Month: September 2013

SL projects update week 39 (3): viewer, interest list, HTTP, SSA and more

Posted on by Inara Pey

The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday September 27th. A video, courtesy of North, can be found at the end of this report. The numbers in braces after each head denote the time stamp at which the topic can be listened-to in the video.

A typical TPV dev meeting
A typical TPV dev meeting

SL Release Candidate Viewers

SLShare

[03:00]

Following my coverage of the release of SLShare, the opt-in capability for those wishing to link their Second Life accounts with their Facebook accounts, A question was asked as to whether the feature would be available to TPVs. Speaking at the TPV Development Meeting, Oz Linden provided comments which answered this question more fully, and and Merov Linden gave further information on the functionality in general.

“One of the design considerations is that this is a feature you [TPV developers] can all integrate without any problem,” Oz said. “All of the actual connections to Facebook, all of the handling of the requisite authentication tokens and permissions and [the] relationship with Facebook itself, is all handled server-side. So the code that’s in the release candidate viewer is something that you can integrate so that you can also make this feature available on whatever schedule you would like to.”

He went on to confirm that given this, no Facebook information for users of the service is exposed to TPVs.

As to how soon it might be before the SLShare RC is promoted to the release viewer, Oz again reiterated that it depends on how well the various candidates currently in the release channel perform. Currently, the metrics for the viewer look good, according to Merov, so it may still leapfrog its way to becoming the release viewer. However it is more likely that it will not become the de facto viewer for at least another two weeks.

Despite the negative reactions to the feature which have appeared in the comments following blog posts, etc., reporting on the functionality, the Lab believes SLShare is already “getting a lot of use”. This view is based on the numbers of people who have pro-actively gone and downloaded and installed the RC viewer manually.

While this may be a case of the Lab greasing the wheels a little bit (downloading and installing the viewer isn’t necessarily the same as running the feature),  Firestorm are reporting that they’ve had at least one request for the feature to be added to their next release.

During the meeting, a series of questions were raised on the feature:

  • Will the feature become opt-out in the future, rather than opt-in? Merov Linden:  “It’s opt-in. We’re not doing anything [behind] the back of the residents.”
  • Will the feature create a Facebook account on behalf of anyone using it? Merov Linden:  “There is no API to create an account on Facebook on behalf of someone.”
  • Will it lead to a merging of the current SL feeds with the Facebook feed?  Oz Linden: ” No, there is no connection between the Second Life profile feeds and the Facebook feed. They have no relationship at all … In theory one could probably build a viewer that did that, but we’re not planning on it.”

(Further questions passed unanswered due to the region in which the meeting was being held being subjected to a griefing attack which left it in a poor state and prompted a change of meeting venue.)

Viewer Statistics

[33:26]

The Lab has been putting together a new statistics reporting system, which is now starting to be used to generate a range of reports. Commenting on some of the information which is coming out of the system, primarily in response to questions asked at both Open-source dev and TPV dev meetings, Oz indicated that:

  • Almost one-third of regions within SL have at least one materials-enhanced object in them, which is described as “dramatically faster” than the adoption of mesh
  • The number of avatars wearing materials-enhanced mesh / prim clothing is “steadily climbing”
  • The number of people who have Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled on a “class 3” (mid-range Graphics cards) or above is just under 20%

One of the problems here – from the Lab’s point of view at least – is that both Singularity and Firestorm have ALM turned off by default for almost all graphics settings, except perhaps High-Ultra, and Ultra. The flip side to this is the view that the Lab enables ALM by default on cards which are barely able to support it, with the result that people’s SL experience suffers through poor frame rates.

In the past the Lab has pointed to data which tends to show that viewers running on low-end graphics cards card do indeed suffer performance issues with ALM active; mid-range GPU show little difference in performance between running with ALM active or not and have “reasonable” fps rates; high-end (“class 5”, as they call them) cards  – e.g. ATI Radeon HD 7800, 7900, 8900, 8950 + similar, nVidia GTX 460/460SE, 465, 550TI, 580, 660/660TI + similar – perform significantly better with ALM active.

The problems here are how one defines “reasonable” frame rates and how one interprets ALM. For the Lab, it would appear that “reasonable” frame rates is anything in double figures – e.g. above 10; many users would disagree with this. At the same time, many users still appear to equate having ALM active with having Shadows enabled (which actually leads to a far larger performance hit), but the two are actually quite separate. As had been pointed out a number of times in these pages, ALM can be active without having to enable shadows.

