The Heart of Gold Club

by Grease Coakes

 

In the club scene of Second Life it’s hard to find one that stands out in the thousands on the grid. One does simply by its design and the name reference. "Heart of Gold" created by Ezrin Sabre and Saros Eclipse is a cozy club made for furries, but of course humans and anyone else are also welcome. Heart of Gold has been around for a year and half and it’s still going strong.

 

 The ship name is from the popular book series the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy from the late Douglas Adams. Heart of Gold is the starship with the improbability drive.  And yes the ship actually has an improbability drive that Saros built in. There’s also Marvin the depressed robot downstairs as the barkeep.

 

Saros also owns an anime series called Hi No Tori which in Japanese translates to firebird or bird of fire. Ezrin told me that the series is about (surprise) a phoenix or firebird that travels the universe and teach various lessons to people. The ship itself is also a starship shaped very much like a bird with fiery feathers but also with a mechanical steampunk look. The dance floor itself is clear so you can look down below in the inside of the star ship. The starship itself is also set in outer space where the Heart of Gold/fire bird travels through. The graphics are wonderful as you dance or hang out the upper deck as the ship travels slowly. It seems like you’re actually in outer space but not inky blackness but a colorful environment that seems like nebulae in an explosion of color. 

 

Saros built the club herself as it helps her relax and Ezrin says the original club him and her owned was called Ari-Sen which had a big mushroom in the middle of it. When they moved to a sim with a naughty name, they put the human clubs out of business as they drew in a consistent crowd. DJ Aurora Avila was one of the djs at Ari-Sen until she moved on to AX (also known as Anthroxtacy).

 

Heart of Gold is active at night when their dj/s come out to play for a small but growing crowd that comes to hear live dj sets. Amurtigeress Korobase, a griffin dj, plays a wide variety of music from trance to movie theme music and various other genres as she is also the head dj at Heart of Gold. She djs Tuesday and Thursday 6-10 SL time and every other Friday 6-9 SL time. Sylys Sable a friend of mine also djs here.

 

I also like Heart of Gold as they were the first club to hire me as a dj in Second life. A club turned me down having no dj experience so I went to Heart of Gold instead and Ezrin and Amurtigress hired me right away wanting to hear what I played. I play a mix of dance music mixed in with video game remixes aimed at the dance floor. I dj Monday night 5-8 SL time and also 3-6 SL time on Wedsday night before Ezrin on the same night. The same night I wrote this article I held a contest that whenever I played a life force or mega man themed remix then someone tell me through IM or main chat and that person won a dj mix I just made that day. Hoppy and Zzri both won a dj mix from me for iming me when a megaman song played.

 

You want to see an amazing club and hear great music? Heart of gold is a great place to hang out with your friends and or dance the night away while you get lost in space.

 

Grease Coakes

Best Viewer Apps for SL

Second Life Viewers are maturing rapidly and avatar users are choosing sides. I am decidedly multi-viewer. As an active user and teacher of several major viewers, I'll share some important news and insights. In my recent survey of 133 experienced Second Life (SL) users, the viewer market share breaks down like this:
56% use Phoenix Viewer @ PhoenixViewer.com
26% use Linden Lab's Viewer 2 @ SecondLife.com
3% use Other New Viewers (e.g. Imprudence/Kokua, Emergence, Ascent)
16% use Linden Lab's Viewer 1 and Miscellaneous

More surprisingly, SL ages appear to correlate with Viewer choice…
Phoenix users are mostly 1 to 4 years old in SL
Viewer 2 users are mostly less than 1 year old in SL
Viewer 1 users are mostly over 3 years old in SL
* Of course there were several outliers who don't fit these norms

Linden Lab (LL), the maker of Second Life, stopped development of Viewer 1 at version 1.23 in October 2009. LL launched Viewer 2 the same year, and offered the Viewer 1 code to 3rd party developers. First Emerald emerged as third party leader, which was replaced by the Phoenix project, which now dominates SL viewer market share.

When I announced this survey to some groups, people came forward to announce their Viewer 1 loyalty. Indeed, oldbie avatars (avis) are laggards, by and large, and even very old versions of Phoenix are being blocked from SL (156 and 168).

You see me in Phoenix Version 818 with all my glorious Heads Up Device (HUD) gadgetry in Picture 1. The pictures are all raw SL snapshots, un-retouched (i.e. a little dark), where I compare Viewer 2 and Phoenix for this story.

40 GROUPS NOW in SECOND LIFE: Here's How!!!

From time immemorial in SL, users were limited to 25 SL groups. Someone at LL made a ridiculous assumption that if we let people join too many groups, the resulting communications would overload the virtual world. Kind of like a nuclear chain reaction, we would collectively melt their server farm!!! LOL Finally LL came to it senses. Hee Hee!

