The 6th annual Second Life Home and Garden Expo opened on Friday May 24th 2013.
In support of Relay for Life, and covering a total of 11 regions adjoining the American Cancer Society, the Expo brings together over 100 exhibitors of the very best homes, gardens, landscaping and interior design products in Second Life. It will continue through until Sunday June 2nd, 2013.
Eight of the regions of the expo are devoted to homes and gardens, while two more are devoted to the Breedables Fair, which features 30 of creators of Second Life breedable creatures. The remaining region in the exposition is devoted to entertainment and activities.
The Expo is an annual highlight for those that love seeking out the latest home and garden products and combined with a full entertainment schedule, hunts, raffles and silent auctions plus items designed just for this event – you can be sure of finding stylish new products to give your home a fresh look.
Devonmoor Manor, a design by Kismet and one of the units available at the Home and Garden Expo
Entertainment at the Expo will be ongoing through the week of the event, and the best place to find out information on what is going on is the Expo’s entertainment webpage. As with previous years, the Expo has a hunt running through the week, featuring some unique prizes. There’s a L$10 entry fee (proceeds to RFL), and the hunt is “blind” hunt – meaning entrants get the landmarks/locations of all the stores in the hunt and their hint, but do not know which store they’re going to. Hints for the hunt can be found at the landing points in each of the Expo regions.
A Silent Auction is also a feature of this year’s expo, with more unique items donated by creators and with all proceeds going to RFL.
The Palamino by Stonewood Homes, also on display at the home and Garden Expo
Release a Lantern of Peace and Love
In 2012, Alchemy Immortalis created a lantern which formed the centrepiece of remembering all those who had survived cancer’s ravages and those who had succumbed in their battle against the disease through a special daily ceremony in which lanterns would be released and allowed to float up into the sky.
The ceremony became very special to the people who attended, and so the folks at PrimPerfect have decided to host it again in 2013. So, they’ve extended an invitation for people to join them at the Prim Perfect platform on Home Expo 6 every day of the Expo at 16:00 for a communal release of lanterns both to celebrate the living and in memory of those we have loved and lost.
PrimPerfect are also hosting a series of talks with designers throughout the week of the Expo, starting at 15:00 SLT on Friday May 24th with Loz Hyde, Maxwell Graf and Kriss Lehmann, all of whom will be talking mesh.
Meet the Designers with PrimPerfect
The talks will all be taking place at the PrimPerfect Temple at the Expo.
Not long ago, Honour posted a piece on how, in order to get things done in-world, she sometimes resorts to using an alt. Doing so allows her to focus on what she’s doing without the distractions of IMs, people dropping in or whatever. Last on, she followed-up with a piece commenting that despite the fact she does use an alt – she doesn’t consider the alt to be “her”.
I know what Honour means.
I’ve had an alt since 2008. (Actually, I technically have 2 alts – but one is located on a Destination Island, where I use it to see if there have been any tweaks to the in-world side of the sign-up process, so I ignore it, as it’ll never see serious use anywhere else). She was created after my main account appeared broken, and i needed an account simply to be able to get in-world while my main account was “fixed”.
Fortunately, the account issues were resolved after a few days, and so the alt disappeared into a box, making only occasional appearances in-world. More recently, she seen rather more use, as I tend to use her to fiddle with project and experimental viewers, a move which prompted me to dub her my “Crash Test Alt”.
Over the last few months, this use has grown to include me sometimes using her to attend in-world Lab meetings (generally as a result of me already being logged-in with her & being to bone-idle to swap accounts / viewers), and occasionally slipping in to scout-out regions I might blog about at some point. Even so, through all this time, I’ve never regarded her as “me”; in my mind she is always, “her”, “she” or “it”.
My reaction probably isn’t that unusual; many of us have a particular avatar in SL into which we pour not only a lot of creative effort, but also a lot of our own personality as well, so much so that there is an indelible line which connects us in a very personal and unique way to that avatar which goes beyond matters of money spent or inventory built up.
