Linden Lab have offered-up further gifts with which to celebrate SLs tenth birthday – only these are both numbers and time-limited, and only available in-world.
The first items are mesh varsity jackets in the SL colours and bearing the 10th anniversary logo on the front and the Lab’s logo on the left sleeve. These come in male and female styles and a range of sizes (items are no modify / no transfer) and with an Alpha layer base. Also on offer is an “SL10B teddy male” – actually two bears (father and son?) the smaller sitting on the larger one’s head.
The jackets and bears are limited to 1 per avatar, and only available until 23:59:00 SLT on Monday June 17th.
To get yours, visit the SL10B gift vendor in-world at SL10BCC (there are others scattered around the regions). If gifts are your thing, keep your eye on the vendor for future offerings…
We’re all (hopefully) by now familiar with the them of this year’s SL10B Community Celebration: Looking Forward, Looking Back.
Well, the ideals of the theme aren’t restricted to just SL10BCC.
The Dickens Project, December 2012
In December 2012, as part of festivities which took place around the world to mark the Dickens Bicentenary Year, the folk at Storyfests SL organised The Dickens Project. This was a 13-day celebration of Dickens’ work, primarily focused on A Christmas Carol, but which included selections from other novels and short stories.
During the 13 days of the event, some 20 hours of readings and performances took place, featuring an international cast in a purpose-built themed environment in Second Life which not only reproduced the world of Dickens’ novels, but which provided a number of levels of interaction for visitors and audiences, allowing them to immerse themselves in the environment and discover more about Dickens, his life and works, and the era in which he lived.
The Dickens Project, 2012
The concept provided a further means of demonstrating the interactive, immersive possibilities virtual environments have for storytelling and discovery on a global level.
Now, as a part of a broader project, Judith Cullen (Caledonia Skytower in SL), one of the prime movers behind The Dickens Project, has put together a short video looking back at the project before looking towards the possible future expansion of the concept of immersive storytelling.
It’s a fascinating insight, both from a historical standpoint looking back at the Project itself, and the potential for future developments with the overall theme.
We’re into the first full day of festivities at SL10BCC. Given the size of the event, trying to review everything on offer simply isn’t feasible, and some hardware issues at my end mean that I’m not in a position to do the kind of “region round-ups” I did last year.
So instead, I’m going to offer some personal picks from what’s on display by way of suggestions as possible stop-off points in your explorations.
Marianne McCann’s History Walk is a must-see. Find out about the entire history of SL year-by-year, from the earliest glimmerings through to the present day. Find the year you first came in-world and read-up on the notable events.
I mentioned this in passing yesterday, but didn’t give the SLurl or go into specifics. For those not in the know, Shatoetry is an app that lets you arrange words – into statements, comments, messages, sentences, phrases, haiku, poetry, or even just random words. Once arranged, you can then hear the inimitable William Shatner speak it back to you in his own unique way, and presto! – You have created a Shatism!
Crap, with the assistance of a few friends, has put together a series of SL-focused Shatisms for your aural enjoyment. Just step on to the parcel and enjoy Mr. Shatner’s ruminations on Second Life.
Want to add your SL-related Shatism to the build? You can!
If you have the Shatoetry app (iOS only), record your own and e-mail it to isfullofcrap-at-gmail.com. If you don’t have the app, read the Shatoetry word lists and IM Crap with your Shatisms he’ll then render them for you. Remember! in order to work in-world, although remember that all recording must be 10 seconds or less in length in order to play in-world.
You can also see a list of current SL Shatisms in the build here.
I chose this exhibit because it is it is eye-catching, simple and highly effective, making it very photogenic. The piece looks at storytelling through fantasy role-play in SL, with a focus on Ynys Seamaide, a “Celtic medieval RP” immersive environment with an “emphasis on story and character not meters or guilds.”Small this build may be compared to others, but it is worthwhile taking a look around it carefully; there are some very subtle details which can be missed in a rapid look-see.
