Bright Canopy have announced they’ll be holding an in-world meeting at their home island in Second Life on Saturday, September 5th at 11:00 SLT.
The meeting will feature an update on the current status of the Bright Canopy streaming service, together with the decisions the company is facing to move forward.
“I’d like to invite those interested in an update on the status of Bright Canopy and its future to attend,” Bright Canopy founder Bill Glover (Chaos Priestman in SL) said.
“The goal is to share what we have learned with the launch and this past week of down time and to have a discussion with the community about what is needed to make this service sustainable and what our options are going forward.”
Those who have been using Bright Canopy will be able to catch up on events following the official launch of the service, and which forced the company to re-evaluate its pricing mechanism, prior to technical issues combining with pricing concerns and forcing the company to suspend subscriptions while matters were worked on.
Bill Glover: meeting to discuss matters and update Bright Canopy on Saturday, September 5th at 11:00 SLT at Bright Canopy Island
The technical issues have now been resolved, and Bright Canopy have indicated that in theory, the service could be back up and available on Monday, September 7th.
However, they are emphasising this is the earliest point at which the service might be up. The company has also indicated whether this in fact happens may depend in some degree on the decisions reached during the meeting.
As I recently explained, part of the issue Bright Canopy has faced is with the Amazon Spot instance pricing model. Generally the most cost-effective means of supplying services through Amazon’s infrastructure, this has been incredibly volatile over the past several weeks.
In the last few days, Amazon’s US Spot Instance prices have come down somewhat and are showing a little more stability, although the prices for Ireland remain volatile and unpredictable.
Given this, one possible option for Bright Canopy might be for them to split their service between the US West and East coast POPs they are using, and drop Ireland for the time being. However, this is also not without potential issues. There is no guarantee, for example, that the US pricing will remain stable – as Bright Canopy are only too aware; for another it could be months before Ireland has reached a point where operating through the Dublin POP is a viable option once more.
Thus there is a lot to be discussed, and so all those with an interest in the service are being encouraged to attend Saturday’s meeting. There will be plenty of scope for questions to be asked, and a transcript will be provided through the Bright Canopy blog for anyone unable to attend.
For those who would like to submit a question in advance, either because they cannot attend the meeting in person, or to guard against being unable to access the Bright Canopy region if there is a large turn-out, they can do so by e-mailing Jerri Glover (jerri-at-brightcanopy.com/).
Note: Due to a lack of concentration on my part, I managed to originally publish this article in Private mode, and only realised when looking to obtain the details of BUG-9504 for the Week 38 update! I’ve now flicked it to public for completeness of reports.
On Tuesday, September, 1st, the Main (SLS) channel received the server maintenance package deployed to all three RC channels in week #35, comprising:
A fix for BUG-9504 “Clicking on any object that affects the navmesh while in Mouselook dirties the navmesh”
Internal simulator fixes
On Wednesday, September 3rd, the BlueSteel RC received an updated version of the server maintenance package first deployed (and subsequently rolled back) in week #34, which comprises internal fixes aimed at improving inventory performance.
BlueSteel Issues
The BlueSteel deployment was followed by issues with note cards and scripts, including issues trying to create / save scripts and note cards created on BlueSteel regions and when trying to open scripts / note cards created on other channel regions while in a BlueSteel region (see BUG-10183).
As a result of these problems, and following investigation by the Lab, the BlueSteel deployment was rolled back on Thursday, September 3rd.
SL Viewer
The Quick Graphics project viewer, comprising the new graphics presets capabilities and Avatar Complexity options updated on Thursday, September 3rd to version 3.8.4.304761. An overview of the capabilities can be found in this blog, and official information on Avatar Complexity can be found in the SL wiki.
A short notice announcement of a get-together aboard the SS Galaxy marks her official return to Second Life
The invitation was somewhat low-key, and the date subsequently changed from the scheduled September 1st, for Reasons Unknown (well, at least to me!), but the message did get through:
Join us in-world at the newly re-opened SS Galaxy and explore the decks of this historic Second Life cruise ship! We’re meeting up near the pool, and will be taking pics and enjoying a little casual relaxation time! See you there!
I would actually have been none the wiser of the event, had it not been for Vick Forcella whispering in my ear via IM – he is ever the gentleman! But, as the message was received, and despite the need to be in several places at once (Happy anniversary, Firestorm! Sorry I missed it!), I hopped over the Galaxy to sea what was going on (see what I did there?).
