Category: News-Opinion

2nd round of Second Life Skill Gaming applications closed

Posted on by Inara Pey

secondlifeAs I reported at the time, Linden Lab announced at the end of 2016 that they would re-open applications for Skill Gaming creators and operators on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017, and this went ahead as planned.

For those who may not be familiar with the concept, while gambling is prohibited in Second Life, and games of pure chance that provides a Linden Dollar payout are against the Terms of Service, games of skill are permitted in-world, providing they meet the criteria of being a Skill Game, and are duly authorised by Linden Lab, under the terms of the Second Life Skill Gaming Policy, which defines such a game as being one:

1) whose outcome is determined by skill and is not contingent, in whole or in material part, upon chance; 2) requires or permits the payment of Linden Dollars to play; 3) provides a payout in Linden Dollars; and 4) is legally authorized by applicable United States and international law.

The current Skill Gaming policy was introduced in 2014, and the announcement of the re-opening of applications marked the first time the Lab has offered the opportunity for further Skill Gaming Creators (SGCs) and Skill Gaming Operators (SGOs) to register their desire to create and / or operate skill games in-world since that time.

However, the application period was fairly short – a little over a month, in fact. On Tuesday, February 7th, the Lab issued an update indicating that as of that date, applications were once again closed. It’s not clear how many new applications were received and are being processed, however, prior to applications re-opening. the Second Life Skill Gaming Approved Participants page on the SL wiki listed 45 SGOs. At the time of writing this article, the total had risen to 50, and the number of approved Skill Games had risen from 44 to 45 (neither of these increases account for any applications which the Lab may still be processing, if any).

Applications for those wishing to become Skill Gaming Operators and / or Skill Gaming Creators re-open on Tuesday, January 3rd, 2017
The Lab’s Gaming Regions provide an introduction to Skill Gaming for those interested

Those interested in playing Skill Games, or in finding out more about them, can follow the links at the end of this article, or they can visit the Lab’s Gaming Islands. Accessed either directly or via the Portal Parks, they provide information on what Skill Games are, the kinds of games user might encounter, how and where they can be played – and why, in some instances, users may not be allowed to access the regions where they can be played.

Links

Space Sunday: Juno and Jupiter, China, Google and the Moon

Posted on by Inara Pey
An artist's impression of Juno firing its main engine at it passes over Jupiter's cloud tops. Credit: NASA
An artist’s impression of Juno firing its main engine at it passes over Jupiter’s cloud tops. Credit: NASA

On Thursday, February 1st, 2017, NASA’s Juno spacecraft completed its fourth 53.5 day orbit of Jupiter since its arrival on July 4th, 2016. The vehicle, reached perijove – the point at which it is closest to Jupiter’s cloud tops at 12:57 GMT (07:57  EST), just 4,300 km (2,670 mi) above the cloud top at a velocity of about 208,000 km/h (129,300 mph) relative to the planet.

As there were no plans to utilise the craft’s main engine to slow the craft into a 14-day orbit around Jupiter – a issue with a potentially faulty set of valves in the motor system is still being investigated – the spacecraft was able to conduct a “close-up” data gathering exercise as it swept around Jupiter, gathering data on atmospheric radiation and plasma.

Also active during the flyover was the spacecraft’s imaging system, dubbed “JunoCam”. This has already captured some stunning images of Jupiter during past perijoves, and the hope is it will have done so again. Thanks to an outreach programme in which NASA invite “citizen scientists” to download raw JunoCam images and process them at their leisure, together with a programme that allows the public to suggest areas the camera might image during each perijove, JunoCam has become extremely popular.

A stunning view of the intricate boundaries between Jupiter's bands of cloud, as captured by JunoCam during the December close pass over the cloud tops in December. The white spot is one of the
A stunning view of the intricate boundaries between Jupiter’s bands of cloud, as captured by JunoCam during the December close pass over the cloud tops in December. The white spot is one of the “pearls” – thought to be a storm – which form bright “strings” in Jupiter’s southern hemisphere

The next close flyby will be on March 27th. It’s not clear yet whether this will be a science pass, or whether the Juno Mission team will risk firing the vehicle’s motor to slow it into the planned 14-day orbit. If they do, then the science suite will likely be powered down to conserve electrical power during the manoeuvre.

