http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Viewer_2_Tweaks
• http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Viewer_Skins/StarLight_for_2.1_Beta (works fine for me)
• http://www.flickr.com/photos/felineslade/4393320025/

If you LIKE 2.x, or don’t want to hear what I dislike about it… stop reading now.

Like Ener, I’m not a fan of Viewer 2.0 or 2.1.  It’s too dark (even for my Goth blood), and most of the changes and re-wording of old terms (“Local Chat” is now “Nearby”, for example) seem nutso. The pop-up sliding menu dance… awful. The whole sidebar/slide left thing drives me nuts. And the non-transparent widows and changes to chat/IM windows suck. There’s a lot more that I hate. So do many, many others. Granted, some peeps (esp. some noobs I’ve talked to) seem to think that 2.x is just fine. Hmmmm.

Don’t get me wrong. I like NEW. I like EXCITING.  Take me to the mall or an amusement park if you don’t believe me!

I do not, however, like waking up one day to find out that the names of everyday things have been changed, or that my usual direct route to the local S&M shop requires 3 detours, or that someone has posted flyers all over my car’s windshield, obscuring half my view.  It’s like waking up in an alternate universe… one with poorer design than the previous one.  Oh, I was kidding up there… I meant Krispy Kreme shop, not S&M shop ;p

I’ve tried 2.0 and 2.1 for extended periods of time.  It really sucks that so much screen “real estate” gets obscured by the (non-transparent) sidebar and huge menus. It sucks that some of my old keyboard shortcuts are gone, or that I have to go through 3 levels of menus to do what I used to do in 2 clicks. It sucks that basic communication is more difficult (to me), unless I rearrange the default options.

Don’t rename things and make me have to stop and re-learn keystrokes and shortcuts and menus I’ve used hundreds (or thousands) of times. Is that a violation of good rule of design?  “Don’t alienate your existing user base by making changes… unless the change is either necessary, useful, or both.”

In other words, change what needs to change; do not change things that worked quite nicely. Gee, you could at least offer an option to revert to the older menus, like new versions of word-processing apps often do.

Okay, okay, some of those annoyances can be fixed. Kind of.  And the “notification” area in the bottom right is welcome (and long overdue), replacing tons of dialog popups when you first login.  The teleport history is nice as well. And thank goodness I can set the top bar to actually show my (Sim & vector) location… seems pretty dumb to me to not have it there as the default. There is more than one way to accomplish some of the old tasks (hmmm, I’m neutral on that one).

I know, I know, it’s all been said before.  I don’t DESPISE 2.x, but I am not feeling any ♥.  I’ll use it. Someday.  IF I have to.  But so far, it just gives me a headache. One day, after a few more versions, I may actually like it. But for now, it kinda does less.. with more.  *Giggle*

Feel free to post your loves and hates of 2.x. Or just google it and read what others say. Hmmm, you’re probably wishing I’d taken that route!

*sigh*  I miss the pie wheel already. I have a feeling his time in the virtual universe is limited.

By the way… I mostly use Snowglobe. It has some unique stuff not in the old 1.2x viewers. And it doesn’t make me learn to brush my teeth with my non-dominant hand (I can do it.. but I dribble a bit). Oh… and I can also use SnowGlobe as an OpenSim viewer (for Reaction Grid and so forth).

I hope the Greenies visit again, maybe on some OpenSim worlds. SL will not be the same without their awesome sim (thank you, Aurora Janus, for showing me the Greenie’s house… somehow I had never heard of it before then).  I don’t know the exact reasons for the Greenies’ departure, but I expect to see further exodus of talent from SL.

The LL/SL hype is  over, in my opinion.  They may eventually reinvent themselves, but the near future is not looking too exciting for them. I’m sure the 30% of the LL staff that was fired is not celebrating, either. SL, at least for the moment, doesn’t seem like the smartest place to invest tons of time and money and heart.  It will remain a place for me to hang out, visit friends, make stuff, and play in the sandboxes… but I’m there with a very wary eye on the little guy behind the curtain, running the show.

Like Ener says, OpenSim and other virtual worlds (Blue Mars, for example) seem to be where it’s “at” right now. And some of us are even (trying) to spend more time in an ancient build called “Real Life.” (*giggles* , it’s not all bad, and the pizza there is tastier). At least we have alternatives, althought scripting in-world for me (in Reaction Grid or SL) is still tons of fun, and mentally relaxing (cuz it’s nothing like my boring RL job).

