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Archives for October 2009

The Watch – virtual worlds in the news

October 19, 2009 by Leave a Comment

1. The Guardian (UK) – Are online currencies striking gold? “Money. The stuff that makes the world go round. Every day we earn it, spend it, exchange it and lose it. But you won’t find any Linden dollars, Eve ISK or Facebook credits down the back of the couch. Virtual currencies like these are used for transactions in online worlds and social networking sites. While real-world currencies are on the slide, many virtual ones are going from strength to strength. In the second quarter of the year the equivalent of $144m (£91m) was traded on the LindeX, the official currency exchange of Second Life, where residents buy and sell Linden dollars for their US counterpart – a 20% increase on the previous quarter, while the US economy shrank by 1%. Trading activity increased by 6% in the last quarter of 2008.”

2. Financial Times (UK) – Trading in online virtual goods set to top $1bn. “Revenues from the sale of virtual goods will top $1bn this year in the US, according to analysts, a 100 per cent leap over last year that signals the arrival of a new online industry in the largest internet market in the western world. The findings, to be released in a report today, show that sales are expected to double again next year, with particularly fast growth noticeable in the social games category. Analysts and entrepreneurs have been following developments in virtual goods and social games closely. But the report will give the most complete picture to date of virtual goods sales trends in the US.”

3. VentureBeat (USA) – Electronic Arts exec says social gaming bubble resembles mobile games hype. “The social gaming bubble is getting bigger and it resembles all of the hype that used to envelop the mobile phone games and virtual world markets a few years ago. So says John Schappert, the newly appointed chief operating officer at Electronic Arts. When EA agreed to buy Jamdat Mobile for $680 million in December, 2005, that was a peak moment for the mobile games bubble. Venture capitalists funded lots of mobile game startups in the hopes of getting a similar outcome, only to see the peak shift to virtual worlds as Second Life.”

4. Signal Magazine (USA) – Virtual Design Challenge Opens To All. “A new competition is opening up the process of developing and improving virtual training environments by streamlining the rules and requirements for participation. The U.S. military spends billions of dollars developing and improving virtual environments to train its personnel, but this process can seem complex and difficult for individuals and firms without government contracting experience.”

5. Reuters – China Q2 online game revenues hit $906 mln -research firm. “Revenue from China’s online game market grew 39.5 percent in the second quarter from the previous year to 6.18 billion yuan ($906 million), according to data from research firm Analysys International on Tuesday. Tencent Holdings (0700.HK), which runs China’s largest online messaging platform and operates popular free-to-play games domestically, emerged as the market leader with 20.2 percent of the market and 1.24 billion yuan in revenues.”

6. Computerworld (USA) – Linden Lab CEO on Second Life’s growth, future. “While the recession has been brutal on most technology companies, one venture that has done relatively well is Linden Lab, the parent company of Second Life. When we first interviewed CEO Mark Kingdon in January, he said the company was profitable and growing. Last month, Linden Lab released figures showing increased usage of the virtual world, and a near doubling of the size of the in-world economy. The Standard recently caught up with Kingdon via email to see how the company’s enterprise push is faring.”

7. MTV.com (USA) – Project Natal May Provide Dance Controls, But ‘FaceAPI’ Could Let You Talk Or Make Out. “From what Microsoft has shown off so far, Project Natal looks like it will track various body movements for controls dealing with first-person shooters, sports games and maybe even lightsaber fights. PhD candidate Torben Sko, is concentrating on face movements in his work right now, though, and he says he’s found a way to track mouths, eyes and head movements nothing nothing more than a camera. “Using a program called ‘FaceAPI,’ it’s possible to track a person’s facial features using nothing more than a standard Web camera,” he explains in a video posted to TorbenSko.com. “In turn, we can use this information to drive the expression of a virtual character.”

8. Air and Business Travel News (UK) – Comparing real and virtual meetings. “In a bid to compare the virtual and real life, the UK and Ireland Institute of Travel and Meetings (ITM) and Eventia held two events, one a real meeting at the NEC in Birmingham, the other in the virtual reality computer programme Second Life. The same content was included in both events, held on September 22 and 23, after which the delegates were asked to complete a survey about their experience. The two meetings organisations wanted to use the events to test out the business viability of Second Life technology. After comparing the feedback, ITM and Eventia recently released the results of the experiment to be mixed.”

9. Sydney Morning Herald (Australia) – Teen net addicts at risk of mental health problems. “Obsessive use of the internet could create a mental-health epidemic, with up to 10 per cent of adolescents at risk, a Sydney academic warns. World studies have documented dangerous levels of “internet addiction” – computer use that interferes with daily lives – says Lawrence Lam, a behavioural epidemiologist at the University of Sydney and the Children’s Hospital at Westmead.”

