Category: Second Life

2020 Simulator User Group week #14 summary

Posted on by Inara Pey
Villa Eirini, Calas Galadhon, February 2020 – blog post

The following notes were taken at the Simulator User Group meeting held on Tuesday, March 31st.

Simulator Deployments

Please refer to the simulator deployment thread for updates.

llTargetedEmail() Concerns

The llTargetedEmail() function has caused concern among users, partially due to a lack of any forewarning to users.  Specific concerns that have been raised since the deployment thread was published, with concerns such as the following being raised:

Example then. If someone make 10 alts, then get an item created by me that is modifiable (from Marketplace for example) and drop a script with TARGETED_EMAIL_ROOT_CREATOR in it that sends mails in loop… Even with 20 seconds delay that’s 3 emails per minute. 180 emails per hour. Per user. With 10 alts it’s almost 2000 messages per hour on my mailbox. Because owner of said alts can spam my mailbox via Lab’s servers without even knowing my SL-only email address for getting emails from grid.

In response to seeing these issues, Oz Linden stated at the SUG meeting:

That function was added as part of an ongoing effort to clean up how we send emails from SL… we wanted a way to send some of the emails that creators might want without having to have people put email addresses into scripts. It sends to whatever address you’ve verified. The concerns about the ROOT_CREATOR version are being discussed; exactly what we’ll do about that remains to be seen, but we’ll try hard to make it difficult to abuse.

In Brief

  • BUG-228399 “Script deletion disables vehicle controls until re-rez” appears to be an issue arising from a recent simulator update. The cause for the problem isn’t currently known, but the report has been imported by the Lab to their internal Jira for investigation.
  • BUG-228405 “Residents attempting to log into any region which use an SL Experience for access (Key Experience) get sent to welcome hub despite having allowed the SL Experience”. This appears to be the result of a region /parcel with access control via an experience removing an avatar that is being logged-in prior to all of the avatar’s data (including its permission to be in the region / parcel) having loaded – thus causing the region to assume avatar is not supposed to be there. It is an issue known to the Lab.

Previewing Lab Gab 20: cloud uplift and engineering

Posted on by Inara Pey
via Linden Lab

The 20th edition of Lab Gab will be live streamed on Friday, April 3rd at 10:00 SLT (18:00 UK; 19:00 CET). For those who have not seen the official blog post about it, the segment will feature members of the Second Life Engineering team: Oz Linden, April Linden and Ekim Linden.

Oz Linden is the Lab’s Vice President of Engineering and a member of the company’s management team. Together with Grumpity Linden and Patch Linden, he is responsible for SL’s technical and operational directions. He specifically overseas the Lab’s engineering teams to manage all aspects of the Lab’s server environment (hardware and software) and the teams engaged in all aspects of viewer development and testing.

April Linden has become familiar to many SL residents for her honest and informative blog posts explaining what happened and how things were fixed when Second Life suffers a significant system upset and / or outage. As the Lab’s Systems Engineering Manager, she particularly coordinates and manages all aspects of the Lab’s server operations, including dealing with the third-party teams who physically care for the Lab’s hardware at its data co-location centre.

Ekim Linden is the Lab’s Director of Web Engineering, as manages the engineering team directly responsible for the Lab’s web properties (such as the Marketplace, the secondlife.com website, etc).

Ekim Linden (l), Oz Linden and April Linden (r) on the Lab Gab set. Credit: Linden Lab

All three are responsible for managing and coordinating the extensive work in transitioning all of the Lab’s services from their dedicated hardware and infrastructure and to recognised cloud services operated by Amazon (AWS) and Google. As such, they are appearing on Lab Gab to talk about this work – which the Lab refers to as the Cloud Uplift – although doubtless, other subjects will come up for discussion.

If you have a question you’d like to put to Oz, April or Ekim (or all of them), particularly on the uplift, make sure you submit it via the Lab Gab Google form.

As usual, the programme will be streamed via YouTube, Facebook, Mixer, or Periscope, and if all goes according to plan, I’ll have a summary of the video (and the video itself) available soon after the the broadcast, for those unable to watch live.

Men in Focus: April 2020 edition in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

 

Men In Focus, April 2020

Men in Focus, the gallery owned and sponsored by Men in Motion in support of the Movember Foundation (donations to which are accepted at the entrance to the gallery) and curated by JMB Balogh, will launch its latest ensemble exhibition on April 1st, 2020.

