November
- I started the month with an update on the parametric deformer
- Creatorverse launched on the iOS platform
- A bruhaha started over Star Trek goods and IP issues on the Marketplace
- Dolphin viewer officially ceased OpenSim support
- Oskar sadly confirmed he’d been let go by the Lab
- I was privileged to preview The Garden, an interactive / immersive game within SL which is simply excellent as I hope my slideshow demonstrates
- The Herbert Museum and Art Gallery in the UK and Second Life combined to put humans and avatars together in the same space
- The Dickens Project was officially announced and I gave a preview
- It was announced that using a virtual world can be good for your health
- In order to rally goodwill (and possibly push the much-borked listing enhancements) the Commerce Team launched a Listing Categories contest, but only after refusing to reconvene in-world meetings
- The mystery of the missing map tiles was explored at a User Group meeting
- Creatoverse reached the Kindle platform, and then later in the month, Android, which gave me the chance to play with it on my Galaxy S2
- We got to look inside Rod Humble’s head
- As a result of the new Group Services code being released by LL, Firestorm issued a major update in the form of a “beta” release
- Exodus also updated later in the month
- Things went a little wonky during a test of the new Interest List code, but the bug was quickly fixed
- A rather nasty outbreak of griefing occurred
- Rod Humble talked a little more about Dio and Versu
- Whiskey Monday announced her amazing artwork was now available to purchase in RL
- After several weeks of issues and problems, the SL viewer moves closer to a return of scheduled updates as the 3.4.2 code reaches the release version of the viewer
- I examined the media’s mistake in referring to SL as having “failed”, something I returned to ruminate upon during a region visit
- News on SL projects continued to be provided via my SL projects updates
- On the personal side, I reported back on efforts to settle-in to living in just my Linden Home and I got bitten by the (War)bug; I discover this blog is voted Readers’ Favourite by NWN readers, and I’m sincerely flattered
- Away from SL, InWorldz announce their move to their new hosting service, which was duly completed on time & schedule; Curiosity continues to rolls across Gale Crater
December 2012
- The server-side work on Interest Lists continued and it is hoped it may help with region flicker / “warping”
- Christmas tales started to take centre stage at Seanchai Library SL, where they remained throughout the month
- The Firestorm “beta” released in November went “final”
- Darrius Gothly launched his own implementation of Toysoldier Thor’s Virtual Landmarks, which I first covered in August. Darrius issued VLM Beacons a few days later
- Lumiya got a final update for the year
- The snapshot “tiling fix” arrived in th SL Beta viewer. OK, so the fix wasn’t perfect, but it was a major step forward for many, and rolled out to other viewers during the month
- The Magic of Oz opened in SL, in an interest new take on breedables and mobile devices
- I was allowed a sneak peek at The Dickens Project
- LL announced server-side avatar baking would be arriving early in 2013
- The Phoenix Firestorm Team announced “end of line” for the Phoenix viewer
- Long-time SL resident, VW explorer and fellow space enthusiast Lalo Telling passed away
- Rather surprisingly, LL launched “Careatorverse Lite”, starting with the iOS platform, and then Android and Kindle Fire
- Patterns gets a further big update and LL start selling it direct while announcing several new features for 2013
- I (most likely rhetorically) ask if LL will learn to communicate in 2013
- CHUI moved closer to a mainstream release with further updates
- Threaded region crossings were given a test, but with disappointing results
- Thanks to a pointer from Darrius Gothly I finally discover the look of the SL forums can be greatly improved with an application of Blue Goo, thanks to Cerise Sorbet
- The new Marketplace Listing categories started appearing, although one went AWOL
- Meme sadly announced that due to RL pressures, Water Reserve / Scribbled Hearts would close, and I say a brief goodbye to a wonderful region
- News on SL projects continued to be provided via my SL projects updates
- On the personal side, I celebrated 6 years of continuous “Second Living”, and eventually managed to push out a little video of sorts; as December drew to a close, I looked back at the year from an entirely personal perspective, and concluded that the magic of SL is still there – if we’re prepared to look for it
- Away from SL, NASA issued some marvellous new images of the Earth at night; A great British Institution, Sir Patrick Moore, passed away; interesting news on Valve’s plans for Steam in 2013 emerged; AvaCon moved on from SLCC with the announcement of the Metaverse Cultural Series for 2013
2012 SL Destination Reviews
- July
- Wanderstill (M)
- Neva River (M)
- Mountains of the Moon (since closed)
- Highgarden (A)
- Svarga (G)
- August
- Chouchou (M)
- September
- End of Time (M)
- Keisei (M)
- Pandoria (M)
- SS Enigmatic (M)
- Dumb N Dumber / Raven Lake Fathoms (M)
- October
- Grimm Shores (Halloween Seasonal)
- Arkham Manor (Halloween seasonal)
- Second Norway (M)
- Steelhead (M)
- Water Reserve / Scribbled Hearts (M) (now closed)
- Rati dAlliez / Wizardhat Studios (M)
- Fourmile Castle (M)
- November
- Carneval (M)
- FaeryDreams (A)
- Baltic / Labyrith of Daedalus (M) – SL historical
- Black Kite (M)
- Torley Island (M)
- Roche (M)
- Calas Galadhon (M) – winter seasonal visit
- Frisch / “German Castle” (G) – SL historical
- Runestone (M)
- Point of Derivation (M)
- December
2012 SL Art Reviews
- July
- The Gathering on Sky Women – curated by Katz Jupiter
- Second Life Maps – curated by Juliana Lethdetter
- The Returning – Marcus Inkpen
- Duché de Coeur: third Annual Music and Arts Festival
- September
- “Spirit” at Art Screamer – Claudia222 Jewell (closing)
- October
- Machinima Open Studio Project – Chic Aeon
- A Rusted Development – Rowan Derryth, curator
- Calavera! – Elicio Ember (Halloween seasonal)
- November
- Guernica – Lizzue Gudkov and London Junkers
- Of Sound Mind – Led by Lorin Tone
- December
- The Tower – Rebeca Bashly
- Musical Art for Children – curated by Veekay Navarathna (Seasonal charity event)
- Mado / Dryland – curated by Anita Witt
SL Events
- AdMIRe 2012 (preview)
- Burn2 2012 – October 2012
- BOOFest – October 2012
- Unhinged – November / December 2012
- SL Xmas Expo – December 2012 (RFL)
- The Dickens Project – December 2012
- Together for Sway – December 2012
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 