10. World Politics Review (USA) – Social Media, Virtual Worlds and Public Diplomacy. “On Sept. 1, 2009, the new U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Michael E. Ranneberger, a career foreign service officer with deep experience on the African continent, started a Twitter feed. The seven or so tweets he posted between then and Sept. 29 were lauded as another example of “Twitter Diplomacy.” Shashank Bengali, blogging for McClatchy, declared that the ambassador came out “swinging” with highly charged comments about Kenyan presidential appointees and in support of Kenya’s need for reform.”

Filed Under: General News, Virtual Worlds, Virtual worlds in the media Tagged With:

Interview – JaNa KYoMooN, Second Life musician

October 18, 2009 by 2 Comments

jana0508_001JaNa KYoMooN, the avatar used by Jan Pulsford, is a musician I’ve known since the late 90s when we were both involved with online music collaboration via the now defunct Rocket Network. Via Twitter, I connected Jan and JaNa, and knowing her extensive background in music performance and composition, I asked her if she’s be happy to be interviewed on performing in Second Life. She kindly agreed and provides some useful tips for those thinking of starting their performance career in a medium like Second Life.

Lowell: Can you tell us a little of your pre-SL performance and composition history?

JaNa: I suppose I am considered a “veteran musician” who, as Jan Pulsford, has lived an incredible life jam packed with musical adventures that started in London amidst the electronic and hair revolution of the late 80s. Touring the world as keyboard player for pop band the Thompson Twins, I ended up in the USA where I built a recording studio in the woods of Tennessee and formed a production company “Madame la Pulse Productions” working with many independent artists including Felicia Collins (who is now the guitarist for Late Night with David Letterman) and Kat Dyson and Sir Jam who both became members of Prince’s musical entourage. I also formed one of the first online labels during the frenzied Internet revolution of the 90s: “Collecting Dust Recordings”, releasing CDs by artists Nigel Pulsford, guitar player with multi platinum rock band Bush and Grammy nominated Dulcimer legend David Schnaufer.

Cyndi Lauper heard my music and invited me to New York where from 1993-2001 I worked as her co-writer, producer and touring musical director. The partnership spawned some of Cyndi’s most artistic and critically acclaimed work with over twenty co-written songs released on the albums “12 Deadly Cyns” ~ “Sisters of Avalon” ~ “Merry Xmas” and “Shine”. I’ve always loved the rhythms of dance and wrote Cyndi’s club hits “Come on Home”, “You Don’t Know” “Higher Plane” and “Cleo and Joe” which led to working with Grammy nominated DJ Julian Marsh on many of his Pride CDs featuring Happy Charles and Jajucha and more recently UK artist Alan Connor and Evan Cowden.

I’ve been lucky enough to have songs performed by artists as diverse as Ani da Franco, Steps, Darlene Love, Chico Freeman, Bruce Wooley, the Leaders, Dr. Elmo, Sweet Dreams, Zoe Girl, Jeff Oster, Hazell Dean, Julian Marsh and Townes Van Zandt. I’ve also had over twenty albums of production music for film and TV released. You name a TV program and my music has probably been used on it – from Oprah to Jerry Springer, MTV to the BBC! Film scores include “Unhook the Stars”, “Intimacy” and Audrey Tatou’s “At the End” which was written with Jazz great Chico Freeman. We continue mixing jazz with electronica and triphop on such projects as “Zolace”, “CJ7” and “aTHeNa BLue” the latter being best known for the ReQuieM 4 eLViS + JeSuS, which has been performed around a thousand times both on line and live at the City Skies Electronica festival in Atlanta and the Buzz + Click Festival for WRVU. Acid Planet recently ran a remix competition and it is being featured in an upcoming TV documentary about music for peace.

Lowell: During the 1990’s you were involved in net-based music collaboration, can you talk a little bit more about that?

jan_USBmidiJaNa: My fascination with music technology and computers started back in the days of the Oberheim System and continued through C-lab’s Notator on an Atari to working with Logic Audio on the Mac. I became a beta tester for Logic Audio’s Rocket Network, a global network of pioneers of on line collaboration and today I continue to develop that spirit in the 3D virtual world of Second Life where I perform as a solo virtual artist mixing electronica with ambient improvisations and rhythmic reflections.

I know that on line performance and collaboration is a huge part of the future of music and am still recording with people all over the globe, in fact that has been my mode of working for the last ten years. When Rocket disappeared, I reverted to using ichat/skype etc. passing midi files and audio via on line storage and yousendit. Everything has developed so quickly that it is really a lot easier to do than 10 – 15 years ago!

Lowell: What were the main things you learnt from that time that has helped your musicianship?

JaNa: It was great meeting like-minded people and showed that you don’t have to be in the same room to write music or a song! The thoughts flow down the wires and through the airwaves without the hindrance of physical contact – it’s the closest to mind melding and Spock. I was very fortunate to meet Chico Freeman on the Rocket Network who became one of my main writing partners. It was a truly brilliant concept and nothing has come close.

