Wednesday, September 14, 2022

Maria on Safari

 The third season of the year kicked off in style with two very different destinations... yeah, yeah, I always say that, but this time it's true. First hour, chatting around the campfire with Maria Korolov -  then off into the Canadian paradise, Creanovale, with its amazing countryside and hilarious underwater and overwater activities. The Creanovale trip will be in a separate post, because the gifs alone deserve their honored space. Not to mention Dabici's goldfish. Right now, we have other business. Hypergrid Business.
Maria Korolov

Most opensim residents have heard of Maria. Journalist, novelist, creator of websites and collector of grid statistics, you probably have consulted, maybe even contributed to, her Hypergrid Business website, which she started in... well, let's let her tell us all about it.Thirza Ember: Welcome Maria, thanks for taking the time to meet with some of Opensim's most disreputable people.
Maria Korolov:Glad to be here!
Thirza Ember: I'd just like to point out there are some media items around the  seating area... can you all see them? Hyperica website, the Hyperica regions on opensim (back in the day) Hypergrid Business and Maria's Krim series of novels. Maria can you tell us how you found the hypergrid and what made you want to be a part of it?

Maria Korolov: I'm not actually in charge of Hyperica anymore -- Fred Beckhusen bought the site from me and is now running it. But Hypergrid Business is all me -- and a few hundred contributors! So... how it all started... Way back in 2009 I attended an IBM conference in SL -- and they were talking about OpenSim. I couldn't find much info about it at the time, and thought it was going to be the start of the metaverse, so I launched my own blog to cover it. I'm a tech journalist at my day job -- I cover enterprise technology for CIO magazine and other global tech publications. I write about AI and cloud and cybersecurity, so this was totally up my alley, I thought I was going to be the first big journalist in OpenSim, and it was going to make my career. I think I got paid to write  ... maybe three articles total mentioning OpenSim -- LOL -- but I've written more than 2,200 articles for Hypergrid Business -- I'm looking at the admin panel now - and another 1,100 have been contributed by 240 other contributors.
stiofain mactomais: any visitor stats?
Maria Korolov: 8.4 million pageviews by 3.5 million unique visitors
Apollo Star: Nice stats
stiofain mactomais: wow big numbers
Maria Korolov: Hyperica was originally a hyperport and a list of destinations back in the early days, you couldn't travel more than so many regions in any direction so I set up a scripted hyperport, where one gate would take you to another gate to another gate then finally to your end destination. Upper, lower, middle - it was so weird.
Dabici Straulino: there was the famous bug 4096
Maria Korolov: and eventually it turned into a directory and I made a tool that people could add it as a destination guide for their viewers. It took a bit of fiddling to get it working right, and it was all manual, I'm not enough of a developer to automate it fully. Fred *is* a developer, and he bought it from me.

Dabici.Straulino: I use the list of Active grids very often
Maria Korolov: The active grids list is 90% automated, 10% manual, I use a relational database script to scrape grid stats pages -- many of them have unique formats, then David and I manually review them every month.
Nara.Nook: I remember using Hyperica to get around as a newbie. Hypergridding was like loading yourself in a slingshot and hoping for the best.
Maria Korolov: I have a mental problem, when I start doing something I can't stop, and I have to be complete about it - a mild, helpful kind of OCD, I think :-) so a lot of other people have started up blogs, posted a few articles, then faded away, and 13 years later, I'm still here, compulsively doing this :-)
stiofain mactomais: u do a great job
Nara Nook: I learned a lot reading your posts.
James.Atlloud: could we say the original hypergrid was 4d?
Maria Korolov: yes, I would say that the hypergrid was -- and still is -- four dimensional but now there are no limits to teleport distance
Thirza Ember: opensim has such an unknowable feel. Lists and maps are comforting, one feels less lost
Maria Korolov: that's my goal. People always complain about the stats -- but it's the first place everyone starts. We all want to know what the most popular grids are, so we know where to go first, and we want to know what the new grids are, so we can check them out, and we want to know what grids are doing better, or worse, so we can gossip about them, and that means that people are talking about opensim
Nara Nook: Stats gamify the tediousness of managing a grid.
Apollo Star: Doing great work all these years.. thanks
Roland Francis: /me wonders how many unique members opensimworld.com counts, would be quite meaningful to know how many HGridders we really are
Maria Korolov: as a journalist, and an opensim advocate, I see my main job is 1, to tell people that opensim exists and is very active and 2, to help people navigate it, and 3, to help improve the ecosystem, so I write about what grids are doing things well, and where grids are failing.
Apollo Star: Grids come and go.
Maria Korolov:  Right now, my goal is to promote the idea of a hyper-connected metaverse, like the world wide web, not like a closed garden like AOL or Meta Or the Oasis from Ready Player One. I think we need open source servers, open source viewers, and everything be connected and interoperable, just like OpenSim is today, I've been interviewed in a few major publications -- Fortune, BBC, Marie Claire, -- most recently Fast Company but nobody's heard of OpenSim for the most part
Dabici Straulino: these days I always wonder how much general journalist are excited about FB metaverse... none have an idea of SL or Opensim

