Inside Second Life

Today is surreal

2010-06-20T08:08:00.000-05:00

Well friends, today is the big day for me, and to be honest, it feels quite surreal. I knew this was going to be a hard day emotionally, after 7+ years in a place, one tends to make a lot of good friends, and the prospect of not seeing those friends on a daily basis any longer, has me feeling a bit blue. Enough to re-consider my departure plans? No, sorry, even though I'm feeling "blue" I cannot in good conscious stay in a Virtual World where people, especially those who say they want to protect my IP rights, are STEALING my hard work.

To my friends, I understand the sadness you are feeling, believe me, I'm feeling it too. There are some things that I must do though, and even though it's causing us both stress and sadness, it must be done. You know me, I'm a principled man, one that cannot just sit and watch anyone do wrong to others, or myself. With that said though, I want you all to know, that the past 7+ years have been the best years for me. Without Second Life I doubt I would be alive today, you were here for me when no one else was, and I only hope I was there for you when needed. I love each of you, and pray that everything you do in the future will be a huge success for you. Thank You, each of you, Thank You.

Sorry Linden Lab, today I give up the fight, and in so doing, will waste no more words on your Ethics, or lack thereof. I'm sorry Philip Rosedale chose to destroy the best thing he ever created, I'm sorry Linden Lab wasn't able to understand that the best asset they had were their customers. I'm sorry Second Life can no longer be a safe haven for so many people that need it.

I of course, as I've said before, am remaining active in Virtual Worlds, specifically, InWorldz. You can find me there, under the same name. If you don't find me online, you can always email me. So, with everything else being said, I suppose there's only one thing left to say.

Goodbye.

Linden Lab Continues Lies and Bullshit Campaign

2010-06-11T09:14:00.001-05:00

Well, I probably wouldn't normally respond to Linden Lab anymore, but when M Linden sends out a mass email full of the usual LIES and BULLSHIT, how can I not respond.

Let me make one thing perfectly clear before I respond to this lying asshole, I love Second Life. Second Life is a wonderful Virtual World that has been DESTROYED by Linden Lab. Oh certainly you can't see the destruction on the Surface, but look under the glitz and glamor and you see the ugly truth.

M Linden wants us to believe that Linden Lab has OUR interest in mind when he gives the OK to STEAL everything everyone has created in Second Life. Listen, I don't give a rats ass as to WHY they want to use my creations, I would have just gone on living in Second Life unabated if Linden Lab said, "we just want you to know we might use pictures with your content showing in promotional materials", but that's NOT what they said. Instead, M Linden gave the explicit OK to STEAL from each and every content creator. M Linden now writes to say just how well the company is doing, and how they appreciate the content creators. Well, here let's just let the letter speak for itself:

A Message from M Linden

Greetings,

Yesterday was a challenging but historic and important day for Linden Lab. We undertook a strategic restructuring to strengthen our business and enable us to move faster and with more focus on the things that matter. While it will have important ramifications down the line for Second Life, rest assured that there are no fundamental changes planned to our experience or platform, and that both the company and the inworld economy remain in a very strong position.

M Linden is wanting to be sure everyone knows that Second Life is safe, mainly because there has been a great mass migration away from the Second Life Grid. Let me explain to everyone exactly why M Linden is wrong here and what he's NOT telling you (lying by omission).

M Linden doesn't want anyone to realize that the current mass migration from Second Life is being led by their Oldest Customers and Content Creators. What does this mean? Simply put, the world of Second Life will soon be devoid of many places that Residents have relied upon for Hair, Skins, Clothing, Textures, Structures, Sculpties and more. M Linden doesn't mention this because he knows full well that if you, a normal everyday Resident, realized that Content Creators are leaving Second Life, you too would start thinking of abandoning the Second Life Grid as well.

M Linden wants you to believe that the INWORLD economy is "in a very strong position", but think about this, with the Content Creators leaving, just how long will that be true? But here's what Linden Lab will wind up doing, and mark my words on this one, Linden Lab will dip into their Backups, even after the Content Creators leave, and take the Content they have Stolen and begin to operate their own inworld Stores, selling STOLEN merchandise, in a feeble attempt to keep the Second Life Grid strong and significant.

Our decision to restructure the company was based on our feeling that we were moving too slowly on important strategic initiatives, so we have decided to consolidate software development in the US and combine our product and technology organizations into one. We have also streamlined customer support so that it can scale economically as we add users. These decisions resulted in significant job eliminations and this tends to be what press and bloggers focus on because of the human dimension. It is indeed difficult for us to see our colleagues leaving.

M Linden says that Linden Lab believed they were moving too slow on "important strategic initiatives", yet, they were able to STEAL everything from the Content Creators overnight; another lie, or just an oversight?

So, once again Linden Lab says they are restructuring Customer Support. Each time Linden Lab says this, I must remind them that they have NO Customer Support to restructure. Perhaps Linden Lab's first objective should be to offer Customer Support, real Customer Support, to ALL Residents.

M Linden finally explains why he's firing all the OLD STAFF. Why? well, we still aren't sure, he just says he's sad to see them go, even though he's the one that's firing them. Have you heard the latest joke? Do you know when M Linden is lying? Any time he communicates!"

I am writing to you directly because I want you to know that Second Life – and Linden Lab itself – is in very good shape. As a company, Linden Lab remains financially very stable. Our balance sheet is strong and we are well-capitalized. We will close this year with record revenue and hopefully record users, and – with your help – record user-to-user transactions and record landmass. In May, we recorded more than 1 million logged-in Residents, 37 million user hours, US$52.8 million in user-to-user transactions and 31,800 enabled regions. Second Life is sound.

Once more, here M Linden is doing his best to assure everyone that Second Life is sound. I agree in as much as the Virtual World of Second Life is sound; it's the Developers that are a mess, a lying, stealing, stinking mess.

As a platform for the world's most robust virtual economy, Second Life remains as vibrant and healthy as ever. By bringing new people to Second Life, and by increasing the ways in which people can interact with the world and with the people, places, and things within it, we are paving the way for more growth. We remain committed to supporting and improving the SL Marketplace, to pushing forward on IP protection, and to growing the number of Residents that participate in the inworld economy.

M Linden keeps on telling you how wonderful Second Life is, and will remain. I think M Linden protests too much. But seriously, if Linden Lab would just keep their hands off Second Life, it would be a wonderful Virtual World, the problem is, every time M Linden and staff does something, they act out of pure greed. Linden Lab hasn't looked out for the better of the Second Life Residents for over 4 years now, and it's only going to get worse; especially now that Content Creators are leaving en masse

It is during times like this that partnerships are tested and I – as CEO – want you to know that we value our partnership with you and that Second Life and Linden Lab are solid. This kind of transition is difficult for any company, but it need not be difficult for our customers. Our restructuring leaves Linden Lab in a stronger position; Second Life remains the creative and inspiring platform it always has been.

M Linden values your partnership, so much so that M Linden wants to be sure your Creative Content, your hard work, are backed up forever and always can be used in Second Life. Of course, M Linden fails to mention that in order to make that happen, M Linden had to STEAL all that Content, but again, did you really expect M Linden would tell you the WHOLE TRUTH?

Best regards,

M Linden

Well, once again, there you have it. Once you take a close look at what M Linden is saying, it's fairly easy to see he's doing nothing new here. Lying, Stealing, it seems to come natural to M Linden. It's a shame that Linden Lab got lost along the way, but I, and many others, have given Linden Lab enough time to straighten out the path they are on, and how does Linden Lab award us? They Steal our hard work, they lie to us directly, they continue to be driven by greed; is it any wonder that we are leaving Second Life en masse?

I do hope that there will be a time in my life when I meet M Linden in person, so I can tell him to his face, directly, that he's nothing more then a Thief and a Liar. Just to be sure M Linden knows this, I'll be emailing him my remarks here, I would hate for him to think that I was a coward like he was. I've fought to keep Second Life going, I've fought to see that Second Life was the wonder we all knew it could be, I've fought, I've yelled, I've screamed and all the while, M Linden couldn't see past the Dollar Signs. This is your greatest mistake M Linden, by not recognizing that it's the RESIDENTS of the world of Second Life that make the world of Second Life, not the other way around.

2 Weeks and Counting

2010-06-04T10:41:00.000-05:00

It's been an interesting 7+ years and as my ride starts winding down, I'm melancholy, happy, sad, angry and relieved.

When I look back on my 7+ years in Second Life, I'm happy with who I am, who I've become, and the legacy I will leave. Not only will people remember their New Resident Q&A Events, where they could get all their questions answered, honestly, but there are a lot of people in Second Life today, who are paying it forward. One thing I asked everyone that I helped, especially when they were New Residents, was that they remember what I did for them, and when they were in such a position with others, they do for others, as I did them.

How can I not mention the greatest asset of Second Life, the people. Over the past 7+ years, I've discovered new best friends, old friends thought lost, lost friends to the ravages of time, and discovered that some friends were only my friend because of what I was doing for them. I wouldn't change anything I went through in Second Life, as I learned valuable lessons in my life, learned some very important life lessons, and will leave Second Life a richer person for the friends I've met and made here.

Linden Lab started out with the right "Frame of Mind", and many of you will say as they grew into a large Corporation, Linden Lab had to become what they are today. Today, Linden Lab thinks only about how they can make MORE money. Today, Linden Lab thinks only about how THEY can use people to get what they want, like some friends I know. The sad part about the story of Linden Lab is that they didn't have to grow into this Corporate Monster that many make excuses for. Linden Lab could have been a Corporate Entity that made money but also cared what their Customers thought. Linden Lab chose to change for the worse, too afraid to be different, too afraid to listen to their Customers, too afraid to be a part of the minority. Linden Lab, and the Employee's, made their choices as to how they would treat their Customers, as to the Lies they would tell, as to the hard work they would Steal. I know it's an antiquated way of thinking, but there was a time when a Corporation was kept from being a total douche by the employee's that worked there. A Corporation can only go so far as the employee's allow it, which speaks volumes about the people who bought into the lie of Linden Lab and kept the ship trained on the path of Corporate Greed. Linden Lab employee's have asked me to lie when answering questions as a Mentor. Linden Lab employee's have Suspended my account. in violation of their own Rules, merely because they didn't like what I was saying. Linden Lab employee's have done favors for myself and others, merely because we were, at the time, thought of as preferred customers; while "features" were not granted, our lives were made easier, and we were given an advantage over other Residents. This is the type of employee that Linden Lab has, one's who say it's too inconvenient to do the right thing, so they go along with the wrong.

Second Life is a wonderful world, one that I was proud to be associated with. Second Life was a world that, despite the Developers, was a world made good by the Residents. Second Life was able to help people, educate people, make people's lives easier, allow people from all over the world to experience each other in a way a simple chat cannot. Were there people who used Second Life for their own immoral purposes, who used Second Life just to make a quick buck, who used Second Life to hand out their own brand of frustration and mean? Yes, and they, along with the Developers, did everything they could to tear down Second Life, and while their actions received more press, it was the actions of the small group of people, who after hearing their friend hadn't ate in over a week, sent food and money so that could be rectified, that will live on in the annals of the Second Life Community, long after Second Life dies.

The only reason I am leaving Second Life, is because of Linden Lab. It's ironic that because of an individual at Linden Lab invited me to beta test Second Life that I was here at all and it's the actions of a CEO who wants to own it all, that have shown me that Second Life is no longer the world that is safe for Content Creators as it once was. Please don't insult me today and tell me that Linden Lab is only claiming ownership of my Content to use in a small subset of circumstances. The fact is, I don't care WHY they chose to Steal my Content, it's the fact that they chose to STEAL my Content. Why is it we allow a Corporate Entity to Steal from us, and yet, if a person did the same thing, we'd be screaming for Justice? My justice has been announced, I will not stay in Second Life, where those that run the world have chosen to STEAL.

Goodbye my friends, I hope you all the best, I pray we continue to be friends, and that you will join me over at InWorldz, where I will now call my new Virtual Home.

It's Over

2010-05-19T20:06:00.002-05:00

Friends, it's with a heavy heart that today I announce I'm done fighting Linden Lab. Today, I have decided that I will leave Second Life after 30 more days.

This is not a Countdown to anything, not me telling Linden Lab to change or I go, no, I'm going, I just have to say Goodbye to my friends, and 30 days gives me time to do just that.

I started this first hoping that the people in charge at Linden Lab would see the idiocy of their actions, but alas, that hasn't happened, nor have Linden Lab been any wiser in how they continue to deal with their Customers.

Linden Lab has chosen to claim all Content in Inventory in Second Life, to be there's. Oh sure, they will say, "We'd never use it like this or that", but that's not Linden Lab. We all know that it's these small things that Linden Lab later blows up to Big things, and screws their Customer Base with.

So, Mark, Philip, Blue, the rest of you, you win. You have made Second Life so undesirable to me, that I'm leaving. You win, you proved that you can take a wonderful product, that so many people love, and make it a Piece of Shit; you have my Congratulations, you must be so proud.

To all my friends, I will be moving my home to InWorldz. Please feel free to take the time to come and visit and see what InWorldz is like. Perhaps you will find out there's a place to go where the Owners don't treat you like crap.

Linden Lab Forgets the Obvious....Go Figure

2010-04-05T12:14:00.003-05:00

Today our Friends at Linden Lab are patting themselves on the Back for a job well done by bringing us all Shared Media (and forcing everyone into the new viewer if they want to use it).

While I agree that Shared Media is a good thing to have, once again Linden Lab has overlooked one obvious use of this new feature; no longer do you have to go to any Adult Parcel to watch your favorite episode of "Debbie Does Dallas".

It took Linden Lab a good year to work out the Adult Continent and just who would have to use it, and yet, in one release of a new Viewer, all that was destroyed. It's a shame that our Friends at Linden Lab worked so hard on the Adult Continent and then chose to put in a Viewer that all but defeats the purpose of the Adult Continent.

The real shame is that Linden Lab once again missed the Obvious. Just like with the OpenSpace SIMs, Linden Lab didn't think things through and found people using OpenSpace SIMs not like Linden Lab had thought they should be and here again in Second Life. It looks as though Linden Lab didn't learn from that mistake.

It's too bad that Linden Lab doesn't think about how these Features might be used, otherwise they would have been able to see that certain deviants would no longer have to be ensconced on the Adult Continent to view his/her favorite PORN.

I suppose after Linden Lab figures out that what I'm saying is True, they will turn around and blame the Customers, just like in the OpenSpace SIMs fiasco. Well, I have given Linden Lab fair warning as to how some WILL use this new Shared Media, any bets on if Linden Lab does anything about this?

Let us divert our attention to recognize greatness

2010-03-25T22:19:00.002-06:00

Friends, today I'm not writing about Linden Lab, Second Life, or any of that. Today, I write about something that is amazing.

There are times in all of our lives when we are witness to something truly remarkable, truly real, truly right and truly TRUE. I am happy that I can shed a little more light on this event, and I ask each of you to help the person in this Story.

So, here's the tale of someone who refused to quit, refused to be quiet, refused to go away, refused to be beaten, all because she knew she was right and she knew if she didn't go forward the Industry in which she works would come under attack from the lowest slime out there.

Friends, please follow this LINK and read about how ONE PERSON made a difference, and then, do what I did, drop her a few dollars and help.

Linden Lab or Bonnie & Clyde?

2010-03-24T11:18:00.002-06:00

Tell me friends, who would you rather meet in a Dark Alley, Linden Lab or Bonnie & Clyde? Personally I would go with Bonnie & Clyde, with them you know exactly what they want and exactly how they plan on getting it.

In case you aren't sure where I'm going, you need to read THIS. After reading that you might still be a little confused. You even might thing that this is something that is good for the Community and the Little Guy. You might even go as far as saying, "Linden Lab is doing right by this!"

Well, I would normally agree with you, but I was stupid and dug deeper into the details of this blog post. You see, I thought to myself, "I might give this a try, see if it actually go me anymore business", and so I started looking deeper into the possibility and finally found what I was looking for, the Price! Now, before we discuss this further, you should probably sit down. If you are sitting down, you should still brace yourself.

So, the Prices are this, for the least expensive ad if will cost you $1,500USD and for the most expensive ad it will cost you $4,500USD. I know, you are probably thinking that's a misprint but no, those are the real prices.

Here is a prime example of Linden Lab being out of touch with the Second Life Community. 99% of the Merchants in Second Life could NEVER afford this. Instead of Linden Lab looking like the good guys on this, they instead look like your ordinary everyday CROOK. I've talked at length about how Linden Lab doesn't understand it's own Residents and this proves my point. Linden Lab had a great opportunity with this to gain some good publicity with their own Customers if they would have made this a more reasonable price for the average Resident in Second Life. Instead, of course, we see that Linden Lab is once again trying to get every last penny from us and not giving a damn about us in the process. I must say that Linden Lab continues being consistent; consistently bad.

At least we have another Puzzle Piece of the Management Team. Not only are they Liars and Cheats, but they are gluttonous Liars and Cheats. I wonder Blue, how's that new Management Team looking now?

I think the following should be the MOTD: *** Warning - Residents should Lock their Wallets and Check Book in their Real Life Safe before entering Second Life ***

I wonder how much they'd charge me for that?

Well, I hate to say this....but....NOT YET

2010-03-18T13:43:00.003-06:00

A few weeks ago I said I was going to stop posting this silly blog with reports of ineptitude of our "friends" at Linden Lab; but I too have failed to keep my promise (good for the goose?)

Anyway, STILL the "friends" at Linden Lab haven't found a way to keep Second Life running without ONE issue in a 7 day period. I guess I'm just asking way too much of a company that I'm paying nearly $300USD every month. Perhaps I should LOWER my expectations of Linden Lab, that way they wouldn't constantly FAIL!

Better yet, let's see if ANYONE at Linden Lab has any GUTS to explain just why they can't keep things going for 7 days without issue. I don't like the idea of lowering my expectations, as I really feel that some of that thinking is probably what has made the "friends" at Linden Lab as ineffective as they have been for so long. When we, the CONSUMER, do business, we should expect a certainly level of Quality. When we don't get that level of Quality, we should ask those at the Businesses that FAIL to meet our expectations, why?

Here's something for everyone to think about. Most of us in Second Life are Adults and I will guess that a LARGE number of those Adults also have children (Yes, I'm assuming because I haven't run any survey's off the SL Residents, but why should I, since Linden Lab doesn't!) So, for those of you with Children, if Second Life was your Child's life, and your Child failed at the same task, over and over, not because they couldn't perform it, but they just didn't want to, then what would you do? I think most Parents would say they would explain to the Child that they need to do this to be an upstanding part of the Community and so on. Maybe that's it, perhaps our "friends" don't understand what they constant crap shoot is supposed to do?

Well, let me tell you M, Blue, Jack, Kona, and the rest of you who so love to hate me, I'm not the bad guy in this equation; you are. You see, you take my money, and money of Thousands others, and completely FAIL to provide a Stable Virtual World, even though that's exactly the business you are in, to provide a STABLE VIRTUAL WORLD. You really should do better at running Second Life, because your Peers in the Business are laughing at you, at Second Life, and wondering why they don't have Blind Faith Customers like you do! What's it like friends, to be cajoled by your own PEERS? I know you see every eye-roll and smirk when you go to your Conventions with your Peers, how does it feel? I'm not wanting to dredge up painful memories, but sometimes it takes being Completely Embarrassed before someone steps up to the plate and says, "Enough is enough, we MUST do better!"

So, here's my promise to each one of you, your Comments, to my blog, will go without Editing by me and will be posted in their entirety. I will of course respond to each Comment when I feel that anyone is taking the easy road. I used to teach Teens, and when one of them gave an answer they felt I was looking for, I called "Bull Shit". I will do the same if you give me the usual PR nonsense, so really, think about your answers, think of why you are even at Linden Lab for God's sake! If you can't do the job, give it over to someone that can. So what, you aren't the best in Networking, it's not going to kill you!

Lastly, for those who want to push the "Gee it's a complex system and prone to fail", please go back and read my editorial Comment when that very same argument was made and flattened as quickly as the point was risen. So, which "friend" at Linden Lab will choose to take up the challenge and stand up and say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? M, Kona, Blue, Jack....anyone else?

Ok, back to reality...LL Competitive Practices

2010-02-26T18:12:00.002-06:00

Wake Up everyone, I know you have fainted from my last posting, and quite frankly, I'm still pretty darn happy with the new Viewer and SHARED MEDIA; actually if someone out there has the talent to do Web-Development but can't think of ideas on how to use this SHARED MEDIA, contact me in-world, I got a LOAD of ideas for people.

Now, with that being said, I need to bring us all back to Reality, because while one good thing happened from Linden Lab, it doesn't excuse them for the other areas of their Business, and today I think it's time we talk about the Competitive Business Practices from Linden Lab.

Many of you probably don't remember this, but way way way back when our friend Philip was still sitting at the Helm of Linden Lab, he made it a point to let everyone know that Linden Lab WOULD NEVER directly compete against the Customer Base. Of course, we all know that this "policy" was shot down a while ago with Linden Lab acquisitions such as Web-Sites that dealt in the buying and selling of Lindens, Web-Sites that dealt with the buying and selling of Items and Services, and the most recently, Linden Lab has intruded on the Land Lease/Rental market.

My review of these "Premium Homes" that are there for the taking by all Premium Members is really not very nice. The houses look like nothing more then cardboard cut-outs from the 1950's. Not only do they look incredibly dull, but they are packed in so tight you would think Linden Lab couldn't afford a new Server here and there. Overall, the Premium Home experience will be a detriment to keeping New Residents in Second Life. They already have issues with the basic understanding of our World, and now they are going to be given the absolute worse experience in Virtual Home Ownership. I guess we can mark this idea down as, "a bad idea all the way around".

Not withstanding the creepiness of the Premium Homes, Linden Lab has set themselves to be in Direct Competition with one of the Strongest Customer Bases they have; Island Owners. I can't help but to agree with so many of the voices that are crying "FOUL" for this endeavor. Linden Lab not only is in Direct Compeition, but they also chose to CHEAT in order to be in Direct Competition. If you got and inspect these Premium Home areas you will notice that the Homes themselves are constructed of 117 PRIMS. Now normally a 512sq m area only serves up 117 PRIMS, except here in Linden Land, where the 117 PRIMS used for the houses, don't count against the Parcel Prim Count. Instead, the Premium Homes allow for another 117 PRIMS for Decor. So, in order for Linden Lab to compete with their own Customers, they have decided to "stack the deck" in their favor. This is probably a good idea considering how mediocre these homes are. Why it took Jack Linden and the Public Works Department 117 PRIMS for these homes is anyone's guess. I know almost all the really good builders in Second Life, and they could have created immensly more creative homes with 117 PRIMS, then what Linden Lab came up with. Not only that, but why does Linden Lab feel that they need to CHEAT and give themselves DOUBLE PRIMS on their Servers; which btw, they continue to say that this will only cause more lag and is the reason they don't do it for everyone, so what they are saying now is, that they are providing shabbily built cut-outs that will be dreadfully laggy.

What upsets me here, is not that Linden Lab chose to compete with their own Customer Base, but they decided to CHEAT to give themselves an "advantage". I think all Island Owners, no matter if you are in a Homestead or a Full Island, should immediately request that Linden Lab re-configure their Islands with DOUBLE the amount of PRIMS, since we know it can be done, and apparently the lag isn't really that big of a deal.

So, Jack, Blue, M, tell us will you, when we all of us Island Owners be upgraded to the same PRIM Count utilized on your own Islands? You keep saying that your "Regime" is better then the "Old Regime"; least the "Old Regime" didn't try to CHEAT when they competed against their Customers. So, is this the "New Regime" way of doing things, CHEAT if you can't compete?

Of course, I know you all will continue to remain silent, what a surprise, but your silence only goes to affirm my position; otherwise you wouldn't HIDE behind your desks all day, doing nothing.

Hell Freezes Over....Film at 11

2010-02-24T19:01:00.003-06:00

Well, I know everyone thought this day would NEVER come, but I've always said, if Linden Lab ever did anything right, I would applaud them for it.

Today, that has happened. While I may not have had the time to delve deeply into this new Beta Viewer, I have been able to look thru it, explore it's different tabs, and items, and I must say, "Fucking Well Done!"

While I don't think this Viewer will help the New Resident as much as those as Linden Lab think it will, I do think it's a HUGE improvement for those of us who are quite familiar with the old Viewer.

I LOVE the fact that I can now make the Text GROW LARGE (Nice of LL to realize some of us are getting older and are eyesight isn't as good as it use to be). Having the right side menu tabs takes a bit to get used to, but, again, I like it better then what it used to be.

So, here's to the UI Team, you aren't Lazy or Incompetent, and for that, I applaud you and your work. Just one thing, please don't be surprised when this Viewer does more to confuse the New Residents then to help them. Remember, I've said this for years, it's not the UI, it's the whole New User experience. When Linden Lab removed Orientation Island, New Residents had more issues, because they were forced to learn the basics. Yes, sometimes you need to make your Customers go through something in order to make their experience better.

I was going to take this last bit to ride the other departments there at Linden Lab, but you know what, this new Viewer has impressed me enough, that I won't take shots at other departments, once again, Good Fucking Job UI Staff!

Linden Lab doesn't play favorites!

2010-02-24T00:22:00.003-06:00

Hey everyone, well here's a twist. Linden Lab isn't playing favorites when it comes to their new Customer Base, Avatar's United, as seen here:

Avatars United Log In Issues

[Posted Feb 23, 2010; 7:30pm] Some users may experience some errors when attempting to log in to their account on Avatars United. We are aware of the issues and are working to resolve the issue. If you are unable to log in, we recommend you wait a short period and try again. We will update this post when we have more information.

Glad to know that Linden Lab is planning on pissing off their new Customer Base as much as they've pissed off their Old One.

I guess I was wrong when I said Linden Lab played favorites all those times. Way to go guys, keep up the wonderfully incompetent work!

Linden Lab goes along a way to prove my POINT!

2010-02-18T11:40:00.003-06:00

Over the past few entries I've been talking about how Linden Lab has either hired Lazy or Incompetent Employees. This past week, Linden Lab has gone out of its way to actually prove my point. Just follow the LINK and have a read, come back when you are done though, we should talk about this!

