Month: January 2014

Lab issues Fitted Mesh release candidate viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Update January 22nd: As per the comments below, Oz Linden has posted the correct region restart sound to STORM-1980, and the sound is now included in the boday of this report.

On Thursday January 16th, Linden Lab issued a release candidate version of the Fitted Mesh viewer. Given the changes made to the avatar skeleton, the  release sees the viewer’s release number increment by 1, so the Fitted Mesh RC is version 3.7.0.285178.

The upgrade of the project to a release candidate status had been expected to come relatively early in 2014, given that Oz Linden gave a “last call” for issues in which he indicated that a release candidate would be forthcoming “after the holidays”. Speculation that the RC was at the status of Real Soon NowTM was heightened at the Open-source Developer meeting on Wednesday January 8th, when Oz further revealed that as far as the Lab was concerned, there were no further outstanding issues.

It is currently not clear as to how long the viewer will remain as a release candidate prior to promotion to the de facto release viewer.

STORM Contributions

As well as the Fitted Mesh updates, the new release candidate includes a number of open-source contributions from Jonathan Yap and Ansariel Hiller.

Jonathan’s contributions notably include the following, but please refer to the viewer release notes to see all of them:

STORM-1975: IM windows occasionally report false typing status – an annoyance to many for some time has been the situation whereby, during an IM conversation, the recipient of an IM will see the “…. is typing” message (where “…” is the other person’s name), even though the other person isn’t actually sending a message. This update should fix this issue.

STORM-1980: Region Restart Warning Changes – described in the release notes as “World-shaking improvement to region restart warnings”, STORM-1980 is designed to improve the awareness of region restarting message and add a default region restart sound. The sound is designed to be played automatically by the viewer on receipt of a region restart message, adding an additional warning of an approaching restart (for those with their viewer’s sound on!).

STORM-1981: Changes to Tracking Beacons – alters the behaviour of three types of tracking beacon: the avatar tracking beacon, the landmark tracking beacon and the beacon shown as a result of clicking on the map. Under these changes:

  • Beacons begin at a height of 0 metres and extend up to the maximum unassisted flight ceiling (5,020 metres)
  • The beacon colour is blue from 0 metres to the base height of the object being tracked, and red from 5,020 metres down to the height of the object being tracked
  • Users can optionally set the beacon to pulse towards the target object using the CheesyBeacon debug setting (Advanced->Highlighting). The blue beacon will pulse up towards the object, the red beacon will pulse down towards the object.

Ansariel provides two contributions in this release aimed at fixing a couple of issues in the UI:

  • STORM-1979: Groups count in groups list does not display if the floater is resized
  • STORM-1984: Mousing over UI elements does not make them light up.

Related Links

Lab issues Required Account Documentation notice

Posted on by Inara Pey

secondlifeIn November, the Lab commenced e-mail users meeting certain criteria to submit tax documentation to the Lab. The requests were met with a certain amount of confusion, which the Lab attempted to clarify later that month via a blog post on the matter.

On Tuesday January 14th 2014, the Lab issued a new blog post indicating that they would once more be contacting users who again meet certain criteria with a request they provide required account documentation required by the Lab to fulfil its legal obligations.

The blog post, which appeared in the Commerce section of the SL blog (and thus avoided appearing on users’ dashboards), reads in full:

In addition to required tax documentation (which we blogged about in November 2013), US law separately requires that institutions such as Linden Lab obtain, verify, and record information confirming the identification of account holders who submit a certain volume and/or amount of Process Credit Requests.

We have recently begun emailing users who need to submit this information. If you receive such a notice from us, you will need to follow the instructions and provide the required documentation within thirty (30) days.

These emails are being sent through our Support system. If you are among those individuals who need to provide this information, you can verify the request in your Case History in the Support Portal and reply to the Case if you have any related questions.

There has already been some consternation on Plurk on the matter of required documentation, noticeably among merchants requesting to upgrade the Business Level of their account, only to find their ability to cash-out frozen while they supply the required information and who have yet to receive any e-mail from the Lab forewarning them of these requirements.  While perhaps a matter of unfortunate timing on terms of such requests being made and e-mail being sent out, it does also perhaps suggest that (again) the Lab need to rethink their approach to handling what might be regarded as critical communications with their users.

