Category Archives: EVENTS

Firefox Reality browser plus Oculus Quest

by

Grandma, is it true people in 2019 had to browse the web in 2-D? Mozilla has this time raised web browsing to another level with its virtual reality web browser, Firefox Reality, released for Oculus Quest headsets. Immersion will really grow on users spending time on games and video. Angela Moscaritolo, PCMag, wrote Thursday: “Not thrilled with the Oculus Quest’s built-in web browser? Now there’s an alternative: Mozilla’s Firefox Reality.”

The goal is access to VR experiences such that “Firefox Reality brings the best and freshest content from the web that you know and love to Virtual Reality headsets. Experience a seamless transition from 2-D to 3-D immersive modes.”

Stephen Shankland, CNET, commented on that transition. “VR browsers use VR-adapted web technology so developers can create 3-D virtual realms that span multiple VR devices.

Jeremy Horwitz in VentureBeat followed how Firefox Reality developed: the virtual reality/augmented reality Firefox Reality made its presence known as an April 2018 preview to an official release on different platforms to as HTC’s browser of choice for Vive devices.

And now it is on Oculus Quest.

Catherine Ellis in TechRadar made the similar note of time: The VR browser was already available for some headsets, and became the default option for HTC Vive in January,

Shankland talked about Mozilla’s history in exploring VR technologies in its earlier days. He noted it was Mozilla that helped pioneer VR browser technology in work on the initial WebVR standard for creating VR content, “with its WebXR that embraces augmented reality too, and with its A-Frame programming framework that takes care of a lot of the heavy lifting for VR content creators.”

TechRadar: “Despite the growing popularity of consumer VR, proper VR web browsers are still few and far between, and Firefox Reality is one of very few specifically designed for use without a keyboard, mouse and touchscreen.”

Writing in the Mixed Reality Blog, Mozilla’s Janice Von Itter on Thursday said “We are excited to announce that Firefox Reality is now available for the Oculus Quest!” She said Firefox Reality was taking advantage of Oculus Quest’s “boost in performance” and capabilities.

Horwitz commented that Firefox Reality was thereby “taking advantage of the standalone headset’s 6DoF hardware for a more compelling browsing experience.”

Firefox Reality had taken the step of enabling by default the Enhanced Tracking Protection feature. “Enhanced Tracking Protection” so that sites are blocked from tracking you and the collection of personal data by ad networks and tech companies.

Mozilla’s mindset here is that privacy should not be an optional setting; it should be by default. An added bonus is these protections work in the background and increase browser speed.

Also, according to Variety, the browser blocks auto-playing videos by default.

The first Quest release is available now from the Oculus Store. “Firefox Reality brings the best and freshest content from the web that you know and love to Virtual Reality headsets. Our browser provides an open, accessible and secure way for everyone to explore the web. Experience sharp text, high quality videos, and a seamless transition from 2-D to 3-D immersive modes.”

Mozilla, meanwhile, has even more plans, saying to stay tuned in the coming months as they roll out support for the nearly VR-ready WebXR specification, multi-window browsing, bookmarks sync, additional language support and other new features.

The video tells viewers about 360 video support, voice search (“what would you like to search on the Web?” You can also use your voice to search the web instead of typing), additional languages (Firefox Reality is available in 10 different languages), movie mode, privacy mode, resize mode, bookmarks.

Have a great week from all of us at ZI

Virtual world Second Life to enforce anti-money laundering regs

by

Players will need to provide government identification.

Linden Lab, the company behind virtual world and online game Second Life, will from now on ask its users to identify themselves in order to comply with tightened United States regulations, set up to combat fraud, laundering and terrorism financing.

The company said that “as part of our risk management process, we must obtain, verify and record information about our customers for whom we offer financial related services.”

Second Life has been active since 2003 and still has just under a million users, and its own virtual currency, Linden Dollars that can be credited against US dollar accounts.

These can be used to trade virtual goods in the Second Life marketplace, and one A$ currently buys just under 202 L$.

