Insight Forest is a region that’s bound to attract me – it is largely water, and I love paddling around in water, as many of the destinations featured in the blog demonstrate. It is also the home to a beautiful exhibition featuring works by some of SL’s top photographers, including Whiskey Monday – whose work i the reason I paid a visit over the weekend.
The other artists featured in the exhibition are Annushi, Sare Ethaniel, Jordan Giant, Kean Kelly, Amelie Knelstorm, Rodriguez Munro and Citta Wiskee, together with the exhibit’s curators, Maclane Mills and Kamelia Snowfield.
The exhibition space is beautiful in its simplicity: a grove of bare trees in ankle-deep water with the artists’ work framed and hanging from branches. A sign at the entrance to the exhibit offers an introduction to the works and artists, then it is down to you to walk down the short avenue of trees and then follow the directions to take a clockwise tour. Each artist is announced by a frame bearing their name, and touching the pictures reveals the name of each piece.
At the centre of the exhibit is a piece by Maclane Mills, which combines a moving image with sculpture to present a bird rising up from its nest to fly around a tree.
If I have any niggles at all with the exhibit, it is that the pictures themselves are a tad on the small side to be fully appreciated, and zooming in on them in-world doesn’t entirely do them justice. Also, the bounding boxes on the trees can be a tad close together such that you can find yourself bouncing off of them at times. But I stress: these are very minor niggles.
For those so-minded, there is a visitor’s book following close to the entrance / exit of the exhibition space, and comments are encouraged.
A short distance from the copse of trees is a little island, offering a quiet haven within a quiet haven and which is itself a work of art, featuring an LP player, a chair, some books and a short ladder.
All-in-all, this is a simple, uncluttered and graceful exhibition of art which is well-worth going and seeing. Yes, the pictures could potentially be larger in order to be fully appreciated, as I’ve mentioned – but on the other hand, they are of a scale that matches most avatars, and can thus give a feeling of really being within a unique, open-air gallery.
But rather than take my word for it, why don’t you go see for yourself?
On Tuesday March 12th, the Main channel received Baker Linden’s large object rezzing project which had been deployed to BlueSteel and LeTigre in week 10. This project is designed to improve simulator handling of “large” (as a file size / complexity, rather than physical object size) so that the simulator does not stall / choke when handling one or more such objects. makes sim performance smoother while objects are being rezzed. Further details on the project are in my week 10 update, and the server release notes are available in the SL wiki.
Release Candidate Channels
On Wednesday March 13th, the Release Candidate channels should be updated as follows:
BlueSteel and LeTigre: both of these channels should be receiving the same server maintenance package, intended to fix a common crash mode – release notes
Magnum should receive an update to the server maintenance package it received in week 10, with further improvements / fixes. These include the removal of the fix for VWR-786, which rather than correctly fixing the known issue (IMs to friends do not respect their privacy settings) resulted in all IMs to non friends returning the “User is not online” message, regardless as to whether the recipient was online or not. Release notes for the package are on the SL wiki
CHUI looks set to be merged-in to the Snowglobe code, with Oz Linden stating he was hoping to start on this on Monday 11th March. There are concerns as to how LL’s ongoing work with the viewer might impact TPVs going forward. As it is, CHUI is liable to remain in the SL beta viewer for a while (and there is expected to be one more CHUI release into beta, as perviously noted).
Materials Project
Work is continuing on clearing the current issues within the viewer code, with a further push of the non-public viewer expected this week, which may resolve some of the problems.
The Potential LL Roadmap for Viewer Releases
While things are always in a state of flux, the potential order of viewer releases from LL’s perspective is currently veering towards:
Materials is now unlikely to “be seen” until after the code has merged with the CHUI code – this follow-on from the SSB code currently undergoing a merge with CHUI and the move to merge CHUI with the Snowglobe code mentioned above
This does not mean that a materials project viewer will not appear prior to CHUI reaching the SL release viewer; rather it means that when a materials project viewer appears, it is likely to have CHUI incorporated into it
That said, materials will likely only arrive in the release version of the SL viewer after CHUI has been formally released and (most likely) SSB has been deployed
Other updates – FMODex is currently awaiting CHUI as well, but has no clear release date; the same is true of the Mac Cocoa project. Currently, it appears as if these are unlikely to reach mainstream release until after CHUI has been formally released.
