Virtual Rhyming is a small, semi-interactive exhibition of Second Life photography and poetry by Sunset Quinnell and Guerreira Xue (Brazilian social media writer Hilda Milk in the physical world), two friends in both the virtual virtual and physical worlds. It features nine images by Sunset flanked on either side by a poem in both Portuguese and in English by Guerreira.
I took the photos in different locations in Second Life, then sent them to Guerreira so she could see them fresh and be inspired to write about them.
– Sunset Quinnell, describing the process behind the exhibition
Virtual Rhyming, November 2019
The nine images with their accompanying poems are grouped into set of three, with one set focused on NevaCrystall’s Borneo; one set on Kekeland – Bardeco by Terry Fotherington and Bridget Genna and, between them, a triplet of pieces focused on the arts, and featuring pieces by Bryn Oh, Cherry Managa and Kicca Igally and Nessuno Myoo.
The approach of Sunset taking the photos and sending them to Guerreira, rather than them both visiting the locations together, perhaps gives the poems an extra level of sensitivity, approaching as they do each piece not just in terms of interpreting the scene presented, but possibly Sunset’s mood in taking the pictures. Thus, there is something of a personal sensitivity present in both words and images.
Virtual Rhyming, November 2019
For those who are curious, seven the pieces have interactive elements: just click on the sign below them and follow the instructions that come up in local chat (in both Portuguese and English). These offer a mix of activities intended for a little fun, rather than necessarily adding to the interpretation for the image / poem.
Fusion is a Full region that features an urban setting of distinctly Japanese looks, complete with some stunning wall paintings which are, I believe, also Elizabeth’s own work. Located on a sky platform, the setting is a lot smaller than the area for a region, but there is a lot packed into it to keep visitors engaged.
Fusion, November 2019
Such is the size of build, a blow-by-blow description is perhaps overkill; from the landing point, situated within a concrete block of a building that offers the opportunity to join the local group (L$500 fee, rezzing rights granted), it is easy to find one’s way around the town, given the buildings are set around a series of small roads.
Which is not to say there is nothing to see; this is a place where attention to detail has produced a setting worth taking the time to appreciate.
Fusion, November 2019
Take, for example the marketplace just outside of the landing point building. Offering multiple food outlets, it points the way to a sake bar with adult overtones, but which also offers a place to sit. Eastwards, across a central square bounded on two sides by apartment houses is a school with furnished classrooms, playground and general facilities.
To the west, the town gives way to a ribbon of countryside sitting between buildings and cliff-like surround. This offers a haven of peace from the possible hustle of the city. Water tumbles from the north end of this reach, feeding a stream that flows rapidly south to enter a large pool. With a opportunity to fish and places to sit and appreciate the view. it offers a place of sanctuary typical of many a town or city environment, giving Fusion a further sense of reality.
Fusion, November 2019
With plenty of opportunities for avatar photography, Fusion makes for an engaging visit that does not over-tax one system, but offers opportunities for discovery, all wrapped in a gentle sound scape. Recommended.
Regarding BUG-227179 “All off-line inventory offers from scripted objects are STILL lost”. As per the notes below, this was believed fixed in the Wassail RC viewer. Testing has confirmed the issue hasn’t been fixed, and can be more confusing – see BUG-227901.
Following the discussion about the error message, “Wire Chewed By Rabbit”, April Linden offered the following explanation via the forums:
/me raises her paw!
Soooo, uh, I was working on some server code a few years ago, and figured “no one’s gonna see this anyhow, so I’m gonna have some fun with it!” hehehe. 😝
You never know where the GridBuns might be lurking…!
Although she admits why the error surfaced with regards to Singularity is a bit of a mystery.
There was no update to the Main SLS channel on Tuesday, November 19th, leaving it on server release 2019-11-01T18:02:37.532376, previously deployed to an RC and comprising: internal script improvements. internal logging changes and improvements to simulator state saves, which should make rolls smoother.
On Wednesday, November 20th, there will be a maintenance update to RC servers: 2019-11-15T21:13:13.532828, comprising:
Improves crash detection during shut-down
Fixes some race conditions with LSL scripts that could cause them to handle the same event more than once during a roll.
Includes updates to improve simulator security.
An SLS deployment had been planned for the Main channel, however, at the meeting, Simon Linden noted:
We didn’t have an update this morning as we found an issue preventing the RC code from going forward. It isn’t anything visible or buggy from your point of view, but was about some internal data routing. To be on the safe side, we decided to get that sorted out first.
