Month: November 2017

Previewing the Dickens Project 2017 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Dickens Project 2017 Edition

In 2012, and to mark Dickens Bicentenary Year. Seanchai Library created The Dickens Project, a celebration of the life and times of Charles Dickens, focused around what is perhaps his most popular novel – and one which still resonates with meaning today – A Christmas Carol. Since then the event has evolved and grown over the years, in the process becoming a Second Life Tradition.

In 2017, to mark the its fifth anniversary, The Dickens Project will open its doors on Saturday, November 25th, 2017, and run through until Saturday, December 30th, 2017 in a region-wide immersive environment, where visitors can trace Ebenezer Scrooge’s journey, from his place of business, to his home, and onward through his travels with the Ghosts of Christmas to the end of his story. There are also numerous opportunities to learn more about Charles Dickens, his works, the popularity of A Christmas Carol down through the years and – of course – hear the story itself through a series of readings by the Seanchai Library and friends.

The Dickens Project 2017 Edition: A famous place of business

However, there will also be so much more going on over the course of the five weeks, with weekly DJ sessions, stage performances by Guerilla Burlesque, and Misfit Dance & Performance Art, and tours of the experience. For those who prefer to ride rather than walk, there is a carriage ride around the region, pulled by a magnificent shire horse, and balloon rides for a heady Victorian experience in what is designed to be an inspirational build evoking the spirit of A Christmas Carol.

“Every year we learn something new,” said Seanchai Lead Caledonia Skytower in reference to the event, “Something fresh from the text, and something new in how we present it. Our vision has always been to guide our audiences ‘in the steps of Ebenezer Scrooge’ using Dickens words framed by a themed environment, like walking through a live picture book.”

The Dickens Project 2017 Edition

The 2017 Edition will include multiple presentations of A Christmas Carol in a variety of adaptations, in sections and in its entirety, and at different times to make the live readings accessible to residents from different parts of the globe. Other works from within the author’s vast canon are featured in the weeks leading up to “Carol Week” (Monday December 11th, through to Sunday December 17th), which climaxes in a marathon “Big Read” presentation of A Christmas Carol performed by a relay team of Seanchai staff and storytelling friends, scheduled for Sunday, December 17th. There is also an interactive information centre on the times and work of Charles Dickens, designed by the Community Virtual Library.

In 1843 Charles Dickens prefaced his about-to-be classic tale with these words: “I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.” He began the novella in October, completed it in less than six weeks. It went on to become the most successful book of the 1843 holiday season, selling six thousand copies by Christmas and continuing to be popular into the new year.

The Dickens Project 2017 Edition: Christmas Present

The Dickens Project SL is free to attend and explore. The twice daily readings are designed to help reach as wide an SL audience as possible, and will be presented by different volunteers, each giving his or her interpretation of the story and the characters, and visitors are welcome to attend as many readings as they wish.

For full details of the schedule of events for The Dickens Project, please refer to the Seanchai Library blog. In the meantime, I’m reproducing the outlines summary as it stood at the time of writing this preview.

November 2017

  • Saturday, November 25th: Opening Day.
  • Sunday, November 26th:
    • 13:00 – Tea Time with Charles Dickens.
    • 14:00-16:00 – Dancing in “Christmas Past” with DJ Dano Bookmite.

December 2017

  • Friday, December 1st, 20:00: Guerilla Burlesque Show in Dickens Square*
  • Sunday December 3rd:
    • 11:00 – Wald Schridde Live at the Docks – Sea Shanties.
    • 12:00 – ACRL Virtual World Interest Group Tour.
    • 13:00 – Tea Time with Charles Dickens.
    • 14:00-16:00 – Dancing in “Christmas Present” with DJ Dano Bookmite.
  • Tuesday, December 5th,  12:00 noon – Russell Eponym – Music Poetry, and Stories.
  • Friday, December 8th:
    • 09:00 – The NonProfit Commons Group Tour of the Dickens Resource Centre.
    • 20:00 – Guerilla Burlesque Show in Dickens Square*.
  • Sunday, December 10th, 13:00:  Tea Time with Charles Dickens.

Carol Week, December 11th-17th

  • Monday, December 11th, 14:00 and 19:00: Stave One: Marley’s Ghost.
  • Tuesday, December 12th, 14:00 and 19:00: Stave Two: The First of Three Ghosts.
  • Wednesday, December 13th, 14:00 and 19:00: Stave Three: The Second of Three Ghosts.
  • Thursday,  December 14th, 14:00 and 19:00: Stave Four: The Last of the Spirits.
  • Friday, December 15th:
    • 15:00 – 90 Minute A Christmas Carol
    • 19:00 – Misfit Dance & Performance Art*
  • Saturday, December 16th:
    • 12:00 Noon – Misfit Dance & Performance Art*
    • 14:00-16:00 – Fezziwig’s Ball in “Christmas Past” With DJ Dano Bookmite.
  • Sunday, December 17th:
    • 11:00 – Wald Schridde live in Dickens Square.
    • 12:00-15:30 – The Big Read in Dickens Square.

