The following notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, May 14th, 2021.
These meetings are generally held every other week. They are recorded by Pantera Północy, and her video of the meeting is embedded at the end of this report – my thanks to her for allowing me to do so – and it is used with a transcript of the chat log from the meeting and my own audio recording to produce these notes.
This was perhaps the shortest TPVD meeting on record.
SL Viewer
The Project UI RC viewer updated to version 6.4.19.559612 on Friday, May 14th. The remaining viewers in the pipelines remained unchanged through the week:
Release viewer: Eau de Vie Maintenance viewer, version 6.4.18.558266, dated April 23rd, promoted April 29th.
Release channel cohorts:
Love Me Render (LMR) 5 viewer, version 6.4.18.558365, dated April 22nd.
Maintenance 2 RC viewer – Fernet, version 6.4.18.558441, dated April 21rd.
Project viewers:
Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, dated October 26th.
Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9th, 2019.
Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.532999, dated November 22nd, 2019.
360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, dated July 16th, 2019.
General Viewer Notes
All three RC viewers are pretty much ready to be considered for promotion to de facto release status. Of these, Maintenance Fernet now includes the fixes for helping with Voice updates, and is with the Lab’s QA team, so it could be the next in line to be promoted.
The Legacy Profiles viewer is finally receiving attention, with some cosmetic UI changes being made, after which it should be appearing as an RC viewer, rather than a project viewer.
LMR 6 is still gathering graphics bug fixes.
The Simplified Cache viewer is still awaiting its turn to re-enter the the pipelines.
The Mac notarisation fixes viewer is also awaiting a time to enter the available viewer pipelines.
The small but noticeable update to the secondlife.com splash screen menu that appears to have been recently rolled out
Update May 17th: It appears LL may either have released a change to the splash screen and have rolled it back, or are experimenting with ideas. On Monday, May 17th, the splash screen had reverted back to the April update.
Back in April Linden Lab slipped out a revamp to the secondlife.com home page.
At the time, it came in for a very mixed response, featuring as it does an actress in elven-like make-up rather than the more usual avatar.
The image used was actually a still from the broadcast quality advert Levitate Media produced on behalf of Linden Lab in August 2020, and which was previewed in December 2020, a point that seemed lost on at least some of those who responded negatively to splash screen re-vamp.
The re-vamp also brought the secondlife.com property more into line with other Second Life properties such as the enterprise micro-site, in that scrolling down the page reveals further information on Second Life under a trio of headings.
The secondlife.com splash screen image as seen with the April re-vamp, inset, the scene of the Second Life advert from which the image was taken, being filmed by Levitate Media in August 2020.
The latest update – seen at the top of this article – was quietly rolled-out during the week. It now features an enlarged version of the still from the Levitate Media video and a re-worked menu. Gone are the options found in the top right corner of the screen, to be replaced by the more “modern” three-bar menu icon favoured by website designers and which offers a mobile device friendly solution to accessing menus. The rest of the page remains unchanged from the April 2021 update.
To be honest, I liked the April update, and the upset over the use of a live model seemed a little overblown to me; as I’ve said elsewhere, Second Life is supposedly “your world, your imagination”, so why not someone dreaming about being Galadriel or somesuch? That said, the image in this latest version is – to me – a little too large and in-you-face and as a result looses a lot of the mystery / enticement it presented in the April version of the page; better, perhaps to have left it untouched and simply re-work the menu access.
As it is, the latest update is a small tweak, and presumably part of the Lab’s preparations for the deployment of revamped new user on-boarding process and new user experience. It also makes the secondlife.com splash screen a little more mobile device friendly (although the rest of the web pages have a long way to in that respect).
Note:you need need to be logged-out of secondlife.com in order to see these changes.
Soul Deep, May 2021 – click any image for full size
Kaelyn Alecto (TheNewKae) opened her latest Homestead region design in April 2021. Called Soul Deep, it is once again a richly detailed setting that is both fun to explore and also forms a restful retreat for those so minded to take advantage of its offerings.
Set within a ring of mountains that sit off the region and lie separated from it by a ring of blue water, Soul Deep comprises a main low-lying island around which are a number of small islets and raised promontory. These huddle around it like hatchlings making their first swim upon the calm waters under the watchful eye of their mother.
