Ambrosia Dance Club

By Phil F. Kearny

I just finished my sixty minute test drive on the the new web based second life viewer. This is the beta test i had written about previously that allows a person to access Second Life off the regular old web. Ambrosia Dance Club is one of several dozen test destinations available to the beta testers. After a brief video to test the connection, I was invited to explore the world. Offered a choice of several dozen avatars, I settled on “Pasty Round headed Newb” and was quickly transported in world. Everything rezzed as quickly as it does on my regular viewer and I was able to select Ambrosia from a list of featured clubs. I teleported in and everything rezzed in full detail with DJs Tristain and Sofia sounding great.

My name was a randomly generated set of numbers with the last name of “Guest” which led to some comments from patrons who had no idea what this was all about. Being anonymous, I sent a series of annoying IMs to DJ Sofia asking for Lindens and Sex and promptly found my self banished to the bottom of the Ambrosia Ocean with fire shooting out of my orifices. A frantic IM saying “Wait, wait it’s me Phil” finally allowed me to get back in to the club where I enjoyed the next 27 minutes chilling to the great music and fully interacting with the crowd. I was unable to use the INTAN balls but was able to dance on some poseballs.

There are a ton of things to work out but if this works in anyway close to the beta test I think it will increase the population of Second Life exponentially. As a way of introducing people to the grid, it truly is fast and easy.

For those of you who are interested in the technical aspects of how this works, the Second Life world is being hosted on servers provided by Gaikai which is a cloud based gaming service that was created to allow 3D video games to be embedded into any website and played in modern web browsers giving users the opportunity to run an application or a game without having to ever register, download, or be redirected to a different site

The service works by running video games on Gaikai servers, which then stream audio and video output to the user over the Internet. Game control input is simultaneously sent from the user’s client upstream to the server. And with all game processing and 3D rendering done remotely on Gaikai servers, the game is able to run on any client device capable of playing video with a broadband connection. What does this all mean? It means that with 4G networks being rolled out this month we will truly be able to access SL off of our mobile devices and not have to use other services to stay in contact with our SL friends. It is the revolution that could make SL accessible to everyone.

If you are interested in giving it a go here is the link: http://interest.secondlife.com/beta

Don’t be discouraged if it does not allow you in at this time. It is beta and limited because I believe from talking to Blondin Linden that they have no idea what it will actually do. From my experience this sucker works great and I hope that they run hard with this.

It’s that time of year when ambrosians get dressed up in their spookiest scariest and most fun costumes of the year. That’s right, it is time for the Ambrosia Halloween Party. Hosted this year by the most excellent DJ Geemix, the party starts promptly at 2 PM and runs till whenver people stop showing up in costume. Actually, when do people ever not show up in costume. It’s Second Life! Every day is Halloween. In any case get in early Boy and Ghouls because it’s going to be a Spooktacular Event with lots of Cash Prizes!

The SIM will be locked at 50 avatars so first come first served!

By Phil F. Kearny

I just received notification from Blondin Linden that Ambrosia Dance Club has been selected to Beta Test a new feature for Second Life that will enable avatars to access SL from a web based application much like currently existing versions of the IPHONE App.

This is only a beta test that will last about two weeks with a limited number of venues and select participants. Here are the FAQs I recieved that answer some questions about the upcoming test.

FAQ:

System and Access:

Q: What are the system requirements?

A: The web experience can be accessed from PCs running Windows XP or Windows 7 using Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Chrome and Mac O/S X using Safari, Firefox, or Chrome. Access to the experience will also require a broadband internet connection — we’ll be testing various connection speeds during the test.

Q: How does a guest access the experience?

A: During the test, a select number of participants will be presented with the option of accessing a web-based version of Second Life. For those guests, a link will be displayed that can be used to launch Second Life inside their browser.

Q: Is this open to existing Second Life Residents?

A: Any existing Second Life Resident has the potential to access this test. However, only a small number of participants will be exposed to the link needed to access this test.

Q: Can an existing Resident login with their SL account?

A: No. This test aims to validate access options with potential new Residents and, thus, there is no option to login with an existing Second Life account. Participants will appear as guests and will not have the option to use an existing username or to define a new username during their visit.

Q: Is this going to replace the Viewer?

A: No. This test is not meant to compete with or replace the existing Second Life Viewer. Depending on what we learn from our testing, we may ultimately pursue some or none of these approaches, and your help with this test can help us to determine if this approach should be part of Second Life’s future.

Q: How long will this test be conducted?