Nara Nook: I've been working on ways to link worlds. I think it can happen.
stiofain mactomais: I think the viewer is the main stumbling block for ppl  checking it out .....it is more developer designer focused than for the casual user
Apollo Star: Agree Stiofain...also the learning curve when starting can be a thing, and it would help if it runs great in a common web viewer.. And newer render engines look awesome compared OS/SL
Maria Korolov: you're right, the learning curve is insane, the killer app isn't there yet
stiofain mactomais: is prob similar to learning photoshop
Maria Korolov: well, it's the same as learning Second Life, which had a big media frenzy, but then was unable to convert that into viral growth, because some people love the idea, but, for the most part, it's not bringing in new users. I LOVE the idea of being able to build a virtual environment and share it with people, I love having in-world building tools, but none of it is practically useful
James.Atlloud: The VR-focused programs I view will occasionally refer to SL, but with the sense that it is an antique.  Opensim I think falls into that shadow.
Nara Nook: I can build scenes in web browsers but  get hung up on the moving avatars across the platforms.
Dabici Straulino: one major advantage of the current viewers is the possibility to create using in-world tools
Maria Korolov: I used to hold Hypergrid Entrepreneur Group meetings in-world I think the OSCC conference was organizing in-world at one point. its now on Discord, because there are so many practical difficulties to in-world meetings, and few real advantages, but I always keep wanting to open an-inworld office again, have a virtual writers' room...
Beth Ghostraven: As OSCC gets closer, there's more organizing inworld