This all started with the rollout of Server 1.36 code. The initial release was causing VENDORS (you know those things that are really really rare and hard to test with) to behave in a very bad way. Vendors? Really? I would love to see the numbers of just how many VENDORS there are in Second Life, most likely it's an astronomical result. So, and I'm just asking a simple question here, why did this happen? Did ANYONE do any kind of testing with this new Server Code? Seriously, how can you miss something like this in testing? You would think that during a Test, someone at Linden Lab would have the top 10 Vendor Systems running just to be sure they were operating correctly after a Server Upgrade; well, at least that makes sense for those of us who have lived and worked in IT most of our Adult Lives.

Anyway, after "The Lab" rescinded the Upgrade process, they "correct" the mistake and try to install the NEW Server Code. Here's something I get upset over, especially when I was managing Coders, but when you find a MAJOR bug in the code you first released, you should spend a LOT of time to be sure that the FIX you are applying WORKS and then go back to the start of your Testing and test it all over again. This way, you SHOULD be able to find ANY OTHER BUGS that might have been caused by your fix or perhaps you missed one or two in the original testing. I would tell my Staff that if there are any more BUGS in the code, especially after you were to have FIXED it, then there jobs were on the line. Unfortunately though, "The Lab" has different ideas about just how well their Employee's perform their Jobs, because after they re-released the new Server Code, there was ANOTHER MAJOR BUG found! This one has apparently something to do with Content Creation Protection, again, NOT something that would be too difficult to test for.

All too often I have pointed out the obvious here and now "The Lab" has done is best to PROVE the point I was making. I guess at "The Lab" as long as your butt is in the seat, then you will have a job. Too bad, because once again, this just serves to show us all, that the New Boss is the same as the Old Boss.

Looks like we got fooled again..

Lazy, Incompetent...and now Liars?

2010-02-10T18:30:00.002-06:00

Hey everyone, if you haven't heard the lastest Marketing PLOY by Linden Lab, then you just have to hear this. For every NEW Premium Member that signs up in Second Life, Linden Lab will give them 1000L AND a FREE HOME that the new Premium Member can decorate to his/her wishes; isn't it wonderful that Linden Lab proves themselves to be LIARS?

Liars? What, you ask, am I speaking about? Well, a few years ago, the Customers of Linden Lab were promised that Linden Lab would NEVER directly Compete with the Customers of Linden Lab. Just in case you can't see the point to my rant today, let me explain. When Linden Lab decided to give away LAND and HOME to new Premium Member, they are in direct competition with Land Rental/Sales People AND to those people that product Pre-Fab Homes. Not only that, but they are also UNFAIRLY competing with the Land Rental/Sales people by providing a HOME of 117 PRIMS but the Home Owner still gets 117 PRIMS to use on his 512sq meters of land.

I guess I should ask Blue Linden just when my Island will get DOUBLE PRIMS since Linden Lab is giving itself DOUBLE PRIMS on these SIMs. I guess it goes without saying that Linden Lab are also proving themselves to be LIARS by having DOUBLE PRIMS on these SIMs, when they said years ago that a SIM could NEVER support more then 15,000 Prims; Interesting indeed.

So, me being foolish and expecting that maybe someday someone at Linden Lab will SHUT ME UP, I ask now Blue, tell me please, when does my SIM get 30,000 Prims?

Fleetwood Mac said it best, "Tell me Lies"

2010-01-29T16:35:00.002-06:00

OK everyone, M Linden has finally said something, but as usual, it's the normal Propaganda BullShit that Linden Lab is noted for.

Instead of me commenting on what M Linden says, I would rather you read it for yourself, and just keep playing Fleetwood Mac in the Background, "Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies"....

Sing it for me M

Let's put some points to a final rest

2010-01-26T18:08:00.002-06:00

OK friends, it seems my last Blog has found an audience, and while I'm forever a skeptic, I will allow Peter to say he has no attachment to the "Lab" what so ever. But, I think I should address some interesting points that Peter does raise in his comments, and perhaps even try to see why us "old folk" seem hell bent on getting what we pay for.

First, Peter wants to lay some ground work to his Comment, so let's see what that is:

"I am not particular to what size/complexity the software/hardware system is that runs SL. But I am pretty sure it is HUGE and COMPLEX. Whether it needs to be so complex and whether the complexity is more of a burden these days is open to discussion by people more qualified than I am. But we can safely assume it is huge and it is complex"

While I agree that the System's that run Second Life might be "massive", I won't give any sort of ground because a company's product is "massive" or "complex". Linden Lab chose this to be their Product, and in doing so, have an ETHICAL commitment to provide that Product without issue. This is one of the arguments that many people bring up when first coming to the "defense" of "The Lab". Let's find us a suitable Product where we can draw some distictions from. How about your Cable Router, that seems to be quite a "massive" and "complex" network, and yet, people don't want to hear how an engineer failed to correctly input and test new router code this morning, which caused just 1 hour of minimal service. How about your Television Networks, would you be glad to hear that one of the Television Engineers accidentally put in his copy of "Debbie Does Dallas" and broadcast it just for 38 seconds when your kids were supposedly watching the new episode of 90210? Everyone who deals in "massive" and "complex" systems understands that they need to be careful of what they do, else it will not only cost them their job, but it could also cost their employer's a LOT of money. So, while "The Lab" runs a "massive" and "complex" system, doesn't excuse them for the mistakes we see, no matter how small they might be, on a weekly, and sometimes a daily, basis. Furthermore, "The Lab" while admitting mistakes are made, apparently aren't doing a good job of making certain that all employee's need to test, re-test, re-test and re-test some more, because every little item that goes wrong, adds up after a while; which is by the way, the WHOLE POINT to the last few threads.

Peter goes on to say:

"I am following the grid status blog as well, and the service interruptions are usually minor. Dividends delayed for a day, group payouts delayed for some. A few regions offline. I recall one emergency patch deployed. But now showstoppers."

I agree that no "show-stoppers" have recently come to light, but my point is again, that if you add up every little bit that goes by each week and day, you begin to see a pattern of Failure. It's like what happens when you drop a toad into boiling water, he jumps out. But, put a Toad in room temperature water and slowly raise the water temperature, the Toad stands there as if nothing is going wrong. We, the customers of Second Life, are like the Toad who've been standing in the water so long, that we EXPECT Linden Lab to mess something up and no longer do we hold them to their task. Linden Lab hasn't been getting better over time, it's been getting worse. While there may not be any "show-stoppers" going on, there are still failures that are being repeated weekly, and yet, because we are used to Linden Lab failures, we just sit idly by and accept that they will fail us, happily, like the Toad. Yet, one of the MAIN REASONS we loose New Residents is because of the FAILURES of Linden Lab. The New Residents aren't used to be treated so shamefully, so they take exception to what "The Lab" is doing and leave. One thing we can say for sure, when people try out Second Life, then leave, and they put in some Forum that we, the current Residents of Second Life are foolish for staying in a system that fails as much as Second Life, they are right, even though it might hurt me to say, they are still right.

Now Peter goes on to say that "The Lab" is great about communicating failures, and he's sure other complex systems fail as well, but they just don't say anything about it, actually I should let Peter say it in his own words:

"The point you completely miss here is that the Lab actually COMMUNICATES these issues! If group payouts are delayed for some residents, they could just as well "hush it up". But no, they actively and timely communicate it on the grid status. I am pretty sure systems of similar (or even smaller complexity) have a similar number of small glitches - only you never hear about them."

The problem with this argument is Peter assumes there are daily failures at other complex and massive systems, but we never hear about them. Well, I can't speak to that which I never hear about, but I can say that my Phone works, My Cable Router works, My Cable TV works. When there are interruptions, while they are apologetic, at least my Cable company will give me rebates on the cost when I can't use their service. One thing I can speak to though, other Company's that run massive and complex systems don't keep people employed who routinely fail at their job; is that true at "The Lab"?

Finally though, Peter explains the issue he has with my recent post:

"If we would have a showstopper every week, I could understand your position. But focusing on those minor and noncritical things seems a bit over the top to me"

As I have pointed out before, my issue is that we have these MINOR (and in your words) non-critical things going wrong week after week after week after week after week after week. When do you consider all these little things that go wrong weekly to add up to a Biggie? Apparently Linden Lab cannot keep Second Life going for a simple 7 days without any issues, minor or major. Not only that, but they haven't been able to keep a clean slate for quite some time now. What other conclusion can I come to except that the employee's at Linden Lab are either to lazy or incompetent to do their job for which they were hired? IF these are MINOR and NON-CRITICAL issues, why can't they seem to fix them? Please don't give me the tired argument of it being "massive" and "complex", as I've done a fairly substantial job of removing that as an argument. So, what is it about Linden Lab that they can't keep their own PRODUCT going without one single issue, major or minor, for a simple 7 days? While we are on this subject, why hasn't the Asset Sever issue been fixed yet, it's been three years and still the problem exists?

Peter, I don't know if you are a friend of mine in Second Life or not, but, if you know me in Second Life you would know I have already raised these crucial points with you there. I am no longer going to keep calling Linden Lab out for their poor service, as they seem to have given up on it themselves, otherwise, why after a year, does Linden Lab STILL have an F Grade from the BBB? Since I can see that Linden Lab is unwavering in it's own incompetence, what's the point of me continually asking someone from Linden Lab to comment on it? What's most amazing is how Linden Lab just continues to walk by like nothing is wrong, yet, we, the Customers, can see that the Emperor has lost its clothing.

I Give Up....LL Wins

2010-01-25T18:41:00.002-06:00

Today friends I awoke and found this bit of disturbing news:

Group Payout Issues

[24 January 2010 8:30PM Pacific] There are currently technical issues with Group Payouts which will be delayed. Our teams are working on resolving this issue as soon as possible. Please watch this blog for any further details.

What is so disturbing about this you might ask? It's not the content as much, it's the regularity and constant flow of the content that I find disturbing. Quite honestly, I started this recent thread of Blog Announcements as a joke, something to get under the skin of our friends of Linden Lab. The problem is, it seems that Linden Lab doesn't care about this joke.

OK, I know, that's silly, why should Linden Lab care that I'm making fun of them. Well, for the most part I agree, but, it's the reason I'm making fun of them that they should care about. I am basically saying that at Linden Lab there is no one competent enough to keep Second Life running for a 7 (SEVEN) days without a single issue. You know, it is there job to see that Second Life is always available for the Paying Customer. So basically I'm saying that Linden Lab hires people that can't do the job for which they've been hired. The disturbing part of that is, it's true.

I fully expected that Linden Lab would easily be able to shut me up and keep Second Life going for a simple 7 (SEVEN) days without issue. I'm wrong apparently, because here we are again, another week gone by and yet another issue. Ask yourself this question, "What would it be like if I were hired to perform a job, and yet, every time I attempted to perform that Job, I messed it up?" As someone who worked 26 years before being forced to the sidelines by a disability, I know if I were in the boat that Linden Lab employee's seem to be in, I would be embarrassed to admit where I worked, let alone take home a paycheck for not being able to do the job I was hired to perform.

So, instead of continuing to point out the obvious, I quit. I'm not going to quit Second Life, as I have always said, Second Life is a wondrous place and for many people the only place they have for Social Interaction. Instead, I quit trying to embarrass a group of people who are either too lazy or just plain incompetent, to do the job they were hired to do.

What is the point of me spouting on each week if after each week we continue to see the same result? Linden Lab doesn't care if their Product, the Product they are SELLING and taking MONEY for, isn't up to anyone's definition of "par". I guess it's true what the BBB (Better Business Bureau) has said about Linden Lab and their ability to operate as a Company, they get an F.

It was almost One Year ago when Linden Lab received this bad news from the BBB, and M Linden, the new CEO, said at that time that it was the OLD GUARD who was at fault for this and Linden Lab would NOT continue to receive a Failing Grade in the very near future. I guess the question for M Linden is, "What is your definition of the VERY NEAR FUTURE?" I suppose M's definition of NEAR FUTURE is the same as the others who have said that certain problems would be fixed SOON; here we sit, almost 3 (THREE) years later and the Asset Server is STILL having issues.

I quit asking Blue Linden to tell me what the New Guard was suppose to do, because today it's clear that the New Guard is no different from the Old Guard. They both have made empty promises and continue to take people's money even though they can't provide a product that will run without issue for just 7 days.

So tell me friends, would you want to work for a company that didn't expect you to actually do anything right? I would ask Blue what he thinks, but his answer is clear, he STILL works for Linden Lab.

Sorry friends, looks like we got fooled again!

De JaVoodoo

2010-01-19T10:35:00.002-06:00

Here we are, Tuesday again, another day of fog but not too cold, another day of LL messing up again. Being a Tuesday you should be able to guess just what has gone wrong, again. Like I said before, we really must give credit where credit is due, so here's to our Friends at Linden Lab, at least you keep making the same mistakes!

[Resolved] Stipends may be delayed for some residents.

[Resolved @ 7:13 am PST] Stipend payments are now back on track and should be completed. Thank you for your patience.

Some residents may experience their stipends being paid out slightly later than usual. We are aware of this and working towards a resolution. We apologize for any inconvenience caused. Thank you for your understanding.

Of course, I must ask, So tell me Blue, is THIS the change you were talking about with the New Management Team?

Responding to your Responding to Feedback

2010-01-13T14:52:00.002-06:00

Well Friends, it looks as though perhaps our Famous M Linden finally has figured out a bit about the Community; we want to be heard, we want our feedback taken seriously!

Today, M Linden posted that HE has heard us and is happy we are still speaking our Minds. It's wonderful isn't it when someone at the top responds to everyone about how much he appreciates our Feedback. Not only does he appreciate our Feedback, but he also is inviting EVERYONE (that includes me too) to in-world Office Hours that HE himself will be hosting. Mr. M Linden goes on to inform us about what everyone at Linden Land is doing and when they will communicate to us those items and the results of their hard hard work; isn't it wonderful?

Wait, somethings amiss here, I'm actually saying that M Linden and Linden Lab is doing something right? Well, no, I'm actually being quite sarcastic here, because while M Linden likes to say he's "listening to our Feedback", knowing many will skip over the subtle difference between "Listening" and "DOING SOMETHING WITH" our Feedback.

You see, one thing you have to understand about Linden Lab, they lie. There's no use in calling it anything else, by Omission or Commission, the folks at Linden Lab have lied to use for years. Remember when Robin Linden used to say, "Clear and Transparent Communication" as she spoke about what was happening at Linden Lab, yet refused to DEFINE what that meant exactly to the Community? The same is happening here, M Linden is using Subtle word phrases to raise the HOPE of those that fail to clearly distinguish between what he is saying and what it means. I, like the next person, would love to believe that M Linden is really going to take our Feedback and apply to the decisions made at Linden Lab, but that's not at all what he is saying. M Linden is merely stating that he READ our Feedback, not that will have any place in the decisions going forward. Just like his predecessors before him, M Linden is well versed in the art of Lying by Omission.

When M Linden comes out from behind the deceptive words and spells out exactly what he means, only then can we trust what he says. When M Linden says, "Your Feedback states that you don't want an Adult Continent, so WE won't do it", then you know he is not just HEARING you but also taking what you said to heart and giving you what you want. Remember, it's THEIR WORLD but OUR DREAMS. Somewhere in year Three, Linden Lab forgot about the partnership it tried so desperately to have with the Community. Linden Lab decided that no longer would the Community, the PAYING CUSTOMER, would have a voice in the development of the World we LIVE in.

I challenge M Linden to do more then just HEAR our Feedback, but also apply that Feedback to the future of Second Life. You keep saying how important our Feedback is, yet when you ask for it, you have already made the Policy Change, and what you really want is the people to blow sunshine up your skirt. Just when will our Feedback be taken seriously? Just when will our Feedback be acquired before Policy is decided? Just when will our WORLD be our's again?

It's easy to play word games M, it's harder to slip them past the people time after time, and much harder each time you try. So, stop with the lies, come out and say what you mean, stop hiding behind vague and deceptive wording, start acting like the Professional you commonly claim to be. It's time for show M Linden, it's time to be honest, real, Clear and Transparent, and every other thing you and your predecessors have claimed to be in the past. It's time to prove me wrong, show me, show everyone, that I'm off base, that Blue Linden's faith and trust in you isn't blind, but worth it.

To be honest, I think you are full of S***. I won't lie about that, and I won't hide behind pretty words to describe how I feel. You want me to change how I think of Linden Lab? Give me a reason, a real reason, something concrete, not just words, show me that your Team isn't just a retread of the Old Team. Show me just why people should take what you have to say as truth. Show me I'm wrong, and I'll happily drink your Kool-Aid.

It's really too easy

2010-01-13T14:46:00.002-06:00

So, for everyone that thought that perhaps I was sweating the fact that Linden Lab went a whole 4 days without any issues, don't. Even if they hadn't screwed up the Stipends on Tuesday, they would have still not made the full week, as this is now the most current entry:

Login/Registration Temporarily Offline Jan. 14th at 6 a.m.

[Posted Jan 12th 2010 1:20 PM PST] On Thursday, January 14th, starting at 6 a.m. PST, all login and registration will be offline due to maintenance. Logins will not be available during that time. This will not affect our residents currently in-world. Maintenance should take approximately 30 minutes. We apologize for any incovenience.

Well, when you are right, you are right. Now, Mr. Blue, aren't you ashamed of yourself, trying to pull one over on me. The New Guard is the Old Guard, and the Old Guard keeps playing that same sad song.

And the Beat goes on....And the Beat goes on

2010-01-12T12:28:00.002-06:00

I want to apologize to everyone who have said to me in one form or another that Linden Lab will prove me wrong and very soon will go a "week, even two" without any issues in Second Life. I am sorry you placed your bet with Linden Lab, because once again, they've blown it; taken from Tuesday, 12th of January, 2010:

Stipends

[07:41 AM PST] There may be a delay for some residents receiving their stipends today. Please check this page for more updates.

What more can I say but, thank you Linden Lab for showing me just how right I have been. Oh, one more thing, so Blue, is THIS the change you told me the New Management Team would bring to the World of Second Life?

Once again Linden Lab fails at Basic Support

2010-01-07T00:05:00.002-06:00

Today I was speaking with a friend of mine in Second Life when he became a bit agitated and told me about his recent encounter with Linden Lab Support.

My friend is a "Free Account" player but has an In-World Business and took out one of those 999L "get your business noticed" advertisements on XSTREETSL.COM. Well, a day or two into this advertisement period, my friend and his Business Partner had a falling out and so he went to the XSTREETSL.COM website and followed the instructions to put this advertisement on hold. As usual with any Linden Lab product, the advertisement ran on despite what my friend wanted, and so he basically squandered his 999L. Since my friend had trouble with this issue, he turned to Support to try and get some assistance, but since he is a "Free Account" he isn't entitled to any Support, no matter how much MONEY he might have spent or even generated in Second Life.

I find it simply amazing that Linden Lab thinks it's completely normal that people spend MONEY with them, but aren't given any support. Of course, my friend didn't want me to start a support ticket on his behalf, so I decided to do this instead.

Here's a HINT to everyone thinking about starting an Avatar in Second Life; don't do it. Linden Lab has proven time and again, that they are merely interested in your money. They don't even HIDE the fact that they will take your money and give you no support, matter if fact, they probably would rather you just skip starting an Avatar all together and write them a Personal Check directly for whatever amount of cash you have available.

Linden Lab has again shown just what kind of Business Ethics they have as a Corporate Body. I'm sad to say, no matter what Blue Linden wants me to believe, but the New Boss is the Same as the Old Boss, we've been fooled again.

A Challenge to the TEAM at Linden Lab

2010-01-05T14:46:00.004-06:00

Fairly recently Babbage Linden announced that Linden Lab will be implementing Memory Usage Restrictions for ALL SIMS and Users of Second Life. Babbage said this action was being taken in direct response to the Residents of Second Life demanding that Linden Lab do something about the LAG that plagues the Virtual World.

Babbage Linden claims that the majority of the LAG is actually caused by the Residents of Second Life and NOT by the Coding of Second Life. In other words, once again, just like with OpenSpace, Linden Lab says that the Customer is the problem, not Linden Lab.

Unfortunately for Babbage Linden the Grid Team at Linden Lab have been reporting Grid Issues in their Blogs for quiet some time, I've never seen them say that LOGIN or ASSET SERVER Issues were caused by the Residents. Following this to its Logical Conclusion it must therefore be a problem caused by Linden Lab; something apparently Babbage Linden wants to dispute.

It's only been a year since Linden Lab announced that the Evil Residents of Second Life were to blame for all the problems with OpenSpace SIMs, even though Linden Lab employee's used their OpenSpace SIMs in the exact same way when they created the Nautilus Continent.

Being an observer of what's going on in Second Life and at Linden Lab, it certainly does look to me that Linden Lab has a real issue admitting that they have a problem and they would rather pass all the blame to their Evil Customers. I don't think anyone will dispute the fact that the coding of Second Life is in a state of dis-repair, but do you see anyone from Linden Lab saying, "As the Residents learn to code more cleanly, Linden Lab will also be going through the Second Life Code and cleaning up their own mistakes"?

Why does Linden Lab constantly blame their Customers for a problem that, if you believe what Babbage Linden says, has been going on for years. IF this problem has been going on for years, why did Linden Lab allow it to go on for years? Just like with the OpenSpace SIMs fiasco, where Linden Lab not only overlooked what their Customers were doing, were aware of and did the very same things themselves with OpenSpace SIMs. We have the exact same issue here, that Linden Lab KNEW of the problem, but did NOTHING to correct the problem for the last 7 years.

Linden Lab is following a very dangerous trend here. They (Linden Lab) seem to think that it's easier to blame your Customers for everything, even if you share in the problem, and I dare say, probably are MORE of the problem then the Customers are.

Blue Linden asked me to hold-off these past few months and see what this "new" management team would be like. Well, it certainly seems to this observer that this "new" management team has picked up the ball where the "old" management team left off and have gone down the very same road. Is this the "new way" that I was supposedly waiting for? I've seen this "way" before, and it's as unappetizing as it was the very first time Linden Lab asked us to take part in it.

Linden Lab is often saying that they work as a Team with their Customers. Why Linden Lab even has their Customers reporting bugs through JIRA, certainly not what anyone would call a User-Friendly system. So, if we, the Customers of Second Life, are part of this Team, I would like to know just when Linden Lab will be announcing that their Coding Team will be going back into the Code of Second Life and cleaning it up to help improve on Memory Usage? When will the "Bug Coders" actually be giving 100% of their time to the Asset Server issue which is now THREE YEARS old? When will the Management Team stand up and accept Linden Lab's responsibility in this mess?

When I was a working stiff years ago, I was in charge of Managing a Group of Coders that wrote for a very obscure language which was used for our Remote Locations (23 of them), the other Manager had a team of about 10 or so Coders that wrote COBOL for the IBM Mainframe . I had this saying that I would wind up saying at "Team" meetings when the IBM Manager did everything he could to pass the buck to my Team, I would say, "Teamwork isn't that my Team does your work". That saying of mine seems to be prevalent even today with Linden Lab, as they are asking the Scripters in Second Life to "write better code", why then aren't they asking their own Coders to fix the problems in the Second Life Code, I mean, we are part of a TEAM Effort, aren't we?

So Close

2010-01-03T20:17:00.002-06:00

Just in case you thought I hadn't noticed, Linden Lab still is unable to keep Second Life running for a mere 7 days without having problems.

Once again today, the seemingly inevitable Login Issue has reared its ugly head and foiled all that hard (minimum definition) work.

[UPDATE] Isolated login and inventory issues

[3:11pm PST] An isolated number of residents who have been experiencing the login and inventory issues will be logged out from inworld and will experience a short delay logging back in. We will keep this delay as minimum as possible. Please refer back to this blog for updates.

[3:02pm PST] We are still experiencing isolated issues with logins and inventory. Please refer back to this blog for updates.

[1:01pm PST] We are currently experiencing isolated login issues. You may see extended login times, difficulty logging in or errors in logins. We are also seeing related isolated inventory issues where a small group of residents will only see their default library of inventory. Please refer back to the blog for updates.

Once again we ask for our friend Blue to tell us, "Is THIS the change the NEW Management Team was taking about?"

Time draws near

2010-01-03T16:47:00.003-06:00

Well friends, it seems to this Blogger and Long-Time Resident of Second Life, that the time to leave the fascinating world just might be drawing near.

Recently I have been inundated with IM's from nearly everyone I know concerning the announcement that Linden Lab plans to RESTRICT MEMORY usage on every SIM, even Homesteads and Private Islands.

While I understand that Linden Lab has the right to oversee the Public SIMs, I really don't understand why Linden Lab thinks they should stick their noses into the Private SIMs that others are paying for. Was it the Private SIM owners that setup their Servers in such a way that put 4 SIMs on every server? Was it the Private SIM owners that decided on the amount of total Memory that would be contained on each Server? It seems to this Old Timer that once again Linden Lab is putting the screws to the Customers after they (Linden Lab employees) made bad decisions.

Just like the OpenSpace fiasco, Linden Lab has determined that it should be their Customers that pay for Linden Lab's apparent Non-Informed Decision Making. Instead of doing what's RIGHT or GOOD for the Customer, Linden Lab once again would rather alienate their Customers; it's much easier right?

Well, folks, I've decided that if this new "Policy" goes into effect, it will be the proverbial Straw that breaks the Camels back, and I will be leaving the world of Second Life for good. I have already been checking out how I can move my Inventory to a New World and to what New World do I wish to move. At the time of this Blog Post, I am leaning toward moving to "In Worldz". You can check our InWorldz for yourself and see what they have to offer and what real Customer Service is like. I know it will be a sad day for me when I leave Second Life, as I know there will be some people I never see again; many of them friends. I only hope that those of you that are my friends will stay in touch, even if just by e-mail.

Linden Lab gave us an incredible world back in 2002, and many of us have enjoyed that world beyond what is possible to express in words alone. All of us who have enjoyed the world of Second Life will be bound together by common experiences and the time we spent chatting together. Linden Lab gave us Second Life and now Linden Lab seems determined to destroy it as well. Unfortunately, we aren't able to save Second Life, as I'd hoped; for one to be saved, one needs want to be saved. Linden Lab themselves have worked without rest over the past 4 years to destroy the one thing they gave us all to enjoy and by most accounts knew what they were doing and chose to do so all the same. I've never seen a Company reach heights like Linden Lab reached and then reach the Lows as Linden Lab has reached. Greed is the one ingredient that will sour the whole batch, and unfortunately, the people at Linden Lab were the greediest.

So here's to Linden Lab, you gave us a great world and you ripped out our hearts as you slowly destroyed it.

