Second Life is not yet just “Plug & Play!” Message 2

Second Email
Hi Leigh - Nov 3, 2008 at 2:23 PM

Was up half of last night with a different pc with more grunt trying to get SL to run smoothly - still sorting out some minor tech issues as every time I swapped computer something else would not work - got a colleague working on the headphone/microphone glitch - yes it is now working & so it goes on - wow - what a learning curve! Have advertised the SL Interview on the Wiki (hope is Okay) and inserted a SLurl to the Nasa JPL area. Have questions prepared and colleague (Harold) is jumping in to SL from his side of Auckland (friends place) 2morrow morning for 10.00 am (Auckland time) meeting - we can only but try!

Even tried to get access for SL into our pc labs but SL will not run on these machines as our teaching pc specs are not good enough. Good news is that our org is getting new pcs next year - does not help now though.
- What have I learnt so far
- You need good specs to run SL smoothly (especially Memory/graphics card)
- The broadband connection of your pc is also important otherwise it slows or can crash (freeze)
- I have a whole new perspective on these technical issues - SL is not just "Plug & Play'
Cheers for now.

All that Last minute running around meeting each other swapping computers or visiting Internet Cafes to test out whether SL could be run (my café had security settings blocking the download of the SL client set up program) however Harold has found an Internet café where can get into SL okay for a few dollars – cool!!

Bottom line is many technical hurdles to overcome. One of the main problems is that if your computer does not have the correct specs (or better) it is “potluck” whether SL is going to run okay for you – typical problems include slowing of you computer as the cache fills and you run out of uncommitted RAM – my pc ground a halt on 39 processes and 100% Memory usage quite quickly resulting in a “hung screen” or simple crashes Why because I only had minimum specs necessary to run SL. Answer – go find another pc with more “grunt” - this time I got into SL okay but had difficulties going to the Sim wanted – which was Explorer Island – Nasa Jpl site (where all the space stuff is). It kept sending me elsewhere and then disconnected me from SL. I spent many hours going into & out of SL trying to get my spot – and when I got their my sound hardware was not working – tales of woe my friends – when you do finally hook into SL & all the technology is working (i.e. “winds are blowing in your favor”) - you are either mentally exhausted or emotionally over the moon and want to throw an SL party! – but what a learning/patience curve!

These ramblings are not to put any newbie “Lifers” off but just a reality check that it does not always go as planned – i.e. SL is not just “Plug & Play” – but it may be a lot more smoother as it developments & improves down the line.

See you in Second Life – hopefully!
Thanx from Grant (aka Avatar: Clinty Inglewood)