A: This test is currently planned to begin on or around Nov. 8 and will run approximately two weeks. However, Linden Lab may extend or shorten the duration of this test in reaction to our early findings.

Destinations:

Q: How are the destinations selected?

A: In order to introduce the best Second Life experience to potential new Residents, Linden Lab has selected a small sample of locations that demonstrate some of the most interesting, entertaining, and popular types of Resident-created content. Test participants will only have access to limited features and interactivity, so Linden Lab aimed to omit locations that rely on features not supported in this version (such as HUDs, etc.).

Locations were selected from the wider Destination Guide, which also factors in a venue’s popularity, appeal and overall quality. More information on general Destination Guide criteria can be found on the Second Like Wiki (http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Destination_Guide).

Q: Can test participants teleport to all existing Second Life location?

A: No. Test participants will only be able to teleport to the set of locations listed in a streamlined version of the Destination Guide. They cannot respond to teleport requests sent from residents or to SLURLs posted into chat.

User Capabilities:

Q: Will the test participants be distinguishable from existing residents?

A: Yes. Each guest will have a temporary username that distinguishes their “guest” status. All guests will be identifiable through use of a common naming protocol.

Q: Can they buy items in Second Life or in the Marketplace?

A: No. Test participants can not give or receive L$ and cannot have inventory.

Q: Can they change avatar appearance?

A: As they begin each session, test participants will be able to select from several introductory looks. They will be able to change between the available looks at any time during the session. However, since they will not have inventory, further avatar customization will not be possible.

Will their avatar and username be saved after the session ends?

Test participants will have a maximum of 60 minutes to explore and experience Second Life. However, the avatar and username information is not retained once that time has expired. Guests will have the option to download the full Second Life Viewer and register a unique username to continue their exploration, or they may return through the Web Viewer and initiate a new session.

Q: How many times can a guest visit through the web viewer?

A: There is no limitation on repeat visits during the test.

Q: Where do users go for help?

A: General Second Life questions and troubleshooting can be found in the Support section of the Secondlife.com website. (http://secondlife.com/support/)

Interactions with Residents:

Q: Will users be able to IM(chat) with other test participants and Residents?

A: Participants will be able to use text chat with all Residents. Guests will be unable to hear or initiate voice chat.

Q: What happens if a Resident offers inventory or a notecard?

A: Test participants will not see any incoming inventory offers, including notecards. They are unable to receive, give or hold inventory.

Q: Can a Resident offer friendship to the users?

A: No. Friendships will not be supported in this test.

So as you can see this is just a test. I suspect that the Lab has no idea of what the effect of all of this will be. I am proud to offer up the Ambrosians as guinea pigs if it means that we have the possibility of accessing the grid from our smartphones.
This is the way that the future is going and in my opinion if the step is not taken we will continue to see our user base diminish to nothing. I would appreciate your input during the testing as to what you think so I can pass it along to the Lindens.

For the last 24 hours crazy rumors have been flying around that Microsoft has been in secret negotiations with Linden Lab. According to these rumors, Microsoft has placed a bid to buy Linden Lab which coincidently owns Second Life.

The recent purges of 30% of the staff at Linden Lab as well as the closure of offices around the world has fueled speculation that the game is in decline and that the Lab is actively looking for someone to buy them out.

Apparently all of this rumor which is now all over the blogs started from a tweet made by a well known griefer that was banned by Linden Lab. In the tweet he said, “A little birdie told me that Microsoft may have silently offered to buy Linden Lab this week.”

TechEye reports that “a very reputable individual still employed by Linden Lab” says the company is “entertaining offers” and Microsoft has put one in.

Is it possible that Microsoft would want to acquire a virtual world with a built in user base. Obviously Second Life is the only game in town. Other competing virtual worlds can not even come close.

I think a clue to all these rumors may be that the new Kinect Xbox feature is about to be released. I saw it demonstrated in a mall about a month ago. It uses camera technology to follow the movements of a person and translate them to an avatar on screen. You were able to run jump and even subtle wrist movements were followed with uncanny precision. It led me to speculate how this would fit into animating an avatar in a virtual world such as Second Life. Could it be that Microsoft will purchase Second Life to incorporate it into an XBOX Kinect social world? I don’t think it is a stretch at all.

If this does occur, Second Life as we know it will be altered forever and possibly obliterated. Unless Linden Lab steps forward quickly to squash these rumors I can only speculate that there is a kernel of truth to them somewhere. And If that is true then they have a major public relations fiasco on their hands. After all who is going to continue to invest time and effort into a world that could vaporise underneath our feet into the maw of Microsoft. Stay Tuned for more…