Month: August 2015

2015 viewer release summaries: week 33

Posted on by Inara Pey

Updates for the week ending: Sunday, August 16th

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 Current Viewer Releases 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. This page 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
  • By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version: 3.8.3.304115, August 18th – formerly the summer maintenance RC download page, release notes
  • Release channel cohorts (See my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • No updates.
  • Project viewers:
    • Notifications project viewer updated to  version 3.8.3.304107 on August 13th – new Notifications floater separates incoming notifications into System, Transactions, Invitations, and Group. It provides a better way to view, interact with, prioritize and manage incoming notices for busy residents (download and release notes).

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V3-style

  • Kokua  issued a test version -3.8.3.38326 – on Friday, August 14th containing fixes for issues with SL Experiences and includes the My Suitcase support from Cinder Roxley – release notes

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer Stable branch updated to version 1.26.14.4 and the Experimental branch updated to 1.26.15.3, both on August 15th – release notes

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Space Sunday: images of meteors, aurorae and comets

Posted on by Inara Pey
A composite image of the Perseids by Jeff Sullivan
A composite image of the Perseids by Jeff Sullivan showing roughly half of the meteors he captured on film in a 3-hour period over the Mojave Desert, California, on August 13th

Visually, it’s been a stunning week for astronomy and space science. We’ve had amazing images of the Perseids reaching this year’s peak as the Earth ploughs through the heart of the debris cloud left by comet Swift-Tuttle; there have been amazing shots of the Northern Lights Tweeted to Earth from the International Space Station; and another comet – 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko has shown us just how active a place it came become under the influence of the sun.

As I noted last Sunday, the Perseids meteor shower promised to be quite a spectacle this year, once again coinciding with a new moon which would leave the night skies particularly dark – ideal circumstances with which to see the meteor display for those able to get away from more Earthbound light pollution.

Gary Pearson caught this incredible meteor trail over Brancaster, Norfolk, UK on August 12th - a stunning display from an already vaporised particle of dust
Gary Pearson caught this incredible meteor trail over Brancaster, Norfolk, UK on August 12th – a stunning display from an already vaporised particle of dust

The Perseids – so-called because they appear to originate from the constellation of Perseus – are always a popular astronomical event; during the peak period, it is possible to see between 60 and 100 meteors per hour. They are the result of the Earth travelling through a cloud of dust and debris particles left by  Comet 109p/Swift-Tuttle’s routine passage around the Sun once every 133 years.

As the comet last passed through the inner solar system in 1992, the debris left by the outgassing of material as it was heated by the Sun is extensive, hence the brilliance of the Perseids displays. As noted, with the peak of the Earth’s passage through the debris (which lasts about a month overall from mid-July through mid-August, so there is still time to see them) occurring at a time when there would be a new moon, 2015 promised to offer spectacular opportunities for seeing meteors – and duly delivered.

Amateur astronomers Stojan Stojanovski, Kristijan Gjoreski and Igor Nastoski of the Ohrid Astronomy Association in Ohrid, Macedonia
Amateur astronomers Stojan Stojanovski, Kristijan Gjoreski and Igor Nastoski of the Ohrid Astronomy Association in Ohrid, Macedonia, captured this meteor as the Sun set on August 13th

Across the northern hemisphere between August 12th and August 14th, 2015, the Perseids put on some of the most spectacular displays seen in our skies in recent years – and people were out with their cameras to capture the event.

The highest concentration of meteors was visible after 03:00 local time around the world, although by far the best position to witness the event was in the northern hemisphere, with things getting under way as the skies darkened from about 23:00 onwards in most places.

It is not uncommon for the shower to coincide with a new moon (2012, for example was the same). However, this year’s display has been particularly impressive for those fortunate enough to have clear skies overhead.  “I have been outside for about 3 hours” Ruslan Merzlyako reported on August 13th. “And the results are bloody fantastic! Lots of Perseids and Northern Lights had just exploded in the sky right over my home town. For now, I am not going to argue with Danish weather, because I am 200 percent happy!”

A composite image by Danish photographer Ruslan Merzlyakov, who also caught the background glow of the Northern Lights in the skies of Denmark
A composite image by Danish photographer Ruslan Merzlyakov, who also caught the background glow of the Northern Lights in the skies of Denmark

You can find more images of this year’s Perseids event on Flickr.