Christmas Week

  • Wednesday, December 20th, 19:00: Community Virtual Library Tour
  • Friday, December 22nd, 12:00 Noon: 90 Minute A Christmas Carol Story Tour
  • Thursday, December 30th – CLOSING DAY:
    • 13:00 – Josie Anderton, LIVE
    • 14:00-16:00 – The Last Dance with DJ Gabrielle Riel
    • 20:00 – Guerilla Burlesque Show in Dickens Square*

* For these large stage performances, please arrive early to grab a seat and let your cache  load.  Music will be playing for your enjoyment during these pre-show times.

Related Links

Return to the Outer Garden in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

The Outer Garden; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrThe Outer Garden – click any image for full size

It’s been two years since my last visit to The Outer Garden, designed by Bisou Dexler. At that time, the build occupied a sky platform above a quarter region. It now occupies a full region, both in the air and on the ground.

Visits start in the air over the region, on a wintry platform which – for me – brought back memories of my last visit to The Outer Garden. Trees of green or frosted with snow sit on a landscape blanketed in white, through which tracks and paths  – some obvious, some simply  marked by the trees themselves.

The Outer Garden; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrThe Outer Garden – Winter Garden

Under boughs and alongside tracks lie points of whimsy and rest. Some of these hold strong memories of the former iteration of the garden: an ice cream stand with seating outside of it. Not far away sits an artist’s easel. For the whimsy, giant Christmas decorations are scattered around, while teacup rides appear to have been tossed into the air around an old carousel.

More whimsy can be found in the little club for chicks (the feathered kind), complete with a cabaret floor show, tables and a bar tucked away into a tree trunk. For the romantics, a copse of multi-hued trees hides a cosy snug of a lounge with plush chairs and a canopied bed.

The Outer Garden; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrThe Outer Garden – Winter Garden

Close to the landing point is a mirror, a teleport; it provides access to three more areas: the skyborne tuki reirou platform, home of 月玲瓏 – The Moon is Serene – the latest addition to The Outer Garden: an altogether intriguing setting.

On teleporting to it, visitors are invited to walk through a garden path which seems to be floating among the clouds. Flowers border a walk  in turn lined by candles and screens, between which sit paper umbrellas. Overhead, rather incongruously, hang lighting grills without a ceiling, together with a hand-pulled cart. All of this points towards a beckoning Moon, inviting you to walk to it.

The Outer Garden; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrThe Outer Garden – The Moon is Serene

“You go through the moon, to the garden of a picture scroll,” Bisou says of this. “You are a character of the scroll, what kind of story can you tell me? I hope for a good story!” The scroll itself, the huts and grasslands stretched out along it, forms a brightly lit setting, reached by a set of Torii gates winding down from the back of the Moon.

The second destination point is the Rose Garden, located on the ground level. This, for me. also carries with it strong echoes of The Outer Garden as it was in 2015. Within a huge crystal palace is a marvellously atmospheric rose garden with lower and upper levels, halls to explore, and places to relax.

The Outer Garden; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrThe Outer Garden – Rose Garden

Also on the ground level is the Boat House, another snowy garden spot, where you can take a boat to the Rose Garden – although oddly, instructions on how to get from the Boat House to the Rose Garden can be found at the latter. I assume this is because it may have once been the original landing point. Both face a third ground level area, which given it has no teleport link, may not be completed yet – but it does offer another intriguing setting – complete with diesel locomotive hanging in the sky.

In 2015, I felt that, by only covering a 1/4 region, The Outer Garden was an absolute treasure, a tour de force demonstration that less is very often more when it comes to designing an environment. Despite now being an entire region, this still holds true, largely because of the way in which Bisou has used the space available to her.

The Outer Garden; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrThe Outer Garden – Winter Garden

For example, the winter garden doesn’t cover the entire area of the region, but keeps to a size of just over a 1/4 of the region’s area, and so reflects much of the feel of the earlier iteration. Similarly The Moon is Serene stands as an independent setting, divorced from the winter garden and the ground, providing an immersive setting – although the use of glow might impact the performance for some.  Similarly, the lighting on the ground allows the developed areas there to stand apart from one another, adding depth to each of them.

As such, it remains a rewarding visit.

Related Links

SL project updates week #47: server, viewer, No Copy exploits update

Posted on by Inara Pey

Gallant Estates; Inara Pey, November 2017, on FlickrGallant Estates – blog post

Server Deployments

As always, please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest updates.

