News broke today that Philip Rosedale will be returning to the role of (interim) CEO of Linden Lab.
The announcement follows Wednesday’s last minute cancellation of a scheduled speech  by Mark Kingdon at the Second Life Birthday celebration (http://sl7b.wordpress.com).
Audio of Philip’s speeches from 06/21 and 06/23  can be found at http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/SL7B/Philip-speech

Coverage:

SecondLife blog:
http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2010/06/24/returning-to-the-lab

TechCrunch:
http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/24/amidst-turmoil-linden-labs-ceo-steps-down

New World Notes:
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2010/06/more-linden-lab-changes-coming.html

Original suit text: http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/04/20/SecondLife.pdf

Suit website: http://www.virtuallanddispute.com

Claimant form: http://virtuallanddispute.com/phpESP/public/survey.php?name=VirtualLandDisputeFinal

Coverage:
LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus-20100430,0,1734971,full.column

Massively
http://www.massively.com/2010/04/21/evans-et-al-vs-linden-lab-the-new-lawsuit-on-the-block

Be the Gamer  (repost from Massively)
http://www.bethegamer.com/2010/04/21/evans-et-al-vs-linden-lab-the-new-lawsuit-on-the-block

Class Action Lawsuits in the News
http://classactionlawsuitsinthenews.com/class-action-lawsuits/linden-research-second-life-class-action-lawsuit-filed-over-land-sales/

Hollywood Reporter
http://thresq.hollywoodreporter.com/2010/04/second-life-class-action-lawsuit.html

Virtual Worlds News
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2010/04/users-raising-class-action-against-linden-lab-over-virtual-property.html

Plaintiff’s summary
http://secondlife.typepad.com/second_life_lawsuit_bragg/2010/04/evans-et-al-v-linden-labs-a-short-summary-analysis-of-the-complaint-citations-to-bragg-v-linden-lab-.html

OnPoint News
http://www.onpointnews.com/NEWS/Second-Lifers-Assert-Virtual-Rights-in-Class-Action.html

AllGov
http://www.allgov.com/Unusual_News/ViewNews/Second_Life_Players_Sue_over_Illegal_Seizure_of_Virtual_Property_100422

Metaverse Tribune
http://metaversetribune.com/2010/04/22/linden-lab-in-legal-hotseat-again/

We hope you’ll be able to join us on April 26 for our next Virtual World SIG

“A Second Look at Second Life:  Enterprise and Viewer 2″
Second Life has emerged as arguably the most important and diverse virtual world online today. The variety of uses and functions spans an astounding array of interests including 3D modeling, education, training and simulation, onboarding, events and meetings, and participation in the in-world economy.  Throughout it’s growth, business users in particular noted that to implement a full solution they would require secure on-site hosting of their  virtual world assets, and Second Life Enterprise (SLE) is the answer to that need. SLE Beta was released early last year, and has garnered great success with high profile customers ranging from IBM and Cisco, to government organizations such as the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC).  With SLE Version 1.0 release on the horizon, SLE will take advantage of Viewer 2.0 and Shared Media, representing a complete rethinking of the user interface and content access.

In this interactive session Dave Kamalsky, Product Manger – Enterprise, and Hamilton Hitchings, Executive Director of Core Engineering – Enterprise, will share a bit about the history of SLE (codenamed “Nebraska”) as it was built to become the product available today, and give a live demo of some of the tools and functions possible with SLE.  The release is complimented by a dedicated portal at http://work.secondlife.com.  Learn how institutions can create and manage firewall protected grids, use flexible avatar naming and more. We’ll also take a tour of the new features enabled by Viewer 2.0, which allows far greater integration of web content into the world. Join us for this hands-on look at the product of over two years of work in bringing these collaborative tools and abilities to the “serious” world of work.