As an aside – I have learned over the years that too much software is developed by people who don’t understand or care about the practical uses. I’m about USING software and making it work for ME not playing the geek game. Most musicians are an altruistic lot and I have seen too many, myself included, unwittingly become enthusiastic unpaid beta testers for badly designed software for start up companies that ultimately will be sold off or floated on the stock market. . But that’s an article for another time!

Lowell: When did you first come across SL and what were your initial impressions?

JaNa: My first impression was it was a big black hole! I got into Second life in early 2006. My friend the ambient musician Tony Gerber had discovered it and as the avatar/musician Cypress Rosewood was having the time of his virtual life in a second life. . I followed him in as Emmeline Pankhurst and fast realised it could be an all-consuming proposition. After a major computer crash and several months later I tried again but couldn’t remember my password or any sign up details so rezzed a new avatar – ladies and gentleman – Miz JaNa KYoMooN. This time I “got it”

Lowell: When was your first SL gig and what are your memories of it?

JaNa: My first SL musical adventure was as part of the Peace Park Trio in 2006-7 playing at the Music ALL Music Peace Park, a sanctuary I built as a place of inner and global peace through music and the arts. I remember the exhilaration of really doing something new and special. We piggy backed three streams and played live. The mixture of electronica with dulcimer and Native American Flute was extremely successful. We played many gigs before the next crash – a mixture of Wall Street and black hole syndrome.

Lowell: When did you realise the music performance aspect would be a good option for you?

JaNa: In the summer of 2008 I started performing as a solo artist – quite a daunting prospect for someone whose whole musical life has been spent at the back of the stage or on the other side of the glass.

At first I was performing hard hitting electronica music from my aTHeNa BLue project but then as time went on it seemed the more down tempo, meditative ambient music was getting the biggest reaction. When I realized the positive aspect of performing this kind of music for spiritual and physical well being I decided to dedicate most of my performances in SL to this end.

Lowell: Can you give details of how you actually go about performing in SL?

JaNa: I have tried a few different setups. Running Logic and SL on the same computer can present problems so I try to have one computer for SL and the other one for Logic and Nicecast. I have also used GarageBand and iTunes to broadcast. I prepare sequences in Logic and prefer to have everything running live – I don’t use mp3s. Just the computer running sequences and me playing over them gives it a feeling of “anything could happen” – there is a certain energy from playing music live that you can’t communicate from lip syncing with ready made mixes. Everything I do with online concerts is prepared especially for that performance. To me music is a collection of moments and I usually capture what I play into Logic after each performance. Eventually I mix it down and make the music of the KYoMooN available as downloads in SL or on iTunes and CD Baby.

Lowell: What are some of your favourite SL venues to perform at?

jana_milesJaNa: They come and go but so many to choose from! The Music ALL Music Peace Park of course! The Pyramid art gallery and Club Ethereal run by Torben Asp and Jess Oranos. The Bluff Arts Center with ZeroOne Paz, Gaia Island with Enchantress Sao, Anthology with Trella Mohan, Dragonfly Reign with Magnolia Anthony and Broody Flow, Firehouse with Trowser Boa and Sugar Hill Island with Marjorie Dibou. The list goes on . . . . and on

Lowell: Have any SL experiences inspired you to write new music?

JaNa: Indeed! I believe music is all around us and we as composers learn to tap into that – we get our inspiration from a variety of stimuli depending where we are in our lives. I do try and write a new piece of music or arrangement for most events and of course if you are collaborating with someone you take into account the instrument and style they play e.g. Trowser and his sax, Cypress and his flutes, Trefies with his dulcimer, Miles with his fusion based keyboards etc.

The Solstice concerts have been very inspiring as have the Space Center events like Yuri’s Night which spawned “Floating with Yuri”; Silver Shimmers came about from the shimmers on the water at Alda Lair; Reflections of Indigo came from two art exhibitions – Indea Vaher and Gleman Jun. Others include Tibet Day and of course Relay for Life. Playing at the charity events are ALWAYS inspiring. That is the really positive side of SL.

For the past few years my RL inspiration was where I lived and the fields and nature that surrounded me. From the sound of the water babbling to the birds, the smell of honeysuckle and the beauty of the trees and flowers. The sight of the full moon to the sound of thunder. This was all reflected in the music I played in SL. I captured these musical moments into my computer. I might come back from a long walk, take a deep breath and play and programme the music I found. I like to think of it as painting and sketches with music. I use reflective piano and ambient synths tinged with echoes of world jazz and triphop.

Lowell: Which other SL performers do you enjoy the most?

JaNa: Torben Asp – A true bedroom electronica artist from Denmark whose venue Ethereal hosts the monthly E-fests. I got to hear him through Cypress Rosewood’s “When Worlds Collide” radio show

Tuna Oddfellow – unbelievable and indescribable visual show with very cool music streamed

Miles Eleventhauer – the jazzologist who I found one night whilst searching for “Jazz”. He plays a great mix from Queens New York

ZeroOne Paz – fellow logic user. I love his original music and covers played from his studio in San Francisco

Nuvolino Ruffino – excellent electronic trance artist from Australia

Formatting Helenoise – plays a wonderful esoteric mix of music to go with his very interesting photographs.

