Ferd Frederix text and speech apps.

I have travelled Second Life and seen some wonderful things and some dreadful things, too. Haven’t we all? I have met people from different countries in sims dedicated to those countries and their languages and had to use an online translator just to find out if I was making a fool of myself with my schoolboy Italian. (I was!)

However, someone recently brought to my attention a translator, a FREE translator, which used Google to do the translation in Local Chat, immediately and for several languages at the same time.

I already had a translator but found it difficult to use so kept it in the bottom drawer of my inventory.

Well, it sounded to good to be true. However with my newshound’s hat on, I went to Phaze Demesnes (227, 224, 24) and found Ferd’s free Google Chat translator. I was standing in queue waiting for the others to get their copy.

I clicked the board and the translator went straight into my inventory, and I was amazed. There was a long list of languages, clear instructions and within half a minute, my world had changed.

At the bottom of my screen, there appeared a list of names, distances and languages.

Then, when we all got talking, I could see someone saying something in Spanish, somebody else in French and someone in Korean. THEN, it came up on the screen in English, for each one!

Astonished at how quick it was… and accurate, (I speak French and could tell with that language, at least.) I went off to foreign sims and tried out “my” new skills. Well, I’m a happy bunny. I can go anywhere and be understood in over fifty different languages, just by speaking English. All we need is to get this into Real Life!

I was so pleased that I contacted the creator and he introduced me to it’s sister application, Ferd's Chat to Speech V1.4 Universal Web Translator. You could have knocked me down with a feather!

This one is based on the translator, but converts the typed words into audible SPEECH!

Now, that is a very difficult thing to do and uses up a lot of bandwidth so it is limited in its distribution to people with poor eyesight and organisations who represent them.

But, how wonderful! I know we have got adapted keyboards and screens and all sorts of clever stuff in RL, but it is something like this that shows the potential of SL.

A few people like Ferd Frederix, with their skills can open up new worlds to many more people who may not otherwise have been able to communicate in text, because this is not just Voice, it is simultaneously translated, a different thing altogether.

Ferd reserve all rights to determine which individuals and organizations may use the Chat to Text Speech system.

Examples:

· Sight-challenged individuals

· Organizations that support the blind

· Event organizers

With these two apps, I think Ferd will have made an enormous contribution to communication in SL. And I, for one, would like to thank him.

Kim Trefusis

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Fox Reports, an SL innovation

Every now and then I find something new I wish more people knew about and utilised.
My association with Skybeam and its close knit community has given me, personally, a lot of great times in SL and not long ago I was visiting with Nevar (Lobo) when there was a griefing problem at the sandbox, not unusual in popular sandboxes, which Nevar as estate manager needed to deal with. I went to see if I could help and ended up becoming what Skybeam calls a Guardian, someone who helps to keep the peace and make sure things run smoothly.
What has this got to do with innovation? My introduction to Guardianship also introduced me to Fox Reports :
Fox Reports began as a monitoring system for SkyBeam Sandbox. It was used to be able to file notes and reports about various people who caused mischief or broke the rules with repeated infractions leading to land or estate banning as appropriate, with the ability for all of the sandbox 'guardians' to have access to each others' reports. The system has a number of features geared towards making this information easily accessible by all admins without having the installation or trust network issues incurred with something like banlink.

I spoke to Fox Reports creator Erix Oh:

