Coming Soon…The Good Ol’ Days!

[2009-02-25 @ 11:10 AM PST] The new blogs are UP NOW! blogs.secondlife.com (note the extra “s”, the singular will also redirect to the new blogs soon).

[11 AM PST] WE’RE SO CLOSE!

[8 AM PST] Pardon the mess, it’s temporary. We’re upgrading to our new blogs! Stay tuned… -Torley

UPDATE – Due to some last minute technical naughtiness, the launch of the new blogs has been delayed to early next week.

I’m disappointed about the delay of course, as I can’t wait to get started blogging in earnest.  If you are disappointed as well, I apologize.  But you know the old saying:  When life gives you lemmings, make lemmingade! And so without further ado…

Welcome to BLUE’S TOLD-YOU-SO COMPETITION where you can turn snark into valuable prizes!  The game is simple.  Just come up with the ultimate told-you-so to go with any event, whether it’s the delay of the new blogs, McCain losing the election, or your boyfriend getting towed for parking in a handicapped spot…it’s up to you.  I’ll even get you started with an example:

Yoz:  Hey Blue, we have to delay launch due to some technical issues.

Blue:  Told ya we shouldn’t be using that Commodore64.

The best comeback wins one lucky resident a dream date with me, your pal Blue, to an exciting inworld location as part of my SL Travel Blog.  Yes you heard right.  Immortalized…on a BLOG.  How can you resist?  Just write your comeback on a notecard with the title TOLD YOU SO and drop a copy on me inworld.   Even if you don’t win, a witty dis is its own reward!

—

The Second Life Blog was once a place where the Lindens talked casually with you about policy, their projects, recent news, the future of SL, etc.  Residents regularly told us that they loved having access to such broad insight into the company and frequent communication with the full range of Lindens.  And Lindens loved the ongoing dialog with residents.

Over time however, as more Lindens came to participate, the blog got a bit manic. Some of you complained that reports of temporary performance issues would eclipse larger conversations related to long term plans and features while others believed that tutorials and opinion pieces were distracting them from the hard news of inworld issues they needed to know about in order to run their businesses.

In other words, we outgrew our single channel blog.  It was no longer serving people’s individual needs. Perhaps worse was that the signal to noise ratio in comments had gotten bad enough that Lindens weren’t able to depend on them as a way to clearly hear the range of needs and desires of the community.  As such we had to limit blog participation to a smaller number of Lindens on certain types of topics and move extended discussion to the forums.

We knew it was important to get back to using the blog as a key means of constructive two way conversation with the community, so we put together a shopping list of must-haves for a new blog suite which included…

• Individual channels of communication for each subject
• Numerous means of accessing channels (including RSS and email subscription)
• Discussion format sub-blogs for extended conversations with threading, voting etc…
• Private sub-blogs for communities working in Second Life (like educators and Solution Providers)

After comparing options, we believe we’ve found one that will best suit our ongoing needs. We expect that it will allow us to get back to the days when any and all Lindens could participate freely and hope that it will provide a convenient way for you to engage us on a wide variety of topics.

So we hope that you’ll join us here, on Thursday the 19th of February, for the launch of a whole new Second Life Blog, where it will be the good ol’ days all over again!

See you then,
-Blue

Is your password safe?

It’s officially time to do a reality check on all of your passwords.

Did you see the chaos when high-profile Twitter accounts were recently hijacked and used to send out messages in the names of those folks? How embarrassing.

Creating a Great Password
So, how many of us are using passwords from the list of 500 worst passwords?

Now that you know that “password” isn’t a good choice, here are a few tips for creating a password worth using.

