Some basic SL terms...can you help me?

Hi there, I am new to SL and have some questions about some terms I hear listed. I tried doing searches but never really found what I was looking for. Can you guys explain to me some words that I have heard in the past like- what is the grid? a sim? I think I know what a viewer is- but tell me anyhow- and why can there be other places that have viewers. What is Windlight? What is the beta grid? RSS feed? Try and be as elelmentary as you can with me (without dumbing it down too much lol ) I consider myself an intelligent person but when it comes to all of this, I am confused and I see the terms used all the time. I am not a computer person so it doesn't come easily to me. Thank you very much for your time- I appreciate your help and patience with me.

Yes - you would think that the Wiki would have a Glossary of Terms.....

Try:

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Glossary

A number of external web sites also seem to have compiled SL Glossaries, including Google Groups:

http://groups.google.com/group/den-in-sl/web/slossary---second-life-glossary

This one looks more comprehensive:

http://classroom.scilands.org/mod/glossary/view.php?id=75&mode=letter&hook=A&sortkey=&sortorder=

Thanks so much!! I have so much to learn...

It says for sim:
Sim

Server host machine, for example sim1234.agni.lindenlab.com. The SL server grid consists of 2000+ sims. Sometimes “sim” is used incorrectly to mean simulator process or region.

I have seen it referred to as a region. How big is a sim region?

and how is grid explained in layman's terms? they say grid is:
Grid

A collection of sims (e.g. MG & TG). Linden Lab runs several grids for internal and external testing.

A region is 65,536 sqm
I'll let some one else explain grid unless you want the Valley girl description, explaination

A Region is 65536 virtual square metres - one big square on the map grid.

http://secondlife.com/land/index.php

I believe that originally each region was hosted on one server - just one simulator process running on each server. So One region = One sim was a valid assumption. This is no longer so as one server can host multiple regions now.

Geez, could they make it more complicated? Isn't a sim just a virtual island region?

Yum, valley up!

I know- all I want is "real people" language- it's the least they can do...I am just an ordinary person when it comes to this stuff, now ask me a question about speech therapy and I can help anyone out lol

RSS feed doesn't have anything to do with SL...it's basically a subscription to a web site/blog which updates automatically as their content changes.

Thank you!

Here are some other terms you will need to know:

Gor: A RP based on a series of SCI FI novels. They tend to take themselves way to seriously. Basically men in underwear putting collars on women in underwear.

Furries: People who dress up like animals. They have sex and are hunted by people from Gor.

Bots: The most evil things in SL.

Ad Farms: The most evil things in SL.

Banlines: The most evil things in SL.

Clique: Term used by professional outsiders to describe everyone else.

Trout Rating: Scheme set up to get women to send Trout pictures of themselves naked.

Sexual Age Play: The most evil thing in SL.

Gambling: A scam that was ended over a year ago. Every few months someone tries to come up with an argument to allow it.

Banking: Another scam that was ended by LL. The replacement scams for this fell apart rather quickly.

Dolcett: You don't want to know.

Rhinestone Codpiece: Clothing item worn by our founder. Pretty scary if you think about it.

Bear infohub: Nice place to hang out and meet people.

Brenda's Panties: You don't want to go there.

VAT: Scheme by LL to make the European land owners fail.

I swear I have seen this word before, now you have me wondering...

Although it may not be technically correct, I have heard the terms Sim and Region freely interchanged. "Servers" may support two or four (or more) "Regions" . "Regions" are 256 meters by 256 meters, for a total of 65,536 square meters, as has already been noted. Sim is of course short for Simulator, and (again, maybe not technically correct) my understanding is that one "Server" is supporting multiple "Simulators" and each "Simulator" is home to a "Region". To my mind at least, the distinction is "Server" = hardware, "Simulator" = software, "Region" = inworld 'land' / area.

So for example, the "Region" called "Ahern" is run on "Simulator" software that exists on a physical "Server". The reason that there is a distinction in these things is that "Regions" are not tied to a given bit of hardware. When a region, simulator, or server crashes, the region is automagically shuffled to the next available server so the Region reboots much faster than it would if it were tied to just one hardware box.

There are different 'classes' of hardware and different types of region, you'll hear the terms "Class 4" or "Class 5" server, and "Openspace Region" here and there. "Class 4" and "Class 5" refer to the hardware, with 5 being newer. "Openspace" regions are sort of 'Lite' regions, intended for use as empty water, or low-use land. Forum searches on either of these will provide hours of reading, about the details and what's better or worse etc.

