Month: April 2021

2021 CCUG meeting week #15 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Where Our Journey Begins, February 2021 – blog post

The following notes were taken from my audio recording and chat log of the Content Creation User Group (CCUG) meeting held on Thursday, April 15th. These meetings are chaired by Vir Linden, with dates available via the SL Public Calendar, and the venue is the Hippotropolis camp fire.

SL Viewer

The current run of official viewers is as follows:

  • Release viewer: Custom Key Mappings RC viewer, version 6.4.17.557391, dated March 24, promoted March 27 – 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):
    • Maintenance RC viewer – Eau de Vie, version 6.4.18.557782, dated April 12.
    • Love Me Render (LMR) 5 project viewer, version 6.4.18.557797, dated April 7.
  • Project viewers:
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, dated October 26.
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.
    • Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, dated November 22, 2019.
    • 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, dated July 16, 2019.

Graphics Work

LMR 5 may have a further update in the coming week and is now “close” to being ready for promotion as the de facto viewer. Love Me Render 6 (LMR 6) is in preparation with a further mix of fixes, including some that are EEP related (e.g. rendering the Moon with haze).

ARCTan

Summary: An attempt to re-evaluate avatar rendering costs and the cost of in-world scene rendering, with the current focus on avatar rendering cost / impact, with the in-world scene rendering to be tackled at some point in the future.

The UI updates for how avatar complexity information is presented to users now looks as if it will be presented as a project / RC viewer separately to any updates to to the ARC calculations.

In Brief

  • Feature request BUG-227670 “Official Viewer: New default of 32m DD on installation when low end GPU detected” – this was put forward to help those logging-in to Second Life for the first time and arriving at a gateways only to encounter loading delays.
    • While accepted, it has the problem that a 32m draw distance is less that the potential size of a linkset, and so may cause issues of its own (what should be drawn within the linkset if it extends beyond the viewer’s 32m cut-off?).
  • Creator  owner permissions issues: it appears that some are seeing various losses of permissions on items that have created / owned (e.g. a full permission object of their own becoming No Mod or No Copy after being rezzed in-world.
    • This is a long-term (12+ years – see VWR-16097 and SVC-6185 for example), hard-to-reproduce issue that some are reportedly seeing re-surface.
    • It can sometimes be down to a single linked item in a complex build randomly changing its permission, requiring a careful comb-through of the entire linkset.
    • It appears to happen more frequently to objects located within high traffic regions and where there can be a noticeable delay (e.g. between pulling an object from inventory and in-world, or taking it from a scene back into inventory), which may point to a simulator / viewer race condition.
    • An updated bug report of the issues being encountered has been requested.

Date of Next Meeting

Thursday, April 29th, 2021.

Arts for Life 2021 in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Raven Craig Art Centre: Art for Life 2021
Currently open through until April 24th at the Raven Craig Art Centre is a spacial exhibition of art – Artists for Life – offering visitors the opportunity to view and purchase art and photographs by artists across Second Life, and support Relay for Life of Second Life and the American Cancer Society in the process.

Participating arts in the event comprise: AriaRose, Jolie, Poppy, Mystic Audion, Michel Bechir, Mira Biedermann, Lyla Blaylock, Pink Clarity, Star Finesmith, Starr Ghost, Hermes Kondor, Looker Lumet, Shane Matthews, Mony Pedroia, Eve Petlyakov, Max Seagate, Elise Sirnah, and Marie de la Torres. The majority of the artists have provided at least one or two images for the event, all of which are offered for purchase at L$99 each.

The exhibition has been organised by Sethos Lionheart, owner of Wythburn Village, where Raven Craig is located, and Star Finesmith, the artistic director for both Wythburn Village and Raven Craig. The idea grew out of the successful Art Walk Wythburn in aid of Making Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) in 2020 (see: Wythburn Art Walk in Second Life), as Star explains.

Raven Craig Art Centre: Art for Life 2021
The Art Walk was a more casual, informal event, with are … across the region. This year I wanted to make sure that the fund-raising is focused on the art. I spoke to some of the artists from last year about how they would feel about creating art that would only be available for sale at the event. I received a lot of positive feedback on the idea, and so decided to give it a go.