stiofain mactomais: do u know of anyone working on a simplified viewer for newbs?
Apollo Star: Noob mode in a viewer would help :)
Maria Korolov: but when we have them, we never use them. I know of a few people who worked on viewers, and none of the projects panned out - and, today, all the excitement is in VR
Roland Francis: there is a web based viewer in the making (it's operational) - check out SL's blog latest publication was in late August, but sadly I don't recall the url
stiofain mactomais: even a parallel viewer .... with the idea that people can have a quick look, and if you like it, download firestorm... like a dealer giving free samples
Maria Korolov: I see opensim as a dramatic extension of my real world, or potentially a dramatic extension, just like zoom extends my real world
Beth Ghostraven: I only come to OpenSim for events; I haven't found a place that feels like home yet, and I don't want to run my own world
Maria Korolov: the people who want to keep it small and private can always do that -- the software is open source, they can set up a Dreamgrid and just go and do their own thing. The people who want quiet and privacy and don't need my help. they've already got everything they need, but the people who want more users, more publicity, growth, excitement, new opportunities -- that's where I see myself coming in.
Dabici Straulino: I come to opensim to create, to me it is an artistic medium a way to share with others what I imagine or how I see the world
Nara Nook: Yes
Dabici Straulino: being in the same space is key and even more when it becomes a place
Maria Korolov: for me, OpenSim is a way to connect with people, to feel as if I'm present in the same space with them so the more people there are in opensim, the happier I am, even though some of those people can be creepy :-) Still, there are many more great, fantastic people
Apollo Star: The more good minded people the better :)
Maria Korolov: and the creativity here is amazing, I love seeing all the stuff that people create, so my plan right now is to add more VR coverage to hypergrid business, and include ads for opensim stuff and activities on every page, because everyone is looking for VR content -- and many of them might be interested in an open source metaverse
stiofain mactomais: i find no one ever tries os from sending them links to viewer/osgrid sign up and i need to talk them through set up
Maria.Korolov: I plan to do a video tutorial soon on setting up a Dreamgrid for your own private world, and post it on the MetaStellar channel - that's a completely non-opensim, non-second life audience.
Dabici Straulino: great
stiofain mactomais: did you ever get the oculus working with OS?
Maria Korolov: I did use viewers to access opensim, but the lag made it too difficult to use. I don't remember if I ever did it with the Oculus -- but I have a new HP Reverg G2 headset that just came in the mail on Monday and I'm going to try doing it with it. I'm hoping that as processing speeds and bandwidth improve, the lag will be less and less of an issue
James Atlloud: Was it lag or framerate?
Maria Korolov: both - either an inconistent framerrate or lag will make your brain thing that something horrible is happening with your vision. maybe you ate some poisonous mushrooms. you should go throw up, just to be on the safe side. Talk about having a bad user experience!
Apollo Star: Gives a headache within an hour.. disorientate senses...
Beth.Ghostraven: oh, is *that* why one feels nauseous
Dabici Straulino: a real metaheadache

Thirza Ember: Before we come to the end of our time with you, can you tell us about Krim?
Maria Korolov: sure. I've written more than a dozen books so far, the last one is 80,000 words. I'm in the process of editing them and publishing them on Amazon. If anyone wants to help, I'm hiring!
James Atlloud: They're on Kindle!
Maria.Korolov: I LOVE to write - I write even if I'm not being paid. I'm writing faster than I can publish
Beth.Ghostraven: I really enjoyed the first two Krim books, and the third is waiting for me :o)
Maria Korolov: right now, i want to go back and change all my books to be gender neutral because my characters change genders each time they switch avatars and the pronouns are getting impossible to keep track of. It is a little tricky to get used to at first but in virtual worlds, you HAVE to do this. It's already happening in games, in Second Life, in OpenSim, in online communities, we have relationships with people whose genders we don't know, so a hundred years in the future, where my books are set, we're all going to be using gender-neutral language at all times.
James Atlloud: IIRC No Man's Sky characters are all gender neutral.

Maria Korolov: I  am optimistic about the future. I think that virtual communities will become real life. In fact, in my Krim virtual world, when people talk about "real life" then don't mean physical world. Even if the medium is virtual, the experience is real. They mean virtual places that are pegged to real identities, like future versions of LinkedIn and Facebook
stiofain mactomais: virtual facebook= nightmare
Dabici Straulino: real nightmare
Maria Korolov:There are social worlds, school worlds, work worlds, gaming worlds, sex worlds -- and people can teleport between all of them, just like you can travel the web between all of them
Mal.Burns: please destroy the zookiverse!
James Atlloud: I think my response to when people ask me "why vr/vw" is "why life?"
Beth.Ghostraven: Mal, what's the zookiverse?
Mal Burns: zuck-y-verse?
Nara Nook: I'm with Mal, no Zuckerverse
Beth Ghostraven: yeah, it really zucks LOL

Apollo Star: Zuckface will claim the Metaverse with his FB crap.. Meta got the resources and FB millions of users..
Kelso Uxlay: Maria - You did a terrific job over all these years; please keep at it!
Apollo Star: Nice to see the community grow in time... OpenSim surely got potential..
Roland Francis: in 20 years we might have the bandwidith we need to overcome the lag
Maria Korolov: in fact, as soon as we get a web VR viewer in it, people will be able to access it right from their Horizons starting area. Horizon is Meta -- Facebook's -- home starting area. It's like your VR chat home.  All players start in their homes.  Remember when AOL opened up to the world wide web? it faded away into obscurity soon afterwards

