Month: November 2020

LL confirms Second Life regions now all on AWS

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos ©, ™ and ®Linden Lab and Amazon Inc

On Thursday, November 19th, and after several months of very hard work in order to manage things in an orderly and as non-disruptive manner as possible, the last remaining regions on the Agni (the Second Life main grid) were successfully transitioned over to running on Amazon Web Services (AWS), thus placing the entire grid “in the cloud”.

The announcement can first via Twitter, and from April Linden, the Lab’s Systems Engineering Manager, Operations, who announced:

April Linden’s announcement

The Lab actually started transitioning regions several weeks ago, and without fanfare, first moving a number of regions only accessible to Linden personnel, and they carefully widening things to include selected public regions on the Mainland, and  – subject to the estate owners initially keeping quiet as well – private regions that experience assorted loads.

These initial transitions were more about testing certain aspects of simulator operations, rather than marking the outright start of any region migration process; the Lab wanted to gather data on simulator / region performance on AWS and investigate how simulators with a wide mix of avatar  / content loads behaved.

However, these initial moves quickly gave April and her team, the QA team under Mazidox Linden  and the simulator development team, the confidence to start broadening the “uplift” process further, extending things first to the simulator release candidate deployment channels (RC channels) and then, in the last couple of weeks, the bulk of the regions as they sit on the SLS “Main” channel.

While there have been hiccups along the way – most notably with teleport problems and group chat / IM failures,together with some performance degradation in other areas – on the whole, the entire transition of the grid has been remarkably smooth and problem-free.

However, this does not mean all of the work is over: as LL would only be quick to point out themselves, there are still a number of back-end systems to transition to AWS, and after that, there will inevitably be a period of “bedding in” everything to get things running, before work can start on the “fine tuning” of all the various services. (there are also some regions still running in the Lab’s co-location facility in Arizona to help  people with workarounds for specific issues, but these are perhaps just a handful, including a couple of  public regions – Debug1 and Debug2.)

Soft Linden on the AWS transition

Nevertheless, this is a huge achievement, and marks a hugely significant milestone in what has thus far been around a 3-year project to get all of Second Life safely transitioned over to AWS, so congratulations to all of those at the Lab who have been working very hard to make this happen, and without causing widespread upset or issues.

Lab introduces Second Life public events calendar

Posted on by Inara Pey

Earlier in November, a little discussion round robin kicked-off on the subject of helping to keep SL users informed of events. It was kicked off by John Westra, after I posted an article  concerning the (then upcoming) Lab Gab session with Oz and Mazidox Linden discussing the Cloud Uplift project, who tweeted:

His voice was amplified by J.M. Hardin, who in turned tweeted a request for some form  of calendar functionality users could turn to to help stay abreast of what’s going on within Second Life:

J.M. Hardin’s response

I thought this was an excellent idea, so thought I’d add my voice to the call – which someone at Linden Lab (/me waves to Strawberry / Tara) – appeared to like:

My own thoughts on the calendar idea, as “liked” by the official Second Life Twitter account

Roll forward a couple of weeks, and it is revealed that not only was the discussion read and liked, it prompted so action as well, as on Thursday, November 19th, Linden Lab announced the launch of the Second Life public calendar  – not that no log-in is required to view the calendar, just click the link and then bookmark the page.

The calendar is already packed within a range of events  – including things like the weekly / monthly user group meetings – with each item neatly annotated with further information: just click on an item to expand it (see below). In addition, the blog post includes an ICAL feed link you can use to add the SL calendar to you personal calendar, and you can of course select individual events and add them individually to your own calendar, marked this as a very flexible response to the requests.

The SL public calendar provides a list of all official SL events that are occurring in-world, complete with details and the ability to add events to your own calendar (arrowed in red), or you can use an ICAL feed link to add the entire calendar to your own.

So, thanks to John and J.M. for the idea – and thank you, Linden Lab (particularly the folks on the Marketing team) for following-up on the idea and implementing it.

