Month: May 2012

End of the road for the SL Solution Provider Programme

Posted on by Inara Pey

Tateru brings word that Linden Lab have e-mailed those involved with the Second Life Solution Provider Programme to inform them it will be shut down at the end of May 2012.

With the closure, the current Solution Provider directory will be moved to a new wiki page, where information will be presented in a “shortened version” of the directory and which Solution Providers will be able to maintain themselves.

The e-mail from Linden Lab itself reads:

Dear Solution Providers,

Thank you for your participation in the Solution Provider program. As of May 31, 2012 Linden Lab will be officially ending the Solution Provider program.

As part of the program’s closure, we will do the following: 

  • Replace the current Solution Provider Directory with a shortened version on the Second Life wiki (more information on the modified Directory below).
  • Close the SLDev group and in-world region.
  • Remove all Solution Provider program related wiki pages on secondlife.wiki.com [sic*].

As of May 31, a modified version of the Directory will be located on the Second Life wiki. The direct link will be sent out closer to the 31st. It will include the name of your company (with a link to your company’s website), services provided, country/countries where you work, languages, and company description. All the above information is taken directly from your current listing. Once live, you will be able to modify your listing by logging onto the Second Life wiki.

It has been a pleasure working with and getting to know so many of you over the past 4 years. I wish you all the best in your endeavours within and outside of Second Life.

Regards, 
Madhavi Linden

The news is unsurprising in some respects: the directory as it stands appears to be largely stagnant, and the last remnant of the secondlifegid.net Technology Programmes pages (which otherwise resolve back to people’s SL dashboards), and many of the case studies listed within the pages no longer exist in-world. This reflects the fact that the directory does not lend itself to easy update in its present form, and has grown increasingly stale since the lab shifted its focus away from real world business use of Second Life in 2010 to concentrate on the product as a consumer platform.

Similarly, the SLDev group has been largely ignored over the last three years, with much of what used to occur within it having been shifted to mailing lists such as the open-source developer’s mailing list. These mailing lists will not be impacted by the close of the SLDev group.

*As we know, the SL wiki URL is in fact wiki.secondlife.com.

With thanks to Tateru Nino

Floating in my tin can …

Posted on by Inara Pey

Another few months have passed, so a few weeks ago I decided it was time to pack-up my last home (which used the convex hull physics form) and try something new. Three things prompted the change this time. First off, when it comes it “living” in SL, I really don’t need a big house; with the last build, I got things down to a lounge and bedroom, although the latter was really superfluous to my needs – but the place was still somewhat big and I felt I wanted something a little more compact. Secondly, Spikeheel was nudging me to do “something sci-fi”. Finally, I was also working on a custom commission to convert one of my IPD skyspheres, so I had the Build Bug once again.

Well, there’s also the fact I never stay happy with any one build for particularly long…

Inspiration proved a little difficult to start. I did consider simply buying something; but nothing really appealed after looking around – although shape-wise, what I’ve finished up with owes a nod or two to the work of Blaze Nielsen.

Little floating home

My new home is pretty much oval in shape, with plenty of window space and enough room for my essentials all contained in a single “room”. Seating is provided via a sculpt kit by **aviSTYLe**, and two home-built “swivel chairs” and table. As such, this is the first build where I’ve largely dispensed with Ample Clarity’s PrimPossible range – but only because the lounge sets don’t really fit with the theme, and I have retained my piano :). I’ve again included a bed, more for appearances than anything else, and have pedestals for my two favourite sculptures (one of which is a magnificent mesh bust by the remarkable Claudia222 Jewell). To complete the basic set-up, I added a couple of plants for some nice greenery.

Interior

As always, I’ve opted for scripted lighting rather than baked (which never look particularly great to me anyway; not the way I mangle attempts), with a ring light around the ceiling dome and a set of additional scripts in the sculpture pedestals. These are set to bathe the place in a soft turquoise that is intended to match the carpet tone and interior highlights.

By night

As I’ve been working with texture changers elsewhere, and as this build sort-of originated from a “space station” idea, I flipped a couple of the scripts for use here, adding a sphere around the place, the inner surface od which I can either turn transparent for uninterrupted views of sky and sea, or upon which I can display suitable “space views” to heighten the illusion of being in orbit.

“Here am I sitting in my tin can / Far above the world….”
Sunrise sonata…

Not sure how long this place will last, but it’s home for now :).

SL9B first: water sims!

Posted on by Inara Pey

With 20 sims now being supplied by Dream Seeker Estates, Fruit Islands and Kitty CatS, as well as six from an anonymous donor, further details on the make-up of the sims has been released.

