Maria’s Worlds

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

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... 

SpotON3D’s five PR mistakes

SpotON3D’s five PR mistakes

SpotON3D is a small commercial grid, with more money and programmers than customers. It has developed three innovative pieces of technology, two of which nobody cares anything about, and one, a browser-based... 

Why grids should still consider licensing SpotON3D’s plugin

Why grids should still consider licensing SpotON3D’s plugin

Despite the patent controversy, and public relations problems that ensued from it, SpotON3D has a good product. It’s viewer plugin wrapper might not be a technological breakthrough, but it feels... 

How to lose your copyright in three easy steps

How to lose your copyright in three easy steps

At a public forum today, an OpenSim grid executive told the audience that creators could lose their intellectual property rights if their work is copied. This is a common — and harmful — myth... 

5 reasons why OpenSim is innovating faster than Second Life

5 reasons why OpenSim is innovating faster than Second Life

In recent months, the amount of innovation coming out of the OpenSim community has been staggering. Hypergrid travel is not only more secure, but now supports cross-grid friendships, messages, and landmarks.... 

Kudos to SpotON3D for viewer plugin

Kudos to SpotON3D for viewer plugin

A lot of folks sit around complaining about not having a decent Web-based viewer for OpenSim and Second Life. (Okay, maybe just me.) The existing stand-alone viewers require that users download and install... 

The ‘official’ real me is legion

The ‘official’ real me is legion

Until yesterday, I’ve been keeping up with — but haven’t been particularly concerned about — the Google Plus real names controversy. After all, I already used my real name in all... 

Freebies need licenses

Freebies need licenses

First of all, I’d like to thank all the creative folks who are creating original products and distributing them in freebie stores on OSGrid, JokaydiaGrid, GermanGrid, FrancoGrid, and many other locations. OpenSim... 

5 grid design mistakes

5 grid design mistakes

I’ve been traveling around the hypergrid a lot lately enjoying the new hypergrid landmarks, friends, and messages — and updating the Hyperica directory. And I’ve been amazed at how far... 

5 reasons not to rush to Unity

5 reasons not to rush to Unity

Yesterday, I wrote up 5 reasons to rush to Unity 3D (with an extra bonus reason). Yes, the platform is technically advanced and easy to use, great for marketing and business applications — but Unity... 

5 reasons to rush to Unity 3D

5 reasons to rush to Unity 3D

Two major players in the OpenSim community have recently joined ReactionGrid in promoting the Unity 3D platform. In addition to ReactionGrid’s Jibe environment, we now also have Second Learning’s... 

Free campus released

Free campus released

Educators and companies looking for free, Creative Commons-licensed starting regions for their corporate or school campuses should take a look at Universal Campus. These four regions were originally created... 

Five top metaverse blogs

Five top metaverse blogs

I subscribe to a lot of virtual world-related blogs in my RSS reader (click here for the bundle) , and follow a lot more on Twitter (click here for the list). Here are the five that I check in on daily. i... 

Jibe vs. OpenSim

Jibe vs. OpenSim

Jibe is a new, Unity 3D-based virtual environment created by ReactionGrid, one of the leading OpenSim hosting vendors. Many people confuse the two platforms, but they are very different environments. In... 

10 marketing triggers

10 marketing triggers

As the number of new grids proliferates, grid owners need to look beyond “cheaper than Second Life” as their key marketing ploy. Instead, why not try one of these time-tested strategies? 1....