Author: Inara Pey

Eclectic virtual world blogger with a focus on Second Life, VR, virtual environments and technology.

SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product and Engineering – summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations: (l to right): Brett Linden, Kali Linden and Grumpity Linden
On Tuesday, June 24th, 2025, Linden Lab held the second of the SL22B Meet the Lindens events, featuring personnel from the  Product Operations teams. The session was pre-recorded, but included a text-based Q&A session afterwards. The session featured:

  • Grumpity Linden – Senior VP of Product & Engineering.
  • Kali Linden – Director of Engineering, Web & Platform Kali Linden.
 Table of Contents

This is a summary of the majority of topics discussed at the session, and the official video of the session is embedded at the end of this article.

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so. Note this is not intended to be a full transcript, but rather covers those items discussed which are liable to be of the most interest.

A Little Background

[Video: 0:53-6:33]

Grumpity Linden

Grumpity Linden: joined SL as a contractor with The Product Engine and helping with the development of (the then) Viewer 2.0 in 2009, and formally joined LL in 2014. As the Senior VP of Product and Engineering she is responsible for coordinating both teams and overseeing their various projects, often in a hands-on capacity (as with SL Mobile).

Personal highlight for the last 12 months at the Lab: working more closely with the creator community and going to the 2025 Game Developers Conference (GDC).

Kali Linden

Kali Linden: has been with Linden Lab for ten years, working on Second Life directly for the last five. She heads-up the teams responsible for the Lab’s web properties, the account management and log-in services, etc. Her current focus is on improving LL’s technology stack, improving the user experience and supporting the overall SL infrastructure.

Her teams directly oversee: the SL Marketplace; Web Search; the Linden Homes web portal; the Destination Guide pages; region purchasing pages; transactional security and accuracy; liaising with AWS for maintenance and cost efficiency; support tooling, asset delivery and storage – managing the databases handling all the inventory of all of SL user’s.

Personal highlight for the last 12 months at the Lab: Agrees with Grumpity on the GDC, and finds the energy and enthusiasm for the platform shown by users to be “really infectious”.

Working Together

  • While Grumpity and Kali have different core focuses, they work together on matters of account security.
  • Working on developing the Premium Plus and Plus subscriptions and working to try to make all subscription tiers a value proposition for users.
  • They noted that not all the work that is carried out is necessarily user-visible (e.g. implementing new back-end tools in support of services, etc.), but often forms the backbone of keeping Second Life operations going.

Web and Tools

[Video 6:55-11:41]

Marketplace

[Video: 6:55 -9:29]

  • Mobile support:
    • Work is going into making the Marketplace more mobile-friendly and to display well on different screen sizes and from within the in-viewer browser without blotting out the entire scene view.
    • The hope is to have a fluid experience so, for example, a user can see an item on an external website (Primfeed was the example used) can tap on the Marketplace link and view the item on the Marketplace with ease for any device and, if they want to, purchase it.
  • CasperVend:
    • LL still plan to integrate CasperVend into the Marketplace.
    • Kali’s goal is to have the integration such that merchants can manage their CasperVend inventory and their Marketplace presence from the same place.
    • Would like to incorporate CasperVend capabilities such as coupon sales and gift cards into the Marketplace as well, and expand on them.
    • Further plans include making it easier for merchants to manage their Marketplace presence – easier inventory management, simpler listing import, and better reporting data.
    • Continuing to improve MP Search in response to feedback from shoppers and merchants.

Web Capabilities

[Video: 9:31-11:41]

  • Kali views the web as an extension to users’ in-world experience, and as such is constantly thinking about:
    • An ability to view and possibly manage inventory from the web.
    • A calendar system for events which also works in-world, and which can include maturity filters.
    • Options for managing Groups and Friends from the web.
  • Would like to see the web become a means for people to more easily be able to manage their Second Life without necessarily being logged-in to the desktop viewer.
  • Is aware of request for people being able to gift subscriptions to friends; for tools for creators and venue owners to promote their spaces; proving shareable Marketplace gift cards – all of these might be seen as making Second Life a more connected environment in which it is easier to share with people you care about.

Second Life Mobile

[Video: 11:45-17:51]

  • Avatars and Performance:
    • At the start of the project, there would doubts about being able to get avatars rendering correctly on mobile devices – and it has proven to be hard.
    • However, the team has made great strides in this area [Please refer to my April and June and / or watch the video below].
    • Currently, work is focused on further performance improvements to further benefit avatar rendering and the app.

  • Currently have a platform that allows existing users to do a lot of the things they can do on the desktop, stay in touch with friends / customers, etc.
  • At the same time, what is available at present is not really enough for those new to SL to come in to it through the Mobile app and really get what Second Life is about.
  • Work is therefore about meeting both sides of the coin: making Mobile a meaningful and useful companion for those already engaged in SL, and on making it a meaningful route for on-boarding those new to Second Life and giving them a clearer understanding of the broader “SL universe”.
  • What the Mobile team is not doing is to try to force all of the desktop experience into the app – the aim is to translate what Second Life is into a more compact experience that meets the needs of new and experienced users.
  • On the short-to-medium term roadmap are plans to work with the server team to provide this like:
    • Persistent chat between Mobile and desktop, without loss of chat history when moving between one and the other
    • The ability to use Mobile whilst logged-in to the desktop, so allowing people to leave their desktop (e.g. to get a drink or something) and still continue to chat, see group notifications, etc.
  • Direction for development is often the result of taking feedback from users. Such feedback is gathered via the Feedback Portal, including the Mobile Alpha Features section, through the monthly Mobile User Group meetings [Note: summaries of Mobile User Group meetings can be found here].
  • Feedback can also be gathered by a physical presence at new user starting locations.
  • Data has shown a lot of Mobile users are in fact new to SL, heightening the desire to make it a great experience for them.