Most TPVs are currently focusing on the Server-side Baking (SSB) integration, as this has a significantly greater impact on viewers in terms of the impact on users than CHUI (although the latter is by far the most complex update as it involves a lot of code refactoring as well as CHUI updates). As such, it is likely to be a while before CHUI starts appearing in the majority of third-party viewers (although Kokua has already merged with it, and now has the CHUI code in the beta branch of its code).
Merchant Outbox Project Viewer
As reported over the weekend, Linden Lab has re-issued the Merchant Outbox project viewer, updated to the 3.4.4 viewer code, but which does not incorporate CHUI. This release is purely to assist merchants who are encountering issues in migrating to Direct Delivery now that the initial retirement of Magic Boxes has been announced.
Those who have / are encountering problems in migrating to Direct Delivery can obtain the viewer from the Alternate Viewers wiki page.
This project viewer will be withdrawn at some point in the future, and will not impact other viewer releases.
Server-side Baking
A further reminder that there will be a further SSB pile-on / load test on Thursday March 14th, following-on, as with the last test, from the Server Beta meeting on Aditi. For wishing to participate:
The test is liable to be in much the same format as the first test
Those participating should be running the latest version of the official SSB project viewer (3.4.5.271419)
Participants should have a number of outfits of system clothing, preferably with multiple layers, which they can swap between during the course of the test. Library outfits are acceptable, but LL are keen for people to use their own outfits to add greater weight to the tests
Clearing the viewer cache prior to the test is suggested, but not an absolute requirement.
The first SSB pile-on / load test (image courtesy of Latif Khalifa
The project also seems to be going through a further informal name change: originally referred to as “Server-side Baked Texture Generation & Storage”, the project has generally been shortened to “Server-side Baking”, but is now tending to be referred to as “Server-side Appearance project”. I’ll be continuing to refer to it as “Server-side Baking” or “SSB” for ease of reference.
After just six months on Mars, Curiosity looks to have taken a significant step towards fulfilling its primary science mission: to determine whether conditions on the planet once provided a suitable environment in which life might have arisen.
Despite recently suffering a serious computer glitch – of which more later – Curiosity’s initial analysis of cuttings gathered from inside bedrock dubbed “John Klein”, so named in honour of the late John W. Klein, MSL’s former Deputy Project Manager, and which is located in the “Yellowknife Bay” region of Gale Crater, reveals very strong evidence that ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.
Commenting on the findings, Michael Meyer, lead scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Programme, said, “A fundamental question for this mission is whether Mars could have supported a habitable environment. From what we know now, the answer is yes.”
The initial findings came via the rover’s Chemistry and Mineralogy (CheMin) and Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instruments, which each received a portion of the rock cuttings gathered from within “John Klein” on Sol 182 (February 8th / 9th). The deliveries of the samples took place on Sols 195 (February 22nd) and 196 (February 23rd) respectively, the delay between sample gathering and delivery being down to a combination of the need to “clean” the sample holding and transfer elements of dill bit and concerns over the long-term status of a filter in part of the turret-mounted sample handling mechanism (see Getting the scoop on drilling).
The area of “Yellowknife Bay” sits at the end of what mission scientists believe to be an ancient river system, and which may have been a part of a larger lake bed in planet’s ancient past. During the drive from Bradbury Landing, where it arrived on Mars in August 2012, Curiosity has come across strong evidence for liquid having once flowed freely through the region. Rock formations commonly associated with stream and river beds have been found and imaged, and the “Yellowknife Bay” area itself bears all the hallmarks of having been formed as a result of material being carried in free-flowing liquid – most likely water. These findings have supported evidence from orbit, where images taken by various spacecraft have long pointed to large parts – if not all – of Gale Crater having been subjected to aqueous activity in the distant past. This evidence includes a broad alluvial fan of water-deposited materials located close to the landing area planned for the rover, and regarded as a valuable back-up science target should post-landing issues with the rover prevent it from undertaking the long trek up onto “Mount Sharp”.
