Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, January 28th, 2024
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer: version 7.1.2.7215179142, formerly the glTF PBR Materials Maintenance RC, issued December 15, promoted January 8th, 2024 – numerous bug fixes and improvements – NEW.
Lalie Sorbet invited me to visit her latest collaborative piece – working with Chrix (chrixbed) – entitled Bloom:Flowers of Evil, and which is currently open to visitors at the Second Life Endowment for the Arts. A dynamic installation built around what I understand to be a scripted particle system of their own design (and called, appropriately, Bloom), mixed with 2-dimensional elements also under scripted management.
The result is a hard-to-define but infinitely beautiful series of collages-in-motion, centred on a 3D element of standing stones and a “starfish” which looks to be an elegant star-like piece of lava. Close by is an upright piano atop which a female form reclines and with an arc of benches with singles and couples poses ranged before it, allowing people to sit and appreciate the particle display.
SLEA6: Bloom: Flowers of Evil, January 2024
The artists state that the installation is inspired by the works of French art critic, poet and essayist, Charles Baudelaire – the title being the English translation of what is regarded as his most famous volume of work, Fleur du Mal, first published in 1857. The original volume, with its focus on decadence, eroticism, sexuality, original sin and death, caused a considerable stir when it first appeared, with six of its poems leading to Baudelaire and his publisher being prosecuted for “creating an offense against public morals”, resulting in both being fined and the six “offending” poems being suppressed for several years, only appearing in volumes of their own published outside of France (as with Épaves – The Wrecks – published in 1866 in Belgium).
However, both despite and because of the outrage it caused, Fleur de Mal not only remained in publication – less “offensive” works by Baudelaire were substituted in place of those which caused some to try and suppress the volume entirely – it became synonymous with all his works, with the title being used for successive collections which both incorporated the original poems and other works, including an edition printed in 1868 following the poet’s death at just 48 and which includes 14 of his previously unpublished poems.
SLEA6: Bloom: Flowers of Evil, January 2024
It is in this wider guise, and as a source of inspiration / reflection that Lalie and Chrix appear to utilise the title, rather than offering a more direct visual interpretation of poems from the volume (although there are what appear to be small nods towards some of the themes, here and there, for those familiar with the various sections of the volume). Baudelaire is regarded as a master of rhyme and rhythm within his prose-poetry – demonstrated by the fact that his style and work not only influenced poets down the years, but also artists and musicians, with some of the latter utilising Flowers of Evil or Fleur du Mal – and it is this aspect of his work which appears to be celebrated most directly through the ebb and flow of the piece, where particle patterns and images might be seen as poems and the stanzas therein, caught in a delicate dance of imagery.
Within Bloom: Flowers of Evil, the artists capture the essence of Baudelaire’s rhythm through the particles and images offered, whilst also reflecting the romanticism which also lay at the heart of his work. It also (possibly in part coincidentally) offers echoes of other ways in which Baudelaire’s influence has been felt; within the audio stream accompanying the installation is Sahalé’s Fleur du Mal, a piece with takes the iconic title and mixes it with the rhyme-like rhythm of Eastern and African music, whilst the presence of the piano put me in mind of Susanna Wallumrød’s Baudelaire and Piano (2019), which set several of Baudelaire’s works to music.
SLEA6: Bloom: Flowers of Evil, January 2024
Whether or not you are a follower of Baudelaire or feel compelled to seek out his works (I admit to finding some of his work “florid” (for want of a better term), although Tableaux Parisians is a captivating read, presenting both a contemporary walk through Georges-Eugène Haussmann’s renovation of Paris at the behest of Napoleon III and a critical response to its modernity, thus combining Baudelaire’s gift as a poet with his work as a critic), Bloom:Flowers of Evil stands in its own right as a visually engaging installation; just be sure to try sitting and viewing it in Mouselook, rather than purely through a 3rd-person view!
Grauland, January 2024 – click any image for full size
It was off to Grauland for me for my first of 2024 trips to Jim Garand’s always photogenic region, which also serves at the home for his M1 Poses store (tucked neatly out of the way in the sky). The last time I visited, the region was home to a setting featuring ancient stone ruins awaiting exploration, set with a somewhat tropical environment; it’s a theme which-sort of continues with the iterated I visited in January – albeit featuring ruins of a very different kind.
For this setting Grauland presents an almost flat island; whether temperate, tropical or sub-tropical is hard to say at first glance, although there are clues to suggest the former is likely the case, rather than the latter two, and on which stand the remnants of what may have been a sizeable industrial operation.
Grauland, January 2024
Quite what that endeavour might have been is open to to imaginative interpretation; to one side of the island, old pumpjacks stand in a field of wild grass, the “nodding donkey” head of one still rising and falling as the little group comes close to resembling a drove of their four-legged namesakes grazing quietly. They suggest that oil might have been a focus of efforts here; however, two of the surviving structures suggest something else to have been the mainstay of work here.