Dana Vanmoer: What made you first think of the idea of fox reports?
EriX Oh: The main idea was, because I wanted to "report" to Charlene (Trudeau) the incidents, so she could look when she wanted ... later on, I added multi-user support, then E-Mailing and so on and also a common reporting-system... to stop everyone asking... "hey, do you've a note about ?"
... and then I had the idea to connect the SL's Estate system to the page, and ask Char (Charlene Trudeau) to put some sims "at risk" (as such a system never existed, nor was the library complete)
Dana Vanmoer: So it started a simple database of incidents and bannings, a way to keep records?
EriX Oh: The first system was simply a huge text-box, and a list with persons
Dana Vanmoer: What are the main advantages to using this rather than the normal estate tools?
EriX Oh: The main advantage is that you control your estate from everywhere where you've internet access... if you get an IM-to-EMail requesting a ban, you can execute it, not even logging into SL... (example from work, or in the train, if a long trip) the system is tested on PS3, Nintendo DS, iPhone/iPod touch ... e.t.c.
Dana Vanmoer: It sounds like a great advantage for any estate, where else would you say it would suited for?
EriX Oh: Generally, the estates function works only on private Sims, where they need to put my bot (and me) as EM ... it does not work on mainland owned sims, or simple land-owners, I could see it also being useful to places that have a gateway to SL or sandboxes.
EriX Oh: for these places, it is useful ... since the system allows more than 10 "EMs" (Estate Managers) .. and works even when the sim is a bit laggy, since the bot does not download textures and such.
Dana Vanmoer: How easy is the system to set up?
EriX Oh: It's in fact easy to setup... since you're not involved in the tech facts... you simply request it.. (using my support-page).. pay for it.. and I set it up... with your favourite URL ..like name.foxreports.lu. The sims, can be only added by myself, since I need to test it. and you setup only the users, who want/can access it
Dana Vanmoer: Is there anything you would like people to know about that I haven't asked?
EriX Oh: If SL's having problems (example login problems, TP problems) my bot can be affected too, only estate-related functionalities will not work - the reporting, will continue to work.
EriX Oh: and ... ! LindenLab does not have access to it, so - if an Abuse report needs to be filed.. you need to do that separately
Dana Vanmoer: For an estate can you tell me how much it would cost every week?
EriX Oh: For one estate & reports ... it will be 3000L$/week (three thousand) ... - the price list can be found on http://foxreports.lu/prices.php

I also spoke with Charlene Trudeau, Skybeams' owner and Nevar Lobo, one of the estate managers, and asked what they thought of the system:
Dana Vanmoer: What would you say is the biggest advantage of using the system?
Charlene Trudeau: For me, its the communication between administrators and being able to extend past the ten estate manager limit for estate wide kick/ban.
Nevar Lobo: For me as an estate manager, being able to restart sims , ban people and look back at past warnings.. so it gives me more flexibility around the estates . I don't have to be at one region on a constants basis .. i can get more work done instead of keep running back and forth for sim restarts.
One other advantage of the system is ... if you have multiple estates that you own .. regions under the same brand but on different estates .. you can include them all on the same system .. so if i have a problem on one of the homesteads and I'm on say our Zeppelinhiem Sim.. (which is over at Caledon) i can take care of a restart or issue from where i am .
Dana Vanmoer: Are there any downsides to the system?
Charlene Trudeau: That's an interesting question. I suppose that would depend on perspective. From mine, no, others might prefer the option to purchase the system one time they could install on their own and run, but that would be more headache for me than a recurring fee where its someone elses headache and I can simply use it.
Dana Vanmoer: How difficult is the system to use?
Nevar Lobo: The system is user friendly. There is forum you can use to ask questions... the forms you fill out for the warnings and such are easy to fill out.. and you can get any reports sent to your email so if you as a owner are not around when something happens you can see any report and /or pictures of the problem
Charlene Trudeau: Very. There a couple of things that maybe aren't the most intuitive but once you have been through it once, its very easy to follow.
Dana Vanmoer: What other advantages does using the system have over an entire estate?
Charlene Trudeau: You can get 'on the fly' maps of the parcels on any region, including who shows as current owner (group or individual), it also shows the for sale info, if any. Its helpful when you're trying to reconcile things, esp if you're like me and change things around on the fly as needed, you can also get snapshots of the sim statistics remotely, in case you need to judge whether that remote restart really needs to be done or not.
Oh, and one bit of extreme awesomeness for handling ban lists, you can sort it by date on the website and check off any you want to purge and clear them all with one button press from there. Within the normal estate tools, you have no way of knowing which is oldest, they are in alpha order, and trying to purge is a guessing game if you run out of space.
Dana Vanmoer: Skybeam does get griefing due to the sandbox - do you feel more confident about running a sandbox now you have this system in place?
Charlene Trudeau: oh yes, it makes it so much easier, we try to use a tiered level of warnings and bans for example, someone who violates the no vehicles policy, should be talked to and warned if they persist past three warnings, then ban.
By using the system, guardian 1 knows that guardian 3 already warned this guy and that he or she is issuing a second warning, not a first, without the system, we wouldn't know that and if someone comes back and says 'I was banned and there's no reason' we can look up and say well we have the following documentation (usually including pictures where applicable) of you doing this and this and that's why you were banned or 'gee, we don't have a record of banning you, let me correct that' because we are human and do make mistakes too :)

I see a lot of new ideas but this one is tried and tested and has been in operation for about 2 years - I just wish more people knew about it!