I’d been fortunate enough to cover the return of the SS Galaxy to Second Life waters ahead of any official opening after Frost Mole kindly pinged me about the ongoing work aboard the ship and invited me for a look around as she sits at her new location, just off the Honah Lee estate south of Blake Sea. However, I wasn’t going to pass up the opportunity to mark her “official” return to our waters.
Given this was the first time a crowd had been aboard the Galaxy since the commencement of her refit, Vick and I took it upon ourselves, and purely in the interests of our fellow passengers’ safety – to test the poolside bar as Frost and Xiola arrived
On arrival, I found Vick to already be there and – where else? – at the poolside bar. Climbing the steps, I demanded that as he was the barman, he pour me a drink – only to discover I was actually standing behind the bar and so should rightfully be serving *coughs*. Following an embarrassed silence broken only by my attempted soft shoe shuffle (you try being quiet when in heels on a wooden deck) to a bar stools, Vick graciously handed me a drink without commenting on my faux pas. (see, I said he was a gentleman).
Abnor Mole takes in the sun while Frost Mole enjoys people enjoying the fruits of her labour
Fortunately, folk quickly began to arrive, including several Lindens – Patch, Keira, Dee, Guy, Xiola, Shaman, together with moles, and a celebratory mood quickly ensued – helped, no doubt by the hourly firework display going off as well. In short order, people were enjoying the pool (some fully clothed!), wandering the decks, admiring the view or … propping up the bar.
The conversation was soon full and flowing, Shaman took over bar duties, Keira found a sun lounger and Abnor Mole followed suit, Patch dodged cameras and Xiola and I talked chocolate. Then the buffalo arrived.
“What on earth are buffalo doing on board a cruise ship?” you might well ask. I know I did. Problem was, I was too distracted by the sudden onset of a fish shower and then being struck in the small of the back by a large, speeding train…
No, we weren’t hit by a griefing attack; merely a mole (in the form of Michael Linden) with a wand (and a fit of the giggles). Not just any wand, mark you, but a Starax wand. What’s more, it transpired that Shaman had been slipping him cocktails – a mix of (and I quote) “scotch, scotch, scotch… and, oh, scotch!”
Thus the pandemonium rolled on, amidst further gleeful (and high-pitched) giggles of a furry variety. At least until the word “water!” was uttered by said wand wielder …
“Water!” a certain wand-wielder proclaimed. Then rather wished he hadn’t, having forgotten to scamper out-of-the-way as the giant faucet, in full flow, materialised over him…
After that, things quieted down (well, a little!) as Michael was handed a towel, and the conversation resumed a little more placidly (no, I’m not going to mention the shark. Or the dolphin, OK?).
Joking aside, this was a very pleasant get-together, smaller in size than previous events of this nature, and that may well have contributed to the amount of fun being had. I’ve no idea if this low-key approach will be used at times for future get-togethers, but I do hope that this one is merely the first of many and varied events we’ll see staged at the SS Galaxy in the future.
My one suggestion would be – to echo a comment left on my last piece on the ship – that some of the helipads are returned to their former use (and made short-term rezzing areas?) as it would be fun to be able to fly to the ship for an event and then return home the same way afterwards 🙂 .
During the SL12B “Meet the Lindens” presentations, mention was made a number of times about the new user on-boarding process, and steps the Lab are and would be taking to try to improve the overall experience for those signing-up to Second Life.
There were two aspects mentioned during the talks which piqued my interest. One of them was the Lab’s use of new web landing pages – something I’ll be discussing with Peter Gray, the Lab’s director of global Communications, in an upcoming article. The other was the potential return of the Community Gateway Programme.
For those unfamiliar with the latter, at one time the Lab ran a programme which allowed communities to connect to the Second Life registration pathway, enabling them to steer incoming users directly to their own orientation / support environment, and thus provide them with assistance and hands-on support in getting started in SL. The programme was discontinued in August 2010, with the Lab citing several reasons for doing so, including issues around scalability and management oversight, together with question marks around the overall effectiveness of the programme.
However, there have been repeated calls from within the community for the Lab to bring the programme back, and this now appears to be what is happening, initially as a test to see how things go.
