Day: August 23, 2016

Second Life wiki: editing locked for now

Posted on by Inara Pey

Crap Mariner has been working on a new Arts wiki page on the SL wiki – on which I’ll have more in a future article – when he contacted me earlier in August to let me know that SL wiki editing had been locked to a limited number of permitted editors / users.

The locking has since become more widely seen, prompting Soft Linden to issue an e-mail update as a result of enquiries on what is happening, made via the open-source dev e-mail list. In the e-mail, Soft states:

There is a ridiculously persistent party who uses numerous wikis to promote fake Microsoft support phone numbers. Given the fraud or malware potential, we couldn’t let that keep returning.

There’s a less intrusive long-term solution in the queue, currently blocked by other work.

Hopefully, whatever is blocking the long-term solution will be cleared soon, allowing full edit access to the wiki to be restored.

In the meantime, those requiring urgent access to wiki pages to maintain data  / information, are asked to create a support ticket (I’d suggest include which pages need to be accessed and why, rather than just raising a generic request to gain access). Third-party viewer developers who require wiki edit rights can also contact Oz Linden to request access to their wiki pages.  If you only require access to update you profile or add a discussion point to a page, etc., it might be advisable to wait until after the wiki has been re-opened to all, rather than filing a support ticket.

This isn’t the first time the wiki had to be placed in lock-down. In October 2014, a lock-down was initiated while the wiki underwent an extensive security update, resulted in limited edit access for users through until January 22nd, 2015. Hopefully, this current period of lock-down, which started in early August, will not be for as long.

Wildstar Beaumont’s Sailing in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont
Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont

Now open at Ce Soir Arts is Sailing, a nautical-themed exhibition of photography by friend and long-time Second Life resident, Wildstar Beaumont.

Perhaps best known for his work as the official photographer of Relay For Life, and featured artist during the intermission period on Designing Worlds, as well as being the feature photographer for both the former Primgraph magazine and for Prim Perfect, Wildstar visually documents the ever-changing face of Second Life.

Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont
Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont

As well as sharing a common interest in Second Life photography, Wildstar and I are also avid Second Life sailing enthusiasts and lovers of tall ships; little wonder, then, that I was drawn to this exhibition. Tall ships are a particular focus in the pictures, but other vessels are also offered, with many of them also offering unique views of Second Life’s most famous water-bound locations.

Fastnet Rock lighthouse (Crows Nest) can, for example, be seen in several of the images. Other images incorporate places such as the Leviathan’s Skeleton (Ahab’s Haunt), the marina at Starboard’s Yacht Club, the paddle steamer quays at Dutch Harbor (see my August 2014 article on the magnificent vessels moored there), and the Temple of Neptune looking out over Blake Sea, to name a handful.

Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont
Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont

But I confess, it is the tall ships which capture my eye and heart. There is a romance to the great sailing ships of old which belies the often harsh life aboard them, whether merchantman or warship. Who cannot be moved by the sight of such a vessel, sails unfurled, white-foamed sea curling back from curved bows as it runs before the wind, unfettered and in full career – if I might borrow from Brecht. Or, equally as moving, laying at anchor, sails furled as the sun casts its last rays of the day across masts and deck.

Wildstar captures all this and more in his images; so much so that to point a finger at any one is perhaps unfair, but I admit to being very drawn to his images of the Star of Winterfell, (shown on the right in the banner image for this article) and the trio of studies showing the Bright Star passing the Fastnet Rock Lighthouse (below right, alongside a closer viewer of the Bright Star).

Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont
Sailing: Wildstar Beaumont

All of the pictures in the exhibition are for sale at a very modest price, and are presented pre-framed and ready to hang at home. And believe me when I say, they will more than grace any home with wall space to spare. For anyone in love with sailing or who appreciates Wildstar’s work, this is a must-see exhibition.

SLurl Details