Month: June 2019

Livio’s retrospective at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Livio Korobase

Livio Korobase is rightly known and admired for his 3D art installations in Second Life. Sometimes irreverent or with a rich vein of humour and sense of fun, other times thought provoking and challenging – but always fascinating and engaging, Livio’s work never fails to capture the eye and mind.

Given he frequently works on the scale of an entire region, any attempt at offering a look back on his work is going to be something of a challenge; just how do you bring together some much in the way of large-scale work in a space that could often be confined by the limitations of a gallery.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Livio Korobase

Yet that is what he has done – and quite appealingly so – thanks to an invitation from Dido Haas, owner and curator of Nitroglobus Roof Gallery. With Post Factum (“after the fact” – or to put it another way, retrospectively) Livio presents a marvellous review of his work that  – in Dido’s own words (borrowed from Monty Python which, given Livio’s aforementioned sense of fun, is not entirely inappropriate) – present and exhibition that is quite “completely different” for Nitroglobus Roof Gallery.

Nitroglobus has always made a clever use of space: the gallery’s halls are high walled, allowing extremely large format images to be exhibited. More than this, however, its walls extend below the transparent floor  level, allowing mirrored copies of images exhibited to be placed “below” them, giving the impression the pictures are being reflected in the polished floors themselves.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Livio Korobase

For Post Factum, Livio both continues this approach, placing 2D images of his art both above and below the floors to give the illusions of reflections. But at the same time, he presents different 3D pieces on the main and sub-floors of the gallery.

Not only does this allow for the display of more of Livio’s work than might otherwise be the case without making things crowded, thus making excellent use of the available space. More than this however, the use of the available space cleverly reflects Livio’s ability to challenge our perceptions: paintings and photos “reflected” in the floors – yet those same floors reveal completely different 3D figures below them than those sitting above them.

Nitroglobus Roof Gallery: Livio Korobase

To move between the two levels, visitors are invited to use the teleporter “hole”. Doing so is recommended, given that many of Livio pieces can be interactive so you’re going to want to get close enough to be able to mouse-over / touch them to find out what might happen.

As a retrospective, the exhibition offers pieces from many of Livio’s installations and exhibitions – Black Elk, Eidola, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Musiclandia, and more. For those of us familiar with Livio’s work, Post Factum therefore offers a fascinating trip down memory lane. For those who might not be so familiar with his work, the exhibition still offers an inviting and immersive introduction.

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A Sweet Paradise in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Sweet Paradise; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrSweet Paradise, June 2019 – click any image for full size

Update: This parcel is no longer open to public access, and SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

Sweet Paradise to the Darks sounds a rather unusual name to for a location in Second Life; at least until you realise it references a private home that has been opened to public visits – the Darks in this case being Anita Dark (Anita Khaos) and Kiara Dark (kiaraslet).

Occupying a 8192 sq m parcel, Sweet Paradise is one of those settings I like finding / exploring (although in this case, it’s the latter, as I was pointed to the parcel by reader Morgana Carter); the kind of place that demonstrates you don’t need an entire region in which to create a space that can be both home and somewhere for others to visit.

Sweet Paradise; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrSweet Paradise, June 2019

Embracing a tropical island feel, this is a location that’s easy to explore, and even easier to while away the time within. A large, two-storey houseboat dominates the setting, the little patio to one side of it forming the landing point. The lower deck of the houseboat is filled with bric-a-brac, much of it focused on art, the clutter giving the place something of a bohemian feel.

A short walk along sandy grass, the path marked by large rocks and the fenced-in form of a VW Beetle that’s clearly not going anywhere soon, will bring visitors to a large, cement-sides beach house that continues the arty / bohemian feel, presenting a study-like environment again filled with the kind of cosy clutter that marks a space – be it a single room or an entire building  –  as a home.

Sweet Paradise; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrSweet Paradise, June 2019

Oriented north-to south, the parcel has a westward beach looking out over the open sea, the view it provides shared by both the veranda of the beach house and the little patio fronting the houseboat. Nor are these the only places from which to enjoy the view. An old rowing boat vies for the attention of visitors (with singles and couples / friends poses) together with a couple of rattan loungers under the shade of parasols, while to the north end of the parcel sits an old camper trailer. This sits within a curve of beach and might possibly be the home of a surfer, but is currently the abode of a Siamese cat who is enjoying the sunshine and a nap.