Leanna Luftig – love hearing her New Age music along with HappyCharles SideShow at the Goodbye Weekend Show

DJromex – plays GREAT trance in SL!

Swina Allen from Italy and the ambient Sunday music of cypress rosewood and hardhat Rickenbacker – the list goes on and on. Apologies for those I have missed

Lowell: What are your future plans with performance?

JaNa: I have recently changed computer timezones so am looking forward to resuming operations end of October. I am especially looking forward to continuing the GoodBye Weekend Show and “Behind the Monitor” – an interview show I tried earlier this year that was well received. Also plan on doing more poetry and music shows plus art/photographs with music. SL is the perfect platform for mixing visuals with music. However, more than anything I would really like to develop getting my music through SL into hospitals and hospices – it is such a wonderful platform for people who are disabled in one form or another. I have done several performances to benefit cancer patients and children with autism and really want to do more. Last Christmas we raised a good sum of money for UNICEF at the mAm peace park so the Music for Winter Festivals will be starting up again in November.

Lowell: For the newcomer to performing in SL, would you have any wise words to share?

JaNa: SL is a great platform to experiment and connect. It is a perfect parallel to the real world in terms of seeing yourself reflected in the virtual world. You can be performing to hundreds of people in a short period of time, you can learn from your mistakes and your successes and you can get immediate feedback. For new musicians it’s invaluable for planning a business model. I mean if no one comes to a show, why is that? Promotion is key. Posting to SL events and groups is time consuming but the results are very worthwhile – just like a real life gig.

Do your preparation, your promo, your sound check to make sure your stream is working. Be professional and get it all worked out before hand. There is nothing more annoying than hearing a performer blame the venue and SL about “lag” – go ahead of time to see what issues you may have to encounter and embrace the great opportunity the virtual world gives us and enjoy!! I host the “Goodbye Weekend Show” on Sunday night’s at the Music ALL Music Peace Park and have seen it grow from nothing to a packed SIM. It has helped me record three albums and develop Radio Jana. I wouldn’t have done that without Second Life.

Find out more about JaNa:

1. Calendar for dates and further info

2. Twitter

3. Pictures and event blogs

4. Buy the music – CD and downloads

If you’re a musician and would like to discuss your approach to virtual world performance, drop us a line.

Filed Under: General News, Music, Profile, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , ,

What’s fastest?

October 17, 2009 by 1 Comment

Four men were sitting around a conference room table being interviewed for a job.

The interviewer asked, ‘What is the fastest thing you know of?’

The first man replied ‘A thought. It pops into your head, there’s no forewarning that it’s on the way, it’s just there. A thought is the fastest thing I know of.

‘That’s very good’ replied the interviewer. ‘And now you, sir,’ he asked the second man.

‘Hmmm, let me see….. A blink!,’ said the second man. ‘It comes and goes and you don’t know it ever happened. A blink is the fastest thing I know of.’

‘Excellent!’ said the interviewer. ‘The blink of an eye’ That’s a very popular cliché for speed.’ He then turned to the third man who was contemplating his reply.

‘Well, out on my dad’s property, you step out of the house and on the wall there is a light switch. When you flip that switch, way across the paddock the light at the barn comes on in an instant.
Turning on a light is the fastest thing I can think of.’

The interviewer was very impressed with the third answer and thought he had found his man. ‘It’s hard to beat the speed of light’, he said.

Turning to the fourth man, an Australian, he posed the same question.
‘After hearing the three previous answers, it’s obvious to me the fastest thing known is diarrhoea, said the Aussie.

‘What!’ said the interviewer, stunned by the response?

‘Oh, I can explain’, said the Aussie, ‘You see, the other day I wasn’t feeling so well and ran for the bathroom. But, before I could, think, blink, or turn on the light, I shlt my pants.’

Filed Under: Bowel humour, Email Joke Graveyard

Weekend Whimsy

October 17, 2009 by Leave a Comment

1. Mac vs. PC in Second Life!

2. IMAGINE PEACE TOWER unveiling ceremony of YOKO ONO in Second Life

3. moon

Filed Under: User-generated, Virtual Worlds

Make your predictions: Philip Rosedale’s next venture

October 16, 2009 by 6 Comments

Linden Lab Chairman (and former CEO) Philip Rosedale has let the Second Life community know he’s scaling back his day-to-day involvement with Linden Lab’s operations to focus on both his Chairmanship and a new venture. Not surprisingly he’s coy about the new venture, so it’s a perfect juncture for some speculation and hyperbole.

Fire away: what do you think the new venture is likely to be?