Linden Labs had over the past years tried to get avoid getting the L$ classified as a virtual currency, stating in its monetary policy that they constitute “a limited license permission to use features of Second Life”.

The US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) government agency disagreed however and in 2013 said the Linden dollars is a virtual currency.

Starting today, tightened AML/CFT regulations will mean Second Life players using financial services in the virtual world services have to provide personal information to Linden Lab subsidiary TIlia.

This includes full name and address, date of birth, and US social security number and photo identification.

Proof of address and name will be required, and Tilia will only be open to those over the age of 18.

Non-American Second Life participants will be asked to supply government-issued credentials such passports and photo ID cards.

Tightened anti-money laundering regulations around the world have caught out finance providers struggling to remain compliant with the new rules.

Last month, the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Cenre (AUSTRAC), the country’s main financial intelligence agency, appointed an external auditor for layby finance giant Afterpay.

The auditor will probe Afterpay after AUSTRAC raised reasonable concerns that the finance company has contravened provisions of Australia’s Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act of 2006.

Prior to the audit of Afterpay, AUSTRAC’s compliance dragnet had caught systemic breaches at major banks.

One such breach, involving Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s intelligent ATMs failing to automatically ping suspect activity to AUSTRAC, cost the institution $700 million in fines and ultimately chief executive Ian Narev his job.

Virtual Money Laundering: How it works

Note: Second Life.com being the largest and most popular virtual world was used as the template for review.

Users, called “Residents,” move about and intermingle with other residents via a cartoon/human-like character called an “Avatar.” Currently there are approximately 9 million residents in Second Life. The area that your Avatar moves (or flies to or transports to) is called the Metaverse (3D virtual reality world). Your Avatar could find himself at an island beach resort, shopping mall, nightclub, or casino just to name a few. The possibilities are limitless. The residents are able to move about, interact with and/or chat privately with other residents, participate in activities and trade or buy virtual items and/or services from other residents. Additionally, virtual real estate may be purchased, sold and rented and virtual casinos are plentiful.

To purchase goods in the Metaverse, Second Life has created its own currency called Linden dollars (Linden is the name of the game developer) which can be exchanged for US dollars. Currently, on Second Life the exchange rate is approximately 270 virtual dollars for $1.00 US. This is the root of a very complex issue. Once a value is placed on an object (no matter what that object is, real or virtual) criminals will find a way to abuse it either by fraud and/or money laundering. Of course, in the money laundering world, anything of value can be laundered. A player/resident may use his actual credit or debit card to purchase online money and then redeem those credits for actual money with another player in another country and in that country’s unit of currency. Additionally, another question that will ultimately arise will be the issue of taxation or the lack thereof.

To create an account is just a matter of providing a name and email address. There is no verification of this information. To make the purchase of the Linden dollars a credit card may be used or a PayPal account. This is where there may be some form of investigative tracking, however, if fictitious information was used to establish those accounts a dead end will quickly be encountered.

Money laundering scenarios

A launderer opens up numerous separate virtual accounts, all using fictitious id. The accounts are all funded with the proceeds of an organized crime sports betting operation. The launderer can make purchases in the virtual world to and from himself by using those accounts as if he were purchasing assets from other residents. Subsequently, he may direct all his proceeds to an account that he maintains. He can then withdraw those funds either from the bank or using an ATM. It would be nearly impossible to trace the source of those funds.

Areas of Concern:

  • Can virtual money be counterfeited?
  • Is there any trail to follow the money?
  • Who has access to the computer systems used to fund the system?
    • Using the ruse of “improving functions,” hackers have already been able to install keystroke loggers and malicious codes onto the computers of those playing the game. Players already have had their accounts hijacked and their in game assets and values sold off.
  • Can criminals use the system to perpetuate their crimes?
    • Money laundering
    • Fraud
    • Gambling/Betting payoffs
    • Extortion
    • Ransom Demands
    • Private internal message capabilities
  • How does law enforcement investigate?
  • Loading cash from pre-paid cards to purchase on line cash thereby increasing the layering aspect of money laundering.