Star Finesmith on the origins of Arts for Life

Each of the halls of the gallery have been decorated in a manner that reflects the general themes of the art displayed within it, with the art itself incredibly diverse, making for a vibrant exhibition.

In addition to the pieces offered directly for sale, each, artist has also submitted a piece for the Arts for Life silence auction that will run through until midnight on April 24th, 2021. Auction items can be found in the gallery’s central ground-floor hall, with bids made via the origami box on the shelf under each piece. The winning bidders for each piece will be informed after the event closes, and will receive a Copy, No-Mod, No-Transfer version of the piece.

Raven Craig Art Centre: Art for Life 2021

Also available at the exhibition is a free copy of a commemorative book featuring images of the art on display together with information on the artists and the event as a whole. Visitors can obtain copies from the in-world version found at various locations within the gallery.

So do please take the time to visit the Raven Craig Art Centre between now and April 24th, and remember that all proceeds from purchases made go directly to RFL of SL and the American Cancer Society.

SLurl Details

Sakura Tales in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Neverending – Sakura Tales

One of the most familiar symbols associated with springtime is the cherry blossom, or sakura. In Japan, it is seen as both a sign of the end of the bleaker times of winter and also – in China at least – a time of renewal and also a life’s ephemerality.

I mention this because I recently took the opportunity to visit Neverending – Sakura Tales, the latest setting designed by Jayden Mercury and Valarie (Zalindah), a multi-faceted setting occupying a Homestead region that stands as a celebration of the sakura.

Neverending – Sakura Tales

Both Jayden and Valarie have a talent for designing settings that wrap a story within them – as can be seen with Adventures In Mad Wonderland, a location I wrote about at the beginning of 2021. Similarly, Valarie has been responsible for regions that both rich in narrative (see: Kintsugi: spiritual beauty and renewal in Second Life) and also with whimsy and nature (see: The charming whimsy of a Lightning Bolt in Second Life).

The story of the lost artist and poet Jay continued. He sat in front of his trailer at Mad Wonderland, thinking again of his life, grabbing his magical paper and pen, and started to draw again and a phoenix appeared. He knew he had to go and leave Mad Wonderland. He packed his stuff, his magical pen, and papers, went to say goodbye to his new friend, the Mad Hatter, who hugged him tight whispering: ´We will meet again in the future, my friend.’

– from the landing point at Neverending – Sakura Tales

Neverending – Sakura Tales

Within Neverending – Sakura Tales, Valarie and Jayden once again present an engaging setting that both embraces the full symbolism of the cherry blossom – renewal and  the celebration of life – together with elements than offer reflections of both Kintsugi and Lightning Bolt whilst also presenting a continuing of the narrative found within Adventures of a Mad Wonderland – just follow the clues for the story unfold.

The artist nodded, sighed, and joined the little boat. Excited to find out where the phoenix would guide him through the sea of Neverending, he sat and started to draw on his papers. Some flowers and trees popped up in his mind and on the horizon, he could see Sakura Tales – the new adventure of his story began….

– from the landing point at Neverending – Sakura Tales

Neverending – Sakura Tales

From the landing point, visitors are encouraged to seek out these clues whilst exploring land cut through by water, heavy with cherry blossom that shade grasslands awash with the colour of flowers. This is land with a distinctly Japanese in tone – not just because of the sakura, but in details large and small: from pagodas and Shinto shrines to lanterns, torii gates dragons and more.

The echoes of Kintsugi and Lightning Bolt can be found through a variety of touches- the mix of distinct highlands and lowlands, the use of water, and so on, whilst the cabin at the landing point carries a neat reference to Mad Wonderland. There are also numerous places across the region where visitors can sit and spend time, some of which are the stuff of dreams  – lying among the clouds.

Neverending – Sakura Tales

Whether it is by accident or design – I have no idea which it might be, but I suspect the former – Neverending – Sakura Tales also put me in mind of an iteration of the region, back when it was held by Amelie Knelstrom.

Back then it was called Neverending – Pigeon Island, and whilst it did not have any overt Japanese elements, it offered a spring-like setting rich in colour and cut by water in much the same way as Sakura Tales (see: Of pigeons and a Meaningless wander for more on that design). Thus, I couldn’t help but see something of a spiritual connection between these two very different designs.

