Month: April 2021

2021 SUG meeting week #14 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Wythburn Village and Arts Community – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, April 6th, 2021 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting.

Server Deployments

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

  • There are no planned SLS Main channel deployments.
  • Wednesday, April 7th: the SLS RC channels should all be updated with simulator release 557694, defined as containing “internal fixes an tweaks”.
Last week we ran into an unanticipated glitch and had to push the RC roll back to this week. So, this week we’ll be pushing out the next Maintenance simulator to all the RC channels.

– Rider Linden on the upcoming deployment

SL Viewer

There have been no official viewer updates to mark the start of the week, leaving the pipelines as:

  • Release viewer: Custom Key Mappings RC viewer, version 6.4.17.557391, dated March 24, promoted March 27 – NEW.
  • 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 6.4.17.557412, dated March 25.
    • Love Me Render (LMR) 5 project viewer, version 6.4.14.556118, dated 23, 2021.
  • 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.

Group Chat

On Monday, April 5th, Maestro Linden posted on changes made to Group Chat to try to improve overall message handling. The change appears to have met with with mixed results, with some seeing no real change in how their group chat sessions are affected. There may also been some related unintended consequences, some some reporting the following:

  • Some people are finding they have to make multiple posts for group chat to finally open and their chat to be seen by everyone, otherwise their group chat remains silent. It is not clear if this happens across all their groups, or just some.
  • Messages for some still appear to be failing with a degree of measurable regularity.

Commenting on the situation, and in lieu of Jira reports, Rider Linden commented:

As far as group chat. We know that it is a problem and we’re going to continue to work on it from our end.

New LSL Capabilities?

This from Rider Linden:

I’m proposing the following three LSL functions llOrd, llChar and llHash. llOrd() will return the ordinal of the first character in a string, llChar() given an integer will return a single character string, and llHash() is a non-cryptographic 32 bit hash. I was looking for a way to just have an integer that had a reasonable change of being unique for an arbitrary string.
Use case I can see: Given an owner of two objects I want to select a chat channel with a low probability of colliding with other agents in the area.
This approach wouldn’t be cryptographically secure, but would be convenient.

This many be the start of ongoing work to provide new  / improved LSL capabilities, with it being indicated that feature requests BUG-227663 “[Feature Request] llGetInventoryAcquireTime()” and BUG-227641 “Play/Loop/Stop sounds in linked primitives other than the primitive where the script exists” may also be considered  for implementation.

In Brief

  • Some people are reporting Voice issues – Voice failing to start, or Voice simply not working in a region unless others are already there and using it. It’s not clear have widespread these issues are, or whether bug reports have been raised.
  • BUG-229871 “Unable to re-enter or teleport to a region that I’ve been to during same session” – Linden Lab is still trying to consistently reproduce this issue. In discussing the problem, Maestro Linden noted:
One interesting case was somebody reporting that they were able to reproduce the issue 100% of the time until they replaced a faulty coaxial cable  – which makes me think that packet loss could somehow be to blame (disconnecting from the simulator the first time in some unclean manner due to time-out?).
  • Getting inventory syncing between Agni and Aditi working once more is also being worked on, with the hope that the fix will be available Soon™.
  • Work on Map tiles is progressing, but still no ETA on when the remaining fixes are liable to be deployed. Again, in lieu of a fix, people can use the following alternatives, each with its own functionality:

Lab provides update on Group Chat

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

As many people are aware, Group Chat has had some problems of late, particularly with group chats failing, messages being dropped, etc.

One of the major causes of this has been known to be the manner in which the Group Chat member list updates – people in a group coming on-line, those going off-line and making the necessary updates to the group members list, then sending those updates to all the members of a group.

As you can imagine, all of this can take up a lot of time – in fact at a TPV Developer meeting before his departure, Oz Linden indicated that the service can spend more time managing these updates than in actually handling group chat messages. At the time, he indicated that Linden Lab was considering various ways in which the number of updates could be reduced to ease the load.

