Friday, May 28, 2010

SpotON3D – 10 Day So3D Launch Events

May 27th thru June 5th

Expanding Virtual or V-Retailing™ into a Global Market
Concerned about Constant Changes?
Want More Stability, Control & Protection?
What’s the Future of V-Retailing?


Attend This FREE Vendor Event & Learn How To Expand Your Virtual Retailing Business Securely. Seats limited to 10! RSVP Today at SpotON3D.com

Featuring Tessa Kinney-Johnson, aka Tessa Harrington in SL™ 15-year Veteran of the 3D Web & Virtual Worlds! Opened BizWorld in 1995, the first 3D Internet Mall with real world & virtual vendors in Active Worlds.com the grandfather of Virtual Worlds Co-Founder, COO & Art Director for SpotON3D A Proven Track Record Forecasting the Future of the 3D Web.

It’s been said Tessa can see around corners most people don’t even know exist. This is A rare public speaking engagement for this quiet, behind the scenes 3DWeb Developer and entrepreneur. If you want to know the history & the future of the Metaverse and your place in it as a V-Retailer, then this is a ‘must’ event!

AGENDA:
  • 10 – 10:30 am PDT :: Virtual- V-Retailing – 2010- 2020 Forecast
  • 10:30 am- 11:30am PDT :: Q & A
  • 11:30am – 12:30pm PDT :: Trusted Grids & Secure V-Retailing BREAK OUT – Tour SpotON3D’s V-Retailing Venues
What other’s are saying about SpotON3D:

"Another strength of @spoton3d: leverages Amazon cloud computing so customers can boost scalability to 100 avatars or more based on need." - Erica Driver of Think Balm.com

"This company has clearly given a lot of thought to their platform especially in the areas of copyright, intellectual property, cost and user experience for both Enterprise and Education." - Shambles Guru (SL™) of International Schools Island

"I heard a lot about how SpotOn3D is really making sure that content creators can safely sell their products and be sure that it is not easily copied and pirated. Technically and theoretically it remains impossible to make it 100% proof, but many should be happy with 99% solution." - Jani Pirkola - Virtual worlds specialist, Research program coordinator at CIE.fi. One of the founders of Maxping.org magazine.

To Attend InWorld go to http://spoton3d.com to get your FREE FOREVER
Account Listen in and Text Questions via Facebook’s Vivox Plugin @ http://bit.ly/aeN2SH
Can’t be there in world? CALL IT IN!! Dial 1-646-727-4472 extension 906911 Thursday Starting @ 10am PSD

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Bob Johnson said... Our Response to Common Misconceptions

Bob Johnson commented to our blog saying...
'So let me get this straight.
-You are using OpenSim, which is reverse engineered from the Second Life client. (Linden I believe allowed Opensim to happen, they could of stopped it)
-You are using Hippo client which is Open Source Second Life therefore all the graphics in your environment are from the viewer which is built by Linden

Yet Linden is the bad one? What do you do if Linden stop allowing you to use their tech? (e.g. viewer) they have a lot of people working on that. You can price lower than Linden because you do not have to pay for viewer developers. What that math says to me is that you are stealing from the company that is feeding you.'

Some might call this gentleman's commments as 'pot stirring', but we feel strongly that if we are a viable company we should be capable of responding to most anyone's concern's and opinions in a professional manner to at least try once to educate and clarify. So here goes, and please forgive the long winded response. We felt it important to point to facts to substantiate our reply, seeing very strong words were used to describe our business, as is evident above.

BOB JOHNSON REPLY:

Hello Bob and thank you for your comments and questions. Many people express similar opinions that simply aren't founded on fact. We like to think its not out of spit of fear of us as competition, but rather out of their devotion to Second Life(r). We can understand the sentiment. After all we're a team of SL veterans, (2005) and Virtual Worlds (Active Worlds 1995).

First, the client was open sources by Phillip Rosedale in January 2007 in hopes that the community WOULD INDEED do exactly as they have, and reinvent it in their own vision.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/07/technology/secondlife.fortune/index.htm

"We think that if we open source Second Life its product quality will move forward at a pace nobody's ever seen," says Rosedale.

We'd wager the open source community played no small role in achieving the stability we enjoy today in Second Life(r).