Some good news is that as of August 2007, Second Life has required identification verification for residents to access the “restricted” regions within Second Life. This is aimed at protecting children from adult areas of the site and from pedophiles. Further regulations will have to be adopted to protect financial integrity. If money is being exchanged then this may need to be classified as a financial institution. Hence, various rules and regulations would come into play.

Other Uses of Virtual Worlds

Many large corporations are currently researching the concept of virtual seminars and conferences. The idea being this is the next step in the communications chain; teleconferences, web conferences and perhaps virtual conferences. Major universities have also begun using the concept of virtual classrooms for their on-line study programs. Numerous large companies, including Nike, IBM, Dell, Reebok, Sears, Coldwell Banker, Calvin Klein and Mercedes have created a presence for their products in Second Life with a vision towards capturing the attention of customers in the real world.

An actual upcoming virtual conference will be presented by The World Bank and the IFC. They will embark on a trip inside the online virtual world at Second Life as they launch their “Doing Business 2008” report to the millions strong digital community. During this three-hour event, a spokesperson for the Doing Business report will appear in Second Life’s virtual world to present the report and take questions from participants.

Virtual Gambling

Gambling on Second Life was one of the more popular areas of the metaverse. One could easily find a game of blackjack, poker, roulette or slot machines. Of course, gambling was done with Linden dollars, however, just like other forms of virtual commerce there was a link back to a form of legitimate currency. Suffice to say that any form of gambling is attractive to the money launderer.

Several issues arose concerning Second Life and gambling. First, as of October 2006 all forms of online gambling became illegal in the U.S. Some of the residents of Second Life who lived outside of the US claimed that they were not violating any US laws. Nevertheless Second Life’s servers are located in California and it is a US corporation thereby making it illegal.

Another issue that arose was the question as to whether or not virtual gambling is the same as real gambling as you are not using real currency to place your bets. In effect you are simulating gambling.

A third issue was that of the actual accuracy of the gambling devices. There are no regulators nor any gambling commissions as there are in the real world to oversee the gambling activities. Hence there is absolutely no form of quality control whatsoever.

As of August of 2007, Second Life has decided to ban any and all forms of gambling on their website.

As individuals sign on to Second Life to do just that, create a second fantasy life, small entrepreneurs and major corporations are brainstorming methods to use this technology to increase revenues and profit. However, as with any venture into profiteering comes risk and uncertainty. While Second Life and other virtual MMOG’s have built a virtual global village complete with entertainment, business commerce and education, they have neglected to incorporate a virtual global police department. Ironically, for the possible reasons that these games were developed, to depart from reality for a short period of time, the lack of structure will be the cause as to why more rules, regulations and laws will eventually become necessary. Even in the virtual world escaping reality becomes problematic.

Have a great week from all of us at ZI

Is Cloud Storage Secure and Private?

by

Are you using cloud services like file storage, online backup, webmail and document sharing? Most people don’t know much about the safety and security of cloud computing. The parade of high-profile data breaches in the past year has some people worried about the security of cloud services. Are your files and sensitive data safe and secure in the cloud, or are they vulnerable to hackers, snoopers and other threats? Here’s the scoop on cloud storage security…

Is Your Head in The Clouds?

Cloud computing – storing data and using application software “out there” in the cloud of Internet servers – is becoming more and more common.  But are they safe? Can you trust some company on the other side of the wire with your business or personal data? Can you depend on software that isn’t on your computer to be available when you need it? What are the risks of cloud computing, and how can you mitigate them?

The first risk you run is being cut off from your computing resources by some breakdown in communication between you and them. But that’s rather unlikely, really. The Internet was designed to route data around broken communication lines, crashed routers, and other obstacles. Unless you live in a country with a totalitarian form of government, the Internet tends to be self-healing, unlike your desktop computer. So before fuming at your cloud storage provider for going down a whole five minutes, estimate how long it would take you to obtain and install a new hard drive, then restore everything from your local backup. Half a day, at least?