On Monday, April 5th, 2021, Maestro Linden provided an update via the Technology → Second Life Server forum on what has now been done to the Group member list updates  – and what the viewer will display as a result. In it, he describes the changes thus:

What changed, exactly?
Second Life has historically listed all the people on-line in a group or ad-hoc chat session.  In an effort to improve overall chat performance, we have limited when these updates are sent.
The Second Life group chat servers has been modified so that large group (over 10 on-line at once) will work so that only moderators get the full list of everyone on-line. Non-moderators now only see on-line moderators listed in the group chat participants list, for large groups.   Groups with 10 or fewer users on-line should not be affected by this change.
How does this change appear in the viewer?
The list of visible group chat participants shown in the Conversations panel, when the drop-down menu is expanded.  Before this change, the participants list would show all on-line members who were currently subscribed to the group’s chat session.  With this change, updates to list is limited for large groups, as described above, unless the “Moderate Group Chat” ability is enabled for the agent.
Will this change affect who can send or receive a group chat message?
No, regular chat messages are unaffected by this change – any group member with the “Join Group Chat” ability will be able to participate in group chat just as before.

– Maestro Linden in Group Chat member list updates, April 5th

While this change means general members of a group many not always be able to seen the full member’s list for the group, the change has been made in the belief that it is more important to be able to send and receive messages in a chat session rather than view the full group list.

How well the change works in practice remains to be seen; there have been response on the thread that indicate some are seeing no significant changes to their group chat sessions – although it’s not clear from the forum post quite when the change to the service was made, and whether or not it is something that will take time to propagate out sufficient for all all users to see benefits.

As well as indicating that additional back-end updates to monitoring tools have been made to allow Lab staff to better monitor SL systems and services, Maestro commented on whether or not this change will be “permanent”:

I would expect this change to remain in place in medium term – there are currently no plans to revert it. That said, I would not declare the change as “permanent” – group chat will continue to evolve as Linden Lab evaluates its performance and tweaks the design.

– Maestro Linden in Group Chat member list updates, April 5th.

For further information, please refer to the forum post, as linked to above.

Letting off steam with Zany Zen Railway in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Riding Zany Zen’s Railway – April 2021

Back in April 2020, I wrote about Rydia Lacombe’s work in mapping all of Second Life’s railway networks (see: Mapping Second Life’s mainland railways). I ended the article by musing the idea of doing an occasional series about the Second Life Railroad (SLRR) network, even going so far at to contemplate a title for the series: From the Footplate. However, in June of 2020 the Lab launched a video series on the subject, prompting me to put the idea onto the back burner.

However, had I gone ahead with that series, I would have started with the Zany Zen Railway (ZZR), located in the heart of Jeogeot.

Riding Zany Zen’s Railway – April 2021

Created and operated by fellow “Brit” Zen Swords-Galway (ZenriaCo), it’s one of the most unique lines to be found in Second Life, being a) almost entirely scratch-built by Zen (with rolling stock scripting by Dizzi Sternberg, Janet Rossini and NightShade Fugu) and b) it is and narrow-gauge service, something of a rarity in SL. There’s also the fact it offers something of a celebration of UK in the most subtle of ways.

This last point can be seen on arrival at one of the two terminus points for the railway, Little Coverston, located in Gaori. Here, above a small Welsh coastal hamlet (complete with RNLI station) sits a stone built station, the entranceway to which is lined by posters advertising places to Ely, Whitby and the famous Rheilffordd Talyllyn – Talyllyn Railway, itself a narrow-gauge railway and Welsh tourist attraction that runs along the line that original carried slate from the quarries to the port of Tywyn. Incidentally, it was also the first narrow-gauge railway in the UK to be authorised by Act of Parliament for the transport of passengers.

Riding Zany Zen’s Railway – April 2021

It’s very much a passion project that grew into something I could never imagine. I’ve been lucky over the last few years to have some help with a few bits and bobs; the passenger carriage update last year couldn’t of been done with out a friend.

Zen discussing her Zany Zen Railway

Roughly three passenger trains an hour run along the ZZR, so if you arrive between services, you can take a wander along the street below and maybe pop into the Welsh Dragon to refresh yourself or, if it is open, the local corner shop to grab a sandwich or snack to enjoy on the train.