Server and Viewer

[Video: 17:52-20:29]

  • The last 6+ months has seen a concerted effort to improve the performance of the viewer.
    • This work has seen a number of performance gains, although it is in part to compensate in a loss of performance seen in late 2024.
    • These performance improvements have been made across different platforms and for different chipset.
  • Work is continuing on performance, looking at crash rates, FPS, as well as having a focus on quality of life improvements in the hope of making the viewer more a tool to allow people to “get to” their second life, rather than being a product in and of itself.
  • ;The viewer team has also been working closely with Firestorm to help them get their most recently release out the door, which contains all of the features and improvements LL have released over the last 6+ months, as well as including WebRTC (new Voice service) support.

glTF Importer

[Video: 20:30-21:38]

  • The aim with the glTF importer is to make things like importing meshes and materials as simple and straightforward as possible.
  • The initial alpha release of a viewer with the importer can be found on the Alternate Viewers page.
  • Mesh content creators and encouraged to try it out and offer feedback and to attend the Content Creation User Group to discuss the importer.
  • [Note: summaries of Content Creation User group meetings can be found here]. The more feedback given, the 9potentially) faster the importer can be stabilised and make its way through to a release viewer.

WebRTC

[Video: 21:41-24:33]

  • WebRTC (Real Time Communications) is the new Voice protocol for Second Life, replacing Vivox and the need for a Voice API plug-in in the viewer.
  • The WebRTC had been stalled as a result of the focus on performance coupled with a large (but now in substantial decline) number of users using a pre-PBR version of Firestorm (and thus without the necessary WebRTC support).
  • The current target is to have the entire grid running WebRTC by the end of summer 2025.
  • WebRTC voice quality should be superior to Vivox.
  • WebRTC also offers “practically endless” possibilities for feature development.
  • One of the first features to be included with WebRTC is that of moderation tools: these will allow land owners to set the rules for using Voice on their land and carry out Voice moderation – when people opt to be stupid in Voice.
  • Other options being considered for use with WebRTC included AI tools to allow things like instant translation, voice-to-text, text-to-voice, all aimed at expanding accessibility.

New Subscription Level

[Video: 25:06-26:47]

  • Pending a formal announcement, LL are thinking about how to make Premium Plus benefits accessible to a broader swath of users.
  • This includes the idea of offering a version of Premium Plus for creators [only?] without the weekly stipend payout, which would reduce the overall cost of having a Premium Plus account, whilst retaining all the other benefits.
  • This subscription might also be payable in Linden Dollars, although this may not be an option when it is initially launched.
  • Details will be made available on this once things are finalised / ready to be announced.

 

2025 week #26: SL SUG meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey
Pususaari, April 2025 – blog post

The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, June 24th, 2025 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript. The notes were taken from my chat log of the meeting. No video this week.

Meeting Overview

  • The Simulator User Group (also referred to by its older name of Server User Group) exists to provide an opportunity for discussion about simulator technology, bugs, and feature ideas.
  • These meetings are conducted (as a rule):
  • Meetings are open to anyone with a concern / interest in the above topics, and form one of a series of regular / semi-regular User Group meetings conducted by Linden Lab.
  • Dates and times of all current meetings can be found on the Second Life Public Calendar, and descriptions of meetings are defined on the SL wiki.

Simulator Deployments

  • There are no planned deployments to any channels this week, only restarts (RC channels subject to confirmation at the time of the meeting).
  • The back-end work which had stalled simulator updates over the last few weeks is now coming to an end.

SL Viewer Updates

In Brief

  • The subject of holding the meeting every other week was raised again, somewhat supported by those who have only been attending since the simulator release cycle had been put on hold. The majority still favoured a weekly meeting, with the chair possibly rotated between those Lindens who regularly attend.
  • Leviathan Linden:
    • His work to try to fix the “sometimes not all content shows up at login” problem is awaiting review. If it passes, it could be in the next simulator update (Fig Newton / Fig Pudding – whichever name is now en vogue).
    • Has an idea as to what might be causing missing content on sim crossing and inter-sim TPs, but needs time to dig into it and try to come up with a solution.
    • Also hopes to finish working on a slight speed-up of the code that generates full object updates so that SLua scripts don’t seem slow when processing such updates.
    • Further noted that reports that the new version of Firestorm causing the server to suffer low FPS (45 → 35) for 1 – 4 seconds, every 60 or 90 seconds when driving a vehicle might also be related to object update issues, although he has yet to carry out a detailed investigation to determine a) if it is real; b) what might be causing it.
  • Monty Linden:
    • Has been tracking down the cause of the issue of corrupted Linden grass on and simulator restart (see this report as a reference).
    • Is doing some maintenance work on the Key Value Pair (KVP) store (associated with Second Life Experiences), but noted there are currently no plans for more in-depth work on the KVP store at present, although some plans are being considered.
    • Responding to
    • Allow llHTTPRequest to request application/x-ndjson, noted it would have to be reviewed and that LL’s  http library insists on interpreting response bodies even though it shouldn’t (e.g. can’t do ‘Range’ if a fragment of json or other structured language is to be returned).
  • A request was made for a native HTTP library for SLua, with Leviathan Linden noted there would probably be no special path for SLua http; rather, the plan is for any custom script callback operations to be uniform across the various script engines.
  • A further discussion on issues of people being being able to select non-owned vehicles / having a scripted ability to report when someone else touches a person’s vehicle / attempt to interfere with vehicles.
  • A further discussion on SLua capabilities, with a comment from Leviathan Linden that Rider Linden (on vacation) and Harold Linden (not available for the meeting) would likely be better placed to answer in detail.