This could be handled simply by the Lab ensuring such announcements appear on the dashboard of people’s accounts (regardless as to how widely or not LL believe the dashboard might be used) and, given they have an “official” presence on both Plurk and Twitter, actually Plurked and Tweeted, particularly given the information given in such blog posts is of far more import to people than pointers to the Pic of the Day, at least until the supporting e-mail arrives in their in-box.

A ride into the universe of Gem Preiz

Posted on by Inara Pey
Gem Preiz: Ride the universe
Gem Preiz: Ride the Universe

Earlier in January I wrote about Gem Preiz’s remarkable exhibition of his fractal art, which can be seen at A Cathedral Dreamer, both in Second Life at LEA6 and in the Metropolis OpenSim grid, with elements of the exhibition also on displayed at his own gallery in SL, together with more of his work.

Now we have a new opportunity to appreciate and enjoy his creations at a new exhibition just opened at Angel Manor – and it is one you do not want to miss. Seriously.

Ride the Universe  is a joint undertaking by Gem and Angel Manor’s art curator, Kylie Sabra. It features both more of Gem’s fabulous fractal art and a unique way of really appreciating it to the fullest.

Gem Preiz: Ride the universe
Gem Preiz: Ride the Universe

The initial part of the installation appears straightforward enough: a traditional gallery environment with images of Gem’s art mounted on the walls which, which, together with the floor and ceiling, have been coloured black resemble deep space. Planet-like spheres hang overhead and coloured “stars” glow throughout the room, adding to the ambience of the setting. However, towards the far end of this space is a catalogue of Gem’s work, and just beyond that. a large rose, which is the secret sauce of this exhibition.

Sitting on the rose (double-tap ESC to set your camera correctly) will initiate a remarkable tour designed by Kylie Sabra. After a short pause following seating, the rose will carry you through a series of cubes, each of which presents a piece of Gem’s art, allowing you to experience it from the inside, so to speak. This is actually best experienced while in Mouselook, which greatly enhances the feeling of being a part of the art as you travel through it.

Gem Preiz: Ride the universe
Gem Preiz: Ride the Universe

If you do use Mouselook, try to avoid any excessive mouse movement and keep things focused towards the centre of your screen in order to really enhance the immersive feel to the ride. If you opt to remain in third-person view, again, try to avoid camera movement or chatting to maintain focus – and don’t forget to double-tap ESC should your camera show signs of skewing.

The ride within the exhibition is one of those experiences that, with a little tweaking here and there, would be ideal for the Oculus Rift, allowing the visitor to gain a full sense of immersion in each of the pieces – and quite possibly enjoy the 3D aspects of the paintings to a far greater degree. But even without a headset, this is not something to be missed, whether or not you’re into fractals.

When discussing Gem’s art with Honour McMillan, I mentioned how I’d love to be able to roam within his creations, if only they could be created in 3D within Second Life. Well, this exhibition offers an excellent means of experiencing what such explorations might be like.

Highly recommended, and kudos to Gem and Kylie.

Related Links

Looking through an artist’s eyes and discovering flying in SL

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Linden Endowments for the Arts is hosting a series of 16 “interim” art projects through until the end of January 2013. I’ve already covered the Flash Mob event on LEA26 and LEA 27, and both The Wonderful World of Particles and Paper Observatory, which are displayed at LEA13 and LEA21 respectively, as well as the installations created by Frankx Lefavre and Thea Dee. In this item, I drop in to the regions provided to Fuschia Nightfire and Natascha Randt.

Fuschia Nightfire, “Fuschia’s Collection” – LEA22

Fuschia Nightfire - LEA22
Fuschia Nightfire – LEA22

“Since I first joined SL I have collected art from other SL artists, but never had a space to show these works,” Fuschia Nightfire says of her installation at LEA22, “So I decided to use my LEA sim to do this.”

The result is a chance to see SL art through the eyes of one of the platform’s foremost artists as Fuschia offers-up a display of some of her favourite piece of art she’s collected over the years, as well as pieces she’s collaborated upon with others. On display are sculptures, 2D art, paintings, static pieces, interactive pieces all from the likes of Rose Borchovski, Baron Grayson, Soror Nishi,  Light Waves and more.