But even if Juno doesn’t achieve that final 14-day orbit, its science mission will not be unduly compromised. The craft will be able to meet all of its mission goals even if it remains in the 53.5-day polar orbit it currently occupies.

A major reason for Juno's polar orbit around Jupiter is that it allows the vehicle to pass
A major reason for Juno’s polar orbit around Jupiter is that it allows the vehicle to pass “between” the most powerful and intense radiation belts emanating from the planet. However, as the mission continues, the tilt of the spacecraft’s orbit relative to the planet means that over time, it will increasingly delve into these more intense radiation belts. Credit: NASA

The Jovian system is a place of intrigue. Not only is Jupiter a potential key to helping us understand the evolution of such gas giant planets, it sits at the centre of a gigantic magnetosphere so vast and powerful, it extends 5 million kilometres (3 million miles) towards the Sun, and reaches out as far as the orbit of Saturn – 651 million kilometres (407 million miles) – in the other direction.

All of Jupiter’s Galilean moons,  Callisto, Ganymede, Europa and Io, orbit within this magnetosphere, “bubble” and are affected by it. However, it is innermost Io which has the greatest interaction, and a proposal has been put forward to have Juno examine the relationship between Io and Jupiter in greater detail.

A false colour enhanced image of a volcanic plume above Io. Credit: NASA
A false colour enhanced image of a volcanic plume above Io. Credit: NASA

With Jupiter on one side, and the other three big moons on the other, Io, roughly 320 km (200 mi) small in diameter than the Moon, is constantly being flexed by the opposing gravitational forces. This flexing physically manifests in the moon being the most volcanically active place in the solar system. At any given time, Io has an estimated 300 active volcanoes belching sulphur, sulphur dioxide gas and fragments of basaltic rock up into the space above itself to interact  with Jupiter’s magnetosphere.

As the material from the eruptions rise from Io, it is bombarded by high-energy electrons withing Jupiter’s magnetsphere.  These ionise the ejected material, forming a vast plasma torus of highly energised (aka radioactive) particles around the Jupiter and straddling Io’s orbit. In addition, Jupiter’s magnetic field also couples Io’s polar atmosphere to the planet’s polar regions, pumping this ionised material through two “pipelines” to the magnetic poles and generating a powerful electric current known as the Io flux tube, which can most visibly be seen (if you are close enough) as Jupiter’s polar aurora.

Continue reading “Space Sunday: Juno and Jupiter, China, Google and the Moon” →

Lab speaks out on US Administration’s Immigration Policy

Posted on by Inara Pey

LL logoOn Thursday, February 2nd, Linden Lab became the latest tech company to speak out against the recent immigration Executive Order signed by US President, Donald Trump.

Politics is a contentious issue, and one I’ve preferred to keep out of this blog. However, there is no doubt that the move by the new US Administration has caused great concern in both the United States and around the world. More to the point, Second Life is also a global entity which has  – through the Community Standards – always sought to make a stand against intolerance on the basis of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. As such, the Lab’s statement is wholly in keeping with this standing.

The statement reads in full:

We at Linden Lab are extremely disappointed in and adamantly opposed to Trump’s recent executive order on immigration. We reject racism, intolerance, and xenophobia.

We are proud to include immigrants among our leadership, colleagues, and customers, as well as our families, friends, and communities. We value diversity, compassion, and understanding, and we are proud that our products enable people to come together and form meaningful connections regardless of differences in their offline lives.

Trump’s order is counter to what we value and antithetical to American ideals. We join the many voices calling on the US government to remove this restriction as quickly as possible and to refrain from imposing additional barriers that threaten opportunities for immigrants, under-represented minorities, and women.

Important: verifying your e-mail address with Second life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Linden Lab and Second Life use e-mail in a wide variety of ways, from direct e-mail campaigns informing users of promotions, etc., through the users having a means to obtain IMs sent to them while they are not logged-in (and even reply to them within a certain time constraint).

However, many people sign-up to Second Life, either with new accounts or additional accounts, and offer e-mail addresses which are either made up, or unused. The former is a particular problem for the Lab, as it creates additional traffic passing through ISPs, which can mark the Lab as a purveyor of “spam”.