Risks of Cloud Storage

Data theft is a second and more serious risk of cloud computing. It’s not that cloud-computing providers are sloppy about security. They’re more conscientious about it than many large enterprises and most small users. But the bigger the castle, the more barbarians there are at the gates. As more companies deposit their top-secret data in cloud-computing providers’ castles, more hackers turn their efforts to breaching those high walls. It’s a never-ending battle, but fundamentally no different from you versus a lone hacker — and most home users are no match for a skilled hacker.

To those who say “I would NEVER put my files out there on some cloud server… they’re much safer on my hard drive,” I say the following: Does your home have gated perimeter access, 24×7 on-site security guards, and security cameras? Do you have a fire detection and suppression system, backup power generators, and a disaster recovery plan in the event of hurricane, flood or earthquake? Do you have sophisticated network monitoring and intrusion detection software? You can bet your cloud storage provider has all that
and more in place to safeguard your data.

Google’s Cloud Security FAQ, for example, goes into detail about how your data is protected: “Our data centers are built with custom-designed servers, running our own operating system for security and performance. Google’s 700+ security engineers, including some of the world’s foremost experts, work around the clock to spot threats early and respond quickly. We get better as we learn from each incident, and even incentivize the security research community, with which we actively engage, to expose our systems’ vulnerabilities… we undergo several independent third-party audits on a regular basis. For each one, an independent auditor examines our data centers, infrastructure, and operations.”

Government monitoring and seizure of data is a third issue with cloud computing. The European Union has strict, high standards of privacy protecting citizens against government intrusion into their personal business. Not so in the United States, where the law gives government agents enormous latitude to spy upon and seize personal data, if they can get their hands on it. Did you know that the Electronics Communication Privacy Act passed in 1986 allows law enforcement to access emails stored in the cloud for more than 180 days without a warrant?

Another important consideration is death. What happens to your information stored online in the event that you’re no longer around? Everyone should have a plan to pass along important login/password credentials in the event they die. In addition to cloud storage, make sure you think about your webmail, online banking and social media accounts.

And it’s always possible that your cloud-computing provider will go out of business. But in the event that a popular, reputable cloud storage provider was planning to shut down their service, they whould provide ample notice and opportunity for customers to retrieve their data. In the unlikely event that a cloud provider suddenly goes dark, what happens to your data in that case? My advice is to keep local backups, or use a second cloud-computing provider for redundancy.

What About Encryption?

Popular cloud storage services like Microsoft Onedrive and Google Drive will encrypt files as they travel between your computer and the cloud servers. So you don’t have to worry about some hacker or wifi sniffer peeking inside your spreadsheet as it zips along the information highway. Your files are protected by strong physical security measures, but they’re not encrypted while they’re stored on the Microsoft or Google servers in the cloud. There are good reasons for that, however. If the files were encrypted in the cloud, you couldn’t easily view them over a web interface, share them with other users or do collaborative online editing. (Boxcryptor is a third-party add-on that works with Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive, and other cloud providers to provide “at-rest” encryption for your files in cloud storage.

Dropbox does take the extra step of encrypting user files with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and AES-256 bit encryption, once they’ve been stashed on the cloud server. That gives you the assurance that if Evil Hackers were able to break into Dropbox, they wouldn’t be able to read your scrambled files. But the caveat is that Dropbox itself has the decryption keys needed to unscramble the files. This quote from the Dropbox security FAQ explains why:

“We do have a small number of employees who must be able to access user data for the reasons stated in our privacy policy (e.g., when legally required to do so). But that’s the rare exception, not the rule. We have strict policy and technical access controls that prohibit employee access. In addition, we employ a number of physical, technical, and heuristic security measures to protect user information from unauthorized access.”