Is this that Change you were promising me Blue?

Play it again Sam

2009-12-23T19:02:00.002-06:00

Don't ever let it be said that Linden Lab doesn't go all out when wanting to prove to everyone just how CORRECT I am.

This from just 5 minutes ago this Wednesday Evening:

Login, Transaction, Information issues

Posted by Status Desk on December 23rd, 2009 at 04:57 pm PST

[POSTED 4:57pm PST] We are currently experiencing some issues which may prevent residents from logging in to Second Life. This issue is also affecting updates of in-world information, including online status, transactions and other related functions. Please refrain from making any transactions or handling no-copy objects until this blog has been resolved.

So, I've asked this before and no one cares to offer an answer, but let's try it again: Hey Blue, is this that CHANGE you said the New Management Team was going to bring to Linden Lab?

You know how to whistle don't ya? You just put your lips together and... Blow.

The Wheels on the Bus go round and round

2009-12-22T14:59:00.002-06:00

You know what I like most about our Friends at Linden Lab? They never fail in proving that I'm correct when it comes to my judgments concerning their abilities in keeping Second Life up and running.

Taken from today's GRID STATUS:

[UPDATED] Login issues, plus Transactions, etc.

Posted by Status Desk on December 22nd, 2009 at 12:56 pm PST

[UPDATED 12:56pm PST] This issue is affecting updates of in-world information, including the in-world balance display. Please refrain from making any transactions or handling no-copy objects until this blog has been resolved.

[POSTED 12:38pm PST] We are currently experiencing some login issues which may prevent residents from logging in to Second Life. We are working to resolve this as quickly as possible and will update this blog post as information becomes available.

What more can I say, except, I told you so!

Thanks Blue and the rest of Linden Lab for showing me just how much things WON'T change under the new Management Team.

Unable to Load Notecard....Please Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try.....

2009-12-20T17:22:00.003-06:00

One of the most amusing rumors I hear concerning Second Life is that the Management Team is positioning Second Life to go Commercial.

People tell me tall tales and Grandiose plans of how Linden Lab is wanting ALL Individuals in Second Life to quit so Linden Lab can focus their attention to Corporate America/World.

While these rumors are fun to listen to, every once in a while someone comes along pleading with me to take them seriously when they tell me this plan. I admit, there are some interesting happenings from Linden Lab that one could conclude that they don't like the Community of Second Life very much, but it's doubtful that Linden Lab has enough forethought or even expertise to make such a plan come to fruition; even if they did, the plan fails on multiple points.

I agree that Linden Lab is once again setting themselves up for a Hate-Fest when they decided that they would not only charge people for LISTING items on XSTREETSL, but also they are going to charge commission for any sales of those items. Yes, this is a slap in the face to every single content creator in Second Life and shows once again just how disconnected Linden Lab is to the Community. That being said, it's not a very good point to dream up a conspiracy theory with.

IF Linden Lab were wanting every person to just stop coming into Second Life so they could close it down and focus on "bigger fish", they would have a terrible time getting any Corporation to buy this product as it stands today.

Just how many times in a week do we see a status Blog update stating that something is wrong? Regularly we see login problems, Asset Server issues, rolling restarts because they found ANOTHER bug in their latest code, and so on and so on. Just today I spent the good part of a 1/2 hour trying to remodel a store in Garman and the only thing holding me back is the fact that Linden Lab can't fix their Asset Servers and my Config Notecard won't open.

It's been TWO YEARS now since we were PROMISED that the Asset Server was the NUMBER ONE PRIORITY of the Team and they would fix it SOON. Seems to me that Linden Labs definition of SOON leaves (as usual) something to be desired. I wonder just WHY it's taking our friends at Linden Lab to correct this? I mean, TWO YEARS is a very long time, especially to programmers.

Of course, as usual, no one at Linden Lab cares to speak about such matters and instead they bring us news of "Behind the Firewall" product for those Corporations that want to have a Second Life Grid all ready to go, but don't want to open it up to everyone in the world. One wonders just how Linden Lab gets these Corporations to purchase this product when Linden Lab can't even keep it running more then 7 days without a major problem.

I was really hoping that Blue Linden was right when he suggested I hold off making judgements concerning Linden Lab Management Team, that perhaps they would actually do great things. Well, I held off for nearly 7 months, and that's a LONG time, and what have we got to show for it? Greed Driven Fee Policy's at XSTREETSL, a New Product for the Corporate World, and bugs in Second Life that were PROMISED to be fixed TWO YEARS AGO.

Well, I really don't have to say it, I mean, if you can't figure it out for yourself, you are either dumb or just a fanboi. So, I'll just end this here and go back to trying to open my Notecard.

Unable to Load Notecard....Please Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try and Try....

I'm back...No change at Linden Lab....go figure

2009-12-17T12:34:00.004-06:00

Well friends, I'm finally returning to the Blog. I made a promise to a certain Linden and said I would hold my tongue until such time that the NEW ORDER at Linden Lab had time to prove themselves....and prove themselves they did.

There are three separate points that I want to bring up today, so, put on your seatbelts as it's time to get going.

First, and most recent, as many of you are aware, I became a Private Island Owner back in June. Of course, this was something I have wanted since Linden Lab announced that you could own your own Island, but until last June I wasn't in a Fiscal position to make it happen.

My Island, Patapsco, is just another extension of myself. I put up my Store and a New Resident area, and the rest has been dedicated to friends and strangers that needed a place to call home. This is not out of the ordinary for me of course, and while many of you think I'm just too nice, I feel that in order for Second Life to continue depends on the Community. I believe having a Strong Community that welcomes New Residents and Strangers is important, and because of that I do what I do on Patapsco.

A couple of days ago we had a small hiccup in Patapsco. Two groups got into an argument and began sabotage one another by returning each others items. Yes, this was very childish, but as we all can attest, sometimes we do things that we normally wouldn't. Once I found out what had happened, I took the necessary steps to be certain this didn't happen again, and then submitted a Support Ticket to get a ROLLBACK performed. This ticket was submitted at 5:00PM CST and unlike what others have told me about Support, by 10:00PM CST I hadn't heard anything about it. I told the Residents of the Island they might hold off creating anything, in case the ROLLBACK occured during the evening/morning hours. This morning after getting my required Coffee intake, I checked my email to find a Response to my Support Ticket. I was told that because these people intentionally returned the items the ROLLBACK would not happen, as LL reserves ROLLBACKS to catastrophic events only. Exactly what LL's definition of Catastrophic has yet to be defined of course, which allows them to use this as an excuse to play favorites.

Now, let's look at the facts here. As a Private Island owner I'm contributing $300/month to the LL coffers, and I'm supposed to be at the HIGHEST level of support available. ROLLBACKS are one of the easiest items for Support to do, as I have requested them TWICE before (on land I didn't even own) and was granted them. Before my "leave of absence" I promised Blue Linden that I would give Linden Lab a chance to prove they are making concerted efforts to change for the better. Well, here's one thing they haven't changed at all, LOUSY Customer Service. What's nice to know though, is Linden Labs Customer Service is as bad as it is for Conceirge Customers as is it for Premium Members. You do have to give them props for being Consistent about that, consistently bad, but consistent.

Second, Linden Lab recently announced that XSTREETSL merchants would have to PAY to PLAY. That's right, if you want to sell your Items through XSTREETSL, then you are going to be charged a listing fee per item, per month. Not only are you going to be charged a listing fee, but you are also going to be charged a commission for every sale you actually make. I've always been one of those people that think "double dipping" is rude and unsanitary, but in this instance it's just plain greedy. In a time when Linden Lab wants to have a Strong Community, they are pushing away those Merchants that create for their world. I guess the next logical step in this process is that Linden Lab will announce that there will be a fee for every listing you or your products or your store are mentioned in the Searches and for every sale you make, there will be a commission charged as well. Guess Blue Linden was right, this New Order are taking huge strides for Second Life, I just thought Blue Linden meant FORWARD, not backward.

Third, Linden Lab announced that there is a New Continent out there and will contain Parcels of 512Sq. M. and will have housing already installed. This sounds interesting, and maybe even forward thinking, until you visit these cookie-cutter land masses. When I "examined" these parcels, I had one thought, Internment Camps. Everything is exactly the same. Every House, tree, road, etc, is repeated over and over and over and over and over and over and over. There isn't an ounce of creativity, everything looks plastic. Why Linden Lab would think this environment would be a PLUS for New Residents entering Second Life says a lot about the New Order and their understanding of the Community. As I suspected a few months back, Blue Linden's expectations of the New Order are far from reality. This new Continent looks as if a first year design student sat down and thought up their version of the 1950's Tract Homes. Apparently the New Order's idea of the perfect Second Life Community means we stop thinking as Individuals, we bury our Creativity and we blindly follow these new leaders. There's just one small problem with this; that's not the Second Life Community. Sure, a New Resident might choose to live in these unattractive cheap and boring homes, but after these same New Residents begin to tour more and more of Second Life, they will see just how ridiculous these Land Masses look and will "jump ship" faster then a rat leaves a sinking ship.

Well, over the past several months, I sat idly by, watching and waiting, and today that wait is over. I see clearly that the New Order is the same as the Old Order, and no matter who is in charge at LL, it's still operating under the same old philosophy. It's official, the New Order of Linden Lab has no experience in the Virtual World of Second Life and therefore they cannot understand the harm they are doing to Second Life and the Community by being so disconnected. At least the Old Order was able to say, "I know Second Life and my vision says we go this way." This New Order cannot say this and by the looks of things they only basis for their decisions is greed.

I now am looking for another Virtual World to belong in. Perhaps places like In-Worldz is where the real future is at. At this point, there's no being upset, as I said it before, and even after these months that have passed, I will say it again, "Second Life is Dying." There is but ONE way to cure the illness that is in Second Life, and that is to kill Linden Lab. Don't worry friends, I'm not supporting a violent attack on Linden Lab, we don't have to take such drastic measures, this New Order is doing what we need done by itself and quite satisfactory.

I have waited for this day, and now that this day has come, my eyes view only destruction.

Same SH*T...Different Site

2009-05-12T12:51:00.002-05:00

It didn't take long, and that's why I refused to start a betting pool for this.

Yesterday, our friends at Linden Lab, reported problems with XSTREETSL.COM login. Apparently those people using passwords greater then 17 characters were being TOO cautious and are now required to reset those passwords to something 16 characters or less.

So, once again, our friends at Linden Lab have shown that whatever they touch, they break. I guess this is, just like in Second Life, the first in a LONG LIST of problems that will be occurring at XSTREETSL.COM.

Just once, wouldn't it be nice if Linden Lab could show themselves to be competent and not wreck whatever they tried to "fix"?

Here's a challenge for our "friends" at Linden Lab, "Try going 5 business days without having something mess up or break with Second Life".

I would open a betting pool for this but, as we all know, never bet against a sure thing.

The Showcase 'Ho Down

2009-04-21T08:28:00.002-05:00

There's been something on my mind for quite a while and I'm tired of holding my tongue. For all the people on the SHOWCASE sight that I know, I apologize for this rant, but something isn't sitting well with me!

If you don't yet know of the SHOWCASE part of Second Life, you should. Here's a place where, if you have a pretty location, attract a MAJORITY of users, have content (also known as PRODUCT) that is unique, and are in good standing with the Linden Employee's (F.I.C.), then you can have your business listed for FREE!

Let me say this, MOST of the SHOWCASE listings aren't "for profit" and I have no issue with those, but under FASHION the majority of those listed are "for profit" and I wonder just why Linden Lab thinks it's necessary to promote one "for profit" venue over another?

Having Linden Lab include "for profit" venue's in the SHOWCASE shows just how much favoritism exists as Linden Lab. Reading through the "requirements" for possible listing, one can see it's all about being "pretty" and "in good standing" with Linden Lab. Of course, as usual, Linden Lab includes some "requirements" that trip up just about EVERYONE listed, so let's take a look at those.

First, "Does the venue appeal broadly to the Second Life community?". So, let's ask the obvious question first. How do you measure this? Is Linden Lab using Traffic Figures to substantiate this claim, even knowing that many sites inflate their traffic numbers artificially? Does Linden Lab have a way to measure just how many Residents have visited these places, and if so, will they be willing to share and show the rest of us that these "chosen" venues do have a "broad appeal" to the Second Life Community? Just what does "broad appeal" mean?

Second, "Is the venue exceptional or unique?". Who defines what is "exceptional or unique"? What are the definitions for these terms being used? Just how "unique" is a Fashion Outlet store? Let's face it, the world is over-run with Clothing Stores, can we really say they are a "unique" venue; how about "exceptional"?

Lastly, "Has the venue or one like it been included before?". This Criteria alone should reduce the "for profit" venues to none, since every single listing now has been shown. Does this mean the "for profit" lists will go away next month?

The SHOWCASE option in SEARCH in-world and on the Second Life website are unfair listings as not everyone is allowed to be seen in this location. You can't "buy" your way onto the list, as you can pay for search listing spots, nor can you get on the list by having more "PICKS" listings then anyone else. The SHOWCASE list is completely chosen by Linden Lab employee's, without any clarification of what and how these terms are used (that's the transparent and open system they tout apparently). Being placed on this list is nothing more then what our friend Prokofy has warned us about, being a part of the "Fetted Inner Core", as it's nothing more then a "who's who's favorite" list for Linden Lab employee's.

Unless Linden Lab is ready to open SHOWCASE to every single "for profit" business out there, I think it's time to take it down; of course, they won't, showing again that "favoritism" is the rule of law at Linden Lab.

A Voice Crying from the Wilderness...or is it just gas?

2009-04-14T19:29:00.005-05:00

Well friends, it's happened, someone gave me a platform to air some of my opinions and not being one to back down, I did just that :)

Stuart Warf, of the Second Life Podcast Network, chose me to appear in his "5 Questions" section, in which he asks 5 questions and the participant answers them. While this isn't a "just let me rant" option, I did at least get to air some grievances while at the same time get to speak about Second Life.

Second Life Podcast Network is a great place to visit and I suggest you make it a regular stop, even if they don't see the writing on the wall concerning Officers of a Corporation leaving on a regular basis like I do :)

So, here's the interview, I hope you all enjoy it!

More Bad News for the Lab

2009-03-25T08:39:00.004-06:00

A source which will remain anonymous has reported to me, and I have confirmed this, that Linden Lab CFO John Zdanowski is leaving the company as of April 15.

This marks the second major Officer of Linden Lab to leave this year, Robin Harper left recently, saying, "I’m planning to take some time to explore a few different avenues as I decide where, when and what the next chapter of my life will entail..."

Mr. Zdanowski started at Linden in September 2006 and has seen Linden Lab grow significantly from One Million a month in revenue billing to Six Million a month.

This will no doubt come as a surprise to everyone, especially those at Linden Lab, as Mr. Zdanowski believed strongly in Linden Lab, stating in a CFO.com article concerning the future of Linden Lab, "I do believe that this is a very interesting company that can, in the long run, be a stand-alone public company." It seems a bit odd that a CFO, who believes his company will one day go public, would leave before that happens.

It has been rumored that Mitch Kapor has been dissatisfied with the profitability of Linden Lab and has started to replace people one by one . If this is true, one must wonder who's left to replace?

Not knowing Mr. Zdanowski myself, either personally or in-game, I will not comment on what he did or didn't do at Linden Lab for the Second Life Community. Many people I've spoke with said that Zee Linden (Mr. Zdanowski's in-world personality) was considerate and attentive to the needs of those he met. I will say this, I did invite Mr. Zdanowski to meet with me and he never replied. I of course I expect any Linden Lab employee to treat me in this manner, so it was no surprise to me.

The real question now is, just how stable is Linden Lab when their CFO is jumping ships? We, the Second Life Community, will probably never get to hear the insights Mr. Zdanowski has about operational stability, but I'm sure each of us would like to.

I do wish Mr. Zdanowski best wishes in his future endeavors, and can only hope that this isn't the start of a very dark age for Linden Lab and Second Life.

**So much for this just being a RUMOR. Gee, guess I was actually right....again....hmmm

Little Boys and their immature attitudes

2009-03-17T09:29:00.002-06:00

Isn't it refreshing when you find a company that acts just like a little kid?

You know the kind, the ones that don't like what's being said, don't like being called out for their lies and deception, don't like being told just how bad they are acting, and when they are confronted, act as if it's all your fault for pointing out their obvious issues.

Linden Lab has reached an all-time low, even if you thought they couldn't, by acting just like the bratty little kid whose parents never discipline and think their little boy is a perfect little angel, while the rest of America knows that kids a brat. You see, without notice, nor reason, other then me pointing out the Linden Lab flaws in PRIVATE EMAIL's, Linden Lab has decided to "ban" Bob Bunderfeld from posting comments on their Blogs. Once again, Linden Lab has shown that they are not to be trusted, by not following their own rules. These rules are clearly posted on the BLOG Site and I've followed them exactly as requested, yet Blue Linden decided that I should stop posting comments, since I was apparently a bad seed. The only thing bad at Linden Lab is the stench coming from a rotting company refusing to acknowledge their own indescretions and lies; but then again, we already knew that.

Not to be outdone of course, I have PLENTY of Alternate Accts., since I've been doing my BOT research, and will just post under one of those names, and the real beauty is, they can't stop me, since they don't know how, and even if they did, I would question their competence, considering all the problems they've had over the past two weeks.

I have just ONE question now, just how bad will Linden Lab get before people decide they've had enough?

OH! One more thing, I'll be making a very SURPRISE announcement here soon, to hell with those at Linden Lab :)

Another Detour - Another Linden caught Lying

2009-03-14T09:19:00.003-06:00

Greetings my friends, I hope today you are doing well.

Today, once again, we are called to Detour from our advertised (starting to sound a lot like Linden Lab; promising one thing, delivering nothing) blog posting and bring up what everyone has been screaming about for the past two days; except mine has a bit of a twist.

As many of you know, I decided to "do the right thing" and offered my services at the Educational Fair that took place last month. During that time I was conducting the New Resident Q&A's from the main stage there. As happens from time to time, a lot of New Residents didn't arrive for the Q&A, but we still moved forward, taking questions from the audience that was there. During that time, someone from the audience asked how I saw Linden Lab combining the Teen/Adult Grids.

The Teen/Adult grid combination cannot happen until Linden Lab moves ALL MATURE Content to it's own Continent and requires Age Verification of ALL. This is exactly what I said would happen, but, to my dismay, Pathfinder Linden said I didn't know what I was talking about, that there were many "options" being looked at, and people should NOT take me as an authority on this subject. Well, back then I had nothing concrete to go on, just LOGIC, and I said, perhaps that's true, but we'll see. You see, if you look at the issue of combining the Teen/Adult grids, there is only ONE WAY to do that, and that's just what Linden Lab implemented two days ago.

I really enjoy when Linden Lab Employee's knowingly sit in my events and LIE. It really builds up and air of Confidence with me and other Residents. To be honest, that's the first thing I look for in a "Professional" company, that their employee's would LIE to me, I know then and there, that Company is one I really want to do business with.

To be fair, and in the sense of "Open and Transparent" communication, I did email Pathfinder Linden and asked for a Public Apology, and received no word back. My thinking was since he was BOLD enough to LIE in a public venue, then perhaps he could show that same BOLDNESS and correct his LIE in front of people as well.

Another high point in my dealing with "Professional" company's is how their Ethics and Integrity hold up; with Linden Lab you could build a 100 Story building on their Ethics and Integrity, long as it was on sand.

Now, this idea that ALL MATURE content is being moved shouldn't surprise anyone. I publicly stated this was the next move on Linden Lab part once they announced their plans to combine the Teen/Adult grids. Next friends, after the Mature Move is completed, you will see Linden Lab announce that the Teen Grid and Adult Grid will be combined and those that want to access the Mature Grids will have to go through Age Verification. This USED TO BE a free process, and it might still be, so if you want this access, it would be worth the effort to go to the Second Life Website and go through the Age Verification; otherwise you most likely will wind up paying for the service VERY SOON.

So, once again, we see Linden Lab being true to their past; lying, cheating, and stealing from the Residents. No surprise there, that's what we have received from Linden Lab before and I promise you this, that's what they will provide to us in the Future.

We interrupt this Traffic for a special announcement

2009-03-03T12:43:00.002-06:00

Sorry friends, had to throw this in before carrying on with the Traffic Study/BOT Study Blog Series.

As many of you are aware, the new BLOG look has been unveiled at the Second Life Website. It certainly is better organized, and even prettier to look at.

Just one problem I've found so far. The same bullshit is going on behind the scenes as was before. I said this once, I'll say it again, it didn't take a NEW LOOK for the Blog to be effective, it takes a NEW ATTITUDE by the Linden's.

What I mean is this. While discussing the CNBC Fluff piece done last week about IBM/Linden Lab, I asked for a comment on the Failing Grade given to Linden Lab by the California BBB. We, the commenters, then began talking about different things associated with that thought, and before long, the new Executive Officer Amanda jumped in to the fray and was actually talking with us. After a few rounds of "this and that", Blue also jumped into the fray. Unfortunately though, Blue was there to STOP the communication, not enhance it. Blue reminded us all, at least us Commenters, he won't say if he scolded his Boss, that Off-Topic Comments were reason enough to be banned from the Blogs.

I find it interesting that someone at Linden Lab had the guts to speak up on any subject only then to have their employee's tell us we can no longer communicate on this subject, under penalty of Ban.

Guess I was right, a prettier package didn't help Linden Lab at all, perhaps it's time to pretty up their attitudes?

Integrity...it's a funny thing

2009-02-27T08:35:00.002-06:00

Recently I began working on a new Series to report here in the Blog. Before I get started on that though, a few "bricks need to be laid" as a foundation for this new series.

Integrity is something many people would say they have, yet few would actually obtain it. Even more so, Integrity seems to be all but non-existent in many company's today, unfortunately this is even more true for Linden Lab.

Let's take a look at what I mean. Integrity means you do what you say, you live what you say, you uphold the highest moral compass possible. When I first came to Second Life, I would be the first to tell you that the people at Linden Lab seemed to truly care about their work, the community they were building, the future. As time went on though, I discovered that either these people were very good liars or greed had changed them; I'm still unsure of which of these two it is, but it doesn't really matter, they both lead to what we have today in Linden Lab. Today, you would be hard pressed to find anyone in Second Life, older then 6 months, that think Linden Lab has the Second Life Community in it's best interest. Why do you think that might be?

If we start chronologically, many will point to the recent past as to the largest mistake on record for Linden Lab; that being the OpenSpace fiasco. Linden Lab was fully on-board when they began selling OpenSpace SIMs to customers, and although they put a "sliver" of verbege in the "rules" of using an OpenSpace SIM, they themselves never once enforced those rules, even after their own admission, that these rules were being broken. Not only were these rules broken by the owners of OpenSpace SIMs, they were also being mis-used by Linden Lab employee's as well. Linden Lab suddenly decided the rule-breaking, but only by the Community, needed to be dealt with. So, M came along an posted a Blog that blamed the Customers for all the OpenSpace SIM problems, yet never admitted Linden Lab culpability when it was pointed out that Linden Lab Employee's had mis-used OpenSpace SIMs.

This is a prime example of what it means to LACK integrity. Not only that, but we can look even further back to see this isn't a one-time thing. Two years ago, the Second Life Community began reporting that inventory was disappearing. Linden Lab, in what seems to be their practice, began questioning whether the Community actually knew the extent of their Inventory enough to say it was missing. Then, made one excuse after another, before FINALLY admitting there was a major problem, SIX MONTHS after receiving the first report.

Once again, we can see the true lack of Integrity here by Linden Lab. Instead of trusting what their customers where telling them, they decide to attack the integrity of those customers. This has been a long standing tradition with Linden Lab for years now. Tell your customers they don't know what's going on, that way you don't have to do anything until more and more people are screaming.

I could continue this practice of pointing out Linden Lab's lack of Integrity, but I think my point has been made.

Now, that we understand that Integrity isn't something that Linden Lab is interested in, we can more easily understand why they operate in this manner.

Two or more years ago, it was announced by Linden Lab that they would be using a NEW search engine. This new engine wouldn't look at Traffic Figures, Keywords, or other known "tricks of the trade". Here we are, long passed this announcement, and what have we seen wrought? We have seen a HUGE RISE in BOT activity, more Keywords then descriptions, and more "tricks of the trade" being used by Store Owners to keep their place among the OLD Search Engine, that was supposed to be a distant memory by now.

So, what has happened? Why are we still using the OLD Search Engine, when we were promised long ago that something new was coming? This can probably be answered by relying on the old stand-by that never seems to fail; Linden Lab doesn't know what Integrity means. Oh sure, some in the Community will say that the person that was supposed to be doing this new Search Project was dismissed and no one else was assigned, but why would that stop Linden Lab from at least announcing that Plans had changed? There is the crux of the problem of Integrity. When you lack it, you do all sorts of things that wind up upsetting your Customer base.

So, for my new Series, I've decided to conduct an experiment. How hard is it to "massage" your traffic numbers? How difficult would it be to make more then the supposedly allowed 5 acct limit accounts? Do keywords really work? Does adding your store to other's PICKS increase your Search Ranking?

These answers will be forthcoming in upcoming Blogs, and to make sure these results can be verified, I will go into exacting Detail that will allow anyone/everyone to setup their own BOTs and setup their own ALT Accts. This way, everyone running a store can see just how easy this is, and everyone has an even playing field when it comes to Search Rankings.

Of course, all of this would be for naught if Linden Lab would finish the new Search Project, but seeing how that is unlikely, then I will proceed.

Finally, let's talk about the BOT problem. While many would blame the owners of BOTs for this problem, I would point out, that these people are doing what they must do to survive in a system setup for Failure by Linden Lab. If Linden Lab would have had some Integrity, they would have finished this promised new Search Engine Project, and these BOTs never would have come to fruition. So, let's place the BOT blame squarely where it belongs, with Linden Lab. Since M is the new spokesperson for Linden Lab, I, and I'm sure everyone, would like him to speak up concerning the lack of Integrity of Linden Lab and the many dropped projects that were promised to us Customers, but never fulfilled.

The ball is is your court M, show us that things are changing, as you promised when you started, show us you want to bring back Integrity, tell me, tell us, I'm wrong; but do more then just say the words, shows in your actions.

Running for Office

2009-01-27T10:38:00.002-06:00

My Friends, I've decided to join the Dark Side; if it will have me that is.

