OSG changes, Standalone, Metropolis

Every once and a while changes occur. In life, work, relations, and also in the grids we live in. Most people don't like changes, they are good "as they are" and they value other things than progression, like for instance reliability, security, friendships or their community. As "progression" is not a guarantee for "satisfaction"
(example ?  V1 to V2 viewer in SL springs to mind), some people are opposed to anything.

Lately there is a lot of buzz regarding the new "owner" of OSgrid. Many of the "issues" i read are bound to personal issues with the individual, and since none of them concern me, I as a "regular" OSgrid resident could care less. I do see a lot of new things happening in OSG. Greeters in the plaza's, welcome area taken in use, better starter AV's, and a plan to get OSG registered properly & formally, with a board of representatives, a decent TOS etc.

From a user point of view, i say "better late than never". OSG could use some serious work on it's community-sense, and professionalise a bit. Too long it stayed a "test grid" without a forseeable "stable" version on which this grid can prosper. It's most important asset, the people in it, felt isolated and unheared  which has been expressed in numerous occasions. So i appreciate the choices and effort the new OSG management put in so far.

Unfortunately, every grid has it's rules. OSgrid did pretty well "without" but if you want to proffesionalise, you have little choice than setting a standard somewhere. And there is always people that don't like "the" cq "any" rules. You can discuss them, but cannot deny them. Someone will (have to) make a descision, and stick to it. One obey's the rules of the house he's in. This policy is pretty much globally accepted, so on a grid it's no different. If one cannot live with the rules that apply, too bad, cut losses, and go elsewhere is the only option.

All the fuzz and drama, and the "conspiracies" about OSG's future commercial plans, and who is appointed to assist / greet people and for what "deeper reason", are bit well, much for me.So far I get the same great free service here i enjoy since i left SL, and for my person, little has changed, apart from having missing some friends that left. This as they could not comply with the "new"  terms or just have a personal or moral issue now things start to take more serious shape. And since the new greeters cant help with everything, (and not everybody is willing to put up with "the establishment" for help), there will always be user interactions.
Too early to run away screaming for Foxx. (oh and my tip for the week : Read this Link  as in, been there, done it before, will likely have to do it again).

One thing i dislike is that OSG appearently killed HG connections to Metropolis. As a lot of european users left / moved / migrated / abandoned OSG to live in that grid that is not handy. I can't find why, but it is a sad development. It means i have to miss some close friends, and relog to be able to talk to them....

Hence i dropped 3 sims in Metropolis aswell, and since i'm testing a bit anyways, i have also setup a nice hypergrided standalone, which you can find here (for now) : Red Dragon Nite Club  ( if it gives a 404, im asleep, and so is my server ) . But whatever grid you are on, and regardless of who owns it,  you should always be able to visit a Red Dragon Nite club.

Just pics

Last weeks Town Hall meeting - The future of OSG

The asset issues mentioned in the previous topic appear to have been resolved or mostly gone away. This might have been the aftermath of OSgrid having moved to a different server, which for the rest has been a smooth transition thanks to the tameless effort of the OSgrid admins. Gossip and rumours about the reason of this transition were debunked in last weeks OSG town hall meeting.

If you are a regular OSGrid visitor but never / rarely attend the town hall meetings, but you do care for this grid and it's community (like myself), i really suggest you read last weeks log. Find it HERE . Mind you will not find the usual tech talks. It's pretty much discussing the future of OSgrid.... 

It will also prepare you to be able to understand better if /when/why changes take place.
Note: No panic, the grid will not change or seize to exist tomorrow, but a lot is going on for the guys running & maintaining it.

OSG will likely soon call on it's community, and i'm pretty convinced the community is happy to pick up the call. There are very creative and intelligent people in "our" grid and we are with many. 

You can start helping here, but for what i understand other input is highly appreciated as well. The best place for suggestions is likely the OSG forums or for quick replies, try IRC

Assets, Vids, Malware & Expo

Wohaa. I look at my blog and get a malware warning from chrome... I added new links and Blogs last week, and appearently one of those hosted a.... Bad Favicon. Anyways. Link is removed, this website has not served any malware, and it wasn't on long enough to generate havoc or get banned so no biggy.

I made a couple of test vid's with Bandicam software, and will probably upload some more later, testing Fraps & other screen recording software. The testvid's can be found in my G+ profile

I've spoken to quite some people inworld reporting asset server issues. Likely those issues will be discussed in next weeks "town hall" meeting. One good advice in advance, is when you upgrade your OSG server, manually edit and use the latest opensim.ini file. Past months / versions some changes have been added in, and if you run an old ini file, this could be a potential cause of problems.

If you live in the netherlands, you can visit an Expo of one of OSG's artists "Jorink Devin". The expo is in Apeldoorn, the netherlands.  You can find the details in the picture on the left hand here. For questions, contact Jorink Devin inworld, or visit his website :
Jorink Lijstenmakerij