I’ll start off with both a conservative and a radical suggestion:

1. Conservative: a new business-centric virtual environment spin-off is created, that in no way leverages off Second Life.

2. Radical: Philip becomes CEO of an oil company to transition it to a renewable energy startup.

Over to you!

Filed Under: General News, Op-ed, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Merged realities – events and issues for virtual worlds

October 16, 2009 by Leave a Comment

habbo-oct2009 1. Teen virtual world Habbo Hotel have teamed up with MTV International to bring the European MTV Awards vibe to Habbo. Users can vote in-world for the awards as well as get involved in some competitions.

2. Caleb Booker has created a great wish list of features that would make a truly successful 3D platform. Lots of stuff I totally agree with, although I disagree that interoperability is a red herring – the walled environments are definitely keeping people from investing from discussions I have. That said, getting some of the more basic things right would certainly help.

3. Jezebel takes a baseball bat to marketers who don’t seem to get the fact that female gamers aren’t one definable demographic.

4. Linden Lab have announced an update to the Second Life viewer: 1.23.5. It’s essentially a security update:

Residents using the Official and Release Candidate versions of the 1.23.4 Viewer are required to update to version 1.23.5. Those of you still using version 1.22.11 will be offered version 1.23.5 as an optional update. If you choose to remain on 1.22.11, you may notice changes in the way notecard editing behaves. If you use a viewer not created by Linden Lab, you may also see changes in the way notecard editing behaves. To avoid any potential confusion caused by these behavioral changes, we strongly recommend that you immediately update to the new 1.23.5 Second Life Viewer.

Confused yet? If you like your Second Life viewer to be non-Linden Lab, then the Imprudence viewer has also had an update.

5. Who’d a thunk it: using virtual environments for meetings and/or other collaboration opportunities is effective from both a financial and productivity viewpoint.

6. Over at sister-site Metaverse Health, we discuss informed consent for medical procedures and the use of Second Life, which is the substantive topic of an interview on today’s Radio National Future Tense episode. There’s also a brief interview with yours truly on how Second Life has continued to be a success in spite of media coverage stating the contrary.

Filed Under: Events, General News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: , ,

Blonde Patient

October 15, 2009 by Leave a Comment

A surgeon went to check on his blonde patient after an operation.

She was awake, so he examined her.

“You’ll be fine,” he said.

She asked,

“How long will it be before I am able to have a normal sex life again doctor?”

The surgeon seemed to pause, which alarmed the girl.

“What’s the matter Doctor? I will be all right, won’t I?”

He replied,

“Yes, you’ll be fine.

It’s just that no one has ever asked me that after having their tonsils out.”

Filed Under: Email Joke Graveyard, Sex, The Gender Wars

Buying a motorbike

October 14, 2009 by Leave a Comment

From: Peter Conner
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 09.17am
To: David Thorne
Subject: R 1200 GS

Hello David,
Thankyou for your recent enquiry regarding pricing of the R 1200 GS Motorcycle. We do not accept household furniture as trade ins on vehicles and would reccomend you sell them privately. The R 1200 GS has a list price of $25,470. Please note that this excludes Dealer delivery and ORC and is GST inclusive. I welcome you to contact me personally to arrange a test ride at a time that would suit you.
Sincerely, Peter Conner

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 10.03am
To: Peter Conner
Subject: Re: R 1200 GS

Dear Peter,

Thankyou for responding to the online request I filled out several months ago and your kind offer to allow me to test ride the product before paying what is essentially five times the value of my car. If you could confirm for me that the model is available in desert yellow I would be very interested.

Regards, David.

From: Peter Conner
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 10.22am
To: David Thorne
Subject: R 1200 GS colours available

Hello David,
Yes the R 1200 GS is available in desert yellow. We have a desert yellow demo model on the showroom floor at the moment if you would like to come in to view and arrange a test ride at that time.
Sincerely, Peter Conner

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 10.48am
To: Peter Conner
Subject: Re: R 1200 GS colours available

Dear Peter,

I have just been informed that bees are attracted to yellow vehicles. Apparently a few years back, a guy I know purchased a bright yellow convertible and was unable to drive it with the top down due to constantly being surrounded by bees. Do you know if this is a science fact? I am allergic to bees and the last thing I want is to be stung in the eye while I am doing 240kph on the freeway during the test ride. Also, do you know if there are airtight motorcycle helmets available?

Regards, David.