Secondly, lets look at the most widely accepted definitions of Reverse Engineering and Re-Engineering and see what side OpenSim falls into. We're quoting this recognized leader in the programmer community:

http://wiki.ercim.eu/wg/SoftwareEvolution/index.php/Terminology, according to Chikofsky Cross 1990.

Reverse engineering is the process of analyzing a subject system to identify the system's components and their interrelationships and create representations of the system in another form or at a higher level of abstraction. Reverse engineering generally involves extracting design artefacts and building or synthesizing abstractions that are less implementation-dependent.

Re-engineering, on the other hand, is the examination and alteration of a subject system to reconstitute it in a new form and the subsequent implementation of the new form. Re-engineering generally includes some form of reverse engineering (to achieve a more abstract description) followed by some form of forward engineering or restructuring. This may include modifications with respect to new requirements not met by the original system.

To say OpenSim is a reverse engineered platform is really not accurate. The history of the OpenSim project started in the fall of 2006, months before the SL client was open sourced on January 2007.

But, if you want real proof that the OpenSim is an animal of a different breed, simply come on in and work in one for a few days. How different is it? Well, if Second Life(r) were to swap out their platform with the OpenSim platform an estimated 50% of the Second Life(r) grid assets to become completely unusable, if not outright crash the server. Why? Because its simply not the same code. That doesn't mean LSL and SL Scritps won't run on OpenSim - they do, but some need a bit of tweaking to perform best.

Also, it should be noted that SpotON3D is NOT a rehash of Second Life(r) OR OpenSim. Many make assumptions in this regard, but we all know what is said about assuming. :P Never was that more true than in this case, as SpotON3D has completely reorganized how a grid is organized, adding in tiered membership systems, security in a technical, social and legal manner and a working economy the permeates the grid experience through its web based selling portal, http://spotonsynergy.com.

All these differences add up to three major improvements many experts have called for as necessary to making the 3D Web a reality - The Universal Registration, Universal Avatar, and the Universal Inventory. There is a fourth - 3D in a web page, which is right around the corner - 3 to 5 years using server side rendering technology that other game industry experts are working to make a reality. Just check out this company's promos: http://onlive.com and you'll get the big picture.

Thirdly, YES, Linden Labs could elect to resend their open source client status and make the 2.0 viewer closed source, but they could not ‘stop’ anyone from using what was out there already - only be able to legally prohibit the use of what new client code they put out. Anything up to that point would still be considered open source code and available for anyone to use as long as they make their changes public and contribute changed back to the source code community as we have.

And lastly, SpotON3D is a six figure and counting commercial project, which in fact does include client and platform programmers. Thanks to their hard work it simply runs better, allowing us to host 120 regions on just two servers. Being able to host so many islands on so few servers is one of many reasons we can price our product so affordably. To call that 'stealing' or saying LL is 'feeding' SpotON3D is just grossly inaccurate, something I hope you can recognize as an unfair statement.

I’d like to think that SLers can look beyond their attachment to Second Life® and see SpotON3D™ for what it is – simply an alternative grid primarily for business, education and social nets and communities, yet, with room for responsible players too. IN OTHER WORDS AN EXPANSION OF THE METAVERSE. We are here to show there is a real industry for people to grow with – not just one company with one vision. Thank you again for your comments and we hope you can find a way to be a tad more open minded, welcome this evolution and become a part of the solution.

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Can Loyalty to Second Life(r) Unknowingly Hinder the Metaverse' Growth & Adoption?

As the 3D Web and Virtual Worlds expand and grow into integrated communities, with both secure and public spaces, its important to remember no one company can own this market. The audience is too vast and diverse to be met by any one entity; social, educational, governmental, e-commerce, enterprise and yes, even recreational.

This is why we at SpotON3D™, found it so refreshing to see so many virtual and game platforms choices shown on the FCVW's recent promotional video for their upcoming conference in DC*. Ms. Robinson, the lead for the Federal Consortium for Virtual Worlds Conference, seems to embrace this reality and encourage the idea that more choices equal healthy competition and the ability to service a wider market.