Running with ALM active does not require shadows to be enabled
Running with ALM active does not require shadows to be enabled

Nevertheless, part of the new viewer statistics system should enable to Lab to gather and present performance numbers for cards with and with ALM enabled, filtered by viewer, so that TPVs can better judge matters for themselves.  In addition, Oz is going to be looking at ways and means of doing systematic testing with cards in order to generate more meaningful statistics, and which may allow for other factors which influcence performance (other avatars in the same region, the amount of movement going on, viewer settings, etc.).

Understanding Viewer Performance

[45:41]

A further problem with the viewer is that it is complicated, and while there are many tools to help monitor performance, people either focus on the wrong tools or cannot find those that would be helpful to them in diagnosing an issue when they do encounter unexpected performance drops.

To this end, Oz floated the idea at the TPV Developer meeting for TPV devs to give thought as to which tools and information feeds within the viewer would be useful to users to help them understand what is going on, and how best to present said tools, etc., in a way which would make sense to users and enable them to make use of the information they are seeing.

Continue reading “SL projects update week 39 (3): viewer, interest list, HTTP, SSA and more” →

L$425,000 in three hours: the MJF Premiere Party

Posted on by Inara Pey
Angel Manor - venue for the MJF Premiere Party
Angel Manor

On Thursday September 26th, I had the honour of attending the VIP Michael J. Fox Show Premiere Party. A gala evening organised by Team Fox SL coordinator Solas, and co-hosted by Team Fox SL and Creations for Parkinson’s at the magnificent Rose Theatre Ballroom, Angel Manor.

The event was to both mark the premiere of Michael J. Fox’s new television series, The Michael J. Fox Show, and to raise funds for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research through the Foundation’s grass-roots fundraising arm, Team Fox.

Barbi Achemi (r) and, just turning away from the Camera, event organiser, Solas (l)
Barbi Alchemi (r) and, just turning away from the Camera, event organiser, Solas (l)

Over 100 parties and events were planned across the USA and Canada to mark Mr. Fox’s return to television in a series which also seeks to raise awareness of Parkinson’s – Mr. Fox plays a newsman making a return to work after being diagnosed with the disease. However, there was only one event to be held in a virtual world.

The party kicked-off at 15:00 SLT in the sumptuous surroundings of the Rose Theatre Ballroom, with some 30 or so guests. Satin Galli provided live entertainment for the first hour, which I sadly missed do to commitments elsewhere. By the time I arrived, DJ Graywolf was spinning tunes hand-picked by Michael J Fox’s son, Sam. At that time the ballroom floor was alive with people dancing on their own, as couples, or in small groups, and more were seated at tables set-out around the dance floor.

Fran Serenade and the Premiere Party Bear
Fran Seranade and the Premiere Party Bear

Barbi Alchemi, founder of Creations for Parkinson’s was there, as was her mother, Fran Seranade, herself suffering from the disease, and both of whom have featured in a number of SL blogs, including this one and in the media at large. Also on hand was event organiser, Solas, and Tredi Felisimo (Donna Davis (PhD, an Assistant Professor at University of Oregon), who is studying the physical and psychological effects of virtual worlds on people with Parkinson’s on her region of Frantastica, which adjoins Creations Park, where Creations for Parkinson’s is based.

Also spread around the ballroom were display boards for items donated to the event auction, and which drew some fantastic bids including:

  • L$ 35,000 bid by Marcusgay Lefevre for two minutes of video magic about himself and filmed by Draxtor Despres the man behind “The Drax Files”
  • L$25,000 bid by Wyndlyght Epona for a chance to work alongside DB Bailey, an architect who provides unique spaces with complex vibrant textures zealously executed are walks of art, and learn his magic
  • L$7,000 bid by Redorange Magic for a beautiful gown from  Sascha’s Designs, winner of the  AVI Choice Award  Best Female Apparel Designer  for two consecutive years
  • Draxtor Despres takes me for a gracious turn around the dance floor!
    Draxtor Despres takes me for a gracious turn around the dance floor

    L$ 6,500 bid by Lisa Valentino for a unique garment designed for them by Solas NaGealai  owner of  BlueMoon enterprise

  • L$6,000 bid by Lisa Valentino for a one-of-a-kind complete avatar, MICHELLE, a high quality, attractive female Shape and Skin from PYRO. Comes with Eyes, Lip Gloss and Hair
  • L$5,000 bid by QuillRiley for tea and a talk with “Creations Mom” Fran Seranade
  • L$5,000 bid by Zip Zlatkis for a magical portrait for two done by Jaden Hollow.