As I’ve previously noted in writing about Men in Focus, it is something of a unique location in that it focuses solely on male avatar studies and art my male artists in Second life, featuring art from invited artists and by members of the Men in Motion group. For this exhibition, the gallery features as 2D guest artists AlCyan, BanagherLinks, Patrick Ireland and Hobbit Zenfold; and 3D artists Reycharles, Harry Cover (ImpossibleIsNotFrench), Mistero Hifeng and Luc Lameth.

Men In Focus: Patrick Ireland

The range of art offered is once again impressive, each of the 2D artists utilising rich styles and approaches. On the ground floor, Patrick Ireland offers a fabulous series of images that run from self-portraits through social commentary and historical settings to provocative pokes at our imaginations, and reflections of popular culture, all wrapped within pieces that carry their own stories.

On the floor above, Hobbit Zenfold – an artist I’ve not previously encountered – offers a range of pieces that might be more closely focused as self-portraits, but which are equally rich in narrative, with several offering a fantasy or fashion element to them. A link in the form of face paint from both Hobbit and Patrick coincidentally flows between their individual exhibit spaces, the pieces containing it also offering an echo of cinematic wickedness.

Men in Focus, April 2020: Hobbit Zenfold

Above Hobbit, on the next two floors, AlCyan and BanagherLinks offer expressions of their Second Lives as avatars and photographers, each constraining his display to colour images that have depth and narrative before they in turn give way to pieces by members of Men in Motion on the upper floors of the gallery.

Spread between the floors are the 3D pieces by Harry, Mistero, Reycharles and Luc Lameth – the latter of whom I’ve also not previously encountered, and I found his Autumn Fairies selection a unique and charming turn in presenting fae folk (whom are so often presented in the female form), while his Shaolin Buddy (a play on Buddha) figurines are utterly charming – as is Harry Cover’s Nuts and Bolts Band.

Men in Focus, April 2020: Luc Lameth

April is Testicular Cancer Awareness Month, and Men in Focus is raising awareness of the disease, including how to self-test for possible signs of the disease through s series of information boards at the gallery’s landing space. Given that testicular cancer tends to be very prevalent among men of younger age ranges than we perhaps tend to associated with cancer (15-49 being the common age range), these boards are very much worth taking time to read if you are male.

Another excellent exhibition at Men in Focus, carrying with it a focused aim. The formal opening will be held between 18:00-20:00 SLT on April 1st, 2020, although the exhibition is already open for preview.

Men in Focus, April 2020: AlCyan an BanagherLinks

SLurl Details

2020 viewer release summaries week #13

Posted on by Inara Pey
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation

Updates for the week ending Sunday, March 29th

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 version  version 6.3.8.538264, dated March 12, promoted March 18th. Formerly the Premium RC viewer – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts:
    • Camera Presets RC viewer updated to version 6.3.9.538729 on March 25th.
    • Love Me Render RC viewer updated to version 6.3.9.538760 on March 25th.
  • Project viewers:
    • No updates.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V6-style

  • No updates.

V1-style

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Adventures in strange worlds with Seanchai Library in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Seanchai Library

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 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, March 30th 19:00: The Ugly Little Boy

Gyro Muggins reads a tale that started life as a short story by Isaac Asimov, and was later expanded into a full length novel by Asimov writing in collaboration with Robert Silverberg.

A 21st century time travel experiment results in a Neanderthal boy being pulled from his time. The intention is to study the boy and understand how his kind lived. However because of the potential for time paradoxes, the boy must be kept in a within a stasis module, a place physically separated from modern time; but he must still be cared for. So the company behind the experiment hires a children’s nurse, Edith Fellowes, to look after him

Initially horrified by the child, Edith comes to forms a bond with him, discovering he is intelligent and capable of both learning and love. However, to Stasis – the company behind the experiment – the boy is little more than a commodity to be observed and with a story to be sold to the media. As such, he is only of value for as long as there is public interest in his story. When that fades, the company determines the child must be returned to his own time, his place to be taken by a subject from another era. But Edith knows that, thanks to all she has taught him, his own time is no longer a place he is equipped to survive within, and determines she must take action to protect him.

Tuesday, March 31st 19:00: Dream in the Sand

With Ktadhn Vesuvino.

Wednesday, April 1st, 19:00: The Phantom Tollbooth

Finn Zeddmore reads Norton Juster’s fantasy adventure for younger readers.

For Milo, everything is a bore and all activities little more than a waste of time. Then one day he arrives home in his usual state of disinterest, only to find a package waiting for him. He has no idea where it has come from or who might have sent it, but is clearly intended for him, given the label. Opening it, he discovers a small tollbooth and a map of “the Lands Beyond,” illustrating the Kingdom of Wisdom.

Reading the limited instructions – that warn him to have a destination from the map in mind – and thinking the package to be some kind of game, he sets the tollbooth up, decides Dictionopolis should be his destination, and propels the accompanying little car through the tollbooth.