 

Ladmilla and Eli’s Enigma in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Raging Graphix Gallery: Ladmilla and Eli

Currently open at Raging  Graphix Gallery, curated by Raging Bellls is Enigma, another fascinating selection of art and words by Ladmilla and Eli Medier.

Working as a couple, Eli and Ladmilla have gained a reputation for their joint pieces – an image (generally by Ladmilla, although Eli does produce his own as well) accompanied by words by Eli. More that just poems and pictures, these are illustrated pieces that encompass thoughts, desires, and reflections on life, love and more, that capture the eye and imagination.

Raging Graphix Gallery: Ladmilla and Eli

As I’ve noted when reviewing Ladmilla’s and Eli’s work, it is a perfect mix of styles: wonderfully layered images created by Ladmilla that have both a tactile richness and also a sense of great depth; and carefully constructed blank verse by Eli that compliment Ladmilla’s images as well as having to stand as poems in their own right.

An interesting contrast that I’ve noted with Ladmilla and Eli in their images is that Ladmilla often tends to lean towards the use of brighter, lighter colours in her work (although not exclusively so), while Eli tends towards cooler, heavier colours. This adds to the richness of the mix of images they can offer, and while Ladmilla does here present a couple of pieces that are of a deeper tone, they still retain a softer brightness within them, this contrast is visible within the pieces offered here, with Eli’s four image intentionally angled to the use of grey and colours that sit perfectly with his words.

Raging Graphix Gallery: Ladmilla and Eli

Enigma will be open through until at least the end of November.

SLurl Details

 

Second Life COVID-19: a Digital Cultures survey

Posted on by Inara Pey
Tom Boellstorff and his digital alter ego, Tom Bukowski (image: Steve Zylius / UCI): launching a new study in Second Life

In June of this year, I wrote about Tom Boellstorff (Tom Bukowski in Second Life), a Professor of Anthropology at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) who has a long history of engagement with, and the study of, virtual worlds and environments, who was then launching a new study, The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission (see: Second Life & COVID-19: a Digital Cultures study – call for participants).

This work, supported by National Science Foundation, in part grew out of a broader study Tom and his students had been conducting into the role of virtual environments and applications and their impact on those using them (see: Studying digital cultures in Second Life, June 2020), and which itself had suffered disruption during the pandemic, forcing Tom and his students to turn to digital tools.

The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission has involved to platforms: Animal Crossing and Second Life – with the latter being used for a series of open discussions among Tom and his students and Second Life residents interested in attending.

As we know, this pandemic has been reshaping on-line interaction; as many have noted, what we call “social distancing” is really physical distancing, and because of it, an unprecedented number of people have been socialising on-line, in new ways and for new purposes. A better understanding of these new digital cultures will have consequences for COVID prevention: successful physical distancing will rely on new forms of social closeness on-line. It will also have consequences for everything from work and education to climate change.

– Professor Tom Boellstorf, discussing The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures
in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission, July 2020

Those meetings are still on-going at the UCI Irvine’s Anteater Island every Thursday at 10:00 SLT, however, on November 14th, Tom dropped me a line asking me to help in encouraging Second Life users to also participate in an on-line survey that also forms a part of the study. Unfortunately, an on-going family situation in the physical world prevented me for actually noting Tom’s request – so my apologies to him and his team for my tardiness in only writing about it at this point in time.

The survey should take around 10-15 minutes to complete, and is given the following purpose / description:

We are studying what people are doing in Second Life in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic [to gain a] better understanding this might provide innovative strategies for preventing viral transmission by forging new forms of social closeness in the context of physical distancing. It might also help us better respond to the transformed social lives we are all destined to encounter. We would love to learn about your experiences!

From The Role of Emerging Virtual Cultures in the Prevention of COVID-19 Transmission survey

It is not an anonymous survey – you will be asked to give your avatar name and an e-mail address – but none of the questions are deeply intrusive, and focus on activities and interactions through Second Life.

Anteater Island  (landing point) – the location for the weekly discussions

Second Life residents who would like to complete the survey can do so here.

You can also learn more about the study to the website.

