Year: 2016

Meet the Lindens (and more) at SL13B

Posted on by Inara Pey
via SL13B website
via SL13B website

The SL13B celebrations commence this year, and Linden Lab has announced their involvement in the festivities which will roll through the week of Sunday, June 19th through Sunday June 26th inclusive.

Alongside all of the resident-led events and activities planned to mark SL’s 13th anniversary, the Lab is running a number of events and activities at the SL13B Community Celebration regions.

Full details are available in the official blog post, but here are some highlights.

Hear senior Linden staff talk about Second Life and more at the SL13B auditorium
Hear senior Linden staff talk about Second Life and more at the SL13B auditorium

Meet the Lindens – Monday – Friday, 15:00 SLT

A chance to meet with some of the people who keep Second Life working, who bring us new tools and capabilities, and provide support to the community. They’ll be discussing all things Second Life and doubtless taking questions at the Astound Auditorium and Enchant Stage on the following dates:

Monday 20th June Brett and Torley Linden from the Community team
Tuesday 21st June Ebbe Linden, CEO Linden Lab
Wednesday 22nd, June Landon Linden, VP of Operations and Platform Engineering; Oz Linden, Technical Director, Second Life
Thursday 23rd June Xiola Linden, Lead Community Manager, and Pete Linden, Senior Director, Global Communications
Friday 24th June Patch Linden, Senior Manager, Product Operations, and Dee Linden, Land Product Specialist

SL Music Fest

Following the success of the Sl12B Music Fest, the Lab are hosts another series of concerts over the weekend of Friday June 24th through Sunday June 26th.  For four ours each data top SL musicians and singers will be performing at Stage Left at SL13B.

Friday June 24th Saturday June 25th Sunday June 26th
11:00: JueL Resistance 20:00: Oblee 16:00: Zachh Cale
11:30: Phoenix J 20:30: Oblee 16:30: Mavenn
Noon: Phoenix J 21:00: Evely Lane 17:00: Shannon Oherlihy
12:30: Taka Coeur 21:30: Toxic Darkmatter 17:30: Ambrosia Kamala
13:00: Tempio Breil 22:00: Jerry Angel 18:00: Frogg Marlowe
13:30: Engrama 22:30: Paul Nowles 18:30: Spiral Sands
14:00: Engrama 23:00: Tzaryna Gracemount 19:00: Amforte Clarity
14:30: Zoz Quandry 23:30: Acoustic Rhapsody 19:30: Psiquence

Dress, Dance and Win

In addition the Lab will be hosting two costume parties during SL13B, with L$5,000 for the best in costume at each party.

  • Monday, June 20th 10:00 through 12:00 noon – The Roleplay Mashup Party at the SL13B cake stage. Wear your absolute favourite role-play costume (remembering the region is rated General) – prize rules
  • Wednesday, June 221t 19:00 through 21:00 The Flashback Party again at he SL13B cake stage. Wear something old and bring your oldest Second Life friend to celebrate the past in all its glory and share some amazing stories from the Second Life days of yore – prize rules.

And There’s More…

Check out the official Linden Lab SL13B blog post for more on what the Lab is doing to celebrate Second Life’s 13th anniversary alongside the residents.

A new take on free-form Role-play in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Hell's Crossing; Inara Pey, June 2016, on Flickr Hell’s Crossing – click any image for full size

Lυcy (LucyDiam0nd) dropped me a line about a new project she and her partner, Max Butoh have launched in Second Life – Hell’s Crossing, a homestead region they’ve opened to the public.

Max explains it thus:  “It’s for exploration, light role-playing and photography. Periodically the sim will be updated to a new theme, all [of them] based on the common thread of a crossing. Danger may lurk at any turn for the hope of a breath-taking discovery.”

Hell's Crossing; Inara Pey, June 2016, on Flickr Hell’s Crossing – click any image for full size

Intrigued by the idea I hopped over to join Lucy (Max was at work at the time) to take a look around. “We were talking about Game of Thrones,” she explained. “And he mentioned it would be nice to have a Winterfell inspired place, but not exactly that; just inspired by. The next day he had the builds and the sim, and everything set! He just made it happen!”

The result is – right now – a rugged place called Saltcliffe, a place which might easily be one of the Iron Islands, were we to continue the Game of Thrones analogy. A tall table of rock thrusts upwards from the surrounding sea, flat face turned towards a tan sky. It is home to a stone fortress facing a line of knobble topped cliffs beyond which, on slightly higher ground, sits a small wood, a sturdy tavern lifting its roof on the far side of the trees. Small tongues of mossy rock thrust outwards on the west and east sides of the island, whilst a slender wood and rope bridge links it to a smaller pillar of rock as it also rises, flat-topped, from the sea, crowned by a single wood and stone tower.

Hell's Crossing; Inara Pey, June 2016, on Flickr Hell’s Crossing – click any image for full size

But to think this is all there is to the island would be a mistake. Scattered around the island are several statues, all of which carry a slightly sinister air about them, suggesting there’s more here than meets the eye. When exploring the keen-eyed may spot further clues in the form of  cavern entrances, stairs which descend behind closed door, or ladders vanishing into the darkness beneath the rocks.