  • Seven full sims and two part-sims are available for exhibitors, providing between 250 and 300 1024sq parcels, each with a Land Impact of 234 (mesh builds are welcome at SL9B)
  • In an SLB first, two sims will be 100% water!
    • One of these will be available for exhibitors – so if your planned build at SL9B is suited for water, please indicate this on your application form
    • The other water sim will feature a stage either above, below (or both) the water. This will be a mesh build and is being contributed by Kazuhiro Aridian
  • Three other sims will be devoted to this year’s entertainment: one solely for DJs, one for live events, and the theatre / cake stage. Mikati Slade is supplying this year’s cake, so be ready for something very unique!
  • As there will be other SL9B events going on around the grid, The will be a dedicated Birthday Hub, which will be used to display information on other events being held in-world, so if you are planning an event, drop a message into the SL9B website.

If you wish to stay abreast of news relating to SL9B, join The SLB Community in-world.

SL9B is being organised by residents, for residents – there is no direct involvement from Linden Lab. Along with the festivities there will be fundraising for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights Aids, a charity supported by Dream Seeker Estates.

Related Links


(#2 of a series by Crap Mariner)

5th annual SL Home and Garden Expo

Posted on by Inara Pey

The fifth annual Second Life Home & Garden Expo is currently underway across 16 sims showcasing the work of many of SL’s top homes & gardens creators (many of whom are also sponsoring the event), with two additional sims for entertainment and breedable pets respectively.

The event opened on May 19th and will run through until May 28th and is supporting Relay for Life SL, with the 18 sims sited directly adjacent to the American Cancer Society’s region, which visitors to the Expo are welcome to visit.

The Expo sims are laid out with a mix of home & garden parcels, all based on a grid of interlinking footpaths that make wandering the event easy and which serve as natural boundaries. RFL donation plinths are regularly spaced along the footpaths, allowing people to donate as they go. Given the sheer number of sims and exhibitors, finding things can be a handful, so I recommend you make use of the Expo guide available on the official website.

Expo map

To encourage visitors, many of the participants in the Expo are offering exclusive items which will only be available throughout the duration of the event. These range from building through to furniture to trees and plants – even clothing and aircraft are offered, making it quite an eclectic mix.

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Annular eclipse

Posted on by Inara Pey

May 20/21 2012 saw an annular eclipse of the Sun. This is when the disk of the Moon comes between the Earth and the Sun, but the Moon is moving towards apogee in its orbit (the point at which it is furthest from the centre of the Earth), so that while the Sun, the Moon and the Earth are all aligned in syzygy, the disc of the moon is not large enough to cover that of the Sun to leave only the solar atmosphere visible (as with a total eclipse), but instead sits “inside” the disk of the Sun, creating what is called a “ring of fire”.

The eclipse was observable from China through Japan, Canada and much of the US from the west coast through to Texas. Images of the event were carried via a number of streams across the Internet, allowing thousands more to share in it.

I watched the event on-line (the sun having set in the UK a long time before the eclipse took place), along with a number of other SL friends who are also interested in astronomy, leading to a lively discussion about the eclipse itself and the possibility of hosting similar events in-world in the future. Our main stream for watching the event was provided by SLOOH Space Camera, which had cameras active in both California and New Mexico, although I was also keeping an eye on another feed from Reno, Nevada, which was transmitting via Ustream.

Annularity captured by the SLOOH camera in New Mexico, May 20/21 2012

SLOOH is a superb resource for people interested in astronomy and space exploration, regularly hosting events like observing the eclipse and their images are really excellent. I took the liberty of capturing screen shots of the event, as seen through both of the SLOOH cameras and have put them together in a Flickr slideshow (together with some initial images from the Reno feed and a brilliant photo obtained via the BBC) to try to capture the event.

A closer view through the SLOOH New Mexico camera. Note the sunspot close to the black disk of the Moon

The next major astronomical event SLOOH will be covering is the Transit of Venus next month, and if technology allows, there may be a chance people will be meeting-up in Second Life to witness the event, which will not occur again for another 105 years. If this can be arranged, I’ll be carrying information on the gathering on this blog nearer the dates of the transit (June 5/6).

In the meantime, the slideshow:

(Click here to view the slideshow full-screen)

ETA: found this amazing shot of the Moon’s shadow on Earth, seen from the ISS (click to enlarge & enjoy):

Viewer release summary 2012: week 20

Posted on by Inara Pey

This is a weekly summary of changes to all SL Viewers / clients of which I’m aware and which are in popular use across the grid / listed in the TPVD. Detailed links to said Viewers / clients can be found in my Viewer Round-up Page. The links supplied in this summary are either to change logs or to reviews within this blog.

A very quiet week!

Updates for week ending: 20 May, 2012

  • No changes to any of the major SL Viewer releases
  • Zen Viewer released version 3.3.3.4 on May 15th
  • Niran’s Viewer rolled through release 1.37 (14 May) to 1.38 (21st May, close enough to make this update)
  • Cool VL Viewer rolled to 1.26.4.13 on 19th May, with change log here
  • Group Tool made a release on May 20. Due to issues with the trial licence, still unable to test / review.

Related Links