From: Peter Conner
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 11.09am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: R 1200 GS colours available

Hello David,
You would be required to follow state speed restrictions of 100kph on the Eastern Freeway during a test ride and would reccomend lower speeds than that until you have familiarised yourself with the bike. We would generally not expect people to take the demo bike on the freeway but we can discuss when you come in. I have never heard that about bees liking yellow vehicles and would think it is not true. The R 1200 GS is available in granite, black and red in addition to the yellow. Would you like to come in today and discus?
Sincerely, Peter Conner

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 02.50pm
To: Peter Conner
Subject: Re: Re: Re: R 1200 GS colours available

Dear Peter,

I have been researching bees on the internet for the last four hours at work. When I type “Do bees like yellow” into google, it states that there are 2,960,000 results. It will take me a while to look at that many pages so I doubt I will make it in there today. One of the pages states that Qantas once had a yellow kangaroo as their logo but when it was painted on the tail fin it attracted nests of bees so the logo was changed to red in the mid fifties. This would seem to support the argument that bees are indeed attracted to yellow and contradicts what you have told me. Admittedly though, another page states that bees are technically unable to fly due to their wings being too small for their body weight but I have seen them doing it so this can’t be true – somebody should check the internet and make sure everything on there is correct. Regardless, I do not think having to dodge bees in addition to the already present dangers of learning to ride a motorbike for the first time would be very safe. Once when I was a passenger in a yellow taxi, a bee flew in and I screamed causing the driver to swerve and hit a wheelie bin. I will continue my research and confirm that this would not be a factor before I arrange the test ride.

Regards, David.

From: Peter Conner
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 03.18pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: R 1200 GS colours available

When you say you are learning to ride a motorcycle, do you hold a current full motorcycle license?
Sincerely, Peter Conner

From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 03.40pm
To: Peter Conner
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: R 1200 GS colours available

Dear Peter,

No, but how hard can it be? They are just pushbikes with engines. Part of my daily job role is to ride to collect co-workers lunch orders from McDonalds. I balance the bags on my handlebars because they will not buy me a basket. I think that qualifies me for something. Often, I have to make the trip twice when McDonalds® employees leave something out of the order. Actually, on average, every third time I go through the drive through they forget to include prt of my order. Also the girls who work there are too attractive. This means that if I want something from my local McDonalds® late at night, I have to shower, shave and wear something nice before I can get a simple snack. As it takes me at least two hours to do my hair, I am practically starving by this time and therefore order twice as much food as usual. Ordering more food increases the chance of them leaving something out. Last night it was an apple pie and that is really the only thing I like from there. It is quite obvious to me that they do this on purpose. Once, I ordered two big macs, minus the beef, large fries and an apple pie. When I got home and opened the bag, there were two happy meals in there. The toy in each was a Kim Possible figurine which worked out well as I gave one to my son and kept one myself. For a cartoon character, you have to admit that Kim Possible is quite attractive. I also have a thing for Lois from the television series Family Guy so I must have a penchant for cartoon redheads which is vaguely puzzling to me as I cannot stand redheads in real life. Nobody can. I read somewhere that redheads are more prone to allergies and if this is a science fact, and includes allergies to bee stings, all redheads should be encouraged to wear bright yellow T-Shirts.

Regards, David.

From: Peter Conner
Date: Friday 9 Jan 2009 04.28pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: R 1200 GS test ride

Dear David,
I apologise but we will be unable to organise a test ride for you at this time.
Sincerely, Peter Conner

Filed Under: Email Joke Graveyard, General humor

Interview – Kyle Gomboy, CEO of ReactionGrid

October 14, 2009 by 1 Comment

reactiongrid2-sml ReactionGrid is one of the OpenSim-based grids that’s been making an impact during the year. The more formalised partnership with Microsoft has only increased the momentum for ReactionGrid, as has the increase in educators moving or diversifying to OpenSim grids.

I took the opportunity this week to catch up with ReactionGrid’s CEO, Kyle Gomboy, to have a detailed chat about the company, its plans and the wider challenges for OpenSim grids.

Lowell: Can you give a potted history of how ReactionGrid initially was created?

Kyle: ReactionGrid was an experiment in controlling & developing our own virtual world experience. While managing events for Microsoft we found too many issues with X-Rated content & problems like a rolling restart in a well planned Microsoft event of over 300 attendees. We are thrilled to say these preventable situations no longer occur during our events on Opensimulator & our PG TOS has helped prevent any mature incidents. We now have Microsoft moving here & an educational and business community forming fast because of these decisions to focus on reliability and security.

Lowell: While we’re talking reliability – why are you able to avoid issues like the restarts? Is it because of ReactionGrid’s smaller size or do you have a different approach from an infrastructure viewpoint?

Kyle: Both actually. Our use of Hyper-V virtualization software has allowed us to give clients the option of a dedicated server which they can lock down to users registered to their world. When you now know exactly how many users will attend, exactly what the build is and exactly what resources you have, you can begin to plan for reliability for any platform.

Lowell: So the obvious question is why don’t grids like SL have the same approach? What’s the downside, if any?

Kyle: The downside is these smaller worlds are just that, small. The upside is with Hypergrid world hopping technology we can allow shoocls and business to go private then link up “Stargate” style anytime to any other world. SL doesn’t have virtualization because their plan is a huge monolithic grid to serve all. Our plan is a galaxy of smaller, niche interconnected worlds. For this reason we rely heavily on virtualization. It also lets us migrate or copy your public world locally behind firewalls for the ultimate in uptime and security.

