New Reuters HUD has local content, personal RSS
By Adam Reuters
SECOND LIFE, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Reuters has launched an updated version of its free Second Life heads-up display, the news HUD, now available at the Reuters island (Reuters, 142, 90, 25).
The news HUD is now integrated with BlogHUD, a service created by Koz Farina that allows users to file blog posts from within Second Life. You can either view all BlogHUD posts, or select the posts from the region you are in.
The redesigned HUD also allows you to enter in your own RSS feeds, making the Reuters HUD a general-purpose reader so that you can keep up with your favorite Web sites from within Second Life. (Click here to learn more about RSS feeds.)
Finally, the new version of the HUD features a financial data tab with a selection of Second Life statistics.
Detailed instructions for the news HUD are listed below:
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The latest HUD now displays:
* Reuters Second Life news headlines.
* Four categories of real life Reuters news headlines.
* Headlines from up to three RSS feeds of your choice.
* Second Life financial statistics.
* Global and local headlines from BlogHUD (http://www.bloghud.com).
:::GET STARTED :::
Heads Up Display:
* Just wear it! Right-click the “[Reuters] News HUD 2.0″ object in your inventory and select ‘wear’.
::: BROWSE (HUD) :::
Click on the tabs at the top of the HUD.
*The ‘Second Life’ category tab features Reuters news headlines about Second Life current events.
*The ‘Top News’ category tab features real life Reuters news headlines in four categories, viewable both comingled and separately. To change what you’re viewing, select ‘Filter Headlines’ and choose from the available options, or ‘SHOW ALL HEADLINES’ to see the comingled view.
*The ‘My Feeds’ category tab features headlines from up to three RSS feeds that you can choose yourself. See ‘CUSTOMIZE (HUD)’ below for more information on how to do so.
*The ‘SL Finance’ category tab features live Second Life financial data.
*The ‘BlogHUD’ category tab features headlines from BlogHUD (http://www.bloghud.com), either based on the region that you’re in, or throughout SL. To change what you’re viewing, select ‘Filter Headlines’ and choose ‘LOCAL BLOGHUD POSTS’ or ‘ALL BLOGHUD POSTS’.
As in the displays, clicking the orange summary icons will give you a short summary for the article in question, and clicking on the headline for an article will take you to the article in question on the web. The currency exchange box at the top shows the current average US$/L$ currency exchange rate.
::: CUSTOMIZE YOUR FEEDS (HUD) :::
In Reuters HUD 2.0, you can read headlines from your favorite blogs and web news sources inside Second Life! To customize your feeds, click the ‘Customize my Feeds’ button visible on the ‘My Feeds’ tab.
You will be redirected to a web form with three fields to enter in URLs for three distinct RSS feeds. Enter in the RSS feed URLs you want, then click ‘Validate’. The system will check if your RSS feeds are valid, and if so you’ll have the option to save them. Once saved, these feeds will appear in your ‘My Feeds’ tab the next time the HUD refreshes - it will do so automatically within 5 minutes, or you can force it to do so by detaching it and reattaching it.
Here are a few example RSS feed URLs to get you started:
* The Official Linden Lab Blog - http://blog.secondlife.com/feed/
* 3pointD - http://www.3pointd.com/feed/
* Second Life Insider - http://www.secondlifeinsider.com/rss.xml
For info on how to find RSS feed URLs to include in your ‘My Feeds’ tab, click here: http://www.wikihow.com/Find-RSS-Feeds-on-the-Web
::: DISCUSS :::
Click the blue speech bubble icon at the bottom of the display and next to every headline on the HUD when you see a headline that interests you. On the HUD, if the bubble is greyed out instead of blue, it means that you cannot use this feature with this headline.
You’ll have the option to add your name to a list of users interested in discussing that article, see the names of any users interested in the same article, and teleport to a chat area for this category of article, on Reuters Island.
::: MINIMIZE (HUD) :::
Click the arrow icon in the top right of the HUD to hide the HUD main body. You can bring it back by clicking the same icon again.
::: SHARE :::
Reuters displays allow you to make copies and give them to your friends! Drag a copy that you’re not wearing onto another avatar or the other avatar’s profile.
::: HELP :::
You can revisit these instructions any time by clicking the ‘?’ icon on the display.
If you have any questions, or wish to report any bugs, please contact Hank Hoodoo. Thank you!