What I mean is, I have put forth my name for consideration to the TOP of the TOP at Linden Lab to join the Executive Team.

Now stop your laughing! I'm absolutely serious about this. I have actually emailed the big guns at Linden Lab asking them to add ME, the royal pain in their butts, to the Executive Team at Linden Lab.

I feel, as many in the Community do, that there is NO VOICE on the Executive Team, or at Linden Lab, that gives consideration to the Community, the Customers, the ones paying the bills! I've been within the Community for nearly Six years now, and I certain don't have trouble speaking my mind, nor am I apt to become blinded by the "famous" personalities at Linden Lab.

There are two reason why I have made this decision. First, and probably least, was today's announcement that two new people, who have absolutely NO EXPERIENCE with Second Life, have been added to the Executive Team of Linden Lab. Second, and the MOST important reason, was my poor New Resident Q&A Event at the Education Faire yesterday.

Yes, I failed absolutely at the Event. It was horrid, only ONE New Resident showed, and the audience was filled with Educators and Lindens. Educators were there I'm sure to see how someone who's been doing New Resident Education for so long has survived all this time. The Linden's were there, I'm sure, to keep me in line! I mean seriously, do we need 4 Linden Employee's at my New Resident Q&A Event to keep me in line?

Anyway, instead of having a New Resident Q&A Event, it turned into a general Chit-Chat that covered a wide range of subjects, with yours truly moderating and offering his opinions. While the Linden's in attendance didn't agree with some of what I put forth, I think the audience saw the wisdom to my words. I would like to say that we were so popular that we were pulling people away from the booths, but I'm sure most of the walk-in traffic was due to people seeing a mob of green dots and they wanted to see what was going on. But, when those people arrived, they sat down, listened, and even joined in the discussion.

While I may have blown the New Resident Q&A, I did moderate a high-level discussion that dealt with things from Teen Grid Merger to Freezing the production of Second Life.

I think it's high time that Linden Lab put someone on the Executive Team to watch out for what the Community wants, for what the Community is thinking, for the Customer and not the Dollar, and yes, I think I'm the person for that position. What I would like you to do, if you agree, is to write the following people, letting them know you think I would make a great addition to their Executive Team. If you disagree, I want you to email the following people and tell them you think I should absolutely NOT be allowed on the Executive Team.

Personally I don't care either way how you feel, I just think it's time to get someone on the Executive team that will start looking out for the best interest of the Community; I just happen to believe that I'm the best person for that.

Names:

Philip Rosedale - philip@lindenlab.com

Robin Harper - robin@lindenlab.com

John Zdanowski - johnz@lindenlab.com

Mark Kingdon - markk@lindenlab.com

Tom Hale - tomh@lindenlab.com

Frank Ambrose - franka@lindenlab.com

Brian Michon - brianm@lindenlab.com

Joe Miller - joem@lindenlab.com

Howard Look - howardl@lindenlab.com

Marty Roberts - martyr@lindenlab.com

Cyn Skyberg - cyns@lindenlab.com

Judy Wade - judyw@lindenlab.com

Gene Yoon - geney@lindenlab.com

Customer Service Part Two...or is it Three?

2009-01-18T11:02:00.002-06:00

I need to give fair warning to everyone reading this, please sit down before going any further.

I have acquired space and time at the upcoming Education Faire Pavilion. That's right, yours' truly has been scheduled to speak to other Educators about Educating in Second Life.

The strange thing is, I was trying to sign-up to do my New Resident Q&A events there, to give the Education Faire a look at how real Residents learn about Second Life.

It went like this. After being admonished to play nice by Katt Linden, I thought I would go ahead and offer my New Resident Q&A events for the week the Faire was going on to Pathfinder Linden. That's exactly what I did too, explaining just how I saw my involvement and exactly what I would do. About a week later I got an apologetic email back from Pathfinder Linden asking what dates/times I would like to be added. I explained that I did my New Resident Q&A's on Monday's at 2PM SLT, Wednesday's at 3PM SL TIME, and Friday's at 10AM SL TIME and run 1 1/2 hours. I got an excited email back an hour or so later explaining I'd been signed up for those dates/times at the Main Pavillion and needed to let Pathfinder know what my Title should be, what my Talk would be about, etc. Now, I'm all for giving me 1 1/2 hours of time to speak to an audience in Second Life, but that's not even close to what I said I wanted to be doing. So, very sweetly, I emailed Pathfinder Linden and pointed out that I wasn't asking to Speak at the Faire, but to run my New Resident Q&A event. Once again I got back an apologetic email from Pathfinder Linden about the "mis-communication" and again was asked, what my Title should be, what the subject I would be speaking about, etc. I've yet to respond, fearful that if I do, I might be signed up to be CEO of Linden Lab all the sudden; oh wait.....that would be a good thing :)

OK, sorry, let's not get off track here. Now, before you Pathfinder lovers start screaming at me that he's busy and should be cut some slack, I agree. As a matter of fact, I think if one person is so damn busy, he probably shouldn't be alone in setting up something so important.

That's not my point here though. The point is, that when dealing with Customers, you should probably take a deep breath and very carefully read what's being transmitted. Pathfinder had two chances to get this right, but each time, chose to breeze through what I was saying and then decided on his own what I wanted my participation to be.

I'm not picking on Pathfinder here, but this is the problem at Linden Lab that I've been talking about for so long; employee's aren't listening! This goes for ALL employee's, not just Pathfinder. In the past 4 years, I can honestly say, I've not experienced one good Customer Service issue within Second Life. From being told to wait, after only explaining half a problem, to being talked down to by some New Employee. Customers should NOT be treated in such a manner and if Linden Lab doesn't wise up to this fact, they will be the next "Circuit City".

Now I have a dilemna. Should I try and get through to Pathfinder about the event I was offering or should I just go ahead and present a talk about educating in Second Life? The real problem I see is my bad habit of going off the prescribed subject and get into Linden bashing. The Education Faire would not be the right avenue for this. Then again, if I do a successful talk, perhaps I would be viewed as someone with intelligence by Linden Lab rather then just a vitrol acid spitting ass.

I think I'll give Pathfinder one more try and see if I can't get him to understand exactly what I've offered. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll just have to use my time and give one hell of a talk, wouldn't that surprise the hell out of most of you :)

What is Customer Service?

2009-01-17T09:43:00.002-06:00

If you ask a Linden Lab Employee what Customer Service is, they'll give you a URL or ask you to contact Live Support. But IS that Customer Service? Personally I have to answer NO, and let me explain why. I currently own 3 stores in Second Life. Whenever a Customer of mine complains that they either didn't receive what they paid for or complained about what they bought, I don't haggle with them, make them prove they bought something from me, or tell them to talk to someone else. No, I have one simple rule to my business, "The Customer is HAPPY". I apologize to my Customer, then give a full refund, then give them what they didn't get in the first place or try and find an alternate to what they were looking for. To me, this is proper Customer Service, not only that, but it's proper Business and Marketing. The Customer, when taken care of properly, will gladly spend his/her refund in your store after treating them like they were KINGS/QUEENS, not only that but they will also tell their friends about this fantastic place where they treat you wonderfully!

Now, let's compare that to two examples I ran into recently.

First, I have this friend, who's a Premium Member New Resident (meaning he's already SPENT money for the privilege of playing Second Life. His main acct, on his Second Day, got stuck in world and wouldn't logout. So, he contacts Support and reports the issue. After NOT hearing back for two hours, he creates an Alt and comes in-world seeking help. I have him do some things, hoping to shake his Main Acct loose, but nothing we tried worked. I then asked a few Lindens that were online to help him out, seeing that the Lindens are all big on the "New Resident Experience". Robin Linden responded, asking that he email her the particulars and she'd look into it. Now, before we go any further, let's give Robin KUDO's for at least responding and taking time to help out. Benjamin Linden didn't respond at all and Siz Linden responded with the URL.

My friend then sent Robin in the information via email and got back a response that shocked even me. Boiled down it said, "Contact Support". So much for being Helpful there. Having the appearance of being Helpful and actually being Helpful are TWO SEPERATE things.

So, there's an example of how HIGH LEVEL management responds to cries for help in-world, now let's look at another example.

This morning I logged in, hoping to work on my store in Garman as I'm currently expanding it. I logged in, did my IM maintenance, and then tried Teleporting; as usual for the past week, I was told that the teleport took too long and I should try again LATER.

Now, here's my thinking on this. If Second Life isn't working, then those Linden's in-world should HELP those left in distress. That's the PROPER way to treat a CUSTOMER so they remain HAPPY and feel good about SL that they will tell their friends and more and more Residents come to SL. Frontier Linden feels differently of course. I asked Frontier Linden to drop me off in Garman, very nicely, since Teleports weren't working. After 15 minutes Frontier came back with the URL and told me to contact support. I said I didn't need Support, just needed a quick ride over to Garman. Frontier Linden refused my offer, and I then said, "Nice Customer Support". At this point, you would think, any employee would stop and think to themselves, "Am I handling this correctly?" I don't mean according to the "Policies", as we all know, Linden Lab Policies are flat out WRONG when it comes to Customer Service, and a number of other things too! Now, back to our thought here, "Am I handling this correctly?" What would be in the best interest of the Customer and our business? How can I best handle this request so the CUSTOMER is HAPPY with our product? All of these are valid business questions and SHOULD be asked before responding to any Customer. Instead though, our friend Frontier Linden just used the old stand-by "Contact Support".

Here's one of my BIGGEST PET PEAVES in all of Second Life and in Linden Lab employee's. If you read the profile of the Linden's you run into, 95% of them have in their Profile that if you want SUPPORT, you should contact the Website and leave them be. If you are going to be in-world as an employee of Linden Lab, you should be overly kind to ANY Customer that contacts you and before you brush them off to "Contact Support", you should LISTEN to what they are saying and ask yourselves those questions we mentioned earlier. IF the issue isn't something you can't take care of quickly and easily or you just don't know how, then perhaps you should contact Support FOR the Customer and put the two together for a chat, instead of coldly saying, "Contact Support and leave me alone". Remember, we pay YOUR salary. WE are the reason YOU have a job!

Without Customers Linden Lab employee's wouldn't be able to feed their families. Without Customers Linden Lab employee's wouldn't be able to pay rent or their mortgage. Wihout Customers Linden Lab employee's wouldn't have a job. What would they do next? Blame the Customers? If Second Life fails, it will fail in part due to the FAILURE of Linden Lab employee's practicing Common Sense Customer Service.

So here's to you Robin and Frontier, it's time to brush-up on your Customer Service skills. Don't, and you have no one to blame but yourselves if Second Life fails!

Looks like we made it....

2009-01-15T09:32:00.003-06:00

As promised friends, here's your update from the Linden's as I promised:

*UPDATE*

Everett Linden said:

"The Linden Prize is open to all Residents, but the focus of this prize is on projects that have demonstrated real life impact. There are Residents doing amazing things strictly within SL that are having impact, but that's not the focus of *this* prize.

Having said that, we debated different types of Prizes, all with the goal of showcasing the work, creativity and contributions of different Residents.

As a result, I expect you'll see other contests and prizes in the future with different areas of focus. "

Glad that SOMEONE finally said something, even though they didn't answer the original question, Everett did admit THIS PRIZE (like there's going to be others; sure) isn't for everyone, actually not for 99% of the Second Life Community, but at least Everett had the balls to admit this!

*UPDATE*

There you go, silence. Even after a NICE email and an even NICER Forum Post, Linden Lab remains silent; so much for "it's how you ask" that doesn't get a response.

I want to give a shout out to Ciaran Laval who has decided to declare a new word today, "Bunderfelded", I'll let you read about it instead of ruining the surprise.

Now, let's get back to this issue where Linden Lab refuses to respond, even when asked NICELY.

Katt Linden made a HUGE deal about how I interact with her and other Linden Lab employee's and went as far as saying this was the reason no one answered my questions; here's what Katt had to say:

"Katt Linden: Now please remember that if you want to be part of the conversation, you must be civil."

So, if I'm civil, I can be part of the conversation. Should we remind Katt Linden what "conversing" means? It certainly isn't having one person asking a question and the other not responding. I thought ALL Linden Lab employee's were High School Grads, don't we teach basic grammar in our school systems any longer? I would ask Katt Linden just what "taking part in the conversation" means to Linden Lab, but apparently no matter what tone I use, she's not going to respond.

I also asked Blondin Linden to respond to the Linden Prize issue, but he also refused comment. I guess Linden Lab believes that if you don't respond to the hard questions then they don't exist. This is the most common way for Linden Lab to deal not only with hard questions, but also with hard problems, like login issues, teleport issues, asset server issues, almost all the other bugs listed in JIRA, except those which require spelling or color changes.

The question is, what am I to do now? The only time Linden Lab employee's respond to me is when I piss them off. If I ask nicely, they ignore me, even though they say that's what they want. I guess I'll just have to go back to pissing them off, since that's the only way that seems to get a reaction.

So here's to you Katt, Blondin and Pathfinder! The nicer more civil Bob Bunderfeld is finished, back to being the asshole, since it's the only time you ever responded.

Where oh where has the TRUTH gone?

2009-01-11T17:33:00.002-06:00

Today, I took an opportunity to hijack a Forum Thread over at SecondLife.com to ask a simple question:

"How is winning a $10,000 prize from Linden Lab recognition from the Second Life Community?"

As you recall I Blogged about this Linden Lab Prize earlier this week and this was one of the HARD questions that simply fell on deaf ears when Katt Linden closed the Forum there.

Katt Linden took offense at me asking this question, and removed my post. I of course, pressed the issue and posted the same question again. This time, instead of removing my post and locking me out of that Forum, Katt decided to confront me in-world.

Now, I originally was going to blast Katt Linden for her inconsiderate behaviour and lack of ethics, but something Katt Linden said to me made me realize that she was right about one thing between Linden Lab and myself; I've been quite acidic in our relationship.

I'm not one to run from the truth so I'm here to tell you, I'm quite the asshole at times when I deal with Linden Lab and the Employee's that work there.

So, now that I've come forward with my truth, let's see which Linden Lab employee comes forward with their truth. Like closing Forums instead of answering questions or confronting acidic assholes in-world and still refusing to answer questions or making accusations during said confrontation and running away, instead of again, answering questions. Does Katt Linden have the ETHICS to step up and do the right thing or is she just looking for me to back down and stop asking hard questions?

Here's what I'm going to do. I'll be emailing a copy of this Blog Post to Katt Linden and give her a chance to confront her own truth and see if she might be willing to actually answer the original question asked:

How does winning $10,000.00 from Linden Lab equate into recognition from the Second Life Community?

Now, like the RULES and QUALIFICATIONS of who can participate in the Linden Lab Prize, I have a qualification myself; I want an answer to the question, not propaganda, not what the top 10 people will be getting, but the simple truth, "How does winning $10,000.00 from Linden Lab equate into recognition from the Second Life Community?"

So, stay tuned here to see if Katt Linden cares to respond or will she just "run for the hills"?

Linden Lab and Television commonalities....

2009-01-11T14:37:00.002-06:00

Just like Sunday Afternoon TV has nothing but crap or re-runs, Linden Lab has the same problem with Teleporting and Login Failures.

If anyone wants a real interesting read, head over to the GRID STATUS page for Second Life.

Notice in the past two weeks how many times Linden Lab has had problems that caused them to either restrict logins or disable them all together.

Now, I know it takes a while to track down issues, and I'm for giving Linden Lab their time to fix things, but these issues have been ongoing for two years; just how long is long enough?

Maybe I'm old fashion, but I know if it took me better then two years to fix a problem in a system when I was working in Coding, I'd be out of a job; matter of fact, I'd been out of a job at the end of a month, but who's counting?

So, for all your Linden Lab support kiddies, just HOW LONG should we give Linden Lab to fix these issues before we complain?

For me, we've past that point, quite a while ago actually, so while I wait for the Engineers at Linden Lab to fix this latest problem, I'll be asking for people's heads.

Thanks, I hope your Sunday is going better then mine!

All Publicity IS NOT good for you....apparently

2009-01-09T19:09:00.003-06:00

This week, our "friends" at Linden Lab, posted a blog reminding everyone in Second Life to NOMINATE anyone they feel who might be worthy of winning a prize from Linden Lab.

This time though, our "friends" decided to open a Forum on the subject so the Community could ask questions, respond, give feedback.

The idea, according to our "friends", is that this prize (Grand Prize is $10,000USD) is somehow a recognition of the Second Life Community. I suggest you read the Forum posts before listening to me drone on.

OK? Ready now? Notice how the Forum "closed" after hard questions and poor feedback were presented? Guess Lab can't stand the idea of "Open and Transparent" Communication.

As you see, Linden Lab Employee's were at a loss to explain just exactly HOW this prize equates into Recognition from the Second Life Community. If you read the rules and qualifications of the Contest, you will see very few Residents in Second Life are actually able to participate. Mostly, those that are qualified are from the "GRID", those "little" guys that made it big building by contracts in Second Life, like Fizik. If you take a really close look at this Contest, it really does seem slanted to just a few individuals.

I don't mind that Linden Lab wants to run a Contest to bring more recognition to Second Life, but do they have to be so closed minded in how they run these Contests. Apparently, someone like myself, is woefully unqualified to be a Linden Lab Poster Child, even though I have been working for nearly 6 years in New Resident Education. Even great Builders like Barnesworth Anubis isn't qualified for this contest, which is the most amazing thing I've seen, since Barnesworth would be a great Poster Child for Linden Lab; at least he would'nt be bad mouthing Linden Lab during interviews :)

Once again, our "friends" at Linden Lab have failed to understand the Community of Second Life. This is due largely in part to the idea that Linden Lab Employee's don't come to OUR world unless it's something to do with their job. I know of only a handful of Linden Lab employee's that still log into their pre-employment accounts and even then it's for such a small period of time that even they aren't able to gauge the Second Life Community.

Linden Lab isn't looking for a real Community Mover and Shaker in this "contest", they are looking for a Poster Child that will speak wonderfully of them; looks like this contest was tailor made for our friends like Fizik Baskerville. I think it would have been a lot wiser to just hire someone like Fizik to be the Linden Lab Poster Child instead of running some faux contest and pretending to be looking through the ranks of the REAL Shakers and Movers of the Second Life Community. Maybe Linden Lab understood one thing about the Movers and Shakers, that they could care less about Linden Labs' prize or contest. None of the Movers and Shakers in the Second Life Community would even allow themselves to be considered for this type of cheap sell out process Linden Lab has setup.

First Linden Lab screws the pooch with the Open Space SIMs and here they are shortly after, hiring a spokesperson thru some faux contest. Once again, our "friends" at Linden Lab prove their inability to do the simplest of things. Here's to our "friends" at Linden Lab, when you screw up, you do it so well!

They did something right!

2009-01-06T08:25:00.002-06:00

I woke today to find a simple, but amazing fact staring at me from my inbox:

"Hello Bob Bunderfeld,

We at SL Forums would like to wish you a happy birthday today! "

Linden Lab, in all their ineptness, was able to send a Birthday greeting to yours truly!

I want to congratulate Linden Lab on their incredibly hard work to get this working. It must have taken them months in the coding and development, but it works!

This is great news, for now Linden Lab can use their hard won experience in this battle to attack and defeat all the other problems we see in Second Life!

Look up my friends, our freedom fighters approach, our day of atonement is close at hand, for Linden Lab has finally done something RIGHT!

Thar she blows!

2009-01-06T01:18:00.003-06:00

Auntie Robin has a new "blow hard" piece up on the BLOG. Another Artsy-Fartsy way that Second Life was used.

About the ONLY THING noticeable in this Blog Entry was that Auntie Robin actually had a Forum open for discussion; nothing like discussing nothing when we could be talking about the incredible lag everywhere. Looks like Auntie Robin is starting to hear the Community's cries about what she promised just three years ago, "Open and Transparent" communication.

Perhaps Auntie Robin can instruct the rest of her staff on the correct procedures necessary to open comments and Forums!

Then again, maybe Auntie Robin will offer up a definition of "Open and Transparent" Communication for us all to enjoy sometime soon!

Shut Up and Take It Like a Man

2009-01-04T10:43:00.002-06:00

Well, it's official, after much outspoken criticism of Linden Lab by it's own Second Life Community, Linden Lab has decided to go ahead and move forward with their plan to either convert OpenSpace SIMs (OS) or critically limit them, as of January 5, 2009.

Let's take a little stroll down the History Path shall we?

For you that missed it, Linden Lab announced that they would be selling OS to users for just $75USD each. Apparently Linden Lab thought these OS would be used merely for water property, sparce forest land, or just cute gardens that took no critical resources to run. In the TOS of the OS purchase, it did state that these OS were to be used in such a manner, but, in their usual way of "screwing the pooch", Linden Lab failed to sale these OS with the current prim/script limits. Instead, they gave the user 3750 PRIMS and did NOTHING to curtail scripts. Not only that, but there was no enforcement of the TOS Policy, and people do what people do when they are given 3750 PRIMS and no script limits, they use them!

Last August these OS Servers apparently hit a Critical Mass and things began lagging out badly on these OS; never mind the horrid lag on the mainland. So, after "careful inspection" it was decided that the problem of the OS lag (never mind the mainland lag) was due to the CUSTOMERS who used up all those resources they were given and never managed by Linden Lab. Now, during this same time, Linden Lab opened a new land mass called Nautalis; this point will become important soon, bear with me. It was decided by the "brainiacs" at Linden Lab the best way to handle the OS meltdown issue was to blame the customer and force them to either abandon their OS or convert them over to a much HIGHER PRICED private sim; in the retail world this type of action is known as 'Bait and Switch'. This action caused a public outcry not seen before in Second Life. Over 10,000 Complaints were logged (thought I didn't know that eh Auntie Robin?), and many of these pointed out that the new land mass made generous use of OS Sims; that's right, Linden Lab used these OS just like their customers did, but did they blame themselves? Those "brainiacs" over at Linden Lab then said they were going to push back the time limit before ROBBING their customers and have a meaningful discussion with the Second Life Community concerning the OS issue. Once again, Linden Lab proved they didn't know the meaning of "Open and Transparent" communication, as during this time, they received more complaints about their new pricing and time table, then positive comments, and in true Linden Lab fashion, they went ahead with their plan, making absolutely no changes to it; during this time Linden Lab changed their motto from "Where Worlds are Born" to "Where we steal your money":)

So, here we are today, one day before Linden Lab begins 'ripping off' their customers. Jack Linden is the latest to drink the Linden Lab Kool-Aid as he Blogs about this upcoming crime. As done before, this Blog Post is closed to all comments and has no Forum open for their Customers to comment. Most likely Linden Lab is just tired of reading all the complaints, as I would be if I "screwed the pooch" this badly.

Once again, "Open and Transparent" communication has a completely different meaning at Linden Lab then the rest of the world. At least this time "Open and Transparent" isn't the only saying that gets beaten up, so does the meaning of "Fair Market Practices".

Happy New year - Here we go again!

2009-01-02T22:20:00.002-06:00

Well Friends, welcome to another New Year in our lives. As 2009 starts up and 2008 gets laid to rest, our "friends" at Linden Lab has kicked in the propaganda machine already.

Up this time to blow the Hot Air Machine for Linden Lab is Claire Linden. Claire writes about the International expansions in Second Life and points out that 60% of the users in Second Life were from countries OUTSIDE the United States. What Claire didn't report was how many of these "users" were bots or alts left running; one wonders just what the real numbers are when you subtract those two. Claire also speaks about 2009 and how Linden Lab hopes for a good year, while Linden Lab is hoping to do better in 2009, I wonder just how well things would go for them, especially with the Second Life Community, if Linden Lab began practicing their ever faithful phrase, "Open and Transparent" communication.

You see, while Claire Linden likes to speak of the "hope of the future" for Linden Lab, what she fails to do is Open Comments or even open a Forum Discussion for the Second Life Community to chime in. Linden Lab is getting an early start on shoveling the manure for sure and as usual is hoping the Second Life Community will just sit back and be brain-washed by its Hot Air Propaganda.

So here's to Claire Linden, the newest in the "drink the kool-aid" club at Linden Lab, and to our Favorite Auntie Robin Harper, for once again showing us all that "Open and Transparent" communication, is no communication at all.

Good News for the Sailing Community

2008-12-20T16:06:00.002-06:00

Linden Lab announced thru the Blog today that they are going to be opening a new Sailing area in a joint community project between Linden Lab and the United Sailing Sims Group.

This is great news, as it had been feared the USS would have to close down because of the OpenSpace fiasco.

Congratulations to Linden Lab and USS for working out a compromise!

Now, with this precedent set, let me be the first to ask, just WHO can the rest of the OpenSpace people turn to, to get Linden Lab assistance to keep their OpenSpace SIM converted to a "joint community project"? Is Linden Lab going to help every single person that got screwed or does Linden Lab only care about the "BIG MONEY" people in Second Life?

I will of course be asking Linden Lab this very question, but I doubt they will respond. As we all know, Linden Lab and the employee's that work there only talk, they don't listen, and they certainly won't answer the difficult questions put forth, so please don't expect a response.

I'm glad that Linden Lab helped out the LARGE group USS, but I'm unhappy to NOT hear of any help going out to those OpenSpace users that don't own 130 OpenSpace SIMs. Once again, Management has spoken, they care only about MONEY, not about what's fair.

I must therefore point out again, "past behaviour predicts future actions", Philip was the CEO at REALNetworks and it was run into the ground, I guess Second Life is next.

Only the Facts.....where are they?

2008-12-19T18:54:00.003-06:00

Our "Friends" at Linden Lab have posted another blog posting, reminding the OpenSpace Community that they have until January 5th to make up their minds on the conversion.

An interesting quote from the post is this:

"and many thoughtful conversations with the community"

Before we get started lets take a look at the definition for "Conversations":

"informal interchange of thoughts, information, etc., by spoken words; oral communication between persons; talk; colloquy."

From we need to now look at what "Communication" would mean. once again we look up the deginition at dictionary.com:

"to give or interchange thoughts, feelings, information, or the like, by writing, speaking, etc.: They communicate with each other every day."

Now that we have those definitions, let's take a close look at that quote by Jack Linden.

Jack Linden is trying to stretch the truth when he says that Linden Lab had many thoughtful conversations with the Community. The act of Conversing requires Communicating, which means as we see, the EXCHANGE of ideas, not just asking people for their feedback and then walk away and refuse to listen to the feedback and act upon it. Instead our friends at Linden Lab decided to blame the problems the OpenSpace SIMs were having on those that own OpenSpace SIMs; their paying customers!