If you’re uncomfortable about the lack of encryption for files in OneDrive or Google Drive’s cloud storage, or you just don’t trust the server-side encryption that services like Dropbox offer, you do have another option. With client-side encryption, you can encrypt the files BEFORE they leave your hard drive, and you control the decryption keys. Most cloud backup services such as Mozy, Carbonite and iDrive offer you the option to use a personal encryption key so that your files are encrypted before sending to the offsite cloud backup, and only you can decrypt them. VeraCrypt is a free, open-source, cross-platform encryption tool. Versions are available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X.

Cloud computing is definitely here to stay, and its benefits are compelling. You shouldn’t avoid cloud storage services because of imagined or falsely inflated fears, but you should be ready to deal with the real risks.

Are you storing files in the cloud?

Have a great week from all of us on the ZI Staff

[FIFTEEN] Windows 10 Features You Didn’t Know About

by

Windows 10 has been here since July 2015, and hundreds of millions are using it. Yet there are still many new and useful features in Windows 10 that most people don’t know about. Here are some of the most useful, interesting, or at least amusing ones…

Fifteen Lesser-Known Features of Windows 10

If you’ve moved on to Windows 10, you’ll want to make the most of it. Check out these new features to improve your geek-cred and productivity. Some of them require that your computer is updated with the Fall 2018 or Spring 2019 Update. If any of the items below don’t work, or don’t work as described, use Windows Update to download and install the latest updates for your computer.

(1) The Cloud Clipboard lets you have multiple items in the clipboard buffer, finally! Press Windows+V to show the content previously copied (text and images). Items in the new clipboard can be shared with other devices that are signed into the same Microsoft account. You can also “pin” frequently used content to the clipboard, so they can be re-used over and over.

(2) Improved Sticky Notes: Windows Sticky Notes is not new, but the latest update has some nice new features. Most importantly, it now keeps a list of your Sticky Notes. Previously, when you closed one, it was gone forever. You can also sync sticky notes between computers.

(3) Snipping and Clipping: Most Windows users know that pressing the PrtSc (print screen) button will capture the entire screen, and place the image in the copy/paste buffer. You might not know that you can select an area for capture with Windows+Shif-S. Drag the mouse cursor around the rectangle you want to capture and release. After using either method, the image can then be pasted into a graphics program, photo editor, or directly into a document or email.

(4) The “Get Help” app is new in Windows 10. You can open a text chat session with a Microsoft “Answer Tech” if you need help. There’s also an option to supply your phone number and have a tech support person call you at a time you specify. To open the app, type Support in the search box and click on the result. (You must be signed in to a Microsoft account.)

(5) Scrolling in inactive windows: In past Windows versions, only the active (current) window could be scrolled using the mouse wheel. In Win 10, you can scroll in any open window. Just move the mouse cursor over the window, and you can scroll using the mouse wheel, without clicking inside the window first. On my Windows 7 system, scrolling in inactive windows does work. Perhaps that because I have a Logitech M510 mouse with that functionality built into the driver software. Or maybe I’m just special. But in Windows 10, all mice are equal, at least when it comes to scrolling. If you don’t have Windows 10, and you can’t scroll inactive windows, you can use WizMouse to get the same effect.

(6) File Explorer now opens with a “Quick access” view, showing a list of commonly-used and frequently-visited folders, and a list of recently opened files. You can also navigate to a folder, then select the Home tab and click “Pin to Quick access” to make that folder appear in the Quick access list.

(7) Print to PDF: a native printer driver that converts documents to PDF files has been added to Windows 10. When printing from any Windows app, select “Microsoft Print to PDF” as the printer name. Instead of committing your masterpiece to paper, it will be saved as a PDF file.

(8) The Command Prompt has been upgraded with new features in Win 10. The window can be dynamically resized, and copying and pasting to or from a Command Prompt is now much easier; the standard key combinations Ctrl-C and Ctrl-V actually work! Also, text can be made to wrap when a Command Prompt window is resized, instead of vanishing under an edge of the window. Many other Command Prompt enhancements are detailed in this Microsoft blog post.