† 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.

SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations – summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
SL22B Meet the Lindens: Product Operations: (l to right): Squeaky Mole, Missy Mole, Patch Linden, Keira Linden and Izzy Linden
On Monday, June 23rd, 2025, Linden Lab held the first of the SL22B Meet the Lindens events, featuring personnel from the  Product Operations teams. The session was a live event  and featured:

  • Patch Linden – Senior VP of Product Operations, Customer Support & Trust & Safety.
  • Keira Linden – Manager, Customer Success & Trust & Safety.
  • Izzy Linden – Creative Producer.
  • Missy Linden – Linden Department of Public Works.

This is a summary of the majority of topics discussed at the session, and the official video of the session is embedded at the end of this article.

 Table of Contents

For ease of reference, timestamps are provided to the relative points within the video where specific topics are discussed, allowing readers who prefer to listen to the comments directly to be able to do so. Note this is not intended to be a full transcript, but rather covers those items discussed which are liable to be of the most interest.

Linden Homes

Plans

[Video: 4:21-7:19 and as noted below]

  • LL recently released the Premium Aspen Ridge Homes and new styles for the Premium Log Homes.
  • As well as updating theme with new styles, the work also involves updating the back-end technology and improving the overall look of the Linden Homes.
  • The size of Bellisseria makes updating all Linden homes to things like PBR “a challenge”, but will be “chipped away at” as things progress. Updates will continue through the year.
    • [Video 16:19-17:52] Updates will be made on an ongoing basis, notably with PBR improvements, but it might not be possible to implement the seasonally changing landscaping across all of the Linden Home regions.
    • [Video 1:14:15-1:14:30] There have been requests from content creators to be able to hook-into the Linden Homes season changing capability, and this is being worked on.
  • By the end of 2025 the Linden Homes offerings should be: 10 Premium themes (with Trailers also supporting Plus); 5 Premium Plus themes and 1 theme of mixed Premium / Premium Plus.
    • This last mixed theme is scheduled for later in the year and will include “some exciting features”.
  • [Video: 1:16:57-1:19:39] Why does the Lab move on to a new theme of home before an existing theme is “finished”.
    • No theme is every really considered “complete”; while there is an initial map, the Lab is more driven by a mix of demand and diversity.
    • Demand: rather than deploy a “complete” build involving (say) 50 regions, only a handful might be initially released, and those then added to over time based on the popularity of the theme.
    • Diversity: additional themes are released whilst others are still available / not fully occupied to give users an broader choice of themes / styles.

Next Theme – Ridgewood Enclave

[Video: 5:37-6:40]

  • The next theme will be Premium Plus Homes and is “right around the corner” and will be offered under the name Ridgewood Enclave.
  • It will “be separate and kind-of its own thing” and be LL’s first foray into offering allowing commercial activities (which has long been requested).
  • Those obtaining a parcel within Ridgewood Enclave will have the option of devoting their parcel to a home, or splitting it between home and commercial.
  • The roll-out will likely be the homes first, followed by the ability to split parcels between home and commercial.

“Game of Homes”

[Video: 21:03-27:52]

  • Will the selection process for Linden Homes within a theme be improved to that the system does not re-select a parcel a user has already rejected in their current batch of searches (limited to 5 per 24 hours)?
    • Not really. The system is a) old; b) as random as it can possibly be.
    • However, it is recognised it will keep serving up specific parcels, even if far more are available, and may only move on when the parcels it keeps offering are all taken.
    • If a user finds they are constantly being re-offered the same parcel within one of their 5-picks periods, they can contact support, who can reset the user’s number of picks once for any given 24-hour selection period.
  • Premium Plus users have the ability to place a ticket with support to obtain an available Linden home parcel they would particularly like to claim (outside of the initial 24-hour after the release of a new theme).

Land

[Video: 7:43-14:30]

Discounted Homesteads for Premium Plus

  • There are no plans to offer discounted Homestead regions to Premium Plus account holders.
  • As a reminder, it is possible for Premium Plus users who also hold a region (or regions) to pay their tier to LL in Linden Dollars.

Land Capacity

  • The Lab is constantly experimenting with Land Capacity, and has tested Full regions with 40K-80K Land Capacity.
  • However, increases have to be considered alongside a host of other issues (load balancing across instances, impact of simulator performance, etc.).
  • As technology does improve, there may be opportunities in the future to increase Land Capacity as the Lab gains confidence in doing to.
    • IF this does come to pass, it will be announced through the usual channels.