-Atashi

Leave it to you, to come up with the most concise and to the point list of very necessary terms

Sim and region are often used interchangeable, irrespective of what is "correct", so don't put too much in people's choice of words there.

The "grid" is a comparatively new term. It is used to differentiate the technology running Second Life from the world known as Second Life.
A grid is one full setup of sim hosts and servers, with a shared login and inventory management system, including such things as for example groups and IMs.
The entirety of Second Life you see on a day-to-day basis is a grid, affectionately known as "The Grid", officially known as the "Agni" grid.
LL also runs the beta grid ("Aditi"; a smaller mirror of Second Life on it's own servers, for use in public testing, as well as at least one completely internal grid for development.
The Teen SL is often referred to as the "Teen Grid", though it has a somewhat special status, since it is not entirely separate from the main grid, being walled-in rather than technically a totally separate grid.

With the technology increasingly going open source and/or being reverse-engineered, others are setting up their own grids, entirely unrelated to LL. There's work going on in allowing people to travel freely between such grids, with IBM being rather heavily involved in the development in cooperation with LL and volunteers. It bears mention that intellectual rights become a major, and still hotly debated, issue if people are to move items between servers hosted by different people, with various degrees of trust.

My explanations are based largely on the way you'll hear these words used as you wander around SL, not necessarily the official explanations

The Grid - The whole of Second Life. You'll most probably come across this description used if you participate in a 'Gridwide Treasure Hunt'. This is simply a treasure hunt that could take you *anywhere* on Second Life.

Sim/Region - Most people will use 'sim' rather than 'region'. A sim is, technically, the simulator software that runs each region. A region is one big square of land that you see when you open up the big map. If the title bar of your viewer tells you you're in La Reve, then that whole region is called La Reve. However, most people would say, "I was in that La Reve sim the other night...".

Windlight - This is what makes the moving clouds and sparkling water when you have various options checked in the graphics preferences of your viewer.

Beta Grid - This is a test grid that you can log into, which is unconnected to the main grid. You might hear them referred to as agni (main grid) and aditi (beta grid). The beta grid is used to try out various things in Second Life. For instance, Linden Lab might update parts of the beta grid with a new physics engine that they plan to move eventually onto the main grid, and scripters can go there to see how it affects their scripted items, and make changes as needed.

RSS Feed - this is nothing to do with Second Life, although they do have RRS feeds for their blog and the status page. Many sites have an RSS feed (you'll know it from the orange icon) and these are summaries of pages that you can add to an aggregator program run either on your computer, or embedded into a webpage. Every time the site updates, a notice will appear in your aggregator, with a link to the updated page.

Viewer - the viewer is the program that you use to connect to Second Life. Other places have Second Life viewers because Linden Lab have released the code and other people have compiled their own versions of the viewer from that code. Some of them have extra features, some are for specialist lifestyles (Restrained Life, for example), and some are affiliated with websites and shopping sites such as onrez.

Hope that helps!

Your answers were nicely put- how would I know if I need/want another viewer? Where do you find downloads to these viewers? and how do you know what extra features there are in them?

One of the most popular viewers has been compiled by Nicholaz Beresford. You can find that one here:

http://nicholaz-beresford.blogspot.com/2008/05/version-overview.html

The Restrained Life viewer that I mentioned has been created for those in alternative lifestyles, such as BDSM. You can find that one here:

http://www.restrainedlife.com/?page_id=2

(Not much info there, but I'm pretty sure if you search the forums there'll be more info on Restrained Life, if you want to check out that viewer.)

Onrez is a viewer offered by the SL shopping site onrez. You can find that one here:

http://viewer.onrez.com/

There are various other viewers, and no doubt others will be along to give you links or explain more about them.

If you do try another viewer, keep in mind that this is a piece of software you have to download to your PC and give your SL user name and password to.

The ones Skell mentions above are well-known and very likely to be safe but you should treat alternate viewers (or bots) with the same suspicion that you'd treat any other piece of software that you download and feed a password to...

LOL.

Welcome to Wonderland, Alice...I mean "Dare". Falling down that rabbit hole can be a very disorienting experience. Just as well, because it preps you for what follows.

I'll define a couple of terms for you, but first...
Chris -- I think your dosage of Cynicsim needs a little adjustment. I'm cutting you back to 50mg per day. Remember, don't take it on an empty stomach, and don't mix it with alcohol.

Now...
Those glossaries will help lots. Carl Metropolitan of the Newcomers Institute (NCI) has a very complete one as well.

The "2,000 regions" mentioned in that Wiki is very out of date. At last count, SL consisted of over 22,000 regions. Yesterday, someone noted that we are about four times as big as Lichtenstein.