The rolling stock on the ZZR is all designed and built by Zen herself, and is incredibly well detailed

One of the reasons the service may appear slow is that – like many narrow gauge lines – the ZZR is predominantly a single track, one that is shared with goods trains. This means that passenger services often have to wait at the one double section of track to allow the freight service to pass. Not that this should be a problem; it simply gives passengers more time to appreciate their surroundings.

From Little Coverston the line runs east and then south, with a station at Seogyeo where that double section of line can be found, allowing trains to pass one another. The station is also home to the ZZR museum, offering a history of the line’s development that is very much worth hopping off the train to see – you can always catch the train once it has been down and back along the line to resume your journey. Also at Seogyeo is the chance to wander the streets of the local Welsh-themed village that is fully in keeping with the railway, and designed and built by RoaryCymru.

Seogyeo station, April 2021

After Seogyeo, the line continues south, passing over an extensive viaduct and then through a cutting to arrive at Ahndang, a little country station typical of a bygone era here in the UK, before continuing on to Somdari – actually the point where the line originally started. The ZZR’s engine sheds are here, giving visitors the chance to see more of the engines – all of which are beautifully designed (and there may well be a couple in the sidings along the line).

Another of an aspects of the ZZR that make it so engaging is the level of scripted automation and detail: station signs neatly display arriving services, levers shift as points change, carriage doors opening as closing as the trains sit alongside platforms, and so on. The ride can admittedly be a little rickety – but anyone who has ridden a narrow gauge knows that can be the case – as can be the tightness of the curves.

Looking back along the tracks on the Zany Zen Railway, April 2021

Zany Zen’s isn’t the longest or the fastest railway, nor does it have the biggest trains;  but that’s precisely the point. ZZR isn’t supposed to be big and bold and charging along; rather, it is an accurate interpretation of an English narrow gauge line that has been re-purposed from its original use to provide an engaging excursion people can enjoy – and one  I recommend you try if you haven’t already.

SLurl Details

2021 viewer release summaries week #13

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates from the week ending Sunday, April 4th

This summary is generally published 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.
  • Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.

Official LL Viewers

  • Release viewer: Custom Key Mappings RC viewer, version 6.4.17.557391, dated March 24th, promoted March 27th – NEW.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • No updates.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Space Sunday: Ingenuity readies for flight

Posted on by Inara Pey
Ingenuity hangs under the belly of Perseverance at the end of several days of initial deployment.Credit: NASA/JPL

This past week has seen the Mars helicopter Ingenuity successfully deployed onto the surface of Mars in readiness for its first flight – although NASA has announced the flight itself has been delayed.

As I noted in my previous Space Sunday report, the helicopter was unpacked over several days (the work actually commencing prior to that report appearing). It took several days because each stage of the deployment had to be verified to ensure it had been correctly completed using the WATSON camera on  the rover’s robot arm imaging the helicopter from several angles after each phase of the deployment so that engineers on Earth could confirm everything looked correct. However, everything went as expected, and by March 31st (UTC), Ingenuity was in an upright position under the rover, but still connected to it via the power umbilical and backplane support.

At this point proceedings were paused whilst systems were given a final check-out prior to the command being given to release the helicopter to drop the 10-13cm down onto the Martian surface. Once released, Ingenuity would be on its own power-wise, with a limited period in which to charge up its batteries using sunlight, so the engineering team wanted to run through final verification that everything was OK.

On Sunday, April 4th, the Jet Propulsion released images revealing that final step of deployment had been completed, and Ingenuity is standing on Mars, Perseverance having moved several metres away to establish line-of-sight communications with the helicopter.

Caught by the Hazcam system on Perseverance, Ingenuity sits on the surface of Mars after the rover had initially moved away from it following release. This image was taken on mission Sol 43 (Sunday, April 4th, 2021) at a local mean solar time of 15:14. It is a raw image that has not been white balanced for Earth lighting. Credit: NASA/JPL

The next challenge is to ensure the solar cells that the very top of the rotor mast are able to provide energy to the batteries, which can only survive 25 hours without recharge now Ingenuity has been separated from the rover.

It had been hoped that the first in a sequence of five planned flight tests would commence on Thursday, April 8th. However, this has now been delayed until Sunday, April 11th, at the earliest.

