Bjørn Laurin, the former Vice President of Product at Linden Lab, has departed the company to join HTC Vive, where he is involved with Viveport, the company’s app store for Virtual Reality experiences.
Bjørn joined Linden Lab in March 2015 – although it passed almost unnoticed at the time. I personally didn’t catch it until a passing comment from Don Laabs (Danger Linden), at that time the Lab’s Senior Director of Product, whilst he was being interviewed at SL12B that year. That led me to provide a very quick outline biography for Bjørn.
Whilst his remit as VP of Product covered all three of the Lab’s platforms and applications – Second Life, Sansar and Blocksworld – over the course of his roughly two-and-a-half years at Linden Lab, Bjørn perhaps became most closely identified with Sansar. He was generally present at physical world events where the Lab sought to promote the platform. He was also, for a time, one of the “regulars” from the Lab who would hop into Sansar to join community meet-ups and product meetings there.
Bjørn Lauren, the Lab’s former Vice President of Product (l), and fellow Swede, Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg, in the basement of the Lab’s San Francisco office. Credit Dean Takahashi
In this latter capacity, he became one of the popular Lab reps (alongside Ebbe Altberg and Jason Gholston (Widely Linden)) for his willingness to offer broad-ranging views and comments on Sansar’s direction, upcoming releases and ideas being discussed for the platform back at the Lab.
Nor was his time restricted to meeting people in Sansar. Ahead of the launch of the platform’s open Creator Beta at the end of July 2017, Bjørn, together with Jason (Widely Linden), sat down with Sansar and SL users to discuss the new platform and explain some of the thinking behind its evolution, as well as looking a little further down the road. It’s also not unfair to say that he has been an enthusiastic adopter of consumer-focused VR, something which tended to become very evident in even brief conversations with him, so his move to HTC Vive would appear to be a good fit.
I actually first became curious about Bjørn’s status at the Lab in mid-January, 2018, when I noticed his biographical notes had been removed from the Lab’s corporate website shortly after Peter Gray had dropped me a line to say he would be departing the Lab for pastures new. At the time, I reached out to the Lab through various channels to try to ascertain whether Bjørn had left the company, but without success (someone – and my apologies to them as I forget who – had pinged me in late 2017 to ask if I knew whether or not he was still with that Lab – as there was no change in his status on the Lab’s corporate pages at the time, I took it to mean he was still with the company back then). According to LinkedIn, Bjørn took up his new position at HTC Vive some time around the end of January / beginning of February 2018.
Currently, there has been no nomination to the role of VP of Product at the Lab. However, it might be that Paul Chen, who has been with the company since the end of 2014, may have inherited Bjørn’s role. He is now listed on the Lab’s management page as Head of Product and Business operations – a role he moved to in October 2017, and which he describes in part as being, “Building and operating the next generation of virtual worlds, overseeing the development, planning and execution of Sansar.”
While I didn’t know him particularly well, Bjørn always came over as very personable, friendly and with something of a wry sense of humour. He was always hugely enthusiastic about Sansar’s potential and Second Life’s future. I wish him all the best for his new role at HTC Vive.
There was no deployment to the Main (SLS) channel on Tuesday, February 20th, again leaving it on the same server release as weeks #6 and #7: 18#18.01.17.511913. as the channel was restarted in week #7, there was no rolling restart this week.
All three of the major RC channels should receive a new server maintenance package on Wednesday, February 21st. Release 18#18.02.12.512536 should hopefully improve (if not resolve) an odd viewer crash situation some users have experienced. At the Simulator User Group meeting on Tuesday, February 20th, Simon Linden described it thus:
The server is doing some better checking on update data it sends to the viewer. We saw a very odd situation a week or two ago where the region was sending odd data and viewers would crash immediately. It went away after we restarted the region, and we think it was some memory corruption … FWIW, the server was sending a value of zero for a prim-code … which is totally invalid … There were also some other invalid data (like a zero’ed UUID) so my theory was memory corruption.
We didn’t have any other smoking guns. That region was fine after restarting, or when we tried our own copy. It was one of those mystery bugs, which we sometimes get since SL is so big and complex. We don’t know why it got that way, or how to make it happen again. we ended up making both the region and the viewer more robust. The underlying problem is still there and, assuming it happens again, will still cause problems.
Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
Obsolete platform viewer version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.