Soul Deep, May 2021
The landing point sits to the west of the main island, set upon one of Cory Edo’s converted shipping crate. Raised on shout wood and steel legs, this commands a view out over the island’s impressive lake, a body that looks as if it might once have been largely open to the surrounding waters, but time – or the hands and machines of humans – has surrounded it with slim arms of earth, grass and reeds that gently embrace it so that waterfowl now treat it as a quiet sanctuary.
Running around the inner shore of the banks of this lake is a wooden board walk that offers a gentle walk around the water and leads visitors past various landward points of interest – places to sit out in the Sun or under the shade of trees, decks facing the waters surrounding the island, a little music venue – and the one centre of commerce to be found within the setting.
Soul Deep, May 2021
Clustered to the east, this takes the form of a group of wharves and decks on which sit assorted building that look to be related to the fishing trade – although whether fishing boats still put in alongside is perhaps questionable; the wharves appear to be devoted to rowing boats, and the boatyard seems to now be more the home for a very large shark, rather than a place for building boats…
South of this is one of the regions two uplands, a rocky table with a rather eclectic top – Doors that stand sans any surrounding building or ruins. Falls drop to the water below to one side of this strange monument to bookend one side of the arc of sand that forms a little beach – one of two gracing the island’s shores. The second beach lies just to the south, facing a curving bay that links the rocky table with the west side of the island, where another upland sits amidst oak and fir.
Soul Deep, May 2021
This looks to have once been a part of the main island, so close are the two, but whether by accident or design, a narrow channel of water now separates them, necessitating the use of bridges to cross from one to the other.
Heavy in foliage thanks to the oak and fir covering it, this is home to an old ruin, whilst the crown of the hill features a place where visitors can literally hang out: a platform extends outward from the crown of the hill. Down below, a kayak is drawn up on the shore close to a little camp site in the lee of the hill. Thanks to the screening of the trees, this entire area feels as if it is deep in the wilderness, despite the proximity of the landing point just across the little channel.
Soul Deep, May 2021
And that’s the charm of Soul Deep: the feeling of openness and the mix of locations and open water that gives it a sense of being much larger than the region in which it sits.
Whether you want to explore the main island or hop over to the outriggers – one with a cosy house upon it, another with the remnants of an old church, a third with a simple deck of which to sit – there really is much to discover and appreciate here, while the boats liberally scattered over the waters (some of which can be driven), offer still more opportunities for discover and / or relaxation.
My winLab/Dogma Moon Shadow, in my own hull / superstructure finish, moored at Isla Caitinara
Oh, I’ve been ridin’ on a Moon Shadow, moon shadow, moon shadow – Cuttin’ the waves on a Moon Shadow, moon shadow, moon shadow.
OK, so the words aren’t quite how Yusuf Islam (or Cat Stevens, as he was at the time) wrote them in 1970, but they have been bouncing through my head the last few days.
The reason for this is that I was recently contacted by Spartaco Zemenis who, among his many talents, is a creator, a scripter and a member of the Firestorm Italian support group. Following our conversation, he kindly sent me – in no expectations of any review, but as a simple “thank you” – a couple of items he has put together with Dogma9.
One of these is the Moon Shadow motor cruiser, a vessel somewhat larger than I’ve used – at least, up until now. Curious about it,I decided to give it a go, and in the process it joined the ranks of my regularly-used vehicles, which in turn qualified it for a review.
Heading out to Blake Sea Channel from Second Norway
Comprehensively packaged and packed with features, the Moon Shadow can be purchased in two variants: one with a default black hull and superstructure, and one with a default white finish – which is the versions Spataco sent me. Included in the package – which comes in the form of a boxed model – is the boat, a pair of HUDs (one for driving the boat, and and optional one that works with camera positioning), and a detailed user manual.
Priced at L$7,000, Moon Shadow is a 25m class cruiser with a beam of 7.2 metres and a keel-to flying bridge height of 8.5 metres. It is an exceptionally attractive vessel, nicely proportioned, with a hull clearly designed to cut through the water rather than riding over them.
