Opinion

Where to build in OpenSim

Where to build in OpenSim

If you like building — or need to build for your work or school — and you find Second Life cramped and expensive, OpenSim is a great option. But where do you start? There are over a hundred... 

How educators can benefit from Kitely

How educators can benefit from Kitely

Kitely – an OpenSim-based grid that runs its regions in the Amazon cloud — has a unique system that gives educators some interesting capabilities and advantages. To appreciate those features... 

Welcome region checklist

Welcome region checklist

With some help from scripters, designers, and other hypergrid travelers, we’ve been bringing the Hyperica directory up-to-date. As part of the process, I travel to a lot of grid welcome regions —... 

Is OpenSim usage falling?

Is OpenSim usage falling?

Today, Hamlet Au wrote a column suggesting that the OpenSim user base is shrinking — and used Hypergrid Business numbers to support his position. The short answer to his question is: No, OpenSim... 

SOPA, PIPA, and OpenSim

SOPA, PIPA, and OpenSim

There’s been a lot written lately about how SOPA and PIPA would affect virtual worlds including Second Life. The legislation would allow copyright holders to shut down access to Internet domains... 

International collaboration — in 3D

International collaboration — in 3D

Here is a little vignette describing how 3D collaborative environments can impact large organizations. Just as technology has advanced in almost every field, so has the technology surrounding learning... 

My son’s future — on the holodeck

My son’s future — on the holodeck

My son wants to design space stations for a living. But he also wants to raise cows — he will inherit the family farm. My son wants to follow in the footsteps of both his grandfathers — the... 

Can people steal my stuff in OpenSim?

Can people steal my stuff in OpenSim?

A few days ago I saw a Tweet, that said something like, “I looked at OpenSim, but some guy said he would steal all my stuff. So, no thanks!” In fact, that attitude comes up a lot on discussion... 

Prof: Schools moving to OpenSim should pay for hosting

Prof: Schools moving to OpenSim should pay for hosting

In November, I led a well-attended three-hour workshop, Second Life is Dead – Prepare for an OpenSim Future at the 17th International Conference on Online Learning in Orlando, Florida. My basic point... 

Virtual fitness resolution

Virtual fitness resolution

Last night, hanging out on OSGrid waiting for the ball to drop on New Year’s Eve, I resolved — among other things — to exercise more. But I’m the kind of person who thinks of herself... 

Yes, it does have mass appeal

Yes, it does have mass appeal

I’m tired of naysayers complaining that Second Life — and, by extension, OpenSim — has no mass appeal. That it’s too hard to use. That regions take too long to load. That there’s... 

Second Life is Not a Game

Second Life is Not a Game

One of my teeny tiny pet peeves is when people harp about Second Life being a game. This is often followed by declarations that games should not be taken seriously. Therefore, Second Life should not be... 

Renting land versus buying hosting

Renting land versus buying hosting

We’re running a survey today about OpenSim hosting providers, and I’m getting the sense that there’s a lot of confusion about OpenSim hosting when it comes to renting land on a grid,... 

Can you draw a hypergate?

Can you draw a hypergate?

There are a lot of stargates floating around OpenSim. Most are copies of one of the gates that show up in the StarGate movies or television shows. Others are unrecognizable as gates — they’re disguised as... 

5 reasons we still need Whisper

5 reasons we still need Whisper

Now that Vivox voice is available for free to small grids and to non-profit grids, there’s going to be less pressure on the OpenSim developers to finish integrating Whisper voice. And that’s... 

Free Vivox for all

Free Vivox for all

Merry Christmas, grid owners — Vivox is now available, for free, to any grid owner. You get the same voice as in Second Life — with lip synching and directionality and speech indications.  Hosted... 

How to scale Second Life

How to scale Second Life

Second Life had the potential to be the 3D AOL, to usher in a new age of immersive 3D environments. It failed not because it was too complicated or difficult to use or tried to do too much at once. After... 

Crash of the House of Usher doesn’t keep students down

Crash of the House of Usher doesn’t keep students down

[Editor: Joe Essid teaches a class about Edgar Allen Poe's "Fall of the House of Usher" for the department of English & Rhetoric & Communication Studies at the University of Richmond, using virtual... 

HG Biz Plan: Hypergrid Post Office

HG Biz Plan: Hypergrid Post Office

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

All the pieces are there

All the pieces are there

I belong to a business group in my area that recently expressed interest in setting up a virtual space for its members. The idea is that they could have meetings there, and individual members could get... 

OpenSim needs a viewer of its own

OpenSim needs a viewer of its own

Even as OpenSim implementation continues to grow, a constant remains: there is no viewer tailored specifically for OpenSim as it comes direct from OpenSimulator.org. It’s discouraging, and it’s easy... 

Neighbor me!

Neighbor me!

Today’s OpenSim grids all have a static idea of a world map. So does Second Life. There’s nothing wrong with that — I love having a virtual environment that I can navigate, that makes... 

HG Biz Plan: Language school

HG Biz Plan: Language school

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

HG Biz Plan: Event calendar

HG Biz Plan: Event calendar

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

What kind of entrepreneur are you?

What kind of entrepreneur are you?