Region Crossing Issues Investigation
As noted over the last few weeks, user Joe Magarac (animats) has been digging into the viewer code handling region crossings in an attempt to improve avatar handing when seated on objects and looking at the “partial unsit” issue (when the avatar becomes visual detached from a vehicle on a region crossing, but acts as if still attached (e.g. appearing seated, with any attempt to stand causing a viewer crash. Information pertaining to his effects can be found at the following location:
He now believes he has an extrapolation fix for unsits at region boundaries, which could be appearing in a future Firestorm release.
In addition, he believes he has now isolated the cause of the “partial unsit” issue as being a network bottleneck issue, and is confident he can recreate the problem simply by “overloading” his network connection by running multiple net-intensive operations in the background (resulting in packets being lost or arriving out-of-order), or by forcing packet loss.
Rather than using RLV(/a) to address this problem as a workaround, he’s now looking at using a “scripted seatbelt” – essentially a scripted attachment which can detect a partial unsit, and teleport the avatar to the last known “good” position for the vehicle, attempting to deliver the avatar 3m above the vehicle, which might make it possible for the user to then re-sit. It’s not a total solution, particularly if the vehicle has been handed-off OK and is continuing along its path, but as Simon Linden noted, at least it puts the avatar (hopefully) in the vicinity of the vehicle. And as was also acknowledged in the meeting, anything more direct is likely going to require the Lab find resources to bang on the region crossing code in both simulators and in the viewer.
With the 2018 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXIII Olympic Winter Games running from February 8th through until February 25th, 2018 at Pyeongchang County, South Korea, a tweet from fellow SL traveller and writer, Erik Mondrian reminded me that Second Life also has its own winter sports venue in the form of six regions centred on Chamonix City on the Full region of Cross Check. It’s a place I last visited back in 2014, so the current games and Erik’s tweet put me in the mind to hop back and have another look, and see what may have changed.
Chamonix City – a reference to the location of the first Winter Olympics Games, held in 1924 – encompasses two of the six regions of this winter sports venue – Cross Check and Neutral Zone. They are bracketed by Breakaway to the west and Off Sides to the east, with Empty Net and Blueliner to the north and south respectively. Within these regions, the facilities on offer are extensive, and can be found both on the ground and up in the air. The city itself is dominated by two huge ice hockey arenas – the Brooks Arena on Blueliner, and the impressive Cleary arena, which straddles the northern part of Cross Check and most of Empty Net. Home to the Chamonix Pandas, Cleary arena also offers 10-pin bowling on the lobby area and one of a number of teleport stations which can be used to hop around the facilities scattered across the six regions. This includes a direct TP to Brooks Area – although the walk across town is pleasant enough, or there is a subway option, with stations just outside of both arenas.
Directly behind Brooks Arena is the main curling hall, with four ends available for players. To be honest, some instructions would not go amiss – for example: is actually possible to sweep, and if so, how? However, game play is pretty much as per the physical world game – trying to slide your team’s stones as close as possible to the centre of the house, whilst also seeking to block / eliminate your opposition’s stones. When playing, make sure you wear at least one of the coloured brooms from the free pack available at the top house of each end – order of play is based on who is wearing the broom matching the colour (red or yellow) of the first stone to appear before the hacks (chocks). Clicking on the hacks will position the player and place them in Mouselook, then it is a case of taking aim (use the crosshairs HUD if required), then press and hold the left mouse button to deliver the stone – the longer you hold the button, the more momentum is delivered to the stone, and players should be wary of delivering too much momentum and carrying their stones out-of-bounds.
A faster pace of event can be found in the sky over Breakaway, where the speed skating arena resides. Slip into a suitably aerodynamic suit, don your skates and then click on one of the speed skating rezzers located around the rink to get started. For those who prefer, there’s an indoor speed skating rink right next door to the outdoor arena. This is smaller and tighter, and requires a certain amount of skill to get around.
Breakaway is also the home of the ski jump and alpine ski run for those who love sports skiing. Comprehensive instructions are given for the ski jump, and skis are available from the rezzer at the back of the jump’ s start. Sadly, the alpine ski rezzer appeared to be out of commission during our visit, so reacquainting myself with that run wasn’t possible.
Offsides, meanwhile, is the home of the snowboarding and bob-sleigh runs. However, at the time of our visit, while the rezzers (boots and board) worked OK for the former, the rezzer for the bob-sleigh also appeared to be out-of-action.