Help us spread the word on Twitter

Dave Kamalsky bio:
Dave Kamalsky is a Product Manger in the Enterprise group at Linden Lab.  Prior to joining Linden in September of 2008, Dave held a diverse career at IBM spanning 18 years working in roles from VM Systems Programer, I/T Architect, Software Engineer, and Program Manager.  Notable achievements include co-founding several emerging business units at IBM Research; alphaWorks (1996-1999), ExtremeBlue (2000), Webfountain (2001-2005), and the Virtual Worlds EBO (2006-2008).  At Linden Lab, Dave has been part of the unit focusing on bringing Second Life Enterprise (SLE) to fruition, helping the company better meet the needs of corporate customers that want secure behind-the-firewall operations, as well as better services on the main public SL grid.

Hamilton Hitchings bio:
Coming soon.

Location:
Pillsbury Winthrop Office Silicon Valley
2475 Hanover Street
Palo Alto, CA 94304-1114

Agenda:
6:30 PM Registration and Networking
7:00 PM -8:40 PM Presentations

Price:
$15 at the door for non-SDForum members
No charge for SDForum members
No registration required

Virtual Worlds SIG….

Add event to my Outlook calendar

Help us spread the word on Twitter

Wanted to let you know about a unique conference on collaboration systems happening this Wednesday, March 3 at The Tech Museum in San Jose. Organized by a batch of collaboration specialists calling themselves Program for the Future, and basing their ideals on Doug Engelbart’s vision of developing tool systems that can deal with the world’s complex and “wicked” and problems – this conference will be an experiential dive into the real-time use of multiple collaobration systems.

Finalists of the Program for the Future Challenge will be announced during the day – along with the announcement of one winner of the Engelbart Prize in the evening program (brief agenda)(full agenda).

Meshing virtual worlds, Google Wave, real time reporting from tables, video and more, this is one not to be missed. Less than 8 “real world” attendee spots remain open for the venue in San Jose, and if you can’t make it in person, register as a virtual participant. Join in with all the collaborative tools you can bring to this unique experiment.

Real and virtual registration at: http://colaboration2010.eventbrite.com

There will be multiple opportunities to link up with some of the most talented tool makers and users there, so here’s your invitation to get involved on all these levels. See you there, – Bob Ketner

Coverage via http://freshtakes.typepad.com/sl_communicators/2010/01/cisco-announces-major-virtual-retail-environment-united-nations-citizens-.html and  http://twitter.com/malburns

If anyone finds out more about this let me know!

-MRO

Intel report on Science Sim

Via: http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2010/01/intel-opensim-supports-hundreds-of-thousands-of-objects/

Download link: http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/sciencesim-a-virtual-environment-for-collaborative-visualization-and-experimentation

]]> http://mroshow.com/2010/01/16/intel-report-on-science-sim-released/feed/ 0 http://mroshow.com/2009/12/22/metaplace-to-close-jan-1-2010/ http://mroshow.com/2009/12/22/metaplace-to-close-jan-1-2010/#comments Tue, 22 Dec 2009 17:44:41 +0000 MRO http://mroshow.com/?p=387 Raph Koster announced that Metaplace (http://www.metaplace.com) will be closing Jan. 1, 2010.
Here’s a set of links to the coverage.

Raph’s blog
http://www.raphkoster.com/2009/12/21/metaplace-com-closing/

Raph on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/notes/raph-koster/metaplacecom-closing/227988891312

Virtual Worlds News
http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/12/metaplace-shuttered.html

Massively.com
http://www.massively.com/2009/12/21/metaplace-announces-january-1st-shutdown/
http://www.massively.com/2009/12/22/marketplace-traction-with-the-ugc-model-and-the-closure-of-metap/

Dusan Writer
http://dusanwriter.com/index.php/2009/12/22/the-emphemeral-build-metaplace-closing/

Gamasutra
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/26600/Metaplace_To_Close_Virtual_World_Platform.php

Venture Beat
http://games.venturebeat.com/2009/12/21/metaplace-to-shut-down-its-site-for-thousands-of-virtual-worlds/

Metaverse Tribune
http://metaversetribune.com/2009/12/22/virtual-worlds-farewell-to-metaplace/