To the west of the island, and partially build on blocky concrete stilts over the water, stands a massive elevator / silo building with eight massive silos forming two column- like rows supporting the high roof built over the great hall between them – a hall now oddly home to a grove of trees which reach from main doors to the iron stairways climbing the far wall to provide access to the upper levels of the building as they stand out over the watery shallows. An outer wall of these levels, complete with their glassless windows staring across the island and out to sea, proclaims the building to belong to Black Stripe Grain, Inc., although it is a little hard to imagine the eight massive silos being home to mere grain – so might the building’s labelling by a cunning disguise? As I said, this is a place open to imaginative interpretation!
Grauland, January 2024
A short distance from this huge elevator with its silos stands a hopper for loading bulk goods onto railcars. Again, its looks suggest it was used for something other than grain, but such has been the passage of time here, who can really tell? And it is clear that a fair amount of time has passed here.
The rail line that once proceeded out from the hopper and – one assumes – over a low-lying trellis across the waters to – well, somewhere – now lies rusting and broken. With rails no longer carried over the water but instead sloping down into it, the line is blocked by derailed boxcars and a rusting carriage which might once have carried a workforce to and from this place.
Grauland, January 2024
Contrasting the sense of human desertion present across most the island, the east side of the complex remains relatively intact, with concrete wharves still in good working order and offering berths to a large boat – perhaps a trawler pressed into other duties – which appears to be in good working order, and a smaller cabin cruiser to which time has been less kind.
But again, while the wharves remain relatively pristine compared to the rest of the island thus far described, the same cannot be said of the warehouse / factory built alongside them. With one side either collapsed or ripped open, it is in a sorry state, now apparently the haunt of graffiti artists visiting the island, whilst the intact section its upper floor reveal it to have once been a literal body shop or sorts, the sad remains of its produce scattered on decaying pallets, sitting in aging crates or hanging from rusting irons.
Grauland, January 2024
Elsewhere there is yet more evidence of past use and hints that further buildings once stood here whilst the workers at least enjoyed some amenities. For example a single, lonely bus sits out on the dirt, its paintwork slowly fading in the sunlight or being slowly corroded by rust. It’s presence suggests it once spared workers the drudgery of walking too and from the rail carriage(s) which may have once brought them here.
But civilisation has not entirely deserted this place. As noted above, the old factory has obviously has the attention of street artists, whilst between the towering “granary” and the factory sits a concrete-side tank. although it might be surrounded by iron railings which may have once suggested it to be a place of potential harm and has machinery alongside it which dips the snout of a pipe into it, the waters within it are clear and blue enough to encourage whoever visits to turn it into an outdoor swimming pool, regardless of its former use. Several places to sit have also been established around the island, further suggesting it receives frequent visitors, something backed-up by the RHIB drawn on up one shore, a picnic basket and blanket close by.
Grauland, January 2024
Desolate yet remaining strong hints of life, carrying a sense of mystery among its deserted buildings, this iteration of Grauland has much to say about itself whilst at the same time holding back enough of its history to set the imagination wandering as much as feet might wander through its structures and open spaces.
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed, and are not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the meeting is embedded at the end of this summary, my thanks as always to Pantera for recording the meeting and providing it.
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.
They 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
No SLS Main channel deployment on Tuesday, January 23rd, 2024; the simhosts were all just restarted.
The week #3 attempt to deploy the Fall Colours RC simulator had to be rolled back after it was discovered Debian had accidentally included a bug with the version of the OS used to package the simulator release. It is hoped this will be corrected in order for the simulator update to be deployed on January 24th.
Assuming Fall Colours is successfully deployed, week #5 (commencing Monday, January 29th, 2024) should see it promoted to the Main SLS channel and the Gingerbread RC release reach at least some of the RC channels.
Those wishing to test these functions can do so on Aditi (the Beta Grid) on regions including Mauve, Jigglypuff.
Viewer Updates
No changes at the start of the week, leaving the list of official viewers as:
Release viewer: version 7.1.2.7215179142, formerly the glTF PBR Materials Maintenance RC, issued December 15, promoted January 8, 2024 – numerous bug fixes and improvements – No Change.
glTF PBR Materials Maintenance-2 RC viewer, version 7.1.3.7467259489, issued January 12, 2024.
Maintenance-W RC viewer, version 7.1.3.7453541295, January 9, 2024 – bug and crash fixes.
Maintenance X RC, version 7.1.1.7088410646, December 7 – usability improvements.
Maintenance Y RC, version 6.6.17.6935642049, issued November 21 – My Outfits folder improvements; ability to remove entries from landmark history.