Region Management and Region Server Options

[Video: 12:07-16:19]

  • Are there plans to offer region holders more autonomy over managing their regions?
    • LL has already added the option to restart regions to the holder’s secondlife.com dashboard.
    • Allowing regions holders to take other actions – renaming a region was given as an example – is under consideration, but no time frame as to when such options might be delivered.
  • Are more server options going to be made available for hosting regions?
    • LL already off a bonus Land Capacity option for Full regions and offer both the Event and Elite Event region products, all of which are also available as upgrades.
    • All three cost extra in tier, the Event and Elite Event regions are underpinned by more performant AWS hardware, allowing them to support more agents (avatars) per region, etc.

Themed Mainland Areas

[Video: 17:56-20:48]

  • Mainland has always had a “free to build” outlook, without the imposition of zones, covenants, etc., by Linden Lab.
  • A frequent request to the Lab is to offer such zoning / covenants within Mainland to allow people to build themed communities there.
  • This idea is seen as potentially having merit and benefits, and is something the Lab has considered, and tends to revisit as an idea. However, it does have complexities:
    • Should it be a full covenanted Mainland area (like Bellisseria, but without the Linden Homes)? Is it something on a smaller scale? Is it something primarily aimed at stopping specific activities – e.g. preventing ban lines?
    • How would the model work / impact private estate regions offering their own models and covenants, etc.
  • As such, the idea is not rejected, but it is not on the current roadmap, and if it to reach the point of being actively considered, then it would be a topic to bring back to the community for a more focused discussion and to gain feedback.

Support and Customer Success

Governance and Abuse Reports

[Video: 28:54-32:08]

  • Adult-rated content an images can be seen within moderate rated Mainland regions, often simply by using the road system. What is being done to remediate this?
    • It is acknowledged that this does happen, but given the size of Mainland, LL often rely on users reporting instances where it can be found / seen via the Abuse Report mechanism.
    • The above also applies to avatars behaving in appropriately as well.
  • The name of the avatar account filing any Abuse Report is never revealed to the subject of any subsequent investigation.

Support Ticket Responses / Support Availability

[Video 33:49-38:50]

  • There has been a delay in responding to support tickets. This has in part been due to a reorganisation of the support teams at the end of 2024, which resulted in a backlog of tickets.
    • The estimate was that in January, the backlog stood at 7,000-7,500 tickets, and this has since been halved, with the remaining number being rapidly reduced.
    • Older tickets in the backlog are being addressed in order to clear them as quickly as possible.
  • This, and the nature of more recent ticket that have been coming into the system, has meant that certain cases have taken much, much longer to resolve.
  • LL have been recruiting-in new support personnel, and has almost completed this, to make the customer Success and Trust and Safety teams larger than they were previously, by around 10 people.
  • Currently, most areas of support – tickets, live chat, phone – are back to within their 72-hour SLA requirements.
  • To further help with support matters, weekend support is being re-introduced as from Saturday, June 28th, 2025 (phone and live chat).
  • [Video: 1:21:51-1:23:25] Could live chat support be extended into the evening (SLT)?
    • There are currently no plans to change support hours.
    • However, as more of the new staff come on-stream, it is possible that times can be reviewed and adjusted to better meet the needs of users.

Support and Thunes (Tilia)

[Video: 39:17-42:38]

  • With the sale of Tilia to Thunes now complete (see: LL completes Tilia sale to Thunes: What you need to know) work is underway to streamline handling of support issues over things like cashing-out from SL between the two companies.
  • Those experiencing delays or issues should always submit a support ticket to Linden Lab first, to see if the issue can be addressed directly, and to allow LL to deal directly with Thunes.
  • Going directly to Thunes first can lead to greater confusion and delays.

Account Holds/ Banning Copybotters

[Video: 43:18-44:42]

  • Should someone who has had their account placed on hold receive notification that this is the case?
    • When an account is placed on hold, an e-mail is sent to the address specified in the account. This should include the hold notification and the reason for it, and a timeline as to when to expect access to be re-enabled (if available).
    • These notifications can end-up being steered towards spam or junk or promotions-type folders, so be sure to check these in case filtering has misdirected the e-mail.
    • Those who are sure they have not received any such notification, but have found their account on hold should contact Support.
  • [Video: 44:49-47:54] Can more permanent action be taken against copybotters – e.g. IP bans?
    • Instances of copying content should be reported by the creator of the original content, who can supply LL with all the relevant data (e.g. item location, UUID, etc.), and information on the original.
    • To assist in the process, and if required, LL might additionally request the creator to file a DMCA Notice, if they have not already done so.
    • In terms of preventing repeat offenders returning, LL is always evaluating how to better prevent this / slow repeat offenders from being able to quickly re-access SL.
      • This work also involves evaluating various tools that might assist with investigations into these types of issues.

Account Security

[Video: 49:55-52:50]

  • Malicious messaging, scam links, phishing e-mails are very much an issue.
  • This has been the subject of recent official blogs posts, and posts from bloggers like myself (see: Linden Lab: keeping your Second Life account safe).
  • In short:
    • Never share your account password with anyone.
    • Never supply your log-in credentials in reply to any e-mail, no matter how official-looking; LL will never ask you for them.
    • Be wary of any e-mails or links promising cheap or free Linden Dollars, they are most likely phishing traps.
    • Don’t click on links in group chats, IMs, etc., unless you are absolutely sure of their origin.
    • Strengthen your account with a strong password + the use of the Lab’s Multi-factor Authentication option.
  • LL is actively looking at tools to identify and prevent malicious activity within the platform, and making some basic changes to alert people to the risks in clicking on links, etc.
  • In addition, the Trust and Safety are looking to implement a new Trust and Safety User Group meeting to replace the old Governance User Group, so that matters around account security, etc. Can be discussed.