For those who are fiercely loyal to their home platform... THANK YOU! The last couple of years haven't been easy. The recession hurt everyone world wide, and VW's were not immune. Forterra, There.com and Metaplace are all gone, either just ceasing to operate, or were sold at a loss. Second Life® by many estimates has suffered as well. No longer do we see 80,000 users on the grid daily. The new users coming in aren't spending money as they used to, some feel. The creator market is said to be saturated with excellent content, so competition is fierce, while at the same time their expenses to do business have gone up. Many of the community's favorite Lindens are no longer employed, and some LL investors have cashed out for pennies on the dollar, probably because they needed funds to get through this recession. Yet, as we near to end of these economically induced problems we still see a very strong and supportive core community, which is profoundly gratifying to witness. Definitely something SpotON3D aspires to through our innovative systems and true customer service.

BUT ...*yes there had to be one, didn't there? ... for Virtual Worlds and the 3D Web to become more than just a flash in the pan we, the citizens of the Metaverse, need to be the catalyst for change. Having witnessed fifteen years of boom and bust in the Virtual World Community, one can see red flags that could present serious problems for the growth of the Metaverse and SL® in particular. Change that isn't just about monetizing the 3D Web, Virtual Worlds or live content gaming systems, but more about creating healthier free enterprise standards that promote the Metaverse as an industry of many, rather than a business of one.

There are some key community standards with the citizens of the Metaverse, should be calling for loud and clear to ensure Second Life® and as a result, the Virtual World Industry as a whole doesn't go the way of the before mentioned companies. These are standards not only espoused to by SpotON3D™, but already implemented to illustrate that indeed this can be done effectively without leaving anyone behind. The Metaverse truly depends upon the core principals introduced below being adopted by all the professional grade grids, for the community to become a strong and viable industry.

- Universal Registrar, and Avatar Systems
Eliminating registration fatigue for the majority by ensuring the user's Avatar is available on all trusted grids through on secure registration system, thereby bridging the gap between the 3D Web & VW in a secure and legal manner.

- Comprehensive Membership and User Permissions
Tiered user memberships whose permissions go beyond registration, reaching deep into the platform to support enforceable rational and reasonable rules and standards concerning avatar access, permissions, usage rights of content and behaviors to help create a more stable and socially responsible community.

- Universal Market Place
First, the Metaverse Market Place must facilite the legal and secure distribution of content across trusted grid systems in a responsible manner, while retaining the content creator's IP rights as efficiently and safely as possible.

Secondly, no real business is going to invest the thousands of dollars needed to establish their 3D Web investment if they are not reasonably sure the content used is legally gotten. That's why its so important that a there be a system that supports the legal Purchase, Contract, Backup, Import and Move of 3D assets.

Thirdly, the control and IP rights of virtual world assets need to always and completely remain in the hands of the creator, with the virtual world host only retaining enough rights to ensure delivery of those same assets. The exception of this is of coarse contracted work for a company that requires exclusive rights and new content.

Virtual Worlds or girds that give themselves Shared or Exclusive IP rights OR give themselves the equivalent of the same by the way they describe their usage rights really only serve to hurt the market place. Imagine if GoDaddy(r)suddenly gave themselves the right to use/giveaway/sell customer's web site assets in the name of marketing and promotions as requirement of using their service. Undoubtedly, folks would turn tail and run ... NOT WALK ... the other way, expressing loud and clear their displeasure.

- Universal Mediate and Arbitration System
Community driven dispute resolution to handle social and legal disagreements in a affordable, responsible and legally sound manner, such as a FREE and Public Mediation System that is recognized by the Metaverse community as a whole, and real legal and binding Online Arbitration at affordable prices, ($150-$300 usd on SpotON3D with our exclusive real world judge arbitration service)

-Define Trusted Grids in the Context of 2D Web Hosting Standards
Apply responsible permissions and restrictions on the users as we see in 2D Web Hosting companies, such as GODaddy.com®.

If we look to Virtual World Grid platform’s basic functionality there are very clear parallels between the services Second Life®, Teleplace™, ProtonMedia, ReactionGrid and SpotON3D offer and your standard 2D Web hosting service. Fundamentally they all offer the means to host, store and display content and software for individuals, businesses, educators and more, but the advent of content creation inside the web hosting solutions is what complicats things. It shouldn't. Its really no different than the 2D web hosting companies that provide their customers with the DIY tools to make their own sites on their web portals. They own those tools, but not the content that the web customers add to it to make it their own. Those IP rights stay with the creators of the content, be that the person using the tools, or someone they've contracted to provide materials for their web sites.