A false colour image of the MSL landing area, showing the position of the alluvial fan of water-laden material seen from orbit and which hinted that the region had a strong aqueous past. The slopes of “Mount Sharp” can be seen in the lower right-hand corner of the image,coloured light grey (click to enlarge)
The “John Klein” bedrock itself shows strong evidence on its surface for having been formed by aqueous activity spanning numerous wet periods in the planet’s history. However, this is not what has excited scientists – evidence for water having flowed freely on Mars has been found right across the planet, both from orbit and on the ground. During their explorations of Mars, for example, both of the Mars Exploration Rovers – Spirit (before its demise) and Opportunity – came across rock formations which had most likely been formed in the presence of liquid water.
What makes the findings returned from “Yellowknife Bay” exciting for scientists is that previously, those areas of rock thought to have been formed as a result aqueous activity also showed strong signs that the water was likely to have been highly acidic and had what is referred to as a “low energy gradient”, both of which would have made the chances of life arising within it exceptionally challenging.
Advertising on SL has been something of a minor theme on this blog of late. Most recently, I returned to the idea of LL using machinima collaboratively with users (via a competition) to help promote Second Life to the world at large. Prior to that, and paralleling Ciaran Laval, I’ve touched on the topic of the SL websites being perhaps a means for the Lab to leverage revenue through advertising as a means of helping to offset falling tier revenue – something which the Lab actually embarked upon recently.
The move has been met with mixed feedback from users, with many objections being raised (unsurprisingly) and some mistakenly believing they were somehow “milking” their own userbase – as if the revenue generated from the ads was coming directly out of their own pockets. Some of this negative feedback may have been driven by the initial ads displayed on things like people’s dashboards to start with, although it is evident now that LL are seeking to more robustly curate the nature of the ads with show up – not always successfully, but the improvements are there to be seen.
Advertising on the SL dashboard has raised mixed responses
Some of the backlash against the new move appears to be on the grounds that advertising somehow devalues the SL brand. However, as Gywneth Llewelyn points out, the SL web properties potentially offer a rich vein of revenue flow which could significantly assist LL (with a potential beyond anything I admit to imagining).
Obviously, given my own stance on the matter, I’m supportive of the move – and have actually suggested it should be broadened to incorporate other SL web properties such as both our profile feeds (which already advertise SL in a case of “preaching to the converted”) and the Marketplace. The latter is something some have drawn the line at, alongside the use of people’s SL dashboard. Although objections to the use of former have been given with caveats, the idea of excluding either would appear to be counter-productive to the aim of helping to generate revenue for LL – simply because of the amount of traffic they generate.
Possibly in response to the wider negative reaction to the move, and in confirmation that LL very clearly see their web properties as a valuable source of revenue generation, the Lab has issued a Featured News blog post on the matter, covering both the current advertising and the moves to expand it, confirming that as of the 12th March, advertising will encompass the SL marketplace. The post reads in full:
As you may have noticed, we recently added some banner ads to SecondLife.com. Today, we’ve also added them to the Marketplace, and we’ll soon expand the program to other Second Life web properties as well. The placement of these ads is designed to be unobtrusive, as we don’t want them to interfere with your Second Life experience on the web, and we’re taking care to keep the content appropriate.
These ads are a great opportunity for advertisers to reach the large, global audience that visits the Second Life web properties every day, and we want to extend that opportunity to Second Life merchants as soon as we can. For Merchants, advertising on the Second Life web properties will be a new way to get their offerings in front of potential customers, while at the same time making the ads extremely relevant to every Second Life user who sees them.
We have some work to do before we can make the ads purchasable by Second Life business owners, and it’s too soon to say precisely when we’ll be able to, but we wanted to let you all in on this plan early on. We’ll blog again when we have more info to share, so keep an eye on this space!