Nara Nook: Can you link to Meta with out getting all your data sucked up
Apollo Star: You can't Nara...
Maria Korolov: maybe european regulators will step up and mandate some privacy protections. I personally think Meta's approach is lousy. it's gettig zero traction with enterprise users -- specifically because of the privacy concerns and it's a walled garden, for the most part.
Apollo Star: They all piss on our privacy nowadays ..so why the concerns.. Most people do not even seem to care..
Maria Korolov: European regulators care. Meta is definitely in their target zone. I'm hoping that other people will be inspired to compete and come up with something better and cheaper and more private. Maybe based on opensim...
Lucy Afarensis: No legs
Nara Nook: Yeah I really hate Zuckerverse makes you half a person.
stiofain mactomais: haha nara .. who needs legs in a sim?
James Atlloud: We could just be clouds... oh wait.

Thirza Ember: so, as you all know, I generally post the essence of our converssation on the Safari blog... you guys happy with me leaving in the bit about how you don't like MrZ? Or do you want me to leave it out? Please say now...
Apollo Star: EU regulators are a joke... Mr. Z may know :)
Maria Korolov: I would like to go on the record as saying that Mark Zuckerberg comes off as a bit of a reptilian in his videos promoting his vision of the metaverse, no offense to reptilians
James Atlloud: I don't mind, but the less said about Z the better?
Thirza Ember: ok James, we will put you down as a Defender of the Face
Maria Korolov: he DID put the metaverse on everyone's agenda by plowing $2 billion into the oculus acquisition, and $10 billion a year after that, he's jumpstarting the industry, the way that America Online did. Hopefully, this will end up the same way as it did for AOL
James Atlloud: I 'spect it will.
Nara Nook: I think he is really sinking fast.
stiofain mactomais: yea I see parallels with aol ..... hopefully he goes bust doing it
Dabici Straulino: a while ago many believed that SL would be replaced by Sansar...
Maria Korolov: modems. and they pretty much pushed going online down everyone's throats. It wasn't pleasant, but it did give the web a big kick, also a punch in the face to the environment...
James Atlloud: And SL was largely GeoCities IIRC
Maria.Korolov: Final thoughts: Please come write for Hypergrid Business!  We want tours of destinations, how-to guides, essays, and write for MetaStellar! We want book reviews, video game reviews, movie reviews, essays, and of course fiction!  We are looking for volunteer copyeditors and social media managers for both platforms. You can contact me my email - my HGB email is maria@hypergridbusiness.com and My MetaStellar email is maria@metastellar.com
Nara Nook: Will see what I can do to help, Maria.
Maria.Korolov: also, subscribe to our youtube channel!  you can see me on video every friday doing reviews of free SFF books! and I want to start a VR-vocused playlist, if anyone wants to help me launch a talk show about the metaverse -- EMAIL ME!!!
stiofain mactomais: if anyone wants to see our version of making opensim accessible on phones oculus etc 
James.Atlloud: TY Stiofain
Roland Francis: Loved your talk Maria, very entertaining.  Some day it will grow on us.  Some day
Lucy Afarensis: Thank you maria
Dabici Straulino: Thanks you Maria and thx so much for your hard work for our community
James Atlloud:       ☀..·♬·..•✶•..·♬·..☀
James Atlloud:      ✯˜*•.  ɊǷǷﺎﻣɊƲՏȻ  .•*˜✯
James Atlloud:       ☀..·♬·..•✶•..·♬·..☀
Wizardoz Chrome: clap clap
Maria Korolov: meanwhile, I'm going to head back and do my day job story -- about quantum computing and supply chain optimization
Beth Ghostraven: oh yikes, better you than me, Maria!

1 comment:

  1. Thank you Thirza for sharing this. I liked Maria's comparison of META to AOL.

    ReplyDelete