f13.net

Google enters the immersive 3D social net (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=19333).

If this was two years ago, I'd be wondering for Linden right about now. However, having seen a whole bunch of half-finished things come from Google in that time, I'm not so sure. I am sure it'll be cool. But whether that cans it for everyone from SL down to Active Worlds remains to be seen and is much less a guarantee than it might have been.

Edit

Any object you add to a room can have a hyperlink attached to it. And each room you generate gets its own unique URL by default. Therefore, you can link you rooms together. So if you create a room(s), post it here and I'll add it to my hub, which anyone can visit here:

http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-4875528315724871590

SIGNING UP. SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

ALRIGHT. WHICH ONE OF YOU FUCKS TOOK THE USERNAME SCHILD. WHO WAS IT.

On a lighter note. This is f'ing amazing. Like. Yegods. Wow. Look at what they've done.

The tech is good enough I suppose, a nice Flash-like rendering technique atop a 3D engine. A number of these types of games offer largely similar experiences though, with similar browser/world interconnectedness.

The part that DOES interest me is that this isn't a small company aspiring to be SL. This is a company for which SL's business would be a mere rounding error.

That alone isn't enough though. Google has a huge library of half pregnant things. This could as easily go that route the moment their techs lose interest. Until and if that happens though, some great stuff.

Will/does it integrate with Sketchup? Will you be able to embed Youtube? You can add hyperlinks to any object placed but I'd like to seehuw far they go with total Google system integration.

ETA on "Pool's Closed"?  :awesome_for_real:

What the fuck? Where's my goatee?

Already can embed youtube. My room has rickroll on Loop. In guitar hero. HUR.

I'm trying to check limits on picture frames. There's a shocking amount of gadgetry and scripting going on. Gonna take a couple weeks to pick it all apart.

Already made a pools closed room. Got bored. I'm on my 4th room now. /snore

the room designs are the worst things here. Light years behind Sony Home.

Animated gifs do not work. Maybe really small ones do.

/mrHat Trick.

Do we have an F13 room?

It's chatroom with 3d avatars, quite different focus from SL and its free ability to create things. IMVU on the other hand is probably pretty screwed.

How is this different the Active Worlds (circa 1994) or any of the other infinite number of graphical chat rooms? Other than being by google and all flash-y. It's pretty and easy to get into, but I don't see how it's different enough that it won't become a large world filled with lots of rooms and no people.

You can make things, just not script them (yet). I believe it uses Google SketchUp objects.

I reference SL because one thing that holds it back (after the furries and the really-just-not-interesting parts) is the requirement for a client and how dated the whole thing looks. Lower the barrier of entry and make it look better though...

Lively has a client too, but it appears to be a thin client or just some installed API or something. Nothing like a full client app.

It isn't. In fact Active Worlds has a leg up for supporting even better 3D within browsers. And Facebook already has YoVille, which is a good looking Flash (not 3D) MMO as well.

For me, like I said, the big part is that this comes from Google. But otherwise, that's just about the only thing that makes it interesting.

Someone help decorate this: http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-5249530916033536866

Looks like Bratz online.

nvrmnd

Schild, if you want to post your current room(s), I'll link it into my Hub:

http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-4875528315724871590

Not much of a hub, just linkouts to Viin's place and one of my two other rooms. But I figured start small  :-)

Ahh i thought they only allow 'certified content' in, from safe sources/vendors and whatnot. If anyone can make the stuff, what was the time-to-penis?

Actually, I'm wrong - no one can yet. But I bet that's where they go (they look like sketchup objects and rooms). There's a reporting option for objects already setup to report inappropriate items.

Interesting, though I'm annoyed it won't even let me try using SeaMonkey since it's Mozilla based.

oh god that f13 room is killing me. I'm decorating mine, will give link when I'm done.

Anyone figure out how to optimize a photo for a picture or picture frame? I resized a bunch small as all get out but it still gets stretched and fucked up.

"Lively is not ready for your platform.

Lively requires Windows Vista or XP with Internet Explorer or Firefox."  :oh_i_see:

That's odd that it requires Windows. So many people use Macs over at Google.

lol

:awesome_for_real:

I was all ready to type out a response about the female body avatars and that I hope some of them had sand in their vagina. But I didn't. Because I don't want to be banned from... Google?

Bragging rights. You can always use AskJeeves after your banniation.  :grin:

This. While on Windows XP using Firefox. :uhrr: Does Google not like my old version?

So is this Niniane Wang (http://niniane.org)'s secret project?

I still find it wierd how they implemented walking.

This doesn't feel like a project that's been under development for 2+ years. It feels like something folks at Google were using their 20%-time-on-side-projects to work on over 2+ years. That's not a bad thing per se. It's just that smaller companies have launched much bigger projects in less time than that and gotten to a state of completion beyond what Lively currently is.