Will SL become the “AOL” of virtual worlds? If you are over 30, you may remember when America OnLine was awesome and “everyone” had an account (or with their competitors, Prodigy and Compuserve).

Then the “real” Internet got easier to use/navigate (thank you, Netscape Navigator!) and people were no longer prisoner to AOL’s limited content, adult policies, whims, and customer service snafus. (Hmmm, starting to sound familiar?)

At least LL doesn’t hold you “prisoner” (didya ever actually try to cancel your AOL account? OMG, Epic Fail. )  But, SL does kinda hold your content/creations captive (though exporting some stuff to OpenSim worlds is possible).

And where’s my screen-popping 3D virtual worlds and real-time photorealistic graphics? Or smellevison, or wrist videophones, or robotic maid/gardener/lover, or flying car? Or a no-cal sugar substitute that doesn’t taste like wallpaper glue?

See, there is still stuff to be discovered and perfected! And you can build/script the prototypes in Open Sim worlds. Well, maybe not the Smellevision.  Yet.

By the way, AOL is still around, as a kind of home page destination (http://www.aol.com/) And to be fair, it doesn’t entirely suck. At least not compared to the MSN home page ;p

–DW

Do you find that being in a Open Sim world like Reaction Grid, or Second Life, to be like a waking dream?

Have you ever dreamed about your avatar?  Have you ever had a lucid dream? Or has a virtual world at least influenced your dream? Some peeps report having dreams of flying more often after being in SL, for example.

Can virtual worlds — or maybe even violent video games — help one cope with nightmares, or even with real life?

Check out this article from GameSpy: http://www.gamespy.com/articles/109/1093219p1.html

or see the original MSNBC source:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37342086/ns/technology_and_science-games/

On the flip side:  Building & scripting in virtual worlds is a way to shape an idea or vision into reality. If you’ve limited yourself to shopping, clubbing, and socializing, you are missing out on the fun of creation… and it might also spill over into your dreams (for better or worse!)

Now, if you find yourself dreaming that you are a blue-haired “furry”  of the alternate sex… I’ll leave that to you to analyze. ;p

Goths.  Hmmmm, they sure are popular. Are they just vampire wannabees? Or uber fashionistas who favor black fabric and pale skin? Is Emo a subset of Goth?

Well, I’ll let you decide for yourself. Personally I favor the goth look (black matches black so well, and I’m fashion-lazy!), but you might sometimes find me “slumming” in jeans or sweats and tshirts, esp. when I’m building stuff in sandboxes  (Ener has a really nice sandbox in Reaction Grid now, and the Ivory Tower Sandbox in Second Life is nice). I’m still working on my goth persona in RG, where peeps like SunnyGirl Whitfield are bringing awesome clothes and skins.

I came across “Goth” as a “Top Ten Word of the 90s” on the Merriam-Webster dictionary website. Here is what the entry said:

GOTH:  This word contains over a thousand years of drama. In brief:

Well, that was interesting. Like us Goths can really be defined in one paragraph! *Giggle*

So, some questions to ponder:

1. What is your favorite look?
2. Do you have an alternate/secret look for your avvie?
3. Do you avoid certain types of avatars/peep, based on their looks?
4. Do Vampires have an undesired bad rep in virtual worlds ?
5. What would you like to see more of?
6. Do Vampires sparkle? (sorry, couldn’t resist a jab at Twilight!)*
7. What does “goth(ic)” mean to you?
8. Would virtual worlds suck if we all had to look like homo sapiens?
9. Can you identify the IMVU avatar in the photo to the left?

* Real ones do NOT.  What, you don’t believe?  Then don’t look behind you.

Speed up your Client (your computer):