Lowell: To step back for a minute, can you talk a little about your own experience in virtual worlds pre-ReactionGrid?

Kyle: My experience started in 1995 when I was working as an aerospace test engineer. I started mixing 3D visualizations with data to help engineers learn how to improve part performance. I ended up using 3D to train workers worldwide, to display our parts at tradeshows and to educate our sales people by flying them in from around the world and showing them 3D animations of new product. Now there’s the rub, we flew them in! I thought wow we could have a Quake or Unreal engine and show these CAD parts and movies in 3D. I had to wait awhile when we launched our company to prove that but now is the time.

Lowell: So what was the catalyst for you starting ReactionGrid?

Kyle: Simply running into too many development and enterprise acceptance roadblocks. I hate being slowed down, or if there’s trouble being able to hands on fix it. After hosting web applications for almost 20 years now, we do not like our hands tied when serving our clients. Plus, how can we do such amazing events like when we taught C# inworld with Microsoft and recreate the ’39 World’s Fair without kids? We badly wanted teachers and students to come inworld with us.

Lowell: So what platform were you using before ReactionGrid?

Kyle: We started in 97 with Macromedia Shockwave with Havok1. We got slammed by business clients for the choice. They weren’t ready at that time for ANY downloads or plugins. So we waited for a true platform unitl we found SecondLife. We loved their concept of inclusion with user created content. So we started there really but now we have Opensimulator and recently Unity3D for our own scratch built world.

Lowell: For the non-techie, can you explain the difference between OpenSim and Unity3D?

Kyle: Sure. Open Simulator with user created content, for the near future will require a client download to fully utilize. We need something to compliment OpenSim that can operate in browser & mobile. Unity3D is perfect for this. It allows you to build your own world concept from scratch. We plan to use its .mesh import abilities to provide richer experiences for those not needing to build their own content. We will in fact be offering templates and training soon for others to learn with us.

Lowell: So are the two platforms seperate or will RG users who’ve created content in OpenSIm be able to have others view it in a browser?

Kyle: That’s a great question. The plan is a merging of the platforms abilities over time. Like a web content management system we store all our data for content in a database. This means we could share that info with any other systems that can query it. A little mathematical transform in between to put OpenSIm’s data in another world is definitely a part of the roadmap R&D.

Lowell: Which leads to the related issue of interoperability: at the broadest level, do you see much progress occurring in ensuring interoperability between environments?

reactiongrid3 Kyle: We had hoped the AWG group in SecondLife would mature as a basis for interop. Why not start with your most compatible world after all? But they are not keeping up with the speed of the Opensim dev’s with items like Hypergrid now linking any Opensim world. So since we cannot get hands on to help there on the SecondLife side we have decided to experiment with our own interop focusing on the access we now haveto the worlds core database store. We can get to the data now so anything becomes possible.

Lowell: So to some extent Linden Lab is lagging the OpenSim efforts?

Kyle: Yes, recently a Linden began participating in the IRC channel with the developers so there is hope. The problem I think is the Lab deciding whether connecting to us would benefit or hurt them. We feel that kind of openess will propogate virtual worlds faster in the mainstream but I can understand all sides of the issue. I just know the web would not be the web it is if it worked like virtual worlds do now.

Lowell: Are the OpenSIm dev community still fairly tight-knit? Do you get the feeling everyone’s still working pretty much to a common purpose or are you seeing commercial considerations increasingly creeping in?

Kyle: I think the Opensim community is incedibly tight knit. What is interesting is it is much like a company with stress, deadlines, support always testing your nerves. But in this case the company’s struggles are fully exposed to the world. So it can seem at times there’s infighting, but it is usually just normal wrangling over how things should be done best. An illustration of our working together is Hypergrid itself where many competeing worlds now link together and have regular cross world meetings and events.

Lowell: On that note, who do you see as ReactionGrid’s main competitors?

Kyle: Second Life & OSGrid are 2 worlds that are run very well & offer options we do not. On our side, we also offer many optins they do not as well. For this reason in terms of attracting users, developers and more, we feel those two worthy worlds are a source of concern. At the same time, we reach out to both for partnerships & have had great success with OSgrid in this way. If we all row in the same direction we’ll get to our destinations a lot faster.

Lowell: Which leads to the partnership with Microsoft. Can you talk a little about how that came about and what opportunities it offers you and the wider community?