The new programme is designed to allow communities and groups bring users into Second Life, present them with help and support in getting started, much like the original Gateway programme, and hopefully present them with interests and activities to keep them engaged with the platform. These gateways will include web pages to attract new users to them, which will include a registration API to allow those users to sign-up to SL and create and account without necessarily having to go through the central registration process at secondlife.com. Additionally, if they wish, those running the gateway can provide dedicated links for downloading a viewer (official or TPV).
I caught up with Patch Linden on the matter at the end of July, to find out some more. “We are bringing back Community Gateways as a test, based on the positive feedback and indicators of success they had in the past,” he confirmed with me. “We have 20 Gateways with whom we’re currently in discussions, but we’ve not decided on all of the programme details yet and plan to take an organic approach to re-establishing things.”
Did this mean those involved in the new programme would be able to bring new users directly into their experience, I asked, or would they have to go via the current sign-up page, and have new users connect to them via the existing Learning Island / Social Island portal system?
“We’d like to allow gateway creators to help bring in users,” Patch replied. “The idea is that the new registrant would begin their time in SL in the experience that matches their interest, instead of Learning Island.” He paused and then added, “However, adding Gateways to the end of Learning Island and/or Social Island are still being considered.”
Communities and organisations within SL have continued to offer guidance to new users. The UWA, for example, offer the SL Educate orientation, designed by Carmsie Melodie and focused specifically at students and teachers arriving in Second Life. You can read more about it here
A look at the Firestorm Gateway
One of the groups involved in the new Gateway Programme is the Firestorm team. Together with a number of other groups offering new user orientation facilities, they participated in a 6-week experiment run by the Lab to monitor how new sign-ups faired as a result of passing through their orientation process, and gather comparative retention data. Following this, Firestorm were one of the groups invited into the upcoming new Gateway Programme.
“The Gateway idea is mostly based on a single region,” Jessica Lyon, Firestorm’s Project Manager said as she and Ed Merryman gave me a tour of their new user experience shortly after I’d talked to Patch Linden. “But you know me :). I wasn’t satisfied with one region – if we were going to do this, we wanted to do it right!”
The result is that the Firestorm Gateway comprises six regions in total, including the original Firestorm Support region, which has been re-purposed to fit with the Gateway approach. “One of the new regions is going to be a Firestorm Orientation for new sign ups only,” Jessica continued as we explored, “it’ll be a similar to our current orientation island.”
Firestorm are participating in the new Gateway Programme, offering an experience focused around their orientation island
The rest of the regions offer an assortment of facilities and activities intended to help new users get better acquainted with Second Life, using the viewer, and participating in some of the activities they can find during their in-world travels. A staffed support area provides practical help and support, for example, while users can also enjoy activities such as jet skis, sailing, boating, and flying within the regions, or try their hand at a scuba diving adventure.
There’s also an amphitheatre (under construction at the time of my visit) which will be used for events focused on new users, viewer Q&A sessions, and so on, while social areas around the island will offer new users the opportunity to relax and meet with established SL users as well.
Firestorm also aim to help people discover popular activities such as flying, boating, and scuba diving in Second Life
To help draw users to the experience, Firestorm will also be remodelling their website, allowing it to be linked to the Lab’s user registration process. Thus, people visiting the website will be able to sign-up to Second Life, select their avatar, download the Firestorm viewer and log-in directly to the Firestorm new user experience, reflecting Patch’s view that new users should be able to directly reach the experience which interests them. Other participants in the Gateway Programme will be able to offer similar sign-up / log-in capabilities for people to reach their experiences as well.
As noted earlier in this article, the new Gateway Programme isn’t quite ready for launch at present – but it will be soon. When it does so, the Lab will be publishing more information on it, including participation guidelines, and I’ll be offering a follow-up to this article at that time.
Similarly, the Firestorm regions are ready for opening just yet; when they do, I’ll be bringing you a in-depth review of the facilities and Firestorm’s approach to the new user experience.
My thanks to Pete Linden, Patch Linden, Jessica Lyon and Ed Merryman for their time and assistance in writing this article.