The Failure of Linden Lab to Communicate with the OpenSpace Community has led to a flood of those in the OpenSpace Community to abandon their SIMs. The rumor is, and yes even a friend at Linden Lab chimed in, that 2000 SIMs were abandoned in November and that number has already been reached for the month of December. A friend of mine, who was a large OpenSpace SIM customer, did some math and just the 2000 abandoned SIMs in November would have made Linden Lab $1,000,000.00 a month. It's interesting to note that in this time of Economic Downturn, that Linden Lab can give up such a large revenue producer. I guess Linden Lab really doesn't need or want the Second Life Community.

Once again I must say that Linden Lab is working hard to destroy the world of Second Life. This blog posting today only goes to hurt the OpenSpace Community; not to try to heal it.

Thanks Philip, once again you and your employees are working hard to do the WRONG thing!

Come see Winterfaire!

2008-12-19T10:33:00.003-06:00

Linden Lab announced today that WINTERFAIRE is now available for the GRAND TOUR.

This is just another way that Linden Lab is trying to keep people from talking about the mess of the OpenSpace SIMs.

As you know, our wonderful incompetent management at Linden Lab announced that the OpenSpace SIM's would be reformed and re-priced at a higher rate of course.

What Linden Lab Management failed to mention was they alone were responsible for the OpenSpace SIM mess. Linden Lab sold OpenSpace SIM's at a lower price then the regular Private SIMs and gave those that bought them 3700 PRIM Limit. the Community of Second Life quickly bought up MANY of these OpenSpace SIMs and used them as any other property. Some became Landlords, some put up Commercial property, others put a bunch of them together and raced their sailboats. It goes without saying that the OpenSpace SIMs were a hit. Unfortunately, the Management team at Linden Lab didn't like what OpenSpace owners did, and decided to blame them for the lag in the world.

The REAL story though is that Linden Lab employee's and the Management team FAILED to watch what people were doing with OpenSpace SIMs. Now, to be fair, there were RULES that were supposed to be followed when you bought an OpenSpace SIM. The problem is many didn't read the fine print and did what everyone in Second Life does, use their land to the maximum. Linden Lab employees, including the Management Team, failed to investigate the OpenSpace Community to see what people were doing. IF the Linden Lab employee's were doing their job correctly, they would have contacted those people that were breaking the rules and inform them that they can't use these OpenSpace SIMs in the manner they were.

Instead of doing the RIGHT thing, Linden Lab decided to scrap the whole program (thowing out the baby with the bath water) and RAISE the price of OpenSpace SIMs along with telling some OpenSpace SIM owners that they would have to upgrade to a regular Private Sim if they continued to use their OpenSpace SIM in the manner they were operating now.

Of course, there was an outcry by the OpenSpace Community and more then 95% of those that spoke out were against this new Police announced by Linden Lab. This got the attention of our wimp leader and CEO M Linden and he announced that the Policy wouldn't take effect until June of 2009, giving OpenSpace SIM users a reprieve of 6 months.

I would like to point out that the responsible CEO knows that he needs to lead the Company in such a way as to make a Profit. Unfortunately, M Linden is apparently not trying to do this, because in November Linden Lab lost 2000 customers and the month of December might surpass this as OpenSpace SIM owners abandon Second Life for other places like OpenLife. Instead of making a Profit, what Linden Lab has done was run off PAYING Customers.

This is a sad time in Second Life. As Linden Lab employee's brush off Customers like flies at a picnic, and the Linden Lab Management team turns a Blind Eye. I fear that Second Life will soon, instead of LATER, be closing and the Second Life Community will be left with nothing but bad memories of how Philip, Robin, Blue, M, Tim, Howard, and the rest of the Management Team FAILED them.

It's time to start looking for a new home, one place that people can check out is OpenLife. It looks like they are moving forward and making progress. They are still in BETA, but you can already purchase Land there, and a full SIM will cost you $59USD a month, that also gives you 45000 PRIMS to use.

While it's sad that Second Life is failing fast, at least we have options to turn to. There are more placed then just OpenLife, if my readers know of these, please put a URL in the comment sections so others can find a new home.

As for Linden Lab, I guess you all have finally done it, you have run Second Life into the ground and pissed off the Second Life Community. It's too bad, you had a good start, but for the past three years you have failed the Community and Second Life. Instead of listening to the Second Life Community, you merely pretended to be concerned with the Community and their problems. Linden Lab failed to realize the most important rule of running a successful business; keep your Customers happy. Instead Linden Lab did everything they could to run our Loved Second Life into the ground and Failed the Second Life Community on all sides.

I wonder just how much of this mess has been caused by Philip's idea that Second Life needed to be on the bleeding edge. There's just one problem with that philosophical ideal, eventually you run out of Blood and your creation dies.

Good Job Philip, Robin, Blue, M, Tom, Howard, and the rest of you, along with your employee's, you have not only failed to listen to your customers, you failed to keep your own creation, Second Life, along with the Second Life Community.

Too much to say....too little space

2008-12-18T11:15:00.002-06:00

Let's get the most current bullshit out of the way first.

Linden Lab in their infinite wisdom gave BigSpaceship, a web design company (in the most liberal of definitions) the contract to design a new and more "New Resident" friendly website. Portions of that website were unveiled on Monday and Tuesday, and it looks like a 5th graders first Web Project. You can see the Screenshots of the monstrosity here.

Second, and something that flew under the radar, mainly because I was trying to get some answers from Linden Lab employee's, is the new Community Gateway project.

When this was announced, Linden Lab said they were moving forward with this project based upon the positive response of the New Residents that entered through the Gateways. I of course asked Robin Harper to provide some hard numbers instead of these generalizations that Linden Lab likes to throw out. Robin passed my request onto Glenn Fischer, who told me the numbers were small, but still average out to be in the positive. I re-iterated to Glenn that hard numbers would be nice, especially if I was going to take a more active role in the Community Gateway program. It took nearly 5 days, but Glenn finally got back to me. NOT with those numbers as requested, but instead, passing the buck ONCE more, telling me I should contact another person if I was interested in the program and they could answer my questions.

Now, I'm not Rocket Scientist here, but I have worked in the Corporate World before. When my boss would forward me someone's email requesting specific information, I would respond to the request by providing what the customer had asked for, not by pawning them off to someone else. This is the MAJOR issue at Linden Lab. They can't do the right thing and provide HONEST information that is requested by their Customers and instead of just saying, "Those numbers aren't available", they pass you off to another uncaring employee.

Once again, we see Linden Lab pretending to practice "Customer Service" when they actual are burying their head in the sand and begging those who ask questions to go away and leave them alone.

Well, I for one am tired of listening to the lies and disrespectful tones of those at Linden Lab, therefore, I no longer will be asking Robin, Philip, Blue, Glenn, etc., for information before blogging, since all they care to do is hide their heads and disrespect their customers with the WORST Customer Service in the industry.

Now we know just why REAL Networks failed while Philip was at the helm, and as Dr. Phil is known for saying, "Past behaviour predicts future performance". Too bad for Second Life and the Residents, as we tried to build a constructive Virtual Reality, those in charge at Linden Lab are doing their gut level best to destroy it.

Here we go again.....

2008-11-28T17:11:00.002-06:00

Once again, the PROPAGANDA machine is in full swing at Linden Lab.

After being completely embarrassed by their handling of the Open Space fiasco, the faithful Linden Lab machine is now churning out one feel good story after another about how good Second Life is.

The funny thing is, Second Life itself isn't the problem. Linden Lab fails to realize this, but every single person I've heard complain concerning things, doesn't complain about Second Life, but instead about the fools running the company that develops Second Life; Linden Lab.

It must be a strange feeling, working for a company that has a wonderful product, but is so widely despised by it's Customer Base. I understand why these "Corporate Loyalist" continue to try and make themselves feel good, they certainly aren't getting KUDO's from their Customers.

It would be nice though, if some of these NEW kids on the block, wouldn't introduce themselves by trying to blow sunshine up the skirts of their customers. Tom Hale, M Linden, and the rest, seem to think that if they just ignore how badly things are right now, that all will be forgiven. Just how many times can you screw your Customers before you understand it's NOT the right way to do business?

Lastly, and something I've been saying all along, these people posting Blog Entries at Linden Lab are nothing more then mouth-pieces of Philip Rosedale. Don't believe that? Ever hear of any Linden Lab employee speaking out against how things are going at the Lab? Don't you find that a bit strange? I mean, either Linden Lab has a CULT like following amonst their employee's (which I know isn't the case) or the employee's are being stiffled from speaking their own minds.

Just once, I would like Linden Lab to come clean from their position and speak to their Customers like Adults, you know, the 18+ Adults we are all supposed to be. Any takers out there? No? Go figure :)

Cecilia!

2008-11-06T08:20:00.002-06:00

Day Four and what have we heard from Linden Lab?

NOTHING

Well, to be fair, M did post a new "proposal" but after reading through it, one finds it's the same as the old proposal, just different names applied.

I find it completely amazing that those at Linden Lab really thinks the Second Life Community is so stupid to fall for the "Let's give it a new name and call it new" idea. This alone shows how far Linden Lab is from their Customers. The other thing M pointed out, mistakenly, was that before this mess:

"we were riding high in user satisfaction so we know you have recognized and appreciated the improvements we’ve been making."

It's time I call "Bullshit" on this. I demand that M, or some self respecting employee at Linden Lab, show their cards on this. Where's your DATA showing you did some sort of User Survey concerning "Customer Satisfaction" before this mess? In your Polling Data what was your percentage of Users Surveryed compared to total Users of Second Life? Did you obtain at least a 7% sampling? M likes to stretch the truth, and for that, I think it's time he either shut up or be fired.

One other thing conspicuously absent from this post was ANY admission of responsibility for causing this mess. First by overselling a product and second by NOT watching over what was going on. Linden Lab employee's themselves used (and over-used) OpenSpace SIM's in Natilus. You would think a bit of HUMILITY might overcome our embarassed employee's at Linden Lab, but no such luck.

What can we say about a Company that thinks introducing a "new" proposal in which it merely changes the name of the product but gives us the same numbers that caused this uproar AND refuses to admit any culpability in the problem they cause? Well, I've said it before, so why not say it again, POOR CORPORATE CULTURE. Linden Lab is without a moral compass, a Management Team that knows what is right, a Chairman of the Board that sits idly by and watches; it's time Linden Lab either die off or get bought out.

"Cecilia you're breaking my heart, you're shaking my confidence daily. Oh Cecilia I'm down on my knees, I'm begging you please to come home, come on home"

Just another Brick in the Wall

2008-11-04T07:47:00.001-06:00

Here we are on Tuesday, November 4, 2008, and I want to report on the news coming out of Linden Lab concerning the whole OpenSpace SIM debacle.

Thank you for reading!

Dust in the Wind....

2008-11-03T08:45:00.003-06:00

Last Friday, I had the pleasant experience, well mostly pleasant, to be in the group of people that knew Robin Harper's Office Hours would be held at Noon PDT.

We allowed the only person there NOT talking about the recent OpenSpace SIM Pricing Change to go first, and then, well, shall we say an ordered bit of Chaos broke out.

If you have never attended an Office Hour, a lot of times it's like talking the fastest you can, before someone hijacks the conversation to whatever they want to talk about. Of course, this Friday, the rest of the group wanted to talk about the OpenSpace SIM issue, and while some might have been a bit "touchy", the group mostly kept on task and gave Robin what she asked for, "How can Linden Lab fix this?"

I must admit, when Robin asked this, I was completely shocked. For the first time I've ever seen since 2004, here was a Linden Lab employee ASKING the Community, "What can we do to fix XXXX?"

There were a lot of different ideas tossed out into the mix, but as time wore down and people began seeing the different difficulties with each solution, most agreed that Linden Lab needs to Grand Father EVERYONE that has an OpenSpace SIM, stop selling OpenSpace SIM's immediately, and set the attributes on any further OpenSpace SIM's to not allow for so-called "Abuse". Further, this contributor asked, no, demanded, that Linden Lab take responsibility for its' part in this mess. Without Linden Lab selling the OpenSpace SIM's and NOT keeping control over them, this problem could not have happened. Furthermore, Linden Lab employee's themselves used OpenSpace SIM's to create Communities, that rivaled or surpassed what others were doing, who were being called "Abusers". Robin was told that Linden Lab needed to "step up" to the plate, admit its' own culpability, and apologize for causing the mess and then saying it was all the Customer's fault. Most people in the group said nothing when this was being said, some agreed, none spoke out against it; not even Robin.

That was Friday, Oct. 31, and today is Monday, Nov. 3. What has happened? Absolutely NOTHING. This is where once again, Linden Lab has shown it cannot function as a TRUE corporation, as if it did, it would know that the OpenSpace SIM issue is the NUMBER ONE issue that has come along in its' existence, and instead of tackling it head on, they sit on their collective BUTT'S and do nothing all weekend.

So, let me help the "Management Team" at Linden Lab and suggest what they SHOULD HAVE done this past weekend. Right after Robin's meeting in-world, there should have been a HIGH LEVEL meeting with Philip, M, Robin, et al., including Jack Linden, and they should have discussed the pro's and con's as to what the Community is demanding. In this meeting they should have also formulated a new Blog Entry coming from Philip and the rest of the Linden Lab employee's, apologizing for this current mess and apologizing for calling the Customer's "abusers" of the OpenSpace SIM's. Furthermore, in this Blog Post, it should have examined the "thought process" of Linden Lab as it stood now, concerning how to FIX this issue and should have said the previous Blog Entry announcing Price Changes is now retracted and at this point in time there are NO plans to change prices, and won't be until a compromise between Linden Lab and the Community can happen.

Here's the sticky point, the Community really isn't in the mood for a "compromise" and while Linden Lab should wave that flag and see what happens, Linden Lab should also be prepared to say the OpenSpace SIM users right now will keep operating "as is" without pricing changes, but any further OpenSpace SIM's will have restrictions placed on them, so their "primary use" will match what Linden Lab thought it should in the beginning. Further, any orders in the system for OpenSpace SIM's will be fulfilled and Grand Fathered into the solution as well.

Now, that's what the "Management Team" at Linden Lab should do, what they will do, I'm sure will be whatever they think is in their best interest and to hell with the Community. Why do I believe this? Look at the past 48 hours! Not a single word out of Linden Lab, even though it's very existence as a 'Virtual World" provider is at stake. This isn't the wisest course, matter of fact it's the only course I would suggest they take IF THEY WANT TO FAIL. Clearly, the Management Team is paralyzed and the PR Team is Blind, Deaf, and Mute.

Yes, I said it, Linden Lab has an actual PR house that is supposed to be in front of these types of things, and yet, we still see Linden Lab doing the same thing over and over and over. There comes a time when Linden Lab must realize that this PR Team had led them into shark infested water and Linden Lab is bleeding; not a good combination. I've been so appalled at the PR Team Linden Lab has that I suggested to Robin that I would be happy to step into the position as PR Person for Linden Lab. I would require that ALL Communications to the outside world pass through my office for inspection, stopping any more calling the Customer's "abusers" or anything of the kind. Unfortunately, Robin has declined my offer, and well, after 48 Hours I think we see that this was another mistake on Linden Labs' plate.

So, where do we, the Community of Second Life go from here? To start with, everyone needs to seriously start looking for another Virtual World to move to. You heard me say it, it's time to seriously start looking at the alternatives. Linden Labs' has proved time and again, that they really don't care what the Community wants, they (Linden Lab) are going to do whatever they choose even if that means driving the Company straight into oblivion. I'm currently looking at OpenLifeGrid for an alternative, you should choose your own Grid and decide what's best for you.

Linden Lab's actions over this past week have shown me one simple thing, that Linden Lab is about to become, "Dust in the Wind".

Time to give the Devil his due...

2008-10-29T11:48:00.002-06:00

Well, today is one of those that I have an unexpected pleasure from. While this little treat of "Open and Transparent" Communication from a Linden Lab employee might never happen again, we should still point it out and hope others might follow this example.

The Blog at Linden Lab has an interesting post concerning changes coming to the Linden Lab network, the growth and Direct Link to Data Servers that are happening, and should help with a lot of the LAG and PACKETLOSS.

FJ Linden is to be commended for his Blog Post that read more like a Status Report then most Blog Posts brought to us by Linden Lab. This was a well written, well thought out Post, and everyone that reads it, should understand just that. This post wasn't designed to hide anything, to communicate with the Community of Users in a dumb downed manner.

If only the rest of our friends at Linden Lab will take lessons from what FJ Linden has done, communicated to us in a "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" manner. Now FJ Linden can be on my on my friends list anytime!

Please help us...as long as you don't ask

2008-10-25T11:29:00.003-05:00

This week, my former friend at Linden Lab, Prospero Linden, announced a new Beta program available to the Second Life Community.

Upon learning this, I followed Prospero's instructions to post any questions one might have concerning the program on a Forum made available just for that purpose; I asked the following three questions:

In the Original Beta we were more then happy to help Linden Lab find and squash as many bugs as we could in the time we had, now you are asking for an Open Ended commitment from us? Will you be paying us? Will you be offering LifeTime Accts to those that attend regularly and jump through the PJIRA hoops?
So just exactly what are you offering? Are you going to LISTEN and COMMUNICATE with those that participate, or just do your usual brush off routine?
Will you treat these BETA testers better then you did your OPEN SOURCE developers? Many of whom have abandoned the project because Linden Lab Employee's openly trashed their coding. Will you be any more "Professional" this time around, or act the same way?

Apparently, Prospero Linden is a bit sensitive, as after I posted these questions, they were quickly removed from said Forum. This type of Censorship has become a mainstay at Linden Lab when their employee's either refuse, or just can't, answer questions being asked.

Prospero Linden commented that:

"I have deleted several posts from one poster, who keeps coming back and posting ever more offensive posts complaining about the deletion.

To be clear. I'm happy to answer (or, if necessary, try and fail to answer) hard questions. What I'm not happy with is people who post questions in an aggressive, attacking, and insulting manner. There is a difference between asking a hard question and stating a half-rhetorical question that implies that Linden Lab is a bunch of screwups who never do anything right. The former can lead to constructive conversation, the latter is a troll. Please, let's keep the conversation constructive. "

It seems that if you ask Hard Questions they are immediately thought of as being an attack against Linden Lab. This is a new tactic now being employed by Linden Lab Employee's, "cry foul if you can't answer the questions". This tactic along with Censorship is nothing more then a smoke screen trying to divert the Second Life Community User from realizing the simple truth, Linden Lab employee's are afraid to take on the Hard Questions that now plague Second Life and the Second Life Community.

I tried several attempts, each a bit more sharp then the last to get Prospero Linden to answer these Hard Questions, and at one time he commented that he wasn't afraid of Hard Questions and would attempt to answer any and all that are presented without any vitrol attached. In response, I asked the following, again:

In the Original Beta we were more then happy to help Linden Lab find and squash as many bugs as we could in the time we had, now you are asking for an Open Ended commitment from us? Will you be paying us? Will you be offering LifeTime Accts to those that attend regularly and jump through the PJIRA hoops?
So just exactly what are you offering? Are you going to LISTEN and COMMUNICATE with those that participate?
Will you treat these BETA testers better then you did your OPEN SOURCE developers?

Once again though, Prospero Linden took offense at these questions. I guess my problem is that I shouldn't ask questions that point out Linden Lab Employee's past failures, and ask if those are going to be repeated; apparently that's an attack against Linden Lab and their Employee's.

I suppose this experience shows something about Linden Lab Employee's. Either they are very THIN SKINNED and can't handle any type of criticism or they're too incompetent to answer Hard Questions from the Second Life Community. I think it's probably a mixture of both of these characteristics. I can understand being THIN SKINNED, seeing the type of Management being practiced, but being scared to stand up and at least trying to answer the Hard Questions put to them, seems like a scared rabbit is at the helm of this latest Beta Program.

If we look at past actions with Prospero Linden, predicting future behaviour tells us that the Beta Program will fail, that when the new server code is "installed" it will run for approximately 1 hour before being shown it's not ready for prime time. Let's not forget the fiasco of 1.24 install, being reversed 5 times and being re-installed 6 times until it was done right. I suppose this is probably the thing that makes Prospero Linden too scared to answer these Hard Questions, as if he shows he has no idea about them, then it shows he's still failing in his job, and for any management personnel that might be a bad thing to notice.

So, today we learned that Prospero Linden isn't someone that's going to stand up and do the right thing, no surprise considering those that went before him. One must ask, just who's left at Linden Lab that will be willing to answer these Hard Questions?

M? Aunty Robin? Uncle Philip? Blue? Prospero? Seems to me we have covered quite a lot of the departments there at Linden Lab. I suppose we could ask Bub Linden, although we all know his answer. The only Linden Employee left that has more experience then myself at Second Life is Benjamin Linden, although I could be overlooking one or two that don't come in-world.

Benjamin? Do you want to try and answer the Hard Questions being asked by the Second Life Community?

When the Heart is Breaking

2008-10-19T08:56:00.003-05:00

If you expected today's Blog entry to continue railing upon the "Developers" of Second Life, Linden Lab, I must ask you wait for another day, instead today, I need to get some things off my chest; this will be a LONG Blog Entry, so if you don't like reading, come back another day.

I've been a part of the Community of Second Life for over 5 years now, and for the most part, it's been a wonderful ride. Most of you know of my situation, I suffer from Arnold-Chiari Malformation, to which complications of the disease has left me suffering with excruciating pain in my Neck, Shoulders, and Back. I've tried many different drugs, my latest is Lyrica, which seems to interrupt the pain signals coming from the nerves, but interrupts a number of other signals as well, leaving me stumbling around like a drunk and not being able to read most prints because of the blurred vision Lyrica brings along with it. Although, I freely take Lyrica (Free of Charge from Pfizer because I'm dirt poor), because the alternative is about a foot away from suicide. The physical pain I'm in is something that can be explained by science and I'm sure many of you will send helpful ideas, of which I will try most, to see if I can't alleviate the pain, but again, this pain can easily be explained. When I had my Decompression surgery, the Neurosurgeon found that my Forum Magnum, the bone that covers where the Brain-Stem and Spinal Cord meet, was elliptical instead of round. This told the Surgeon that my Cerebral Tonsils must have been in the Forum Magnum upon development (in the womb for you that haven't figured that out) and therefore I've always had some blockage of my CSF (Cerebral Spinal Fluid) into the exterior spine (where all the nerves are). As I grew, the blockage grew, until it was completely blocked, to which, the nutrients carried by the CSF were no longer being delivered to the Nerves and eventually the protective cover surrounding the nerves broke down and caused my problems. See, all my physical pain can be explained by science, isn't that wonderful!

So, today, I want to talk about something I've been brooding over for the past couple of weeks. It's taken me this long to write about it because I didn't want to say something so damaging that I broke something else; a friendship. When someone has been involved in the Second Life Community as long as I have it's natural that there comes a time when you make friends that are more then just Second Life friends, they become friends of your Real Life. It's impossible to keep your Real Life and Second Life separate that long, unless you spend a lot of time lying or deceiving (means the same, look it up) people, to which I'm not the kind of person that would do that. People know this about me too, that I'm straight forward, easily given over to sharing my Real Life if asked (sometimes even not asked). I believe this is what most who have come to know me more then just casually like about me, I say this because some have actually told me so. I too have become familiar with many people in the Second Life Community, past their Second Life Alter-Egos, and I like that just fine. The problem with this, when you allow someone to know your vulnerabilities, they can hurt you in the heart, something that can't be explained by Science.

In my time in the Second Life Community, my heart has not just been broken, but ripped to shreds on three different occasions, the last being two weeks ago. I won't mention those people that have hurt my heart so bad that I just close off that part of me, they already know who they are, and each of them, I let in, close, and each chose to take actions that destroyed me inside. I used to be the kind of person that if you hurt me, I hurt you back. I was very good at this too, I could make most people cry, and once made a whole family cry; but let's not go there. I have grown up, in Real Life and in Second Life. I don't have the same reactions as I had when I just started and that's natural as well. The one thing that hasn't changed in me though is the more I let people know me, the more the risk they can not just hurt me, but destroy a part of me. As I mentioned, on two separate occasions, I let two people within my inner-circle of emotions, and what I received in return was a complete ripping of my soul, so much so, that I just closed down those areas of my life, Real and Second, and refused to let others in. Two weeks ago, it happened again, and once more, I began closing down that door until I realized if I do I'd be completely closed off from everyone. I learned in counseling that building emotional walls leads to more pain and trouble then it's worth. Today I realized that again and have chose NOT to close down, instead to struggle on.

The natural question you want to ask is, "Is it worth it? The whole Second Life experience compared to the pain and anguish people can cause you?". That same question must also be asked for Real Life as well, and when you do, you realize there's just two choices. Close down, be alone and let no one know you, and you know no one, or, struggle on and hope that there are those that will come along and lift you up in your times of struggle. Many people will argue that "playing" Second Life is easier as you don't get hurt, because no one knows the real you, but that presents it's own issues, you are living a lie, even though it's a lie in a Virtual World, it's still a lie. I can't live like this, my moral compass and ethics aren't tuned to be like that and I pity the people that do practice this, as they are missing a wealth of Love and Friendships out there in the Second Life Community.

Yes, when you let people in, they can hurt you, but, opposite of that, letting people in, they can lift you up, even in a Virtual World, and you can fly on their love, and enjoy Real Life and Second Life, that much more. While I let my heart heal through this latest hit, I ask that those of you concerned about me know this, I will return to the world of Second Life eventually, I just need to let my Heart heal a bit, as I don't want to go in-world and "do unto others as they have done unto me".

When the Heart is Breaking, life, Real and Second, hurts a lot, BUT, the love poured out by those that know you, is a nice soothing balm to your pain. If you haven't allowed yourself to experience the whole gamut of Second Life, by being real with people and they with you, I pity you. Until you have your Heart breaking you won't ever know the true depth of Love that others can show you, and if you never know that, in Real Life and Second Life, I beg you, don't let that part of you saying "it's to protect you" win out. The only thing that you are allowing are walls to be built up around your true self. When you let people in to see your true self, you will be surprised that they don't turn away in horror as you expect, but approach and show you Love, a healing balm for all your Heart pains.

See What the Community thinks? Isn't that Dangerous?

