No Clean Feed

Monday, January 25, 2010 Monday, January 25, 2010


Imagine - you turn on your computer and begin surfing. But the website you just tried to visit is "not available". You try another, and it's not available, either. It seems that your access is being controlled, and you are only permitted to view certain websites. You decide to be devious, and ferret out secret websites that contain the information you desire. They are found by whispers, and exist only temporarily. But that's taking a big risk - the authorities might trace the access back to you. They may come for you. In the dark of the night.

Frightening. But where is this scene taking place? North Korea? China? Saudi Arabia? Possibly, but that's not the one I'm concerned about today.

It's happening in Australia.

That's correct. The vast southern democracy, otherwise so similar to the west, has somehow decided to erect a "Great Wall of Australia" to protect it from perceived Internet dangers. But in effect it could be more or less identical in form to the "Great Wall of China" that censors their citizens' access to the Internet.

For reasons unknown to me and apparently many Australians, that country is about to do the same. This will not only introduce censorship, but also a means of control the could be terribly mis-used in the future. And it probably will slow things down a lot, too. Innovation, free speech and the flow of ideas will be hampered in a world where such things are essential for progress and development. The worst part is, it won't really achieve what it's intended to do - and it will cost all Australians to create and maintain it.

I would never erect such a wall, and so I've decided to make a statement about it here. I don't live in Australia, but I do support those who oppose the proposed Great Wall. For this week I've changed my Twitter and Plurk profile pics to the above to participate in a worldwide protest against the Australian plan. If you support free access to the Internet, I ask you to read more here and here and participate by following the instructions found right here to change your profile, too. 

Long Live Free Access.

Viewer Complexity Revealed

Saturday, January 16, 2010 Saturday, January 16, 2010


One of Linden Lab’s greatest challenges is to increase the retention rate of new resident signups. I’ve heard various statistics on the survival rate of those who sign up and actually become active residents: approximately one percent. In other words, almost everyone who registers gives up immediately.

Maybe the percentage is a bit higher (or worse, even lower), but it’s totally pathetic. If this number were even slightly increased, we’d see tens of thousands of new residents streaming into Second Life every week, many of whom would stay and unleash their new creativity into the world. It would be a more vibrant place, with more creations and for business owners, more potential customers. It would be a Very Good Thing.

What’s happening to fix this problem? We’ve all seen the Lab’s experiments such as alternative approaches to orient new arrivals, better default avatars and more recently the Linden Homes program. All of these and others I haven’t mentioned are directed at the problem of 99% resident failure. I believe it is the most critical issue facing the Lab, since if it continues as is, the resident population won’t grow and the Lab may eventually face the prospect of closing SL.

Another key strategy pursued by the Lab for retaining new residents is an improvement to the viewer, and I suspect the introduction of Viewer 2.0 will generate very significant controversy into the SL blogosphere. Many people will be confused by different interfaces and truly unhappy they must learn something new.

But it must be done.

I believe one of the biggest impediments to retaining new residents is the staggering complexity of the viewer. As a student of clean design, I am astonished at the unbelievable amount of buttons and controls that face every user each time they fire up a viewer. The numerous controls are hidden within layers of menus, dialog boxes and bars, seemingly designed to be never found by humans.

There are so many controls it must be totally overwhelming to almost everyone. Maybe even 99% of population. Hmm.

But how complex is it? I wondered about this and finally decided to find out myself. I launched a recent version of Snowglobe and laboriously counted up all the controls within this viewer. My counts are probably off a bit, as my eyes were fading due to the humongous counts and deep layers one must go to see them, but the counts are representative of virtually every SL viewer. Not including “close boxes”, inventory items and any personally-generated controls (e.g. gestures, etc.) I found the following:

  • Menu Items: 504
  • Ticky Boxes: 200
  • Text/Image Entry Areas: 201
  • Adjustment Sliders: 282
  • Tabs: 66
  • Radio Buttons: 41
  • Regular Buttons: 414

Grand Total: 1,708

Let’s step back and think about this for a moment: One thousand, seven hundred and eight control items. ONE THOUSAND SEVEN HUNDRED EIGHT! That’s This Many:

XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXX

There are more than 500 menu items alone. Do you know what they all are? Do you know what they do? Do you know where to find each of them? How long would it take to explain them to someone? Can you even know 100 of them? 

Let’s compare this to other relatively complex things you must operate: your car, for example, probably has less than 100 knobs you can turn (without going under the hood). My browser appears to have less than 200 items. I suspect the flight control panel of a Boeing 747 has less than 1,708 buttons - and there’s serious training courses required to operate one of those.

And it gets much worse. If you enable the Advanced Menu in the SL browser, my totals went to this:

  • Menu Items: 2523
  • Ticky Boxes: 213
  • Text/Image Entry Areas: 213
  • Adjustment Sliders: 282
  • Tabs: 72
  • Radio Buttons: 44
  • Regular Buttons: 445

Grand Total: 3,792

Many people enable the advanced menu in order to find a few evidently critical features, but must suffer through an extra two thousand controls. Not good.