Even so, I find my lack of identification with my alt interesting. Other than tweaking her shape and getting her a decent skin, I’ve never seen the need to invest in any clothes or shoes for her. To this day, she’s still wears the outfit she was wearing when first rezzed. It’s not that I can’t define or afford a look for her; I simply don’t see the point of doing so. She doesn’t even have a profile picture of herself.
My inability to identify with her manifests in other ways as well. As I mentioned above, I sometimes use her to slip into SL to scout regions I might blog about. But then I do this, I find that I have considerable difficulty in taking snapshots using her; I can’t settle on camera angles or decide on appropriate windlight settings or the best time of day to frame a shot. Then, even when I do eventually land a series of snaps, I’m completely dissatisfied with them and end up deleting them and swapping back over to my main and starting again. I may be far from the top-flight photographers who inhabit Second Life, but it’s almost as if what abilities I do have when it coming to taking in-world photos is wholly invested in Inara Pey, and it is only with her that I have any confidence that what I’m trying to frame may be worth showing to others.
My alt isn’t hard to spot. Not only is she still in 2008 “female musician” threads and boots, her group tag tends to read “Inara Pey incognito”, which is a bit of a giveaway, I know. I created it to try and make me feel a little easier with using her; not that it seems to be working.
So if you come across her meandering around, and conversation seems odd or awkward when chatting, don’t worry. It’s not that I don’t want to be disturbed or that I’m trying to avoid contact.
It’s just that I’m borrowing someone else’s body for a while, and it doesn’t quite fit.
As noted in part 2 of this report, due to issues with the JSON deployment made to all three Release Candidate channels in week 20, there was no Main channel deployment in week 21.
Maestro Linden likes to keep fit while chairing the Server Beta meeting
On Wednesday May 22nd, the three Release Candidate (RC channels should each receive the following updates:
Magnum received an update to the server maintenance project deployed to all three RC channels in week 20 which includes fixes for bugs within the LSL support to create and parse JSON-formatted strings. Release notes.
BlueSteel received a further update to the experience tools project, and there should be no visible changes with this update. Release notes
LeTigre received an update related to the simulator’s interest list subsystem which reduces scene loading time when entering a new region. Release notes.
As mentioned above, the Magnum updates included a fix for an issue within the LSL JSON capabilities deployed to the three RC channels in week 20. Currently, the fix appears to have resolved the issues, so it is possible the JSON capabilities will reach more of the grid once more in week 22.
“json is a javascript way to describe data and pass data between scripts or services. In that regard one of the biggest benefits of json in LSL is for improving the ability of LSL to interact with 3rd party APIs,” Kelly Linden explained at the Server Beta meeting on Thursday May 23rd after questions were asked as to the purpose of the capabilities. “Because it is simple and relatively ‘complete’ even non-javascript services use it on the internet to exchange data … I’ve been interested in services like parse.com for example which let you store and retrieve data very easily … in json … https://parse.com/docs/rest this is what would work with LSL.”
Kelly also noted the new capability might be used within LSL, but with a small caveat, saying, “If you are only working within LSL there may be some specific cases where it is beneficial, but other string to list functionality will probably be fine.”
The package deployed to Magnum also included a fix for the bug introduced into the RC channels in week 20 which affects control event triggering in attachment’s child prims after changing regions. However, the fix as deployed is described as “interim”, and corrects the problem (which is described in full here) by reverting the fix for SVC-8227 (ApplyImpulse now works only in the root prim). Referring to the situation at the Server Beta meeting on Thursday May 23rd, Maestro Linden said, “we hope to get a ‘real’ fix in for that sometime in the future.”
SL Viewer
Further to part one of this report, Oz Linden has clarified the function of the new “Willing to update to release candidate” option in project / beta viewers. As I’ve previously mentioned, when a viewer is believed to be of release quality, it will be put into a release candidate, which will be released to a chosen number of users (the number determined by Linden Lab). By leaving this new option checked, users are indicating that they are willing to receive any such release candidate updates if they are selected by LL to receive them. Unchecking the option means that a user will not be included in the count for any release candidate update, and so will not receive any updates until such time as the viewer reaches release status.
