The creator of Second Life is back to build a 'virtual world that doesn't hurt people'

To many, the tech and gaming industries' recent obsession with virtual worlds feels strangely familiar. The much-hyped Metaverse experience looks a lot like Second Life, the online virtual world created by Linden Lab in the early 2000s.

Second Life is now in its 19th year. Although it has less than a million monthly active users, it has managed to remain profitable. With more attention and investment in the metaverse concept, it doesn't want anyone to see it as a relic. The company has extensive experience and some patents that could help create virtual spaces that people want to visit.

Now Lyndon has recovered its mastermind. Well, kind of. After more than a decade away from Linden Lab, founder Philip Rosalind returns to the company as a consultant. In recent years, Rosalind has been busy with a new spatial audio startup called High Fidelity, which he co-founded with Irena Heiberger and Richard Karpf. Its technology is used to enable spatial audio in the groundbreaking audio community app Clubhouse.

During Linden's time as a consultant, Rosalind will focus on product development aimed at shaping a future metaverse version of Second Life. The company ship will continue to be helmed by Linden Lab chairman Brad Oberwager, who bought the company in 2020.

三和一善

Rosalind told me that he worries that Web 2.0 bugs—like the surveillance-based advertising used by Meta/Facebook—will carry over to the next paradigm of the web. He says there are better ways to make money in the metaverse. "Second Life is an example of a working model," he said. "It makes a lot of money per person, it has a free tier, it charges people a small transaction fee, escrow fees and land fees."

"It's possible to build a version of the metaverse that doesn't hurt humans but can actually help solve the division and misinformation problems we have right now," he said.

Rosalind spoke more pointedly of Meta/Facebook's conquest of the metaverse in a statement Thursday:

"Big tech giving away VR headsets and building a metaverse on top of their ad-driven behavior modification platform won't create a magical A single digital utopia for everyone . . . virtual worlds don’t have to be dystopias.”

High Fidelity, which is backed by GV, Blockchain Capital, Breyer Capital and others, has purchased a stake in Linden Lab for an undisclosed amount and will contribute some intellectual property. The company has also moved some of its employees — including seven engineers — to Lynden.

It will use the new people, expertise and funding to develop a bigger and better Second Life, Lyndon said.

Rosalind admits that Second Life, and the concept of the metaverse in general, has a long way to go. People will start using virtual spaces, he said, "when we get the first social experiences that are big enough for adults to hang out there after get off work."

"But we're not there yet -- there's a reason we don't have billions of users in Second Life instead of millions."

Turn your old phone into a free wireless security camera in minutes

Don't throw it away, don't try to sell it, and don't let it sit in a drawer until the end of time.
Like every seasoned tech writer, I have all sorts of embarrassingly old iPhones and Android devices collecting dust around the house. Almost everything is worthless so far, but the youngest of them are prime candidates for a second life. . . please play the drums. . . Free wireless security cameras!

Think about it: Phones have decent cameras. They are connected to the Internet. They can work for hours without being plugged in. Real cameras cost money.

It's a technical race made in cheapskate heaven. Lest you think it's complicated to teach an old phone new tricks, I'll share with you the method as simple as logging into the app.

First, download ALFREDCAMERA

The app to use is the free and excellent AlfredCamera Home Security, available for iOS and Android. Download it on your normal everyday phone that you will use as a viewer phone and your old phone as a camera. Don't be afraid to try a real old phone. I ran it on my first Google Pixel phone circa 2016, but I've loaded it on older phones.

Sign in to the app on both phones

After launching the app for the first time, you can create an account with your email address, or log in with your Google or Apple account. It doesn't matter which order you enter: log in, then select your phone as a viewer or camera. You can change devices later using the drop-down menu in the upper left, which is handy when your current incredible phone turns into a shabby old phone at some point in the future.