Control and Customization

(9) Windows Update runs on auto-pilot in Windows 10, but you do have some new controls. The Professional, Enterprise, and Education editions of Windows 10 have an option called “Defer upgrades.” When you defer upgrades, new Windows features won’t be downloaded or installed for several months. Security updates will still be applied. From the Start button, type “windows update settings” and press Enter. Then click the “Advanced options” link to see the Windows Update settings. (This feature is not available in the Windows 10 Home Edition.) You can also schedule a required restart for a time that’s convenient for you.

(10) “Sideloading” apps: in Windows 8, Microsoft allowed only apps from its Windows Store to be installed. This move mimicked Apple, which allows only Apple Store apps on its devices. Security is the reason for this restriction, but the general population of Windows users doesn’t want to be deprived of all the good, perfectly safe apps written by third-parties. So in Win 10, you can “sideload” apps – that is, load them from a source other than the Windows Store. But you have to enable this feature. Go to Settings > Update & security > For developers. Then click the button next to “sideload apps.” A warning about dangers of sideloading will appear and you’ll be asked to confirm that you wish to enable sideloading; answer “yes” and it’s done. My advice is to turn this feature off again, after loading the desired app.

(11) Stylish Desktops: You can now customize the look of your desktop better than ever. Go to Start > Settings > Personalization > Colors. Choose “Show color on taskbar and Start Menu.” You can pick the color from a palette, or let Windows choose a color from your background photo to display under icons of open apps. You can also remove the translucent property of the Start Menu.

(12) Monitor Apps’ Disk Space Usage: Windows 10 will now tell and show you what apps are using the most disk space, a boon if you are short of free bytes and want to manage space carefully. Go to Settings > System > Storage. A list of drives connected to your computer will appear. Click on one of them to see how much space each app and its data are consuming on that drive. Note that you can also change the folders in which files of different kinds are saved.

Contacts, Security and Emojis

(13) My People: My People is a new feature in the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update that started rolling out on October 17, 2017. It lets you pin up to three contacts to the task bar at the bottom of your screen. Click one of those icons, and a Skype messaging window will open. (You can use Mail, or a different messaging app from the Windows Store if you prefer.) You can also drag and drop pictures onto a contact to quickly share them.

(14) Ransomware Protection: Another piece of the Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is Controlled Folder Access, which prevents ransomware from accessing your important files. This works by locking certain folders so that only authorized apps can access them. By default, Controlled Folder Access protects your Documents, Pictures, Music, Videos, Favorites and Desktop folders. You can add additional folders to protect, and specify your own trusted apps. Access the Windows Defender Security Center to tweak those settings.

(15) Emoji! We’ve gotten used to having those little icons when texting on our mobile devices, but now there’s a handy emoji keyboard built into Windows 10. When your cursor is in a text field, press WIN+. (the Windows key and the period key) to pop up a selection of smiley-faces, hearts, food, and other icons that you can paste into your messages. You’ll need the Fall Creators Update to get your emoji on.

One-Stop Shopping For Windows 10 Tweaks

(BONUS) GodMode is not an official feature, and it doesn’t actually give you super powers. But it is a useful hack put together by an overworked and underappreciated system administrator long, long ago. Yes, GodMode has been available in earlier versions of Windows, and its fans are delighted to see it still works in Windows 10. GodMode provides a unified, categorized view of all of Windows’ farflung features, commands, settings, and functions, all in one place that you can open with a single click.

Think of it as Control Panel, Unlimited. To activate GodMode, right-click on your desktop, select New > Folder to create a new empty folder on your desktop. Then copy this string of characters below to your clipboard: GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} Right-click on the new folder and select “Rename.” Paste the string into the space for the folder’s name and press Enter. Now, whenever you open that folder, up will pop the monster menu of options that is GodMode. You can change “GodMode” to whatever you like; one person I know uses “DeuceMode.” Just don’t lose that period that follows the name and precedes the cryptic string of characters!