The main cabin, showing the table set with the breakfast meal option and the open fridge
The main cabin takes up the majority of the interior space, offering comfortable facilities complete with galley, a dining area, forward seating and a cockpit area for piloting the boat. Forward of this is a single sleeping cabin that has a fair amount of space, and includes a working bathroom, closets, and a double bed. Over the top of this cabin is the traditional forward solarium common to cruisers of this type. Aft of the main cabin, and separated from it by a glass screen and sliding door, is a small swim platform area with seating and access to the large fantail swim platform itself, as well as steps up to the flying bridge / lounge. A working panel in the floor well of the swim platform seating area provides access to the engine bay. The flying bridge itself is roomy and helps classify the Moon Shadow as a sport-fly, with both curved bench seating and a solarium alongside the upper cockpit area.
Moondancer: my version of the Moon Shadow
The boat’s features are impressive, comprising:
The ability to carry up to 10 avatars (region crossings allowing!), although I’ve thus far not gone beyond two.
30 multi-purpose seating positions, and an animation system providing 120 couple and 80 single animations, the majority managed by a on-board servers (rather than multiple animations per seating area). In particular, this allows for:
Avatar movement between seats without the need to stand up.
Use of a manageable suite of animations across all suitable seating areas – lounge seats, top and forward solariums, etc.
The ability to add your own animations.
(Note that the above excludes the galley, which utilises its own animation.)
75 interactive objects, including:
A selection of meals that can be rezzed on the main deck table and drinks and snacks that can be rezzed from the fridge.
Items that can be rezzed when working at the galley.
Rezzable mooring piles and lines.
An extensive audio video system, including a large deployable screen at the rear of the main cabin, a small deployable screen in the lower cockpit, a flat screen TV in the sleeping cabin.
The starlight spotlight, controlled by the boat’s main HUD.
A projected light system (requires Advanced Lighting Model to be running on the viewer) for internal illumination.
Scripted dynamic control system that can be used to adjust boat handling (stability / performance balance) to suit your driving needs.
Automated resource management with manual override: when the engine is running, all scripts deemed unnecessary to motion / navigation are turned off to reduce the vessel’s simulator resource use.
The last two point are particularly useful when driving the Moon Shadow. At 150 LI (248 prim), and a 146 server load (29.6 physics), this is a “heavy” vessel when it comes to region crossings, so minimising resource use and managing performance are important aspect in ensuring crossings are as smooth as possible. Maintaining a reasonable throttle speed also helps – I’d personally recommend not going above 60% of throttle when carrying multiple avatars.
Main HUD
A key aspect on managing the Moon Shadow is the main HUD. This provides access to the majority of the boat’s controls, as shown in the image below right.
The Moon Shadow primary HUD. Courtesy of Dogma Creations / winLAB
In order to work, the HUD needs to be synced to a copy of the boat. This is achieved by wearing / adding the HUD and then sitting on the boat as the driver.
The HUD is pretty self-explanatory, but some of the options are worth going into further here:
Show / Hide Sit Panel: displays a panel denoting the core deck / cabin sit points (shown in the lower right of the HUD). When displayed, sit points can be enabled / disabled by clicking on their icons.
Camera mode: clicking this displays the Camera Mode dialogue, allowing your camera position to be slaved to the boat and then positioned via the camera mode options. A separate (and relatively compact) camera HUD reproduces the options on the dialogue box to provide an alternative to managing camera positions. Note that once engaged, the Camera Mode needs to be turned OFF to release your camera.
Set and Go: these allow you to set a mooring point, with GO jumping the boat to it when in range.
Transmitter: if you are unseated from the boat, clicking this will send a request to the boat for its location, which is returned in local chat as a TP link, allowing you to teleport to the boat and rejoin it. This works with the currently synced version of the boat, or the last rezzed version. I can say from experience, this works.
Show / Hide Moor Structure: this rezzes a couple of mooring posts off the stern quarters of the boat with lines connecting them to the stern cleats.
It’s a weekend of Peace Love and Hope and great music as the 8th annual RelayStock takes place between Friday, May 14th and Sunday, May 16th inclusive, once again raising funds for Relay For Life of Second Life and the world-wide work of the American Cancer Society (ACS).