At the time of my 2014 visit, there was a practice area in the sky over Neutral Zone, which included a figure skating rink. Since then, things have changed and this sky area is now the home of a go karting track, speedway circle and a Warbugs flying area, offering a set of alternatives to the winter fun across the rest of the regions. I’m not sure if this means the practice area and figure skating rink have been relocated – but I did have (an admittedly fast) hop around and attempt to find them, with no joy – and none of the teleport boards I found and tired led me to them.
A collaborative build, led I believe, by Kacey Rossini, Chamonix City provides a venue rich in winter scenery containing a lot of sports activities which can be enjoyed as a pert of a shared visit, with options as well for exploring the little town centre, having fun flying Warbugs or simply riding the cable cars.
SLurl Details
Chamonix City (Cross Check, rated: General, as are all six regions)
There are many galleries across Second Life. Some specialise in exhibiting photography and art created within Second Life; others focus on exhibiting the physical world work of artists who have come to Second Life for both social activities and as a means to reach a broader audience for their art. Indeed, such is the number of galleries, that reporting on all of them is a difficult task – but I enjoy hopping around SL looking for the smaller art spaces and discovering the work of artists between new to me and familiar.
One such gallery space, offering ensemble and mixed exhibits is the Art Garden Gallery operated by Fanny FooFoo Miklos (Sloane Cerise) and her partner Thorne Miklos. Located in the sky over the mainland, the gallery is – as its name suggests – presented as a garden environment; in this case a walled garden under a night-time sky. The landing point is towards the centre of the garden space, with the art displayed on the outer stone walls.
At the time of my visit, most of the art on display represented physical world pieces by a broad range of artists, including Kaly Iali, Persia Silverblade, Toysoldier Thor, SaraMarie Paul, Shmoo Snook, JudiLynn India, Asmita Duranjaya, Dulcis Taurig, to name a handful. Given such a broad cross-section of artists, it should come as no surprise the art itself was broad in terms of content, style and approach. Some offered studies of flowers, others present landscapes or representations of landscapes, and others are far more abstract in nature. Thus, the gallery offers an eclectic and attractive mix of art for the visitor’s enjoyment.
If I have a complaint at all, is the lack of artist information outside of plaques bearing the name of each piece and the artist’s name. Given that there are so many artists in Second Life, and the ease with which information givers can be set-up, it would be nice to see settings like this do a little more to help inform visitors about the artists behind the works on display; doing so can add further depth to an exhibition.
At the western end of the gallery space is the Miklos Centre, a smaller space for what appears to be more themed art displays. Again, at the time of my visit, this smaller, enclosed area was home to a display of art and poetry entitled Telephone Walkers. On offer are seven pieces of art and seven poems on the subject of telephone poles. Four of the pictures were produced within Second Life, with the remaining three – by photographer Nils Urqhart and artist David E. Weiner – are of physical world locations. All feature telephone pole – or overhead power lines – either as something of a focal point – as with Ziki Questi’s Bonne Chance 3 and Furillen 1, in orders they are part of the overall image framing, as with In Every Life by Wintergeist and Old Stone Wall by Nordica Torok, while for the rest the poles are almost incidental.
The poems offer a broad range of perspectives on telephone poles, and combined with the seven images – the numbers are more for balance than any attempt at pairing of specific images with poems – poems and pictures back for a very effective exhibition. I admit to finding Telephone Walkers more engaging than the main gallery space exhibition, partly because it is more contained and focused (and includes work by artists I greatly admire), but also because the poetry draws the visitor into each of the pieces, offering each multiple narratives to be enjoyed.
I’m not certain how frequently exhibitions change at the rt Garden Gallery, but for those who enjoy visits to smaller, more boutique style galleries which can offer ensemble exhibitions, I recommend a visit.
Coming up on Saturday March 3rd at 3:00PM SLT, the Gypsy Rose Lee Theatre has its grand opening.
Here’s the show announcement:
Burlesque Dolls of Gypsy Rose Burlesque Saturday March 3 – 3PM SLT
Welcome to the new Burlesque Dolls Gypsy Rose Burlesque Theatre, a tribute to the icon of classic burlesque: the legendary Gypsy Rose Lee, and carrying on the tradition of Lary Correia’s Burlesque Dolls.
