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.
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.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library. As always, all times SLT, and events are held at the Library’s home in Nowhereville, unless otherwise indicated. Note that the schedule below may be subject to change during the week, please refer to the Seanchai Library website for the latest information through the week.
Monday, September 14th: Anything You Can Do
Gyro Muggins reads Randall Garrett’s (writing as “Darrell T. Langart”, one of his many pen-names) story of an alien encounter first published in serial form in 1962.
What do you do when you finally make contact with E.T. after it crash lands on Earth and you find that, unlike Hollywood, it’s not here for reasons of conquest- but that, despite its clear intelligence, it just doesn’t care about the destruction and death it wreaks across a city, because its norms of behaviour are so thoroughly – well, alien – compared to ours, and its sheer power means very little can actually harm it?
Well, you obviously take a man and rebuild him – but not with bionics; rather you do so purely biologically- so that he can match anything the alien can do. But then, when you’ve done so, is your creation still human?
Tuesday, September 15th:
12:00 Noon: Russell Eponym, Live in the Glen
Music, poetry, and stories in a popular weekly session at Ceiluradh Glen.
19:00: Young Jack Sparrow: the Pirate Chase
Shandon Loring presents another chapter from Captain Jack Sparrow saga.
Jack and company are hot on the trail of the notorious pirate Left Foot Louis, who they believe has the Sword of Cortes, but Arabella, the first mate, has a personal score to settle with Louis that could jeopardise the entire mission.
Wednesday, September 16th, 19:00: R is for “Random”
More 100-word stories with R. Dismantled.
Thursday, September 17th, 19:00:Pirates!
Seanchai staff and friends gather in anticipation of International Talk Like a Pirate Day (September 19th), to share stories of salty sea dogs and high seas hi-jinks.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates for the week ending Sunday, September 13th
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
Current release viewer version 6.4.7.546539, dated August 11, promoted August 17, formerly the Arrack Maintenance RC viewer – No Change.
Release channel cohorts:
The Bormotukha Maintenance RC viewer, version 6.4.8.548394, issued on September 8th.
Mesh uploader RC viewer updated to version 6.4.8.548061 on September 8th.
Isolation’s Passengers – click any image for full size
Archetype11 Nova, aka Schmexysbuddy Resident, has been responsible for some of the most evocative / thought-provoking region builds in Second Life. I’ve covered a number of them in these pages – notably his Hotel California builds; his work embraces landscape design and artistic statement, often mixing ideas and sentiment, ideals and imaginings in an eclectic whole that captivates the eye and challenges us to look deeper, think a little harder and take a closer look at what is being offered.
With Isolation’s Passengers, Archetype11 offers what might be his most provocative – and possibly his most personal – region design yet. It occupies a private full region that has the additional Full region LI bonus, although it does not currently make use of the extra land capacity. This additional space – previous builds by Archetype11 / Schmexysbuddy have tended to be on Homestead regions – appears to offer plenty of opportunity for expansion or (perhaps) for multiple environments within the same location.
Isolation’s Passengers
The foundational aspect for this design is that of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic. This is not an uncommon theme within art and region design at present, but with Isolation’s Passengers, Archetype11 offers a different perspective on the pandemic, one which – as noted – touches on the personal for him, as he noted to me whilst I was visiting the region:
It’s intent is the onslaught of 2nd and 3rd order effects of isolation that aren’t readily visible…the invisible passengers of this pandemic. It was inspired by the death of a friend and brother of mine.
The story of that death can be found here, and should be read as a part of a visit to this region, as it helps to frame some of the motifs to be found within it.
Isolation’s Passengers
For those unfamiliar with the concepts of the 2nd and 3rd order effects of isolation, in the 1980s and as a part of studies into the long-term impact of isolation can have on the psyche among groups such as submariners, small teams on long-duration expeditions in the Antarctic and crews aboard the International Space Station. In particular, they noted three distinct reactions to being so isolated, linked to different points in the isolation period.
The first order comes early on, encompassing the initial weeks / months of isolation. It is marked by heightened anxiety, possibly mixed with periods of confusion and panic (think of the early stages of the the pandemic: anxiety over lock-downs, panic buying of toilet rolls, etc.). The second order (sometime referred to as the “sourdough order”) is marked by a sense of routine, possibly edged with a sense of newness / novelty (again, in terms of the pandemic: the novelty of working from home, the formation of a new routine based on self-motivation, etc). And then there is the third order. This is more negative: the dropping of routine as everything blurs into a never-ending whole where days are difficult to separate, and encompasses resentment towards our situation and towards those who are around us (not so much because of who they are but rather because they represent the fact we cannot interact with anyone else), and is a time that can be marked by emotional outbursts, aggressiveness, rowdy or anti-social behaviour.