And it’s even more complex on the third party open source viewers, which unfortunately tend to add features, not delete them. I can imagine the totals on the Emerald Viewer would be quite a bit higher than the above.

Many of these items are used for various personal customizations, and the remainder is quite a bit smaller. I wonder what this implies about avatar needs? 

These astonishing totals no doubt cause many new residents to freak out. Wouldn’t you, if suddenly faced with a 1,708 item control panel? That’s like having a four-foot square sheet covered with knobs every square inch (or a 6 foot square panel if using the advanced menus) pushed in your face. I suspect that very few people have the perseverance, technical skill and motivation to make their way through the 1,708 controls in order to determine where the 36 key functions they’d actually use are located. Maybe, say, one percent?



That’s why Viewer 2.0 is so critical. That’s why Linden Lab has been silent on viewer progress lately - they are putting lots of effort into creating this new viewer.

I’m hoping Viewer 2.0 will dramatically simplify the interface - but allow experienced users to “turn on” more complex features when they need to. I’m hoping Viewer 2.0 organizes the controls in a contextual manner, whereby the appropriate controls are visible depending on the situation. I’m hoping Viewer 2.0 enables many more new residents to successfully join our virtual world.

Some may wish for more new features in Viewer 2.0, but I don’t think that’s what it’s about. Instead it should be about Fewer Features and better presentation of them. Viewer 2.0 is not about you. It’s about all the people that aren’t here.

Yet. 

I Need New Hair!

Sunday, January 10, 2010 Sunday, January 10, 2010





It’s true, apparently. I have been informed by a certain someone whose name begins with H, that my beloved hairstyle, which has served me extremely well for almost two entire years, is now catastrophically out of style and technically obsolete.

The solution seems obvious: just go and buy some new hair. There’s plenty of it.

But not exactly. The fashion selections for men are vastly less diverse than for female avatars. I recall the trouble it took to find my beloved hair so long ago, and don’t relish the possibility of chasing around through who knows how many stores to find the “ideal” replacement hair. Yes, I know some people live to shop, but I just don’t have the time to do it properly. Even the exceedingly few stores that stock men’s hair typically hide it among forty million female products, making men's shopping experience difficult and frustrating.

And that brings us to the point of this post. I’m asking readers for suggestions. Suggestions for the right stores to find men’s hair - or even actual product recommendations. I’d like to find a product that’s highly realistic, dark colored and not very long. And it must have that certain “something” that makes it fit my avatar persona.

So dear readers, tell me where I should go to shop and what I should wear?

A Venture Into A Journal of Virtual Worlds

Sunday, January 3, 2010 Sunday, January 03, 2010


I should have mentioned this a while ago, but somehow I’ve been distracted. Last year I was contacted by my friend, Dr. Yesha Sivan, senior lecturer at the Department of Software Engineering, Shenkar College of Engineering and Design, Israel. I’d first met Yesha previously at SLCC 2008 and caught up with him again at SLCC 2009 in San Francisco. He inquired whether I’d be interested in writing a paper for his Journal of Virtual Worlds, a scholarly publication that contains a myriad of articles related to virtual worlds.

This particular issue was to hold articles on Technology, Economy and Standards. In other words, which technical standard protocols could make virtual economies more vibrant? Yesha was especially interested in having me, an actual virtual business owner, provide an on-the-ground point of view not normally elucidated by academics. I agreed, and wrote up an article for the Journal, which was published in late 2009.

I chose the topic: Barriers to Efficient Virtual Business Transactions, which really was a platform for me to rant about things that should be rectified. Like most virtual business owners, I encounter logistical problems so often that I and most others don’t even think twice about the insane work-arounds we constantly undertake. I tried to explain some of the basic ones, such has challenges to shared ownership of items and businesses, difficulties in advertising, permissions peculiarities and fulfillment follies.

The paper’s abstract:

With the availability of business transaction capability within virtual worlds like Second Life, enterprising individuals and teams have established businesses that operate entirely within the realm of virtual reality. These wholly-virtual business operations act much like real-life businesses; they must develop and manufacture products or services, advertise, sell and fulfill deliveries. A complete lifecycle of business events takes place within the virtual world.

The virtual business owner is presented with a seemingly complete set of tools to perform all actions required by each stage of the business lifecycle. However, over the past several years virtual business owners have begun to discover limitations and missing elements in these business transaction protocols. This paper will identify the more notable limitations facing today’s virtual business owners.

Hopefully my thoughts are shared by other virtual business owners and I hope even more strongly that those charged with creating virtual worlds will resolve these issues so that much stronger virtual economies can emerge. I'd love to hear your feedback on the paper in the comments below.

You can find the entire journal here, and my paper in particular right here (PDF). Enjoy!

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