Paying homage to Woodstock, and hosted by the Relay Rockers, RelayStock brings together Relay teams from diverse communities across Second Life for a celebration of the Relay season. Teams raise their banners above makeshift tents and old VW campers as they gather for three days of Peace Love Music and Hope.
A long-time staple of the annual Relay for Life season in Second Life, Relay Stock is also the venue to two special events – Bid a Linden Bald and the Celebrate Remember Fight-Back Top DJ Fund-raising Competition.
Bid A Linden Bald and Obtain a Limited Edition Linden Bear
2021 marks the 5th year that the Lindens have joined in the fun at RelayStock through Bid a Linden Bald – and this year the event has a couple of extra for folk to appreciate: the Moles of the LDPW are joining the fun, and those making donations via the special Bid a Linden Bald kiosks can receive a Limited Edition Linden Bear!
As the name suggests, Bid A linden Bald sees a number of teams from Linden Lab challenge one another to see who can raise the most in Linden Dollar donations for RFL of SL. At the end of the event, the team raising the least amount of money see their avatars get their hair shorn by the team raising the most. Or as the event advertising puts it:
Top team gets the scissors – lowest team gets the haircut!
RelayStock 2021: Bid a Linden Bald
The six teams from the Lab participating this year comprise:
Team 1: Alexa, Dottie, Izzy, Mint, Rhea, TJ, Wendi
Team 2: Cammy, Ellie, Kit, Oberwolf, Rocko, Tommy, Whitney
Team 3: Dakota, Evie, Kreide, Obi, Simon, Vanessa
Team 4: Darcy, Grumpity, Kristin, Patch, Spots, Vix
Team 5: Derrick, Hobbes, Maggie, Patsy, Theresa, Volo
For those who have been asking about the Lab’s new Board members and their interest in Second Life, it’s worth pointing out that Team 2’s Oberwolf Linden is in fact Board member and Executive Chairman Brad Oberwager, who is getting fully into the swing of the event and showing further support for activities in Second Life, along with the Lab’s new Chief of Staff, Cammy Bergren (Cammy Linden), who is also a member of Team 2!
Linden Lab’s Chief of Staff, Cammy Bergren (centre left) and Board member / Executive Chairman, Brad Oberwager (centre right) are Participating in Team 2 for Bid A Linden Bald through their respective avatars, Cammy Linden and Oberwolf Linden, seen flanking them
Since its inauguration in 2017 (at the Second Life Birthday event) Bid A Linden Bald has helped to raise L$3,000,000 (approx. US $12,000) for Relay For Life and the ACS.
Every year, I look forward to the Rockers’ Bid Me Bald fundraiser. This is one of the longest running team fundraisers in our Relay’s history and it has become a touchstone moment for so many of us. I have enjoyed watching the event grow and evolve over the years and am grateful to the Lindens for getting into the spirit of this time-tested fundraising challenge.
– Stingray Raymaker, ACS representative in Second Life
Biding is now open at the RelayStock event space, and will remain so through until Wednesday May 19th, when, at 12:00 SLT, the team to lose their hair will be announced and the Official Haircutting will take place (and all are invited!).
Bid A Linden Bald Linden Bears
The Limited Edition Bid a Linden Bald Bear
This year, people can bid by making a donation directly to each team’s kiosk, or by making a L$250 donation to the accompanying Limited Edition Bid A Linden Bald Linden Bear kiosk and receive a pair of Limited Edition Linden Bears.
Designed by Chronos Mole, these comprise a wearable Animesh Bear and a seated static bear for home décor. It would have perhaps been nice if the wearable bear was a little smaller and rigged to sit, say, on your shoulder rather than just a simple “carry” pose that is easily overridden by any walking animation, but they are nevertheless a cute pair, and already proving to be very popular.
Bid a Linden Bald can be found at the large barn immediately adjacent to the RelayStock landing point.
Celebrate Remember Fight-Back Top DJ Fund-raising Competition Grand Final
The CRFB event features Club and Radio DJs from all over Second Life as they try to see who among them can raise the most Linden Dollars in support of the Relay For Life, with RelayStock hosting the Grand Final between the two top fund-raisers.