This summary is published every Monday and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Viewer Round-up Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware) and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy
By its nature, this summary will always be in arrears
The Viewer Round-up Page is updated as soon as I’m aware of any releases / changes to viewers & clients, and should be referred to for more up-to-date information
The Viewer Round-up Page also includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
Updates for the week ending: June 16th, 2013
SL Viewer updates:
Materials Processing beta updated to version 3.6.0.277285 on June 12th and then to 3.6.0.277409 on June 14th (release notes)
A Beta Maintenance viewer, version 3.5.4.276827 was release on June 14th – core updates: lots of fixes and improvements (incl. updates to the ongoing ultra-high resolution snapshot issues, mesh improvements, etc.) – release notes
Catznip released version R8 on June 8th (missed from last week’s summary as a result of a website redirector error) – core updates: SSB/A and pathfinding – release notes
Littlesight Android client updated to version 1.4.0.1 on June 12th, no release notes
Lumiya updated to version 2.4.6 and then 2.4.7 on June 12th – core updates: general bug fixes; support for multiple attachments and clothing layers; in-world hovertext display; search places; updates SSB/A support; improved support for emotes in chat – release notes
Mobile Grid Client updated to 1.20.1185 on June 10th (and slipped into the week 23 report as a result) – release notes
Pocket Metaverse updated to 1.8.1 on June 10 (and slipped into the week 23 report as a result) – release notes
Depreciated / Discontinued Viewers
SL Development viewer – depreciated as of version 3.5.2.274629 April 24, 2013
Zen Viewer – discontinued by developer and no longer available, January 27th, 2013
Phoenix viewer – development and support ended on December 31st, 2012
Note: This is a personal piece, and not reflective of any stance from the organisers of SL10BCC. As I’ve previously stated on this blog, items which express a personal opinion here do not carry the SL10BCC logo. They do not form announcements, but are my personal take on events, activities, and where to find information I believe to be of value to people attending the celebrations.
The time has come. The regions are open. Are you ready to party? Have you staked-out your spot to watch the hoisting of the flags?
To help you get the best vantage-point from which to see the flags being hoist at 13:00 SLT on Sunday June 16th, a map has been produced showing exactly where the flag will rise – simply pick a spot close to any one of red Xs ahead of the ceremony.
X marks the spots – where the SL10B flags will be hoist to mark the official start of SL10BCC and a week of celebrations (click to enlarge)
What to See, Where to Go?
SL10BCC offers twenty regions, many with 36 exhibits apiece in them, plus the Cornfield and Bear Island, and all the various entertainments running 24/7 on the main stages and elsewhere in the regions – and only eight days in which to see it all!
When you have limited in-world time, the numbers can be overwhelming and leave you wondering just how you’ll manage to see all the best bits.
Well, help is at hand. Crap Mariner, SLB veteran, raconteur and robot-about-SL has put together an informative, if personal, guide to all there is at SL10BCC. Each and every exhibit is located, named, and rated. I perosnally find it an invaluable guide if you want to cut to the quick and use your time to the best advantage.
And don’t forget to check-out his Shatoetry exhibit while you’re at it. After all, where else are you ever likely to come across Crap Mariner and William Shatner in the same space, other than in Second Life!
If you want to add some fun to your explorations of SL10BCC but are unsure of where to go, you might consider following in David Abbot’s footsteps as he start out on The Long Walk.
The Long Walk will lead you through the streets of the SL10BCC regions on a journey of discovery.
David Abbot and The Long Walk poster
Every day for the Birthday Week, David will be posting an account to the official SL10BCC blog of his explorations of the celebration regions and recounting some of the amazing sights he sees along the way.
All you have to do is follow in his footsteps. Along each stage of the journey, if you pick-up on the hints and keep your eyes peeled, you can pick up one or two special gifts. But be warned! These may not always be in the locations he mentions directly, although the clues will be there – even if they take the form of an X marking the spot!