2008-10-02T19:50:00.004-05:00

For those of you that don't know me, I spend a lot of my time away from Second Life (and those friends at Linden Lab) doing some Beta Testing and even playing in other worlds. I've done this for a great many number of years, and was even invited to Second Life Beta over years ago without my knowledge. Anyway, over the years, I've come to find out about a great number of Game Developing Company's and even Game Developers. Let's just say it this way, stay away from anything Gordon Walton is working on, and run towards anything Sid is working on!

So, anyway, now that's out of my system, I recently received an E-Mail from a Game Company that's asking it's Users just what they think about a certain subject. Instead of acting on what they want, and then trying to sell it to the Community as an enhancement or a great addition, or ever good to improve the New Resident experience.

Many Game Developing Company's think that they know all and know best about their game. This of course has ALWAYS gotten them into trouble when they decided to screw with one class or another and find themselves having a revolt on every server. Maybe that's what it will take for Linden Lab to finally ASK their Community of Users just what WE WANT from them. Of course, if you have been reading M Linden's latest "4 Months Old" Post, the Community has spoken in spades, but I still doubt anyone at Linden Lab is listening. From the post itself you can tell that M Linden is doing nothing more then trying to sell a sinking ship to the worlds press. Unfortunately, it seems the number speaks volumes about the condition of Second Life, unfortunately there is no competent employee at Linden Lab to read those numbers.

There is one more "number" I wanted to bring up, that our faithful CEO fails to mention, and that is from a friend of mine, who asked me my opinion of whether I thought it would be a good idea to buy a private Island from Linden Lab at this time. I spoke in my usual dulcet tones and told him that if he was planning on having a rental business or something to that effect, then he should NOT do it. With all the downtime we occur anymore, he would be the one his customers turned to for rebates when outages occurred. Linden Lab has made it perfectly clear in their TOS that they are NOT going to give any refunds or reimbursements. So, I think this is a BAD IDEA right now. Well, apparently that's not what he's going to be doing, just wanted a place for himself to play without the griefers, and that's ok, I can see that happening then. Well, I spoke to him a couple hours later and said, "good luck with your Island, just when did they think they would have it up and running?". My friend, with me in shock and dismay, said, "It's already up. They had it operational in two hours!" Now most of you would think, "Gee that's great customer service", but those of you in the know, are thinking, "Oh crap". For the former people, the problem with this is, when Linden Lab was at its HEIGHT in popularity, it took "3 to 6 weeks" to get a private Island up and running. Now, they can do it in two hours. This tells us two very important things. First, Linden Lab must have an awful lot of unused servers sitting idle now, and second, there's a whole department that used to take care of turning up Islands, I wonder just how many are doing it now if it only takes two hours to accomplish? One or Two Peopl? This goes to show you just how far Linden Lab has fallen in its popularity and likability with customers.

I HOPE someone at Linden Lab reads this with the intent in which it's written. I want Second Life to exist for a good long while, but the only way that's going to happen is when Linden Lab stops futzing around and begins to LISTEN to its Community. We are the Customers they need, and if they won't listen to us, then there's going to be a time that we will stop listening to them too.

Anyone at Linden Lab care to comment? As for you Gordon, screw off.

A rarity at Linden Lab

2008-09-27T08:58:00.002-05:00

Well, everyone I'm sure is pretty darn clear on how I feel about Linden Lab in general, but every once in a while, there seems to be the exception to the rule.

Today I found this rarity and wanted to share it with everyone. The only trouble is the identity of this person is not known, so let's just call him/her Customer Support Super-Hero (CSSH for short).

Anyway, the problem I have been experiencing was a strange one indeed. The issue began just after our Linden Lab GridMonkey's put a new version of the Simulator on Kissling, without notifying anyone. We noticed this because whenever you would fly into Kissing, it would say "There is a different version of the Simulator here" or something like that. It was then I noticed that my main Store in Kissling was no longer showing up in the search, and the option to make that happen wasn't checked. When I asked the Land Owners, on two seperate occasions, to turn on the option for me, they did, but it never had an effect. It was at this time, I got online with the Live Chat team and after explaining my problem at length, and getting frustrated in the process, the Live Chat operator came to the area, and said, "The option isn't checked". Well, he/she finally checked the option and then restarted the SIM. Of course, it took two tries to restart the SIM, but it finally occured. Anyway, a long story is involved which I won't go into, but the next morning I noticed someone closed the Ticket I had filed, saying the problem was no more and my main Store in Kissling was now showing in the Search. Of course, I went into Second Life to check, and for sure, it was there.

You all know me and my distrust for Linden Lab, so I went back into the Ticket and opened and asked for an explanation for what the problem was. Today I got this reply from the CSSH at Linden Lab:

"Bob,

At no point did I ever say you were wrong and I was right. What I did do was visit your location to see if I could reproduce the issue. Since I was not able to do this, I provided you with the exact steps I see took that resulted in a successful search. Nothing was done to fix this, when I visited your location it was already working. Why it was not working for you, I do not know. It may have been a simple oversight of an option or a temporary issue with Second Life. There is no way for me to find out. I understand this may not be an idea answer and for this I apologize."

As you can see, this employee knows how to speak to the CUSTOMER, which certainly is a rarity at Linden Lab, IF they ever speak at all. While CSSH does say he has no idea why things just started working, he does it in a way that is non-confrontational and apologetic. Which is how ALL support should be. See my last post for how things usually are at Linden Lab. But for now, this CSSH should be congratulated for a job well done.

Congratulations CSSH, you did your job, and you did it professionaly.

What's wrong at Linden Lab?

2008-09-26T11:10:00.003-05:00

Last night I had the unfortunate experience of having to deal with a Live Chat Operator.

When asked what the problem was, I explained it to him in detail, and he of course, wasn't paying attention and asking questions that I answered in the first message I sent to him.

I was experiencing a problem on the Land where my Main Store is (Builders Choice Premier Textures) in Kissling. The Live Chat Operator FINALLY came into the world to "inspect" my problem. Then he told me what I had told him just seconds before. This of course, led to my frustration and I, in no uncertain terms, let the Live Operator know I wasn't impressed with his work.

Eventually the Live Chat Operator asked me to file a Bug Report.

So, let's look at what occured here and see where Linden Lab can improve upon their service.

Linden Lab should train their employee's better, and give them a course in Customer Appreciation. When you include all the necessary information in the first message to the Operator, you shouldn't be asked 20 questions about what you already included in the First Message.
Live Chat Operators apparently don't spend a lot of time in-world during work or their time off. My Live Chat Operator didn't even know HOW the Land Payment for "Show in Search" was handled. He actually asked me to pay it so it would fix the problem.
Linden Lab doesn't pay their Residents to File Bug Reports, but expects them to file a Bug Report to get anything fixed. This seems to be a counter-productive process. Why can't the Live Chat Operator file the Bug Report and let the Resident get back to what they want to be doing in-world. To say "if you don't file a bug report, nothings going to happen", just shows how out of touch Linden Lab is with their Customer Base. The Residents in world, for the most part, aren't those that were here 5 years ago and were in BETA and didn't mind filing Bug Reports. The Community today is different, but Linden Lab thinks they are the same. Linden Lab employee's who are told about a Bug, SHOULD BE the people to file the Bug Report. Most Users don't want to be bothered with this process, and quite frankly they shouldn't have to be. It tells us a lot about Linden Lab and their policies, and the most grievous tell is that Linden Lab Employee's are woefully lazy.

Linden Lab customer support/service is lacking the right attitude and motivation. Will this ever get fixed is the real question. The answer to that is probably not, since the management team takes the same Lazy position as their employee's do.

This is where Linden Lab has failed and has drug every department into a non-customer based attitude. For example, have you looked at some of the Linden Lab employee's profiles? Most of these say that if you have a problem, contact support. Well, this would be alright, if Support wasn't so lazy, so many people just don't do anything when they find a problem. In order for the Customer Support/Service to change, it will take someone who understands how to treat customers, someone who has been trained in Customer Support and knows that the Customer is the most important commodity in Linden Lab.

There are other failures at Linden Lab too. The Bug Squashing Dept., has policies made to NOT get many bug reports or have to view the ones that do come in. In an Open Office Hour, Benjamin Linden said, "we won't even look at a bug report if it doesn't have re-producable steps with it". At first glance you might say, "Well gee that doesn't sound too bad", but think back to when you had a bug, could you reproduce it? If not, then it won't even get looked at by the Bug Squashers. Then we have another policy that states, "we work on the bug reports that get the most votes". In other words, Linden Lab Bug Squashers will work on the easiest problems first, and those critical bugs won't ever get fixed. Just think back to when the Asset Server began having problems, well over a Year and a Half now, and it still is having problems. I guess there's not enough VOTES to get it fixed. These two policies in the Bug Squashing Dept., shows the lack of initiative and purpose in their employee's and their managers.

Who's to blame for this lackadasical attitude and posture by Linden Lab. Well, I think we can directly follow that back to Linden Lab former CEO and current Chairman of the Board, Philip Rosedale. In a TownHall meeting, Mr. Rosedale let it slip that the employee's choose what they want to work on, instead of having a manager assign their case load to important items might get fixed first. Mr. Rosedale also let it slip in a KEYNOTE address, that Linden Lab won't slow down to fix bugs, they will continue to inovate in the industry. Now I have no problem with the idea of staying invovated, but what happens when what you are innovating doesn't actually work? By announcing this Policy in his KEYNOTE speech, it shows that Mr. Rosedale is the problem, and nothing will get fixed until Mr. Rosedale either changes his ways, or just leaves Linden Lab. With Mr. Rosedale as the Chairman of the Board for Linden Lab, one must question just how much input he has on the day to day operation and if he isn't pulling the strings still from behind the scenes.

The problem with Linden Lab today can be summed up in one simple word: LAZY. The employee's are too LAZY to file Bug Reports. The Bug Squashers, Coders, and Grid Monkeys are too LAZY to choose the hard jobs. Management is too LAZY to actually Manage their own people.

It all comes down to that simple little word, LAZY. Until Linden Lab Management understands this, I fear nothing will change, and we will continue down this path until the Residents either get mad and demand change, or just leave in disgust.

For my money, I would like it if everyone would rise up and demand fixes to the whole of Linden Lab, the alternate will only close down Second Life, and that's the real innocent victim here. Our world will cease to exist unless Linden Lab Management will wake-up and smell the stink coming from their own creation.

The Beat Goes On.....he lied....and you expected?

2008-09-18T18:20:00.002-05:00

Today, an interview with the new CEO of Linden Lab was published. As you would expect, most of the Q&A was simple softballs with the requisite answer.

Apparently though, someone tossed a curveball at the end of the interview, and I quote:

"VB: Does the recession have any impact on the virtual world industry?
MK: We’re not seeing it. It might affect the startup world."

For all you business owners in Second Life, perhaps now would be a great time to help our new CEO understand that he's full of SHIT.

I really don't mind so much that the Q&A was filled with softballs and the usual junk answers, but how can a CEO who's been on the job for more then 3 months be so out of touch with his own user-base, when he himself says he comes from a user intense experience at Organic?

Seems to me MK, that you just dropped the ball, of course, you can do like your predecessor and ignore it, which we all expect, or you could re-state your answer and clarify it a bit more, cuz if you think Second Life isn't in a recession, then sir, you need to quit, because you have failed miserably, and in only 3 months!

Death to Freedom!

2008-09-05T17:54:00.004-05:00

Today Jack Linden, an employee of Linden Lab, announced that AdFarms are no longer allowed on mainland land, even though they have purchased that land. There is an exception of course, if the AdFarmer gets a "license" to put up their AdFarms.

It used to be the motto of Linden Lab that a person must follow the rules of the land they live in in Real Life. I'm certainly not an International Lawyer, but I doubt that any of the countries represented by Residents in Second Life have any kind of laws concerning "AdFarms".

This is a very scary announcement from Linden Lab as it sets a precedence of handling Land on the Mainland. What will Linden Lab do next? Perhaps they will set a Maximum land price for Mainland Land?

This shows all of us that Linden Lab is truly what I've been saying, "The Laziest and most Incompetent Corporate Culture ever seen." Linden Lab is choosing to make decisions based on the group of people that can make the most noise, instead of seeing what is right and what is wrong and basing their decisions on that.

I understand that Linden Lab is currently trying to repair their image, but I don't understand how they plan on doing that by taking away the rights of a group of land owners, because another group of Land Owners yelled louder about it.

Congratulations Jack and Linden Lab, you have taken the first steps down a very Slipperily Slope. What other rights are you willing to take away from your Customers when others yell loudly about it?

Death to Ad Farms, Death to Freedom, Death to ......, fill in the blank and get a group of people to yell loudly about it, and watch it go away.

When will they ever learn?

2008-08-28T18:48:00.002-05:00

Today many of you might have seen what looked to be like a bright and well thought-out Blog Posting by Robin Harper of Linden Lab fame.

Ms. Harper was espousing the up and coming changes to the Second Life Blog system, whereby Blog Postings will be categorized, and comments will tie into the Forums, and new Blog Comment overlords will be present for all of us to cheer and jeer.

What Ms. Harper fails to mention was that her Blog Posting was a direct reply to an email written by yours truly, where I once again assailed Linden Lab's ability to practice "Open and Transparent" communication, as recent Blog Postings were once again closed to comments, mainly because many of the Blog Readers have no other outlet to voice their opinions concerning Linden Lab and Second Life.

Today, after Ms. Harper's eloquent Blog Posting explaining all that is good and wonderful at Linden Lab, I pointed out to her in an email that Linden Lab might once again be walking down a path that ends in peril.

You see, while Linden Lab says it wants to practice "Open and Transparent" Communication, they also say they listen to their Users (Customers) feedback, emails, office hours, etc., before they act on anything. Perhaps I was on vacation, or maybe I just missed the email that asked me if I thought the Blog Postings/Comments should be changed and if so how. Oh wait, I didn't miss it, it doesn't exist!

It seems that Linden Lab is incapable of doing what they say their own goals are : "Just as the Residents of Second Life rely on individual and collective resourcefulness to achieve their goals in a complex, vast and ever-shifting virtual terrain, so the Tao of Linden helps us achieve ours".

In my email today to Ms. Harper, I asked some simple questions, and perhsps she would like to reply to those here as I shall list them:

How many individual Customers did you get feedback from before changing the Blogging Software?
How many individual Customers did you contact and request feedback from before changing the Blogging Software?
What is the User Base Population Number you are using when making certain you have covered at least 7% of the Customer Base?
How many individual feedback did you receive from Customer's through other channels?

Since Linden Lab practices the "Tao of Linden Lab", then it will be interesting to see just how many Customer's were asked to provide feedback concerning the Blog Changes. An interesting side-point is the User-Base (Customer Base) population number is and what the Sample Size is of the Feed-Back number. For you Statistics degenerates reading this, perhaps you can remind everyone just what is considered the proper percentage of the Customer Base you need to achieve before announcing you are "confident" in the number of "Feedbacks" you have received while making your decisions.

Oh, one last thing I've been waiting on from Grant Linden, that sort of ties in with this same thread, just how many different feedbacks did you receive, through all different channels, concerning the New UI changes.

Quite frankly, I expect to receive absolutely no response to these questions, as while the employee's at Linden Lab, while saying they live by the "Tao of Linden Lab", they've been showing quite the opposite. I wonder if this is one more thing that Uncle Philip can blame on Cory?

California Non-Compete clauses ruled invalid by courts

2008-08-08T12:47:00.002-05:00

Today, it was announced that the Non-Compete clause in California is NOT valid and those with non-compete clauses can be hired by firms in the same position they once held with another firm.

While this would normally be just another news story, let me remind you that Cory was probably under one of those non-compete clauses when he was fired from Linden Lab.

This ruling allows Cory to be hired from any firm that is in direct competition with Linden Lab's Second Life.

For the everyday Resident of Second Life this is very good news, for Linden Lab this is probably their worst nightmare coming true. Cory can now join a firm that has the resources and staff to build another 3D Virtual World, and do it better then Linden Lab.

It should be interesting to see just how Linden Lab will change their attitude and service once they realize they have real competition to deal with.

Here's to Linden Lab, I for one hope Linden Lab takes off their Rose-Colored glasses and starts addressing the real problems in Second Life. Otherwise, a company with the resources and staff like Google, might update their current "Chat Program" into a fully fleshed out Second Life type world, if that happens Linden Lab will be behind the 8 ball, and I doubt they can win a head on fight with Google.

I personally would hope that this little news story would cause Linden Lab to change things. it would be a shame to lose Second Life. I thoroughly enjoy Second Life, the people in it, and even some of the Lindens; it would be too bad if Linden Lab did not recognize what they are facing. Now's not the time to stay on the "bleeding edge" but to make the Grid stable, to fix the Asset server, and practice REAL Customer Service.

Just what do you think? Share you feelings here, unlike Linden Lab I will not moderate your comments, so tell me what you think!

Welcome Sport Fans!

2008-07-25T14:44:00.002-05:00

Two down in the ninth, two on, and the counts 3 & 2.

As we all know, this has a happy ending where the Hero at the plate smacks a game winning double.

Unfortunately for Residents of Second Life, this is just a fairy tale when it comes to installing Major Release 1.23.

Yesterday it was announced that 1.23 was going to be installed and 1/10th of the SIMs will get the first rolling restarts and then they would watch and see if other problems exist.

Within minutes, it was quite easy to see that Linden Lab was going to strike out and the Hero, becomes a bum.

This is the FIFTH time that Linden Lab has attempted to place the infamous version 1.23.3 onto the servers, only to have it fail all 5 times. I'm pretty certain Linden Lab is taking the lead as the WORST developer in Gaming History. This certainly will give Atari's production of E.T. a run for it's money as WORSE game ever.

It seems our friends at Linden Lab is having POST-CORY issues with this Release, and now it's been delayed again, giving us all ANOTHER attempt on Monday.

Bets? 0 and 5 so far, will they continue their proud tradition? Only time will tell!

As Harry Chapin wrote, "Haven't we played this scence before?"

2008-07-22T22:25:00.002-05:00

Linden Lab announced this past Monday that they would be start rolling-restart the SIMs to get 1.23 into production.

Apparently the start was a bit late on the start time, and, once people began noticing MAJOR BUGS in the release, our friends of course asked the users to give them REPRO steps and file it in JIRA. This is Linden Lab idea of the community helping Linden Lab. I just wonder why Linden Lab expects people to come to their aid. By their own admittance, they have chosen to bypass a number of bugs to stay on the bleeding edge. I mean if Linden Lab wants to slash its own wrist, why should I really care?

I've asked TWO Linden Employee's to explain this latest fiasco, Prospero, who was apparently in charge of this weeks mess and Joshus Linden, who apparently is Prospero's talking stick.

This makes the THIRD time for Linden Lab to try and install a major release, and have failed considerable. I would LOVE to hear Uncle Philip to explain how this is a good thing, and not a bad thing; or is he too busy pulling strings of a certain new CEO?

IF the Linden's in question dare to answer and be truthful and blunt with the community, I'll report it here, but if I were you I wouldn't hold my breath waiting.

The Logs are Corrupted?

2008-07-13T23:16:00.002-05:00

This just in. Somehow the LOGS there at our friends business are getting "CORRUPTED". Apparently this happens especially when LINDEN LAB EMPLOYEE'S are caught doing something wrong.

I would LOVE to hear Uncle Philip, Aunty Robin, or maybe our NEW CEO M explain this interesting fact.

If you would like to know how I know, I suggest you read the blog about a certain Linden being pissy with a Resident and apparently not getting into any trouble about. Blue Linden said, "the logs are corrupted", when approaching our Resident that was upset by BUB LINDEN telling him/her to "BUGGER OFF".

I would like to be assured by our friends there at Linden Lab that this corruption problem won't happen ANYMORE when it comes to showing just how shabbily their Employee's are treating their Residents!

Two months passed...has anything changed?

2008-06-22T19:38:00.004-05:00

Greetings dear readers, I must apologize for my seemingly lack of effort for the past couple of months. I lost INet Connection in April and wasn't able to get another provider until the first week of June; yes, the withdraws were horrible but I survived.

I was quite excited once I was connected back to the rest of the world, and quickly logged in to Second Life to find, to my amusement, that nothing has changed.

Apparently the change of guard at Linden Lab hasn't had the desired effect we were hoping for. As I browsed the "Official" Blog of Second Life, I noticed the same old things, "trouble logging in", "Asset serve not working quite right", "Don't spend $L right now", "Rolling restarts", etc., et al.

I thought to myself, there's no way that Second Life could be the same after two long months, so I decided to go in-world myself and see. Thankfully my IM's weren't capped, thanks to some very nice gremlins who logged every day's IM's into a notecard. The first thing I saw was that Havok 4 was apparently going in! This is exciting, I must admit, even I am a bit awed that Linden Lab employee's actually got this to work! I was about to write Uncle Philip and Aunt Robin to congratulate them on this achievement, until I read a couple of the next days of IM's. Seems that the new Havok 4 has broken the BOAT SCRIPT that runs my speed boats. I guess I know how Linden Lab got Havok 4 going so quickly, they chose NOT to test it thorougly. Just like before, here we go again!

After discovering this dismal thing, I started to send IM's to my long lost friends, to tell them how much I have missed them. In our conversations I learned that in the past 2 months, sales have been sliding down due to the mis-management of Second Life and the usual seemingly daily disruptions of the grid, not to mention the constant lag and packet loss. This made me shockingly at ease, I guess it's the idea that I haven't missed much, and things continued as they once were. You know, that's not a bad thing, if your product is sparkling and a great working piece of software, but in this case, we once again find that Linden Lab is either asleep at the wheel or just downright incompetent to keep Second Life going; one wonders just what M Linden is doing there.

To top it all off, a friend of mine passed along two stories, that really shows Linden Lab at their best; unfortunately at their worst. First, a friend of mine, and probably yours, was ASKED by our Linden friends to create something marvelous for the 5th Birthday celebration. When asked to do this, no restrictions were placed on the creation, no "don't do this" type of things, just "Create us something marvelous!" Well, our friend, as usual, did just that. I won't get into why this friend is such a good builder, but quite honestly, I'm jealous :) Anyway, after his creation was finished, the Lindens that asked him to create this apparently started to pick it apart IN PUBLIC chat. They first didn't like the size of the creation. They also didn't like the use of the MEGA-PRIMS, and some other things. Then, the rumor mill took what they said, and it found its way to our friend. Our friend was quite upset, not at the criticism, but that these Lindens didn't have the respect to take these issues up with him, but instead, let the "rumor mill" make their feelings known. You know, my mother used to say, "don't look a gift horse in the mouth", and I now understand what she meant. I've been saying this from day one, but MOST Linden Employee's do not have the knowledge or skill of Customer Service. This is another shocking, but usual, effort of our Linden friends. Well, in case our Linden friends are reading this, let me tell YOU what the "rumor mill" is saying. You will NEVER see another creation from this person, or will he spend time working on something for Linden Lab; go figure!

Another story passed to me, happed during our friend Socrates Linden Office Hour yesterday. Seems that a new person in the group didn't know the "rules" of how things ran, and asked a question out of order. The person who apparently had the floor, told this new person to "shut-up you fucking 'tard". Socrates Linden was quick to act though, and told this rude person to "watch your language". Of course, that's exactly what you expect from Linden Lab employee's, since the TOS makes no mention of interaction between residents or harassment or even hate speech. Perhaps Socrates Linden should take another look at the TOS. If someone had done that at one of my Q&A events, the offending party would have been tossed faster then you can spell relief.

Truly, this is one of the biggest problems at Linden Lab today. Well, either this or their general incompetence, but seriously, it seems that MOST of the Lindens that are in-world, have NO IDEA about how to treat the customer or even what to do when something happens that requires immediate action. I would like to suggest to Mr. M Linden, that you send your children to Customer Service school. Honestly, if Linden Lab Employee's would deal with the Residents with more respect, they might find that things would get a bit easier. But then again, how can I expect Linden Lab to do anything considered forward thinking.

Mr. M Linden, when I was a coder, a very long time ago, my boss use to say, proactive rather then reactive is how we should be. This has always stuck with me in everything I do. Perhaps Linden Lab employee's might try to be proactive instead of reactive, and perhaps, just perhaps, your employee's might learn how to respect their customers, before one day you wake up to find no one left to treat badly.

Glad to be back, and I know our Linden friends are just peachy to hear I'm back, turning up the heat once again. I just wonder when will start thawing out this mammoth.

Trademarks brought to you by Linden Lab

2008-03-26T14:10:00.002-06:00

As my old readers will notice, the "Header" of this Blog has changed to include some "legalease" that pronounces the Trademark of Linden Lab and various terms they claim as their own.

While I completely agree that you should Trademark items that directly relate to your company, I have a problem with doing while your own hands are "dirty"

There's an old saying in the Court System of our country, "You cannot bring action against someone if your hands are dirty". Basically that means you cannot sue someone for knocking your teeth out if you are responsible for starting the fight.

Trademark laws are all good and well and Linden Lab has a right to "protect" their interests, but they seem to overlook one of the MAJOR problems within Second Life, and that is simple, Linden Lab refusal to work with Content Creators to make it easier to protect their Intellectual Property rights. For the past couple of years, Linden Lab has insisted that Content Creators in Second Life file DMCA claims against those people that appear to be in violation of someone else's Intellectual Property rights. While this may work for large corporations in the Real World, it's not exactly clear what, if any, filing of DMCA claims will do for Content Creators. I've heard, from more then one, that filing DMCA claims have done nothing to stop others from the continual stealing of their Content.

It would seem that a company like Linden Lab, that relies on their Customers to create the world, would do more to help Content Creators protect their investments. I don't see the logic in having a Content Creator filing a DMCA claim, which can take months, against someone that is in essence stealing. I guess in my twisted idea of Reality Linden Lab would investigate these claims on their own since Content Creators are a MAJOR component of the Second Life world.

It seems to me that this is another way for a "Lazy" and "Incompetent" staff to "pass the buck" instead of doing real work. This isn't the first time Linden Lab has implemented this Philosophy, actually it is deeply rooted in their Corporate Culture. For instance, the Bug Squasher say they will not work on a Bug Report that doesn't have reproducible steps. In another instance of this "Lazy Corporate Culture" our friends from the Bug Squashing team have left it up to the Customers of Second Life to "VOTE" on which bug should be fixed first. Perhaps this is why the Grid remains unstable, the Asset server remains unfixed, and the Teleport Bug goes on forever, we just haven't produced enough VOTES to get them fixed. There are more examples of this "Lazy Corporate Culture", like telling your programming and development staff that they can choose what they wish to work on. There are no assigned projects at Linden Lab, you just choose what you fancy. I wouldn't mind having a job at Linden Lab, as I would choose to "browse the web" all day as my project, and seeing just how poorly many of the new features go into production, and how many fixes actually break more then they fix, it's safe to think that many people at Linden Lab have chosen the same as I.