The new “Willing to Update” option
Even so, leaving the box checked does not mean a user will automatically receive release candidate updates – as noted above, LL will determine the total number of users who will receive any given release candidate updates. These will be chosen at random from those who are using the project / beta viewer, and once this number has been reached, no further users will receive the update regardless as to whether the option is enabled or not. If necessary, the selection process can be additionally targeted at specific operating systems, but the Lab currently don’t have plans to use this capability.
While the new release process is not dependent upon Materials Processing project viewer reaching a beta release status, it still appears unlikely that the new processed will be deployed until after Materials has done so. Once the new release process has been deployed, Oz indicates that it is likely that a number of viewer candidates will appear – such as a bug fix candidate a Snowstorm candidate and possibly others as well, although the exact timing and spacing of the releases is unclear.
Interest List News
Andrew Linden
Also attending the Server Beta meeting, Andrew Linden provided a further update on the interest list updates deployed to LeTigre. These amount to a number of fixes and updates to the code.
“The main thing in that RC is some minor tweaks to help the scene load a little faster on login and teleport. The effects are small, especially in the case where you have a full cache for that region so I’m guessing that no one has really noticed the scene loading any faster.” Andrew explained, “There was [also] one minor bug I fixed for people with really low-bandwidth settings… the updates were not properly getting re-sorted when the camera moved around, so the scene would continue to stream in based on where you were standing when you arrived but most people with >500kbps bandwidth shouldn’t notice that problem — the scene usually loads fast enough now. ”
He went on to reiterate that the LeTigre deployment also includes a partial fix for the “Meeroo update” problem of objects not updating correctly after being outside of the camera’s field-of-view. Again, as mentioned in part 2 of this report, the fix works with affected objects which are up to 10 metres away. However, he believes he now has a more complete fix for the problem, but has yet to test it. He also believes that the issue causing the “Meeroo update” problem may also be responsible for BUG-2644 (pathfinding characters not updating behind the camera) is the same problem as the Meeroo animation, and is hopeful his intended fix will correct that as well.
Finally, the update fixes a minor bug where the green avatar dots on the mini map would not update correctly for avatars behind the camera.
The downside to the LeTigre update is that it did introduce a crash mode, which Andrew described as “rare… only about 6 per day,” and which is currently being investigated.
Server-side Baking / Appearance
As noted in week 20, it has been hoped that the server-side of the SSB/A code would be enabled on two test regions on the Main grid. These regions are Intended specifically for TPVs to carry out functional tests on the viewer code away from the distractions of broader issues which interfered with testing on Aditi. As such, they should not be considered a sign that deployment of the server-side code had commenced. It had been hoped that the two regions would be enabled this week, but at the time of writing, this is not yet the case. This doesn’t necessarily mean the project is delayed, however.
In terms of overall deployment, matters are unlikely to have changed since week 20, and the Lab will still in part be looking at this initial “TPV test” period as an opportunity to gain further additional metrics on the system and to look for anything untoward occurring prior to committing to possible dates.
Earlier in the month, I noted how the weather here perhaps hasn’t received the memo about spring passing and summer arriving, something which prompted me to set off exploring SL in search of something to counterpoint the large number of summer-like snaps inhabiting my posts and Flickr stream. That hike led me – most happily – to Winter Moon, Dream Shadowcry’s beautiful and evocative homestead region.
Well, the weather here in RL has remained pretty bleah; if it’s not been raining, it’s been overcast and the wind less than polite. Up until today, that is, which has seen relatively clear blue skies, sunshine and the chance the lawns might actually dry-out sufficiently for me to get the mower out … tomorrow …
To celebrate, I set out to find the sun in Second Life, I found in Lula, Turnip Sorbet’s marvellous region and the home to her store, Turnip Homes, as well as Lamb and Tres Bleah (Mon Tissu having relocated to Mayfair).
Lula is another of those marvellous regions where care and attention has gone into presenting visitors with a warm and inviting experience which encourages them to stay, shop and wander. The main stores themselves are clustered, village-like, towards the centre of the region, which has been terraformed into a gently undulating landscape which merges with the green hills of a sim surround.
This is a beautiful rural / rustic scene, the colours of the buildings giving something of a Mediterranean feel to the village, the trees a mix of greens and browns suggesting the season might be late summer, although the young fawns, keeping close to their mother suggest the time might be early spring – so you can decide for yourself which season you prefer.