Aurora From Space

Staying with the Northern Lights – more formally referred to as the Aurora Borealis –  the current commander of the International Space Station, Scott Kelly, captured some stunning images of the event, some of which he shared via his Twitter feed,  during the 141st day of his current mission – the joint US / Russian Year In Space – aboard the station.

“Aurora trailing a colourful veil over Earth this morning. Good morning from @spacestation!” he tweeted at the start of the series, which included a remarkable time-lapse video. With a further image, he commented, “Another pass through #Aurora. The sun is very active today, apparently.”

Continue reading “Space Sunday: images of meteors, aurorae and comets” →

A Reichenbach fall, travels in space and essays from the 1900s

Posted on by Inara Pey

It’s time to kick-off another week of fabulous story-telling in voice, brought to our virtual lives by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s Second Life home at Bradley University, unless otherwise indicated.

Sunday, August 16th 13:30: Tea-time at Baker Street

Caledonia Skytower, Kaydon Oconnell and Corwyn Allen continue reading The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, originally published in 1894, and which brings together twelve (or eleven in US editions of the volume) adventures featuring Holmes and Watson, as originally published in The Strand Magazine. This week: The Final Problem, first published in 1893.

Holmes and Moriarty by Sidney Paget, 1893
Holmes and Moriarty by Sidney Paget, 1893

It is with a heavy heart that I take up my pen to write these the last words in which I shall ever record the singular gifts by which my friend Mr. Sherlock Holmes was distinguished. In an incoherent and, as I deeply feel, an entirely inadequate fashion, I have endeavoured to give some account of my strange experiences in his company from the chance which first brought us together at the period of the “Study in Scarlet,” up to the time of his interference in the matter of the “Naval Treaty” — and interference which had the unquestionable effect of preventing a serious international complication. It was my intention to have stopped there, and to have said nothing of that event which has created a void in my life which the lapse of two years has done little to fill. My hand has been forced, however, by the recent letters in which Colonel James Moriarty defends the memory of his brother, and I have no choice but to lay the facts before the public exactly as they occurred. I alone know the absolute truth of the matter, and I am satisfied that the time has come when on good purpose is to be served by its suppression.

With these words, John Watson sets out to record for all posterity the events that led to the apparent death of Sherlock Holmes, locked in mortal combat with his most deadly of adversaries, the Napoleon of Crime, (a phrase,, incidentally, applied to a real criminal mastermind at the time), Professor James Moriarty.

Monday August 17th, 19:00: The Wizard of Karres

Gyro Muggins returns to the universe created by James H. Schmitz and given form through his 1949 novel, The Witches of Karres, as he continues reading the 2004 sequel, The Wizard of Karres, penned by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. So why not join Gyro as he once more traces the adventures of Captain Pausert and his companions, Goth and the Leewit, the Witches of Karres.

Tuesday August 18th, Not That It Matters

AA Milne by Howard Coster, 1926
AA Milne by Howard Coster, 1926

Corwyn Allen opens the covers of AA Milne’s 1919 collection of humorous essays. Best known for his tales of Wnnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin and the 100 acre Wood, Milne in fact wrote widely in bother fiction and non-fiction.

Here he passes observation on  wide range of topics, starting with a reflection upon his own writing,  “Sometimes when the printer is waiting for an article which really should have been sent to him the day before, I sit at my desk and wonder if there is any possible subject in the whole world upon which I can possibly find anything to say.”

With considerations ranging from why a gentleman’s collar might squeak, or the fact that Isaiah most certainly didn’t carry a notebook, with assorted thoughts on goldfish and daffodils along the way, this is a book of essays wide-range in topic and content. Some of it may, nigh-on a century since the essays first appeared in this book, appear dated and as solidly dated and trapped forever in the opening decades of the 20th century. Other are perhaps as relevant today in their insights and commentary as they were when freshly written. All of them come with Milne’s familiar humour and jovial observations.

Wednesday August 19th, 19:00: Miss Trolley’s Kitchen

Food lit with Trolley Trollop – there’ll be recipes!  Bring yours to share!

Thursday August 20th

19:00: Celtic Women in Myth

With Shandon Loring.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

With Finn Zeddmore.