We invite you to our grand opening on Saturday, March 3rd at 3:00PM SLT with a range of wonderful acts by Kyshra, Jilley, Queenie, Alexis, Josephine Jinx, Exhi, Corri, Lina and more! And who can resist the sultry tunes and announcements by the irresistible Diamonique Viper?
There will also be a raffle for a 1000L gift card for the excellent fashions of Devious Mind.
That’s the TL;DR, but who is Lina (Melina Aurotharius), and with all the venues and dance groups out there, why start a new one? What does it mean to start a new group, and what challenges do they face?
I know I want to know more. So, let’s go exploring, shall we?
Yes, let’s do that…
Lina invited me over to the new Gypsy Rose Burlesque theatre… it’s still under construction, but it’s impressive so far.
I asked her how she got her start in SL.
“I used to play for a long time in another avatar based client,” says Lina. “People there were telling me SL could be a great place for me to take my shop and my clothing creations and expand upon what I had already done there, plus it was a lot more technically advanced. So, literally 9 years ago today, I logged into Second Life and never went back to IMVU.”
In your face, IMVU! *cough, cough* (Okay, back to pretending to be a journalist. Think CNN… think CNN…) From a career in clothing, how did she get into dance?
“As far as my start in dance it hit me pretty quick. I was fairly bored in Second Life, and a friend of mine stumbled upon a show while he was out looking for strip clubs. He took me to a show for my birthday and I was hooked. I started going to a few shows a week and I was in awe. I watched dances like Baby and Jilly and Queenie (BabyPea Von Phoenix and Jilley of Empire, and Red Queen of… well, pretty much everywhere!), and thought I NEED to do that. Soon I signed up with Winds (of the Sahara) as an extra and made my debut Oct 2017. From that day I was so hooked I did whatever I could to get on stage and have not stopped.”
And nothing’s going to stop her… nothing going to stop her noooooooooooow!
(Okay, I just had to.)
“Dance for me is an outlet for my creativity in many ways like it is for a lot of us,” she says “For me, I use it almost as a kind of therapy. After the Las Vegas shooting, I did the song “Invincible” by Pat Benatar, for example. Most of my acts are inspired by things I have going on in my life and almost an expression of my emotion and stress I deal with in the outside world.”
Dance Therapy, folks. After years of seeing articles about virtual worlds therapies for PTSD pop up on the feeds, maybe it’s time to get the soldiers up on the movers and dancing? Put down the M-16, pick up the HetaHarper Tools, and feel the rhythm!
Let’s Learn With Lina!
Speaking of the tools of the trade, I then asked Lina if it was hard to learn dance?
“The tools, I am always learning,” she says. “I use the SpotOn tools and learned them pretty quick thanks to their YouTube videos. I will admit though I am still learning all the time, different tricks and methods that make things easier. As far as putting together an act, I listen to Pandora until something comes along that makes me want to move, or until I can “see” it in my mind. Some of my acts come to me in the most unsuspecting places, like while I am driving or in the shower, where I sing the most, so I try to keep a notepad in my phone to keep notes and ideas.”
(I’d just like to point out here that using a phone notepad application in the shower is not a good idea, even if it’s “water resistant.”)
What comes from her moments of Eureka?
“I usually do group acts, however for burlesque, which is my favorite I try to stick to being as traditional as possible. Lady Correia (of Main Event’s Burlesque Dolls) was one of my mentors. My burlesque acts are always solos, and a few times I have done couples acts. I really enjoy using a lot of people in my acts, however, and giving the audience a lot to look at.”
(Have you seen my jaw? I dropped it somewhere.)
I was curious about this… when you think burlesque, what do you think? And what’s the real definition of the art of burlesque?
In a world that the media portrays as a forest of dance poles and worse, how does dance performance and burlesque stand out and keep its standards?
Lina explained it for me: “Well anyone who knows me and has seen me on stage knows I am not shy and will do just about anything and… show just about anything if the dance calls for it. Burlesque however when it is performed traditionally is more about the tease than the please, I love the idea of leaving them wanting a little bit … more. I have seen acts that seem more about the dancer just showing off the goods than it is about the art. I have also seem some gorgeous acts that are full striptease. I support any dancer to express themselves as they can imagine, that is what is so beautiful about second life is that limitless boundary of expression.”