1. Lower your Draw Distance.  I keep mine on 96m or 128m unless I’m doing landscape photography or want to see the bigger picture for a few minutes.
2. Update (or roll back) your video card drivers. New is usually better, but not always.
3. Set Graphics to Low or Medium. Only use High for photography/machinima, etc.
4. Close any unnecessary apps when SL/Open Sims are running.
5. Stop any unneeded Windows services, esp. if you have 1 GB RAM or less. I close Print Services, Windows Time, Windows Search, and a few others on my 8 year old ‘puter.
6. Get more RAM! This probably should be #1, lol.
7. Try running in a smaller window vs. full-screen.  See which your graphics card likes better.
8. Running SL on a lappie? Make sure it is on a flat surface or raised a bit for better cooling.
9. Detach any unneeded jewelry, HUDs, and scripted objects from your Avatar.
10. Lowering or raising your Network Bandwidth settings (under Preferences) sometimes helps, too.  Higher bandwidth is not necessarily better (anything 600 or above should work fine).
11. When all else fails, clear your SL/Open Sim cache and then defrag the hard drive it lives on.  Ener and I like Defraggler instead of the Winblows defragmenter thingie.
12. Don’t fear Snowglobe or alternative viewers. You’ll probably get different frame rates in different viewers. Meerkat and Imprudence work well for me in Reaction Grid, but most peeps say Hippo is best (though the newest version is sometimes buggy for some peeps).  Many SL’ers swear by Emerald, although it (and most other alt viewers) may soon be “illegal” according to SL Terms of Service. Currently, LL only lists 3 approved alt viewers.  Ugh.

Weird tips to reduce Client lag:

1. Mute Blingtards (some swear this really helps lag, I have no idea!)
2. Really stuck in a crowd or classroom? Use Advanced –> Rendering and turn off some stuff.
3. I sometimes use Wireframe view (no textures) or turn off character rendering temporarily if I don’t need to move or see other peeps… and I get a 20 FPS jump!  IM/chat still works.

How to speed up a Sim for EVERYONE:

AVATARS:

Reduce Max Number of Avatars allowed on Sim.  Not always practical/desirable, but it does help.

STUFF:

1. Reduce number of objects in the region. Duh.
2. Using more interior walls and less windows/transparent stuff has same effect (if you can’t see it, your computer doesn’t have to build it and render the textures). Break it up so everything doesn’t compete for simultaneous download and rendering time.
3. Space high prim objects/buildings further apart when possible.
4. Landscaping is nice, but don’t overdo it. Same goes for high-prim, high-texture “realistic” cities, etc.
5. Mega prims, unless used sparingly, can adversely affect the Sim.
6. Don’t overdo it with glow and lighting effects. Not everyone is using a $300 graphics card.

PHYSICS:

1. Making some objects Phantom (so SL or your computer doesn’t have to calculate collisions, etc.) can free up some CPU cycles. Ener already made a post about this, yay!
2. Don’t use physical objects unless necessary. Flexi is usually cool, however (rendered Client side).

SCRIPTS:

1. Reduce the number of simultaneous scripts running.
2. Use mono scripting (this is a subject of some debate, but in general mono is better… esp. for longer scripts).
3. Reduce the number of “listens” in scripts and remove “listens” when no longer needed.
4. Use llSleep() and slower timers to make scripts not run constantly. Do you really need a Sim FPS monitor to update every second? No. Once a minute or longer will do.
5. Small, efficient scripts don’t use lots of resources. Longer scripts — esp. those with lots of functions — are worse offenders.  But, one long efficient script is better than 5 shorter ones that suck but accomplish the same results.
6. Many script functions have a corresponding “off” function that can make things more efficient.
7. Or use llSetScriptState() to turn scripts off/on as needed (such as only enabling a particle script from the main script when it needs to run, then disabling the particle script when its job is done).
8. Once float text is set, you can remove the script that made it. Float text remains :)  Very handy if you have an object that only needs static text above it.  I think the same is true of simple rotations (llTargetOmega)… remove the script, things keep spinning. Correct me if this is no longer true!
9. Disallow user scripts when needed (such as a region that already has lots of scripts running; let’s not bring more!)
10. Peruse a good scripting book, such as the Official Guide to SL/LSL Scripting.

TEXTURES:

1. Avoid use of 1024×1024 when 512×512 images or smaller will do. 1024 should RARELY ever be needed. (Ener can tell you all about this!) I typically use 512×512 for clothing/art, 256×256 for small signs, etc.
2. Textures can affect both the client and the Sim, I think? (Ener, correct me if I’m wrong on this), since textures have to be pulled from the database, then rendered by your machine.
3. Repeat the same texture in different places when possible.
4. Use 128×128 textures for really small/insignificant stuff.
5. Use default SL “library” textures if they will suffice (they may load faster).

