What would *you* like to see in an Infohub?

I was drinking hot chocolate milk and just strolling around the Infohubs inworld. Not a lot has been said in awhile, but now that I'm on the Linden Lab Community Team, I see these spaces and I've been thinking of how to put them to use!

SL Society has changed... I remember when we didn't have direct point-to-point teleporting and were bound by Telehubs, which were intended to be social gathering spaces... but weren't really social... nor gathering... so... just... spaces. And I tried to burn some of them down. But, I've since reconcilled.

Now, we have Infohubs. As Jesse Linden said:



If you're new and wondering--no worries! Inworld, click on MAP button and look for this:



Aaand here is a typical Infohub layout. This is an example of what you'll see at most Infohubs around inworld. They have Linden info (some of which is in development) and freebies, as well as several awareness kiosks and that goshdarned "national" animal of SL, the hippo. A different one at each Infohub--I've been to all to make sure of it, hehe!



However, tru 2 who I am, I love doing experiments and playing with variety to get a multitude of approaches. And there've been several things going on lately I've been taking cues from, like:

1. the call for Resident-created Infohubs including this schweet thread about the Nova Albion one
   
2. the kissing booth in Luna... awww <3
   
3. my own mad science which I've been letting loose inworld, i.e. you may have seen me drop off junk to toy with
   

This is in progress!

So what else do you wanna see? What would compel you to come? What would make Infohubs more useful and fun for you... and if you own land near an Infohub, please do chime in too because this is in your neighborhood!

There are many Infohubs (like almost 50), so I'm hoping many things can be done. A few hypothetical but absolutely spontaneous suggestions to get the freak on out:

1. LINDEN MONEY BALLS AND CAMPING CHAIRS MUHAHAHA
   
2. art shows (sorry we can't do wine tastings) and other cultural events
   
3. conversion of Infohub into a mini-sandbox 'cause as we know, sandboxes are where people go
   
4. let Resis rent them out for FREE for a home or even business but make it a challenge, i.e. they must stay above a certain traffic level (Donald Trump would approve)
   
5. import some of the resources from Help Island to turn 'em into education stations
   

I stress the importance of fun and flexibility. I am talking about actual value added! I don't want these places to be spaces that go to waste. They're here for youuu--and I also emphasize that my opinions in Second Life are a composite alloy, shaped by learning from many in the community. I wish to continue this, exponentially.

Your crazy ideas for the Infohubs are beloved--'cuz that's why I'm here! Thanxies! BRING 'EM ON!!! =^_^=



P.S. I have a makeshift ghetto office at the Montara Infohub if you wish to commala visit.

Helllooooo... money chairs...

EGGY these are just ideas... and yush I did think of that too. (Hence my nod earlier.) Note I didn't tether conditionals in place--that will be later, for now brainstorming doesn't require judgements! I am hoping that if we bash enough contradictions together and smash together creativity like a particle collider, some--hopefully a lot--of amazing lucidity will emerge.

I would like to see wildlife rezzed at the hub, and set free to wander reasonably nearby.

Hey, why not?



Edit: maybe they would be free to copy, and pass out sounds or other fun things.

Sort of like birdwatching?

Some more rare than others - maybe an exceedingly rare bird granting $L 100 every day or two to some unsuspecting nearby resident? (nothing more - not like camping chairs)

Whatever you do, do not measure things with a single, easily exploitable metric
You need to realize that people are very greedy in SL, and the moment you offer free land they would instantly start thinking of how to capitalize on that.
I suggest you limit parcels to a small size per user, disallow alts from entering, and make it an immediately punishable offense to use your land for purposes other than stated.
As for what would compel people to go there, or anywhere in SL, I believe the right order would be:

- Money, or some other type of measurable gain
- People
- Some other fun, interactive thing to do
- Beauty

I have a script for random movement constrained to a radius. It's ideal for this sort of thing. I made it an eon ago for Sim Horror, one of the first bedazzle projects... probably before it was even called bedazzle.

Yeah... very well understood. I'm here for the fun. But in stretching a metric to the max (which has already started to erode), I think breaking that old paradigm can lead to some new creative activities, or revivals of classic ones that may have faded. Thanx for the ideas... is there anything from beta you miss that you'd like to see back at an Infohub? Maybe a classics showcase of SL great history.

Hey... Desmond... WILDLIFE-WATCHING? That's kewl! I was just watching the animated animals of Jesrad Seraph the other day, and keeping the bird as a surprise element--that might be viable. Does anyone make birds like that? I was looking around but I haven't had anything to fit the bill yet. *reads what Eggy sez*

Hmmm.

More parkish thematics at some Infohubs then, too? Most are kind of devoid of nature because they had the trees sent back.

Ooo, wildlife would be nice! I was walking today, just walking around and ended up in Luna. The kissing booth is rather cute. Believe it or not I had no idea there was a place for resident advertisements... is it free? *looks incredulous*

The Infohubs seem like such nice little places, I'd almost be sad to see them crowded.

It would ne neat to have some of these at the info hubs...

Seriously Schwan, we already got some. They're in the shape of hippos at one Infohub!

Amber what I'm hoping is to have a plethora... so... some may be crowded at times, but to have wide open spaces too. Just all the ways people can come together in Second Life.

