As the New Year approaches I’ve been collecting arcane references and re-reading Russian classics so that I can cap off the year with a lengthy post on 2009 and the coming year which will leave us both wondering what I was getting at or, like Chinese food, will leave us full at first but empty an hour later. So while I plod away with my meditation on this decade’s end and project forward to 2020, I thought that I’d clear out the attic first with a quick recap of 2009, focusing primarily on Second Life.
Now, for readers of this blog, or even you non-readers, I shouldn’t have to do this for you. I mean, you read every word I write with religious devotion, and have likely memorized most of the posts of the past 12 months. And for non-readers, this is your chance to boost my traffic. Simply click the “previous button” until you’ve gone through 300 or so odd posts and presto! 2009 wrap-up!
But it did occur to me that there’s the news behind the news. The stories that don’t get told. The news from the metaverse that doesn’t get published because it’s merely rumor (actually, check out the forums and Shopping Cart Disco and you’re probably even covered for that).
What I thought I might do is share with you my ‘draft’ folder – you know, the posts that I started and never finished, the news I started to tell but felt compelled to hold back on while I validated facts and ensured that I had three reliable sources (one for attribution).
So as my look back on 2009, I share with you the posts that I never quite managed to hit the “publish” button on, although to spare you a little I’ll just focus on the headlines and maybe a first sentence or two.
So here it is, the news that wasn’t told, which I hope provides you some context as we look back on 2009:
Map of the World: In Response to M Linden
Mark Kingdon (M Linden) published the first of what he promised would be a monthly blog post today, outlining the broad road map for Second Life, providing the kinds of details that will leave developers and content creators feverishly revising their business plans so that they can be in synch with developments on the Grid. The post, which follows an insightful overview of the product development process and user design approach of T Linden (Tom Hale), also invited the community to M’s weekly office hours to be held at rotating times in order to accommodate users outside of California.
Poetry and Art in Second Life: Massively Reports
Short on analysis but long on poetry, Tateru Nino has a lengthy and meditative piece over on Massively today which leaves me hungry for more details on how the technology of Second Life supports content creation or how we can reduce lag, but which was nonetheless an incredibly poetic review of the Second Life art scene.
With Interoperability Here, Can Creative Commons Be Far Behind?
Now that we can teleport between Second Life and OpenSim and bring our inventories and avatars with us, Linden Lab has also hinted that they’re in discussions with the OpenSim Governance Team (which manages the universal TOS and Content Protection Algorithm for the OpenSim Grids) about implementing Creative Commons as the new permission system for the metaverse.
The Communists Can Have It
Prokofy Neva responded to the arrival of Wal*Mart to Second Life by pointing out that they both received preferential treatment by Linden Lab (and are thus now Uber-FIC) and that their freebie/low cost warehouses will over-turn the in-world economy, but at the end of the day his conclusion was that while Wal*Mart’s SL presence will be run as a collective, “I just don’t care. Frankly, since it’s Wal*Mart, the Communists can have it.”
New World Notes Launches “Pick of the Day”
Hamlet’s popular “Picks of the Week”, which summarized his top posts of the previous 7 days, has increased its frequency to daily. To help make sense of the changes, following is the publication schedule over at the popular New World Notes, which has substantially increased its traffic through the self-referential linking and repeating of content:
- Reader’s Open Forum of the Day
- Best Comment of the Day
- Best Word of the Day
- Best Post of the Day
NWN reserves the right to publish Koin-Up and Rezzable press releases which are bound to confuse casual readers expecting consistency.
Alphaville Herald and New World Notes to Merge
Readers may be dismayed to learn that the Alphaville Herald will be merging with New World Notes in a move that may lead to a more Linden-friendly tone from Hamlet Au, renowned for his biting critiques of Lab policy following the recent format changes at the blog. Hamlet denies the merger with the Herald will mean a shift in his editorial policy: “New World Notes has always stood up for the little guy against the Lab’s commercial and heavy-handed approach to governance. Having the Alphaville staff on board will NOT lead to puff pieces or other frippery.”
Bettina Tizzy Moves NPIRL into…Reality
Bettina Tizzy’s Not Possible in Real Life will now cover reality as part of its ever-expanding coverage. In an announcement to the NPIRL group, Bettina said: “Loves! We’re expanding! Change is good! And what’s more surreal than reality? What’s more beautiful than a random piece of litter or a funny cat stuck in a laundry basket? Let’s stay united and create create create! (Oh, and please drop your photos of reality in my Flickr stream!)”