Ads now on the SL Marketplace – although initial offerings suggest some refinement of the filters might be in order
That the ad spaces will be expanded to include user-run business should amount to good news, and help mitigate objections relating to ads appearing on the various SL web properties. Allowing SL businesses to use the capability (assuming they are in a position to do so) brings both added relevance to the ads and helps SL businesses promotion themselves to SL consumers across an even broader front.
Obviously, with regards to the Marketplace in particular, some careful consideration needs to be given to how advertising for SL business will sit alongside existing aspects of Marketplace promotion, such as listing enhancements. If merchants using the latter feel that the advertising option is undermining the listing enhancement options, then it is likely that there could be a wider withdrawal from the latter than has been experienced in the past when the scheme has hit problems.
Some have called for those with Premium accounts to escape the advertising. There’s actually some merit in this – other websites offer “advertising opt-outs” on payment of a fee, so given that Premium members have already paid out, then automatically opting them out from any advertising campaign of this nature is liable to go down very well (and potentially make Premium accounts a little more attractive than offering-up cars, boats, planes and other trinkets). Certainly, I wouldn’t be against seeing the ads vanish from my views of the various SL website – although I don’t actually see them as actually impinging on my SL experience as it is.
Whether such an “opt out” could actually be easily achieved, however, is perhaps a matter of debate. As we’ve seen in matters of logging-in etc., the various SL web properties are perhaps not as well-integrated as they first appear, making any attempts to “ring-fence” Premium accounts from the advertising, even were LL so minded (which I actually doubt) potentially harder than may first appear.
Given the initial reaction to the advertising move, it’ll be interesting to see what the response to the news that the programme is being expanding is liable to be.
Kaya Angel is a long-term resident of Second Life, having been involved in the platform for over seven years. He is also the creator of Angel Manor and The Rose Theatre, one of the largest and most creative builds in Second Life: a grand English estate now spanning three regions. The build features a huge, Regency-style palace which encompasses The Rose Theatre (a long-time labour of love), an opera house, art gallery and more, and which is in turn surrounded by attractive formal gardens.
This truly is SL building on a grand scale – a place which has to be more than just visited – it has to be experienced. Whether you are a casual visitor, or attending a production at the fabulous Rose Theatre, opulent opera house or art gallery, Angel Manor deserves time to be explored inside and out – and by “time”, I don’t mean fifteen or twenty minutes; this is a palace one can wander within and around four hours and never stop finding something new which catches the eye.
From the moment you arrive, you know you’re in for something special; the main entrance to the palace presents a magnificent frontage overlooking the clear waters of a lake, broad steps leading up to the huge front doors, and paths leading off to either side along the formal gardens, inviting you to explore. Even the teleport / information boards are tastefully positioned so as not to ruin the feeling that one is in a period setting, being set well back so as not to intrude too much into a view of the house.
Follow the paths around the house and you’ll find trellised walkways, follies, places to sit, sculpted water features where swans glide peacefully – and more. Everywhere the attention to detail is clear, and the opportunities for the avid photographer obvious. I particularly like the way the entire build has been planned so that as much use can be made of Linden water as possible, rather than a reliance on prim water for fountains, etc. This adds a lot of depth to the build, especially when it comes to photography and using reflections.
Inside, and the attention to detail becomes even more abundant; the palace is rich in content – and I don’t just mean furnishings, statues, and so on; the attention to texturing floors, walls and ceilings adds tremendously to the feeling of authenticity and that one really is in a stately home – albeit one on a truly huge scale. The public function rooms offer outstanding venues for events and weddings – the estate’s chapel is one of many “must see” parts of the build – and I’m going to be keeping an eye on any upcoming events slated for the opera house; at the risk of wearing the word out, it truly is magnificent, with a stunning ceiling dome.
While exploring, make sure you follow any stairways which lead down as a well as up – there are a few surprises to be found in the vaults under the main house as well.