Gwyneth Llewelyn
http://gwynethllewelyn.net/2009/12/22/metaplaces-out-of-business-will-blue-mars-outlast-it/

Hypergrid Business
http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2009/12/metaplace-closing-a-warning-for-virtual-worlds-users/

The Flogging Will Continue
http://thefloggingwillcontinue.com/?p=60

Doublecluepon Software
http://blog.doublecluepon.com/2009/12/22/the-sadness-that-is-metaplace/

CNet
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-10420089-52.html

Botgirl
http://botgirl.blogspot.com/2009/12/are-forterra-and-metaplace-just-first.html

Adbusters has released issue #86 “The Virtual World – The Natural World” (https://www.adbusters.org/magazine/86)
featuring extensive quotations from the Metaverse Manifesto !
Lots of interesting essays on the implications of virtual worlds.  Don’t miss it!

-MRO

——–

——–
Direct link to above video:

http://www.ted.com/index.php/talk/kevin_kelly_on_the_next_5_000_days_of_the_web.html

and more advance reading material…..
Survey: Keyboards, DRM to become scarce in 2012
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-255769.html

Three Scenarios for the TV Market 2020
http://www.international-television.org/tv_market_data/scenarios-tv-market-2020.html

How will the Internet look in 2020? – PEW research report
http://pep-net.eu/blog/2009/01/20/how-will-the-internet-look-in-2020-%E2%80%93-pew-research-report/

The Future of the Internet III
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2008/The-Future-of-the-Internet-III/4-Scenario-1-The-Evolution-of-Mobile-Internet-Communications/8-Some-Say-2020-Will-Offer-a-New-Paradigm.aspx?r=1

Internet’s future in 2020 debated
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5370688.stm

Imagining the Internet
http://www.elon.edu/e-web/predictions/expertsurveys/2008survey/default.xhtml

Tolerance and the Internet: Scenarios by 2020
http://ict4peace.wordpress.com/2008/12/29/tolerance-and-the-internet-scenarios-by-2020/

The Future of the Internet II
http://www.pewinternet.org/Reports/2006/The-Future-of-the-Internet-II.aspx

BT opens international telepresence centres
http://www.btplc.com/Innovation/News/telepresence.html

———–

[- See you there! -MRO]

The stated reason for the microsite is that it was done purely “out of the goodness of our hearts” (read quote).

The pages (http://s3.amazonaws.com/products.shop.secondlife.com/agni/fashion/index.html) have ingited a firestorm (https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/09/23/hi-res-high-fashion)  amongst Second Life ™ based content creators because  while the makers of the virtual world state impartiality in regards to their users, experience varies.   The company has long been accused of  nepotism by granting special favors, advance information, and superior features to certain users  (http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2009/07/here-they-are-the-fic-26.html)  groups, and blogs.   Read more  statemements about this latest venture at (https://support.secondlife.com/ics/support/).  Even Prokofy, who usually steers clear of fashion drama, has referred to the offerings as “unimaginative slutwear” (http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2009/10/the-lindens-do-a-fic-thing-again.html) LOL.

Meanwhile, the company is also being sued by some of its content creators (http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/09/virtual-goods-designers-sue-second-life-over-copycat-sales.html) and (http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/09/linden)full .pdf  document at (http://www.wired.com/images_blogs/threatlevel/2009/09/linden.pdf) for allegedly profiting from copied virtual goods.

An equivalent situation could be considered if Apple computer, which protects its iTunes music files with a digital rights management system, allowed its users to download songs from major record labels, then upload them again using the user’s  name as the song’s original creator, and then sell those copies profiting both the company and the infringing user.  Users who complain about content infringement have been banned (http://www.your2ndplace.com/node/1601),  increasing the suspicion and furor.

The company recently obscured reference and  links to  the “economic statistics” page (http://secondlife.com/statistics/economy-data.php) and users  “still cant figure out whether the SL economy is doing well or not”  (https://blogs.secondlife.com/message/17131#17131).”  But many argue that it is tanking (http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2009/09/hows-the-sl-economy-stupids.html) .