Now that CEO Philip Rosedale has decided to step aside and let another person become the CEO of Linden Lab, we can only hope that Philip's replacement will be someone that takes far more interest in getting things done, than his predecessor did. It's my hope that whomever is chosen for the CEO position at Linden Lab, it be someone who will "crack the whip" a bit more and run things with the most important thing in mind; the Customers.

Well, here's to our newest Trademark portion of the TOS, and to those that continue to get ripped off while Linden Lab chooses the "easy way out". HIP HIP HOORAY!

By the way, I have decided to Trademark my name. So when you are speaking and you use my name, please be sure you give me credit for my Trademark.

Ode to Philip Rosedale - A new beginning

2008-03-14T18:06:00.003-06:00

While Philip Rosedale and I have had opposing attitudes towards how Linden Lab has handled Second Life in the past few years, I can honestly say, without reserve, that we both love and want Second Life to succeed.

With that in mind, and in quite a shocking manner, CEO Philip Rosedale has announced his resignation as CEO of Linden Lab, and will instead be the Chairman of the Board of Trustees to Linden Lab.

Many of you will think I would revel in this announcement, but I don't. What Mr. Rosedale has done is one of the BRAVEST and most COMPASSIONATE things a man can do. Mr. Rosedale had a dream 9 long years ago, and instead of letting that dream pass him by, Mr. Rosedale took brave and courageous strides to achieve that dream; Second Life.

While I won't pretend to know how Mr. Rosedale feels about his departure as CEO, I do know what it means to have to turn over your dream to another, and you pray it goes right. No one wants to see Second Life die, Mr. Rosedale especially, but Linden Lab had become too large for the Laize Faire management style employed by Mr. Rosedale. In order for Second Life to succeed Linden Lab will have to ask its employee's to begin tackling the very things that the Second Life Community has been complaining about for over a year now; Stability of the Grid.

While many at Linden Lab are anxious in this decision, I think what Mr. Rosedale has done, is the right thing, not just for Linden Lab, but also for Second Life and himself. I have had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Rosedale in Second Life a number of different times. Each time I did, during Beta testing mostly, Philip Rosedale struck me as a person with a dream and vision, and a great desire to see them through. The problem was that Philip Rosedale, the visionary, watched Linden Lab grow and he was stuck trying to run a Large Corporation, while at the same time trying to see his vision through. This is neither a slam to his Character nor a complaint of any lack of Character, to understand one's self and know where you do your best, shows remarkable foresight, determination, character and bravery. I can only hope that with the everyday running of Second Life behind him, Philip Rosedale can once again enjoy his creation with those who love it just as much as he does, the Second Life Community.

Welcome home Philip Rosedale, we, the Second Life Community, look forward to your leading us into new and wondrous ways.

Casino's to re-open in Second Life!!

2008-03-13T16:29:00.002-06:00

Apparently, Linden Lab has raised the policy of "No Gambling" and they themselves have shown us in a spectacular way!

One must wonder just when the Casino's will be back, but from someone that thinks they got a bad shake the first time around, WELCOME BACK!

Let's all follow in Linden Lab's own footsteps and start holding our OWN Lotteries and Chance Gambling establishment. We'll come together as a Community and with Linden Lab will stare down the steely gaze of this US Govt!

Good job Philip and Robin, I'm glad to see you have done the right thing in this instance!!!

Fallen Angels of Second Life

2008-03-13T10:38:00.003-06:00

Today I would like to turn my attention to something many of you are probably not aware of. But before I start, you will need to understand the term "angel" in this context.

An "angel" in many software company's, especially gaming company's, are people that provide needed startup capital, even before the product is proven or gone into production.

The amazing part of today's requiem is that Second Life had their own "angels", yet according to Linden Lab, they matter little any longer to them.

You see, during the Beta Process of Second Life, and before Linden Lab could go "Gold", they asked their Beta Players to do something extraordinary. Not to find more bugs, or help decode this or that, instead, Linden Lab, in a personnel plea from CEO Philip Rosedale, asked that the Beta Players buy LIFETIME Accts., to help Linden Lab raise SEED MONEY so they could go GOLD.

Many of those Beta Players answered that call back then, and were presented with an acct., that gave them 4096 sq meters of free tier and $500l a week. Back then, there wasn't any differing support channels, so these "angels" weren't given a choice between LifeTime Support or what they were offered.

Today, these "Angles" are known as Charter Members, you can see that in their Profile on the General Tab, and while it seems Linden Lab has forgotten their efforts to bring Second Life into GOLD, I only hope the Second Life Community won't. Many of these "Angels" not only bought ONE Lifetime Acct., but multiple accts., and that's a very big step of Faith, as Aunty Robin says.

It saddens me though, that the Charter Members aren't granted the same attention to support as say someone who came later, but paid out more. Linden Lab got an $8,000,000 gift early into Production, and I would imagine if that person wanted an acct, Island, and personal helper, Linden Lab would give him all that for free. This is the part that saddens me, that the first givers in Second Life have been forgotten, over the big givers. If it weren't for the First Angels, there wouldn't have been any Second Angels to follow them. Perhaps Linden Lab should remember that?

Here's to those Fallen Angels of Second Life, if you see one, thank them, because Linden Lab has forgotten their sacrifice.

Have they no shame?

2008-03-10T18:00:00.003-06:00

Today, I took a moment to ask CEO Philip Rosedale and his Executive VP Robin Harper about the condition of Second Life, the GRID, and the Website.

Now, usually you would think I would write them a nasty and mean worded letter, but instead, I asked them to lean on their Business Respect and respond to me as an Investor, since I did buy 6 lifetime accts., when asked to help SEED the Linden Lab Gold Production.

You would think, that when asked by someone who was NICE enough and GENEROUS enough to help get their business going that these people would respond. Apparently, that's not true, as neither of these "Business People" could find any retort to my questions.

Have you no shame CEO Philip Rosedale and Robin Harper? Do you now turn your back on your generous investors? What does that make you? Business People or Thieves?

Dirty Laundry Duex

2008-03-08T22:09:00.003-06:00

Linden Lab has announced it's holding a party for Concierge customers on March 15.

So, before everyone gets really excited about this, let's explain the Valentine Party.

You see, during the Valentine Party for the Volunteer's on the Isle of View, Bub Linden showed up, either in a bad mood or drunk, probably both considering his actions, and made a complete ass of himself by telling a Female Volunteer to "Bugger Off" when she asked for Bub's Teddy Bear. Then later, when Bub saw this same Female Volunteer getting a kiss from another Female Volunteer, he proceeded to rez between them and announce he was having a "Mentor Sandwich".

So kids, you should ask Uncle Philip or Aunty Robin if Bub's coming, and if he is, I wouldn't plan on attending.

Linden Lab Dazzles the Community!

2008-02-21T21:26:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, Linden Lab announced a NEW UI Interface known as Dazzle.

Today, Linden Lab continued to show how it has Dazzled us all with its ever growing incompetence!

First with this, then with this, and followed by this!

In one day, we get a very clear picture of just how ill-prepared or incompetent the Coding and Networking people are at Linden Lab.

Seems to me, the mistakes have grown more intense and in number since Cory's departure, I wonder what "reason" Uncle Philip will give us for that.

A NEW Quicktime Flaw?

2008-02-17T19:52:00.001-06:00

It's uncertain at this time, if this article speaks about the known Quicktime Flaw that was patched one week after it was found some while ago, or if this is a NEW Quicktime Flaw that has NOT been patched.

Needless to say, it's time to turn off your Media Files playing, until we once again get some sort of response by Linden Lab.

Knowing how Linden Lab really cares about their Customers, that might take quite some time too.

Valentine's Day done right, the Linden Lab way!

2008-02-17T18:58:00.002-06:00

With another Valentine's Day passing, and this one made so memorable by a close friend (Thank You again), we again get an opportunity to catch a glimpse of how Linden Lab chooses to treat their Volunteer Corp.

Word has it, and you can trust me on this one, that a certain Linden was feeling none to cheerful this Valentine's Day and instead of just staying away from the "Isle of View" he/she chose to attend and proceed to insult and even make a volunteer so upset they were shaking and crying.

The story goes like this. A certain Volunteer, and one of the most passionate Volunteer's when it comes to helping New Residents and others, was mingling with the others attendee's at the Isle of View, and asking the Linden's in attendance if he/she could have their specific Linden Bear (You see there was a time when every linden made their own "teddy bear" and they were supposed to give them out when asked, or when they saw something that someone did that deserved a bit more attention then just "attaboy") This Volunteer positioned herself in a strategic location so he/she could see who "popped" in and then if the person was a Linden Lab Employee, would ask them for their "bear". A certain Linden (whom I shall not identify at this time), popped in, and our passionate Volunteer sent him/her an IM asking if he/she could have that certain Linden Lab Employee's "bear". The response was "BUGGER OFF". For you American's that don't understand the meaning, think of "F*CK OFF".

Needless to say, this upset our passionate Volunteer and so, he/she did not pursue the matter further. Instead our passionate Volunteer went about mingling and giving and getting kisses from those in the "Valentine Mood". There came a time when this passionate Volunteer was getting a kiss from another passionate Volunteer of the same gender, and our "BUGGER OFF" mate decided to position himself/herself between the two and stated in Public Chat, "Looks like I'm having a Mentor Sandwich". As if telling a Volunteer to "BUGGER OFF" wasn't bad enough, now this Linden Lab Employee had decided to sexually harass this passionate Volunteer.

Needless to say, this set off our passionate Volunteer, who then began telling this Linden Lab Employee just how he/she felt about them, of course, in Public Chat. After he/she had her say, and our Linden Lab Employee chose NOT to respond, he/she then turned to his/her "supervisor" who said "oh that's just how he/she is". This was NOT enough to calm down our passionate Volunteer, who then decided that he/she would file an Abuse Report on our "BUGGER OFF" Employee.

After the posting of the AR, "BUGGER OFF" Employee then chose to IM our passionate Volunteer to explain how he/she was only joking, and he/she is always like that and meant no harm. Well, not being one to hold a grudge, our passionate Volunteer spoke with "BUGGER OFF" Employee and explained to him/her how he/she was having a bad enough day and came into Second Life to relax and enjoy the gathering of his/her friends, and that "BUGGER OFF" Employee had now ruined that for him/her. As they continued to talk, our passionate Volunteer calmed down, and eventually our "BUGGER OFF" Employee apologized and chose to add our passionate Volunteer to his/her friends list.

I will say this, MOST Linden Lab employee's are nice people and rarely would they say a cross word to anyone. There are a few that I've run into though, that seem to think that they are above everyone, and they don't have to worry about Customer Service or watch what they say when speaking to Residents in-world. The most egregious act is though, that these Employee's continue to be Employee's.

I myself have filed one complaint concerning a Linden Lab Employee, complete with Chat Log to back-up what I was complaining about, only to have Ms. Robin Harper tell me it was my fault this Employee acted in the manner he/she did. I wonder what excuse Ms. Harper will give us this time for her Employee's acts, and even more so, will this Employee remain employed after committing such an atrocious act? I'm sure Ms. Harper will once again rely on the old-standby of saying, "We cannot discuss employee matters with Residents", even though it is the Residents who are being mistreated by the Employee's.

So Ms. Harper, would you mind telling us just what will happen with Mr. "BUGGER OFF"?

The Public Works Dept. of Linden Lab already a failure?

2008-02-17T18:23:00.002-06:00

Linden Lab last week announced a new effort, called The Linden Public Works Dept.

This new "Department" was supposedly going to be staffed by the TOP 10 Builders in Second Life, whom Linden Lab had hand-picked. This was an effort, once again, by a company, that is taking on water and ready to sink, to calm the residents after another abysmal month of low quality service.

The idea was a simple one, to let these 10 builders go around and FINISH what the Lindens themselves had started. Such as the roads, the railway (although the original railway was started by Athos Murphy), docks, and so forth. This of course, would make it seem to future New Residents that Linden Lab really does have itself together and is running a wonderful world in Second Life.

Apparently though, there has been a HITCH with this new Department, because today, this once "CLOSED" process is now being "OPENED" to all.

This brings to my mind two simple questions.

First, why do all the comments in this "opening" process seem to think that Linden Lab is doing the Residents of Second Life a great favor by "opening" this process. If you think this is such a good thing to happen, what were you thinking when Linden Lab first announced that this "Department" would only be open to whom Linden Lab chose. Were you upset with that announcement? Did you write your comments in the blog and demand this process to be opened? You see, this is a very clear picture of how Linden Lab has manipulated their Customers to have you believe that Linden Lab is a wonderful organization. They first start a process that seems to have all good intentions, then Linden Lab changes the rules completely and make them seem congenial. All in all, the Residents who voiced their affirmative opinion concerning The Linden Public Works Department and then did the same when Linden Lab "opened" the process, are taking two direct conflicting stances. First you hooray for being left out of the process and allowing Linden Lab to create another class of players, who by the way would have been considered greater then the rest of us, and then you cheer when this process is "opened" up. It really does make the Community seem a bit foolish when we allow ourselves to be manipulated in this manner. But then again, lemmings will do what lemmings do.

Now to the Second of my questions. Why has Linden Lab "opened" this process so quickly? The first Blog Posting was made to sound as if these first Top 10 Builders would do the main work and then slowly others would be added to assist. So, what conclusion can we draw from Linden Lab now "opening" this process so quickly? Once again, two things come to mind.

First of those conclusions is, the Top 10 Builders chose to NOT have anything to do with this process as they most likely saw that they would be doing all the work, and yet, the glory would be taken by Linden Lab when future New Residents saw how "complete" things are in Second Life.

The Second of these conclusions is, the Top 10 Builders chose NOT to have anything to do with this process because they have seen how poorly Linden Lab is at COMPLETING projects. There's a long list of failures you can uncover if you merely do some research using the BLOGS, the J.I.R.A., and speaking to some old-timers who've been around to see how Linden Lab has run things from the beginning.

Today Linden Lab gave us all a glimpse into how Linden Lab chooses to manipulate the Community, and how poorly Linden Lab is at completing projects. We have also seen that some people (The Top 10 Builders) recognizes this simple fact, and choose not to participate in it. I only wish that the rest of our Community would catch a clue and stand as ONE LOUD VOICE that demands a more Stable World and Less Bugs.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on ME!

Whee...down the slide we go..where it ends, no one knows!

2008-02-13T23:25:00.001-06:00

You know friends, I completely understand why everyone is so happy to see this action being taken. I've been around this world for almost 5 years, and have had a time or two when this occurred to myself. Back then, we got the usual brush-off from the Linden's stating that as long as they kept the items of disagreement on their own land and as long as it didn't conflict the rating of the SIM, there was nothing they could do.

I absolutely hated that answer back then, but I understood it. When the Linden's decided to become the sole judge, jury and executioner concerning these "Ad Farms", they also take the first slippery step on the long slope downward.

Let's give you some examples from our Real World shall we? We have at one time or another cried for our "Right to Freedom of Speech" when someone tried to hush us up, no matter what we were saying. That's a good thing, because many of our fore-fathers died protecting what the US Founders considered THE MOST IMPORTANT RIGHT FOR ALL MEN. That right is the FREEDOM TO SPEAK one's mind. No matter if I totally disagree with your position, I will FIGHT for your right to voice that position. Our own Supreme Court understands what it means to curtail Free Speech, as it has backed away time and again when presented with arguments as to why this persons speech should be curtailed but that persons speech shouldn't be.

Now, we have the great Linden Lab, the same people that thought releasing Cory Linden was a good thing, have decided apparently that they are wiser then even those sitting on our own Supreme Court. Linden Lab believes that they, and they alone, will be able to look into someones conscious and discover their intent about their "Ad Farm". Linden Lab apparently has psychic abilities, not yet known to other men or women, that will guarantee that they will be able to, 100% correct all the time, discern every single "Ad Farm" complaint.

Yes, it's quite sarcastic what I say, but tell me, do you honestly believe that Linden Lab will be able to discern every single person's intent? What about the times when it's not black/white? Will Linden Lab err on the part of FREE SPEECH or on the side of "who provides the most money?"

As a long-term resident, and one that provided the "seed" money Linden Lab asked for way back when by buying multiple life-time accounts, I'm worried about this proclamation from on high. I know it's impossible to be right all the time, and when Linden Lab gets it wrong, who suffers? We all do, because this is just one step down a very slippery slope, where we lose what was once perceived our "RIGHT" to do what we wanted on our land, to only God knows where when the smoke and dust have settled.

If Linden Lab is willing to take away the RIGHTS of the Land Owner, what next? How soon will it be, before they start taking away the Intellectual Property Rights of the Creators? You see, you think this is a good decision until you realize that Linden Lab can NOT BE RIGHT all the time. The one time they are wrong, we all lose. Not just our RIGHT to do what we want on OUR LAND, but every single RIGHT we were once granted by Linden Lab is now called into question.

There was a time when I would have said to those complaining about the "Ad Farms", to quit bothering the Linden's, not only will they NOT listen, but they shouldn't. Now I'm wondering just where Linden Lab will take us next? What RIGHT will be curtailed next? Where does it end?

For you that read this and say I'm just a complainer, well, read it again and understand that when you allow ONE RIGHT to be curtailed, you allow ALL RIGHTS to be curtailed.

It's a long slippery slope and at the bottom of the hill will lie the grave of Second Life.

Bugs with re-producable steps....

2008-02-13T14:14:00.002-06:00

A while ago, I posted on the fact that in an open meeting in Second Life that Benjamen Linden stated, "If the Bug Report doesn't have re-producable steps, then we won't even look at it."

At that time I was incensed, and I still am, by this philosophy of the Bug Squashing team, that they don't work on problems where there's NOT an easy fix.

Two weeks ago, I was kind enough to bring to Linden Lab attention, that there is a rather annoying bug on their website, specifically in the area of trying to send money to your PayPal account. The bug is simple that if you incorrectly type in your email address either in the first email address field or the second email address field, the next page you get says that the AMOUNT is not correct, not the address field that it should say. Being an ex-coder and HTML person myself, I know that this problem is quite easy to correct. Here we are though, TWO Weeks later, and the same problem still exists.

Apparently no longer does Linden Lab NOT work on issues without re-producable steps, they also don't work on issues that have re-producable steps. Just what does the Bug Squashing team spend its time doing these days? The so-called "fix" for the Asset Server problems still have left thousands of people without their items retrieved (myself included), their extra code to help find the Teleport Issue apparently hasn't turned up anything as more and more people complain about getting caught in the Teleport Loop.

Instead of commissioning some new initiative to have the "Top 10 Builders" in Second Life provide SIMs with Roads, Railways and other NOT NEEDED infrastructure, Linden Lab should be commissioning their own people to resolve the two problems that have plagued Second Life for more then a year!

Just WHEN will Linden Lab get around to fixing (and I mean completely) the Asset Server Issues and the Teleporting Issues. Months ago they announced initiatives that dealt with both of these, but those that announced the initiatives have grown strangely quiet. Apparently these two issues are just too hard for the current Linden Lab staff to fix.

So, once again we must ask: Just why was Cory fired? Was it the SMART thing to do, to release the ONE person that knew Second Life inside and out? Was it wise to let go one of the most passionate people that dealt with Second Life? Is it wise that Linden Lab is being run by a man that thinks to fix bugs means to slow down and stagnate, therefore our vision isn't on fixing bugs?

It really does seem to be getting worse by the week in Second Life. More people are reporting more and more problems, the Comments on the Blogs continue to ring with people asking for fixes, and Philip Rosedale and Robin Harper continue to lie, and worse yet, continue to NOT listen to their customers.

God Help Us, Cory can't!

Customer Support - Inside and Outside of Linden Lab

2008-02-05T19:07:00.000-06:00

An interesting BLOG Story appeared on the Second Life Blog this week,

Region Data Corruption / Loss Problem Resolved

The interesting part of this Blog is when Hamilton Linden said that Linden Lab reported the BUG to the ISP where the problem was occurring and the VERY NEXT DAY it was fixed.

That began me thinking of how Linden Lab might take a lesson from their own experience's and begin offering the same level of excellence to their own customers.

This week in the world of Second Life has been rife with issues once again. Packet Loss is continuous, people crashing during Teleports has continued, people crashing using the Linden Lab client has increased, Rolling Restarts are becoming a part of our every day language, and I myself have spent more then one day "ruthed".

Where is this NEW VISION from Linden Lab, the one that promises us a Stable World, less bugs, and a more "transparent and open" Company? When with Linden Lab learn that Second Life is NOT a Social Experiment, it's a business and people pay their REAL MONEY to exist in the world?

I hate to say this, but "I told you so". I said in an earlier BLOG posting that the releasing of CORY LINDEN would be a MAJOR mistake, and with how things are now running, that seems to be the truth. Although it wasn't a reach by any imagination that Second Life would suffer even more after they released one of the BIGGEST driving forces behind Second Life. The real question is, who will Philip blame now that Cory is no longer around?

I've said this before and I continue to hold the same belief, it's time to change the HEAD; it's time for Phlip to step down and find someone more in-tune with the World of Second Life. Second Life needs someone who won't turn a blind eye and deaf ear to it's customers. Second Life needs someone who cares about the Community in Second Life. Second Life needs someone to do their JOB.

How much longer will we, the customers of Second Life, have to wait for a Stable World? How much longer will we be waiting for the "transparent and open" Linden Lab to actually be "transparent and open"? How much longer will we, the Customers of Second Life, have to wait before someone at Linden Lab actually cares about the problems within Second Life?

I invite ANYONE from Linden Lab to post the answers to these questions. I invite ANYONE from Linden Lab to actually DO THEIR JOB and FIX Second Life. I invite ANYONE from Second Life to be "transparent and open".

It's a shame that Linden Lab as a Customer gets excellent Customer Service, but they can't seem to provide anywhere close to the same level of excellence they received. If Linden Lab were provided the same level of Customer Service as they provide to their own Customers, there wouldn't be a Second Life, as Linden Lab would be down 24/7 and doing what the Second Life community is doing; screaming for real Customer Service.

Uncle Philip or Aunty Robin, just when will Linden Lab stop pretending? Just when will Linden Lab actually provide REAL Customer Service, and stabilize the World of Second Life? I only hope that when Linden Lab actually starts providing Customer Service, it will be while there are still people in the World of Second Life.

The beat goes on and on and on and on and on and on

2008-02-01T06:09:00.000-06:00

***UPDATE***
Hi again kids, once again from the front lines of Linden Lab this development just in. No longer is Linden Lab claiming that a FIX they applied can potentially break scripts, instead they now are saying it's the SCRIPTER'S fault for being creative in how they used the NAME and DESCRIPTION fields. Amazingly, this "mis-use" of the NAME and DESCRIPTION fields have been going on, without ONE SINGLE WORD OF COMPLAINT from Linden Lab for as long as Second Life has been running!

When I was in college, I had to take a Constitutional Law class, where we would go over many cases and discuss their outcome, effect, etc. We learned one basic thing, "A law is NOT a law unless there is a penalty for it". For the past 4 3/4 years Linden Lab KNEW what many scripters were doing in the NAME and DESCRIPTION fields, and instead of telling them then that practice should NOT be undertook, they allowed it, and I'm willing to bet, some employee's at Linden Lab even said it wouldn't be a problem.

Now, suddenly, Linden Lab has decided they want to crack the whip and damn be the customers that have devoted hundreds or thousands of hours making their products work, based upon what the best practices were at the time, and again WITHOUT LINDEN LAB saying differently.

It's becoming increasingly clear that the Helm of U.S.S. Second Life is surely missing Cory and seems to be close to either running aground or sinking at sea.

GOD HELP US - Cory Can't

***END UPDATE***

Hi kids, once again, we are feeling the BIG HOLE at Linden Lab, now known as the CORY HOLE, as more problems arise, and apparently too quickly for the "employee's" to fix.

The first is this little ditty:
Map Search or Image May Not Be Available

The second is this fun little one:
Fix may cause problems for scripts relying on long object names and descriptions

Maybe I'm just an old timer these days, but how is it a FIX breaks something? I mean, seriously, if THIS WAS TESTED, then wouldn't they have caught it? So, we must ask ourselves TWO important questions.

First, are the employee's at Linden Lab NOT Quality Testing fixes before sending them to us?

Second, are the employee's at Linden Lab just to incompetent to do their jobs?

Then again, I guess we really shouldn't blame the employee's, they are only following the prime example of their Leader, Uncle Philip. Who cares if the world is working, as long as the employee's are happy; right Uncle Philip?

GOD HELP US - Cory Can't

Where oh Where have all the CORY's gone?

2008-01-31T20:58:00.000-06:00

If it isn't enough that you have had to slod through 4 ROLLING RESTARTS this week, with other issues with the website and support portal, this just in:

Inventory Database Unavailable For Some Residents

I guess the idea is you can go into the world, but please don't do anything. Looks more and more like a Virtual Shopping Mall all the time Uncle Phillip, gee thanks for that!

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling....

2008-01-31T16:41:00.000-06:00

Keep those doggies rolling!

Uncle Philip and Aunty Robin seem to be going for a new record this week with ROLLING RESTARTS, we are up to three (four if you count the RESTORES they had to do).

Gee, guess Cory wasn't the problem after all. All you employee's at Linden Lab, I would be worried, cuz Philip isn't going to fire himself, no matter how inept he is, so hope he doesn't blame you for what's going on, like he did with Cory.

Rolling Rolling Rolling....keep those doggies Rolling!

***UPDATE***

Linden Lab has set a NEW ROLLING RESTART Record this week. No less then FIVE Rolling Restarts have been instigated by Linden Lab, and we still have Saturday and Sunday to go! Will Linden Lab continue to press on and make it a perfect 7 just as the Patriots attempt a perfect season? Let's hear it for our Favorite IT Dept., who are working furiously to disrupt the many Second Lives.

GOD HELP US - Cory Can't

***END UPDATE***

Goodbye Cory...Goodbye Second Life?

2007-12-15T15:52:00.000-06:00

This week it was brought to light that Cory Linden had been asked to leave Linden Lab and therefore, Second Life.