Useful Terms:

Ruthed - Appearing as the default avatar instead of yourself, due to connection problems or lag or any of a number of reasons. The current default looks like a pulsing white plasma cloud. Wait a while and you (or your friends) will generally coalesce.

Rezzing -
1. Every time you go somewhere new, the textures have to download to your viewer. Likewise when someone new teleports into view. Things are invisible at first, then fuzzy, then finally sharp and clear. Adjusting your graphics preferences can speed up this process. (Usage: "Hi, Lindal!" "Just a minute. I'm still rezzing."

2. Creating objects. (Usage: "First, rez a cube..."

Alt - The account you started with (Dare, I assume) is your main. If you create additional SL accounts, they are your alternates, or alts.

Prims - Objects that you rez. All of the creations of SL are made up of geometric primitives, textured in various ways. To keep objects out in the world more or less permanently, you must own or rent land (actually, server space). A given plot of land will support a fixed number of prims...the more square meters, the more prims that can be rezzed there.

Viewer - SL consists of various remote servers (sim hosts, asset servers, etc.) plus the software application you downloaded to your computer. That application is the "viewer". If you are not computer-savvy, then don't worry about installing any of the various "third party" viewers at this time. The one you downloaded from the SL website is just fine for most people.

Windlight - A fairly recent upgrade to the viewer that added much prettier skies and water reflections. It is highly customizable, and people can trade Windlight settings files back and forth.

Dazzle - Another recent upgrade. You see it mainly in the Preferences/Skinning option, which lets you choose how your user interface (windows, title bars, etc.) looks.

Havok 4 - Yet another upgrade, but this one was to the simulator software. It improved the physics engine and solved a number of crash problems.

Av, or avvie, or avie, or ava - Your avatar. Yourself, when you are in SL. You can have many avatars (our friend and colleague Crazod specializes in this. He is likely to come to a party as one thing, change several times, and depart as something completely different). You can change almost everything about yourself, in fact, except your name. To do that, see "Alt", above.

Cyber - Cyber-sex. Can be used as a noun or a verb. ("Hi. Wanna cyber with me?" Also called pixel humping, bumping pixels, swapping pixels, poseball hopping, and other terms.

Poseball - Those pink and blue balls scattered around on floors and furniture. Right clicking and sitting on one will activate its animation. Paired poseballs generally need a partner to animate them fully. Some are sit poses. Some are dances. Some are, um...see "cyber" above.

Danceball - a sort of giant multiperson poseball found in dance clubs. Touching it will allow your avatar to select from a number of dances.

AO - an "animation overrider". This gadget replaces the dorky default avatar animations with much better ones. Highly recommended to get rid of the "newbie look".

HUD - a "Heads Up Display". HUDS are actual objects, but instead of attaching to your avatar, they attach to various points on your monitor screen. HUDs are used to control any number of items, such as AOs.

Vendor - A thing you click on to buy something. Be sure you are not in Busy Mode when you do, or you will not get the thing you paid for.

And, oh, yeah...
Dolcett - A sexual perversion involving the eating of your partner's flesh. Sexual cannibalism. (We told you you didn't want to know.)

Which leads to...
TMI - Too Much Information. (Usage: "...so we went to this place to cyber and he wanted me to stand over him and..." "Stop! TMI!"

I'm outraged by your use of the word "scheme". OUTRAGED!!! You're lucky I don't have a glove handy to slap you with. Muskets at sunrise, sir!

I prefer "creative strategy"

And yes. Yes, I do want to go there.




Seriously. Don't. You do not need to know what this is. Ignorance is bliss. Google is NOT your friend in this case.

ROFL! I initially read that as "muskrats at sunrise". Must have been the possums over in the Undying Thread that did it.

And, I'm sorree...I blabbed.

/me goes to wash her brain out with lye soap.

/me agrees that you don't want details.

If you're _really_ curious, head to wikipedia and spend no more than 30 seconds reading about it.

/me gets all creeped out, just thinking about thinking about it.

Well, in SL, you could probably figure out a way to duel with muskrats. I'd actually like to witness that.

On the Dolcett thing. I think I did Google images when I looked it up. If I could have drilled a hole in my brainpan and poured in bleach to wash that out of my mind, I would have. I'm scarred. That, and when rotten Oryx convinced me to google Two Girls One Cup. No warning - just, "Hey, check this out". Scarred for life. Need therapy.

Poor Trout!

If I still have a job after Ann posted those pics yesterday, I'll come in and go over your schedule with you. What the heck, Ann can come in and take dictation at the same time. Serious therapy.