Links to Tom Boellstorff in this Blog

SLurl Details

2020 SUG meeting week #47: uplift

Posted on by Inara Pey
Paradise on Sea, October 2020 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, November 17th Simulator User Group meeting.

Server Updates and Cloud Uplift

Please also refer to the week’s server deployment thread.

  • On Tuesday November 17th, the AWS RC channels were updated to simulator version 552183, which includes internal configuration changes, and the outcome of this deployment is being monitored.
  • On Wednesday, November 18th, the rest of the SLS Main channel may be migrated to running on AWS, with simulators on that channel also running sever update package 551942, which will mean all main grid (Agni) regions will be running via AWS. However, this is currently fluid – check the deployment thread for updates.
  • There may be a further deployment on Thursday, November 18th. Again, check the server deployment thread for updates.

Additional Notes

  • Due to  known issues with regions running on AWS, the Lab will continue to run Debug1 and Debug2 from their co-location facility,  for residents who need to to use for workarounds to these issues.
  • It is hoped that the configuration changes will help improve the recent TP failure and group chat  issues many have been experiencing – however, this is dependent on the above-noted monitoring of the simulator update.

SL Viewer

The Start of the week has seen no change to the current crop of official viewers, leaving the as follows:

  • Current release viewer version 6.4.11.551711, formerly Cachaça Maintenance RC viewer promoted on November 12 – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    •  Custom Key Mappings project viewer, version 6.4.12.552100, November 12.
  • Project viewers:
    • Simple Cache project viewer, version 6.4.11.551403, issued on November 12.
    • Project Jelly project viewer (Jellydoll updates), version 6.4.11.551213, November 2.
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, October 26.
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, December 9, 2019.
    • Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, November 22, 2019.
    • 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, July 16, 2019.

 

Princes, Faeries and other strange tales in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.

Tuesday, November 17th, 19:00: Woman’s Weird: Strange Stories by Women, 1890-1940

With Willow Moonfire.

Wednesday, November 18th, 19:00: Nine Princes in Amber

Carl Corey wakes in a medical clinic, with little to no knowledge of who he is or how he got there. Fearing he is being over-medicated and kept against his wishes, he overpowers staff and discovers his stay is being paid for by his sister, one Evelyn Flaumel, whose address is on the hospital’s records.

Fleeing the clinic, he makes his way to his sister’s home. Here, with the aid of a pack of tarot cards and a confession from his sister, he learns that his name is actually Corwin (and she is Flora), and they are two of 14 siblings – nine male and five female.

One of those brothers, Random, arrives, pursued by strange, vicious creatures, that force Corwin to join him into fighting them to the death.  During the battle, Corwin discovers he has super-human strength.

After the fight, Random reveals more truths to Corwin – notably that he and his siblings are of royal descent from a planet called Amber, a parallel world to Earth from which he has been cast into exile.

Random reveals that their father, king Oberon, has vanished, and the throne is therefore open, and persuades Corwin in a quest to claim it. However, to do so, they must travel through the realms of Corwin’s brothers and sisters in order to reach Amber, and the journey reveals to Corwin his family’s ruthless and Machiavellian nature – a nature he shares -, and that the path to the throne is a route of force and betrayal.

Join Corwyn Allen as he reads the first volume in Roger Zelazny’s Chronicles of Amber series.

Thursday, November 19th

19:00 The Faerie Girl and other Stories: Six Magical Tales

From the USA Today bestselling author Anthea Sharp, comes a collection of enchanting, mystical tales.

Delight in the award-winning story The Sea King’s Daughter (inspired by The Little Mermaid), follow the ill-fated adventures of a goblin who falls in love, and take heart in the hope that unlikely heroes can – with a bit of faerie magic – change their own destinies

Includes: The Faerie Girl, The Sea King’s Daughter, Brea’s Tale, The Faerie Invasion, Goblin in Love, and The Tree of Fate and Wishes.

With Shandon Loring, also in Kitely – take the teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Finn Zeddmore presents contemporary science fiction and fantasy from such on-line sources as Light Speed, and Clarkesworld magazines.