Day: May 14, 2019

2019 SL User Groups 20/1: Simulator User Group

Posted on by Inara Pey

La Virevolte; Inara Pey, March 2019, on FlickrLa Virevolte – blog post

Server Deployments

At the time of writing, a deployment thread had yet to be posted however:

  • There are no deployment to the SLS (Main) channel on Tuesday, May 14th, leaving regions on that channel on server maintenance package 19#19.04.25.526669, primarily intended to correct the simulator-side EEP regressions that resulted of the roll-back of Thursday, April 18th. This update also includes a number of other internal fixes.
  • On Wednesday, May 15th, the three RC channels should be updated with two new packages:
    • BlueSteel and LeTigre should be updated with server maintenance package 19.05.01.526856, but not details are available at the time of writing.
    • Magnum RC will also be updated, but again, no details are available at the time of writing.

SL Viewer

  • The de facto release viewer was rolled back from the Teranino Maintenance RC release viewer, to the EAM viewer, version 6.2.0.526190, originally promoted on April 17th, 2019.
  • The Teranino Maintenance RC was re-released as a Release Candidate cohort on Monday, May 13th as version 6.2.2.527198.
  • The Love Me Render viewer updated to version 6.2.2.527021 on Monday, May 13th, 2019.

The rest of the current SL viewer channels remain as:

  • Release channel cohorts:
    • EEP RC viewer version 6.2.0.526104, dated April 11th.
    • Bakes on Mesh RC viewer, version 6.1.1.525409, dated March 26th.
  • Project viewers:
  • Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17th, 2017 and promoted to release status 29th November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
  • 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. This viewer will remain available for as long as reasonable, but will not be updated with new features or bug fixes.

Network Maintenance

The first tranch of network maintenance announced last week has, according to the Grid Status page on the web, now been completed. This work included a period of time over the night of May 13th / 14th (US / EU) when Second Life log-in were disabled.

Commenting on the work, Simon Linden said, “Last night’s work isn’t anything that will be repeated … hopefully ever.”

While the core of the work has apparently been completed, Oz Linden noted there could be some final testing overnight on May 14th/15th, stating, “They’ll be doing some more testing tonight, but we don’t expect it to be (very) long or disruptive.”

Teleport Fail Issues

I’ve identified 3 different ways TPs could fail and I _believe_ I fixed those on the beta grid. Your help is really appreciated because the last time “someone” tried to fix things didn’t go well.

Simon Linden, SUG Meeting, May14th.

While the recent server-side deployment may have seen teleport success rates have returned to the levels witnessed before the recent “troubles”, the Lab continues to dig into problems, as per Simon’s comment above. To this end, those attending the SUG meeting were invited to a further test session, this one on Aditi (the Beta grid), to see how well his fix works. Expect an update following the next SUG meeting.

Ludi’s Untitled in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Galerie Alice: Ludi Taurus

Currently open through until the 16th June, 2019, is a cosy exhibition of art by French artist and photographer, Ludi Taurus called simply Untitled.

Host by the boutique Galerie Alice, curated by Alice (angedem), Untitled serves as a superb introduction of a photographer I’d not previously encountered; one who excels in telling stories through her self-portraits. Featuring just ten images, the exhibition is captivating in the depth of narrative each picture holds, from fantasy to action to what can only be seen as personal moments seemingly captured by the camera when the subject was unaware.

Galerie Alice: Ludi Taurus

From an alluring, single head and face portrait offered in monochrome, through to pure adrenaline-fuelled shots of a rain-soaked, motorbike-mounted gunfight, to a midnight period of introspection, these are images that powerfully convey emotions and engage the observer. Further depth is added to each on them in that, being untitled, other than what appears their date of creation, they leave us entirely free to interpret each image without any preconception, however incidental, a “proper” title might otherwise impart.

This is an alluring exhibition of photographic art, one – though I’ve said this before with exhibitions – that genuinely should not be missed.

SLurl Details

Linden Homes houseboat expansion arrives off Bellisseria – but may yet move?

Posted on by Inara Pey
The “houseboat expansion” regions, still with test elements in place, appeared off the north-eastern coast of Bellisseria on Monday, May 13th

Update #1: ah well, was a nice idea, but apparently, it’s been confirmed the new houseboat regions are in fact in their intended location.

Updates #2, via Patch Linden: Howdy everyone! While I’d love to give more notice than this, it is looking like we will have another batch of Houseboats ready for release within the next 24 hours.  This is as much of a forewarning I can provide, because of the complexity behind the work that is going into these releases.  Each release requires the coordination of several teams, and having all of the resources line up to hit the “go button” is pretty organic.  As soon as we are able to do so, I will post another update [in the forum thread linked to above].

The “houseboat expansion” regions appeared off the eastern coast of Bellisseria on Monday, May 13th, sparking speculation that the new regions could be made available “this week”.

However, while they might be made available soon, I’m not convinced that where they are currently sited will be their final resting place (so to speak).

The new 48-region houseboat expansion appears off the north-east coast of Bellisseria.

I say this because – as others have pointed out* – the “houseboat expansion” appears to be fairly identical in shape to an existing part of the the completed Bellisseria continent, as seen with the overall SSP region design on the world map, as shown below.

The new houseboat regions collectively share the same shape as a part of the completed Bellisseria continent as represented by the current SSP test / development regions

As such, it would seem possible that the new regions will yet make a further move prior to being make available.

Such as move would both allow Bellisseria to remain true to the original design of the continent, as presented by the the SSP test and development regions (as per the image below), and provide a far more natural location for the new regions, rather than simply “bolting them on” to the side of Bellisseria.

Bellisseria (l) showing how the houseboat regions might “slot in” to the continent, compared to the overall layout of the continent as seen in the develop SSP regions

The coming days will obviously reveal whether this will be the case, but given the overall size and shape of the “houseboat expansion”, I’d be surprised if we didn’t see something along these lines. Something which in turn begs the question as to how soon might it be before we see an expansion of “central” Bellisseria to match the SSP regions?

In the meantime, those interested in obtaining a new Linden Home houseboat should keep an eye on the development at Bellisseria, the Linden Homes forum category, and the Linden Homes selection page.

* I cannot provide full credit for this image, as the link to it was supplied to me sans context of posting, etc. If anyone does know who posted it and where, I’ll be happy to update this piece with proper credit.