And I really don't get the timing of the announcement. It's not like this has a lot of street cred to the E3 crowd, not up against all the Blizzard announcements at least. What was the point of talking about something incomplete today rather than waiting until it was closer to not being in beta*

* Because it's not like Google ever takes stuff completely out of beta   :awesome_for_real:

Yes it is:

http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/07/be-who-you-want-on-web-pages-you-visit.html

According to Ars Technica this is a 20% project:

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080708-hands-on-googles-lively-social-3d-world-is-20-percent-done.html

Hey! What's wrong with wallpaper with skulls all over it!?

Also: anyone can decorate that room, so if you don't want to make your own feel free to throw some furniture around.

I accidentally removed the TV, and could not find it to get it back. I am sorry. In my sorrow, i started going to the most populated rooms on the room list, and body slamming, and kicking in the nuts ever single person i cam across. (<--- Not jokeing)

I hope that is enough to say, i'm sorry.

That was the best part!

 :cry2:

Fuck this thing is slow to load. I'll have to look at it more later when I'm not busy.

It is crap.  Not even good for chatting.  The only interesting thing is: it is a 20% project.

How is the PvP ?   :pedobear:

What happened to the f13 room?  It's gone now. :cry2:

Thing was running like a bear in IE at work, though.

Good, no consent needed. I was doing it all last night. Even walked up to some cybering people during a touching moment, body slammed him, and kicked her in the nuts.

Google included Winger avatars?

Works for me. http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-5249530916033536866

If that doesn't work, try this:
http://www.lively.com/dr?rid=-4875528315724871590

If that doesn't work, it's busted.


Awesome. Explains alot.

What can I use to search for it?  "f13" used to work.  My browser set-up has some trouble with links, so I'd like to be able to find it in that fashion.

Edit: IE tab in SeaMonkey works much better than IE itself.  At least I have a partial work-around.

Odd, my account loads the room, but stays stuck saying 'Joining room...'

Sorry, I can re-add to search list - I had removed it 'cause random folk were going into it and I couldn't gank them.

Hah.

I can come body slam them and jank.

That's the black avatar description.

That's awesome.

Make a screen cap of that.

(http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/39720/lively/Ty_Google_lol.png)

You know, if they were gonna do it, they should've made one of the tags 'negro' or 'pool's closed.' No sense in half assing it, particularly after adding that goddamn comb.

Holy fuck. Check out the girl.

(http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/39720/lively/vanessa_google_highlighted.png)

This is what happens when nerds try to be hip :uhrr:

THERE'S NOTHING HIP ABOUT CALLING A BLACK GIRL A BOO. HOLY SHIT MAN. I CAN'T EVEN PULL THAT SHIT OFF.

I am flabbergasted.

No I meant it's akin to McDonald's and their "I'd Hit It" ad. I.e. they are trying to be hip but have no idea what they are actually saying/what it really means.

With how much time google folks sit on the internet, they should really be quite aware of what a racial slur is. At least they're not trying to "take back" porch monkey. I guess. Ugh.

When did boo become a racial slur? I recall it being used to refer to a girlfriend or boyfriend. Of course they were probably better off using the word "shorty"

I didn't know it was a slur either.

Fixed and wiggas don't count. And I don't think its a racial slur either, but put in this context and the black avatars, I don't really know.

Boo is slang for beauty. Or Beau. It's not used by anyone except the french and the carribeans.

I'm highly suspect of a google engineer having used boo in that way. And the only other Boo is the freaky black kid from To Kill a Mockingbird.

It might not have been racist per se, but then racism always depends on the source, doesn't it?

Horrible fix. I don't live in where ever it is that has horrible hip hop stereotypes, but up north the white to black ratio is something like 5:1 in terms of wanksters. Just because some black rapper coins the term, doesn't mean it HAS to refer to someone that is black.

You all are so out of touch with this generation it's appalling. :awesome_for_real:

Schild: More so the person interpreting it. I've had people tell me I'm being racist just because the term I used is something THEY think is a slur. Even if the general consensus is that it's just a normal word. Society is broken like that.

Yes, obviously. But does it matter? Both of those descriptions are absolutely horrid. They should be ashamed.

first channel on the screen when i tried this thing

(http://users.on.net/~svandore/pics/google_sexisland.jpg)

Is there any sort of age consent/rating thing with these rooms?

I didn't see one.

You just aren't fashionably attractive and impressive enough to dig that, yo. Word to your mother.

(wtf does that even mean...)

My friend calls me 'boo' a lot.

It's certainly not a slur, but it would be jarring to come from someone without the cultural background.

like google?