He’s already posted his first diary entry in preparation for his explorations, so be such to catch-up with David through the blog and follow in his footsteps daily!
Make Time to Meet The Designers
If you’re not in the mood for partying, or if you’re simply partied-out from the pre-opening entertainments, then why not drop-in to the SL10BCC Auditorium? There will talks and presentations in the auditorium throughout the week, kicking-off with two special Meet the Designers events on Sunday June 16th, hosted by Saffia Widdershins of Prim Perfect:
13:15 SLT – Just Meshing About with guests Maxwell Graf, Cain Maven and Froukje Hoorenbeeke
16:00 SLT – The A’stra Team of Toady Nakamura and Flea Bussy will be talking all things – which will doubtless include their beloved and astounding Grendels. As Philip Rosedale once remarked: As goes Grendels, so goes the grid.” Find out why as Toady and Flea sit down with Saffia.
An island of worn ancient cliffs sheltering a garden of wonders; Lost for countless ages in the midst of a vast ocean, home to Jinn, Elves and gentle spirits.
So reads the description for The Sands of Time / Majilis Al Jinn. This is a stunning region created by Calein Flux which is well suited to both the SL photographer and the intrepid explorer. Given that we’re in the midst of many celebrations to mark SL’s 10th anniversary which are going on across the grid, as well as about to see the start of a biggest gathering of exhibitions and entertainment to mark this momentous occasion, The Sands of Time might also be a worthy retreat from the hustle and bustle of partying and fun.
For my part, I wanted to explore The Sands of Time for two reasons: it immediately captured my sense of “OoO” on seeing it, plus my graphics card is becoming increasingly poorly and I wanted to see if issues which started to really make themselves felt while trying to snap exhibits at the SL10BCC regions would occur anywhere else.
Sadly, my GPu problems do. I’ve no idea if my woes are related to the nVidia 320.18 driver snafu (I was experiencing issues before the driver came out, although things got noticeably worse after updating the driver), but I do know that I’m now reduced once more to taking snapshots in JPG and at something just a little above my monitor resolution if I want to avoid either the snapshots failing to save to my hard drive or the viewer simply falling over with a graphics-related memory issue.
Nevertheless, exploring Sands of Time brought a smile to my lips; this is a beautifully composed region, which brings together a mix of eastern and western mythologies (the Djinn or Jinni (genies)) of the east, and the elves of the west) together in an incredibly scenic and restful sim which, Calein informs us through a visitor’s notecard, took a year to visualise.
The notecard itself, available from a vendor at the underground arrival point, is very much worth taking and reading. It not so much sets the scene for any forthcoming explorations, but rather allows us a glimpse inside the creative process and Calein’s thoughts and ideals in bringing the region into being. And it is a fascinating insight at that.
You have a choice of directions when leaving the arrival point – out through a cave to a beach area at the base of the cliffs, or a climb up through underground chambers to the cliff-top. Personally, I preferred going the beach route and working my way around things from there – it left the discovery of what Calein refers to as one of his most interesting creations until later in my visit, giving me a greater sense of anticipation.
This is also a place for romantics. Up on the clifftops are gardens and the palace, with fountains and lots of places where you can sit, watch, talk, and share with a friend or loved one. These very much bring one the sense of walking through the more romanticised tales of the middle east, although hidden in the gardens are also hints of the far east as well.
This is a wonderful, absorbing build, offering chances to explore, to wonder, to sit and share and even to meditate. Make sure you explore up as well as down – even if the “up” is only looking up inside the palace building. There is a lot to see here, and it is all very much worth the time taken to make sure you see it all.
Now, time for me to go source a new GPU card before I’m reduced to bashing the keyboard in frustration…
Linden Lab have offered-up further gifts with which to celebrate SLs tenth birthday – only these are both numbers and time-limited, and only available in-world.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 