A mix of trees are scattered across the landscape help to both break it up and screen the various buildings and locations one from the next, helping to present a sense a privacy along the parcel’s sandy ribbon. Together with the rocks breaking up the shoreline they also help give the parcel more of an island-like feel, on the east side of which lays another beach house, this one shaded by palm trees that also cast their cooling influence over another waterside nook visitors can enjoy as a box kite flies overhead.

Sweet Paradise; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrSweet Paradise, June 2019

Small but beautifully landscaped and with a eye for detail, Sweet Paradise makes for an pleasing, homely visit. There are numerous places for people to simply relax, and  / or take photos. It’s the kind of place that can easily fulfil the greeting given in the About Land description: where people can make a lot of happy moments.

Simply perfect!

JolieElle’s artistry in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Vision Of Beauty Art Complex: JolieElle Parfort

Currently on display at the Vision of Beauty Art Complex is an exhibition of art by -Jolie- (JolieElle Parfort). Spread across two levels of the gallery space, each connected to the other via a teleport system, this is a fabulous introduction to Jolie’s landscape paintings for those who may not have previously encountered her work.

Jolie describing her art as post-impressionism. This school of painting tends to be denoted through the use of heavy brush-strokes and an eschewing of impressionism’s accurate depiction of light, opting instead for the use of vivid and sometimes unnatural colours and tones, whilst often including a degree of geometric form and / or a distortion of form for visual effect.

Vision Of Beauty Art Complex: JolieElle Parfort

Much of this is very much present in Jolie’s work, as demonstrated in the selection she offers in this exhibition. Her flamingos strikingly bold in colour, which also saturates the vegetation behind them, for example (see above right), while geometry and the passage of strong, firm brush strokes are also clearly in evidence through several of the pieces.

So too are pieces that feel much closer to the work of the great impressionists. For example, Gulf Afternoon and Morning Rushes, which can both be seen in the banner image for this review each off a sense of light, motion and the passage of time which leans them towards impressionism, the heavy brushwork evidenced in the former notwithstanding. Similarly, other pieces such as Hurricane Frolic have about them a wonderfully subtle tone of abstract.

Vision Of Beauty Art Complex: JolieElle Parfort

Thus, to offer a single encompassing descriptive style to this exhibition is – to me – doing the pieces offered within it something of as disservice. While Jolie’s art may well have a focus on post-impressionism, it encompasses so much more, and quite marvellously so, with a depth and richness that is completely captivating to the eye.

This beauty is enhanced particularly by the rooftop setting for part of the exhibition. With its wooden deck and piers, and wind-rippled water, this part of the exhibition draws the visitor into the rooftop display – and I would suggest perhaps flicking you viewer over to a midnight setting as well as viewing them in the ambient daylight; this again brings forth their depth and richness quite marvellously.

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In case you missed it: SL Premium fees lock-in now available

Posted on by Inara Pey

On Wednesday, May 29th, Linden Lab announced a number of changes to Second Life fees and services (see Land Price Reductions, New  Premium Perks and Pricing Changes).

In particular – for the purposes of this article at least – that blog post indicated that from Monday, June 24th, Premium subscriptions will be increasing as follows:

  • Monthly subscriptions will be increasing from US $9.50 per month to US $11.99 . This is  representative of a 26.21% increase over the course of a year (from US $114 pa to US $143.88 pa).
  • Annual subscriptions will be increasing from US $72.00 per year to US $99.00. This is representative of an increase of 37.5% pa.
  • Quarterly subscriptions will be increased from US $22.50 to US $32.97. This is representative of a 46.53% increase over the course of a year (US $90 pa to US $131.88 pa).

Further it was also indicated that after June 24th, 2019:

  • The Quarterly subscription package will be withdrawn as an upgrade option from June 24th, 2019, although Premium members already using the plan will be able to continue with it.
  • The Monthly and Quarterly subscription plans will be subject to VAT for EU residents.