A further view of Ingenuity sitting in Jezero Crater after the rover has moved further away. Sol 43 (April 4th, 2021)

The delay is to allow for a full regime of tests to be carried out on the helicopter – which has gained the nickname “Ginny”  among the engineering and flight team at JPL – including its ability to survive the harsh cold of Martian nights and then recharge its batteries during daylight hours. Should all go according to plan, Perseverance will capture the flight, and images / video from both the rover and the helicopter will be released on or shortly after April 12th.

Providing the first straight-up-hover-straight-down flight is a success, the flight team will move on to the remaining four pre-flights for the helicopter, which the hope to complete well inside the 30-day window allowed for the tests – and potentially complete more, if there is sufficient time left before Perseverance must turn to its now duties and say “bye-bye” to  Ingenuity.

Following the first flight, Ingenuity will perform a more complex series of flights, such as the one shown above. Credit: NASA/JPL

When it does commence its own science work, Perseverance may not initially travel too far from the helicopter’s flight zone: whilst Ingenuity was unfolding beneath it, the rover’s team became increasingly intrigued by a green-tinted rock a short distance away.

The yet-to-be-dubbed rock is thought to be a possible meteorite or a piece of bedrock that may have been “popped” up from under the layers of sedimentary rock on which the rover is parked. However, the science team will not be drawn on any conclusions until Perseverance has had the chance to get up close to the rock and focus all of its attention on it. Thus far, the rover has only been able to image the rock using its Mastcam-Z system and zap it a few times with the SuperCam laser system.

That the rock – roughly 15 cm in length – might be a meteorite is not beyond the bounds of possibility: Perseverance’s “sister” rover, Curiosity, happened upon a similar odd rock sitting on the landscape in 2014. Once its duties watching over Ingenuity have ended, Perseverance will be able to devote its full attention on the rock, further utilising its SuperCam laser and spectrometer, as well as the SHERLOC and WATSON combination on its robot arm in an attempt to decipher the rock’s mystery.

The interesting rock – possibly a meteorite – Perseverance has been studying from a distance whilst the Ingenuity helicopter deployment has been underway. Credit: NASA/JPL

Meanwhile, and half a world away, Curiosity has been busy as it continues its investigations of  “Mount Sharp”, the 6 km high mound of deposits left in the centre of Gale Crater, the result of multiple periods of flooding.

At the start of March, Curiosity commenced it most recent science campaign, examining an impressive 6 metre high rock formation dubbed “Mont Mercou” after a mountain in France close the village of Nontron, which is being used to generate monikers for features in the area the rover is exploring due to the presence of nontronite, a type of clay mineral (also named for the village) within the area.

A 3D view of “Mont Mercou” created from a total of 32 images captured by Curiosity on Sol 3049 of its mission – March 4th, 2021. It was made by taking 16 images from one location and then moving 4 metres to take a second set. The resulting stereoscopic effect helps scientists get a better idea of the geometry of the mound’s sedimentary layers, as if they’re standing in front of the formation. This finished view has been coloured balanced to match Earth-type lighting conditions. Credit; NASA/JPL

Continue reading “Space Sunday: Ingenuity readies for flight” →

Docking at Resilient Station in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Resilient Station, April 2021

Note: the Blushock team relocated and have established a new setting, the USS Sleipinir and Planet Freya – of which more in my update – Boarding the USS Sleipnir in Second Life, so the SLurl within this article has been updated to reflect the new location.

In January, I visited Planet Idun, home of Jasper Point and Ymir base, the operations centre for the Blushock team (see: An away team mission to Planet Idun in Second Life).  It was a fascinating and engaging visit, one that gave me the opportunity to meet with the region’s co-creator Fazzy Constantine (Faisel Constantine). And in the last week, Fazzy contacted me with an intriguing invitation:

We’ve got a full sized region and have been working on our next location for 11 days. We’re close to being ready to open, and I’d like to invite you to come for a sneak VIP preview.
Resilient Station, April 2021

It was an invitation I could hardly refuse given how much I appreciated my trip to Idun, so over the weekend I took the opportunity to warp over to the facilities – and was even more impressed by what I found.