SL Viewer
There have been no updates to the current SL viewer pipelines, leaving them as follows:
Current Release version 6.3.4.532299, formerly the Ordered Shutdown RC viewer, dated November 4, – NEW.
Release channel cohorts:
Maintenance RC viewer, version 6.3.5.532739, November 15.
Love Me Render RC viewer, version 6.3.4.532273, October 31.
Project viewers:
Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.532780, November 15.
Project Muscadine (Animesh follow-on) project viewer, version 6.4.0.531949, October 28.
Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.3.2.530836, September 17. Covers the re-integration of Viewer Profiles.
360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.2.4.529111, July 16.
In Brief
Simulator Deployments Causing Script Issues? -There have been reports that recent simulator deployments are causing running scripts to be reset when regions come back up, rather than being restored to their previous state. Potential issues linked to this – impacting breedables – are indicated as being BUG-227688 and BUG-227897. As far as the Lab is aware, there have been no back-end changes that would cause such script issues.
BUG-227179 “All off-line inventory offers from scripted objects are STILL lost” – it is believed that a fix for this is in the Wassail release candidate viewer (if not recorded in the release notes) – tests are being made to verify whether this is the case or not.
Error message: “Wire Chewed By Rabbit” in log files following log-in with missing textures / time-outs – this appears to be an issue specific to the Singularity viewer, and believed fixed in the most recent nightly / alpha / beta builds. If you are on Singularity and encounter it when examining your viewer log files as a result of texture load issues, please file a report with the Singularity team.
They do so by bringing together artists, galleries, event organisers, musicians and speakers in a multi-faceted, art-centric season intended to focus on the levels of physical, sexual and psychological violence that are specifically directed towards women and girls around the globe, and raise awareness of the need to put an end to what is one of the most widespread, persistent and devastating human rights violations in our world today.
Some of the facts surrounding violence against women are horrifying:
1 in 3 women and girls experience physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, most frequently by an intimate partner.
1 in 2 women killed worldwide were killed by their partners or family in 2012; while only 1 out of 20 men were killed under similar circumstances.
Only 52% of women married or in a union freely make their own decisions about sexual relations, contraceptive use and health care.
Worldwide, almost 750 million women and girls alive today were married before their 18th birthday, and often in force / arranged marriages, including in countries such as the United States where between 2000 and 2010, more than 167,000 children — almost all of them girls, some as young 12 — were married in 38 states, mostly to men 18 or older.
200 million women and girls have undergone female genital mutilation (FGM).
71% of all human trafficking victims worldwide are women and girls, and 3 out of 4 of these women and girls are sexually exploited.
In the past, the 2Lei exhibitions for November had tended to be focused on a full region installation at the Linden Endowment for the Arts. However, this year, 2Lei is presenting a range of exhibitions across the grid – something that is allowing a far greater cross-section of artists to participate. In all, seven separate galleries are hosting 2Lei exhibitions, featuring around fifty 2D and 3D artists.
Listing all fifty participating artists here would be somewhat tedious for those reading this article. Fortunately, the event is supported by detailed note cards, one of which provides a breakdown of artists by location, and which includes landmarks both to each of the participating galleries and directly to individual art displays.
To further assist getting around, 2Lei provide a teleport HUD that will page you through galleries and artists. Clicking on the HUD when displaying a specific artist / gallery will open the World Map, allowing you to teleport directly to them. Both the HUD and the note card of locations / artists makes visits to exhibits through the various locations exceptionally easy.
Also provided is a note card listing all of the associated events throughout November and December, which includes music events, special openings of specific exhibitions, plus talks and discussions on the subject of violence against women and girls. These will take place at Black Label Exhibition Corner and urban city as follows (all times SLT):
Tuesday, November 19th, 22.00 – 01.00: Meeting with Flavia Solo, author of From Dream to Fear, with Arcantes Moyet and Jos Bookmite.
Thursday, November 21st 22.00 – 01.00: Red code and feminicide crime– Word to the lawyer, with Rosanna Zabelin and Ortensia Zahm
Monday, November 25th 22.00 – 01.00: – The work of anti-violence centres, a meeting featuring Grazia Rossi with Ortensia Zahm and Kristine Blackadder.