Kyle: I have been a Microsoft developer since day 1 of programming for me. One thing this company does right is cater to developers. When I arrived in SecondLife I simply hoped to move my skills from Visual Basic to C#. I instantly was helped by Chris Hart who now is 1/3 owner in ReactionGrid. Over time I began to return the favor with ineractive games, not slideshows, to teach C# to new users. Over time because we used the medium properly they began to invest more in virtual worlds. Soon we spread to dozens of internal departments and to this day they all continue to try various inworld events. With the move to ReactionGrid, the plan is simply to do the same thing but now include teachers, students and families in our educational events with Microsoft. They are even developing and donating spaces for free for low budget schools and innovators to use anytime. What’s also important on that note is you can script inworld on opensim in C# or Visual Basic or even JScript like you would with LSL2 and in fact can mix the code launguages together! This, as you can imagine, is loved by Microsoft who has suggested a 3D world toolkit with us for Visual Studio 2010.

Lowell: Really? So is that a confirmed feature at this stage?

Kyle: No, just part of the ideas for next year being tossed around. Step one is to engage the Microsoft business, teacher and student communities and see how they can help foster fun learning here. We may find they want something else other than our suggestions – teachers are amazing at innovation and this spreads to the students once they get the hang of things. So we like to listen first to our users, then generate and produce our own ideas after that.

Lowell: You mentioned earlier about ownership – who does own ReactionGrid and can you disclose any future plans around growth?

Kyle: Myself and my wife Robin Gomboy are in an equal partnership with Christine Hart in the UK. We recently incorporated as a ‘for profit’ in Florida, USA. We plan to grow initially with hosted, turnkey worlds with great support ( www.metaverseheroes.com free service) and have ideas for including our clients next year with ideas like sim ownership equals a small stock investment in the company, and other ideas to share guidance of how we operate with our end users. We believe our single file download of worlds behind the firewall recently deployed will eclipse our hosted solutions one day. We also feel by delivering superior support we will surpass most other systems in terms of customer loyalty.

On growth, since launch in January we’re up to almost 5,000 users platform wide, with over 60 independent servers and almost 500 sims platform wide, 150+ here on our world. So extrapolating to next year, we could be pretty huge hehe….

Lowell: One of the biggest challenges for any virtual platform provider is governance. As you move beyond the current 5K users on 60 servers to five or ten times that, how do you see ReactionGrid playing its governance card?

Kyle: Keep in mind ReactionGrid is a platform for virtual world hosting first and foremost. We have our own world of course named the same which is an illustration of the power you get with Opensim. So while this world does grow itis far eclipsed by our resellers and private world owners already. We govern here simply with a PG kind of ethos. Our client and partner worlds handle ther own TOS and other governance. This is exactly like web hosting where we play no part in your worlds rules if hosted with us. If it is legal it is ok with us. As far as growth in this world we’re focused on education and business and have laid down rules similar to those environments and have created a culture here that accepts that in order to be able to bring managers, school administrators and others inworld, they need to experience the medium safely. So we’re hiring former teachers, architects, estate managers and more to help us as we grow on thisparticular world.

Lowell: So the obvious challenge for any business is to make money – what is ReactionGrid’s primary commercial model now and is it likely to change into the future?

Kyle: The business model is three-fold. 3D world development is primarily our team integrating with other systems and applications. On our http://outpost.reactiongrid.com store you will find tools for business & schools to connect to 3rd party systems for single registration or remote user editing. We also are now building an ecosystem with other content creators. Our hosting services of course provide turnkey virtual worlds and web based administration for mainstream users. So development, ecosystem, hosting are the 3 tentpoles.

Lowell: So if you were able to sum up ReactionGrid’s value offering versus others, what would it be?

Kyle: ReactionGrid is focused on the “launchpad” of your ideas. Our belief is when we deliver users their part of a world the process doesn’t end there. We follow up with you. We help with sim challenges and how to improve performance. We build tools & create fixes based purely on what our users ask for. We want to get the basics right of good customer support before all while Opensim is alpha and far after it matures. Support is key. ReactionGrid sees customer service before and after the sale as critical to launch-padding our client’s ideas.

Lowell: And you’re confident of being able to deliver that personalised service ongoing as you scale in size?

Kyle: I am fully confident. With almost 20 years experience in such care and the fact that since Jan 1 2009 we have doubled in size every couple of months, we are already on track there and simply cannot drop the ball on this.

Filed Under: General News, Open Source, Profile, Virtual Worlds Tagged With: ,

Beautiful Kate – screenings move outside the capital cities

October 13, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Just a quick heads-up for those living outside Australian capital cities, interested in seeing Beautiful Kate. There are now screenings in a range of other towns and cities throughout Australia. For example, Event Cinemas (formerly Greater Union) now have sessions schedule over the coming couple of weeks for Wollongong and Newcastle in addition to capital Darwin. Albury-Wodonga has been screening the film recently as well.

You’ll need to check your local cinema guides to determine times and availability, but it’s good to see a little wider distribution of the film. Still no word on international release dates at this stage. For those new, here’s a brief snippet of the Second Life scene in Beautiful Kate:

For those who have seen the movie, we’re always keen to hear your thoughts, or whether you agree with our assertion that the movie as a whole is an impressive piece of art.

Filed Under: Art, Australian News, Virtual Worlds Tagged With:

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