Day: March 3, 2020

News: Facebook Horizon to Launch a Closed Alpha This Spring

Finally! I have heard through the grapevine that Facebook will be launching a closed alpha of their social VR platform, Facebook Horizon, this spring:

As I have written before, I did sign up for the alpha as soon as I heard about it, but I have not yet received an email. Sigh. I have sent an email to Janet Lee, inquiring if I might still take part (although from this email it sounds as if they have already made their first selection of applicants).

And, by using the word alpha instead of beta, it sounds as if Facebook Horizon is still a bit rough around the edges. (When Sansar launched their invitation-only testing back in 2016, they called it a beta test.)

UPDATE 1:22 p.m.: Apparently, there was an alpha before the beta for Sansar, which was before my time.

Editorial: Why Is the Second Life Avatar Name Change Feature Taking So Long?

We want it NOW, not later!!!

You might be interested to know that my blogposts about being able to change your Second Life avatar name are among my most visited (notably, this one, with over 9,000 views so far).

We have been waiting a long, long, long time for Linden Lab to release this eagerly-awaited feature. The last time I wrote about it, I quoted a Linden Lab blogpost that said:

Soon it will be possible to change the name of a Second Life account. This is one of our Residents’ most requested features and we’re working furiously to make it available by the end of January. 

Soon?!?? It’s already March and we are still waiting. I don’t know about you, but I am starting to get fed up.

At the very least, give us a new timeline and/or deadline, Linden Lab. This is getting ridiculous already.