Fuschia Nightfire - LEA22
Fuschia’s Collection – LEA22

The design of the region is simple and elegant: to one side of the region sits a gallery featuring paintings, drawings and a number of 3D pieces, which stands alongside a couple of other buildings which are there to be explored. Paths from here wind out over the water to a large sculpture on one side and a floral garden on the other, on which is set-out further items for the visitor to admire. More art can be found out on the water itself, most close to the footpaths – but do keep an eye out for the scattering of Light Waves’ brilliant Greenies.

Fuschia Nightfire - LEA22
Fuschia’s Collection – LEA22

To ensure the eye isn’t too distracted by things going on around the region, Fuschia has erected a set of walls surrounding the installation which an image of the sky, forming the perfect backdrop to the exhibit and allowing the photographer to cleanly capture items on display.

Fuschia Nightfire - LEA22
Fuschia’s Collection – LEA22

This is a great way for those unfamiliar with the scope of SL art to dip a toe in the water without getting heavily into anything and gain a little familiarity with works by some well-known names.

Recommended.

Continue reading “Looking through an artist’s eyes and discovering flying in SL” →

Relay for Life of SL 2014: Call for committee interest

Posted on by Inara Pey

RFL-logoThe Relay for Life of SL organisers are getting ready for the 2014 season in Second Life, and in doing so, have put out a call to people interested in helping with committee work.

The committee work is divided into four key areas, and assistance is being sought to help with the work carried out by all four. These are:

  • Outreach, including: mission education, bringing-in sponsors and business  partnerships, supporting international relations (providing internal aspects for key RFL of SL activities such as the Kick-off Celebration, Halfway There fair and Relay Weekend and translating written material); bringing people from within and beyond SL to the Relay
  • PR and Media Relations, including writing and / or distributing press releases, photography, video and audio recording, scheduling interviews with media partners, updating the RFL of SL blog; undertaking social media outreach
  • Events and Design, including planning and executing RFL season special events such as the Kick-off Celebration, Halfway There fair, Multi Team Event and Wrap Up Party; providing support for RFL of SL special mega events as well as the Relay Weekend
  • Internal Support, including providing support to all Relay Teams (processing information on teams, providing mentoring and coaching to teams, moderating group chat, providing inspiration and advice to teams, etc); reaching out to caregivers and survivors; managing the various tools used by RFL of SL (databases, fundraising tools, etc.

Full details on the responsibilities for each division, together with the key skills being sought for each, can be found in the notes accompanying the application form.

If you would like to apply to help with any of the committee work, please complete the committee interest application form, making sure all required fields and filled-out.

Last year, RFL of SL almost broke through the $400,000 barrier. Why not help make 2014 even more of a record-breaking year?

Related Links

High Fidelity put out call for alpha testers

Posted on by Inara Pey

HF-logoI’ve been keeping a sort-of eye on news concerning Philip Rosedale’s High Fidelity from something of a distance, occasionally checking the website and seeing what is going on. However, as a lot of it goes somewhat over my head, I tend not to report on it, preferring to wait as see to what actually starts to emerge in the future.

Nevertheless, Ciaran Laval poked me earlier in the moth that some interesting news might be coming out of the company, and so I’ve been watching various feeds to see what does. As a result, I caught Hamlet Au bringing the news, courtesy of “Epona666”, that High Fidelity have put out a call for alpha testers.

High fidelity: seeking alpha testers
High fidelity: seeking alpha testers – click to follow

Hamlet refers to the company as looking for “creative builders” for the Alpha testing. However, the sign-up form is scant on specifics, and leans more towards the hardware and operating systems applicants have at their disposal, rather than on specific skill sets of any description. There also doesn’t appear to be ant blog post associated with the announcement, so it is a little hard to discover further information relating to the call.

The application form: hardware and OS-focused
The application form: hardware and OS-focused

This request is somewhat easier than the company’s last, as reported by Ciaran Laval at the time. In December, the company invited those wishing to work for / with them on code aspects of the platform to build the High Fidelity user interface from source code and then log-in to the system to get the company’s attention, and then attempt to tackle one of the current tasks the company has listed on Worklist.

The company's last call for assistance took the form of a challenge to those interested
The company’s last call for assistance took the form of a challenge to those interested

For those interested in signing-up for this alpha testing can do so by following the link from the High Fidelity home page, or by following this link (or click the banner ad towards the top of this article) to the application form itself.

Hamlet also points to a new subReddit where High Fidelity can be discussed by those interested in the project.

Related Links