Month: September 2012

BURN2: land allocated and guest artists announced

Posted on by Inara Pey

BURN2 has announced that all parcels up for sale for this year’s event have been sold, and the parcel lottery has also closed. This means that land on all six regions for the event, which will take place  from October 20th through 28th, 2012, has now been allocated.

The names of the lottery winners have been posted on the BURN2 website, together with details of their parcel allocations. A full BURN2 Camp Directory is also available, listing all parcels and their intended use.

BURN2 2011

At the same time the six invited artists for the event have been announced. They are: Arachne Anatra, Silene Christen, Pallina60 Loon, Fuchsia Nightfire, Nexuno Thespian and  Ub Yifu.

Volunteers

Those wishing to volunteer to help during the event as a greeter, guide, translator, etc., please visit the BURN2 volunteer sign-up page.

DJs and live performers who might be interested in having a set at the event should contact Buttermilk Panacek.

What is BURN2?

From the Burn2 website:

BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups and the only regional event allowed to burn the man.

The BURN2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall – a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.


Burning the Man 2011, a video by Debbie Trilling

Related Links

 

Curiosity: “…And here’s one I took of me looking at me…”

Posted on by Inara Pey

In my last round-up on news from the Mars Science Laboratory briefings, only Pressed earlier today, I made mention of Curiosity testing the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), mounted on the science systems  turret at the end of the robot arm, and taking some self-portraits during the initial 6-day calibration and check-out period for the robot arm and the science instruments.

Little did I realise the first such picture had actually already been taken!

The first self-portrait from Curiosity:  MAHLI snaps the rover’s “face” of the mast-top array comprising the ChemCam, Mastcam and Navcam systems

The image was captured as the Mastcam took pictures of Curiosity’s turret on Sol 29, and captured a shot of MAHLI in order to check the dust cover over MAHLI’s sensitive lens, and ascertain the amount of dust on it and whether the dust would post a problem when the cover is finally opened.

The MAHLI image was taken at around the same time, and is hazy due to the protective cover, which is in place at the time the image was taken, being covered by a thin film of dust thrown-up during the landing phase of the mission covering it.

The image of the turret and MAHLI taken by the 34mm lens of Mastcam. The pink colouration on MAHLI is light catching the “glue” used in the imager’s lens system

This is liable to be the first of a series of remarkable and unique series of images from Curiosity.

Curiosity reports in this blog

Images courtesy of NASA / JPL.

Taking flight: the Birdland Grand Re-opening

Posted on by Inara Pey

When marimba rhythms start to play
Dance with me, make me sway
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore
Hold me close, sway me more.

This weekend marks the Grand Re-opening of Birdland Jazz Lounge, with an open invitation for you to join the celebrations!

I recently blogged about the return to SL of two long-time friends, Alma and Blysse, and the re-establishment of Birdland in SL – a place I long regarded as a second home and Second Life’s premier jazz / romantic dance venue.

Events marking the re-opening will be running right across Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th September with a mix of DJ sessions, live singers, and the Birdland Burlesque Showgirls in All That Jazz.

The full schedule for the weekend is as follows (all times SLT):

Saturday September 8th:

  • 11:00 – Misfit DJ – live
  • 16:30 – All That Jazz – the Birdland Burlesque Showgirls
  • 17:00 – Live performance by Tamra Sands (Tamra Hayden)
  • 18:00 – All That Jazz – the Birdland Burlesque Showgirls
  • 18:30 – Misfit DJ – live

Sunday September 9th:

  • 11:00 – Misfit DJ – live
  • 14:00 – Live performance by Phil Setner
  • 15:00 – All That Jazz – the Birdland Burlesque Showgirls
  • 15:30 – Misfit DJ – live
  • 16:30 – All That Jazz – the Birdland Burlesque Showgirls
  • 17:00 – Live performance by Broook Baxton
  • 18:00 – All That Jazz – the Birdland Burlesque Showgirls
  • 18:30 – Misfit DJ – live

Birdland is truly a great venue where you’re assured a warm, friendly evening, good music and plenty of conversation and dancing. Formal wear is requested, otherwise the atmosphere is relaxed. So why not pop along over the weekend and sample it for yourself and help Alma and Blysse celebrate the official re-opening? I’m sure once you do, you’re liable to become a regular!

There’s More…

Birdland features the music of Misfit DJ throughout the week, with sessions as follows:

  • Mondays through Fridays: 19:00 SLT
  • Saturdays and Sundays: 11:00 and 19:00 SLT.

Formal dress is requested at all sessions.

Related Links

Curiosity: putting a hand on Mars

Posted on by Inara Pey

This last week marked Curiosity’s first month on Mars. It’s been a remarkable period, with the rover undergoing an extensive commissioning period (which will continue into next month, most likely), and returning some of the most amazing images from the surface of Mars we’ve ever seen.

Now the trek has begun, and Curiosity is well and truly on her way to Glenelg, a journey of some 400 metres (1300ft) which should be completed in October.

The trek to Glenelg began in earnest on Sol 24, with Curiosity travelling 21 metres (70 feet) – its longest single drive at that time – heading eastward away from Bradbury Landing. The following day, Sol 25 (August 31st), the rover had a “day off” from driving, which was spent  gathering environmental data and sky images using the Navcam system. Mastcam was also used to capture a 360-degree panorama of its new location.

A mosaic of Navcam images from Curiosity, captured on Aug 30th, showing the rover’s tracks back towards Bradbury Landing

Over the next few days, the rover continued to trek eastward, covering 30 metres (98 feet) on September 1st, in a drive to test its “visual odometry” in using images captured by the Navcam system to analyse the distance it has travelled. The day included further tests of CheMin system, while SAM took samples of the Martian air overnight on the 2nd/3rd Sept (Sol 27/28). The drive then resumed, with Curiosity covering over 30 metres (100ft) on Sol 29, including a manoeuvre to skirt sand.