Have a great week from all of us at ZI.

The return of Last Names a further update

by

One of the most eagerly-awaited changes that is in the works – indeed, has been in the works for a long time (my last significant update on the subject was over a years ago!) is that of the “return of last names”.

During the Meet the Lindens event featuring Oz Linden, the Lab’s Senior Director, Second Life Engineering and April Linden, Systems Engineering Manager, Operations for Second Life, the subject inevitably came up, with Oz and April both explaining why the process of implementing  the capability is taking so long, and addressing questions on the subject (some of which have been asked in the past as well).

The first thing to point out, although it has been stated in the past, is that this capability is not just about avatar LAST names – it includes the ability for users to continue to select their own first name – and to be able to change both that name and their last name as they wish (and according to their willingness to pay whatever fee will be applied to the service.

But why is it taking so long to implement? In March 2018, Oz indicated the Lab hoped to have the feature ready by the end of that year – and we’re already six months beyond that.

Well, the answer is – as with a lot of things within Second Life – pretty complicated, and goes to the very heart of how the platform and its systems were originally created and have been seen throughout their lifespan, as Oz explained:

[Bringing back] Last names would have been pretty easy. In fact, we still do last names; it’s just that we give everyone the same last name … The hard part is allowing you to change your name …  Every part of Second Life, absolutely everything, was built with the assumption that your name can never change. And that means that lots of things that can be treated as cached, and [that] the cache never needs to be cleaned-up and updated [now have to change], and we have to go back and find that assumption everywhere in Second Life; and that’s a lot of code…

You would have thought it was based on a [avatar] key, but it wasn’t always, and the trick is that while maybe it was not maybe the best way to be doing it – to be saving names in different places – it always worked, because names could never change.

– Oz Linden describing the major issue with offering changeable avatar names

Oz and April went on to note that this work is still going on, but is taking a lot longer than have been anticipated. It is also something that is complicated as it means that all these points were the avatar’s name may be used and / or cached, now not only must have the “name never changes” assumption removed – they actually have to each be hooked up to some mechanism that can track name changes (e.g. through association with the avatar key) to make sure the correct name is always surfaced where it is seen by users.

Oz also went over some ground previously covered about the name avatar naming options, and which may well be familiar to many, but are again given here for completeness and for those who may not have followed that project closely:

  • First name selection will be free-form (pick any first name you like (within the bounds of LL’s ToS and the SL Community Standards).
  • Last names:
    • Will be selectable from a pre-set list. This list will change on some basis (TBD).
    • It may be possible for users to offer suggestions for new last names.
    • Currently, it is not planned to make  previously used last names (e.g. Pey, Sideways, Starr, Rubble, etc.) available for re-use.
  • Combinations of first name and last name must be completely unique (i.e. never used previously in Second Life).
  • The ability to change your name will likely be via a new page available through your secondlife.com account dashboard.

The event also saw a number of questions asked on last names. These are again summarized bellow and answers are supplied in the audio file (with questions relayed by Patch Linden):

  • Will incoming users be able to pick a last name when they are signing-up? – No, they probably will not. Incoming new users will continue to have “Resident” as a default last name.
    • This is because picking a last name was found to be a major blocker to users signing-up.
    • Incoming new users will, however, be able to change their name(s) like everyone else, once they are in Second Life.
  • Why is there a charge being applied to name changes? – Mainly to discourage people from frequently changing their names. These changes will have a impact right across the SL services, and this needs to be managed, and the Lab would prefer not to impose artificial limits (e.g. “you can only change one a month”), if possible.
  • Will friends of people who change their name be notified, or will they have to discover this for themselves? – Hasn’t been addressed, but potentially no reason why friends shouldn’t be notified.
  • Will people who change their names remain on a friends list? Yes; this is one of the systems the Lab has to parse through to make sure things behave as expected.
  • Will name changes be reflected in everything (the name of creators of object rezzed in-world, the owners’ names, etc)?
    • That is the goal, and again why it is taking so much time to get this feature to a point where it works as would be expected and then deployed.
    • However, there will likely be a some delays on seeing name changes, simply because they need to propagate and cached across multiple services.
  • How much will it cost to change names? – This will probably be one of the last things to be decided, as it only needs to be done when the capability is ready for deployment.