“We’ve no set rules for role-play,” Lucy said as we wandered. “It’s all very free-form and open to whatever mood you’re in. The sim is very serene and peaceful above, but below the castle there’s dungeons and caves with a couple of ‘creepy’ things so you could go either way.”

The dungeons certainly offer hints for some directions role-play can go; do keep in mind this is an Adult rated region. While the ‘creepy’ elements in the caverns and tunnels offer their own ideas for stories and role-play.

Hell's Crossing; Inara Pey, June 2016, on Flickr Hell’s Crossing – click any image for full size

But it’s not all about role-play; as we chatted, Lucy echoed Max’s sentiments in his description of the region. “We  thought it would be nice to have a place people could enjoy and take photos,” she said.

Max isn’t sure how often Hell’s Crossing will change in look or theme; it’ll very much be on the basis of as and when the mood takes him. It’ll certainly be interesting to see what else takes form here over time, and I’ll very much be keeping an eye on the region in the future!

SLurl Details

Second Life TLS 1.2 update – what works, what doesn’t

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Wednesday, June 15th, 2016, the Lab updated their Web Cashier services to TLS 1.2.

The change, which has been highlighted through official blog posts (and reported through pages such as this blog) has been implemented as a part of both LL’s on-going compliance work and in response to an ongoing  set of regulatory / compliance requirements which are global in scope (as explained by the PCI Security Standards Council).

However, there has been a certain amount of confusion over precisely how widespread the impact of the change will be, and what will or will not be affected.

To this end, and with the switched flipped, Whirly Fizzle and I have been trying older viewer (e.g. pre 4.7.7 Firestorm releases, the official obsolete platform viewer, Singularity) to find out what is and isn’t affected, and seeking feedback from the Lab.

This is what we’ve been able to determine:

If you have a web browser or viewer which supports TLS 1.2 (all recent official viewer releases and TPV updates should support TLS 1.2):

  • You will be able to continue to make in-world L$ transactions as normal
  • You will be able to carry out LindeX transactions and  / or use the SL Marketplace through either your web browser OR the viewer’s built-in browser as usual
  • You will be able to add/edit payment info to your account.

If you are using a web browser which does not support TLS 1.2:

  • You will not be able to make L$ transactions on the LindeX via your browser
  • You will not be able to add/edit payment info to your account.

If you are using a viewer which does not support TLS 1.2:

  • You will still be able to buy L$ through the Buy L$ button / option in the top right corner of the viewer
  • You will still be able to PAY / BUY via right-clicking on other avatars or on in-world vendor systems
  • You will not be able to use your viewer’s built-in browser to perform LindeX transactions and / or make Marketplace transactions. Attempting to do so will result in a Connection Closed message:
With thanks to Whirly Fizzle for the screen capture
  • You will not be able to add/edit payment info to your account.

This should – at this point in time – be the extent of the impact (there might be further changes at some point in the future). If you do note any more, please feel free to provide specifics in the comments below.

My thanks to Whirly Fizzle for her assistance and support in putting this article together.

When art and stories combine in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Stories at the Park - Holly Kai Park
Stories at the Park – Holly Kai Park

Sunday, June 5th saw the second of Holly Kai Park’s series Stories at the Park, which is run in partnership with Seanchai Library.

Presented by Seanchai Library, Stories at the Park is held alongside each of our Art at the Park exhibitions, and offers writers and poets the opportunity to produce stories and / or poems based on any of the art on display by our Visiting Artists at Holly Kai Park.

Writes are invited to produce a 100-word story (known as a “drabble”), or a poem of up to 100 words on any of the displayed art which inspires them. The collected stories and poems are then read, either by the original author or a member of the Seanchai Library team (if you prefer not to speak on voice) during the Stories at the Park exhibition, which is generally run mid-way through the current Art at the Park exhibition.

The event on June 5th featured Caledonia Skytower, Trolley Trollop and Kayden Oconnell reading stories and poems they and Rosedrop Rust (who was unable to attend the reading due to work commitments) had written to the works of our Invited Artists for the May / June exhibition, Ceakay Ballyhoo, Eleseren Brianna, JudiLynn India, Lantana Silverweb, Slatan Dryke and SisterButta.

The authors  have graciously given us permission to reprint their works in the Holly Kai blog for those unable to attend the event, and this post is to encourage readers of this blog to follow the links below to have a read.

To make things easier, the stories and poems have been split by artist, and each piece is presented with an image of the painting or work which inspired it. In addition, some of the works include an audio recording of the reading for your additional enjoyment:

Holly Kai Park - Stories at the Park and Art at the Park
Holly Kai Park – Stories at the Park and Art at the Park

As things got a little delayed with this session of Stories at the Park, the current exhibition will remain open at Holly Kai Park through until Sunday June 19th – so please do visit and see all of the works displayed by our visiting artists and see the images which inspired these stories and poems first-hand.

Calling writers and storytellers

If you would like to participate in Stories at the Park by submitting one (or more!) stories and / or poems for the next session in July, Please contain either myself or Caledonia Skytower in world for information on what to do. You don’t have to read your finished works yourself if you don’t want to – the folk at Seanchai Library can do that for you – but of course, you’re also more than welcome to read your works if you enjoy doing so.