In 2020, DJ Baggie and DJ Kayla went head-to-head in their sets at RelayStock, raising more than L$330,000 in the process, with DJ Kayla taking home top honours. This year will see finalists DJ Tanis and DJ Stormy compete in back-to-back sets on Sunday, May 17th.
RelayStock 2021: Relay Team camp sites
Stage Schedule
The event’s activities line up as follows (all times SLT – check the official event page for any late updates):
Friday May 14th
Saturday May 15th
Sunday May 16th
13:00: DJ Zen Greywolf
14:30: DJ Melinia Firehawk
16:00: Keeba & Maniacs – LIVE
17:00 : Quartz – LIVE
18:00: DJ Sasha Fairywren
19:30: DJ Kewl
09:00: Shay Dezno-Gary Jonstone-LIVE
10:30 Noon: DJ Kayla
Noon: DJ Corruptor
13:30: DJ Selene Jashan
15:00-16:00: Todd Rumsford – LIVE
16:00-17:30: DJ Jennylynn Capalini
17:30-19:00: DJCynthia Farshore
19:00-20:30: DJ Toocool
20:30-22:00: DJ Stephanie
09:00-10:30: DJ Caesey Sawson
10:30-12:00 Noon: DJ Rora
Noon-13:30: Brisas Ar – LIVE
1:30PM – Max Kleene – LIVE
2:00PM – CRFB FINALIST – DJ Tanis
3:30PM – CRFB FINALIST-DJ Stormy
5:00PM – Trader Whiplash – Time Machine
7:30PM – DJ Mattie Carlson
So, let the spirit of the Age of Aquarius enter your life this weekend, don your kaftan (and galoshes!), put flowers in your hair and head on over to RelayStock for great music, great dancing, great fun – all in a good cause!
The Way of the Sun is an intriguing art installation by Bleu Oleander that is currently open at Ribong Gallery Artspace 3583, curated by San (Santoshima). It is an installation that that offers multiple aspects of metaphor and narrative.
In THE WAY OF THE SUN, I explore themes of temple building, pilgrimage, worship, reflection and transcendence. Over the long human history, there are examples of humans worshipping the Sun and elements of nature, and building temples to access the divine.
– Bleu Oleander, on The Way of the Sun
Ribong Gallery Artspace 3583: The Way of the Sun
From the arrival point, a large enclosed area intentionally suggestive of darkness, visitors are encouraged to read a poem celebrating the work of the temple builders, before following an arrow pointing to where a tower of light rises into the void, a ramp within it offering the way up. This in turn leads the way to a golden platform on which sits a high temple attempting to reach clouds that seem to form mystical patterns whilst turned to a burnished yellow by the Sun above them.
The metaphors within in this are clear – the passage from the landing point to the golden platform representing pilgrimage; the move from darkness to light representing the desire to achieve spirituality / enlightenment, the climb through the tower representing both the raising of temples and our need to ascend / transcend after or during life, all of which is further underlined by the presence of the figures within the installation, who stand as if lost within the lower level, but have arms raised in exultation within the temple.
Ribong Gallery Artspace 3583: The Way of the Sun
Also to be found within this is the personal desire to achieve enlightening, to improve ourselves – not materially or religiously, but mentally and personally; the transfiguration through self-reflection and mental training through the likes of meditation within the “temples of the mind”.
Similarly, the temple stands as both a literal place of worship and as a symbol of the deep furrow temples, religion and ritual have played throughout human history. Even the Sun plays a dual role: the subject of so much of humankind’s worship and that actual essential giver of life to Earth, and the light that so often represent the achieving of self-awareness and personal transcendence.
Ribong Gallery Artspace 3583: The Way of the Sun
Drawing on ancient cultures from around the world, notably Mesopotamian, Egyptian, and mesoamerican – The Way of the Sun also has a modern twist within it that again links the cultural aspects of spirituality with the personal. A small teleport panel, when found, will carry the individual visitor down to a floatation tank and the opportunity of mediation and reflection.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 