Payment and Billing

[Video: 1:04:34-1:07:00]

  • More payment options (e.g. Google Pay):
    • Payment and billing is now handled through Thunes, per the links concerning Tilia, above.
    • Thunes is looking to make additional payment options available to SL users, but which options in particular might be put forward is not yet clear, but will be checked.
    • Any new payment options agreed to between the Lab and Thunes will be announced on the Second Life official blog.
  • Can an option be provided to allow those paying tier directly to LL to do so early, if required (e.g. to cover for when they might be on vacation, or in hospital, etc)?
    • It would require extensive programmatic changes to achieve.
    • However, would appear to be a good idea, and a Canny Feature Request was requested via the Feedback Portal.

Lifetime Premium and Premium Plus Membership Offers and SL22B

[Video: 1:10:30-1:13:49]

  • There will be no Premium or Premium Plus Lifetime membership offered at SL22B.
  • Such offers are now being reserved for special events (e.g. with partners such as the American Cancer Society), where it is specifically possible to have the funds generated through such offers donated directly to charitable organisations.

General Questions

  • [Video: 32:31-33:26] Does Support hire people to operate remotely?
    • Depends on the position: Customer Success & Trust and Safety operate out the Atlanta offices, and so people working on those teams are based there; Product Operations and its related teams does have the potential for remote working.
  • [Video: 53:02-54:43] Removal of Voice capabilities from InfoHubs
    • This was a difficult decision, given InfoHubs are intended to be newcomer-friendly social gathering spaces.
    • However, too many people were using Voice within these places to harass and cause disruption, so in the interests of the larger community using the InfoHubs the decision was made to disable Voice.
    • The Lab will continue to monitor InfoHubs and may revisit this decision in the future.
  • [Video: 54:54-56:49] Do the Shop and Hop events complete too heavily with user-created shopping events held at the same time (e.g. Valentine’s Day, Christmas, etc.).
    • LL are always “cognizant” of the potential for such impact, but thus far has not directly received any complaints from the organisers of other shopping events or the creators attending them.
    • Shop and Hop is perhaps a broader tent than other shopping events, many of which are geared towards specific genres (sci-fi; fantasy; adult; etc.).
    • Shop and Hop is intended to be seasonally limited (with the special SLB Shop and Hop being an exception), and not driven with the intent to “blot out” other shopping events.
    • If people do feel it is harming other events, then feedback is welcome on that.
    • Creators selected for the Shop and Hop events are selected more-or-less on the basis of a lottery, not based on how quickly they apply.
    • Not everyone who applies can automatically be granted store space at a Shop and Hop, as they are limited by scale and manageability. For SL22B, for example, there were over 840 applicants – doubling the overall logistical requirements for hosting, running and managing the event.
  • [Video: 1:07:15-1:09:49] Is it possible to use the Name Change capability and not have the new name linked to previous names?
    • Currently no, for assorted reasons (e.g. to prevent someone doing something nefarious and then using the Name Change capability to hide their guilt).
    • The above was also something the community was worried about at the time Name Changes were introduced.
    • If attitudes have since changed, then the suggestion is to raise a Canny Feature Request was requested via the Feedback Portal.
  • [Video: 1:19:50-1:21:24] Will Cape Ekim (read: Saying farewell to the original Linden Homes – and a Second Life mystery?) be preserved when the old Linden Home mini-continents are retired?
    • Cape Ekim has been considered “very, very seriously” in terms of preserving the history of Second Life Linden Homes.
    • Once all the old Linden Homes have been retired, the plan is to make a special area paying tribute to them, and as such, Cape Ekim, “isn’t going anywhere”.
  • There was a final question on AI tool for translation services, and a full answer on the subject was deferred to the Operations and Engineering session.

MarVayu’s Ipseities at Nitroglobus in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: Marvayu – Ipseities

Currently open within The Annex at Nitroglobus Roof Gallery, operated by Dido Haas, is an engaging and provocative exhibition of photography by artist-photographer and poet, MarVayu. It is also one with a curious origin, because unlike most exhibitions offered within SL, the images on display are not a selection of pieces specifically made to be exhibited as a self-contained collection, but have been drawn from an archive of discarded work, having originally been made at various times with the idea of being used to accompany MarVayu’s poetry.

Which is not to say that there are an entirely random selection either. Rather, they are reflections of thoughts on identity and self, of who a person is when they realise they exist in more than one reality, be it physical or virtual. In being drawn from multiple projects for which they had never been used, the images both have a unique dynamic one to the next when viewed,  and offer threads of ideas and narrative on how a person and their sub-personalities might be informed as much by their presence within Second Life on a subconscious level as much as they consciously seek to influence and control the perception they and others have of them through the platform.

The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: MarVayu – Ipseities

In reflection of this, the exhibition is entitled Ipseities, the plural of Ipseity, a term derived from the Latin ipse – “self”, a label, if you will, used to define who we most broadly are when all the aspects of our “self” are taken into account – physical, mental and – in this particular case, virtual.

In philosophical terms, ipseity is the foundational quality that makes an individual unique, influencing their perspectives, decisions, and interactions with the world. As such, given the thread and ideas MarVayu presents within the exhibition, its use is well-chosen on two levels. The first of these is that idea of exploring the multiple facets of who one is in oneself; and secondly, and more esoterically, because of the aforementioned way the pieces within the exhibition have been drawn from other aspects of MarVayu’s work – of her own self, if you will.

The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: Marvayu – Ipseities

 Ipseity is also used to reference a psychological phenomenon: that of self-disorder, or ipseity disturbance. This is a condition in which a person’s fundamental sense of self is disrupted such that they believe their internal experiences – thoughts dreams, emotions – are actually external, bringing the condition close to schizophrenia spectrum disorders.

I raise this latter point because while the artist does not expressly indicate an intentional to explore self-disorder, I personally could not help but find it relevant to this exhibition for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because some of the images do strongly lean into the nature of the condition in their presentation; secondly, because involvement within Second Life can be a form of ipseity disturbance: we involve ourselves in a non-physical world, one in which we can experience so much, which can become so personally real, whilst at the same time being entirely divorced from the physical world we also inhabit.

The Annex, Nitroglobus Roof Gallery June 2025: Marvayu – Ipseities

I’m intentionally not going to it offer personal interpretations of individual pieces within Ipseities; it is far better that people follow the threads MarVayu offers to reach their own destinations / conclusions. This is an exhibition with a lot to say, and the monochrome images are exquisite in their depth of emotion, ideas and presentation, and are perfectly complimented by the lighting and 3D elements within the Annex.

SLurl Details

Space Sunday: Rockets, updates and Planet Nine

Posted on by Inara Pey
Honda’s 6.3 m tall experimental reusable rocket stage, with legs deployed, readies to land after an ascent to just under 300 metres in its first flight. Credit: Honda R&D Co., Ltd

Honda is known for many things: cars, motorcycles, engines, power tools robots, bicycles, aircraft, rocket motors – and now reusable rockets.

The company only formally announced its interest in entering the world of reusable launch systems in 2021, and since then things have been a little quiet. Well, up until this past week, that is; on Tuesday 17 June 2025, Honda’s research and development arm, Honda R&D Co., Ltd., announced the successful launch and landing of its first experimental reusable rocket.

The announcement appeared to come out of left-field for many in the space media – with the success, inevitably, being contrasted to that of SpaceX, a company with more than 20 years in the business, and not to Honda’s advantage; something that’s a little unfair given the head-start SpaceX has – and possibly unwise, given Honda’s abilities.

Honda’s experimental reusable rocket stage being prepped for launch. Credit:Honda R&D Co., Ltd

The vehicle, measuring 6.3m tall and 85 cm in diameter and with an all-up launch mass of 1.3 tonnes, was launched out of Honda’s facility in Taiki, Hokkaido. It rose to an altitude of 271.4 metres, before making a controlled descent to land just 37 centimetres from its target. It is the first step towards a stated goal for Honda to make a full sub-orbital launch by 2029. The launch was intended to carry out a range of aerodynamic tests and gather data, and Honda defined it as being a complete success.

Honda’s involvement in developing a launch vehicle is part of the overall goal of the Japanese government to double its space industry’s turnover to US $55.20 billion per annum by 2030.This will be through a combination of government-driven space activities managed by JAXA, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and subsidising private endeavours, including launch and satellite systems. However, while its is a goal Honda seemingly intends to support, the company is the first to admit that at this point in time, it has no clear goals for commercialising its reusable launch system once fully developed.

Even so, the company has the size and power to achieve a lot, and potentially become a major player in the commercial launch business.

The Search for Planet Nine – New Evidence?

I’ve written about the search of “Planet Nine” on numerous occasions as evidence for and against its existence have bounced back and forth down the years, but now a new study has identified possible candidates which might prove its existence.

As a quick recap: were it to exist, Planet Nine would be roughly 5–10 times the mass of Earth, orbiting somewhere between 400–800 times farther from the Sun. The problem here is that whilst it may well be big, it is so far away from the Sun that it will reflect very little sunlight, making it hard to detect via conventional means.

Because of this, theories as to the planet’s possible orbit and location have to a large part depended on mathematical models and some degree of assumption based on the orbits of clusters of large Kuiper Belt Objects.

An artist’s impression of Planet Nine with the Milky Way as a backdrop, as the planet orbits the distant Sun. The oval around the Sun represents the orbit of Neptune. Credit: Tom Ruen, background from ESO

Now, a team led by Amos Chen from the National Tsing Hua University, Taiwan, have taken a step in a different direction in and attempt to locate a potential Planet Nine – one that perhaps seems so obvious, it might seem surprising no-one has tried it before: looking for the thermal footprint of the planet, rather than any optical evidence.

To explain: all objects in space tend to give off heat – particularly planets. But here’s the thing: when you double the distance from the sun, reflected light becomes 16 times fainter (following what scientists call an inverse fourth-power relationship); however, its thermal radiation signature only diminishes by a factor of four. Thus, whilst still faint, the thermal signature of a planet a long way away should be easier to detect then by searching for it visually.

With this in mind, Chen and his team took the most common computer models that suggest where Planet Nine might reside in the night sky and then turned to the data gathered on that portion of the sky by the Japanese ASTRO-F AKARI space telescope during its operational period to see if they could find something unusual.

Launched in 2006 into an Earth-Sun synchronous orbit, AKARI (“Light”) carried out one of the most sensitive whole sky surveys in the mid- and far-infrared. As such it generated a wealth of data much of which was recorded multiple times for the same areas of the sky.

An artist’s illustration of JAXA’s infrared astronomy satellite ASTRO-F AKARI. Credit: JAXA

This is important because Planet Nine is so very far from the Sun, it will not appear to move over spans of days, making it exceptionally hard to differentiate from the background of stars and galaxies and gas and dust clouds. However, over a course of months, it will be seen to move, so by comparing images gathered by AKARI at different times of the year, the team were able to examine the specific area of sky the models suggest Planet Nine might be found, longing for signs of something moving in a manner predicted by the computer models, and with the kind of thermal signature something the size of Planet Nine would most likely have.

They discovered two possible candidates which met the criteria. This doesn’t mean that one of them might turn out to be Planet Nine; as the team notes, there is potential  for Planet Nine to be there in the form of one of the candidates, but much more work in observing both to determine what they might actually be.

There is a further complication in this: the computer modelling used by the team is based on the orbits of a number of Kuiper Belt objects which are both extreme, but also quite closely packed. This has led to the hypothesis that they have been “shepherded” into their close-knit groups by the influence of Planet Nine’s own gravity, and therefore, they can be used to define the likely arc of the planet’s orbit.

The problem here is, again as I’ve recently written about, there is a growing number of other Kuiper Belt objects which exist within their own extreme orbits well apart of the clusters. If there was a large body out beyond them, then realistically, it should have affected and shaped their orbits as well, coaxing them into similar orbits to the identified groups. Thus, there is a lot more work to be done before it can be definitively started that the solar system once more has nine planets orbiting the Sun.

In Brief

Axiom Ax-4 Mission

As noted in my previous Space Sunday, the planned fourth mission by Axiom Space to send 4 people to the International Space Station has been plagued by problems in actually getting off the ground. None of the issues have been Axiom’s fault, but a combination of weather than technical issues.

In that piece, I noted that the most recent technical issue was that of pressure leaks within the “vestibule” tunnel at the aft end of the Zvevzda module. Whilst not a new problem for the module, the losses had until recently been relatively under control before spiking again ahead of the launch.

The Axiom AX-4 crew: From left to right: mission specialist Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski; commander Peggy Whitson; pilot Shubhanshu Shukla, and mission specialist Tibor Kapu. Credit: Axiom

As a result, NASA held the launch, pending further checks and remedial action by the cosmonauts on the ISS (who, under the management of Roscosmos, are entirely responsible for the status of the Russian section of the ISS). The hold meant the launch would not take place before June 19th, 2025.

However, this target was then moved to June 22nd, as the pressure leaks continued, despite assurances from Roscosmos. Therefore, the decision was taken on June 19th, to scrub the June 22nd launch attempt. At the time of writing, a new target launch date had not been released.

Starship Explodes on the Test Stand

On 04:00 UTC on Thursday, June 19th, a SpaceX Starship exploded whilst on the test stand at the company’s Boca Chica, Texas facilities.

The 52-metre tall vehicle, intended to form the upper stage of the company’s massive heavy-lift launch system, was being prepared for the next attempt to complete a test flight from end-to-end with all objectives successful met.

Part of these tests involve static fire tests of the motors on both the booster and the Starship upper stage. The vehicle in question had already completed a test of one of its motors and the explosion occurred during preparation for a test of all six engines. These tests take place at a sub-facility within the SpaceX Starbase facilities referred to as Massey’s Test Facility, well removed from the main launch / recovery facilities.

No-one was injured in the explosion, although the vehicle was utterly destroyed. Early indications from SpaceX are that the fault lay with one of the vehicle’s composite overwrapped pressure vessels (COPV). These are pressure-containing units typically used in spaceflight due to their high strength and low weight.

The explosion of the Starship at the Massey Test Facility, Starbase City, Boca Chica, June 19th, UTC

The COPV in question was holding pressurised nitrogen in its gaseous state, when it ruptured. There are multiple COPVs within the Starship payload bay, and significantly, they are located close together and have propellant feed lines running between them to serve the vehicle’s header tanks up in its nose – the tanks that are intended to provide propellants to the vehicle’s motors during atmospheric descent and capture manoeuvres.

The running theory is that the rupture of one COPV may have over-pressured the vehicle hull and compromised others COPV units and the header tanks propellant feeds, and compromised the main propellants tanks, bringing the 10% load of liquid methane the vehicle had aboard at the time of the explosion and the almost full load of liquid oxygen the vehicle had into contract with a source of ignition.

Interestingly, a whistleblower had in May raised concerns about a lack of professionalism at the Starbase site relating to how crews charged with assembling vehicles there treated the COPVs with a lack of respect, although it is far too earlier to say if his statements reflect ate actual state-of-play and if so, whether such poor handling was a factor in the explosion.