Our next exhibition at Holly Kai Park will not be starting until early July, so as not to clash with events like SL13B and the RFL of SL weekend (and to allow us to complete some further renovations at the Park!). We’ll of course let those participating in the next Stories at the Park know both the date of the event and when the next exhibition is available for viewing as soon as our artists have set-up.

In the meantime, please enjoy the stories and poems linked to above!

A Carnival of the Arts in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Dirty Grind
The Dirty Grind

The Dirty Grind, the open arts community founded by  jasmine0alaya and her partner, Ian McConach marks its anniversary in June 2016, and in celebration will be hosting another  Carnival of the Arts III. The event will take place from Wednesday, June 15th through Sunday June 19th inclusive. and will encompass live music and performance and  visual art.

The featured artist for the event is Bloo Ansar, and those participating in the Artist Row are: Winston Ackland, Kiesta Aljon, Bloo Ansar, Suzen Juel, JudiLynn India, Solana Python and Toysoldier Thor.

In addition, the celebrations will also see the official opening of The Movement Lounge in the basement of The Dirty Grind theatre. The Movement is intended to provide a relaxed setting for impromptu  performances and open microphone events for both the community’s artists and those visiting The Dirty Grind.

The Movement Lounge
The Movement Lounge

Live Performance Schedule

At the time of writing, the performance schedule lined up as follows (note Thursday, June 16th was marked as “TBA”, so please check with The Dirty Grind blog for updates). All times SLT:

Wed 15 June Fri 17 June Sat 18 June Sun 19 June
15:00: Zoz Quandry 15:00: Etherian Kamaboko 15:00: Efinjay 15:00: Phemie Alcott
16:00: Suzen JueL 16:00: Strum Diesel 16:00: Ren Enberg & Quai Franklin 16:00: Laidback Celt
17:00: The Matthew Show 17:00: Bat Masters 17:00: Senjata Witt 17:00: Winston Ackland
18:00: Kiesta Aljon 18:00: David Csiszer 18:00: Shannon Oherlihy 18:00: Kinagree-Smith
19:00: Marqs DeSade 19:00: Jamba 19:00: Wald Schride 19:00: The Vinnie Show
20:00: Lyndon Heart

The Dirty Grind has a great community spirit, and is a place I’ve visited numerous times, both to write about in this blog and simply to enjoy. Steeped in music, and with a strong support for art, it is a great place to explore – so why not find a little time over the next few days to hop over to wish them a happy anniversary?

Useful Links

 

SL project updates 16 24/1: server, viewer, weekend issues

Posted on by Inara Pey

Khaled; Inara Pey, June 2016, on Flickr Khaled – blog post

Server Deployments

As usual, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest information.

  • On Tuesday, June 14th, the Main (SLS) channel received the same server maintenance project, as previously deployed to all three RC channels, comprising “minor internal changes”
  • It is likely there will be no planned deployment / restart for either the LeTigre or BlueSteel RCs.

There is a deployment listed for the Magnum RC, which quotes the same version number as last week’s deployment. When I asked Simon whether or not this indicated there would be a deployment, he replied:

I believe they won’t actually roll it. The two versions in RC were almost identical, except for one bit of code that executed when entering a region.   We were comparing them for speed and are promoting the less laggy one. The slow code was kinda nice in that it gave us better diagnostics but wasn’t worth it.

Weekend Issues

On Friday, June 10th the main grid experienced a series of issues which appeared to be very similar to those which occurred at the start of May and were related to the central database node failure. I asked Simon if we would be seeing a further write-up from April Linden or another member of the ops team, prompting him to reply:

I’m not sure if April was going to write up another report. Last Friday’s outage was another main database failure.  I know they’re looking to see if there is any noticeable cause we could address.

Should a post appear, it will most likely be via the Tools and Technology blog, and I’ll of course cover it through these pages.

SL Viewer

Friday May 10th saw two viewer updates:

  • The Maintenance RC viewer updated to version 4.0.6.316312
  • The Bento project viewer updated to version 5.0.0.316366, comprising a small set of bug fixes.

Otherwise, all viewers remain as per my last projects update:

  • Current Release version: 4.0.5.315117, dated May 11th, promoted  May 18th, and formerly the Quick Graphics RC viewer
  • Inventory Message RC viewer, version 4.0.6.315555, dated May 23rd – removal of deprecated and unused UDP inventory messaging mechanisms from the viewer
  • The Visual Outfits Browser (VOB) project viewer, version 4.0.6.316123, dated June 6th. See my overview of the viewer for further details
  • VLC Media Plugin viewer, version 4.0.6.316087, dated June 3rd. Sees the Quicktime for Windows media plugin for the playback of media types such as MP3 MPEG-4 and MOV, replaced by one based on LibVLC (https://wiki.videolan.org/LibVLC/) Mac viewer currently unaffected.
  • Oculus Rift project viewer, version 3.7.18.295296, dated October 13, 2014 – Oculus Rift DK2 support
  • 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.