And the rewards can be great: “When an act goes great it is almost like a high, the dances don’t crash, your music hits the right spots and the particles rez it is a blast. I try not to take it too seriously. I have not literally cried over a bad night (yet) but when it happens, and it does happen to all of us, I try to take it as a challenge, learn from it and make it better next time. When things do go wrong, ask for help too. the dance community really is a huge family and there is always someone willing to help each other get past a block or a problem.”
To give thanks…
As we’ve seen with everything in Second Life, the groups aren’t just groups, And it isn’t just for dance, it’s more like a family…
“They really are and many of us dance at all different venues together. I have seen us support each other through things too in ways that really touch the heart outside of the dance world, family tragedies, illness, marriages and births, we really can be supportive towards each other in ways that go far beyond the keyboard.”
“I did want to be sure to thank everyone who has supported me and encouraged me along the way, especially people like the staff at Winds, A&M and Empire Room who have always made me feel at home and Antonio who has always pushed me to be my best in dance and give me a good kick in the butt when I needed it.
Speaking of Antonio, I asked him for his thoughts on the new place:
[17:44] R.: want to toss in a few quotes? [17:44] Antonio: who me? [17:45] Antonio: for her interview nah this is all her, I just support and encourage her, I stay in the background.
The longest journey begins not with a single step, but a kick in the butt.
Starve a cold, Antonio a… FEVER!
A kiss to build a dream on…
Which then leads us to why she is starting the new Gypsy Rose Burlesque Theatre:
“I love to watch just the huge variety in dance period. Some people make the creepiest things like tentacles and snakes, which terrify me look amazing and then the next act might me something so beautiful. I find for myself though that burlesque comes most naturally to me. I love the movement and the mood of the tease. I guess that I why I chose to open my own after Lady C closed the Main Event Showroom.”
Lady C’s burlesque was a very special place to many of us, it was a place that would bring you back in time. She made her dance into an art and taught us all to do the same. Feathers and sparkles and lushly textures stages all set to the music that could be anything from tongue in cheek suggestive to some that were cute, or downright sexy. She held her standards high and taught us all how beautiful it is, I felt there was a void left to be filled and jumped on it with the support of my friends encouraging me along the way I am making it happen.
From my early days in Second Life dance I have always kind of had the idea of running a show in the back of my mind.”
It isn’t just “I have a barn, let’s put on a show” for dance, because it takes a whole lot more to put together an event-friendly venue:
“I have picked up little things here and there from different venues I have danced at, I chose a building with simple textures and a design and color scheme that would leave the focus on the stage and hopefully be welcoming to everyone. My main goal is not to fill seats but to have everyone enjoy themselves and want to come back. I want a venue that runs smooth and is relaxed and a place that my dancers and audience wants to return to and looks forward to every month. A venue that does not belong to “me” per say but to all of us who enter those doors.”
So, why the name Gypsy Rose Lee?
“Well the name Burlesque Dolls of Gypsy Rose Theatre is a nod to Lady Corriea. She has been such a huge influence in my dance. When I took her burlesque class she spoke about Gypsy Rose Lee and her style and talents and her influence in the burlesque world. It is my way of thanking Lady C for all she has done for me with her teaching and encouragement.”
What have you got planned for the opening?
“Performances are already planned by Kyshra, Jilley, Queenie, Alexis, Lina, Exhi, Corri, and Josephine Jinx. And a few more that may join in. Diamonique Viper, with that sexy voice from Lady C’s, is the DJ.”
Ohhhhhhh myyyyyyy. Now Diamonique’s voice… yes, yes she is.
She is also planning a give away with a gift card to Devious Mind for L$1000. “Great place, too, I love her designs!”
Let’s wrap this up…
Thank you, Lina. It was wonderful to talk to you about your experiences in Second Life Dance, and I’m looking forward to the grand opening event. I’ll bring my camera along and maybe, you know, might take a few pictures here and there, you know?
You can see her perform at the new Gypsy Rose opening on March 3rd at 3PM. Also, she’s at A&M, Winds of the Sahara, Elysium, Virtuoso, and at the Dance Queens shows (I’ll be posting about the Dance Queens Showcase in the Weekend in Second Life Dance post because it’s a good introduction to the various performers and styles and acts.)
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates for the week ending Sunday, February 18th
This summary is generally published on every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Official LL Viewers
Current Release version 5.1.1.512121, dated January 26th, promoted February 7th formerly the Voice Maintenance RC – No Change.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 