I’ve submitted my entry to Dusan’s interface contest, so now I want to take the opportunity to open it up for discussion, feedback, and critique.

My design proposes:

• Reworking the bottom toolbar to be collapsible and customizable, and to feature chat, IM, voice, and friends list more prominently.
• Reorganizing the main menus to be less intimidating and more logically-grouped.
• Several enhancements to the Inventory floater:
  • “Favorites” and “Worn” item tabs.
  • Quick filter selection box to easily filter items by type.
  • Various enhancements to the right click menu.

The design document is available online, with purty pictures for your enjoyment.

Feedback and critique about the design are welcome!

I commissioned this sketch from Jun Kuroda (SL name), aka rotemu on Plurk, starving artist extraordinaire. She also made a semi-nude of CodeBastard Redgrave and other cool commisioned sketches!

If you want to commission a sketch to call your own, check out her Livejournal page or IM her (Jun Kuroda) in-world. They’re awesome, not at all expensive, and you’ll be helping out a really cool artist! ^_^

Check out the full set, and check out the Kids5B event!

I received an interesting comment from someone last night. He said that his first impression of me, from reading this blog, was that I was an “angry SL pessimist”. You know the type: no matter what happens in SL, they’ll bitch and moan about it.

Thankfully, he said that further reading had improved his impression, and I explained to him that the reason many of my posts are critical of LL, is because the things that get me riled up enough to write about are often things LL has done which I strongly disagree with. So, my blog only reflects the extremes; the other stuff doesn’t get blogged.

In an interesting and related occurance, my friend Goldie Katsu tweeted a link to an article by Louis Gray, The Five Stages of Early Adopter Behavior. (You might want to go read it now, or at least skim the bold headings.)

Continue reading »

I hate to say it, but SL5B (Second Life’s 5th Anniversary) looks to be a bust. (I was going to use a different word there, starting with an F and ending with a D, but decided to refrain, in the interest of good taste.) Continue reading »

It’s done! I am pleased to present to you, SL Animation for Blender Newbs. It’s 6 pages long, with pictures. It might take you maybe 30 minutes or so to follow along, I’m guessing. If you have any feedback (e.g. suggestions or praise), leave a comment on any of the pages.

Enjoy.

I’ve been banging away on a tutorial, called SL Animation for Blender Newbs. It’s a gentle introduction to the SL animation exporter, with just enough Blender-fu to get you started. And it has pictures! It’s about 80% done right now; I’m hoping to have it finished up tomorrow or the next day. So, mark your calendars and all that. *4AM head-desk-bonk*

A new revision (2008-06-02) of the Animation Exporter is available. This revision is mostly UI changes to improve usability, especially for new users who have not mastered Blender’s UI yet. The new layout will also scale better to different screen sizes.

[Update Dec 15: PLEASE NOTE: If you get an error about a missing pickle, you will need to install Python.]

Here’s the revision log:

• Changed window layout to be grouped more logically.
• Panel headers are now at the top, as is standard in most UIs.
• Moved the button toolbar to the Tweaking screen (Ctrl-Right).
• Minor UI tweaks to the exporter script.
• Auto-key is enabled by default. [Edit: Apparently this setting doesn't save with the file, so you'll have to enable it yourself.]
• Removed mesh UV maps and materials to reduce file size.

And a snapshot of the main view. Click to enlarge:

Enjoy.

P.S. I still deny that I’m maintaining this thing, despite all evidence. :P

I don’t envy Linden Lab’s situation. Try to dodge the self-serving politicians and reporters nipping at your heels, and the Residents bring out the pitchforks and torches. It’s an impossible job, so it’s no wonder they’re doing so poorly at it. I’d have plenty of sympathy for Linden Lab. I really would.

Except that they put themselves in this situation.

Second Life is under external pressure because of a number of misconceptions (some more misconceived than others) that exist among the general public — the misconceptions perpetuated by the commercial media because they sell well: Sex. Weird sex! Lots of weird, kinky sex online! And kids?! What’s going on in this sick, perverted online haven of creeps and pedophiles?! Read all about it! Throw in a few politicians eager to prove that they’re “thinking of the children” on an election year, and you’ve got a lot of (self-)important people with a professional interest in painting an exaggerated, sordid picture of Second Life.

The natural alliance here would be between Linden Lab and the Residents, based on the common interest in making sure Second Life survives, against the external forces that threaten it. Linden and the Resident, hand in hand, making a better, freer world, in the face of opposition. A beautiful image, no?

Would that it were so. But Linden Lab, it seems, doesn’t want its Residents anymore. It doesn’t want a free, open, creative world. It wants a sanitized, media-friendly world, that universities and big corps won’t think twice about making major investments in. LL’s message for Residents now is: Thanks for making us so popular, but go away now. You’re embarrassing us in front of the cool kids.

Continue reading »