Needless to say, users are as livid (http://www.your2ndplace.com/node/1603) and (https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/09/23/hi-res-high-fashion) as this avatar looks from the front page of  Linden Lab’s site  (http://lindenlab.com).

The fiasco continues to mushroom, with the company referring users to a Twitter feed (https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/09/23/hi-res-high-fashion#comment-768155) for information on “applying to the next Lookbook“.   I guess the “goodness of our hearts” was a limited time offer.

Employees of the company have also issued threats against it’s own creators over the past months (http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2009/07/i-will-delete-you-immediately.html)  and  (https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/workinginworld) in an increasingly uncivil and unprofessional exchange (http://secondthoughts.typepad.com/second_thoughts/2009/07/).

Is this what Philip Rosedale (Philip Linden) meant at the Second Life Community Convention (SLCC09) (http://slconvention.ning.com/) when he effectively said and later blogged (https://blogs.secondlife.com/community/features/blog/2009/09/09/thoughts-from-burning-man)   “You might not like what’s coming” ?

“Augmented Reality is the new Second Life”

From the looks of things, in SL years (blue circles) we are at about a mid-2007 comparative level of hype for augmented reality (green squares)!

Here are the Google Trends charts for both, overlaid. Check it out for yourself at:

http://www.google.com/trends?q=second+life&ctab=0&geo=all&date=all&sort=0
and
http://www.google.com/trends?q=augmented+reality&sa=N

What can I say, we are just fanatics for anything resembling a hockeysticks, hype-cycles, and mountainous landscapes!

[-MRO]

Our very own Virtual World SIG Co-Chair Maribeth Back will be co-presenting!
Join us in Palo Alto (and I’m going to try to get this on Ustream (http://virtualworldsig.com/live/) too) next week!

Title:
“Augmenting Both Reality and Revenue: Connecting Mobile, Sensors, Location and Layers”

Abstract:
Augmented reality (AR), nurtured in academia for years, has finally become commercially viable, enabled by the power / bandwidth curve of mobile computing platforms. Meanwhile, input and display hardware has reached sufficient maturity to enable devices reasonable to use and carry.

Our lead-off speaker Clark Dodsworth, whose work on personalized, networked, mobile, location-aware systems began in 1990, predicts the result will alter the social, business, and personal fabric of our daily lives, and generate revenue streams for new and existing products, as well as whole industries that are not yet obvious.

Augmented reality, which could be said to have started with heads-up displays for aircraft pilots, has been illustrated in first-person shooter games and movies like Predator and Iron Man. But humans have been devising such augmentation for a very long time. Like the tell-tales on a sailboat that make visible the direction of the wind, the innovations of augmented reality will meld seamlessly into the devices we use every day. The first widespread users of AR won’t be wearing headgear, they’ll be using smartphones.

On September 9th augmented reality designer Clark Dodsworth, who recently worked on a mobile-ubiquitous-augmented reality project for theme parks in Dubai, will deliver a survey of the state of the art and lead a tour through the current work, vendors, and future directions in augmented reality, plus its overlap with ubiquitous computing, location-based services, machine vision, situational analysis, personalization, context awareness, privacy, and entertainment.

Clark will then introduce researcher Maribeth Back of FX-Palo-Alto Lab, who will present her current work on realtime sensor-driven integration of information into simulation environments and mobile systems, which reflects traditional, complex-system augmented reality, then talk about its future path and the future of smartphone AR.

The FX Palo Alto Laboratory is investigating virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality systems for collaboration, particularly in industrial settings. In collaboration with TCHO (http://www.tcho.com/), a chocolate maker start-up in San Francisco, they are building virtual mirror world representations of a real-world chocolate factory and its processes, and importing real-time sensor data into the resulting virtual factory, a 3D environment designed for simulation, visualization, and collaborative tasks such as factory observation, virtual inspections, customer visits, employee education and training, process monitoring, and inventory tracking. FXPAL sees this mashup of real and virtual factories as a way to enhance collaboration and communication between physical-plant operators and engineers and remote managers; for example, factories in China with managers in Japan.