These bids, together with tickets sold for the event, donations made during the evening and the evening’s raffle, mean that L$425,000 (approx $1,700 USD) was raised for the Michael J. Fox Foundation in three hours!

All-in-all this was a fabulous evening, one enjoyed by all. Congratulations to Creations for Parkinson’s, Team Fox SL, to all those who donated auction and raffle items, time and effort, and especially to Solas, for making it all possible.

The ballroom and party
The ballroom and party

About the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research

Founded in 2000, the MJFF has raised over $350 million towards finding a cure for Parkinson’s Disease, making it the world-wide leader in helping to fund research into the disease. Of the funds raised by the Foundation:

  • 52%  goes directly into altering the disease – developing a treatment that could restore function to damaged dopamine neurons in the brains of Parkinson’s patients;
  • 22% goes directly into defining the disease – biomarkers are a critical missing link for developing next-generation treatments. Biomarkers of Parkinson’s will allow researchers to track the disease risk and progression of Parkinson’s disease and detect whether other treatments are working
  • 18% goes directly towards untreated symptoms – available treatments for Parkinson’s address only some symptoms and bring on highly disabling side effects, reducing quality of life for Parkinson’s patients and families
  • 8% goes into tools creation – the Foundation creates and distributes critical research tools to help investigators spend more time focusing on what matters: curing Parkinson’s disease.

Related Links

Anyone with Parkinson’s disease who is interested in learning more about Tredi Felisimo’s research at Frantastica, can contact her in-world, or via email at dzdavis-at-uoregon.edu.

ToS Changes: The “Desura connection” and a personal perspective

Posted on by Inara Pey

Upset over LL’s re-wording to their Terms of Service continues, with high-profile reports of some content creators of long standing opting to withdraw their content from SL, and another third-party content supplier forbidding the use of their items within Second Life.

Elsewhere, people are starting to point to a “Desura connection”, with Nalates Urriah speculating that the re-wording might be in connection with the Lab wishing to provide the means for SL content creators to sell content through Desura.

A possible “Desura connection” was actually first mooted in passing by Kuurus in a September 15th comment on this blog, after I obtained a statement on the ToS changes from the Lab. Kurrus’ comment in turn prompted me to take another look at Desura’s former Terms of Use (replaced at the end of August by LL’s ToS, but still available via  things like the wayback machine), to see how that handled third-party content. What was interesting here was that the wording in the Desura ToU bears remarkable similarity to that of the revised LL ToS, as I commented upon at the time. Specifically, Section 2 of the old Desura ToU stated:

You expressly authorise and permit Desura to exercise and to authorise others to exercise all of the rights comprised in copyright and all other intellectual property rights which subsist in the Content and you irrevocably consent to all such exercises. Desura is not required to compensate you or any other person in any manner for any such exercise or authorisation. In particular, Desura may use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and perform the Content and other works which are based on them (including by way of adaptation or derivative works) in any form, anywhere, with or without attribution to you, whether or not such use would otherwise be a breach of any person’s moral rights, and without any notice or compensation to you of any kind.

Desura's former Terms of Service included language similar to that found in LL's ToS
Desura’s former Terms of Service included language similar to that found in LL’s ToS

While the phrase “sell / resell” is notably absent from the above, the overall assignment of rights to Desura of any and all work uploaded to the Desura website (including forum comments, etc.), is actually very similar to those the Lab set-out in their revised ToS. Note in particular that Desura can reproduce and redistribute (aka give away and / or sell)  in any form, anywhere – a phrase which strongly echoes, LL’s own ToS statement that they can use content “for any purpose whatsoever”.

This clearly doesn’t negate concerns over the ToS changes or put anything to rights, nor am I suggesting it does. Rather, it suggests that the rewording of the ToS is a direct consequence of trying to merge two disparate terms of service / use, which has resulted in a clause which perhaps should have been more thoroughly considered in terms of implications rather than as an exercise in re-wording.

Following-on from my initial contact with the Lab about the ToS changes which elicited their original statement on the matter, and as a result of looking into the Desura ToU, I again wrote to the Lab on September 17th in an attempt to obtain further feedback from them on the matter. At the time this article went to press, I had yet to receive any reply.

Is the ToS Change Related to Making SL Content Available on Desura?

Determining what the Lab may or may not do isn’t easy. The company tends to hold its cards close to its chest on matter of future planning and directions. However, there are several points to consider when looking at the whole SL content / Desura angle.

For example, unless there are plans to curtail the Marketplace completely, one has to question whether such a move would actually be seen as worthwhile to merchants. The Marketplace may have its flaws, warts and issues, but at least it is directed at the audience most likely to purchase the goods on offer. As such, the effort in opening Desura to the sale SL content may not actually reap real benefit in terms of SL content creators actually using it.