If you are Viewer 2 user, you are already 40 groups capable. If you are in Phoenix, you may need to enable this feature, here's how: Enable the Advanced Menu by holding down CTRL and ALT… then press D. In Advanced > Show Debug Settings, then type "Phoenix40…" (auto-completes)… and click the TRUE radio button, then OK button. Done!

Viewer 2: Market Share by Default Downloads

If you don't have a desktop iMac and or a superwide HDTV 16:9 display, forget V2, Bada Bing! V2 has a right margin bar that takes up too much screen on ordinary computer displays, Picture 4.

Nevertheless, I have always liked the Viewer 2 (V2) interface, and declared that to M Linden (then LL CEO) while V2 approval ratings among SL users was only 3%. See my letter to M Linden on SL Newser: http://tiny.cc/udl6m

I suggested M dump Google… they were botching V2 search quite badly, the key feature that makes SL SL (e.g. Compare with OpenLife). Instead, LL drove Google very deeply into V2, to the extent that, it's fair to say: V2 IS SPYWARE. V2 requires full enabling of Google's Analytics, AdServices, AdWords, and LeadServices… otherwise the "action" buttons in search don't work at all: Teleport, IM, Profile, and Details. Why does Google need to know who's profile I'm opening? Groups I research? Where I'm going in SL? Or who I'm IMing? YIKES! See https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-2465

Remember… I like Viewer 2. Adding Phoenix to my SL quiver was hard for me in some ways. V2's groups list is awesome; I love the Favorites Landmark (LM) bar across the top (Picture 3); and the Instant Message (IM) icons are way cool… little caption bubbles pop up when a chat arrives.

In-World search in V2 actually works! Yay! But the user interface is very annoying, making you slowly reopen search numerous times, every time you TP. Slow Google-driven buttons… need to be re-started from scratch for your next search. For Event Search, your best bet in V2 is to click the Profile button then Notify, for a bunch of Events, before you TP. In Phoenix (after you TP), to use the next search result… Ctrl F, Click-Select an event, and Teleport. Dead simple and fast! Duh!

The surgery LL did on Group Notices, IM's and chat with Toast pop ups, Toast Time, Toast Fade time… is pretty ill-defined and unworkable for users. Either you go with their ADD-inducing 5 second defaults or… go with their ADD-inducing defaults… You Will Lose Settings with Every Viewer 2 Update!

Now, what really irks me is Viewer 2 lag. Clouding and Ruthing are a form of lag. I get serious Clouding most every time I log into Viewer 2, and seldom a problem in Phoenix. Viewers 2.4 and beyond significantly increased lag… I noticed instantly because I surf in SL, and I CAN'T SURF IN THE LATEST few V2 releases e.g. my SL Surfs Up iReport: http://slnewserplaces.blogspot.com/2010/12/dude-surfs-up-in-second-life.html.

This lag in LL's own viewer is a great irony, because the new CEO of LL is a video gamer guy.
For Clouding/Appearance fixes see my iReport: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-504314
And see this amazing Phoenix Wiki note… incredible De-Clouding advice! http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/doku.php?id=bake_fail

Why Phoenix is Winning Market Share!

TA DA!!! PHOENIX OFFERS FREE LIVE TECHNICAL SUPPORT… In-World for their browser… delivered by Phoenix staff… through their SL group Phoenix Viewer Support. During peak SL hours, Phoenix has at least 2 dedicated staff answering your questions. This is an amazing feature because in my 3+ years in SL, I've never seen LL do direct technical support. Not even close.

If you are in Viewer 1 (or any non-V2), moving to Phoenix is dead easy. No learning curve, 95% upward compatible, you won't notice the difference. I assure you. I urge you NOT to stay on Viewer 1.23… since there are no code updates in years, the security/griefer situation will continue to deteriorate. The multitudes of V1.23 users are a juicy target! Oh Yeah! Don't get hacked silly, upgrade painlessly now!

Most features of Viewer 2 are available in Phoenix in some form. The Outfits folder was a great V2 innovation, fully available in Phoenix, and built into Appearance > Make Outfit. Your V2 outfits are already in Phoenix and work great!

Zoomable Mini-Map with mouse wheel! Great V2 feature! It's in Phoenix too! Yay! (Picture 2).

Favorites links… are an inventory folder in Phoenix. Often, I get annoyed with V2's way of splitting up inventory… into Places and Outfits and whatnot… Yikes! I'm in the WRONG V2 window again! But no, in Phoenix it's all in inventory and searchable without switching panes.

Phoenix let's you see which SL Viewer other people are using. Making this story possible! Hurrah! Look at avi name tags. Picture 2 shows many Phoenix cool cats hanging with a handful of Viewer 2 and miscellaneous avatars.