I’ve been remiss in not posting about this sooner – but schedules have been such that it was only this weekend that I managed to see Moulin Rouge, the latest show performed by Alma Fushikizoh and Blysse Biondi’s Showgirls. And I wish I’d seen it sooner.
Putting on any live show in Second Life is never easy, as any artist will tell you. A “simple” concert can be prone to a wide variety of problems at the best of times, particularly when Second Life wants to really misbehave and start crashing people. When you’re trying to combine a stage piece with live / streamed music and / or Voice, the issues can frequently be compounded – trying to get everyone moving at the right time, combatting lag, ensuring dances are correctly synced, the music is streaming correctly – it all takes time, patience, understanding and a lot of hard work by the cast and crew.
As such, Moulin Rouge – which is probably best described as a dance interpretation of key songs and scenes from Baz Luhrmann’s 2001 version of the film Moulin Rouge! which featured Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor and John Leguizamo – is a daring undertaking.
Conceived by Blysse Biondi, directed by Alma Fushikizoh, and produced by Alma, Blysse and Ayesha Lytton, and with choreography by Alma and Dixie Barbosa (animations), the show currently runs through until the 24th of March, with performances on Saturday and Sunday nights commencing at 18:00 SLT at the Balboa Theatre in San Diego – and it really is worth seeing.
Moulin Rouge is being staged at the Balboa Theatre, March 16/17 and 23/24 at 18:00
With a cast of ten, and dance numbers of significant complexity – performers being both synced to one another and to the music while at times performing entirely separate dance sequences to one another – Moulin Rouge really does need to be seen, rather than described. The stage sets themselves are both original and familiar, encompassing both the famous red windmill of Le Moulin Rouge itself, as well as representing the interior of the great cabaret club in a reflection of scenes from Luhrmann’s movie.
Moulin Rouge: Satine (Jaine Elvehjem) flanked by Christian (Mischievious John) and Toulouse Lautrec (Mishimaishi Resident) with the Showgirl dancers in one of the show’s several complex routines
Each dance interprets a key scenes from the film, including Satine’s arrival via trapeze, Jacek Koman’s gutteral rendition of Roxanne in El Tango Roxanne, together with The Show Must Go On, Nature Boy and Hindi Sad Diamonds, and, of course, Come What May. With a total of eight dance “acts”, the entire show runs for some 30 minutes, and not even SL deciding to be especially mischievous on the night I sat down in the theatre (a dancer crashed immediately prior to curtain-up, then two more suffered the same fate during El Tango Roxanne – one of who was operating the stage HUD) could dampen the enthusiasm of both cast and audience.
El Tango Roxanne – Moulin Rouge
As mentioned above, Moulin Rouge has four more performances currently planned for the Balboa Theatre, on the 16th, 17th, 23rd and 24th March. It is a show worth seeing.
Tips on Attending
Live performances in virtual worlds frequently face challenges such as lag. Virtual Dance is no exception to this, particularly as it involves a lot of scripting and gestures. To assist in the audience’s enjoyment of the show, therefore, patrons attending any presentation of Moulin Rouge are respectively asked to consider:
Arriving early: performances can be held up as a result of a lot of people arriving just before the curtain is due to go up, and who inevitably suffer rendering delays, problems getting audio streaming active, etc. A slightly earlier arrival ensures these things can be dealt with easier and without the fear of missing part of the show
Reducing lag both in the viewer and on the region where the performance is taking place by: removing any heavily scripted HUDs and other items; wearing lower-prim hair; dispensing with the bling; turning off nametags / Show Lookat to reduce the number of things your viewer has to process
Making sure all microphones are off if Voice is used within SL. If someone does leave their microphone open, the gentle thing to do is to open the “Active Speakers” list or “Nearby Voice” list, select the person, and roll the volume slider at the bottom of the window down
Keeping calm: most performances encourage audience reactions in local chat. It helps the performers know that you are there and having a good time. However, please save such noisemaking until it is time to applaud
Turning on Quiet Snapshots, if taking photos.
Christian (Mischievious John) and Satine (Jaine Elvehjem) in the finale of Moulin Rouge
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 