Neverending – Sakura Tales

Restful, rich in detail and with plenty to discover, Neverending – Sakura Tales makes for a rewarding visit.

SLurl Details

2021 SUG meeting week #15 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Nekomachi Street, Tonarino – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, April 13th, 2021 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting.

Server Deployments

Please refer to the server deployment thread for the latest news and updates.

  • Tuesday, April 13th saw the SLS Main channel servers updated with simulator release 557694, defined as containing “internal fixes an tweaks”.
  • There are no planned deployments to any of the RC channels. However, regions will be subject to a rolling restart.

SL Viewer

The start of the week saw the Eau de Vie Maintenance RC viewer update to version 6.4.18.557782, dated April 12th, brining it up to par with the de facto release viewer.

:All other official viewers remain unchanged from the end of last week;

  • Release viewer: Custom Key Mappings RC viewer, version 6.4.17.557391, dated March 24, promoted March 27.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Love Me Render (LMR) 5 project viewer, version 6.4.18.557797, dated April 7.
  • Project viewers:
    • Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, dated October 26.
    • Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.
    • Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, dated November 22, 2019.
    • 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, dated July 16, 2019.

In Brief

  • BUG-229871 “Unable to re-enter or teleport to a region that I’ve been to during same session” – now appears to be related to the use of Malwarebytes security software; or at least the vast majority of those experiencing the issues are reportedly using MWB. Whitelisting the viewer .exe filepath for all installed viewers with MWB appears to resolve the issue.
  • Issues continue to be seen with group chat following the changes made by the Lab (see Maestro Linden’s April 5th forum post). These aren’t the last changes to be made, and the Lab fully intends to keep working on issues and trying to improve the service(s).
  • Map tiles are “getting closer but not ready yet. So, as per my recent SUG summaries, those needing more reliable access to the world map might try the following:

Melu and Whiskey: artistic dialogues in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The 22 Art Space: Melusina Parkin and Whiskey Monday

Currently open at the 22 Art Space in Bellisseria, operated and curated by Ricco Saenz and Randy Firebrand, is a joint exhibition by Melusina Parkin and Whiskey Monday – the latter making a return to Second Life’s art scene (and the platform as a whole) after an extended absence.

Individually, Melu and Whiskey are two of SL’s most evocative photographic artists, each with a very individual approach to, and style of, visual narrative; and with Dialogues: Patterns, People, their work is combined in a manner intended to encourage the viewer to consider both the distinctiveness inherent in their work as individuals, and the manner in which their work is complimentary / complementary in the use of themes, focus, and presentation, allowing a “conversation” between the artists and the observer to develop.

The 22 Art Space: Melusina Parkin

In all, each artist presents ten images that have been split into two distinct collections. In the ground floor of the gallery  the images are focused on the theme of Patterns, with Whiskey and Melu each presenting four pieces on the subject; on the upper floor the theme of People, with the artists here presenting five works apiece in their respective rooms.

The two sections of the exhibition are then linked by a self-portrait provided by each artist – what might be a joint introduction to People. However, these are two pieces that also set up a conversation of their own, offering as they do reflections on the artists themselves. Within Melu’s it is possible to comprehend her contemplative approach to art, whilst Whiskey’s offers whispers on the intimate self-reflection that is a theme of her work, and the manner in which she so often offers up a reflection of her nature and identity whilst also maintaining a protective distancing between herself and her audience.

The 22 Art Space: Whiskey Monday

Within Patterns, Melu and Whiskey present images that play with the idea of repetition with variance. They offer something of a mix of the abstracted and the direct. Common themes of patterns can be found within individual pieces by each artist, allowing a certain dynamic to exist between them. Take Melu’s Colors 2 and Whiskey’s Choose, for example. Each stylistically uses doors (those of a lockers in one, and the doors of cells in the other), and through both we’re offered commentary on possession, self, restraint, freedom, isolation, reward and secrecy, each piece reflecting off of the other to present new ideas and interpretations.

