Category: News-Opinion

Second place for STÖMOL at digital film festival

Posted on by Inara Pey
From STÖMOL

STÖMOL, the feature-length science-fiction move produced entire in Second Life, has been awarded second place in the 2020 SUPERNOVA Digital Film Festival.

The film, written, directed, produced and starring Huckleberry Hax, together with Caitlin Tobias, Ylva, Boudicca Amat, Anthony Wesburn and Mich Michabo in leading roles, was one of a number of entries to the festival that were wholly filmed in Second Life and which were open to viewing on-line throughout the festival’s almost month-long run.

The film gained numerous plaudits from those at the festival for its style, content, story arc and composition, including founder and Creative Director Ivar Zeile. It was runner-up to #21XOXO, “a stylized window into the zeitgeist of youth and pop culture,” by Sine Ozblige, and earned a prize of US $750 for Huckleberry and his team.

I was stunned when I watched STÖMOL for the first time. I’ve seen some Second Life animations – we’ve really supported artists that are working in that platform over the years – and I didn’t believe I was going to be taken by a feature length film made in Second Life, but Huckleberry absolutely delivered the goods.

Ivar Zeile, Supernova founder and Creative Director

Very special and deserved congratulations to Huckleberry and his team for STÖMOL’s runner-up status at the festival, it was well deserved. I hope that – as nerve racking as entering this festival was to him – this award will spur Huckleberry to continue filming, and we will get to see the sequel and the answers to the question posed by the film’s end credits (nope, not going  to spoil it for those who haven’t seen it! – but if you are interested, my own review of the film can be found in Second Life’s STÖMOL: a review).

Other pieces filmed in Second Life and featured in the festival were machinima by Erik Mondrian, and a piece by Tizzy Canncci.

Erik had a total of three pieces accepted by the festival, comprising his CalArts Master of  Fine Arts thesis For the Light of Other Shores, a marvellous 10-part series, selected for the Director’s Choice programme of the festival; together with Tripping through Skyscrapers, his video journey through Gem Preiz’s Skycrapers installation ,and Cetatea Poenari, recording a visit to the region of the same name, and both of which featured in the festival’s Everything Abstract-Sonic programme.

For her entry, Tizzy submitted Out of Isolation Came Forth Light, a recording of a performance by artist SaveMe Oh that took place in CapCat Ragu’s installation entitled Isolation, displayed at Ribong Gallery’s Artspace 1789.

I’d also like to offer my congratulations to Tizzy and Erik for entering their work for the festival. I know that Erik had a certain amount of trepidation in making his submissions, but his work  – which I have the privilege to be able to discuss with him and write about (see Erik Mondrian: master of fine arts in and beyond Second Life) as well as follow via You Tube – full deserves recognition through a wider audience.

Film Links

Linden Lab launches the Official Second Life Merchandise store

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab / RedBubble

Some might say it’s a long time overdue, but on Friday, September 25th, Linden Lab announced the launch of the official Second Life Merchandise Store offering a range of physical world merchandise related to Second Life and Linden Lab.

The on-line store is hosted by RedBubble, and currently comprises a range of SL and Lab branded clothing items and accessories utilising both the “new” and “old” logos, with the promise that more items t come soon, including seasonal and limited time items.

The Second Life store on RedBubble

As with most virtual market stores, the RedBubble Second Life Merchandise Store feature a list of categories down the left side of the page (note: these are a part of the site design, and not all of them may apply specifically to Second Life / Linden Lab). The main part of the site is then devoted to displaying the displaying the essentials on available merchandise, with filter options, and the ability to use at the designs offered with applicable products, rather than the product itself. Obviously, clicking on an individual item will open a page devoted to it, where things like size, etc., can be selected.

A nice aspect of the site is that it appears to automatically recognise your country of origin and presents prices in your local currency. Payments can be made via Credit / Debit card or using PayPal, whilst shipping options are available for “regular” or “faster” delivery. Joining RedBubble allows for faster checkout: your own personal page, a complete order history and tracking option, and the ability to follow favourite merchants on the site (such as Second Life / Linden Lab) and receive notification of new items as they are added to the store.

RedBubble automatically recognises your country of origin (unless using something like a VPN, perhaps), immediately presenting the price of items in your local currency, as seen here, in my view of some of the SL merchandise

I’m not entirely sure why the site features a couple of skydivers snogging as its banner image – perhaps this will change according to some site criteria, but it did strike me as something not really immediately representative of either Second Life or Linden Lab – not that either is particularly easier to pigeon-hole in a single image for those unfamiliar with either.

That very minor niggle aside, the store would appear to be a good move – hopefully we’ll see merchandise such as mugs (Lab Gab mugs have oft been requested), coasters, key fobs and other handy items, as well and more clothing items appearing in due course. Actual Linden Bears would be fun as well, if perhaps harder to produce in  a cost-effective manner.

In the meantime,those interested / curious can hop over the the official store and have a mooch.

Play Linden Realms in the cloud and help the Lab

Posted on by Inara Pey
Linden Realms is now running in the cloud – on the beta grid. Image courtesy of Linden Lab

Linden Realms was the first Linden Lab developed game using experience tools. First introduced in 2011 (see: The Linden Realms game: Rock on!), the game has been updated numerous times over the years, the last time in 2018 (see: The further revamp of Linden Realms in Second Life).

It is now the next major element of Second Life (after the core Blake Sea regions) to be cloned to Aditi, the beta grid, and uploaded to the cloud – and Linden Lab are asking users to give it a go, so they can further test region  / simulator operations under load when running on AWS services.

The request for assistance came via a blog post on Monday, September 15th, which reads in full:

As you may know, we are in the process of moving Second Life to the cloud! Our first ever cloud simulators, on the beta grid, have been uplifted, and we can use your assistance. Here’s your opportunity to be among the first Residents to test the performance of uplift.
Log in to the beta grid (click here for instructions) and start at the Aditi Portal Park to try out Linden Realms in the cloud. Bring your friends and spend some time engaging in the virtual experience produced and provided by Linden Lab. You may even run into the often unseen technical Lindens working away. Don’t forget to ask them for their Linden bear, and beware of the rock monster!
If you find any issues with Linden Realms on the beta grid, please file a BUG jira at https://jira.secondlife.com, and make sure to include the time, date, region you were in when you found the issue, and a description of what happened, as well as what you would expect to happen in a similar situation on the Main Grid today.

– We Need Your Help Testing Performance on Uplifted Simulator – Linden Lab, September 15th, 2020

Linden Realms. Image courtesy of Linden Lab

So, if you want to help speed the cloud uplift process, why not follow the instructions contained in the links in the Lab’s blog post, log-in to Aditi and hop over to the beta grid and spending a little time playing Linden Realms – even if you don’t find anything to report, issue-wise, your time playing the game is still helping the Lab gather data on region and simulator performance.

Announcing the Second Life Endowment for the Arts

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

In August 2019, and after an eight-year run (it’s first public exhibitions coming in 2011 after initially being announced in late 2010), the Linden Endowment for the Arts (LEA) closed, the organising committee having decided to step away from managing it (see: Linden Endowment for the Arts to officially close, LEA: more on the closure, and a move to save it and Linden Endowment for the Arts: update).

Following the announcement, there were numerous discussions on how the work of the LEA might be continued. In particular, artists Tansee Resident and Riannah Avora launched an in-world group specifically with the aim of gathering ideas and viewpoints on how the work of the LEA – and Linden Lab’s involvement in the body – might be continued.

At the time, a lot of discussions were held and a considerable number of ideas put forward (I was happy to play a small background role in advising both Tansee and Riannah in a number of areas, including potential discussions with Linden Lab). Ultimately, both went on to found groups operating on similar principals to LEA, with Tansee co-founding the Hannigton Endowment for the Arts (HEA) along with Hannington Xeltentat, and Riannah co-founding United Artists of SL.

However, the idea of a Lab-supported facility to help promote arts in Second Life never entirely went away, and Tansee continued to pursue ideas, refining a proposal originally created from the ideas gathered after the LEA had closed down. Then, in June 2020, a conversation with Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg at the SL17B event opened a door of opportunity. This in turn lead to a series of meetings with senior staff at the Lab, including Patch Linden, Vice President of Product Operations, and Brett Linden, the Lab’s senior Marketing Manager. After several such meetings, which included reviews of, and updates to, the proposal, Linden Lab indicated a willingness to support a new body similar to that of the LEA, but operating on a more modest and flexible footing.

Announced today, and starting an January 2021, the Second Life Endowment for the Arts (SLEA) will operate across seven regions supplied by Linden Lab, and managed by Tansee and Hannington supported by a Board of Advisers (the full list of whom is yet to be announced), and a team of volunteers to help in the day-to-day operations, once the new regions are open.

The seven SLEA regions

The seven regions, which are currently being set-up, will comprise the following:

  • A  central hub (SLEA7). This will likely include:
    • A landing point.
    • Facilities for SLEA coordinators, advisers and volunteers.
    • An education centre.
    • A events centre to support arts activities and events across Second Life.
    • A teleport hub serving the SLEA grant regions and information on the artists currently exhibiting.
    • The SLEA Theatre for mounting art-related and special events.
    • An art Challenge corner.
  • Four Full regions (SLEA1-3 and SLEA6) for region-wide art installations ranging from 1 to 6 months duration.
  • A single region (SLEA4) providing four quarter-region installation spaces.
  • A sandbox region. This will include an artist hangout and club for events and parties along with a new underwater building area.
The planned SLEA 7 hub region

As  noted above, SLEA will formally début in January 2021. Between now and then, the plan is to release information over a period of time, starting in October. These activities will include:

  • Providing information on:
    • How those interested to volunteer to help run SLEA, and on specific volunteer roles that are available.
    • How artists will be able to apply for grants, and requirements / guidelines for exhibiting through SLEA.
  • Updates on region design status.
  • Detailed information on the SLEA website, social media channels, etc.
  • The opening of the first round of applications for artists.

The reason for not having the website / social media presence in place alongside of this announcement was explained by SLEA co-ordinator Tansee Resident as follows:

We intentionally do not have a Website or a FB page or any of the essential networking tools. The reason for this is we truly want to include the artists in building this community from the ground up. In order to build a solid foundation it is imperative that we establish a Volunteer base and find people who are willing to share their area of expertise.

Tansee Resident, SLEA Co-ordinator

Proposed time line for SLEA development

So, in the interim period, those interested in SLEA as artists and / or as potential volunteers are asked to join the SLEA in-world group, which will be the primary channel of communications for the next few weeks. Also, to help promote SLEA, there will be a special Designing Worlds show featuring Brett and Patch Linden, together with Tansee and Hannington, which will be show at 14:00 SLT on Monday, September 14th via the Designing Worlds website and channels.

You can also read the official SLEA announcement from the Lab.

I’ll also continue to provide updates through these pages.

Second Life to have a smashing time with Titmouse

Posted on by Inara Pey
logos © and ™ Linden Lab, Titmouse and Lightbox Expo

On Tuesday, September 8th, Linden lab announced their latest partnership event intended to offer fun for existing users and to encourage those why may not have tried the platform or who have been absence a while to have a go in a party-like environment.

For this latest event – which will take place on Saturday, September 12tth, the Lab has teamed up with animation studio Titmouse Inc., to host the virtual equivalent of the Titmouse Smash Party, to be held in conjunction with the 2020 Lightbox On-line Expo.

Titmouse, Inc., is a North American animation studio operating out of Los Angeles, New York, and Vancouver. Since 2000 they have been producing animated television programmes, feature films, music videos, title sequences, commercials, and short films for clients like Nickelodeon, The Cartoon Network, Disney, Netflix, Adult Swim and most recently, CBS Television for whom they have been working on the Star Trek: Lower Decks series others. However, for 20 years they also gained a reputation for hosting an annual Smash party.

The party allegedly started as an experiment in catharsis for Titmouse employees, after one of the founders of the company heard about a Japanese restaurant that offered clients an unusual service. To help diners get over the cost of their expensive meal, diners could, let off steamby going to a room in the restaurant and smashing a US $1,000 vase to pieces. True or apocryphal, I’ve no idea – but Titmouse reproduced the idea by setting up a basement room for staff where, if they were feeling stressed or suffering a creative block, they could go down to and smash the living daylights out of anything in the room (except other employees, obviously).

