The Alphaville Herald

Launching the SLInformation Revolution

by Alphaville Herald on 04/05/05 at 8:52 pm

by Walker Spaight

Squagmire Stravinsky at the controls of the InfoNet R4

The information revolution comes to SL this evening when The Learning Center’s own Squagmire Stravinsky unveils her newest creation, the InfoNet R4 information network, in its new and more powerful laptop edition. Squag’s launch party starts at 9pm game-time (see Find for details). Don’t miss it — all the scripterati will be there.

Developed by Squagmire singlehandedly over a period of many months, the InfoNet is a powerful in-world information distribution system that resembles nothing so much as a kind of notecard-driven Internet.

Though official details are hard to come by ahead of the release of the portable R4 version, advance word is that the new system has been completely redesigned in a scalable architecture that will make the clunky information-handling tools now available on the Grid look like chipped and molting quill pens.

Accessed via a portable laptop (an in-world laptop, not the one you’re viewing Second Life on now), the InfoNet will provide a global, centralized library/database containing free scripts, the latest news reports (including from the Herald), SL history, a non-profit events calendar and much more.

Reports are that users will at some point be able to create and maintain their own information channels on the InfoNet, though whether that functionality has been fully implemented is as yet unknown.

Some of the things Squagmire hopes to implement in future versions include in-world forums and ‘blogs, RPG stats trackers, personal and business InfoNet sites, vendor tracking systems and much more.

In fact, the possibilities are nearly endless. By providing residents with a robust system of text and information storage — something the building and scripting tools notably lack — the InfoNet could open the door to any number of new applications and new ways to use and contribute to Second Life.

Linden Lab, probably busy working on Web prims for 1.7, has so far turned down applications for developer support for the InfoNet project, according to Squagmire. But if the present InfoNet system is any indication, the R4 should be a uniquely powerful new addition to capabilities on the Grid.