In order to try to sweeten these increases (the first to Premium subscriptions in a long time), the Lab indicated that from Monday, June 3rd through until Monday, June 24th, Premium users would be able to “lock in” their current billing rate for one more cycle.

In case you missed it – as the Lab opted to update their May 29th blog post rather than make a separate announcement – the lock-in offer is now available, as highlighted by the Lab at the top of the May 29th blog post:

UPDATE: The limited-time opportunity for existing Premium members to lock in their current rates for one more billing cycle, including extending an existing monthly to use the current full year rate by upgrading now to annual is now available on the premium page. Simply renew before June 24th to extend your current Membership at the same low rate. For example, monthly members will be billed at the lower rate for one more monthly billing cycle, while annual members may renew (or monthly users may upgrade to annual) early to add one more year to your existing Membership at the current lower rate.

This means, for example, that as a Premium member on the annual billing plan, I normally have to renew towards the end of the year. However, if I take advantage of this lock in offer, I will effectively gain my 2020 membership at the current $72.00 rate (albeit paid well in advance), rather than having to pay $99.00 when my renewal falls due at the end of 2019 – I’ll only see the increase when / if I renew towards the end of 2020.

Whether you take advantage of the lock in or not is down to your personal choice and circumstance. However, should you wish to do so:

  • Go to your Second Life dashboard at secondlife.com.
  • On the left, and below your account name, click Account to display the account options drop-down, then click on Premium Membership.
  • Scroll down to the Management Membership section.
  • The lock in option will be displayed against your current membership plan (the image below shows it against Annual, as that is the plan I have).
  • Click the radio button to the left of the lock in option to activate the Proceed to Cashier button.
  • Complete the billing requirements.
Activating your Premium account billing rate lock-in

2019 SL User Groups 23/1: Simulator User Group

Posted on by Inara Pey

Whimberly; Inara Pey, April 2019, on FlickrWhimberly – blog post

Server Deployments

At the time of writing, a deployment thread had yet to be posted (in fact, it’s not entirely clear what is happening with the weekly release threads). However:

  • There was no SLS (Main) channel deployment on Tuesday, June 4th, leaving it on server maintenance package #19 19.05.17.527341.
  • On Wednesday, June 5th, the Magnum and LeTigre RC channels should be updated to server maintenance package #19 19.05.24.527547, bringing them to parity with BlueSteel.

SL Viewer

There have been no LL viewer updates at the start of the week, leaving the pipelines as follows:

  • Current Release version 6.2.2.527338, formerly the Teranino RC viewer, promoted May 22 – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
  • Project viewers:
  • 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.

In Brief

Script Processing Issues

As I’ve recently reported, there have been numerous reports of script run time issues, with some reporting that problems only started occurring following the roll-back on April 18th, 2019. BUG-226851 (and more recently BUG-227099) outlines some of the problems. Some regions experiencing the issue have been cloned to Aditi (the beta grid) where they are running fine, and the Lab is currently looking at script scheduling on Agni (the Main grid).

There is a forum thread on the impact of idle scripts (i.e. scripts that are scheduled, but waiting on an event) on full regions (primarily Mainland). In particular, the finding suggest that limiting in-world scripts to 1 per 10LI (2250 script for a Full region) might help pending improvements – although this falls woefully short of shopping-related regions.

Commenting on the situation, Simon Linden states:

We’re actively looking at script scheduling now and these odd cases are on the list to sort out. There hasn’t been a big magic fix yet but it’s getting attention.

Rider Linden added:

And, yes. Idle scripts are not really idle… they can drag down sim performance even if they are not actually doing anything. Right now llListen() is a major culprit (but I’m hoping we can clean that up in the near future) … [and] all idling is not equal. Some events are more expensive than others to wait on.

EEP Issues

As per my May 30th CCUG update, it’s been noted that a recent deployment has resulted in rendering issues for the Environment Enhancement Project (EEP) – see BUG-227100 as an example.

The EEP RC viewer is due for an update, and it is hoped that these will include shader fixes that should correct the problems in that viewer. However, in terms of the simulator problems that are causing issues for those on non-EEP viewers, Rider Linden commented:

We have had some confusion on our end. When we were chasing the teleport bug a couple fixes were accidentally dropped from the simulator. We’ve been sorting those out as we find them.

