Day: July 19, 2016

SL project updates 16 29/1: server / viewer

Posted on by Inara Pey

Hermoupolis Village; Inara Pey, July 2016, on Flickr Hermoupolis Village – blog post

Server Deployments

On Tuesday, July 19th the server maintenance package previously deployed to all three RC was rolled-out to the Main (SLS) channel,described as “minor internal changes”. One of these sees worn scripts capped at a count of 2500. Attempts to add attachments which take an avatar over this limit should result in the attachments failing to wear.

Immediately following this deployment, there were some reports of local caps failures following region restarts. However, most of these now appear to have been corrected.

There  no deployment and no scheduled restart for the RC channels planned for Wednesday, July 20th, so the entire grid should remain on the same simulator release through until Wednesday, July 27th, when a new RC deployment is due.

Viewer Updates

There have been no further viewer updates since my last SL project update, leaving the list as:

  • Current Release version: 4.0.6.315555 (dated May 23rd), promoted July 5th – formerly the Inventory Message RC viewer download page, release notes
  • RC viewer:
    • Maintenance RC viewer, version 4.0.7.317394, dated  on July 8th – fixes and updates.
  • Project viewers:
    • Project Bento (avatar skeleton extensions), version 5.0.0.317597, dated July 14th – incorporation of final skeleton and slider updates from the test viewer  (download and release notes)
    • Visual Outfit Browser viewer, version 4.0.6.316422, dated July 1st – ability to preview images of outfits in the Appearance floater
    • Project VLC Media Plugin Viewer, version 4.0.6.316258, dated June 15th – replaces the QuickTime media plugin for the Windows viewer with one based on LibVLC
  • Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847 dated May 8th, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Team Diabetes of Second Life announces second season

Posted on by Inara Pey

TD-logoOn Monday, July 18th, I received a notice from Jessii2009 Warrhol announcing the launch of the second season of fund-raising by Team Diabetes of Second Life.

According to the World Health Organisation some 422 million adults in the world have diabetes and 1.5 million deaths are directly attributed to diabetes each year. Founded in 2015 by Jessi and John Brianna (Johannes1977 Resident), Team Diabetes of Second Life is the official and authorised team of the American Diabetes Association in SL. Their mission is to raise awareness, tolerance, and funds for diabetes in the virtual world of Second Life.

The 2016 Team Diabetes of Second life season will run from October 2016 through to January 2017, and feature the following events:

  • October 13th though 31st: Scare Me Silly Shopping Event (off-season event)
  • November 1st through 30th: National Diabetes Month, featuring:
    • November 1st through 30th: The Red Hunt
    • Date TBC: The Red Ball
    • Dates TBC: The Red Hop Around Shopping Event
    • Dates TBC: The Edge Anniversary Events
  • December 8th through 18th: The Windlight Winter Art Show and Winter Merchant Showcase
  • January 2017:
    • The Tour de Second Life bike race (dates TBD)
    • Closing events

In addition to these core events, Team Diabetes of Second Life is reaching out to communities, groups, businesses, organisations and individuals to hold fund-raising events of their own in support of the American Diabetes Association. To help with this, the team will be making a fund-raising tool kit available from August 1st, 2016, which will be available from  their in-world office at Non-Profit Commons.

About the American Diabetes Association

Established in 1940, the American Diabetes Association is working to both prevent and cure diabetes in all it forms, and to help improve the lives of all those affected by diabetes. It does this by providing objective and credible information and resources about diabetes to communities, and funding research into ways and means of both managing and curing the illness. In addition, the Association gives voice to those denied their rights as a consequence of being affected by diabetes.

About Team Diabetes of Second life

Team Diabetes of Second Life is an official and authorised fund-raiser for the American Diabetes Association in Second Life. Established with the aim of raising funds in support of diabetes treatment and to raise awareness of the disease in SL, Team Diabetes of Second Life was founded by Jessi2009 Warrhol and John Brianna (Johannes1977 Resident), and is served by an advisory board comprising Eleseren Brianna, Veruca Tammas, Sandie Loxingly, Rob Fenwitch, Earth Nirvana and Dawnbeam Dreamscape, with Saiyge Lotus serving as a special advisor.

Additional Links

Mandala Art in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Gallery 24: Sheba Blitz
Gallery 24: Sheba Blitz

The mandala (literally meaning “circle” in Sanskrit) is a symbol with very deep religious, spiritual and even political meaning. The classical form for a mandala is a square with four (generally T-shaped) gates containing a circle with a centre point, and generally displaying radial balance. More generically, “mandala” can mean a geometric pattern intended to symbolise the cosmos, and which contains a squaring of the circle, representing balance and order.

Mandalas are also intrinsically beautiful works of art, as demonstrated by Australian artist Sheba Blitz, whose work is the subject of the latest exhibition at  Kayly Iali’s Gallery 24 at Tabula Rasa. Sheba describes herself as a Mandala Artist, producing her intricate pieces using gouache, acrylics and metallic paints on either canvas or paper, drawing on sources such as music, books, astrology and tarot symbolism as her inspiration.

Gallery 24: Sheba Blitz
Gallery 24: Sheba Blitz

Mandalas – particularly those created through sandpainting, or dul-tson-kyil-khor, in Tibetan Vajrayana Buddhism – have always fascinated me, the inherent balance present within them, the confluence of ideas they represent  – the sheer beauty and intensity of their very creation – is utterly  absorbing and calming. Sheba’s works exhibits all of this, each one individually  rich in symmetry and harmony. Fortunately, as they are produced through more substantial mediums than coloured powders, they remain with us for far longer; there is no metaphor for  “impermanence” here. Instead, one might say they are reflective of the enduring measure of the cosmos.

Sheba informs Kayly that she didn’t come to Second Life to display her work; she decided to do so as a result of naturally seeking out other artists and attending exhibitions, buying art by others and immersing herself in the means to experience art in a new way. Fortunately, she was also invited to exhibit her art in-world, and because of that original invitation, we can now all enjoy her work.

Gallery 24: Sheba Blitz
Gallery 24: Sheba Blitz

It doesn’t matter whether you follow the spiritual, religious or even Jungian view of mandalas, Sheba’s work is instantly approachable and can be appreciated in and of itself. However, should you feel the desire, the back room of the gallery offers a spot for quiet contemplation.

SLurl Details