The overall length of the 2019 2Lei No Violence season means that there is plenty of time to visit all of the participating gallery spaces and witnessing the art and / or joining with events. With all things being equal, I hope to return to some of the exhibitions over the duration of season and provide a more detailed look at them.
In the meantime, I do urge people to take the time to appreciate the extraordinary art on offer, and absorb the messages against violence they contain.
Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates for the week ending Sunday, November 17th
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 6.3.4.532299, formerly the Ordered Shutdown RC viewer, dated November 4th, – NEW.
Release channel cohorts:
Maintenance RC viewer, version 6.3.5.532739, November 15th.
Project viewers:
Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.532780, November 15th.
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 at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.
Monday, November 18th 19:00: Teacher’s Pet / War and Peace
Gyro Muggins returns to Larry Niven’s Known Space universe and the Man-Kzin Wars series to bring us two short stories from that series written by Matthew Joseph Harrington, and which appeared in the Man-Kzin volume 11 (edited by Niven), first published in 2005.
Set after the end of the war, the stories within Man-Kzin XI are predominantly set during a period where the Kzin are down (but not necessarily out) and having to adapt to no longer being the masters of all races they encounter, and are in roughly chronological order.
The two stories by Harrington follow the trio by established writer Hal Colebatch, and marked his début as a published author at the age of 35. They are regarded by many as being strong studies in the Man-Kzin lore, whilst also drawing on other literary sci-fi sources. The stories are also noted for Harrington’s ability to round-out a number of “loose ends” within the Man-Kin wars as well as offering new slants on the broader carves of Niven’s Known Space universe.
Both stories use a play on words in their titles, with War and Peace doing so both in the manner it reflects the period of peace following war, and also for the way it focuses on the life and work of Peace Corben, a human female Protector, who returns in Harrington’s sequel story, Peace and Freedom, published in the 2009 volume Man Kzin Wars XII.
Tuesday, November 19th 19:00: What’s Cookin’?
A favourite food stories and recipe exchange with Caledonia Skytower and friends. This week Cale shares the P.G. Wodehouse story “Best Sauce.” All are welcomed to bring some of their favourite recipes to share, on note card.
Wednesday, November 20th 19:00 Spirit of Steamboat
Kayden Oconnell returns to the tales of sheriff Walt Longmire, reading the ninth volume of Craig Johnson’s tales about his laconic US Marine-turned-lawman protagonist.
It’s Christmas Eve, and Longmire is reading A Christmas Carol in his office when he is visited by a ghost of Christmas past: a young woman with a scar across her forehead. He doesn’t recognise her, but she clearly knows him and his predecessor, sheriff Lucian Connally, under whom Longmire started his career as a deputy sheriff in 1972.
His interest aroused, Longmire takes the the young woman to see Connally, now a resident at an Assisted Living Home. But Connally, a former US Army Air Force pilot who flew B-25 Mitchell bombers in the Second World War, fails to recognise her. This is in some ways hardly surprising, given Connally’s frequently inebriated state.
Disappointed at the two men’s reaction, the young woman whispers a single word, “Steamboat”. In doing so, she embarks on a tale that tales Longmire and Connally back to Christmas Eve 1988, when Longmire had been a deputy sheriff just two months. The holiday season had brought with it a record-breaking blizzard – and a road accident that left Longmire and the (again inebriated) Connally with no choice but to pull a B-25 out of mothballs and make a dangerous flight through the blizzard to Denver, Colorado, in order to save a life.
Thursday, November 21st 19:00 An Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving
Louisa May Alcott is best known for her novel Little Women (1868), a semi-autobiographical account of her childhood years with her sisters in Concord, Massachusetts. However, she also penned numerous short stories, particularly for children, and an Old-Fashioned Thanksgiving is one of them.
It’s Thanksgiving Day, and the Bassett family’s kitchen is in the midsts of preparations for a traditional dinner. But things go awry when news comes that Mrs. Bassett’s mother is ill, so Mrs Bassett and Mr. Bassett are forced to take the sleigh and attend to her. This leaves the children, led by Tilly, to complete the preparations for the dinner, and Tilly is determined to have everything ready for her parents’ return.
However, cooking a major meal unsupervised is more of a challenge than the children imaged, and soon the kitchen is filled with an assortment of smells, some of them a little odd. And then Mr. and Mrs. Bassett return – bringing with them grandma and several other guests they have invited to dinner…
With Shandon Loring. Also in Kitely – find teleport from the main Seanchai World grid.kitely.com:8002:SEANCHAI.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 