Other Performance Impacts

  • It’s long been recognised that teleports – particularly teleports involving mesh-heavy avatars into a region can adverse affect performance (see BUG-8496).
    • Beq Janus has been looking at this, and can show – via a a comment posted to the above Jira, that the effect “ripples through” simulator stats, including hitting script stats.
    • She estimates that overall, the arrival of a mesh avatar in a region can take around 6 seconds to ripple through the region (and impacting users within the region).
    • It’s currently estimate by both Beq and Lou Netizen that female avatars carry on average 70 scripts, and mail avatars an average of 68 (see here for more).
  • Beq has also been investigate another performance impact – that of the viewer flooding the server with GroupProfileRequest at log-in due to persistent notifications see BUG-227094). She is currently working on a patch for contribution to LL to resolve this issue.

Exploring Iona Shores in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Iona Shore; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrIona Shores, June 2019 – click any image for full size

I’m always a little wary of blogging residential regions for a number of reasons. While many are open to the public to visit, for example, I’m uncomfortable in recommending them where there is a risk that visitor trundling in and out could be off-putting / annoying to those trying to live on them.

To this end, I use a (and admittedly very rough-and-ready) rule of thumb, which encompasses looking at the overall ratio of public and private space(s) in the region, the ease with which a region can be navigated without necessarily encroaching on people’s private residences, general public attractions, whether or not parcel ban lines are in force (often – although by no means always – a sign that people are somewhat narked by the idea of passers-by wandering through the gardens / yards), etc.

Iona Shore; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrIona Shores, June 2019

Iona Shores is a region that sits almost exactly within in the middle ground between “to blog” and “not to blog”.  A homestead region, the landmass is pretty evenly split between public spaces, in which visitors are invited to space time and explore and take photos, and three large rental parcels with, it would seem, room for a potential fourth.

However, there is no doubting the region has been beautifully designed – the work of Adalynne Romano (AdalynneReed), who along with her SL partner, Doc Battitude, is responsible for the delightful Candlewood (see Touring CandleWood in Second Life) and the designs used for Bay of Dream (see The seasons at Bay of Dreams in Second Life and Destiny Gardens (see Destiny Gardens in Second Life). This alone would be enough to bring me to Iona Shores, being an admirer of Adalynne’s work, but the fact it came recommended by Shawn and Max increased my interest; and the rental spaces are clearly enough differentiated from the public spaces to allow for exploration by those not living there.

Iona Shore; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrIona Shores, June 2019

The landing point sits towards the middle of the region, on a long south-pointing finger that extended itself from the eastern side of the largest of the region’s three islands. A low, cinder-beached promontory rising from calm seas, the headland is dressed as something of an aged garden, completed with greenhouse (the landing point) and paved terrace before it. To the north sits an dry stone wall with tired iron gates marking the way to where the land rises up to a flat crown of fir trees in the midst of which sits one of the three rental properties.

Two bridges sit on the headland, the first forms a double strand of wood and rope reaching across the inlet cutting inland by way of a little nub of rock, to reach a western promontory. Another cinder uprising, it sits a little higher than the landing points and offers the open space that could potentially be used by another house. For now, however, it is topped by trees and a small wooden deck, stone steps leading down to a rough, dark beach on the seaward side.

Iona Shore; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrIona Shores, June 2019

The second bridge reaches across a sliver of water to where rocks step their way up to a broad plateau where sits the second of the rental homes. The base of this island offers a public path around the south-west of the rocks, passing stepping stones that breach another tongue of water to reach the three of the larger islands, the home to the remaining rental house.

Throughout all of this, there are places to discover: a little studio space, a rowing boat offering singles and couples seating, horses grazing on the scrub grass, while wolves and deer wander parts of the landscape. All of this is watched over by the revolving eye of a lighthouse as trawlers chug by on the waters below it.

Iona Shore; Inara Pey, June 2019, on FlickrIona Shores, June 2019

Finished with a gentle sound scape, Iona Shores makes for a photogenic and visually pleasing visit. For those seeking a place to living that offers space and a feel for the wilderness, it come offer the ideal home. For the rest of us, it presents a delightful sense of escape.

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