On Tuesday, September, 1st, the Main (SLS) channel received the server maintenance package deployed to all three RC channels in week #35, comprising:
A fix for BUG-9504 “Clicking on any object that affects the navmesh while in Mouselook dirties the navmesh”
Internal simulator fixes
On Wednesday, September 3rd, the BlueSteel RC received an updated version of the server maintenance package first deployed (and subsequently rolled back) in week #34, which comprises internal fixes aimed at improving inventory performance.
Due to the issues experienced when this latter package was deployed to all three RC channels (such as the “zombie eyes” situation), the package is only being deployed to the one RC; Magnum and LeTigre will remain unchanged from week #34, keeping them on the same release as the Main channel.
SL Viewer
On Tuesday, September 1st, the Mesh Importer RC viewer updated to version 3.8.4.304605, making its promotion to the de facto release viewer in week #36 unlikely, but not impossible.
Region Restarts and Caps Failures
A problem often encountered following region restarts is that some regions come back with a caps failure (so a lot of things that should work, don’t). While less frequent an occurrence than has previously been the case, the problem does still occur. The problem is thought to be at the server level, as regions hitting the problem tend to all be located on the same server.
Commenting on the matter at the simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, September 1st, Simon Linden said:
I have a good theory about caps failure on the rolls but the last time I tried to fix it, the update went badly and we rolled back :). My theory is good, the side effect was bad. When we restart regions, we do them all at once. My fix was to pace that slightly, and not overwhelm the caps system. However, the delays confused the system starting the grid, and it started the same regions multiple times, which didn’t go well. And of course it didn’t do that on the beta grid.
Since his initial attempt at correcting things, Simon has been engaged on other work (such as getting group chat fixed), but he is hoping to get back to working on this problem at some point in the future.
Opening on Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015 at Dathúil Gallery, owned by Max Butoh and curated by Lυcy (LucyDiam0nd), is a new exhibition by Maloe Vansant, entitled Faces of Longing and Grief.
As the title suggests, this is a series of studies of the human face – mostly female (Maloe herself, I believe), although Maloe’s partner, Burk Bode, is also featured – in which the focus is very much on the emotions either displayed within the subject’s expression, or conveyed by the pose itself.
Maloe uses quotes to describe the exhibit, of which a short extract from Barnacle Love, by Canadian novelist Anthony De Sa is perhaps the most informative:
The Portuguese call it saudade: a longing for something so indefinite as to be indefinable. Love affairs, miseries of life, the way things were, people already dead, those who left and the ocean that tossed them on the shores of a different land — all things born of the soul that can only be felt.
And indeed, there is a longing and a sense of sadness, a hint of grieving, an echo of death to be seen as one wanders through Dathúil’s hall and examines each of this large format images in turn. But to think of this as a “dark” or “depressing” exhibition would be a mistake.
There is a raw, emotive power to each of these images – either within it, or in the response the observer has to it, or both. It is very hard, for example, not to imagine learning into one and kissing the worries of the subject away and giving a loving reassurance, or taking the hand of another in comfort and offering to share the burden of sadness.
The use of colour and of black and white in the images is equally striking in how they bring the emotions of an individual piece to the fore and regulate the observer’s response. A series of four full-colour images on one wall (seen above), for example, tend to evoke a very strong – dare I say “louder” – emotional response when compared to the black-and-white studies, where the emotional content is perhaps more constrained within the image itself, and our own response is similarly toned down by the more monochromatic presentation.
Some of the images balance the use of the colour against a more monochrome look – as with A touch of Melancholy and Just Want to Blend In (seen below), for example. The result is something of a different texture and feel to the emotion / feeling s captured within the image and in one’s own response. I admit to becoming quite captivated by these two pieces in particular.
All of which is a long way of saying that these are studies where it is next to impossible to not yourself feel emotionally involved. The story behind each image may not be clear, but the desire to offer comfort, support, love, companionship is unavoidable.
This is yet another outstanding exhibition of an artist’s work which further enhances Dathúil’s reputation as one of the leading galleries in Second Life. Lucy is to be commended for arranging Maloe’s exhibit, and Maloe herself congratulated in bringing together images to present such a powerful and emotive subject.
Faces of Longing and Grief formally opens at 13:00 SLT on Wednesday, September 2nd, and will remain open through until September 30th, 2015. You can also find more of Maloe’s work on her Flickr stream.
Bright Canopy have announced they’ll be holding an in-world meeting at their home island in Second Life on Saturday, September 5th at 11:00 SLT.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 