Immediately he finds himself driving an actual car through a city that is clearly not his own. Here he discovers he must remain focused, lest his thoughts wander, and his journey wanders as well; a lesson he only discovers when he does daydream and finds himself in the Doldrums.

Also as he travels and meets new friends, so he also realises something else: life is far from boring or dull; it actually offers much to be discovered.

Thursday, April 2nd: Real Challenge

Shandon Loring reads USA Today’s best-selling author Anthea Sharp‘s 2019 short story set within her science fiction / fantasy Feyland series that has been described as “Ready Player One with faeries.”

Spark Jaxley may appear to have the life of a superstar gamer, but she’s actually among an elite group of guardians who carry a secret and a burden as they engage in an unseen confrontation unseen and unknown to the world at large. The Realm of Faerie exists, and its dark magic is desperate for a foothold in our mortal realm.

In Real Challenge, first published in 2019 as a part of the the anthology of gaming stories Game On: A Gamelit Anthology, Spark has made it to the gaming world championships, ready to give her all in a competition where the stakes are high  and the gaming fierce.

But sometimes the true challenge isn’t what you think; for Spark, it means her entire future is riding on the outcome – will she make the right choice?

Also in Kitely – grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI).

Zia and Melu at Sisi’s Gallery in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Sisi Biedermann’s Gallery: Melusina Parkin

I’m reporting this a little late, given that both exhibitions only have a few more days to run, but currently on display in the featured artists sections of Sisi Biedermann’s Gallery are Melusina Parkin and Zia Sophia (Zia Branner), who will be at the gallery until the end of the month, so there really is only a couple of days left in which to see them!

Melusina Parkin really needs no introduction to readers of this blog; I’m an admitted admirer of her work, which I’ve featured in these pages on numerous occasions. Within her space at Sisi’s, she offers Journeys, another utterly engaging take on Second Life, the places it offers and their innate beauty.

Sisi Biedermann’s Gallery: Zia Branner

Melu’s eye for angle, depth, composition and detail always presents chances to see Second Life in a new way and / or light. Rather than focusing on the whole to tell a story, she discovers the part that perhaps utters only a single line: the curve and rise of a paved footpath as it winds between cresting undulations of flowers before it vanishes over a low rise; the silhouette of a lighthouse caught between the branches of a thicket as the Sun dips between the coastal hills beyond; a tree dipping branches into the sea as if testing the temperature of the water…

All these, and the rest of the images in Journeys form whisperings that are just enough for the imagination to create an entire world around them. At the same time, there is a rich impression of openness and space present within each piece that truly gives us room to breathe, to feel a sense freedom – something that in the current climate of having to stay at home and away from the rest of the world, can be refreshing and uplifting.

Sisi Biedermann’s Gallery: Melusina Parkin

Zia Branner is an artist in the physical world who uses paints with acrylics and use a variety of structure material – paste, gel, sand, glue, bandages and paper – together with oil crayons and acrylic ink, to accentuate elements with her pieces. Canvas is her preferred medium, although she also uses wood and paper, and while she has had formal art teaching, she is also autodidact, learning techniques and approaches whilst experimenting with art.

For her exhibition at Sisi’s, Zia offers an impressive portfolio of her art, from sweeping landscapes that encompass coastal scenes and rolling dunes to charcoal-like sketches of flowers and more abstracted pieces that use colour and line to capture the attention and hold the eye.

There is a vitality about each of these pieces, be it as a result of the sweep, turn, and mix of colour in some or the tactile sense of texturing visible in others, that truly brings them to life, perfectly echoing Zia’s view that “making art is rebellion against the finality of mankind”.

Sisi Biedermann’s Gallery: Zia Branner

As always, the floors of the gallery above the featured artists spaces are home to Sisi’s own remarkable and utterly captivating work. Having started painting in acrylics in the early 2000s, Sisi has developed her technique to encompass a range of styles and approaches, from painting to mix media and digital collages to Second Life photography, whilst encompassing a wide range of genres – fantasy, wildlife, portrait, landscape and so on. It is not hyperbole when I say her work is genuinely second-to-none for its sheer beauty and richness of expression.

Located just outside of the gallery is a broad glass-like spiral stairway leading up to the Artists United Gallery, were pieces by the likes of Rage Darkstone, TerraMerhyem, Nils Urqhart, Layachi Ihnen, Milly Sharple and more are offered in a richly eclectic and engaging exhibition that adds further depth to a visit to the gallery.

Sisi Biedermann’s Gallery: Sisi Biedermann

SLurl Details