SodaLemondrop on YouTube Rocks

Something fun about Second Life for a change. Watch my favo docu soap :)

Second Life™ Search Engine - a never ending story

Why is it that I can look for something on the internet and find it? Internet is huge but it's real easy. I just enter words in Google to make my search as narrow as possible and up pops results that are pretty accurate.

Now in Second Life search that is true now and then too. Then over night something changes. Of course there is no way to know what. A changed search algorithm? Or is this a bug?

We run Fort Serenity Waterfalls Store in Second Life, probably the largest waterfall store and we're pretty successful when people can find us. Of course I also think our falls are the most amazing, but I can be biased. That is beside the point.

Since a little more than a week back our waterfalls are deemed unfit to show to Mature residents. You'll find us if you check PG or Adult - or both PG and  Adult (a totally unlikely combo). Of course there is no answer to why search works this way. 

For the ratings were we do show we have competitors marching up the list with the not allowed (?) key word spamming method. They seem to be selling out their store completely - even the store signs are set to show in search as waterfalls.

Maybe keyword spamming is allowed again. Who knows. Linden Lab policies are just getting harder and harder to understand.

Alicia Waterfalls on her way to the store!

I managed to sneak this preview video of the Alicia Waterfalls before it even got boxed and delivered to the Fort Serenity Waterfalls Store!

The Alicia is resizable. It's 10x15 meters at full size, but can be stretched down to anything between that and the tiny little fall you see in the video.

I am soo totally spoiled with beautiful waterfalls but I never stop enjoying - and be amazed - by the waterfalls Major builds :o)

It's on it's way to the store as I write here!

Blocking RedZone

Read Boy Lanes blog to find out how RedZone works and how to protect yourself. It doesn't seem LL has much of an intention to do so in the near future. Not a word from them on the blog. They are looking for new ways to communicate with their customers tho. I assume that is not about listening, but about getting their word out.

If we get totally tired of the way they treat us there is always InWorldz were they don't allow RedZone. Don't get me wrong, I love SL. I don't ever want to have to give that up. But it feels more and more important to  have a plan B.

The Teodor Cave Waterfalls on Wiladma Island

I hope I can get some of the gorgeousness of The Teodor Cave Waterfalls through in this video.

It's a medium size fall. It has two caves, one open and one that is covered. It's very romantic :o)

 Like in all items in the Fort Serenity Waterfalls Store you can change the texture by clicking and selecting textures from a menu. The Teodor  also comes in a basic version that is a bit cheaper and with less prims than the one you see here that has the add on falls on both sides. Those can be bought separately and added later if you want.

I'm still struggling with getting things the way I want them when I record video. I still don't move smooth enough, and find it hard to plan how I'm gonna get everything into the clip without it being too long. And I find the videos are very much alike. But since it's the waterfalls I want to portray maybe that is inevitable.

Also if anyone reads this blog and knows of a way to make the video larger here in the blog I'd be ever so grateful if you told me. I'll have to visit the forum for this place I suppose.

Getting my faith back

Oh I know I've been here before. But I just read Dusan Writers blog where he has interviewed  LL's new CEO, Rod Humble, and now my hopes are back up again for the future of Second Life. 


Listen to this little gem that is like an answer to all worries that LL doesn't care about our privacy:


"Privacy is extremely important for anyone putting themselves out there, expressing themselves, or expressing a side of themselves through an avatar. People don’t want other people to connect the dots from their avatar to their real life person – or even, for that matter, to an alt. One of the ethical obligations we have is to protect people’s privacy."


The whole interview gives an impression of someone with an intuitive understanding of the miracles of Second Life - from that first prim you create -  and that it has potential to grow into so much more. Read the full interview here: Dusan Writers interview with Rod Humble, CEO of Linden Lab.


I'll stop worrying about SL now. Tomorrow I'll get some machinima done :o)


And btw - if you haven't already voted for the JIRA's to stop RedZone and it's likes to be able to exploit the media functions:


Add options to selectively limit media sources to limit IP discoverability
RedZone Security violates TOS, exposes private information and is being misused

Actually it's best to watch them since that is the way LL knows we think they are important. I know it's a mess with all the emails you get every time someone posts in it, but in this case it may be worth it.

Warning - Alt avatars in Second Life™ are now being connected to your main account and published

If you visit or have visited a store that has the tool RedZone your alts will be public knowledge. I've yet to see a store announce that they use RZ, but it is widely spread and now they have a HUD version so they can go around and scan for our IP and place a cookie on our computer even when we are on our own land.

By all appearances Linden Lab condones this device. As a matter of fact judging from the aggressive attitude with threats of banning from the JIRA, when this was reported as a bug, I assume they even support the use of it. I'm most certainly not a lawyer and I do worry what this means for if someone finds a way to connect our RL information to our accounts. If LL don't risk a lawsuit over it I'm not sure they would act on that either. 

If it wasn't for the fact that RedZone is (so far) highly inaccurate, alts would already be rendered useless if you want to use them for privacy.  That will probably be fine tuned out sooner or later, so if you want an alt to have a chance to be private, don't bother. And if you already have alts with a somewhat shady second life, delete them.

I consider the identity of my alts private data. I don't care if they are totally innocent or not. It's MY choice who I share that info with. The people who need to know who my alts are already know.

Here is a publication of some of the stores that does NOT use the RedZone device if you want some safe shopping: Safe stores

Needless to say we don't use spyware in Fort Serenity Waterfalls Store and our sims Fort Serenity, Fort Serenity Ranch and Wiladma Island  :o)