To try to reduce this problem, the Lab recently introduced e-mail verification. When you sign-up to Second Life, the e-mail account provided will receive a request to verify it (the usual click-on-the-link approach); if you change the e-mail address, you will receive a similar verification request.

In addition, there is also an option within the Change Email Settings of your Second Life dashboard where you can have your e-mail verified without having to change your e-mail address.

This is important because, starting in the very near future, the Lab will be making changes to their e-mail service which will eventually mean that outgoing e-mails will not be sent to any unverified e-mail addresses.

So, if you want to be sure you continue to receive SL-related e-mails – such as IMs to e-mail or Marketplace information sent to your e-mail as a Merchant, etc., – it is important you ensure the e-mail you use with Second Life is verified.

Here’s how:

  • Go to your dashboard at secondlife.com.
  • Click on Account at the top left of your dashboard to open the Account sub-menu.
  • Click on Change Email Address to open the Change Email Settings page (below).
  • Locate the Verify link next to your e-mail address and click on it.
The Verify link will allow you to have your current e-mail address verified
The Verify link will allow you to have the e-mail address associated with your SL account verified
  • A verification e-mail will be sent to your current e-mail address associated with Second Life, containing a link. Click the link to verify your e-mail address.
  • Wait a minute or so, then refresh the Change Email Settings page on your dashboard. It should be updated to show your e-mail address is verified (below).
A verified e-mail address
A verified e-mail address

There will be an official notification from the Lab when the work updating the e-mail service commences. However , this article can be treated as something as an advanced warning, courtesy of Oz Linden speaking at the January 27th TPV Developer meeting.

It’s not clear how long the changes will take to implement / propagate out, but it is important that if you rely on any e-mails sent to you by the Lab in relations to Second Life, you ensure your recorded e-mail address is verified, otherwise you will at some point no longer receive any e-mail notifications from the Lab until such time as you are using a verified address.

Of islands and ideas in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Yet more island changes :)
Yet more island changes 🙂

So yeah. The island home; aka the job I’m always prattling on about, or “just when you thought it was safe to read this blog…” We hadn’t actually planned on changing things. Honest. But then I mentioned to Caitlyn that while the new layout worked, it was also a bit flat, She agreed. Thus, cue the unpacking of landscaping bits …

After spending time trying to integrate the northern and southern ends of the island into a “whole”, going back to rocks and cliffs might sound like things are being broken up again. However, what we’ve settled on  – we think – returns some of the character to the island, giving it more depth (or should that be height?) while retaining a unified feel.

The base of the cliffs - retaining the pond
The base of the cliffs – retaining the pond

In essence, the gardens and beach at the north end of the island have given way once again to the Fanatik Rocky Island. If I’m totally honest, this isn’t my favourite piece of landscaping; the baked textures aren’t entirely to my liking, and the lack of differentiation between vertical and horizontal faces means it cannot be reasonably re-textured. But in terms of natural look, with paths and differing levels on the plateau, I’ve yet to find anything in SL that matches it.

The upper two levels of this are now the location for our little stone cottage, with front lawns, cypress trees and back patio / lawns and just a little touch of the old castle ruins. Alex Bader’s Tiered Wall Garden set allowed for a degree of landscaping on the lower two levels of the plateau, allowing us to add lawns and the Trompe Loeil Dorina Outdoor Hangout, converted back to use as a pool.

The Trompe Loeil Outdoor Hangout makes a nice vantage point to watch passing boats
The Trompe Loeil Outdoor Hangout makes a nice vantage point to watch passing boat races through the channel south of us

One of the other positive aspects of the Fanatik rocky island is that it comes handed, so slipping it into the island and having the switch back path leading up one side match the moorings for our two ‘planes was nice and easy – and provided a route from house through island in the process. At Caitlyn’s suggestion, Alex’s Boardwalk set provided further integration between cliffs and fields by providing a wooden path around the rocks and over one side of our pond.