For those who prefer to listen to Oz and April’s comments as given directly during their Meet the Linden session, they can be found on the SL4live TV recording of the event at the following time stamps:

  • [28:20-32:35] Initial comments on the complexity of implementing the capability and what it will offer.
  • [38:04-47:59] Q&A with Patch Linden handling audience questions.
  • Have a great week from all of us at ZI

It’s Time to Celebrate Second Life – SL16B is Officially Open!

by

SL16B is now officially open! Second Life is turning “Sweet Sixteen” — 16 years of an incredible community and creative history that makes “SL” so unique. Of course, there is always cause for celebration on the Grid – but this is an opportunity to call out all the stops. This year’s celebrations will last longer than ever before! From today through July 8, we have packed SL16B with parties and events to mark this momentous occasion.

Here’s a “first look” preview of this year’s event:

With so much going on this year, we’ve assembled some highlights that you won’t want to miss:

SL16B Destination Guide & Over 170 Community Exhibits!

Community builds, events and celebrations are one of the biggest and brightest parts of the birthday celebrations. With over 170 community-created exhibits this year, there is a lot to see – so plan more than one trip to catch it all! To get started, check out the Community Exhibits category in our dedicated SL16B Destination Guide.

In addition to the community builds, there are several birthday events happening all over Second Life. Our Destination Guide also features an SL16B Featured Events category chock-full of places that are celebrating with us – make a point to join your fellow Residents in the festivities.

Shop & Hop – 100 Merchants. 100 Gifts. 5 Regions

We’ve brought back one of the biggest shopping events in Second Life and gathered one hundred of the biggest Merchants across five Regions, to offer some of their best products at incredible prices. Each Merchant has also provided a free gift in honor of the birthday of Second Life. Drop by each Region to shop and grab your gifts. A full list of participating Merchants is available on the blog.

Music Faire!

Second Life is full of talented musicians and you’ll find the live music community pulsing throughout the Grid each week – in clubs, venues, and cafes. We’ve got some of that talent together to take the stage at SL16B’s Music Faire – a full two day line up of feel good vibes. The full line up in SLT is available on our blog.

Slap on some virtual sunscreen and head out for the music.5d03ebfed9d37739582728.jpg

SL16B Music Faire 1

Meet the Lindens  

It’s also a tradition at SL16B to spend some time with some of the folks behind Second Life. On June 24th through 27th, our Meet the Lindens event connects Lindens to the community so that you can ask questions and get to know us a little better. Participants this year include Patch Linden (June 24), Oz & April Linden (June 25), Ebbe Linden (June 26), and Xiola & Strawberry Linden (June 27). All events at 2 p.m. (Pacific).

Meet the Lindens

5d02a1e3691e1271182242.jpg

Free SL16B Gifts & Avatars

What good is a birthday party without free gifts? Several cool retro gifts are scattered across the SL16B regions. Can you find them all in the SL16B Swaginator Gift Hunt?

SL16B Swaginator Gift Hunt

There’s also free themed avatars exclusive to SL16B!

5d03be5b7e056076780044.jpg

Free SL16B Gift – Complete Avatars

Full Event Calendar

5d081e1062bc7626462118.jpg

You’ll also want to catch the many DJ performances and other special events. To keep on top of what is happening each day, visit the full SL16B event calendar or our SL16B Landing Page.

We are so excited about celebrating with you – and look forward to more great Second Life Birthdays!

Sorry this post was late minor malfunction. Have a great week from all of us at ZI.