OK just kidding. But I do love alliteration and with a name like Profile Peeker, how could I resist? Stepping out of my usual role as a reviewer of fashion and commentator on the silly things Linden Lab often does, I'm going to talk about a strange HUD for Second Life. It's called Profile Peeker and it's made by Patser Albatros. Full disclosure, he's a friend of mine and also the maker of the inworld HUD game, Pirates.
So what does it do? First, it displays thumbnail photos from the profiles of up to 10 people you are closest to. The screen cap to the right shows how it looks in Firestorm viewer and as you can see, it takes up a bit of visual real estate. The left-hand thumbnail is the main profile picture while the right is the First Life picture (if any).
The magic comes when you click on a photo (peek at the profile). You get a popup window with three choices:
You can (obviously), look at a profile. You can also see what attachments an avatar is wearing (want to find out what dress she's wearing?). The interesting thing is "History".
It takes you to a third party server that shows you a grid of "history" changes to the text on the SL & RL parts of the avatar's profile and partner changes. I have no idea about the magic behind this but it looks like it's getting info from public Second Life web profiles. I even see data going back to 2016. Creepy? Maybe. The Internet never forgets!
So Profile Peeker works and does exactly what it says it does -- if you're inclined to use such a thing. One small thing that could use improvement is how the profile pics are presented. I'd almost prefer the avatar name instead of the thumbnail of the profile. An avatar's look doesn't always match their profile photo and it can be a bit tough to match someone up if there are lots of avatars near you. Maybe as a floater? Mouseover? Anyway, it's not an issue when you are only around say 5 people but more than that, a name reference would be easier.
Profile Peeker is available for free on the Second Life Marketplace here:
https://marketplace.secondlife.com/p/Profile-Peeker/8067750
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