We also recently thinned-out some of the ruins, and shunted the old chapel across to the east side of the island. So in re-arranging things, we’ve been able to include an open grassy area at the base of the cliffs, Alex’s Ancient Stone Wall building set dividing it neatly from the “wilder” woodlands while a Stepping Stones set from Cube Republic offers a nice pathway to link everything together. Finally, a gift from John and Eles Briana means we now have a little “summer-house” in the form of the Trop Loeil Outcrop Hut, where we can watch the passing boats in the local sailing races.

I'm not the world's greatest fan of the Fanatik Rocky Island, but there is no denying its dramatic potential
I’m not the world’s greatest fan of the Fanatik Rocky Island, but there is no denying its dramatic potential

So, once again, a few more nips and tucks  – and a very big rock – at home. Now, onto the next project!

Place Pages: a new gateway to your activities in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Second Life Places Beta Page
Second Life Places Beta Page

On January 11th, 2017, the Lab announced a new beta programme – Second Life Place Pages.

In essence this allows region and parcel owners to create a web browsable page for their location(s) in-world where they can be shared through blogs, websites, etc. Included with each page are buttons to allow visitors to the page to launch their viewer and teleport directly to your location (assuming they are Second Life users – if not, they’ll have to sign-up  via the provided link to the main sign-up process).

In order for people to be able to use the Places pages to promote their own locations, certain criteria must be met:

  • You must own the parcel / region in question OR you must be assigned a the group ability to Toggle ‘Show Place in Search’ And Set Category within the group owning the land
  • About Land > Show Place in Search must be checked (recurring fee of L$30 a week).

The announcement itself was – frankly – vague. Whilst explaining the purpose of Places, and the fact it is beta, the blog post itself doesn’t actually provide information on where to find detailed information on the new pages – such as how to get started or even how to view the new pages. While there is a link to a forum post, it also isn’t that much more informative on where to find information for those unsure of how to proceed. This being the case, here are the key links:

A part of the Places page set-up by the Lab for the Innsmouth role-play community
A part of the Places page set-up by the Lab for the Innsmouth role-play community – click image to visit the page

As a quick run-down of the basics, providing you meet the criteria for establishing public Places page(s) for your parcel(s) / region(s) as defined above, you can get started by:

  • Visiting the Places home page – note you may have to log-in to it.
  • Hovering the mouse pointer over your name (top right of the page) and selecting My Places from the displayed drop down  – this will list all of your parcels and regions. You can then select those you wish to edit, and follow the instructions in the Knowledge Base article.
  • Note that A Places page for a parcel can also be “hidden” at any time by unchecking Show Place in Search in the About Land window, while all Places pages for a region, regardless of parcel settings, can be hidden by checking World > Region/Estate > Region >  Block Land Show in Search.

Within the pages are options to embed image slide shows, machinima videos and include social media buttons to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ for those wishing to use them, as well as basic information on the location itself. There is also the ability to include a 360-snaphot banner / hero image, and to include links to the Places pages for locations  / venues within the current location. For example, Loki Eliot’s Escapades Places page includes links to the Places pages for venues with his Escapades island, as shown below.

If you have a location with multiple venues / places to visit, you can create a Places page for it, and then link to the Places pages for each of the venues / places within it - as Loki Eliot has done with Escapades Island (click to go to the Escapades Place page)
If you have a location with multiple venues / places to visit, you can create a Places page for it, and then link to the Places pages for each of the venues / places within it – as Loki Eliot has done with Escapades Island (click to go to the Escapades Place page)

All of which make the pages somewhat flexible. And while they are fairly basic at present, they could evolve into exceptionally useful items and make the L$30 a week search listing fee more than worthwhile.

Note, however that as a beta, capabilities are both limited and subject to bugs. The Lab is welcoming ideas and feature requests, and asks that specific bugs (the linking to places described above is buggy, for example), are reported via JIRA. General feedback and observations should be given via the official forum thread,

I’m not sure how many actually have access to the beta programme, or whether this initial deployment is restricted to those who actually OWN regions. However, I’ve been unable to access those parcels / regions where I have the required group rights as an Estate Manager and the land is listed in Search. Others in a similar position to myself have also reported they cannot view the Places pages for  their regions.  This being the case, and in addition to the screen shots above, here are some Places pages links for those wanting a closer look at things: