Nederlanse Bergee, April 2023 – click any image for full size
Held by Aloriana Shadowstar (Aloriana77) and designed Marie Nova, Nederlanse Bergee is a Homestead region currently open to the public and offering, in the words of the About Land description:
A beautiful island, ideal to get away from everything. A place to explore, to discover, to enjoy, to relax.
The region sits as three islands – two relatively large, and the third much smaller. Of the two larger islands, one forms a ribbon running from the south-west corner of the region and around to the north, separated from the second by a narrow channel which broadens into a bay as it and the ribbon island run north and then east. The third, small, island sits to the north-east.
Nederlanse Bergee, April 2023
The ribbon island is home to the region’s landing point. Ruggedly wild, the island offers a mix of temperate and tropical trees, little beaches, and cosy retreats. The latter range from a beachfront coffee house, passing by way of a little retreat and a small café to a parade of coastal shops tucked behind the island’s high northern peaks.
Somewhat incongruously, this island includes a small tram station. Quite where the trams used to run to / from is unclear; however, none seem to have been running for a good while, and the one that is present at the station has long since been converted into a little diner.
Nederlanse Bergee, April 2023
The channel between the two main islands is spanned at a single point by a wood and rope bridge, well towards its southern end. Footpaths on the far side of the bridge in turn lead to a gazebo sitting on a small promontory in the south-east corner of the region or to a second little parade of shops which have, perhaps, more of a European lean to them compared to those in the north, which have a holiday island feel to them.
Dominated by a large flat-topped hill, this second island is also home to numerous places where visitors might spend time. These range from an outdoor gathering place that looks like it might be the home of the poetry reading events periodically held in the region (at the time of writing, the next is scheduled for April 28th), through to a coastal holiday home, the aforementioned gazebo and, within the northern bay, a little wharf against which a little boat with Bimini raised sits.
Nederlanse Bergee, April 2023
The smallest of the island might be tucked in close to the ribbon island, but, save for flying, appears to be the hardest to reach; none of the boats scattered around the region appear to be available for use by visitors, and the channels separating the little island from the others are deep. However, it offers a quite retreat in and of itself, with a summer house, wild flowers and a hammock under the shade of trees.
When seen under its default environment settings, Nederlanse Bergee has some of a painting’s look and feel about it; something that increases the Dutch tone evoked by the region’s name. However, the setting also lends itself to a wide range of EEP setting for those who are so inclined to experiment; for once, I stayed with the local EEP for the photos here.
Nederlanse Bergee, April 2023
Restful, a touch romantic and very photogenic, Nederlanse Bergee makes for a gentle, easy-going visit. My thanks to Shawn Shakespeare for the pointer!
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, April 18th Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the entire meeting is embedded at the end of the article for those wishing to review the meeting in full – my thanks to Pantera for recording it.
Server Deployments
On Tuesday, April 18th, the SLS Main channel servers were updated with simulator release 579248, previously deployed to the RC channels. This means the doubling of linkset data memory (to 128KB) and the three LSL functions for strided list management – llList2ListSlice(), llSortListStrided(), and llListFindListStrided() – are now grid-wide.
On Wednesday, April 19th, simhosts on the RC channels will be restarted, but there will not be any new deployments to them.
Upcoming Simulator Releases
It is still hoped to get the server-side support for PBR materials to at least one RC channel – Preflight, with the potential it might also go to Snack as well – but there was no ETA on this at the time of the meeting. Currently, it remains with LL’s QA team.
Viewer Updates
No official viewer updates at the start of the week, leaving the pipelines as:
Release viewer: Maintenance R viewer, version 6.6.10.579060, dated March 28, promoted March 30th.
Maintenance T RC viewer, version 6.6.11.579154, April 6th.
Performance Floater / Auto FPS RC viewer updated to version 6.6.11.579238, April 4th.
Maintenance S RC viewer, version 6.6.11.579153, March 31st.
Project viewers:
PBR Materials project viewer, version 7.0.0.579401, April 10 – This viewer will only function on the following Aditi (beta grid) regions: Materials1; Materials Adult and Rumpus Room 1 through 4.
Puppetry project viewer, version 6.6.8.576972, December 8, 2022.
In Brief
llGetAgentInfo received a new flag – AGENT_AUTOMATED – in week #15, however, the simulator side has et to be released; it is currently in a maintenance simulator support which may go to QA for testing in week #17.
This raised concerns of whether or not llGetAgentInfo was the right place for this flag, and whether it could result in the dataserver being spammed with requests from people wanting to know if visitors to their land were avatars or scripted agents. However, as Rider Linden pointed out, the simulator already has information on scripted agent, so there is no requirement for the simulator to query the dataserver.
See the video for the broader discussion on when the flag for a scripted agent is propagated across the grid.
There was a general discussion on possible LSL enhancements. This included:
Possible improvements to notecard handling by LSL (e.g. searching notecards – e.g. BUG-4906 -, faster notecard reading, a safe means of sending back the contents of a notecard so a script doesn’t need to build a web page on the fly / read the entire contents of the notecard into memory).
HTTP response expansion.
Objects rezzing objects: it has been noted that if an object is set to rez other objects (e.g. say a “crate dispenser” which might be used as a visual enhancement to Get The Freight Out to simulate cargo loading), the rezzing tends to work perfectly when the rezzing object’s owner is present, but can experience issues when the owner is not present.
This tends to occur if rezzing within the land is restricted to Group membership, and object owner did not correctly set their active group prior to placing out the rezzing object.
As the owner’s group is checked when present, this allows the rezzer to work correctly, hence why the problem only surfaces when they are absent.
For all other discussions, please refer to the view below.
† The header images included in these summaries are not intended to represent anything discussed at the meetings; they are simply here to avoid a repeated image of a rooftop of people every week. They are taken from my list of region visits, with a link to the post for those interested.
Currently open at Galerie Principale within the United Arts of Second Life hub, is an exhibition of pieces by Melusina Parkin, showcasing her minimalist approach to telling stories through her photography.
A Minimal Gaze is not a retrospective in the strictest sense of the word, but it does contain some images that admirers of Melu’s work may well recognise. What it does present is a rich cross-section of Melu’s style, something which might be called “moments in solitude”, whereby she focus on aspects of scene within Second Life and presents a image with a single cynosure, drawing our attention to that focus alone.
UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze
Thus, the focal point stands in solitude in terms of their in-world surroundings, the framing of the image, and its ability to hold our attention. However, at the same time, a much broader narrative canvas is presented by the background and what lies just outside the frame of the picture; things not seen, but which nevertheless whisper to our imaginations. This gives Melu’s work a sense of unique individuality: the familiar seen without broader context other than what is suggested by the mind’s eye.
It’s an approach that Melu has used throughout the majority of her more than 10 years of Second Life photography, and which I’ve never ceased to appreciate, both for the above expressiveness and for the way it causes us to look at Second Life itself in a new way, bringing this digital world to life in a most unique and singular manner, unmatched by more “traditional” forms of photography (very much including my own) which provide broader, more contextualised views of the places visited and recorded within them.
UASL – Melusina Parkin: A Minimal Gaze
In the notes she provides for the exhibition, Melu notes that she is currently experimenting (like so many) with AI-generated images – but that also, she is not deserting this approach to her photography. It’s an assurance I appreciate, as a Second Life without her unique insight to its many faces and places would, frankly, be a diminished world.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, April 16th, 2023
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: Maintenance R viewer, version 6.6.10.579060, dated March 28, promoted March 30th – NO CHANGE.
glTF / PBR Materials project viewer, version 7.0.0.579401, April 10 – This viewer will only function on the following Aditi (beta grid) regions: Materials1; Materials Adult and Rumpus Room 1 through 4.
An artist’s impression of the European Space Agency’s JUpiter ICy moon Explorer (JUICE). Credit: ESA
What is widely regarded as one of the most important space missions yet undertaken has been successfully launched to much acclaim and excitement.
No, I’m not talking about the SpaceX Starship / Super Heavy orbital test flight – of which more anon – but that of the European Space Agency’s JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) spacecraft, a 1.6 billion Euro (US $1.7 billion) mission designed to gain a more thorough understanding of Jupiter’s three major icy moons – Europa, Ganymede and Callisto.
JUICE started life in 2008 as part of a joint NASA/ESA mission which had the rather clunky name of Europa Jupiter System Mission – Laplace (EJSM-Laplace), a US $4.7 billion mission to study Jupiter’s moons with a focus on Europa, Ganymede and on Jupiter’s magnetosphere. The mission would have comprised at least two independent elements, NASA’s Jupiter Europa Orbiter (JEO) and ESA’s Jupiter Ganymede Orbiter (JGO), with the potential for involvement on the part of Japan and Russia.
By 2011, it was clear to ESA that NASA would not have the budget to fulfil its part of the mission by the 2020s, and the JGO element morphed into JUICE, which was selected for the agency’s first L-class mission in May 2012, with ESA being proven correct in regards to NASA’s involvement in EJSM-Laplace in 2015, when the US agency reformulated its plans into the Europa Clipper mission.
JUICE was launched on 14 April 2023 at 12:14:36 UTC on the penultimate flight of an Ariane 5. The launch has been delays by 24 hours due to weather concerns, but on the 14th, the launch vehicle lifted-off smoothly, the satellite successfully separating from the rocket’s upper stage some 26 minutes after launch prior to commencing an internal systems check, after which it was due to ‘phone home and say, “Hi there!”
This call came a little later than the mission plan had estimated at some 40 minutes after launch, but still within the overall expected time frame. Following confirmation from ground control, the 6-tonne space vehicle deployed its 27-metre spans of solar arrays, completing the task a little ahead of schedule, reporting the arrays to be fully deployed and active.
The deployment marks the start of a complex 8-year coast to Jupiter which includes four gravity-assists from the inner planets to both boost the spacecraft’s velocity and to help swing it onto the required trajectory required for a successful Jupiter rendezvous (and a possible fly-by of the asteroid 223 Rosa in October 2029). These flybys will comprise:
August 2024 – a return to Earth, using both the Moon and Earth to accelerate and adjust course. This will be the most accurate gravity assist manoeuvre ever carried out by an interplanetary vehicle.
August 2025 – a flyby of Venus whilst travelling around the Sun, again accelerating the spacecraft whilst angling it onto a trajectory that will see it swing by Earth
September 2026 a second flyby of Earth (confusingly called “Earth flyby I”, which will throw it out into the solar system almost as far as Mars before it swings back around the Sun.
January 2029 – a third flyby of Earth (“Earth flyby II”) which will slingshot JUICE on a two year journey to Jupiter, with the possible asteroid flyby along the way.
An animation of the Earth / Venus flybys JUICE will perform, and its flight to Jupiter. Credit: Phoenix7777
On arrival in the Jovian system, in July 2031, JUICE will first perform a flyby of Ganymede in preparation for Jupiter orbital insertion about 7.5 hours later. This will place the vehicle in an elongated orbit around the planet, allowing it to perform some 35 flybys of the target Moons. The orbit around the planet will gradually becoming more circular over time, and will have an inclination that will allow JUICE to also study Jupiter’s Polar Regions and its magnetosphere.
The flybys will allow JUICE to observe its targets over a 3.5 year span of time, with a major focus on Europa. However, in December 2034, the focus of the mission will shift as JUICE enters an extended, 5,000 km elliptical orbit around Ganymede. This will be rapidly circularised to 500 km in 2035, allowing the vehicle to carry out an in-depth study of Ganymede’s composition and magnetosphere.
It is anticipated that the vehicle’s fuel reserves will be depleted to a point where accurate guidance and manoeuvring cannot be maintained by the end of 2035, and the last remaining reserves will be used to impact the craft on Ganymede at the end of that year or possibly very early in 2036.
The Ariane 5 rocket carrying JUICE lifts-off from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, April 14th, 2023. Credit: JODY AMIET/AFP
The primary aim of the mission is to more fully characterise the overall surface and (particularly) sub-surface conditions on (notably) Europa and Ganymede, and also on Callisto. As regulars to this column (and to space exploration in general) will know, Europa is believed to have a surface crust of ice covering what could well be a deep liquid water ocean, heated and kept in a liquid (or near-liquid) state by the moon being constantly “flexed” by the gravitational influences of the other Galilean moons as they orbit Jupiter, and Jupiter itself.
With this in mind, JUICE will specifically study Europa to understand the formation of surface features and the composition of the non-water-ice material. In particular, it will attempt to gather information on any chemistry essential to life which may be present on Europa’s surface, including organic molecules, and it will carry out the first sub-surface soundings of the moon in order to try to determine the thickness of the icy crust over the most recently active regions of the moon, and attempt to gain a clearer understanding of what lay beneath it – such as liquid water or icy slush.
While further away from Jupiter and with a more one-side “pull” being exerted on them, it is believed that both Ganymede and Callisto might also have oceans of liquid water (or perhaps icy slush) under their surfaces, so the main science objects for these moons – with the particular emphasis on Ganymede comprise:
Characterisation of the ocean layers and detection of putative subsurface water reservoirs.
Topographical, geological and compositional mapping of the surface.
Study of the physical properties of the icy crusts.
Characterisation of the internal mass distribution, dynamics and evolution of the interiors.
Investigation of Ganymede’s tenuous atmosphere.