Isolation’s Passengers
The 3rd order can often include a further emotional response that might appear as contrary to the others listed for it: that of anticipation – the sense that things will soon be over, and life can “get back to normal”, which in turn can lead to further frustration as “the end” doesn’t seem to get any closer, despite the passage of time.
Within Isolation’s Passenger’s we see many motifs representing elements of the second and third order effects of isolation – take the line of large masks with waterfalls falling from one eye: their repetition suggestive of routine; painted bodies suggestive of excitement that the freedom of expression isolation and working from home appears to initially present. Then there is the large clock sitting to one side of the region, representing the dragging passage of time and the resentment it can cause – the reminder of how long its been, and how long, potentially, we may still have to go before things “get back to normal”.
Isolation’s Passengers
But there is more here as well: the personal element of love and loss of a friend beautifully offered through these suggestions of life and death, love and loss through the use of angelic figurines (some partially dismembered), the shrouded busts with their crowns of thorns, the floating bodies under their own shrouds, the great church, the huddled skeletons, the shiny Morgan sports car with its “Just Married” sign and the promise of a bright future, sitting amidst the wreck of several junker cars suggestive of age and decrepitude – and loss.
The layering of images and ideas within this build is compelling in their sheer diversity. Take the line of masks noted above; within them might also be seen the cracking of our daily façades – the faces we present to the the rest of the world that are becoming increasingly redundant in this age of isolation; also to be found within them is the sense of tears offered by the falling water. Between two of them sits the carcass of an ageing ship, an orchestra playing even as pumps fail to keep the water at bay. This is rich in multiple motifs: there’s the idea of trying to carry on as normal in the rising tide of change; the echo of the Titanic and the idea we’re facing the sinking of all that can be normal in an increasingly confusing, isolating world; the hint that despite the current disorder, perhaps normality can return; and then there’s the personal element again: music played in remembrance of a loved one.
Isolation’s Passengers
Poignant, beautifully presented, and watched over by the floating spores of a virus that hang in the sky – a reminder that as per that title of the build – we are all just passengers in the unfolding situation in the world today. Even the region’s core name – Solveig – seems to reflect the intertwined themes presented in the build – Sol and Veig being old Norse words meaning “house” or “hall” (the place where we most commonly have to isolate) and “strength” or “battle” (reflective of the strength we draw on from within in handling the battle we face in moving beyond the 3rd order of isolation).
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.
Now open at L’autre Oeil (“The Other Eye) Gallery, owned and curated by Blaize Nightfire, is the gallery’s September 2020 exhibition entitled Landscapes. This is an ensemble exhibition featuring the work of Sandi Benelli, Charly Keating, Anouk Lefavre, Michael Lysios, Loegan Magic and Charlie Namiboo, who between them are some of Second life’s foremost landscape photographers / artists.
The gallery opened in June 2020, and was founded with a specific focus of promoting the work of artists to others in the Second Life arts community – although that doesn’t prevent admirers of the arts from visiting and appreciating the art on offer.
L’autre Oeil is a gallery for artists who love other artists. To be seen with the other eye, observers who appreciate a different perspective on the world around us.
For this exhibition – my first visit to the gallery (and certainly not my last) – each artist is displaying three pieces of their work, some of which might easily be seen as story-telling triptych of images. Take Charlie Namiboo’s set, for example, the two outer images of plainslands neatly framing the black and white images of a river in what might be a tale of three parts, the two colour images supporting the centre image.
L’autre Oeil: Charlie Namiboo
Although the title of the exhibition is Landscapes, some of the artists have cast their net a little wider. Loegan Magic, for example, offers a richly evocative rooftop scene that is exquisitely composed, predominantly in black a white, but with a wall painting of John Lennon offered in colour, staring from the the lower part of the image in a haunting capture that carries echoes of Imagine in Lennon’s eyes, and also a hint of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Dr. T.J Ekleburg from the Great Gatsby. Similarly, Michael Lysios presents an oriental street scene, whilst Sandi Beneli uses SL landscapes and coastal scenes as a means to frame broader narratives on life and living – from flying a kite to the promise of a car trip. All of these images present additional depth to what is a captivating exhibition.
L’autre Oeil: Blaize Nightfire
Tucked away in the exhibition are three images by Blaize himself, who demonstrates he is no slouch with the camera, offering three images of his own that are as evocative as any of the others in these exhibition.
An attractive ensemble exhibition, well worth dropping by to see.
