The Month of Machinima Event Starts Today!

My blogger friend Apmel got off a good pic:

Check out his blog for more details and a great read daily: http://apmel.blogspot.com/ or direct linke here: ApmelHere.

The LL site reads in part: "The Month of Machinima Event Starts Today! by Courtney Linden on 05-04-2011 08:00 AM - last edited on 05-03-2011 04:52 PM

Attention all film fanatics in the virtual world! If you’re in the mood to see some great machinima filmed in Second Life, then c’mon down to the LEA Theater today at 10:00 a.m. SLT to see the winning selections in the inaugural Month of Machinima (MoM) event, presented by the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA).

To help kick off the event, Linden Lab’s Senior Director, User Experience Rhett Linden and the LEA board will be in attendance to talk about the arts in Second Life, the 13 films selected for the May event, and what’s next for the LEA’s community events and installations.

...More about MoM and the LEA
The objective of MoM is to promote Second Life machinima, encourage the creation of new work, and showcase existing work to the community and beyond. It serves as an opportunity to introduce Residents to the machinima art form and to support the machinima community to continue to create Second Life films for everyone to enjoy. MoM will be a recurring monthly event with juried screenings of community-created machinima so you can participate and view new films every month.

Also, the LEA Information group is open to the public—feel free to join to learn more about the organization’s future events. You can pick up information in the MoM info boxes at the LEA Theater and infohub.

Now’s the Time for June Submissions
The next deadline for machinima submissions is May 10 for the June MoM. The theme is Mixed Reality. Maximum run-time is six (6) minutes (SL machinima has to be included in your mix). Interested in participating? You can learn more about MoM and apply to have your machinima included in the event here. Films that have already been submitted, but not selected for a previous MoM, will be eligible for consideration in future events if they adhere to the theme, length restrictions, and other requirements."

Details for submissions and additional information can be found in the Wikki here:http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Month_of_Machinima or direct link here: LLMOMWikkiHere.

Yeah.. so I'm at work and obviously can't attend this opening event during the SL times presented, but I'm sure I'll be able to catch up later. Also, I can't add links here now but head over to the original site for direct links if interested: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/Inworld/The-Month-of-Machinima-Event-Starts-Today/ba-p/852221 or direct link here: MOMHere.

More Viewer Changes Coming up for Kara

I was about to panic when I learned that LL is wanting to do away with all non- sanctioned viewers and 1x code viewers that includes my beloved Phoenix, as they have big plans for V2 and would like people to be on that. The rumor is that within three to four months LL is removing the "search" feature from these other viewers which would in essence kill the use-ablity and make everyone have to switch. But I was told by a friend who seems to know all, that we are not to worry. Phoenix is working on Firestorm which will have as many features of Phoenix as possible including the radar that I love and need for exploring with slow friends. It's his understanding Firestorm should be ready for release by the time LL makes the changes.

Another friend provided me this link to video on the subject specifically around 4:00 and 27:00times. January 11th Rezzed.TV held a taped interview with Jessica Lyon of Phoenix, on "The Phoenix Hour"-check it out here: http://rezzed.tv/2011/01/the-phoenix-hour-11th-january-2011/ or PhoenixIntvHere.

Firestorm will try to keep us happy and even add some nice features such as media on a prim and others. So I am not going to panic and just be mentally prepared for more changes.

BUT ...I would like LL to know that I would love to be able to use their viewer and would actually feel more protected on it, but can they PLEASE make it more user friendly and have some of the special features I love that seem to be missing from V2 but Phoenix and some others have? I could make them a list. I even ran into a noob not very old saying they had to switch to Phoenix as V2 was too hard to learn. Anyway.. be prepared for more changes soon if you are not a V2 user.

Linden Labs- It's All About ME! & my toes

One of my favorite bloggers, Chestnut Rau, recently blogged about the things she'd like to see improved in SL via an open letter to Linden Labs. I'm just going to link here because she pretty much covered what I'd have to say to LL, and no sense in me wasting my space. But she makes some other good points besides her requests including her belief that we/avatars in SL should be considered customers not "residents". Or at least that is my interpretation of what she was sort of saying. Residents sounds all sweet and touchy feely, but SL is a product we use and many people pay for. That being the case I think we do have the right or responsibility to let LL know when they need to fix something but ultimately they are in charge.

Chestnut makes some very fair requests such as customer service issues, tier costs, platform stability, IP Infringement controls, marketing, and a biggy VIEWER 2, among others. I'd like to add one of my own to her list though and that would be SL feet. OMGosh!!!! Why can't LL make better feet after all this time? They can't be harder to make than fingers which are somewhat normal in SL. Maybe this is more of a skin issue, but if so why are not any of the skin makers fixing this problem? My SL toes look horrible in their natural state and so do YOURS and everyone Else's. Everyone knows we all go to the beach in SL. We must have decent feet for this and other times. It seems like a simple request. I have tried prim feet of course and first of all some are not that easy to match with different skin tones. I own various types such as Stiletto Moodys with toes, toe sandals from Cream Shop, Jay's, and naked prim feet from Slink plus quite a few various others. They are actually all wonderful UNTIL I tp to another sim or change windlight settings. I used to have a set that seemed consistent wherever I went, but maybe that was before I used light setting adjustments so much because they don't work well now when I move around. I still love them for pictures and when settled but anyone who knows me knows I don't sitl still in any one sim for long. Anyway, I digress.

I'm generally a supporter of LL overall, as it is a business and they do have the right to decide how to run it and we as the customers can take it or leave it. Plus it is second life, not first life, so some things I've heard people rage on about LL have been so trivial in the scope of life. I think we should pick our battles, and Chestnut has put together a very fair list of requests. I hear with some new admin, they maybe are trying to be receptive to consumer feedback for improvements. Sounds good to me. Many people do spend a great deal of money in SL, and overall there is huge business in SL, but there are also a good number of people running around enjoying things for free including a lot of alts. Chestnut makes a good point in suggesting LL look at their big spenders and see what they like/want.

Anyway, I guess in the scope of things my toes are small potatoes and if I am going to pick my battles I should live with crappy feet until some other things are improved in SL.

Check out Chestnut's list and blog here (she's also a great explorer so can get exploring tips and locations too): http://slofdreams.blogspot.com/ or direct link ChestnutHere.

Phillip Linden Back as CEO

Phillip Linden announced he will step in as interim CEO of Linden Labs. If interested read more here:
PhillipCEOHere.