 What is clear is that there was significant damage done to the Massey Test Facility itself, notably to the infrastructure required to feed propellants to Starship vehicles undergoing testing there – the facility now being the only facility where such pre-flight testing of Starship vehicles can occur. As such it is likely to be some time before there are any further attempts to launch Starship / Super Heavy test articles.

China Completes Anticipated On-Orbit Rendezvous

As previewed in my previous Space Sunday update, China has completed an on-orbit rendezvous between two remote vehicles operating in geostationary orbit.

As noted in that article, China is developing the means to carry out high-orbit rendezvous capabilities, with the intention of developing a means of extending the operational life of their various satellites. Both Shijian-21, launched in 2021, and Shijian-25, launches earlier this year, have been moving towards you another since the start of the month. Initially, Shijian-25 manoeuvred towards Shijian-21, the latter having been in a parking orbit for a number of years after a busy early life, which included hauling a defunct communications satellite to a graveyard orbit.

An initial rendezvous between the two had been expected sometime after June 12th, but at the time of my last article, it wasn’t clear if it had actually taken place. However, it appears that both vehicles made contact on both June 13th and June 14th, or at least came very close to making contact. The aim of Shijian-25 is to provide a refuelling capability for satellites, which Shijian-21 is liable to require given its very active early on-orbit career. Success, if not already achieved, would and put China on an even footing with the United States in terms of on-orbit capabilities.

Hera’s Goa Beach in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Goa Beach, June 2025 – click any image for full size

Hera (Zee9), working with collaborator, Kacey Stratton (KaceyStratton) – who has in the past assisted Hera by provisioning AI-backed characters to add depth to Hera’s environments such as Brutal City (see: Hera’s Brutal City AI in Second Life) is back with an enticing build. This time the two present Goa Beach, another visually stunning setting presumably inspired by (even if in name only!) India’s famous tourist region, world- renowned for its beaches and places of worship.

Epic, Beautiful Beaches, clothes optional, Indian temples, Shiva shrines, clubs, bars, Nude, Sun, Sea, Sex Sand. Peace, Love!

– Goa Beach About Land description

Goa Beach, June 2025

The note in the About Land description brings me neatly to a couple of points worth raising in advance:

  • Goa Beach is adult-rated and nudity and adult sexual activities are allowed – so be advised (although on neither of my visits were there any apparent sign of bonking going on). Also, be aware that given this, Hera and Kacey request adult human avatars only are used during visits.
  • Secondly, Hera’s builds tend to be mercurial; they can arrive and vanish within a very short space of time. So if you intend to visit, sooner rather than later is the key.
Goa Beach, June 2025

Actually, there is a third point of note: the Rules located at the Landing Point note that “Only Goa Beach is open to the public. All other areas are private”, with a warning to keep out.

When I first arrived I wasn’t exactly sure as to how and where this warning applied; there are a number of islands sitting off the main bulk of the land, and one of these, to the south-east corner, is a private residence sitting within its own parcel. I assumed the rest of the islands were similarly off-limits, but didn’t realise how literal the phrase “only Goa Beach is open to the public” would literally be until my second visit!

Goa Beach, June 2025

If you’re one who visited Hera’s 2022 India (see: Hera’s touch of India in Second Life) there will be much about Goa Beach that may well be familiar – particularly the main structures, the bar area and some of the carved works to be found around, such as the cobras. This is not a critique of Goa Beach; one of the things I always find attractive in Hera’s builds is the manner in which she constantly recombines and redresses elements of past builds to offer something entirely new to explore – and such is the case here.

The main landmass is surrounded by the beach (allowing for a couple of rocky areas), making it possible to walk all the way around – or if you prefer, rez a wearable horse and trot around. Following the beach is one of the ways to reach the west side of the island from the Landing Point and what might be regarded as the grand entrance to the terraces and towers of the main temple complex. Those looking for a quicker route to this space from the Landing Point should hang a right and a left on leaving the latter and follow the stairs down.

Goa Beach, June 2025

Directly opposite the grand entrance, on the east side of the island, is a bridge providing access to a tall tower with a small dock extending to one side below it, complete with a sloop-style sailing vessel alongside. A smaller deck extending wharf offers the opportunity to rez a sailing boat, and it was this that gave me my answer to the private areas.

Mid-way though gently sailing around the main land-mass I found myself (albeit briefly) some 10 metres above the boat, which continued a short distance, before I was back in the surf. So yes, “only Goa Beach is open to the public” can be taken to literally mean, keep yourself to the sands when near some of the nearby islands! With this in mind, if you do rez a boat, it’s probably best to keep your sailing to the east side of the main land area (but well clear of the already noted private residence in the south-east corner).

Goa Beach, June 2025

Returning to the larger siling vessel for a moment, this has a large bed / sitting spot suspended from a yardarm, one of several such elevated paces for singles and couples to pass the time to be found suspended at several points around the setting. Nor are these the only places for sitting and relaxing or – to borrow from a Roy Scheider film, “getting it on” – which might also be found.

As noted above, there is much here that visitors to the likes of Hera’s India will find familiar – such as the club / bar area with its décor, the tigers gathered around the west-side grand entrance, the pavilions and so on, but so is there much that is (I believe) new to this setting. With so much to see and photograph, I’ll leave it to you to discover more for yourselves – but (again) as already noted, don’t leave it too long before visiting, lest Goa Beach vanishes!

Goa Beach, June 2025

SLurl Details