Other things that may help:

• Sculpties tend to use less processing/rendering time than high-prim objects. Above a certain number of prims/polygons, sculpties tend to be more efficient… or so I’ve been told.
• Temp-on-rez scripts(when used to defeat prim limits) are to be avoided, unless you use it sparingly, as in an object vendor display. When I do it, I render only temporary+phantom objects, so they poof away in 60 seconds and don’t use any physics time.
• Simple rotations (llTargetOmega) are rendered Client side, so they probably only affect individual users with slow machines, not the Sim in general. But let’s not overdo it with the spinning crapola, okay?

Oline stores where you can buy & sell stuff (and get freebies) for OpenSim Worlds:

http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2010/01/opensim-retail-outlets/

Got a spare ‘puter sitting around? Make your own OpenSim world, for free. Okay, okay, not for the faint of heart, but here it is:

http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2009/11/opensim-deployment-gets-easier/

OMG I NEED THIS!

It never ceases to amaze me that even many Veteran* Second Lifers don’t take advantage of the cool keyboard shortcuts.

Please don’t tell me you are still using the drop-down menus for everything, or are using the (gasp) on-screen camera control, or a laptop touchpad!  Trust me, keyboard+scroll mouse is 100 times better (Kristolynn agrees, so it must be so).

Surely you know the basics:  CTRL-I (Inventory), CTRL-F (Find/Search)… but do you know how to check your frames per second, or to take a quick snapshot? Can you undo your last object edit with the press of 2 keys?

So, without further ado, here are some very useful links to check out.  Find one that looks like your speed, print it out, and superglue to your left retina:

For the Noobs or the Lazy:

• The Official SL Basic Keyboard Shortcuts :  http://tinyurl.com/2c2pbh
• SL QuickStart Guide:  http://tinyurl.com/6zpq8q
• Another Basic Keyboard Cheat Sheet:  http://tinyurl.com/68m46v

For the Adventuresome Avatar:

• More Keyboard Shortcuts:  http://snipr.com/sug9d
• Another moderate-length list:  http://snipr.com/suglc

For those Without a RL:

• “All” the Offiical SL Shortcuts:  http://tinyurl.com/yz4op5n
• Alternative SL input & Accessibility:  http://tinyurl.com/yjp74a2
• Nice one-page printable Shorctut List:  http://snipr.com/suh0s (Windoze & MAC!)
  

What are YOUR favorite shortcuts? I use these every day:

CTRL-SHIFT-H (Teleport Home….  aka Quick Escape)
CTRL-SHIFT-Y (Set to Midday… begone, evil Night)
CTRL-SHIFT-1 (Yes, I’m OCD about FPS)
CTRL-ALT-T (Toggle Transparent on/off… OMG, what are you hiding under your kilt?)

If you know a cool shortcut not on these lists, share it with us here!

Technical Note: These shortcuts should work in regular SL clients. Alternate (non-LL) viewers or pre-release LL viewers may have slight discrepancies. Gee, did ya think I tested them all? I have other duties.  Now where did I misplace Ener’s laundry? Hope she doesn’t count her unmentionables  ;p

* Veteran? What constitutes a SL veteran?  Hmmm… if you know about “Advanced Sky”, have started a group, and have learned how to escape a griefer cage, you’re pretty much there.  If you are a LL scripter or have more than 15K inventory items, you are hopelessly addicted… just like me!

But not everyone wants (or can afford) a full sim or a huge retail store.  “Mini” shops that rent by the week are very popular with new SL artisans. And experienced store owners often like to sell their wares in multiple mini shops, to increase their exposure by using multiple SL locations.

You might want to drop in on the Atomic Dreams Future Mall in Enercity Easton, where we have about 10 mini shops left to rent.

You can have from 40 to 70 prims (which is plenty for most peeps to showcase their most awesome items), and prices start around $200 L/week (less than a US greenback!).

A sale of just one or two items a week can easily pay your rent. We will also list your store name in our land description, so peeps can more easily find you with SL searches.

There are also a few private skyboxes and skyhomes for rent high up above the mall. These are great for peeps who want privacy and a place to cal l their own, but don’t need a long-term financial commitment right now.  Use the teleporters on the ground at Atomic Dreams mall to check out our sky-high real estate, which can be moved to any height you choose if you want even more privacy!

SL Map/SLurl shortcut to Atomic Dreams:   http://snipr.com/psr80

PS:  IM the secret word “RADIUM” to DreamWalker McCallister after renting your minishop, and you’ll get one free week rent added with your first paid week! Click any of the rental cubes at the mall for information or help with renting your spot.

Have fun out there!

–DreamWalker