  • On Tuesday, November 21st the Main (SLS) channel was updated with server maintenance package #17.11.11.510664, previously deployed to the RC channels. This comprises internal fixes and a user-visible fix for BUG-139176, “Issue with OBJECT_REZZER_KEY reporting incorrectly after linking and delinking prims.”
  • There will be no deployment to the RC channels on Wednesday, November 22nd, also leaving them on  server maintenance package #17.11.11.510664.

SL Viewer

  • Current Release version 5.0.8.329115, dated September 22, promoted October 13 – formerly the “Moonshine” Maintenance RC.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
    • Martini Maintenance RC viewer, version 5.0.9.329906 November 17.
    • Alex Ivy 64-bit viewer, version 5.1.0.510354, November 2 (still dated Sept 5 on the wiki page).
    • Voice RC viewer, version 5.0.8.328552, October 20 (still dated Sept 1 on the wiki page).
  • Project viewers:
  • Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, dated May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

No Copy Exploits

One area of concern / upset for content creators has been the use of server exploits to generate copies of No-Copy items. While a long-standing problem, the issue has gained a lot more coverage of late due to the frequency with people have been using various exploits to illegal copy and then sell gacha items.

It is also a problem the Lab has been very aware of, and in my SL project update from week #43 (October 24th, 2017), a set of server-side updates were deployed grid wide in an attempt to address some of these problems – and work is continuing to address more of them.

However, the work does take time, and some creators are feeling frustration with the time being taken, and responses to things like Abuse Reports  (which can take time to investigate). On the technical front, and speaking at the Simulator User Group on Tuesday, November 21st, Simon Linden said:

I know you all want more info and details but I’m sorry that I just can’t get into what’s been done, what’s going on now or the future. I can say, however, that we really take it seriously and are actively working on the problem. Please do keep filing the reports with any info you have. I know support tickets don’t give much feedback on what’s going on, but these are taken seriously.

To which Oz Linden added:

Other considerations aside, it would be difficult to talk about details without giving hints about what we do and don’t know about what bad guys are up to. We know quite a lot, and are working hard on it, but there’s no reason to leak information we don’t need to.

So, to repeat Simon’s comments, if a creator notices that their items have been exploited, a JIRA Bug report an / or an Abuse Report should be raised.

Nature’s beauty in Sansar

Posted on by Inara Pey
Skye Naturae Virtualis

Alex Bader is one of the foremost creators of landscape elements in Second Life – trees, plants, land forms, textures, building kits, and so on, for temperate and tropical settings (he also produces a range of castles and buildings).

He’s also been working in Sansar as a part of the overall Creator programmed (Closed and Beta), and a visit to his experience there was added to my list of places to visit after Cube Republic (another creator of excellent plants and landscaping items in Second Life) prodded me about it recently.

Skye Naturae Virtualis

Unsurprisingly, Alex’s experience – called Skye Naturae Virtualis – is focused on nature: plants, trees, rivers, trails – which have been the hallmark of his work in Second Life. What is marvellous about it is the depth of realism Alex has achieved within it. So much so, that I can honestly say it is perhaps the first virtual environment I’ve seen that has made me regret not having ready access to a VR headset, just so I could experience visual immersion for the sheer pleasure of the setting, rather than out of any technical curiosity. It’s a place that quite honestly makes you want to be there.

You arrive on a woodland trail, rocks and cliffs visible through the trees, the sounds of birds and of flowing water. Ahead, the trail leads between tree trunks, fork to the left and right. Some paths are only short, others lead onwards, splitting again, crossing a bridge, offering a way to grassy slopes.

Skye Naturae Virtualis

This is very much a work-in-progress, with Alex noting that he plans to add to the setting over time as he creates more plants, trees and other elements for Sansar. This can be evidenced by one of the paths winding its way into a rocky cleft, the way only to be blocked by boulders, the path beyond them petering out in a space that looks like it is waiting to have detail added.

Alex says his hope is to, “Create a natural virtual space, just as exciting and captivating as the real (no harm in dreaming the impossible!).” On the strength of what is already available within the experience, I’d say he is achieving the impossible. Skye Naturae Virtualis is one of the most natural-looking environments that can be enjoyed in a virtual space, almost perfectly bringing together setting, sky, sunlight and sounds into a whole. Beautiful in Desktop mode, I can well imagine that in VR mode it could leave you feeling you’re almost anywhere in the temperate world, be it one of the national parks of the United States, the forests of Canada, the lowland Alps of Europe, the woodlands of Germany or anywhere else you care to think of.

Skye Naturae Virtualis

Experience SLurl

Art Project 3 at Blue Orange in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Blue Orange: Xirana Oximoxi

Currently on display at Blue Orange, the music and arts venue in Second Life curated by Ini (In Inaka), is Art Project 3, featuring work by Aicha-Tubal Amiot, Gitu Aura, Rebeca Bashly, Chibbchichi, Jadeyu Fhang, NicoleX Moonwall, Nevereux, Bryn Oh, Xirana Oximoxi, and Theda Tammas.