This basic idea took on a life of its own, evolving into an annual event for Titmouse staff, family and friends, with fun, music, noise and at its heart, The Cage, a place where attendees could – you guessed it – smash whatever was tossed / placed inside it to smithereens.

In the 21st century these types of activities are frowned upon. The Smash Party is a night where one can experience the visceral catharsis that our cave-person brain secretly desires without the stigma of our repressed society’s judgement.
Some companies do trust fall retreats. Some do bowling. Some do theme park trips. We, traditionally, have smashed.

– Titmouse owner Chris Prynoski, talking to WNW in 2019

Nothing is safe from The Cage – old toilets, broken (or even working TVs), furniture – anything that doesn’t constitute a serious risk or life or limb – and be placed inside and await its fate.

After 20 years, the real-life Titmouse parties were “retired”, Prynoski and his teams deciding they would rather end on a high and have people talking fondly about past parties, rather than responding to the news of the next party with, “What? Is that really still a thing?” or similar.

However, the company has found new ways of hosting the parties – through VR and now, thanks to Linden Lab, within Second Life.

Anything can (and probably will) happen at this virtual world gathering where participants are invited to smash, bash and crash one of the hottest parties of the year held by independent award-winning animation production company Titmouse.
Attendees of the Lightbox Expo and the Second Life community are invited to attend this year’s festivities, which include a combination of music, art and overall anarchy. At the centre of the event is an interactive smashing cage where attendees can smash objects with a variety of different weapons. You can also meet and take a photo with Titmouse mascot, Mr. Chirps.
Rumour has it that the region is filled with more than a few Easter eggs so don’t be surprised when you encounter everything that is weird and wonderful — all springing from the imagination of the Titmouse team.

– from the official Second Life blog post

Those interested in  finding out more can do so via the official blog post, which includes a link to a FAQ written specifically for those new to Second Life to help them get started and find their way to the event.

Be sure to save the date – Saturday, September 12th, and catch the promo video below as Patch Linden gets an early start on having a smashing time.

 

April Linden reports on the weekend’s connectivity issues

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

Sunday, August 30th saw some hiccups in people’s ability to connect to Second Life, with users either unable to log-in or, if already logged, abruptly found themselves abruptly disconnected and unable to log back in.

For some, the issues were relatively transitory (I was logged out and unable to log back in  for about 20 minutes) whilst others were subjected to longer periods of frustration being expressed at the lack of any immediate status feed updates.

On Monday, August 31st, April Linden blogged as to why this was the case.

In short, the issue wasn’t with Second Life; rather, US-based CenturyLink/Level(3), a global supplier of Internet bandwidth providing Internet services via their Tier 1 network to Internet carriers in Europe, Asia, and North America, suffered a significant outage. As a result of this many services and users around the world suffered issues in network connectivity / their ability to connect to the Internet. However, from the Lab’s operational perspective, nothing initially appeared to be wrong: all services were running, no alerts were received, and no alarms triggered. However, as April notes in her blog post:

Of course, from the Resident point of view, Second Life was effectively down in some parts of the world, and that’s really what matters.
To help us react quicker in the future we’ve made a few changes.
Yesterday evening we added a new monitoring service that checks on some of Second Life’s core systems from all around the globe. It’s a service that a lot of other companies use too, so we’ll get alerted better in the future. When Internet-scale events like yesterday happen there’s not a lot we can do about it, but we can post on the status page quicker to let our Residents know we’re aware things aren’t right.
We’re sorry for the lack of communication yesterday. We know how important Second Life is to our Residents, and we’re taking steps to increase our visibility into issues outside of our servers. It’s our hope that these steps will enable us to communicate better with y’all in the future.
See you inworld!
April Linden
Second Life Operations Manager

I’ve long appreciated April’s blog posts, as not only do they help explain the complexities of Second Life and when things can go wrong as and when they do, they also help to remind us that using Second Life isn’t simply a matter of the viewer and the simulator it is connected to. There are a lot of intermediary services and steps that can also cause problems for users, and which lie well outside of Linden Lab’s sphere of influence and ability to rectify. In this particularly case, April’s post also shows that even when the latter is the case, it doesn’t stop her team from trying to tweak / improve things so they can be better informed about potential issues in the future.

So thank you again, April, for keeping us informed and educated!