COMPETITIVE COLLABORATION
To some this phrase might sound odd contradictory – Collaborate with your competition? But there is a long history of competitive companies reach out to each other to make their industry stronger, while still competing. An example is the Hotel and Food and Beverage Industry. When one runs out of a food, such as french fries, they often run over to their nearest competitor and "bum" off a bag or two to get through the night. No money is exchanged, only an IOU. Why? Because they know that somewhere down the road they too will come up short and need help. To use such a problem as leverage would not only be seen as petty, but to expose that problem to get some leverage in the public's eye, really only results in giving their industry as a whole a black eye. That turns consumers and other businesses off, because its just so messy and drama driven and definitely wouldn't show that the companies in question put their customer needs first.

How does that apply to the Metaverse? Every time we hold a virtual worlds event, appear on a panel of experts, blog about our experiences or talk about these grids we are extending our reach to a wider audience and giving validity to the whole idea of a interconnected 3D Web community. If we feel compelled to show how much we love our most favorite grid, lets not do it in such a way that makes us look desperate or insecure as a community, but rather illustrates our ability to be open minded and supportive of all the Metaverse. After all, grids are now just a TP away.

It's not about LEAVING ...

It's about EXPANDING Beyond any one Grid's Borders


For enterprise level Fortune 500 companies and individual business to embrace the Metaverse we have to be okay with acknowledging the many choices that are out there for them to tap into. Otherwise they are going to be squeamish about investing the 100’s of thousands of dollars into their 3D Web push. They need to see a cohesive, well funded organized community of professionals and see a user bases open to traveling the 3D Web the way they do the 2D Web. Isn’t that what Social Networking is supposed to be about anyway?

Entities like Smarter Technology™ and Train for Success™ have done this. They should be applauded for extending their eye beyond Second Life’s boarders and pointing to the rest of the industry as an example of what is possible. Now its time for the rest to step up to the plate, such as Metanomics, TreetTV and others. Many media firms, consultants and sim developers want to be a part of the Metaverse, but can they really do that if they only acknowledge a fraction of the community? By not reporting and participating in the WHOLE Metaverse, we ultimately play a role in silencing the voices that might help push the Metaverse forward and ensure its survive through these early years. After All ... ONE COMPANY DOES NOT AN INDUSTRY MAKE & NO ONE COMPANY CAN NOR SHOULD OWN THE 3D WEB/METAVERSE.

If you agree or disagree, lets us know! Comment here, or come on in and check us out at http://spoton3d.com with our FREE FOREVER account. It costs nothing to learn how different and down right exciting the 3D Web can be if we open our minds enough to see.

Check out the FCVW's Conference and the video in question here

http://www.ndu.edu/irmc/fcvw/fcvw10/index.html

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Training for Success Event Featuring the Unique & Innovative SpotON3D Grid

May 6th, 9:00AM PDT

This week’s Train for Success meeting for May 6th, 9am PDT, will be held outside of Second Life in a very different kind of grid utilizing ONDemand Cloud Technology - SpotON3D with Tessa Kinney-Johnson, Co-Founder/COO/Art Director at SpotON3D, formerly an SL Provider Council Member under her design firm UnReal Designs, LLC.

Ms Johnson will show how SpotON3D is 'Transforming Web Pages Into 3D Web Spaces' - Featuring Key Solutions, such as The Universal Avatar, Universal Registration and IP Valid Virtual Content Distribution via Double Dutch Delivery, as well as Turn-Key Virtual Offices with Rent-&-Go technology.

Please allow 30 minutes to register, download the SpotON3D viewer and connect to the SpotONthreeD VOIP Channel on Facebook via Vivox's plugin conference session.

1. Register a SpotON3D 'FREE FOREVER' account @ https://spoton3d.com/ and follow the instructions to create your avatar and download the viewer at https://spoton3d.com/pages/downloads

2. Access Vivox's new VOIP on a webpage plugin via your Facebook account. You'll want to get a Facebook account try this exciting new conference tool. Join in the voice session by clicking on this bit link, http://bit.ly/aeN2SH where you'll be prompted to install the ViVox plugin OR you can call it in @ 1-646-727-4472 extension 906911.

YOUTUBE ViVox Tutorials:
FireFox http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01hvGFag_uM
IE http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj7XRh0qePo
runs well on Chrome and Safari as well