Wildlife is certainly representative of the "natural" digital beauty tho.

as far as I know the Infohubs arent used by anyone.... I know the only ones I see are on Help Island, I have no reason to visit the old Telehubs to see a Infohub

The MixMaster was great fun. I don't know if I showed it to you, but it's sort of like a machine that you use to make music. It was at the Alt Zoom disco in Beta, but it was already sort of broken when I got my hands on it. Me and Christopher fixed it, but over time it stopped working again.
Ben Linden also has a cool interactive thing that can generate particles and sounds. The name escapes me right now - it was at some Burning Life event in the past, and also Stagecoach Island.
And there's also the catapults and trampolines...

If there would be something you could see to see the Infohubs being used... what would it be, Toy?

Eggy yes... I think you demo'ed MixMaster to me awhile back in that again-broken state.

I know what you're referring to that Ben did--with the music pipes and stuff, right? "Mesmerizer" is it?

Yes, something like that. As I told you in email->IM, we have the tools to make rich, detailed, interactive content, but there isn't anything like a rich, interactive SL tutorial. If you want to make the Info on the Infohubs mean something, you could turn them into an educational game of sorts. Something that would be fun for newbies to do and also help them get accustomed to SL. I know LL doesn't really have the resources to do this right, but they can give us their ideas, make a contest, something like that.
I would love to do it myself but I'm always juggling multiple SL contracts with an already busy RL.

I would like to see the content that i submitted to X Linden almost a month ago to actually apear in the info hubs (i checked a cupple days ago nada) without

Having to post a reminder to X Linden to do their own project

Having to go check on their work to make shure its ok, to find out that its in the wrong catagory (yes come to osgelds dance floor its a great place eventho its obiously a thing)

Also

The info isnt updated it seems... i got a notecard saying HELP US DESIGN INFOHUBS or some crap you must have your submission in by Jan 6th... im reading this 20 someodd days later

i dunno maby its just me, but for me to get fired up about the info hubs again it should not be a chore to the ppl your asking

^ To Eggy, that's clearly a hole. I wouldn't know where to start with coding a thing, but I could get a feel for using it once it was done (or a working proof-of-concept at least), and offer suggestions. There are promising tutorials on Help Island; I do hope it's just a matter of time before we see something as you envision.

Thanx, I did notice this too when I rezzed your Interference dancepad.

Good observations!

What's currently available is still in progress. I'm hoping we'll have a better way to network and update to KEEP THINGS FRESH. Right now, updates manually must be made for each Infohub. And that's time-consuming and sucks.

I'm very dogged about it... and speaking of, that "HELP US DESIGN INFOHUBS" is overdue--but is there anyone here who wanted to submit an Infohub that didn't, because of the deadline? IM or PM or send me electronic mail (torley@lindenlab.com) please.

I'd make an infohub into a pretty lagoon ... or as others called it, a swamp. That's my building skills for ya.

To get people to go to the infohubs you need to have something people want, but can only get, there.

My idea is an official Linden Lottery - much like the California State Lottery.

An important key to the idea is that the only dispensers of the $1L tickets will be at the infohubs.

A portion of the proceeds from the lottery can go to pay for maintenance of the infohub and lottery system.

People that buy a lottery ticket can, if they choose, text input the name of a charity (RL or SL) that they would like to see another portion (percentage?) of the lottery go to.

Whatever is the highest ranked customer requested charity at the end of each lottery period will win the donation.

And of course the winning ticket holder would get their portion.

I like all the above ideas, but would really top it off would be a pie vendor

edit: or watermelon vendor

Happy Hippo Hunting

Perhaps it's my redneck french side that's coming out (ewwww ) or simply because I have been in so much little villages all around France that were full of life.

But what would make me hang out in an infohub would be to have it looking like a little village public square, with benchs where the oldies some of you are could sit, shaking slightly as they'd look their friends playing petanque (typically french ball game ).

A fountain in the middle which could be a famous Linden statue (I want a Torley's statue ! ) and some shops around (not real ones just ones where when clicking on the window you get one of the default Linden notecards : for example a building tutorial when clicking on the bakery's window)

perhaps even having a Linden waiting here at some scheduled time to simply chat with residents, give out advice or help.

reading Torley's post I suddently had a quite clear idea of how this could look but being only an average builder with a tendancy for VERY prims heavy buildings I prefer proposing help for the ideas more than for the realisation lol

What would people like to see in an info-hub? Ummm... how about the info-hub itself, preferably in under an hour.

Let's just add to each infohub an Inn, Weapon Shop and Pokemon Hospital. Or a huge brick wall for graffiti where we could slash each other's tags. Or something more SL mundanish like a _well_ made message system with a Hippo standing next to it. At the very least something social and interactive. Give residents a reason stop by their local infohub on daily basis.

Gossips about Lindens life in your daily newspaper providor at the infohub ?

I am about to sound like a smart-alik know-it-all...

Every suggestion, posted here so far, will not get people to visit the infohubs on a regular basis. For every idea posted here, people will come once to see the new concept and then rarley if ever again.

For regular, weekly and sometimes daily visits an official Linden Lottery much like the California State Lottery will work.

Again the key to the idea being that the only dispensers of the $1L tickets will be at the infohubs.

"edited"
On further thought, the Lottery idea may not work until there are a lot more people in SL