For People, the narrative threads offered by the artists are less abstracted and more direct. Here ideas more than device conjoin individual images in each of the two rooms, allowing the flow of narrative to flow between the open doorway between the two areas.

The 22 Art Space: Melusina Parkin

Some time ago now, Ricco joined with artist Boudicca Amat to present an experiment in art entitled The Photo Game, in which pairs of artists were invited to select images from each other’s portfolio for display in a joint exhibition, and offer thoughts on why they selected the pieces (see: The Photo Game in Second Life and The Photo Game in Second Life: Proph and a Pey).

With Dialogues, Randy and Ricco have brought together two exceptionally talented artists who expand on that concept through the use of theme and unwritten narrative, thus taking the idea of artistic dialogue in an entirely new and engaging direction.

The 22 Art Space: Whiskey Monday

SLurl Details

Aliens, doppelgängers, magical tigers and poetry

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.

Monday, April 12th: 19:00 The Mote in God’s Eye

In the year AD 3017, humanity is recovering from an interstellar civil war that tore apart the first Empire of Man. The Second Empire is busy establishing control over the remnants of its predecessor although some worlds don’t appreciate bring brought to heel. Following the quashing of a rebellion on New Chicago, Commander Roderick Blaine is given temporary command of the battlecruiser INSS MacArthur, and charged with transporting the suspected leader on the New Chicago uprising Empire’s centre, the planet Sparta.

The route takes the MacArthur to the New Caledonia system, where she is ordered to intercept a sub-light vessel that appears to come from a yellow star referred to as the Mote, as from New Celedonia, it sits in front of a massive red star, like a mote in an eye.

Unfortunately, the encounter with the alien vessel does not go well. But has a result, the MacArthur is dispatched to the Mote alongside of the battlecruiser Lenin, charged with trying to establish first contact with the race the built the sublight ship – whom humans have nicknamed “Moties”. 

Arriving at the star, the human ships find a race far more technically developed than had been thought, and old enough to have developed into a series of highly-specialised sub-species. Thus begin an fascinating tale of first contact between races, one that encompass a range of dances – political, strategic, and more – in which motives are varied and secrets hidden. 

Gyro Muggins reads the classic sci-fi novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

Tuesday, April 13th

12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym, Live in the Glen

Music, poetry, and stories.

19:00: Neil Gaiman’s Coraline

When the Jones family move into a Victorian house that has been converted into a set of flats, and her parents always busy and wrapped in their work, young Coraline sets out to discover all she can about her new home.

Along the way, she meets a pair of retired actress sisters, an old man trying to train a mouse orchestra, and a door that, unlike all the others that lead somewhere, oddly opens onto a brick wall.

Until the day it doesn’t, and instead opens onto a hallway leading to another world.

It’s a world just like her own, but also very different. The flat she enters looks just like her own, the neighbours are just like those she has met – but oddly younger – and the mother and father she finds within the “other “home dote on her: marvellous toys, magical books and wonderful food.

This other home and the parents within it are all that Coraline has ever wanted – until her other mother tells her she can stay and live forever – if she will have buttons sewn into her eyes. Scared by the request, Coraline returns to her real home, only to find her parents now gone. Realising they have been taken by her “other mother”, she realises she must return along the hallway and risk her future in order to rescue them.

With Willow Moonfire.

Wednesday, April 14th, 19:00: When You Trap a Tiger

When Lily and her family move in with her sick Halmoni (grandmother), a magical tiger straight out of her halmoni’s Korean folktales arrives, prompting Lily to unravel a secret family history.

Long, long ago, Halmoni stole something from the tigers and now the tigers want it back. So the tiger visiting has arrvied with an offer for Lily: return what Halmoni stole in exchange for the return of her health Halmoni’s health.

It is a tempting offer; but deals with magical tigers are not always what they appear to be. So Lily must, with the help of her sister and her friend Ricky, find her voice and her courage, and face whatever trickery the tiger may conjure.

Caledonia Skytower reads the 2021 2021 Newbery Medal winning story by Tae Keller.

Thursday, April 15th 19:00: Poetry This Year

Caledonia Skytower shares this year’s student chosen poems from the program that she coordinates for her State as part of her physical world job.