—–

Please check with the Seanchai Library SL’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule. The featured charity for August / September is Water for People, “When one person or one family has clean, accessible water, their lives are changed. But when entire regions and countries have water, the world is changed.”

Additional Links

Cthulhu says, Join the LoveFest in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Who knows what you might find wandering the street of LoveFest ...
Who knows what you might find wandering the streets of LoveFest …

Now under way, and running through until Sunday, August 23rd, is LoveFest, the annual H. P Lovecraft Festival. Timed to coincide with  the 125th anniversary of Lovecraft’s birth (August 20th), the festival has been organised by the HP Lovecraft Roleplay (and more) Group of Second Life (HPL RPG), and once again features the Autism National Committee (AutCom) of the United States as its charity.

2015 marks the 4th year for the Festival – which I took time out to visit in 2014, including having a go at the interactive adventure which had been set-up for that event. 2015 sees the Festival host another adventure – but this time it’s in the form of a grid-wide hunt, and the official website explains:

Presiding Presence: HP Lovecraft watches over the LoveFest proceedings
Presiding Presence: HP Lovecraft watches over the LoveFest proceedings

This year’s Lovecraft Festival is thrilled to present our multi-sim Lovecraftian Story Quest adventure ‘The Heart of Llhao”

You find yourself at the renowned Miskatonic University of Arkham, Massachusetts, where a recently discovered American Indian artefact, “The Heart of Llhao,” was scheduled to be unveiled to the public. Tragically, the item has been stolen, and the university has become a crime scene investigation.

Inspect the area, gather clues and items of interest, and follow the trail to find and recover this mysterious relic of tribal legend!

This event is designed as an interactive “who-dun-it” with a decidedly Lovecraft-inspired edge.

…and, of course, a guaranteed finale to truly honour the spirit of H.P. Lovecraft’s eerie, often horrific, endings!

The Festival region sits as a suitably atmospheric town with a very definite Lovecraftian feel to it. While the centre spaces offer plenty for the shopaholic, further out one can find event venues like the Cabaret Sybarite, and other points of interest, such as the carnival and the asylum.

Not everything is on the ground, of course. Touch the doors of the Cabaret Sybarite, for example, and you’ll be teleported up to the Cabaret hall. Find your way back to the doors to return “outside”.

Entertainment will be on offer throughout the event – check the Festival’s event calendar for details, or take a look at the event board at the landing point. First up will be the Grand Opening Dark Cabaret and Electro-Swing, featuring DJ Fitch Lekvoda. Of particular notes during the week is the special KittyCats Benefit Auction, which will see the Festival organisers team-up with KittyCats between 14:00 and 18:00 SLT on Wednesday, August 19th, to raise additional funds for AutCom.

On this note, it should be recognised that LoveFest is recognised by AutCom, with a member of their board actively involved in running the Festival, and that to date, all of the festival’s vendor fees, as well on-site donations at the festival, have gone straight to AutCom’s coffers, helping them in their campaign to increase awareness and education concerning Autism Spectrum conditions.

A Lovecraft Carnival...
Carnival – LoveFest style!

For those who like their Lovecraft live, Virginia will be hosting dramatic readings on Monday August 17th (12:00 noon-14:00 SLT) and on Wednesday 19th (18:00-20:00). Karaoke, cabaret sets, dancing, and even seven seas fishing, will all be taking place through the week. The official programme of activities will sign-off between 20:00 and 23:00 on Saturday, August 22nd, bringing things full circle as DJ Fitch Lekvoda spins the tunes once more at the Cabaret Sybarite.

So, if you fancy a bit of a spooky time or wish to immerse yourself in an atmosphere filled with Lovecraft or are simply feeling a little Cthulhu deprived, why not hop on over? Just remember, the great man will be watching everything that goes on…

Related Links

Come gather, remember and celebrate the life of Lumiere Noir

Posted on by Inara Pey

lumiereFurther to the sad news of the passing of the Ivory tower of Primitives founder,  Lumiere Noir, Avi Arrow has announced there will be a special Remembrance and Celebration at the Tower in his memory, commencing at 13:00 SLT on Sunday, August 16th.

Ave’s notice reads in full:

A *Remembrance & Celebration* gathering for Lumiere Noir will be held at 1:00pm (13:00) SLT on Sunday 16th of August at the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Natoma/210/164/28 (G-rated) . Bring fondest of memories and dancing shoes.