• No real words = important. As you saw on the list of 500 worst passwords, most of them are real words, which can be cracked by fraudsters with very little effort. Avoid real words that can be found in a dictionary (in any language) or any proper nouns.
• Long passwords = essential. The fewer the characters, the easier it is to compromise. Choose a memorable password that’s at least 8 characters long. To make it even stronger, make it a “pass phrase” instead of a password. “brownfox” is borderline. “thequickbrownfox” is better.
• Mixed case = good. This adds another level of difficulty for fraudsters to guess your password. Try changing “thequickbrownfox” to “TheQuickBroWnFox.”
• Misspelled = better. While your English teacher wouldn’t approve, misspelling your passwords is a great way to add complexity: “ThuhQueekBroWnFoxE.”
• Added numerals and symbols = best. You could mix some numbers in there like “ThuhQueekBr0WnF0×3″ or-even better-use the first and/or last letter of each word, mixed with numbers. For example, the full phrase: “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs” becomes “TQbF70TLd$.”

Keep it Secret!
Now that you’ve got a worthy password, be sure to keep it safe.

• Don’t use the same password for everything. If someone happens to crack your code, you could suffer serious compromises across all accounts.
• Avoid typing your password on shared computers. Keyloggers and other programs can allow others to harvest typed data from any computer to which they have access. So, consider your environment when logging in to anything from Internet cafes, libraries, or other shared computers.
• Don’t save your password anywhere. Most of us know better than to write it on a Post-it and stick it anywhere near the computer, but some of us may save passwords on sites or in files on networked computers-which isn’t safe.
• Change it from time to time. The better the password, the longer you can keep it-but that doesn’t mean it should stay static forever. Set yourself a reminder to update your passwords on a regular basis. If it’s been awhile since you changed your Second Life password, you can do so here.
• Don’t share your password. Do not give your password to anyone. This means friends, family, loved ones or Linden employees. Pets too, you never know.

Learn More
Below are a few other sources online to help increase your password protection and general password safety knowledge.

• Secure password management tools: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_manager
• Microsoft Password checker:http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/checker.mspx
• Very technical, but interesting article on password strength: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Password_strength
• Tips for making tough “shocking nonsense” passwords:http://www.linux.com/articles/28057
• Good overall reference: http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2008/06/the-ultimate-guide-for-creating-strong-passwords/
• Other tips for strong, memorable passwords:http://www.microsoft.com/protect/yourself/password/create.mspx

(please note: The “blank password” option should NOT be used for Second Life.)

If you’d like to discuss this further in the forums, join in the discussion here.

Where to Find Updates from Linden Lab

Hi, Katt Linden here with a roundup of our main methods of communicating with you. First, I want to acknowledge that I have heard your concerns and complaints about the changes to the blog and the login screen. In answer to your questions about where to find key information, please see:

• Second Life Grid Status Reports. We are collecting all information about the status of the Grid — known issues, new server and viewer software and, very important to those planning events, a calendar showing planned outages, such as rolling restarts. We collect this in one location so that those needing this level of update can find it easily, without having to sort through blog posts on unrelated topics. You can subscribe to this by RSS or Twitter, which means you can have updates sent to your mobile phone.

New First Look for SLim

We’re happy to announce a new First Look for SLim, a new voice and text instant messaging client.

SLim’s technology is provided by Vivox (www.vivox.com) and developed in partnership with Linden Lab to work with the Second Life viewer.  SLim enables Second Life Residents to conduct voice or text conversations with member of their Second Life friends list….whether they are logged into the virtual world or offline. While the Second Life viewer will still serve as the primary inworld communication engine, SLim is capable of running on most computers, and offers users a voice-enabled instant messaging client that extends the value of the Second Life Grid beyond the virtual world.

How to report abuse and handle griefing – Video Tip of the Week #47

Getting griefed isn’t fun, but this enlightening video tutorial sure is. I collaborated with our peacekeeping Governance Team to teach you how to file effective abuse reports so you can have a happier Second Life.

Action-packed griefing and conflict resolution tips are shown, and so are effective ways to use tools we provide — like how to mute annoying noises. Press play and be on your way!

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In less than 10 minutes, you’ll learn:

Default textures and neon signs – Video Tips of the Week #45 & #46

I’ve got a double treat for you today — 2 (two) tips of the week! They’re both followups re: questions I got about Here island o’ Enlightenment, which you should, like, totally visit if you haven’t already.