Study of Ganymede’s intrinsic magnetic field and its interactions with the Jovian magnetosphere.
In all, the information gathered on the three moons should help scientists better assess their potential as havens of basic life within any warm oceans which may exist within them.
I think this is something that Europe can be extremely proud of. This is a mission that is answering questions of science that are burning to all of us.
– Josef Aschbacher, ESA Director General
The launch was the sixth Ariane 5 flight to carry an ESA mission, a total that includes the December 2021 launch of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope that features significant ESA contributions. It was the 116th Ariane 5 launch overall, dating back to 1996. However, it was also the last flagship mission launch for the ESA workhorse; after an upcoming launch of two communications satellites, for the French and German governments respectively, Ariane 5 will make way for its Ariane 6 successor, with the first launch of the new rocket – which has had a troubled development cycle – is due towards the end of 2023 or early 2024.
Sunnmøre, April 2023 – click any image for full size
Situated as the southernmost municipality of the county of Møre og Romsdal in north-west Norway, Sunnmøre (or South-Møre, if you prefer) – as with the county as a whole – is regarded as a region of outstanding natural beauty, its rugged and varied landscape being home to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Geiranger Fjord.
While one of three districts within Møre og Romsdal, Sunnmøre accounts for over 50% of the county’s population – although this doesn’t mean it is exactly going to feel crowded; the total population for Møre is under 200,000, with the majority living within coastal towns like Ålesund (popn approx 53,000). This means that much of the county – and a lot of Sunnmøre is open countryside – is a place where people are free to enjoy friluftsliv.
Sunnmøre, April 2023
Pronounced (I’ve ben informed) free-loofts-liv, the terms translates as “open-air living”. Originally popularised by the Norwegian playwright and poet, Henrik Ibsen during the mid-1800s, friluftsliv was initially used to describe the value of spending time in remote locations for spiritual and physical wellbeing.
Today, the phrase is used more broadly by Scandinavians as a whole to cover just about everything from runs in the forest or riding a bicycle through the countryside, to joining friends at a lakeside sauna (often followed by a chilly dip in the water), to simply relaxing in a mountain hut or participating in a little glamping, through to more vigorous activities such as rock-climbing or cross-country skiing when the snow permits, and so on. It also still encompasses the ideas of wellbeing and health, and is closely linked to allmansrätten, the right to roam.
Sunnmøre, April 2023
Within Second Life, Emm Vintner (Emm Evergarden), of The Nature Collective fame, has brought a touch of Norwegian friluftsliv and a stylised touch of Sunnmøre to life with a Homestead Region design called – quite appropriately – Sunnmøre, which thanks to a pointer from Shawn Shakespeare, I recently enjoyed visiting.
Sitting as a clutch of islands protected within the mouth of a fjord opening out into the sea, Sunnmøre offers a setting rich in activities one might reasonably expect to enjoy whilst participating in a spot of friluftsliv. There are tracks and trails to walk / ride along (horses can be rezzed from the one hitched near the landing point ferry), kayaks are available for paddling through the channels and around the waters surrounding the islands, together with motorboats and inflatables – all of which ensure dry feet when trying to reach the smaller islands! For the more energetic / daring zip-line rides might be had from the top of the main island’s peak.
Sunnmøre, April 2023
For those seeking something more restful, opportunities are available for a little fishing, taking to the air in hot air balloons, or simply sitting and watching the world go by. And, of course, there are plenty of opportunities for photography, with lots of local wildlife to be found – and some rather acrobatic sheep! Signage at the landing point offers some instant directions to points of interest, and the ferry-as-a-landing-point gives a nice feel for having literally just arrived from somewhere on the mainland when visitors teleport in.
Environmental consciousness is very apparent within the island – hardly surprising, as Scandinavia tends to lead with way when it comes to the likes of wind and solar power and thing like ground- and air-source heat pump systems for heating. A trio of wind turbines look like they provide power to the islands – and probably the local lighthouse, whilst the research centre located on the largest island utilises solar power. Of course, this being a design by Emm, bees are also in evidence, although the chance of some fresh honey has drawn an inquisitive bear cub to them!
Sunnmøre, April 2023
If you want to extend their Nordic experience after exploring Sunnmøre can avail themselves of the signboard advertising Moon Lair Taste of Norway, located as it is alongside the Sunnmøre Tourist Centre. Doing so while spirit you away to Moon Lair – but I’ll leave that to a future visit and possible blog post!
As always with Emm’s work, Sunnmøre is well presented, and makes for an engaging and photogenic visit.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 