Lumiere’s passing has been felt right across the grid, such has been his influence on so many over the years, and tributes continue to be paid via his Second Life web profile, and remembrances passed to Avi for display at the Tower itself.  Xiola Linden  posted a brief message on behalf of Linden Lab on Friday, August 14th, in which he was again noted as a friend. colleague and mentor to so many.

Image: Lumiere Noir attending the awards ceremony for  the Imagine Challenge, part of the UWA’s 2010 3D Art & Design Challenge, and at which he addressed the audience and the winners as the ceremony’s Special Guest, having also served on the judging panel. Read more here – including the text of his speech which, in typical Lumiere fashion, was insightful and ahead of the curve. His words  resonate as strongly today on the subjects of virtual art and virtual spaces as ever they did in 2010, such was his vision. (with thanks to the UWA and Jayjay Zifanwee).

Lumiere Noir: Remembrance and Celebration – The Ivory Tower Library of Primitives, 13:00 SLT, Sunday, August 16th, 2015.

 

Con-Fusion about education in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Incorrect thinking: just because a campus region is empty of other avatars doesn't necessarily mean it is "abandoned" (image: UWA campus, Second Life)
Incorrect thinking: just because a campus region in Second Life is empty of other avatars doesn’t necessarily mean it is “abandoned” (image: part of the UWA campus, Second Life)

Second Life (with a nod to the Lab’s Project Sansar) has enjoyed some reasonably good press of late. We’ve seen articles in the likes of Xconomy.com. Variety Online, Re/code, Gamasutra – good golly, Miss Molly, even Moviepilot is getting in on the act.

However, there will still be pieces out there which reflect poorly on matters. Not so much where Second Life is concerned, but on their authors. Such is the case with Patrick Hogan’s piece in Fusion, which John (Johannes1977 Resident) pointed me towards via e-mail.

The title of the piece is enough to set the overall tone: We took a tour of the abandoned college campuses of Second Life.

Patrick Hogan: writing to underline a preconception
Patrick Hogan: writing to underline a preconception?

As one might expect from such a title, this isn’t a reasoned discussion of the whys and wherefores, both good and bad, on the use of Second Life for educational purposes. There is no mention of the work of universities such as Texas A&M, as featured in episode #19 of The Drax Files World Makers, or that of the University of Western Australia. There is no highlighting of the struggle schools, colleges and universities faced as a result of the axing of the education discount or the resurgence of interest following its re-introduction; indeed Mr. Hogan demonstrates he’s not even aware there is an educational discount.

Similarly, no insights are given into how the platform has been used to assist with medical training among nurses and surgeons alike.  There is no pointer to the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) run by the  Universidad de San Martín de Porres (USMP) in Perú, now in its third year, which helps Spanish-speaking educators get started with Second Life simply because it is in demand as a platform for education, and so on.

Nor, frankly should we expect there to be any such discussion, because Mr. Hogan doesn’t appear to be so much interested in Second Life as he does about underlining his own misconceptions about the platform which, like his opening comments, seem to be firmly rooted in 2007.

So does this mean we should ignore what he has to say? No, not at all. Looking through his other articles, Mr. Hogan seems to prefer to skim his subjects with the aim of offering something of a lighter look. As such, he may well be open to gaining a little more educated about this particular topic.

Certainly, and with a view to addressing the readership of the piece, its subjective nature and the misconceptions evident within it should be corrected, starting with the false premise of the piece itself (an “empty” region is in no way indicative of it having been “abandoned”).

These arre not the educational uses of virtual worlds Mr. hogan was looking for...
These are not the educational uses of virtual worlds Mr. Hogan was looking for…

Of course, had he really been interested in his subject, Mr. Hogan could have contacted the Lab, asked a few questions, received some pointers towards various education-related organisations and communities, and been on his way and filling his little corner of Fusion with relevant observations, positive or negative.

But he didn’t. He preferred the lazy route, walking the same, tired furrow that’s all too familiar and boring. His article even manages the obligatory reference to porn that is considered de rigueur for such pieces (check the title byline).

That he does opt to walk this line is really to his detriment, rather than it being any reflection on those who use Second Life or the platform itself.