Back when I incorporated my first company a few years ago, I tried to learn as much as I could about the entrepreneurial process and mind set. I joined entrepreneurial organizations and attended events... 

HG Biz Plan: Hyperport

HG Biz Plan: Hyperport

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

HG Biz Plan: Virtual fishing

HG Biz Plan: Virtual fishing

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

HG Biz Plan: Virtual book world

HG Biz Plan: Virtual book world

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

HG Biz Plan: Virtual psychics

HG Biz Plan: Virtual psychics

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

HG Biz Plan: Virtual gym

HG Biz Plan: Virtual gym

The premise: I believe that we’re about to see the massive growth of a metaverse in which people can easily travel from one public world to another. Over time, the technology will become increasingly... 

The coming sim-com boom

The coming sim-com boom

We are going to have a metaverse of interconnected virtual worlds. Whether it evolves out from the current OpenSim and the hypergrid, or from the new crop of Web-based virtual platforms, or some combination,... 

I’m building a virtual memory palace

I’m building a virtual memory palace

Back before I became a business journalist, I was a war correspondent. And I accumulated a few psychological scars as a result. In the past, I deal with some of my ghosts by lighting candles in church... 

How real is real enough?

How real is real enough?

How real does a virtual environment need to be for users to feel presence? This is a question educators have been researching in the attempt to implement virtual spaces to expand the classroom. For those... 

Unity a road to un-united worlds

Unity a road to un-united worlds

As the number of Unity-based virtual platforms proliferates, and a decent viewer for OpenSim and Second Life still remains a pipe dream, we’re getting close to the point where the center of gravity... 

What I look for in an OpenSim host

What I look for in an OpenSim host

The OpenSim hosting industry is still young, and, though it is developing quickly, still lacking in experience and maturity. But it doesn’t mean that customers have to settle for substandard service. I’ve... 

The hypergrid is not the next Web

The hypergrid is not the next Web

I am a big fan of the hypergrid. I love logging into my personal grid. Then teleporting to my company grid, or visit friends on OSGrid, or go shopping on GermanGrid. But I don’t have any illusion... 

Five ways make money with a viewer

Five ways make money with a viewer

All existing OpenSim viewers are based on the GPL-licensed open source version of the Second Life viewer. All derivative viewers also have to be open source — which makes it hard to build a business... 

Virtual Events: The New Marketing Frontier

Virtual Events: The New Marketing Frontier

The economic downturn has put a damper on tradeshow activities worldwide. Travel budgets have been tightened across the board. Attendees are less willing to hop on a plane halfway around the globe for... 

How SWIFT reduced virtual world training to 30 minutes

How SWIFT reduced virtual world training to 30 minutes

An interesting quesion arose from my ALT-C talk last week. It was basically “How can you use Second Life for teaching when it takes two hours to learn how to use it?” Which isn’t really a question,... 

Why free land is good for OpenSim

Why free land is good for OpenSim

Will free land destroy grids? There will probably a winnowing out of grids that continue to charge for residential land without offering enough additional perceived value. But the end result will, I believe,... 

Getting attention in a virtual world

Getting attention in a virtual world

A few days ago, I heard a brief talk by marketing expert Steve Harrison in which he talked about how to get attention for your message. It turns out he was speaking about how to get the attention of journalists... 

A modest proposal for hypergrid security

A modest proposal for hypergrid security

As John Rogate pointed out today, the 4096 bug — which limits hypergrid teleports to no more than 4,096 regions in any direction — is a significant impediment to hypergrid travel and to the... 

It’s time to move all grids south

It’s time to move all grids south

Hypergrid is probably one of the greatest and unifying features for OpenSim, and virtual worlds in general. Basically, virtual worlds cannot be what they should be without the hypergrid. It is the same... 

5 missing pieces in OpenSim

5 missing pieces in OpenSim

OpenSim development — like that of any open source project — is very much focused on what developers want to do. They are, after all, volunteers, they don’t take orders. That leaves business... 

Medical simulations can benefit healthcare, pharma industries

Medical simulations can benefit healthcare, pharma industries

Healthcare and the pharmaceutical industries can benefit from using training simulations and serious games in everything from sales and customer relations to helping medical professionals work with upset... 

Avaya trains sales reps virtually

Avaya trains sales reps virtually

The flight simulator celebrated its 100s anniversary a couple of years ago. A training rig was developed in 1909 to help pilots operate the control wheels of the early monoplanes in a safe environment... 

Whose side am I on?

Whose side am I on?

I’m regularly asked why I give more coverage to one company or another, or why I’m biased against particular grids or platforms. And, it’s true. I do have a bias. You see, in my day job... 

Free land might kill your grid

Free land might kill your grid

Any grid owner that makes a living by renting out premium residential regions should start planning ahead — for a future in which the effective of residential regions drops down to zero. Free is... 

5 tips for pro builders moving to OpenSim

5 tips for pro builders moving to OpenSim

Second Life builders and designers coming over to OpenSim might think that it’s the same thing, except for the lack of support for some high-end vehicle physics scripting commands — and bigger... 

OpenSim needs an installer bundle

OpenSim needs an installer bundle

I attended UMass in the early eighties when access to DARPAnet first became available to students. In the beginning, all we had was terminal-based FTP access to download TeX markup documents that we could...