Phoenix has many "beyond Viewer 1" extensions… Some are integrated into familiar SL controls… but many are in the new Phoenix menu and the new Phoenix tab on Ctrl P Preferences. Fun to explore… no worries, the good olde features are just where you expect!

Bottom Line: What to Do?

If you are on Viewer 1, upgrade to Phoenix. If you are on Viewer 2 and don't mind the avi clouding and lag… you are cool and should stay. Enjoy your SL! Otherwise migrate to Phoenix and join Phoenix Viewer Support SL group! You can't go wrong!

And join my classes, I re-start teaching in February, every Saturday and Sunday at 6:30am SLT (US Pacific). All at our remodeled way-cool campus in SL: Dream Seeker (206, 132, 22)

For more info, download my free SL book, links in this iReport: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-518024

ABOUT SECOND LIFE GADGETS & HUDS (Pictures 1 and 3)

SL, like Dog years, feel like 7X faster than RL years. In my decades in SL, I've accumulated over 22,000 items. Omg! Most oldbies use a lot of HUDs and attachments as shown in any Picture 1 and 3. All this stuff is pretty easy to find in the SL Search classified ads, or just ask any SL help group.

Starting from Mini-Map upper left, and going clockwise, you see HUDDLES EZ Animator. I have this one setup to do modeling poses, but it's main function is to animate dances and invite friends to sync dance. Buy the deluxe model because it's copyable.

Top center is the free Simbolics Translator. Does dozens of languages, translating both directions. You also have built in Google translator in Ctrl P Prefs, Chat tab, but that translation is only 1 way :-(. Ferd's free translator is also great and does 3 or more languages at once.

Just under Group Notices in Picture 1 is the JLU signal HUD. This is anti-griefer panic button that summons the super-hero-clad Justice League Unlimited experts to your location. It's the 911 of SL for fighting griefers!

The Pink button next to the chat window is Musyume-AO from MAMESANDO Rings (Japanese AO seller). Gotta love those way-cool AOs to get some 'tude in ur avi postures!

Above the chat window is Avatar Online Tracker. I find SL's online friends notification to be way laggy and annoying. This great device helps me track online status of anybody, especially useful for iReporters and event promoters for finding people online they want to meet!

P.S. I only specialize in the features of SL that enable fun. I would love to have an open discussion (i.e. public SL meeting) with people who are truly knowledgeable about SL techno stuff.

P.P.S. Viewer 2.4+ very important… (otherwise it's DOA)… Advanced Menu > Show Debug Options, then in the box type adminmenu, set the radio button to True and OK. Then… Advanced > Show Develop Menu and Develop > Show Admin Menu. Now you can ALWAYS FLY real high (fixes loads of SL problems) and work round the SL music failure bug… Essential for true SL fun lovers! See Chapter 2 of my free SL book for more info: http://ireport.cnn.com/docs/DOC-518024

P.P.P.S. The next version of Phoenix is FIRESTORM... and the next Imprudence viewer is Kokua... the new new thangs! Get the buzz on the SL group Phoenix Viewer Support! It's cool to people-watch the SL support fun! Go Figure!

P.P.P.P.S. The 10 thousand odd members of the Phoenix Viewer Support group make it an amazing forum... SL's true Towne Square... A recent interaction really "made my day"... someone asked sincerely... if we could help her friend who was lagged and clouded and having tremendous SL problems... Whirly Fizzle promptly offered this sage advice... "If boobs are not jiggling... go to edit... prefs.... Phoenix..page 2... effects,,, make sure boobs are enabled & set numbers to 100, 15, 100, 16, 1 (if you have low fps you need max/min vel at 100/1). If still no jiggle go to advanced... debug settings..... PhoenixBreastPhysicsToggle...set to FALSE, then back to TRUE" LOL LMAO!!!, used with Whirly's permission!

(originally on CNN)

Any1 Gynoid

SL Viewers: What's the Deal, What do I Use, and Why

I was recently asked which Second Life viewers am I using. I decided to answer that in a note since it's sorta a long answer and it turned into an article.

I use two different computers when on Secondlife or other 3d platforms like ReactionGrid. They are both Windows based systems. One is a desktop HP with an AMD processor that was bought in 2006 but has upgraded hardware and many software tweaks to personalize and speed up processing. It has an NVidia graphics (9600) card and a Soundblaster Live sound card as well as 4 gigs of memory. My laptop is a Toshiba Satellite that I hook up to 32" monitor. The processor is about a year old and it has no extras but 2 gigs of memory. The laptop is what I use most for 3d platforms due to the processor being newer, which cuts down on lag

Everyone has their priorities when seeking a viewer. Gamers look for fast rezzing and stability as well as those little extra features that tickle their fancy. Builders and designers look for features beyond the norm but my main focus when reviewing is what the average user is looking for and that's fast rezzing and stability (crashes). Many do not realize that a computer's processor is what matters in order to have the best online experience with any 3d platform, not a video card (unless you're a gamer) but the processor. The more updated it is, the better your experience because you won't lag, you can take advantage of many viewer features and your graphics will leave you in awe.