Before I dwell on the consequence's of this, I want to say this to Cory. Thank You for your hard work, your many hours of devotion, for your vision and strength to see them through to fruition. Your leadership of Second Life cannot be understated and your devotion to the Customers and the World itself will be missed. While I have from time to time rode your back for the way things were going in Second Life, I hope you know we both have been striving for the same thing, a stable and wonderful world of Second Life.

Now friends, let's examine this very closely. Cory Linden was (reported to be) the fourth person hired by Philip Rosedale. Cory actually wrote the Linden Scripting Language (LSL) and had his hands in so many pieces of Second Life that it's an understatement to say that he will be missed; it just may be that Second Life itself will suffer greatly because Philip Rosedale couldn't see how much Cory cared about the world itself.

While I have called for drastic changes in the management of Second Life, I never, nor would I have ever, thought that firing Cory Linden was a good idea. The problem with firing Cory Linden is that HE was Mr. Second Life. His hands have touched every single part of Second Life and his brilliance can be seen throughout the world. Not only that, but the employee's under Cory Linden were devoted more to him then to Mr. Rosedale and therefore we may see more departures in the near future. This is my largest concern at the moment. Just how many unhappy Linden Lab employee's will decide not to stick around since Cory, their boss and their vision giver, has been shown the door. If too many of the staff decide to look for other opportunities, I fear Second Life will be in even worse disrepair then it was, even more so then in November 2007; the "Black Month" of Linden Lab.

Personally I think, and have held my tongue until today, that it should have been Mr. Rosedale that stepped aside and let someone else take control. Cory Linden would have been a wonderful choice, except Cory Linden had different ideas about where Second Life should go. We can only guess what those different ideas were, but we can extrapolate some thoughts based on what we have seen thus far. Mr. Rosedale has been pushing for the complete commercialization of Second Life, instead of letting it be a world of creative output and social harmony, Mr. Rosedale would rather Second Life be a virtual Shopping Mall filled with all the big name companies. Therefore, I must assume that Cory Linden's "different ideas" would rather have seen either a total and complete residential world, or probably would have rather seen some half and half world, where Residential areas reside with commercial areas. It's been no secret to the "old-timers" that Mr. Rosedale has been trying to commercialize Second Life, even from the very first year of it's existence. While I understand how appealing that might be to the bottom line of the balance sheet at the end of the day, I am compelled to say that without people to visit and live in the world, then all you will have is one empty shopping mall.

Whether you agree with me or not concerning the idea of commercializing Second Life, I think everyone will agree with me when I say that saying Goodbye to Cory Linden might not just be hard, it might be prophetical ; the next Goodbye just might be to Second Life.

Goodbye Cory, and I hope it's the last big Goodbye I have to report for a very long time.

What is "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" Communication?

2007-11-27T07:28:00.000-06:00

For quite a while now I've been thinking of just how I can put my next question to the "friends" in San Fran, and still I'm not sure just how it should be formatted.

You see, while I can be quite vitros here in the BLOG, and quite cutting to the bone of our "friends", I strongly believe that if someone says something that is supposed to be taken seriously, then what they say should be HONEST and WITHOUT QUESTION.

A couple months ago, our friend Robin Harper, made a point to say that "Linden Lab is a very OPEN and TRANSPARENT company, especially when it comes to communicating with the Residents". At that time I took that comment at face value, just another "hot air" saying to appease the masses. But as time wore on, and I see just how CLOSED Linden Lab has become in it's communication with the Residents, I have been forced to re-examine this little tidbit.

So, when a company representative claims their company is "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" in Communication, what does that mean to you? Does that mean they close comments on ALL their BLOG Entries, with the exception of the "OH Look at the cool thing we did" posts? Does it mean they hold ONE HOUR a week in-world office hours and claim to "be concerned" about everyone's questions, but then refuse to answer them?

In my opinion, the ONLY "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" thing about Linden Lab communication is just how "TRANSPARENT" that statement is when it's put up against the facts. While Ms. Harper can "claim" what she wants, and sadly she might even believe it, the truth is that Linden Lab has once again turned a blind eye to the Residents of Second Life.

Why is this many wonder. When this summer, they promised anew efforts to communicate with the Community at large. Perhaps feeling the sting of the angered Residents has gotten to our friends, and I can't say I blame them. The last thing I would want to do in my job is read one scathing comment after another, with NO WAY to help. This is the problem really. The new "mission statement" announced by Mr. Rosedale speaks proudly about where Second Life was, has been, where it's going, and what it's purpose is for, but never touches on how we are going to get there if Second Life can't continue to hold up under the GRID. After this last MONTH, I think Mr. Rosedale's "mission statement" was poorly conceived and timed.

So, once again, let's turn to the source and ask Ms. Harper directly, "What IS OPEN and TRANSPARENT Communication?" And I'll do just that, but please know, and I fully expect, to once again be ignored, since by answering she would have to seriously defend this position without laughing, and I just don't see that being an option at this point.

What about you? What does "OPEN and TRANSPARENT COMMUNICATION" mean to you? Why not let Ms. Harper know what YOU think should be done, perhaps together we can all convince her she is using the WRONG WORDS to describe the current air of "OPENESS" at Linden Lab.

We are once again experiencing...oh hell you know the rest

2007-11-25T10:35:00.000-06:00

Yes, today at 7:42AM PDT, our "friends" in San Fran once again announced the world of Second Life is apparently experiencing issues with Logins.

This time the culprit is said to be a bad DNS record or server, but once again, you must take what our friends in San Fran say with a LOT of grains of salt.

The real surprise to this observer is simply this. With the WORST record of any production or even BETA month in existence at Linden Lab, Philip Rosedale, the CEO of Linden Lab, and supposed CARING BOSS to the Community, has chose to remain silent. Not even sending Robin Harper out to calm the troops. Of course, they might better be able to gauge the reaction of the Second Life Community if they would ever allow COMMENTS on the Blogs. Although, maybe that's the point. Perhaps Mr. Rosedale got tired of hearing the majority of the Community asking to a Stable Grid and decided just to shut out everyone.

I actually laugh when I think of the times I've spoken with the employee's at Linden Lab and am told how much a wonderful BOSS Mr. Rosedale is, and how he really cares about Second Life and the Community. Well, I guess if you remain silent while your whole world crumbles around you it shows something about your character; or the lack of it.

When will the management team at Linden Lab finally realize that by saying and doing nothing is NOT the right way to handle these issues? I've invited Mr. Rosedale and Ms. Harper to speak on this very subject, but I sincerely doubt they will. The only time they ever seem willing to talk is when they want to speak about something that is coming to Second Life, not something being done to FIX Second Life; apparently these two individuals believe Second Life is just fine.

Time to put the pipe down, take off the rose-colored glasses, and take a long look around there Mr. Rosedale and Ms. Harper, your world is dying, and your customers are fleeing in droves.

It's time for a change...sadly

2007-11-24T12:20:00.000-06:00

Friends, as we have all struggled through the last few weeks in our lovely virtual world of Second Life, I know you, as I, have grown more and more frustrated by the continuous Network Issues greatly effecting our time in Second Life.

This past month of November, is THE WORST month on record for Linden Lab, and what makes it so bad is the complete and utter silence from the top. While the GRID of Second Life continues to fail multiple times each day, those, who've not only allowed Second Life to come to such a mess, but directed it to such a mess, remain steadfast in their silence, hoping that somehow someone from their own ranks will rise up and pull a savior act.

This is the hardest Blog I've written, but I think time has come to call on the resignation of Philip Rosedale and Robin Harper from the ranks of management at Linden Lab. Their apparent non-caring management style is the ONLY reason Second Life is in such disarray. Philip and Robin were given dire warnings, not only by this old-timer, but many many others, concerning the eroding world of Second Life, and chose instead of FIXING the world, just heap more and more enhancements on it. This has no doubt left Second Life trying to catch it's breath daily, and when we see the number of in-world Residents rise, we see the world falling flat on itself; exactly what many of us predicted and warned Mr. Rosedale and Ms. Harper. Now that these dire predictions have come to pass, the only RIGHT and REASONABLE thing for these two non-caring individuals is to finally admit the error of their ways and kindly leave so some other and hopefully more CARING individual can step in and save Second Life.

Philip Rosedale and Robin Harper I once counted as friends in our world of Second Life, they've both sat and chatted with myself and my compatriots in-world before, and I always appreciated that, but now, for whatever reason, it seems these two high managers of Second Life have either forgotten what Second Life was about, or just no longer care, and either way, it's time to call for their departure.

Our world of Second Life will best be served by a management team that cares about Second Life and the Customers that make up the Community of Second Life Residents. We can no longer sit idly by while the management team of Second Life continue to destroy our world, it's time to rise up as a Community and demand satisfaction.

Sorry Uncle Philip and Aunty Robin, but sadly for all, your time has come to take your leave. Give us our world before you completely destroy it!

Before starting Second Life....consider this

2007-11-20T19:26:00.000-06:00

It DOESN'T WORK!

No kidding, today has been laughable at best in the virtual world of Second Life, where on the Official Blog it's been noted that Network problems have been reported and resolved, yet the resolution apparently failed to actually make it into the virtual world itself.

IF you are lucky, every 1 in 50 Notecards actually got saved, every 1 in 100 attempts to Teleport were successful, every 1 in 5 chances to place a VOICE CHAT call actually connected, every 1 in 15 purchases were delivered successfully, and every 1 in 10 logins were actually made successfully!

In an attempt to get answers I turned to our wonderful friends at Linden Lab and heard the following: " "

That's right, apparently all of our friends at Linden Lab are either too busy or just too ashamed to actually respond to questions concerning the incessant Network problems that have plagued the virtual world of Second Life. I believe it's probably the latter, considering if it were the first, things would be getting better, and it just seems to be getting worse day after day.

I guess the next thing the Official Blog will tell is that a number (in the high thousands) of SIMs have failed and will be brought back up as soon as they can find someone who knows what they are doing; thankfully Real Life is still there.

Oh well, alas it's true, Second Life is no longer dying, it appears it's finally dead. Thanks Uncle Philip and Aunty Robin, you did so well at aborting a wonderful creation!

Once again MODERATION is their word for CENSORSHIP

2007-11-18T14:42:00.000-06:00

Recently, while visiting our friends at that other place I frequent, I posted a comment on the Blog Posting concerning the Graphic Card Frame Rates and LAG.

Instead of posting my comment, as our friends do with everyone else, I found my comment "moderated" and "waiting for approval". Just in case someone that reads this doesn't understand what that means, it's simple, "We have chosen to practice CENSORSHIP because we are an 'OPEN and TRANSPARENT' company".

I do find it a bit bemusing that Robin Harper "harps" on this idea that Linden Lab is a very open and transparent company, one that prides itself on their communication with their Customers, but at the same time, chooses to only respond to those that are blowing sunshine up their skirts. I'm sure we can all agree that ANY company that says they are "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" surely is speaking only in terms of those that agree with them, NOT with those that might disagree with them.

Quite frankly, this isn't such a shock to me, considering how much "manure" the Linden Lab people have been tossing out on the Blogs recently. Tell you what, let's just review some things about the Linden Lab "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" communications and company.

First, this should have been good news, Linden Lab announces a "Initiative" to tackle the Asset Server Issues. It SHOULD have been good news, but it was also 9 months too late. Not only that, but since their announcement, well, that's all there's been. No other communication from the "open and transparent" Linden Lab.

Second, Linden Lab and IBM announce they are working together. Linden Lab chooses to state that IBM will be helping "stabilize" the grid, while IBM says something completely different. When confronted at an OPEN MEETING in Second Life as to what the real truth was, Linden Lab employee's state, "The press release speaks for itself and is quite clear". That's the "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" communication we've come to love from Linden Lab.

Third, Linden Lab chooses to HIDE a bug, rather then publicly announce it so their Customers in Second Life would be able to take steps to correct the issue. Almost one month ago, there was a very strange bug, that when a Resident would bulk upload images, some of those images wouldn't actually upload, instead a random image (from someplace not identified by Linden Lab) would be put in it's place. While there was a SMALL Blog Posting concerning this, it was on the FRONT PAGE of the BLOG site for only 3 hours, and 99% of the Residents in Second Life were unaware or ever made aware of this. When I suggested that perhaps Linden Lab might choose to make more people aware of this issue by posting a MOTD (Message of the Day), well, of course, it didn't happen, once again showing just how "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" Linden Lab is.

Fourth, Linden Lab posts a Blog Comment concerning Graphic Cards and the Frame Rates one should expect to see. Of course, they arrived at their numbers in the usual smoke and mirrors manner, and didn't actually rely on say their Customers to see what REAL Frame Rates were being actualized. Once again the "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" Linden Lab is at it again!

Well, since Linden Lab is being so "OPEN and TRANSPARENT", I was thinking, perhaps they could answer a few questions for us all. So here goes Uncle Philip and Aunty Robin, let's just see how "OPEN and TRANSPARENT" you are:

1). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, why did it take them 8 MONTHS before setting out to tackle the Asset Server Problems?

2). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, why is it there is a way to recover LOST ITEMS but they choose NOT to help the Residents with this?

3). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, why have they continued to add enhancements to Second Life, when 90% of the Residents have voiced the opinion that BUGS are more important then Enhancements?

4). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, why haven’t the Community Residents been kept up-to-date concerning major bug issues such as the Asset Server problems, the Teleporting Issues, the LAG and PACKETLOSS issues?

5). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, why does Linden Lab choose to speak “inaccuracies” instead of telling the plain truth? Example, IBM and Linden Lab press release. Linden Lab tells the Community IBM is here to help with the Stability of the Grid, IBM says that “Stability of performance” will come when the UI is standardized. At meetings with Linden Employee’s, Linden Employee’s REFUSE to clarify the meanings of these two completely different statements and merely say, “The press release is clear enough”.

6). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, WHY do they insist that ALL bug reports being filed MUST have re-producable steps or they won’t be worked on?

7). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, WHY are volunteers told they must answer questions according to “the company line” even when the “company line” is quite false?

8). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, WHY are certain players (FIC) given preferential treatment over others? Examples: What is the wait time for an Island and why can a certain player order an island and see it in action in two days? IF LINDEN LAND is NOT to be sold to Community Residents, how did Angel Leviathan suddenly become the owner of 1/3 of Kissling Land when it was “Linden” owned? IF there IS no way to recover items that are lost, HOW did Kona Linden recover my lost item AFTER I wrote to Robin and Robin told Kona to go do it?

9). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, WHY do they hold in-world “Office Hours” and then leave questions un-answered that are asked at those same “Office Hours”?

10). IF Linden Lab really does care about the best interest of the Community Residents, WHY is it that 90% of the people in-world now think that Linden Lab Support is laughable at best, and NON-EXISTENT most of the time?

Feel free to NOT answer any or ALL of these questions, as I’m sure once again you will be the “open and transparent” company you strive so hard to be, and the one we all know you to be.

Finally, I can say what I've wanted to say for so long

2007-10-12T20:51:00.001-05:00

Thank You Linden Lab!

No, I'm not stoned, drunk, or in any other way effected physically or mentally. Today, over at the other place I visit, while I was taking my monthly drive to Omaha to see my Physician and take a peek at my brain, Linden Lab finally did something that makes me happy.

Today, Hamilton Linden announced the Inventory Loss Reduction Initiative and what Linden Lab is doing, is planning to do, and will be doing, to alleviate the Inventory Loss problem that has plagued the Second Life World for well over SIX (6) Months now.

The only "gripe" I have is that it took our friends SIX (6) Months to post clear and concise information concerning this issue. If only they would have started this style of communication 6 months ago, I wouldn't have had to go postal (blogging wise) on our friends.

With that said though, I must tell you, I am VERY HAPPY that this new initiative has been announced and done in such a professional manner that it really appears that perhaps Linden Lab has finally heard the Second Life Community and is trying hard to make changes to the way they (Linden Lab) deals with us.

Thank You Uncle Philip, Aunty Robin, and Hamilton Linden for this welcomed announcement, I'm happy that I'm not having to scream, holler, cajole, or insult you into some action, you've once again given me reason to say; THANK YOU.

Keep up the good work friends!

The Community's interest at heart?

2007-10-12T07:59:00.000-05:00

A pretty nice article was posted on CNET this morning, giving a much better description of the "announcement" that was made by Linden Lab this past week concerning a new partnership with IBM and how both are working to make it possible for your SINGLE AVATAR to pass seamlessly between Second Life and other virtual worlds. Again, let me point out, this announcement had absolutely NOTHING to do with IBM agreeing to help "stabilize the grid" of Second Life, no matter just how badly worded Everett Linden posted.

In the article it talks about the major companies that are coming together to make this seamless operation happen. Then a foreboding note is struck, when the writer brings up that Raph Koster, of OSI/UO Fame and SWG Fame, comments in his blog:

"I was a bit bothered by (the assumption) that seemed to exist in the room," Raph Koster, the founder of virtual world platform developer Areae, said in a posting on his blog after the Tuesday meeting, "that moving avatars or objects across virtual worlds is actually much of a market need." Indeed, Koster added in his blog post that it struck him as odd that at the meeting, "entertainment, which accounts for 98 percent of all virtual world users and revenue, was not really represented well in the room."

It really is interesting to see someone of Raph's stature tell it like it is, and trust me, Designer Dragon has never had a problem with telling it like it is. Raph Koster is probably one of the most devoted game developers I've had the pleasure of knowing. He has definite ideas on what he wants in the worlds he creates, how he wants them, and above all else, he places them there because he wants it to be FUN for the Players/Residents, not just to be the next "Cool Thing" in the gaming world.

It is also very telling that Raph Koster saw right through this so called "conference" and quickly pointed out that the Residents weren't included. It's very hard for me to imagine that someone who doesn't spend time in the virtual world could express how I or YOU feel about what we want. As Raph Koster states, 98% of those in these virtual worlds were NOT REPRESENTED, so just how does Uncle Philip and Aunty Robin think that they are best serving the Residents of Second Life by participating?

The Community's interest at heart? I don't think so, more like, "how can we make MORE money off this!"

Sorry, the Old Guard has just changed uniforms

2007-10-11T18:17:00.000-05:00

Today, once again, over at that other place I visit, the "overseer" of all that is considered "worthy speech" on the Linden Lab comments, decided my OPINION and FREE SPEECH wasn't as valued as they first thought.

As I was reporting on Char Linden's recent conversion to Commadant of Propaganda for Linden Lab Support, I said the following:

"things sure have changed from the Good Old Days Char, I thought you had more class then that"

I guess that is just something Linden Lab can't handle, that one of their customers would call into the light that one of their valued employee's had stopped pushing so hard for the Community, and has now gone over to the Dark Side.

Guess I was wrong, the Old Guard isn't dead, they're just wearing Nazi Censoring Uniforms.

Someone forgot to turn out the lights...the old guard is dead

2007-10-11T16:39:00.000-05:00

Well, here's something I NEVER in my wildest dreams would have thought would happen, but it's finally here, the END of the Old Guard at Linden Lab.

Apparently, the last remaining holdout, Char Linden, has finally been converted over. Now she's the "Propaganda Minister" to Linden Lab Support.

It's a sad day really, Char was my very first "Mentor Boss" and I really enjoyed working under her (shut up you filthy minds). When she left for the "Teen Grid", I was actually jealous that Linden Lab was transferring their best asset to the Teen Grid, instead of the high revenue generating Adult Grid. I understand the need for those kind of things, but to lose Char Linden like we did, just didn't feel good to me.

Then today, the worst happen, Char posts a "Welcome New Employee's" Blog Posting and then, in the 3rd Comment, actually says that, well, let's get it right shall we:

"They work together answering requests and tickets coming in through our groovy Support Portal which a link can be found in world at Help/Additional Help or at our website Support section."

That Groovy Support Portal? You mean the one where people spit back Knowledge Base Articles and close your Trouble Ticket as SOLVED when they do? This is what Char's definition of "GROOVY SUPPORT" has become?

You know, there was a time in Second Life, when you could IM ANY Linden online and ask for help, and the funny thing was, they'd do it. Try that these days and see what happens. Everyone runs around with their BUSY mode enabled, not caring about the average Resident in-world, if you need ANY kind of help today, you have to go through the, "Groovy Support Portal", which is really a waste of time. Quite frankly you could read a book and learn something you didn't know, which is a lot more then what you are going to get from the "Groovy Support Portal".

Anyway, I really did have hope that Char wouldn't sell out like this, that she was above the fray, and would stick to the Old Guard ways, but alas, it looks like I'm wrong, the last of the Old Guard is dead, and I fear with it, so shall Second Life be in the soon coming months.

Turn out the lights when you leave tonight, there's no one left on OUR Side!

Bait and Switch...a new trick from San Fran

2007-10-10T15:21:00.000-05:00

Our friends in San Fran are at it again, but this time are using a NEW tactic, bait and switch!

They are telling us of this great collaboration that they are involved in with IBM and how this will help stabilize the GRID. At first read, this sounds like exciting and welcomed news, but as usual, if you dig just beneath the surface, you find something completely different.

While I was unable to get to the "Official" IBM Press Release, I was able to find this little ditty from CNN Money, talking about stabilization:

"Platform stability: Making interfaces easier to use in order to accelerate user adoption, deliver faster response times for real-world interactions and provide for high-volume business use."

I knew it was when they started messing with the OLD UI that Second Life started turning to crud, but wow, to think that the UI is what's causing the Grid to be de-stabilized! Who would've thunk it!

Better yet, who really believes it?

Hypocrisy is once more at work...no surprise though

2007-10-10T12:14:00.000-05:00

Our friends in San Fran, specifically Matthew Linden, apparently hasn't heard that Hypocrisy isn't what we want at Linden Lab.

Today, Matthew Linden, our wonderful friend, posted a Blog Posting and of course, as usual anymore, left the COMMENTS CLOSED to stifle any criticism that the Community might choose to vent upon Linden Lab.

When will our friends actually understand that they can't say they value "Free Speech" and our opinions and then not give a forum for those to be brought up?

Until this veil of Hypocrisy is lifted at Linden Lab I will continue to make sure everyone knows that these people aren't out for the BETTERMENT of Second Life or it's Community, but for their own self-serving greedy needs.

So, Uncle Philip, what about it? Or is it just too hard to hear all those criticizing your precious "Social Experiment"?

We are listening...but we only hear what we want

2007-10-09T15:31:00.000-05:00

If you haven't yet jumped over to that other place I like to visit, you should, and try and read through the comments concerning Ginsu Linden's Blog Post half-heartedly apologizing for making fun of the Yankee Group (at least they tried to apologize).

Notice about comment number 140 or so, Robin Harper comes on to say, "I am ultimately responsible for the communication that goes on here, and I'm sorry we have failed on multiple points". The PROBLEM is Robin that the issue isn't that you don't listen, it's that you only HEAR what you choose to hear. The main breadth of comments in this Blog Posting covered one single issue, providing a MORE STABLE WORLD. Yet, you choose to selectively hear what people are saying.

When will Uncle Philip finally come out of his hole and say, "I'm ultimately responsible for Second Life, and I've let it fail on multiple points, and starting today we aren't adding ONE MORE THING until the world is as stable as it was TWO YEARS AGO!"

When that happens Uncle Philip, I'll get off your back, and back on your bandwagon, but until then, you guys are just playing the "poor innocent victim gaming company who's just trying to make a wonderful world and golly gee it's just not fair people are making fun of us!"

You belittle Yankee Group for criticizing you, you then say you want to know what people in Second Life want, then you completely ignore the main amount of posters who asked for a Stable Grid, but still asked Robin to be the sacrificial lamb concerning Communications. The only problem Linden Lab has in Communications as far as I'm concerned is their boss is either drunk off his ass and doesn't know what's going on OR has just completely decided he doesn't give a shit anymore and therefore the world be damned. Now until you prove me wrong on that Uncle Philip, then all I say is, "Second Life is dying, and you are killing it."

Hypocrisy...such an ugly word...especially when it fits

2007-10-08T14:42:00.000-05:00

**Updated at 11:31PM CST GMT-6 Oct. 8, 2007**

Our friends in San Fran have decided to apologize for their Hypocrisy. For this they get a Gold Star! Now, if they open up the Blog Comments on everything but fluff pieces, they will get a RED STAR!

**Updated at 11:31PM CST GMT-6 Oct. 8, 2007**

Our friends at San Fran can add a new title to their acclamation; that of Hypocrite!

A few days back, our friends posted this little ditty and of course, made quite fun of those that were being "critical" of our loved friends.

I find it amazing that our friends would stick their necks out this far, especially when they, who are the great believers of "Free Speech" and "Expressing Opinions" have once again closed their comments on ANY Blog Postings that have to do with any problems concerning Second Life.

Perhaps Uncle Philip would like to take the time and explain how he can commission someone to write such a hypocritical fluff piece like this, when Linden Lab themselves can't be bothered to follow their own Philosphies, or are those just little lies you put out there to fool us Uncle Philip?

Before you criticize someone else's critique of your company, perhaps you should clean up your own back yard, then perhaps it will mean something. Right now it just proves how little Linden Lab has become, needing to attack and belittle another company that reports something negative about it.

A bug it isn't, or is it, do they know?

2007-10-03T18:12:00.000-05:00

Last Tuesday, our friends in San Fran wrote a BLOG ENTRY to explain that Stipend and Group Payments weren't actually broken, it was really because the User-Base has grown so overwhelmingly large that it just takes more time then previous weeks; apparently in one week 7 million more Residents must have signed up!

This week, on Tuesday again, our friends in San Fran wrote ANOTHER BLOG ENTRY saying that Group Dividends were apparently broken, and things were being looked into. The question that I have now is, who's correct? Were our friends correct a week ago or are they correct this week? Was it a PROBLEM last week and not just SLOW, or is it just SLOW this week and not really a PROBLEM? As you can see, this is one of those "chicken and the egg" arguments because both cannot be correct. I suspect our friends are being more honest this week, then last week, and finally admitted that there is a problem.

I find it amazing really, that our friends are choosing to LIE to the Community rather then admit there is a problem. I mean, we are all too aware there are MANY MANY MANY problems in Second Life(I wanted to provide a link to show how many KNOWN BUGS there are, but that information is apparently no longer available, or so well hidden in our wonderful new JIRA program that it would take days, if not weeks, to find.), adding another isn't really going to cause the Community to pack it up and go away; although I see our European Community friends are just about ready to do that, HEY! Why not have a LONDON TEA PARTY and show Linden Lab just how outraged you are!