Project viewers:
Puppetry project viewer, version 6.6.12.579958, May 11.
Jira End-of-Road – Reminder
Linden Lab is ending its use of Atlassian Jira for the filing of bug reports and feature request, and is instead moving to Github / Canny. For specifics, please refer to the following:
The new means of filing bug reports / feature requests is via the Canny feedback portal.
Combat Committee User Group
Rider Linden has received the green light to establish this meeting to discuss combat simulation in Second Life, and ways / means to improve what is currently available.
The venue / time / frequency of meetings will be announced at the next SUG meeting.
Game Control Update
A reminder that the game_control event for using game controllers has been removed from the Gingerbread maintenance RC to become its own branch / channel (currently on Aditi (the Beta grid), where it can be found on the regions LeviathanLove and LeviathanLost.
In Brief
In is hoped that work on improving vehicle interactions with parcel ban lines (e.g. stopping them hitting ban lines and getting stuck by having them bounce back) will hopefully be implemented later in 2024. Several Lindens are interested in poking at this.
The above led to an extended conversation on security systems in general – notably those which are intentionally aggressive / used to override ban line limitations (e.g. by preventing overflight of parcels on the Mainland well above the upper limit of ban lines). This conversation touched on:
The tension between people’s right to privacy vs. the natural expectations that when flying over a contiguous world, a freedom of passage should be allowed.
Requests that some form of minimum delay (e.g. 15 secs) be enforced on security systems to prevent unnecessary 0 sec ejection / teleporting those who are innocently passing by a protected parcel.
Providing some means for information on orbs / ban lines / private(/restricted) parcel being passed to the viewer (e.g. to be display on the Mini-Map for the former, and / or UI icon to be displayed when passing over restricted / private parcels with an active security.
Please refer to the video below for more on this.
† 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.
NovaOwl Community Centre & Gallery, January 2024: Susann DeCuir
Open through until late February 2024 within the ground-level main gallery at NovaOwl Community Centre & Gallery operated by ULi Jansma, Ceakay Ballyhoo & Owl Dragonash, is a small but engaging exhibition of images by fellow blogger and Second Life traveller, Susann DeCuir.
Entitled Nature and Animal Impressions from Second Life, this is a modest display of pieces with – as the name suggests – a focus on animals (particularly our feathered friends!) and landscapes. Taken at various locations around Second Life, they images serve to both illustrate Susann’s enthusiasm for the many faces of this digital realm and her richly engaging style of photography.
NovaOwl Community Centre & Gallery, January 2024: Susann DeCuir
It also, if I might say so, provides insight into Susann’s humour and philosophy on life. The former might be found in the captions provided for some of the works, with Attention, this morning… carrying a hint of a Jets and Sharks confrontation to the point where you can almost hear Bernstein’s music in the background, and Owls Tribunal with its quintet of owls sitting atop fence posts like judges at the bench considering Issues Of Import.
The latter – Susann’s outline on life, might be most clearly glimpsed within Don’t Cry Because It’s Over, Smile Because It Happened; a valid philosophy for looking on life, loss and love.
NovaOwl Community Centre & Gallery, January 2024: Susann DeCuir
What I particularly appreciate about Susann’s work is her approach and style. Not only does she have an eye for capturing a scene and an theme or idea, she has a deft approach to processing her images, as she notes herself.
I only use one program for the Second Life photos, the free version of Fotojet. I use it to put the motif in the right light by using some minor effects. Apart from that, everything is shown in its original form as created by the sim designer. I pay particular attention to the fact that I use the region’s own EEP.
– Susann DeCuir
This results in images which are both personal in the message they may carry whilst also giving a richness of depth to her impressions of the places she has visited without betraying the creator’s original intent. All of which makes this a genuinely treat of an exhibition; my only regret with it is that there are not more pieces on display to enjoy!
NovaOwl Community Centre & Gallery, January 2024: Susann DeCuir
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, January 21st, 2024
This summary is generally published every Monday, and is a list of SL viewer / client releases (official and TPV) made during the previous week. When reading it, please note:
It is based on my Current Viewer Releases Page, a list of all Second Life viewers and clients that are in popular use (and of which I am aware), and which are recognised as adhering to the TPV Policy. This page includes comprehensive links to download pages, blog notes, release notes, etc., as well as links to any / all reviews of specific viewers / clients made within this blog.
By its nature, this summary presented here will always be in arrears, please refer to the Current Viewer Release Page for more up-to-date information.
Note that for purposes of length, TPV test viewers, preview / beta viewers / nightly builds are generally not recorded in these summaries.
Official LL Viewers
Release viewer: version 7.1.2.7215179142, formerly the glTF PBR Materials Maintenance RC, issued December 15, promoted January 8th, 2024 – numerous bug fixes and improvements – NEW.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 