The village is small and easy to explore, an added touch of authenticity coming in the form of wooden board nailed over the entrance to the buildings which once house Mon Tissu, and there are places to sit and mark the passing of the day and paths to follow down from the village into the fields and glades surrounding it. Cross the river over the stone bridge and bear right, and you’ll come across a strange little tea party scene, complete with a dormouse nibbling away; not that the Alice reference might be intentional, although the armchair in the tree suggests someone as mad as hatter has some unusual thoughts on the subject of a “room with a view”.
Cross back over the river via a small wooden bridge and you’ll find the fawns and their mother I mentioned earlier and, as you wander on, other little points of interest and little whimsies to delight the eye as hot air balloons float overhead and offer further platforms to observe the passing world.
Were someone to ask me how to sum-up Lula, I’d probably use one word: carefree. This is a place where the worries and concerns of the outside world – virtual or otherwise – can be left at the teleport point and the heart, mind and eyes can wander and explore happily.
Opening on May 22nd, and running through until July 21st on LEA 25, Da Vinci’s World is a fascinating insight into the life, work and times of Leonardo da Vinci which has been four years in the making.
The full region installation is a beautiful piece conceived and built by Sniper Siemens which includes no fewer than 25 reproductions of da Vinci’s machines and engineering marvels together with reproductions of many of his works of art and his drawings and papers, all presented in a rural setting modelled da Vinci’s (and Sniper’s) native Tuscany. Within this setting also stand models of the Castello dei Conti Guidi and the Church of Santa Croce, from the town of Vinci, and a model of the farmhouse a short distance from the village, where Leonardo was born.
“Da Vinci’s World” is a project born 4 years ago,” Sniper says of the piece, “The construction of the first machine of Leonardo was almost by accident. Now after several exhibitions including one from my friend Mexi Lane to the MIC I had the opportunity, thanks to LEA, to be able to realize my dream.”
In developing the installation, Sniper not only shows her own passion for da Vinci’s life and works, she also brings to bear her knowledge as a long-term mentor and helper: the entire region is carefully laid-out, the exhibits spread along walkways which progress you through the installation from the arrivals point through to the buildings of da Vinci’s birthplace, with plenty of singage along the way. Each piece includes an information giver offering notecards in a number of languages.
The machines on display represent a good cross-section of de Vinci’s work, with offensive and defensive weapons standing alongside various flying machines, and mechanical systems such as hydraulic pumps, swing bridges, musical instruments and his architectural designs, all which combine to present a vivid picture of de Vinci’s genius.
The attention to detail is wonderful. Not only are the machines very well constructed and scripted, wander into the buildings and you’ll find da Vinci’s paintings on the walls, and his papers, sketches and notes scattered across tables or piled on the floor as if dropped there as the great man himself ran through his works and ideas, adding notes here and there or revising plans before hurrying off somewhere just before you reached the room…
There is also more whimsical element to the exhibition as well – inside one of the buildings is a piece freely inspired by the film the Da Vinci Code, offering a chance to mixed fact with fiction.
This is very much an installation worth taking the time to explore. The wealth of information is huge, and the setting and exhibits worthy of the time taken visit.
Applications for SL10BCC closed on Monday 20th May 2013 – and it seems that many of you are eager to hear back on you applications – which is great!
However, please, please bear in mind that in all, we’ve received over 1,000 applications, which is stunning! These include:
Over 500 exhibitor applications
Over 470 performer applications
Over 350 volunteer applications.
Obviously, this is going to take time for us to work through all applications and assess them and get acceptances out. Right now, priority is being given to exhibitors, as the SL10BCC regions will be opening for exhibitors to start work on Sunday, May 26th (not the 27th, as originally announced due to that being Memorial Day in the USA). So, if you have applied to be an exhibitor, please be patient a little longer, we will be getting back to you ASAP.
If you’ve applied to be a volunteer or performer – don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten you; replies just might take a little longer to organise and send out as the team works through this overwhelming show of support for the event!
The 6th annual Second Life Home and Garden Expo opened on Friday May 24th 2013.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 