Making tracks: a remarkable image captured by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) showing the discolouration of Bradbury Landing and Curiosity as it heads out from the landing zone to explore Gale Crater

Arm Flexing

Having travelled a little under the quarter of the distance to Glenelg, Curiosity halted progress to commence the first six of ten planned consecutive days checking-out the robot arm and its turret of equipment. These will see the arm extensively tested through a series of “teach points” established during testing on Earth, and will include activities such as moving the turret to the inlet ports on the rover’s body to simulate the delivery of sample material to the on-board analytical instruments. The purpose of the tests is for mission engineers to get a better understanding for how the arm functions after the long cruise to Mars and in the different temperature and gravity environments of Mars when compared to the calibration testing carried out on Earth.

These operations – which form part of the overall arc of “characterisation tests” designed to check-out the rover and its range of science equipment and capabilities – were sequenced into the drive to Glenelg following the rover’s arrival on Mars. They require that Curiosity be parked at a specific angle relative to the sun, and on flat ground, which it reached on its Sol 29 drive.

The turret seen from the Matcam. In this image the Turret has been raised level with the 34mm lens of Mastcam and inverted. The pink colouration seen on the MAHLI instrument is the result of the “glue” used in the camera lens bonding process, which turns the inside of the lens pink-red under certain lighting. The wire brush is a dust removal tool which will clean rock surfaces prior to drilling

During the calibration tests, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI), a camera mounted on the turret, will be tested and calibrated, as will the Alpha X-ray Spectrometer. The arm’s ability to place instruments against rock samples will also be tested as the first steps in preparing the turret for drilling and soil sample collection activities as a part of its science mission.

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Spirit: a final chance to say goodbye

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Sunday September 9th, Claudia222 Jewell’s magnificent Spirit installation at Art Screamer comes to an end.

Spirit

Opened seven months ago, Spirit has enjoyed a high-profile run at Art Screamer with almost 20,000 unique visits in that time, with many people returning again and again to take in the visual splendour of Claudia222’s work.

To mark the end of the run for this remarkable artistry, Art Screamer curators Zachh Cale, Amase Levasseur and Chestnut Rau will be hosting a farewell party from 10:30 through to 14:30 on Sunday September 9th, 2012, with music provided by TwinGhost Ronas and Jordan Reyne, with additional artists anticipated. Music entertainment will commence at 11:30, and has been kindly sponsored by Kermit Rutkowski. A special video feature will be run during the event, comprising machinimas of Spirit made at Art Screamer.

Spirit

If you have not already done so, please make sure you visit Spirit before it closes!

 

Linden Lab close public JIRA, launch Bug Tracker

Posted on by Inara Pey

Linden Lab today reported that they’ve effectively closed the Public JIRA system to users, and are launching a new “bug reporting project”.

The announcement, made in the Technology blog, reads:

User-submitted bug reports help improve the Second Life experience for all Residents, so we greatly appreciate all of you who take the time to provide this invaluable information to us. 

Because we want to make it even easier to report bugs, today we are making some changes that will streamline the bug reporting process, allowing us to more quickly collect information and respond to issues.

Following is a summary of the JIRA changes:

  • All bugs should now be filed in the new BUG project, using the more streamlined submission form.
  • Second Life users will only see their own reported issues.  When a Bug reaches the “Been Triaged” status, they will no longer be able to add comments to their issue.
  • Once a Bug reaches the “Accepted” or “Closed” status, it will not be updated. You can watch the Release Notes to see when and if a fix has been released for your issue.
  • Existing JIRAs will remain publicly visible. We will continue to review and work through these.

To those of you who have taken the time to alert us to bugs and provided the information we need to fix them — thank you! We hope that you will continue to help us improve Second Life, and this new process should make it easier for all of us. Ideas about how we can continue to improve the bug reporting process can be shared here.

For more information, visit:
How to report a BUG (Knowledge Base Article): 
Bug Tracker (wiki page):
Bug Tracker Status/Resolutions (wiki page)

As a part of this change the public JIRA is still browsable, but it appears the ability to comment on specific JIRA items has been turned off.

It’s hard to fathom why this has been done – and the stated reason actually makes little sense. If nothing else, the fact that users can only see the bugs they report will inevitably means that the system is liable to get flooded with duplicate entries  – far more so  than is was the case with the JIRA system. Beyond this are other aspects which seem to make this move counter-productive:

  • Users are often a part of the triage process. They can confirm when and how issues are occurring; they can test different hardware and different viewer options and ascertain if the problem is at all localised, or possible an artefact unique to the reporter’s system
  • Developers can similarly – and vastly – help the triage / resolution process, bringing their own knowledge and skills to bear on user-reported problems
  • Both users and TPV developers can speed the process on duplicate JIRA identification and cross-referencing, reducing the amount of work LL have to initially undertake.

All this move appears to do is further break another means of productive collaboration between Linden Labs and TPV developers / the user community, leaving everyone the worse off, and that in itself is hardly positive.

While there has been frustration within LL – and among those who do invest time and effort in trying to help LL deal with raised JIRAs – over the amount of (often pointless) feedback,  bickering than can occur with a particularly emotive JIRA (comments like THIS IS BAD!!!!!!! FIX IT NOW!!!!!!! certainly don’t help anyone), this move can hardly be called a proportional response to preventing such problems.

Unless there is more to come, such as TPVs at least being allowed to engage in the bug / issue reporting / triage / resolution process, there is potentially only one adjective which some might opt to apply to this move.

Asinine.