Bettina also announced that having shifted from a blog format to Posterous and Wave that she is now taking things one step further: “From now on, I will only be posting short bursts via text SMS! Hugs!”
Scalable Megas Lead to Increase in XStreet Sales
Following the launch of scalable mega-prims in Second Life, an uptick in sales on XStreet seems directly connected to the sudden plethora of “Giant” sims including massive, over-sized furniture collections. The Tinys continue to protest that they are being discriminated against due to the lack of comparable micro-prim development tools.
Linden Lab Releases Shares to Second Life Residents
Following the Lab’s denial that neither an IPO nor a sale was part of their exit strategy, they put their money where their mouth is with today’s resident buyout of Second Life. The users and content creators of Second Life were granted equity in the company in what Wall Street is touting as the first example of taking the concept of an employee-owned company to a customer-owned one.
2010 will be an interesting year as the newly minted Second Life millionaires continue their buying spree, facilitating what some are calling the largest burst of creative and commercial energy in decades.
After reading all this, I am so looking forward to 2010. Thanks, Dusan.
You mixed up the communism stories. Creative Commons is the communism story. Wal-Mart is fine. I have no problem with Wal-Mart.
Is April Fool’s Day on December 22 in Canada?
Ooops sorry Prok.
Naw, not April Fool’s….more like “My World, My Imagination”.
[...] So while I plod away with my meditation on this decade’s end and project forward to 2020, I th… [...]
This is the best blog post I have ever read in my entire life!
I encourage each and every one of you to:
print it out
sign it in your own blood
frame it
bow to it once a night
warship it
WTG Dusan… this piece is BANK and held together with Duct Tape!
What’s made this 1000x funnier is that Prokofy STILL has the need to make criticisms instead of just take it in and laugh.
And the fact that you like Wal-Mart is SAD!
Prokofy sighting at Wal-Mart: http://media.peopleofwalmart.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/700.jpg
It’s not a common occurrence, but once or twice the brainy kid in the back of the class does make everyone laugh.
We go back to tripping him tomorrow, but we still laugh today.
Love it! Mmm. Poetry!
Funny! And I’m not going to say how far down the post I got before realizing it was a parody.
WHAAAT??? It’s a parody?!
[...] Dusan Writer’s Metaverse » Second Life Looking Back: 2009 Uncovered – Virtual worlds and creativity, business, collaboration, and identity. [...]
I’m not too ashamed to admit the same failing as Botgirl and it wasn’t until the end of the “Pick of the Day” paragraph that I got it.
Uh oh. See, I was trying to attempt self-parody in the first paragraph or so in order to alert you (in addition to the parody of trite year in review articles) but if you took that as, well, the real thing and actually believe I’m planning to reference Russian novelists in my “year Ahead” column then I have some reading to do.
I’d have thought that “Now that we can teleport between Second Life and OpenSim and bring our inventories and avatars with us” would have been a pretty big clue! Heheh.
Christine: Yeah, I missed that line.
enjoy the holidaze.:)
With this post, Dusan of the Econo-Biz Guild has risen 2 experience points, has gained a level and can now wield the Goblet of Edutainment and equip the legendary “business socks +4 of protection”
Dusan, highly amused to read
“Linden Lab has also hinted that they’re in discussions with the OpenSim Governance Team (which manages the universal TOS and Content Protection Algorithm for the OpenSim Grids)”
To me, putting it like that shows how preposterous the idea is. OpenSim naturally distributes the virtual environment to the many rather than place it in the hands of the few. An “OpenSim Governance Team” sounds as unlikely as a “Web Governance Team”.
“…they put their money where their mouth is with today’s resident buyout of Second Life. The users and content creators of Second Life were granted equity in the company…”
Thanks for the post, Dusan. Would you mind elaborating, quoting a source, or clarifying this statement a little further?
If possible, thanks
It’s not “Opensim Governance”, it’s “Universal Governance”, and it will accommodate other models of exchange besides Creative Commons. Note however that there will be a small rezzing tax for all items which will automatically be deducted from your account that will be used to finance various “Governance” activities.