As I’ve mentioned in the past, part of the delight in visiting this particular venue is its subterranean look and feel, which offers something of a warren of spaces which take time to explore, and make the discovery of what lies within them more interesting. This exhibit is no exception, although my visit did leave me with a feeling the art spaces have been expanded, with everything turned around a little, making navigation this time around a little harder – the LM I regularly use delivered me within the club space itself, rather than out on the subway platform as used to be the case (there’s no official landing point).

Blue Orange: Gitu Aura and NicoleX Moonwall

The art on exhibition is split between four main areas. The first of these is the Art Corner hall just off of the club, featuring a sculpture by Rebeca Bashly, art by Ini herself, and Mindgames by Gitu Aura and NicoleX Moonwall, a display area above the club, featuring pieces by JadeYu Fhang. A hall leading off of this area leads to Alchemy by Nevereux, defined as, “a series of visual allegories meant to detract you from a physical plane and deliver you into mysticism via transformation and criticism.” Note there is a warning to those who are sensitive to flashing lights with this exhibition, but it only applies to the hallways leading to it.

The second Art Corner hall, accessed via the subway station platform outside of the club, features Waiting Box by Theda Tammas, while a further hallway from this again leads to a section of Alchemy. This shares the same warning for those with a sensitivity to flashing light, which again only applies to the entrance hall.

Blue Orange: Nevereux

Above the club is a further hall, this one featuring elements some may recognise as being from OpeRaAxiEty (see here). The final art display area is devoted to 2D art, and split between the hall connecting the club with the subway station platform, while art and drawings by Xirana Oximoxi can be found in a hall down the stairs running down from the hall featuring Rebeca’s art.

Such a broad mix of art makes highlighting individual elements that much more difficult, particularly given the calibre of the artists brought together here. As such, these are displays best enjoyed individually as you pass through the halls and hallways of Blue Orange. However, were I to pick one with a particular appeal, it would be Alchemy. There is a depth of interpretation to be found within it – which is not to in any way diminish any of the others; for example, it’s always a delight to see Bryn Oh’s 2D art.

Blue Orange: JadeYu Fhang

SLurl Details

Alchemy Release 5.0.7.41341

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Tuesday, November 14th, 2017, the Alchemy viewer updated to version 5.0.7.41341. The majority of the update appears to address issues and bug fixes, with the high-level summary in the release notes given as:

  • Re-Enabled HTTP Pipelining.
  • Fixes to IME for Japanese language input.
  • Numerous fixes to crashes and various other bugs.

Please refer to the release notes for a table of fixes.

The two significant updates to the viewer take the form of a revised Graphics tab in Preferences, and the adoption of the hypergrid currency extensions.

Graphics Preferences Update

This updates reverts Alchemy to displaying the Advanced graphics options within the Graphics tab of Preferences, rather than breaking them out to a separate floater, as per the official viewer. It also re-introduces the sub-tabs for General, Hardware, Lighting and Depth of Field, all of which makes the graphics option less screen real estate consuming.

Alchemy 5.0.7 does away with splitting the Advanced graphics options into a separate floater, as per the 5.0.6 release (l) & the official viewer, and instead re-integrates them into the main Preferences > Graphics tab (r), with sub tabs to logically split options.

Hypergrid Currency Extensions

Currently, if an OpenSim user log-in to one grid and then hypergrids to another, the currency symbol (displayed in the top-right of the viewer window) do not update to the new grid. With this extension, the currency symbol will be automatically updated, and the currency helper-uri should also update. Thus, the buy currency /  insufficient-funds / buy land processes should all continue to work correctly, and without the need for the user to manually update the grid info in their viewer and without any need to have specific  currency.php, landtool.php files or an xml-rpc server.

The extension has been developed by Chris Colosi, founder and CEO of Gloebit, a multi-platform digital currency web service which has been adopted by a number of OpenSim grids (see here for a list of Gloebit partners). It was contributed as a patch for the Firestorm viewer in October (with the assistance of Ansariel Hiller from Firestorm), and is being adopted by both Alchemy and (hopefully) Singularity. Colosi was, from November 2010 through September 2011, the Monetisation Manager at Linden Lab, responsible for the Linden Dollar virtual currency product. In 2011 he left Linden Lab to set-up Gloebit, and you can read more about the extension via his article on Medium, posted on September 26th, 2017.

Feedback

I’ve not had the time to drive this release hard, but it appears stable and didn’t give me any significant issues when playing with it over the last several days. The graphics panel update is appreciated – I’ve always tended to find the Advanced Graphics break-out panel in the official viewer a waste of screen real estate which offers few, if any, advantages for users. I don’t really drop into OpenSim any more, so cannot comment on the currency extensions capability, other than it appears to be a good and useful feature to have.

Related Links