Dana Vanmoer

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Introducing ArtiZan Creative Solutions

ArtiZan Creative Solutions provides innovative scripted devices for a growing range of identified SL business needs, specialising in communication and marketing.


The Mailbox products let you automatically send IMs and items to a list of avatar names, without the use of groups or friends list.Send IMS, objects, notecards, landmarks, photos, textures - anything!Perfect for art galleries, clubs, venues, shops, event planners, artists, musicians, educators, publishers - anyone who needs to communicate information or distribute items to a number of people at once.

Invitations to parties, openings, weddings, performances and other events
Store promotions and new product launches
Media distribution - catalogues, magazine subscriptions, newsletters
Education and distribution of information
Sending product updates and keeping in touch with your customers
Business organisation, staff communication and any other forms of mail you need to send to more than one person at a time.

SMS - Subscription Mailbox SystemFully flexible, multi-featured, in-world group mail systemFEATURES
Completely in-world solution - no reliance on web servers
One-time purchase - no ongoing fees
No need for networked servers - can remove duplicate entries
Store lists on notecards or in your own database - no permanent storage in scripts that can fail
Keep as many lists as you want - you have full control
Mix and match Subscriber and Mailbox Systems to suit your own needs
Devices are independent: rez as needed, place wherever you wish.
All are copy and mod (except scripts which are copy only). Rename, change shape or textures as you wish.
Full signup and mailout solution from as little as $600 to a maximum of $1900.
For more details see the Mailbox on SL Exchange or SL Exchange or visit ArtiZan Creative Solutions, Da Vinci Isle

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Exploits in CG

With the Lindens making themselves so unpopular at the moment I heard a lot more talk about Central Grid and other options so I thought I would take a look myself to see if it was workable.
To start with the similarities were obvious with the 'ruthed avatar' I appeared in a dome with signs all around to instruct on how to get started - mostly unneeded for an SLer.
I immediately set to work on my appearance, I couldn't bear that avatar.
Firstly finding out there is no cost for uploads as there is no money here in CG although my balance showed $1000 it never changed. I uploaded a basic outfit and then set to work on my hair and skin; not so easy I had never made either before but I didn't do too badly as you can see from the image below I ended up with a fairly creditable look.
One problem seems to be saving this; you cannot edit the original skin or clothes but must create new ones which do not always save under the new name, after crashing I had to start over since the new ones i created were suddenly no MOD. and my appearance was 'ruthed' again.
I took a fly around after this, there was a large education center and a lot of buildings where I was, but always empty - I thought 'great' a huge empty world to experiment. Sim crossings were a lot more temperamental too and crash rates were very high.
I was directed to the sandbox to try building (I wanted to try to make hair) building here is exactly the same as in SecondLife although there seems to be a few glitches with linking objects and also taking them into your invent
Although I did in fact manage to make some simple prim hair I had huge problems attaching it, after reading the forum and seeing someone elses solution I rezzed it on the ground and then attatched, this did in fact work but when i tried to edit the position it went shooting off out of sight and the only way to find it was to log out and back in.
When I logged in I was yet again 'ruthed' but I could see the blue dot that indicated where my 'hair' had reappeared.
I was also told that LSL scripting would work here and more so I set about creating a newspaper vendor, a simple redirect to website script - this also was a failure it simply did not work, and not being a scripter, that was time for me to give up.
Although I found very little working, for those with knowledge and ability its a big open world waiting for you, for those, like me, that like to go into a shop and buy what you need then I would suggest waiting.
This is a world in its infancy and with no Inworld currency buying things from each other will not be an option for quite some time.
For cheaper land options, explorers and innovators - go for it, if you expect a second SL you will be disappointed. I will continue to keep up with CG as I can see the potential lets hope some of our more able content creators do too.
Dana Vanmoer reporting from Central Grid

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