Presenters
————–
Clark Dodsworth
http://www.dodsworth.com

Clark Dodsworth, who develops digital strategies for companies facing the 24/7 global broadband culture, recently worked on a large-scale, ubiquitous mobile personalization system for Dubai theme parks. Clark’s consulting work spans product strategy, development and management for corporations and startups in high tech as well as museums, conferences and location-based entertainment. His scope in software and interfaces includes desktop, online and mobile/locational applications for devices ranging from handheld to theme park systems. Among Clark’s clients are Apple, Evans & Sutherland, Philips, SimEx-Iwerks, the city of Vienna, and startups.

Clark has worked on simulators for out-of-home entertainment and done IP assessment for consumer electronic applications. His book, Digital Illusion: Entertaining the Future with High Technology was chartered by ACM Press and published by Addison-Wesley. In 2005 Clark was program co-chair of the User eXperience conference in San Francisco.

Clark mounted his first networked, location-aware system project in 1990. In 1998, Clark co-authored the original Ambient Intelligence strategy for Philips in response to ubiquitous computing trends and the impending centrality of smartphones and location-based services in modern life. His work for Philips also included the Live Wall, a very-large-scale rear projection videophone. All his work is founded on human-centered design principles and has a visual or interface component. The product is the experience.

Clark is currently volunteering for the ISMAR 2009 International Symposium on Mixed and Augmented Reality and is on the editorial board of the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC) Press at Carnegie Mellon and the advisory board of Simiosys.com. He has been a papers reviewer for IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications and the International Conference on Audio Display, and has guest-edited the quarterly, Computer Graphics, and the SIGGRAPH Video Review.

Maribeth Back, FX-Palo-Alto Lab

Maribeth Back is a senior research scientist at the FX Palo Alto Laboratory (a subsidiary of Fuji Xerox). Her current research focuses on the intersection of virtual environments and real-world systems for collaboration, with a bit of ubiquitous computing mixed in. She directs the Mixed and Immersive Realities team at FXPAL, investigating how the interplay of virtual environments with mobile systems and sensor-fusion networks can be useful in enterprise settings.

Previously, Maribeth’s research focus included smart environments (real and virtual), multi-modal interface design, ubiquitous computing, new forms of reading and writing, and interactive audio systems design and engineering. Maribeth holds a doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Design.

———————————————–
More about this event at: (http://sdforum.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Calendar.eventDetail&eventID=13518)

$15 for non-members
(you can join SDForum, the parent organization, for only $125 for 12 months — and then attend all those great SIGs free and get discounts to the big meetings).
No registration required
As with all SDForum SIGs, we open with a half hour of free networking and pizza.

Agenda:
6:30 – 7:00 p.m. Registration / Networking / Refreshments / Pizza
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Presentation and Q&A

Sponsors:
IBM, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, Hewlett-Packard

Location:
Pillsbury Winthrop
2475 Hanover St., Palo Alto
Map and Directions: http://pillsburylaw.com/index.cfm?pageid=4&itemid=397&view=25&spID=75
From 280:
Take the Page Mill exit NE into Palo Alto.
Left on Hanover, the last left before El Camino.
Pillsbury Winthrop is at 2475, with a marker in the driveway.

“Humans have already split into two camps – those that cling to the dim vestiges of a default “reality” and those that are forging new, augmented realities.”

Now comes word that the old guard is at last realizing the import of these words…..
Today we find Via: (http://www.v3.co.uk/v3/news/2245980/intel-outlines-generation) and Via: (http://www.virtualworldsnews.com/2009/07/intel-foresees-a-leap-forward-for-virtual-worlds.html) that the technologists are realizing Second Life to be a forerunner to a deeper, augmented reality.

After Second Life was “derided by both the corporate reality mongers and even the technologists themselves.” exactly as predicted in the Metaverse Manifesto - now we find that some are seeing the force of the revolution in play.