Which is also not to say it shouldn’t perhaps be tried, if it doesn’t take-up too much effort. And who knows? In time, the Lab may well be looking towards moving away from a market environment which only allows content to be sold into one platform, and to one that allows them to potentially offer merchants the means to reach multiple grids. Again, not that this will happen overnight, were it to turn out to be a part of the Lab’s thinking.

Certainly, both Humble and Scott Reismanis, Desura’s founder, appear to share some grand ambitions for Desura’s future. I recently drew attention to quote from Humble on this, in an interview he gave to Gamasutra:

[We want] to make it the most open, developer- and user-friendly distribution service for all kinds of digital goods, starting out with games and mods and going from there. For us it’s a natural step… We’re about user-to-user transactions and empowering people’s creativity.

[my emphasis]

Scott Reismanis (Desura) and Rod Humble have expressed similar ambitions to grow Desura
Scott Reismanis (Desura) and Rod Humble have expressed similar ambitions to grow the platform

Continue reading “ToS Changes: The “Desura connection” and a personal perspective” →

Discovering hidden tranquillity

Posted on by Inara Pey
Moonlight Teahouse
Moonlight Teahouse

Travelling the coastal regions of Second Life’s great continents, you’re never quite sure of what you might find. Take the north coast of Jeogeot, for example. For the most part, it’s fairly typical of most mainland regions, a huge variety of builds facing the open sea, some attractive, some less so, some hugging the ground, some floating above it and others bridging the gap between the two. Such is the range of builds, it’s very easy to miss some very rare gems among them.

Gems like the Moonlight Teahouse, sitting on the coast of Tuli form example. Tucked into a narrow – but deep – parcel, it is a charming haven of peace and comfort one might so easily sail – or fly – right by and never notice. In fact, I only noticed it as a result of it appearing in the Destination Guide as a recent addition.

Moonlight Teahouse
Moonlight Teahouse

The work of SL entertainer Myron Byron on behalf of the Moonrocks group, Moonlight Teahouse packs a lot into a relatively small space, and is worth dropping by and having a look around. From the arrival point, sitting above a small, secluded beach, you can follow the paved walk atop a high wall, past an area for Tai Chi practitioners and then either descend a set of stone steps through a rock tunnel to the beach, or climb another, shorter stairway to the teahouse itself.

Here sits not only the teahouse, but a beautiful garden beyond, where the clever use of trees, paths, walls, plants, water and a surrounding facade of rocks presents a feel of a place much larger than is the case, and which harbours a warm feeling of seclusion and peace, despite the surrounding builds.

Moonlight Teahouse
Moonlight Teahouse

A path loops around the garden, leading you both away from and back to the teahouse, spanning the stream which meanders through the parcel with twowooden bridges. Stone lamps light the path, giving an added sense of romance during twilight times.

A pair of Japanese rock gardens sit on either side of the main entrance to the teahouse, where you can sit and enjoy a traditional tea ceremony with a friend or on your own, or simply sit and talk and  forget the worries and pressures of the world – real or digital. Afterwards, you can wander down to the beach and sit in and old rowing boat, or simply let the tranquillity of the gardens wash over you.

Moonlight Teahouse
Moonlight Teahouse

The parcel follows the natural day / night cycle of the region, but to fully appreciate it, I suggest you have a play with your viewer’s windlights, this is a place then very definitely lends itself to the late afternoon  / evening time of day, and also looks superb under moonlight conditions, as I hope some of the pictures here demonstrate.

All in all, a delightful place to visit!

Related Links

SL projects update week 39 (2): Server, viewer, region crossings

Posted on by Inara Pey

Server Deployments – Week 39

As always, please refer to the week’s forum deployment thread for the latest news and updates.

  • On Tuesday September 24th the main channel updated to the server project that was on Magnum last week, with the llXorbase64 (see my week 35 (2) update ), a number of JSON updates, the nerfing of recursive rezzing (outlined in my week 35 (1) report), a parcel access update (see below) and more – see the release notes for details
  • On Wednesday September 25th, all three RV channels (BlueSteel, LeTigre, Magnum) received the same update package as deployed to the Main channel.

Parcel Access Update Bug

At the Server Beta meeting on Thursday September 26th, Maestro revealed that the parcel access update, designed to enable users who are on a parcel’s “Allowed Access” list now correctly bypass other parcel restrictions (such as “Payment Info On File”) when entering the parcel, introduced an unexpected bug. He it as:

If you have a group-owned parcel, and the parcel access is restricted to group members, *and* “sell passes to..” is set, then group members can’t access the parcel, which isn’t good. My guess is that nobody noticed in RC because “sell passes to” isn’t widely used.