I will not substitute stability and fast rezzing for anything else. If a viewer does not offer a step up process for rezzing, I know to lower, then gradually increase my distance for faster rezzing. I'm typically on high or ultra viewing but also lower it for rezzing when first entering a sim.

I use Snowglobe for shopping, riding my chopper and sometimes exploring because it's the fastest rezzing & most stable viewer. I use my Mystitools radar when viewer does not offer one like Snowglobe but a few sims disable or make radar scanning sleep due to lag contribution, which is a minor deficit with Snowglobe.

Snowglobe viewer http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Snowglobe

Ascent is one of my favorite viewers for clubbing because it has built in radar and the combined features of many viewers, yet is not as fast in rezzing as Snowglobe, if it was I'd stick with Ascent as my favorite viewer because it has all the features I want and more. Ascent Viewer http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/listing/show/listing_id/208

Imprudence and Phoenix, I use just to keep updated on their development and sometimes for building/teraforming, depending on my needs at the time. I do notice that both are slow at rezzing more than Snowglobe, especially with other avatars. I have to speed up avatar rezzing by switching my groups tag (this really works) but it still takes longer with Imprudence. I do notice that Phoenix is a little better than Imprudence with rezzing. A few of these new viewers share the previous Emerald viewer code but with small code changes like GUI.

Imprudence Viewer http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/listing/show/listing_id/184

Phoenix Viewer http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/listing/show/listing_id/209

As for other viewers, I used them for review/article purposes only and they have not impressed me. There is a new viewer out called The Dolphin Viewer, which is based on Snowglobe 1.5 source. It contains many fixes and enhancements for explorers they claim but I have yet to review this one but will soon. Dolphin Viewer info here http://dolphinviewer.eregion.de/download-and-install/

I'll restate that I do not trust any developer ever associated with the recently ceased Emerald project because I know their history and I'm not referring to the recent Emerald Gate but things before that, except for LordGregGreg Back. He had started his own project with the Emergence Viewer and I'm not sure what's up with that project but it seems kinda dead. I do suggest not using a viewer that isn't updated periodically. Greg has recently teamed up (again) with previous Emerald developers after having left them in the past due to creative differences, legalities and abuse (he stood up for himself and users, then resigned). I do wonder about the current Phoenix team (ex emerald + new developers) because their credibility is shot to say the least. If you want to risk your computer and your privacy then use Phoenix. The risk is much less now that the development team "should" be working with full disclosure (transparency). Linden Labs waited too long and gave them too much opportunity before they disqualified Emerald and the team, so I really don't trust Linden Labs in regards to monitoring 3rd party viewers. Linden Labs is accountable by US law to keep it's users safe from privacy invasion and infiltration but they've proven they take that too lightly in the past. Emergence Viewer http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/listing/show/listing_id/203

There is a viewer that is impresive and that's Kirstens, which is a high end viewer meant to be used for in dept photography and Machinima. It requires more computer resources than any other viewer and a technical savy user. If you can handle this viewer, I suggest you go for it but keep in mind, if you are not the above average user, stay away from it but it's well worth it if you can. The graphics alone will blow you away. Kirstens Viewer http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/listing/show/listing_id/116

I wish all the viewers had integrated multi media like LL viewer 2.0 for many reasons, that offer numerous benefits for advertising, education and avatar appearance. I am looking forward to the release of Snowstorm, which is a open source project with LL. It's sort of an upgrade of Snowglobe, which was the first open source project between LL and open source developers but with a GUI we are used to. Snowstorm will have features integrated from other favorite viewers as well as new additions and hopefully multi-media. Snowstorm viewer Wiki page http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Snowstorm_Project

(important) I just manually updated my viewers. Keep in mind that most don't have automatic updates and with all the new viewers out and LL constant updates, I suggest checking for viewer updates at least twice monthly. Check your viewer's version and the web sites current downloadable version.

• Linden Labs 3rd Party Viewer Directory http://viewerdirectory.secondlife.com/
• Linden Labs Wiki list of 3rd party viewers (not all are on the advertised list, nor is this list updated) http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Downloads

My favorites are in this order:

1. Snowglobe

2. Ascent

3. Phoenix

3. Kirstens

4. Imprudence

5. LL Viewer2.0

SammanthaS Nightfire