(http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/12_04/google1JRW_468x312.jpg) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-504893/Swimming-pools-volleyball-massages--just-normal-day-office-Google-staff.html)

wut?

I'm pretty sure the colored folk weren't calling me Beau or Beautiful.

It's Boo as in a ghost. 

As in white as a ghost.

Boo (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boo)

Like google.

Thats not correct.

OK.  According to you.

It's apparently easy to say it's not correct then not say why.

Look, when I asked what it meant, that's what I was told.  On a couple of occasions.  From different people.  Maybe it means something else whereever you are, but 'round here, that's pretty much it.

Yes, but by your own admittance, you live in a neck of the woods where one has 'whitey wednesdays' or some such apartheidesque conventions. Not exactly a representative sample of how the rest of the country may or may not operate.

It doesn't matter though. There's no boundaries on the net. Only takes one person to get pissed at google for either of these descriptions. Of course that one person will, mentally, be a petulant child. But it's still their fault. It doesn't matter if Snake is from The Deep South or the complaining party is from Alberta, CA.

You guys are overthinking it. They meant this boo:

(http://l.yimg.com/img.movies.yahoo.com/ymv/us/img/hv/photo/movie_pix/walt_disney/monsters__inc_/boo2.jpg)

 :awesome_for_real:

BTW, that wasn't 'our' (as in white) idea.  Kinda funny, honestly.

And....Apartheid.  Seriously?  Roffle.

Ooookay.


Doesn't matter to me.  This, to me, is also funny.

Boo Radley was white. 'Boo around these parts is slang for Jigaboo within the "urban" community, which is most definately a racial slur. Think of the little pygmy from Looney Tunes that they pretend never existed now, except wearing a pair of ripped up clam diggers, a patched vest, and a dented top hat standing in front of a cobbled together shack with a yard full of chickens while picking his teeth with a catfish rib in between bites from a giant piece of watermelon. yeah...

Originally?  It was an insult, implying that you used to have sex with their mother back when she was a club slut.  Like most slang, it eventually meant nothing at all, and stopped being used.  Ditto for "boo", the meaning has changed a half a dozen times, and can be different in various parts of the country.  Generally, the regional ebonics slang definitions go national when a new rapper hits the big time, usually divorced from the context and often deliberately mis-used.  Half the time, it's a joke the rappers are having with their white fans as the butt of it.

--Dave

Ahh cool, thought there's maybe some tenous connection to the 'yo mama' things, but it made completely no sense given the context... thank you for explaining  :-)

Meaning of words different in different areas. Also, they change over time!!

Fuck me who could have ever imagined?

(http://pressthebuttons.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/boo.jpg)

*admission

Fuck, I had it backwards. And jigaboo was what I was trying to think of. Thanks.

Interesting.

Is anyone still using this thing?

Seems to be dead for now. Released too early, with too little to do.

Maybe some people are using it as a chat room for their website?

I messed around with it for like 15 minutes. I couldnt figure out how to walk. Also it ran like shit, and I have a good rig. Promptly uninstalled it.

I figured out that running it in SeaMonkey with IE Tab made it run pretty well.  Held my interest for five minutes though.

The first day was pretty cool, even though I knew it wasn't a function I'd use.  On day 2, the 'most visited' pages were all pr0n rooms so I uninstalled.  : \

It's Google's BOB.   

I don't really see any use for this.  People keep comparing this to Second Life.  It is nothing in function at all like Second Life.

Yep.

And it being a side project means that it'll only ever get a lot of Google attention if a lot of people stick with it. Like the rest of their line of half-finished ideas.

At best it's good for explaining to people what they could do with browser-based MMOs. Unfortunately, it requires that download/install, which is the don't-feel-like-bothering feature in between folks who have no problem buying a disc and installing/patching and those who don't want to be bothered doing anything more than hitting a URL.

That didn't last very long (http://www.paidcontent.org/entry/419-google-pulls-the-plug-on-lively/)  :awesome_for_real:

Not worth adding to the closed list. Personally I'm not all that surprised. Google likes to dabble, but MMOs are not something so easily dabbled in.

 :oh_i_see:

Since the thread's necro'ed anyways, I'd just say that 'boo' has a pretty universal meaning to anyone in their teens/early twenties; and it's 'beau', just as Lantyssa I think noted?

As Common rapped on the Like Water For Chocolate album:  "I never call you my bitch / or even my boo / because there's so much in a name / and so much more to you."

Good to see Lively gone.  It wasn't a google-level project; I know they put 'beta' on half of everything they do, but that's not an excuse for putting it out there way too early.  It dilutes the Google brand for no great benefit.  The common thread among all of Google's successful innovations has been a semi-radical rethink of an essential app (i.e. Chrome's design to optimize web apps and run tabs as separate processes, or gmail's organizing replies into conversation threads)