The classic behaviour was this one motorcycling sim had it set up; you could either join the group for L$300 and have permanent access to their roads, or alternatively pay L$100 for a one time pass to visit … With the bug, even the group members couldn’t access (though oddly they weren’t prompted to buy a pass either – entry just failed). It may have been that the viewer expected the classic behaviour, so didn’t prompt about a pass. Anyway, we do have a pending fix for the issue.

Maestro Linden's new meeting venue (complete with materials), which saw its debut at the Server Beta meeting on Thursday September 26th.
Maestro Linden’s new meeting venue (complete with materials), which saw its debut at the Server Beta meeting on Thursday September 26th.

Week 40 Deployments

While the final decisions on deployment packaged are not made until the start of the week in which they are due, Maestro Linden gave a hint of some of the items liable to see the light of day in week 40 (week commencing Monday September 30th)

  • A further LSL update for JSON support, which will see JSON_DELETE added as an option to llJsonSetValue() and allows you to delete an element directly
  • A fix for a group notice bug which causes a notice (possibly only in some groups, it’s not entirely clear) randomly failing to reach some group members

Commenting on the latter, Simon added, “That group one is kind of minor. There still seem to be issues with groups, even with this fix, but it may help … Group notices have gotten more reliable lately, thanks to Monty’s http work, I think, but I’m still hearing of notices getting lost sometimes, or the sender not getting one.”

Maestro also confirmed that there is a separate bug related to offline notices failing to reach people’s e-mails, with some at the meeting reporting they haven’t received any off-line notices for the past month.

SL Viewer Updates

On Wednesday September 25th, the Lab launched SLShare, and with it introduced a new RC viewer – version 3.6.7.281331 – with the new OPTIONAL share with Facebook capabilities.

The four tabs of the new SLShare floater, allowing people to share their SL times via their Facebook account if they so wish
The four tabs of the new SLShare floater, allowing people to share their SL times via their Facebook account if they so wish

Continue reading “SL projects update week 39 (2): Server, viewer, region crossings” →

The Michael J Fox VIP Premiere Party in aid of Parkinson’s Research

Posted on by Inara Pey

Fox-fundThursday September 27th will see a special series of events take place across the USA and Canada – and in Second Life.

They are to both mark the premiere of Michael J. Fox’s new TV series and to raise funds for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

The Second Life event, which kicks-off at 15:00 SLT is the only one of its kind to be taking place in a virtual worlds, and is a co-production between Creations for Parkinsons and Team Fox SL, and organised by Team Fox SL coordinator Solas (solasnagealai).

And there is still time to be a part of the magic!

Tickets are L$1,000 (and limited to 100), with all proceeds going directly to the Foundation via Team Fox, its official grass-roots fundraising arm. The party will run through until 18:00 SLT and will take place in the elegance of the Rose Theatre Ballroom at Angel Manor.

To obtain your ticket:

  • Visitor the vendors at Angel Manor or Creations Park
  • or copy and past the following in open chat: secondlife:///app/group/84fb7135-bf2f-7d66-a30b-98ecee9cd5a8/about – The Group Tag is your ticket.

Event Schedule

  • 15:00-16:00 SLT – live music with Satin Galli
  • 16:00-18:00 – live DJ Graywolf with handpicked music by Michael’s son Sam along with trivia games and prizes

VIP Auction

The afternoon will feature a special VIP Auction with some exceptional items:

  • A chance to work alongside DB Bailey, an architect who provides unique spaces with complex vibrant textures zealously executed are walks of art, and learn his magic!
  • A one-of-a-kind complete avatar, MICHELLE, a high quality, attractive female Shape and Skin from PYRO. Comes with Eyes, Lip Gloss and Hair
  • Two minutes of video magic about them self done by Draxtor Despres the man behind “The Drax Files” http://draxtor.com/
  • A unique fashion!  From inspiration to creation,  Solas NaGealai  owner of  BlueMoon enterprise  will make you the perfect second life garment
  • Tea and talk with “Creations Mom” Fran Seranade herself, the inspiration for Creations for Parkinson’s, Enjoy some time with this lovable wise woman.

And more! All proceeds from the auction, and raised throughout the event, will go to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research.

So, don’t delay any longer. Be a part of this magical evening – there is still time!

Please note the dress code is formal attire is preferred.

Related Links