Have you ever wanted to use a custom texture when clicking the Default button in the texture picker (instead of ol’ plywood?) Save time, builder! Here’s how:

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And now, I show you how to make a glowing neon sign which will surely stand out. This features some principles I’ve covered in past vidtuts, but can be watched standalone if you’re new to my video tutorials, so enjoy:

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If you’re on the free ArtRage version, you can download the transparent canvases to use. And remember, this is just one example of infinite possibilities you can do — I get you started and greatness is yours to claim.

Send your creations to me, Torley Linden, and I look forward to them soon!

-Torley Linden
Did you know you can download all 600+ Torley Textures in a single zip pack? CLICK HERE to learn more & get ‘em!

Tour Torley’s island! – Video Tip of the Week #44

You are Here You are standing in a field filled with watermelons, next to a giant Torley head which bids you “Friendly greetings!” Attached to one of the melons is a leaflet which practically begs you to, well, leaf through it. > read leaflet

I’ve an island named Here which you’re most welcome to visit! (Yes, you read that right.) Here is my inspiration brought to life in Second Life: you can watch video tutorials inworld, try some of the lovely stuff I rave about in-context, and get excited about creative possibilities. After all, the best way to understand Second Life is to experience it.

Ever wonder what motivates me on the job to amplify your awesome? Check out this video tour, learn more about what I do for you, and listen to stories of my experiences:

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Whether it’s giving terraforming a go in my "landbox", knowing why click actions are so useful for interacting with objects, and picking up a copy of my FREE Torley Textures (there’s almost 600 of ‘em!), I’m sure you’ll find something and more to enjoy, Here in Second Life.

3 cool tools which solve common Second Life problems

^ Pardon that subject line isn’t more specific, so here’s the story: every week, I hear from Residents about “cool tools” that help smooth Second Life situations. Not necessarily bugs per se, these are utilities that add value and make existing things easier.

(Photo taken at Rustica)

And since I’m Resident Enlightenment Manager, guess who’s job it is to spread the word, so that you’re Enlightened and aware of this awesomeness?

This episode features a Viewer Cheatsheet, Avatar Databank, and YouTube-in-Second Life aid… more details after the jump!

What’s new in Second Life 1.20! – Video Tip of the Week #43

HATE reading? LOVE reading yet want to watch me excite you about what’s new in Second Life 1.20?

To commemorate the debut of Second Life 1.20 as the main viewer (following its graduation from an enduring Release Candidate), guess what I’ve got? Awwww yeah, it’s a video! Both a tutorial and a tour to show off the highlights — what’s important for you to know about.

It takes less than 8 minutes, so push play and enjoy the ride:

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For additional info, BE SURE to check out the fab, illustrated “1.20 WELCOME PAGE OMG!!1” page that Ramzi Linden’s lovingly prepared.

Update: also see my comments in response to your feedback.

Related resources:

• Second Life Showcase on our website
• SpaceNavigator 3D mouse info
• Avatar Rendering Cost details

-Torley Linden   
     Watch Video Tutorials inworld:

    

*20 Video QUICKTIPS* to ultracharge your Second Life!

YAYZERAMA! Back by popular demand, it could only be a matter of time before another round of QUICKTIPS arrived. This series is warmly treasured by Second Life Residents for delivering the goods — not counting intro/outro, each tip is 2 minutes or less, so even if you don’t have a lot of time, you can choose what you’re interested in and learn! From basic need-to-knows to strangely handy advanced features…

This is Torley with QUICKTIPS VOLUME 7. LET’S ROCK AND ROLL!
 

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Voice Chat: Customize Speech Gestures
Harmony Linden got me thinking: I haven’t yet seen a custom speech gesture pack. Has anyone made one? In the meantime, watch this to get started. Do backflips and belly laughs while you enunciate, for all I care.

Voice Chat: Turn on Lip Sync
Make your avatar’s lips move while talking. One of the coolest “hidden” features we have; you’ll need at least version 1.20 (not the existing 1.19 viewer) to play with this. Don’t forget to check out the documentation!

Camera Options sliders in action
What do they do? I’ll show you!