As a small amount of background information (you can find more at the Blushock coalition website), the focus of the group is the Vanaheim star system located in the beta quadrant of the Milky Way galaxy. Centred on a cool, blue giant star, the system has a total of seven planets, two of which have been found suitable for habitation by the mix of races making up the coalition: the ice world of Vanargand and the tropical Idun.

Resilient Station, April 2021

Resilient Station is the latest of the Blushock facilities – in fact the team’s newest base of operations. It  is located on – or within – a 200-300m diameter asteroid orbiting Vanaheim over a period of 19 terrestrial years. By nature the asteroid appears to be typically carbonaceous in type, carrying the official designation of VH706-C, although the Blushock team have christened it – in keeping with the use of old Earth Norse mythology names within the Vanaheim system – Baldur (brave or defiant), thus matching the station’s name of Resilient.

Asteroid VH706-C, better known as Baldur, is a newly discovered body which was discovered by the BluShock team. Originally discovered during one of the teams planetary scans, they sent one of their mechanics, weeks later, to do a recon of the 200m tall rock that was orbiting the star and planets. It was decided that the asteroid would make for a good base of operations for the future, as Idun was becoming more and more unstable for everyday life.

– From the Resilient Station backstory

Resilient Station, April 2021

The landing point is located within a smaller asteroid occupying the same orbit as Baldur. It is where newcomers can gain a degree of orientation and set their viewers appropriately – it is absolutely essential to enable the viewer’s Advanced Lighting Model (Preferences → Graphics → check Advanced Lighting Model) before proceeding to the station proper. Shadows are not required, nor is setting the viewer to High / Ultra (although both will increase the visual enjoyment of the setting). Visitors should also obtain a visitor ID badge from Holly, the station’s AI, who can be found on various wall panel displays in what is a nice nod to Red Dwarf.

Touching the door access panel alongside Holly at the landing point will transfer visitors down to the main reception centre in the station itself. This sits alongside the main docking / landing bay for incoming ships; it is the largest of four such bays that have been hewn out of the asteroid’s rock, with several external locking and landing facilities to provide additional facilities for visiting craft.

Resilient Station, April 2021

Where you go from here is a matter of choice – although do note that some parts of the station have restricted access (as you would expect from such a facility). Exploration can be carried out on foot using the stairways and via the station’s elevator stations that provide access to all of the levels, from engineering at the base of the asteroid, to the very impressive arboretum located on the uppermost level.

An incredible amount of detail has been put into the build by chief architect Noah Constantine (NoahLion); the overall design is entirely logical in nature; major area of occupation are placed deep within the station where they can be protected from cosmic gamma rays and the excesses of local solar radiation without the need for additional shielding (the bedrock should provide that; the exception being the arboretum, although that could well have specialised shielding within the material of the dome. The overall feeling is of a pristine centre of operations – again, well in keeping that the station has only recently been constructed.

We got the region on March 20th. Noah had it ready to move to for role-play by the 23rd, and the rest of us helped decorate and furnish it. We’ve got lots of new planets planned too. Idun was just the 2nd attempt – but this station will be staying.

Fazzy Constantine on Reslient Station and Blushock’s plans

Resilient Station, April 2021

Similarly, the main landing bay is through-and-though, ideal for manoeuvring large vessels in and out of it, whilst the smaller bays leave more than enough room for shuttles and other small craft to manoeuvre within their confines. True, there is a fair amount of debris occupying the same space as the station – presumably chunks of rock that were broken free during Resilient’s construction – that look like they might be a hazard to local navigation; but presumably these will be cleared away in due course.

Two places most definitely worth seeing in the station are the aforementioned arboretum on level 8 and also the spa and pool on level 2. There’s also  Vanaheim’s Eclipse and the public and crew facilities on levels 5 and 6. But really, the entire station fully deserves careful exploration.

Resilient Station, April 2021

Resilient Station is a genuinely superb design that officially opens its doors on Tuesday, April 13th, although visitors are able to explore now. For those wishing to catch upon the story of the Blushock Team should visit the official website and particularly take a look through the Events section for a recap of what’s happened through until now.

My thanks to Fazzy for the invite to get this first look, and kudos to Noah on the work in developing the station’s look and feel. I look forward to future visits!

Resilient Station, April 2021

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