Slapt.Me the alternative to Xstreet?

Since the Lindens bought Xstreet I have heard many whispers and many people unhappy with the monopoly that it has created for the Lindens and now, with the new rules, many more will be looking for that alternative.
Let me introduce Slapt.Me run by residents that have actually listened to what the customers want and tried to create it for you.
Constanza Amsterdam, Lord Sullivan, Kosta Cela and Bykoff Sontse, long term SL residents launched the Xstreet alternative in April and, although still having a few teething troubles when I tried it out, I found it as easy to set up as Xstreet but very different.
Slapt.Me offers featured listings and split profit enhancement, which works on percentage instead of prices. You will also find its own Forums where you can read what others have thought of it and place your own suggestions. There is also a WIKI to help you understand the site although as an XStreet merchant I found it very easy to set up.
You can request a terminal to put on your own land and there is also a place where you can store your first Slapt.me box for free if you do not own any land.
Is this a viable alternative to Xstreet? The speed at which its growing says just maybe it is.
Visit for yourselves and feel free to leave your comments and experience below.
Dana Vanmoer

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"The New SecondLife.com" - Linden Labs' Website Gets an Overhaul

Hi all. Callen Linden here. A few months back, we launched the Dashboard Beta and asked for your feedback. Your response was enthusiastic and very constructive. We've implemented a number of your suggestions and more are slated for future releases.

The dashboard was the tip of the iceberg. I'm delighted to say that the rest of the Second Life web site is launching today. We've given our web properties a top-to-bottom overhaul to make your Second Life experiences easier (and more fun) than ever. As always, we'd love your feedback on the redesign.

The magic of Second Life...

The first thing you'll notice is the new look. You got a glimpse of it with the new home page back in December, and now we've extended it to the rest of our web properties. Our aim was to create a visual style that would highlight the magic of Second Life and showcase your artistry. The images that light up the site were selected to reveal the extraordinary range of experiences and emotion that Second Life offers.

Not just a pretty face...

As lovely as it is, the changes are not merely a visual face lift. We sent surveys, held office hours, read your comments on blogs and forums, talked to our support folks and the old timers at Linden Lab. We heard that community, exploration, land and shopping are what Second Life is all about for you, so we mirrored that in our new main menu. We know that Second Life is an amazing palette for creativity and building, so we collected resources for designers, coders, merchants and promoters to help you hit the ground running. We heard you say that while shopping on the web is convenient, shopping in world is wonderful because it is an emotional, social and visual feast, so we made sure to highlight both. We learned that many new users think Orientation Island is all there is to Second Life (!!), so we created a web-based world map and linked it tothe Showcase. And we know that what makes Second Life stick are the relationships you form, so we collected our community resources together to help you connect with other like-minded people.

But perhaps the most important part is what you can't see. To respond to your ideas and suggestions, we are re-architecting our back-end systems so we can improve our current features and performance, and provide an ever-expanding set of tools for discovery, sharing, creativity and customization.

Here's the skinny...

* The Dashboard is the first step on a path to richer web-based social tools for Second Life. On it, we've collected the most popular Second Life web features for easy access to the tools and resources you need to manage your Second Life. In future releases, we'll provide better tools for communication, social networking, customization, personalization and management.

* For new users, we've improved the path into Second Life. Registration has been completely redesigned with a streamlined flow and better messaging for new users. Coming soon, you'll see further improvements in the new user experience with better basic training in world, a new approach to designing starting locations, and of course, the redesign of Viewer 2.0.

* For international visitors, we've made it easier to find non-English language registration options and browse community gateways by language preference. We've also been working on the plumbing to make it easier to offer all of our web properties in more languages, and providing toll free support numbers for non-English language speakers.

* The new web-based Second Life Map harnesses the power of Search and the Showcase to bring a real-world feel to exploring the virtual world. We think it gives new and old Residents alike a great tool for discovering Second Life, making it easier for you to find (and teleport to) the store, concert, club or peaceful beach that suits your mood. The new Map is just one of the milestones on our roadmap for improving Search and Classifieds, and connecting you with the great content and communities of Second Life.

* We've also completely redesigned the Land Store experience to make it easier to use and understand. As part of this redesign we are pleased to announce the launch of Themed Private Regions, where you can purchase a private region in move-in condition. We are starting with Linden designs for a Baronial Castle, Moonbase, Conference Center, and Theater. In the future, the Themed Private Regions option will provide an excellent opportunity for creators to have their content available for sale in our land store. For more information visit our FAQ.

* Shop 'til you drop! Now, from the main menu and throughout the site, we promote the spectacular diversity of stores offering everything from shoes to submarines. As the world's largest virtual goods marketplace, we've now extended our platform to the web, giving Residents new shopping opportunities; and merchants additional visibility with links from secondlife.com.

Thanks!

Sincere thanks to all who contributed to the dashboard beta by providing constructive feedback. Let's continue the conversation after you take a look at the new site. We want to hear what you think, what you need, and what you imagine.

Finally, if you do nothing else, check out the Machinima video in the "What is Second Life?" section of the site. I've seen it 100 times, and it still gets me every time!

Posted by Callen Linden on secondlife.com on Aug 26, 2009

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Update - Daniel Boys

Although it happened a year ago, I am just catching up that Daniel Boys did an all-but naked photoshoot for British Cosmopolitan, promoting testicular and rectal cancer awareness for men. He was one of many Brit stars who took part in the campaign, which I think ran in the centerfold of several issues. He was, and still is, starring in Avenue Q on the London West End, hence the puppet. Have to say, Daniel is looking quite good!

I just got word a fansite for Daniel Boys was recently completed, with a fan forum that is now up and running. You can see it by clicking here.

Oh, hell, the real reason I wanted to make a post was because the sexy shot and a chance to post a video of Daniel singing. This is from his CD So Close. The song is Better Than I, from the Dreamworks animation Joseph, King of Dreams.

To find out more, you can go to Daniel's official website here. You can order the CD here. I have my copy, and would recommend it highly.

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Daden Navigator Web Browser

This may just be the first proper web browser in Second Life. Through simple chat commands it let you view almost any web site on the web, surfing from web page to web page following links just like a real web browser.

Whilst Daden Navigator is a great step forward it is still not a 100% capable web browser.

Its limitations come from two areas:- Second Life Web Page on a Prim: We use this feature of SL in order to display each web page. This means we cannot control how each individual web page will be rendered. For instance at the moment (July 08, V1.19) SL does not render Flash, YouTube or play media and cannot scroll up and down on a page, or fill out forms - so we can't do these with Daden Navigator.- To follow links we use our proxy to retrieve the web page you are looking at and parse the HTML to identity the links on the page. However if the links are embedded in Flash, or use complex Javascript, or are images without ALT tags then we cannot find them.

In fact Daden Navigator behaves very similarly to the talking browsers and screenreaders used by visually impaired users - so sites with good accessibility (eg WAI AAA) should work well, whereas those with poor accessibility will not (just note how many sites have lots of links called "more" or "click here" - they are a real pain for screenreader users - and now for you). We've always said that accessibility was important!

The simplest work-around to both of these is to use the "popout" command to put the displayed page into your SL client or desktop web browser.

Watch the movie and decide for yourself, seems like an improvement on the current inworld option. We can but dream of the day people can read sl-newspaper.com inworld!

Dana

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Secondlife Websites from around the world

Doesn't this look great?

An interesting and appealing look for Secondlife Japan.

Another version We found while surfing the web - what a fantastic windlight image any SLotographer would be proud of this!

So what do we get?

Hmmm ok you decide how would you like your Secondlife website to look?
Add your comments /opinions below

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