Category: Second Life

2018 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, April 1st

This summary is generally published on 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.

Official LL Viewers

  • Current Release version 5.1.2.512803, dated February 23rd, promoted March 1st – formerly the Nalewka Maintenance RC – No Change.
  • Release channel cohorts (please see my notes on manually installing RC viewer versions if you wish to install any release candidate(s) yourself):
  • Project viewers:
    • Bakes on Mesh project viewer, version 5.1.3.513936, March 30.

LL Viewer Resources

Third-party Viewers

V5-style

  • No updates.

V1-style

  • Cool VL Viewer updated as follows: the Stable branch to version 1.26.20.49 and the Experimental version to 1.26.21.16, both on March 31st (release notes).

Mobile / Other Clients

  • No updates.

Additional TPV Resources

Related Links

Sci-fi, parody and dragons 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 at Holly Kai Park, unless otherwise indicated.

Monday, April 2nd 19:00: The Crucible of Time

crucibleGyro Muggins reads the fix-up by John Brunner. First published as two-part story which appeared in Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine, it’s an ambitious tale of alien intelligence which grew to a series of six linked tales pushed as a single novel in 1983.

Far off in space is an alien race which is so much like us, yet so un-alike. From the birth of their earliest civilisation through to their attainment of star flight as their star system passes through the galaxy, we follow their development through the ages.

Aquatic by nature, this race presents some significant challenges well outside the realms of anything encountered by humanity. But they are also driven by all too familiar hopes, fears, desires, needs, wants, prejudices, impact of religious ideologies, and the quest for knowledge we have experienced in the growth of our own civilisation.

Charting six periods of time, each a thousand years after the previous, the six stories focus on the efforts of a group of individuals in each era as they face one or more challenges, their success in overcoming these challenges inevitably leading them towards a greater understanding of their planet’s plight, and ultimately, the ability to deal with that plight and the survival of their civilisation.

Tuesday, April 3rd 19:00: National Lampoon’s Doon

In a distant galaxy, far, far away, a plot is brewing as vast and elaborate as the Empire itself…

Evil powers plot to harvest the wild pools of beer that grow only on the savage, sugar-swept world of Doon, take control of the native pretzel population, and turn the plucky little orb into the lounge-planet of the universe!

And only one man, Pall Agamemnides, heir to a dukedom can stop the  galaxy-wide web of conspiracy and intrigue that is being fomented, and bring an end to the threat facing Soon.

Although reliant on a knowledge of both Frank Herbert’s sprawling story of Dune and Herbert’s often heady and flowery prose, Ellis Weiner’s tongue-in-cheek Doon is a masterpiece, offering a perfect parody of Herbert’s novel and brilliantly and accurately mimicking his prose. 

Wednesday, April 4th 19:00: Merlin’s Dragon

Long ago, at the dawn of Merlin’s world, a strange little creature named Basil appeared. Part lizard, part bat, his eyes glow with a mysterious light.

When Basil discovers a threat to his world and to Merlin, he begins an epic journey that takes him from the Great Tree of Avalon to the outermost edges of the spirit realm. But his boldest journey will be to face his own deepest fears. And only if he survives can he save Merlin – and find his future.

So reads the cover description for The Dragon of Avalon, part of T.A. Barron’s Merlin Saga series, a trilogy of stories within the series charting Basil’s rise from humble beginnings to the greatest dragon of all time, loyal to Merlin and protector of Avalon.

Join Faerie Maven-Pralou as she delves in Barron’s magical realm.

Thursday,  April 5th

19:00: The hunchback of Notre Dame

With Shandon Loring. Also presented in Kitely (hop://grid.kitely.com:8002/Seanchai/144/129/29)

21:00: Seanchai Late Night

Contemporary science fiction with Finn Zeddmore.

 

Please check with the Seanchai Library’s blog for updates and for additions or changes to the week’s schedule.

Art at the Rose Gallery in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Rose Gallery: Shadow (MyShadowSelf)

The Rose Gallery, located at Kaya Angel’s stunning Angel Manor has re-opened its doors with an ensemble exhibition, focused on art and photography by Shadow (MyShadowSelf) and Melodiyaa (aka Aphrodite Pandemos), a display of Fabergé eggs, and which includes a selection of images from curator Shakti Sugafield (Shakti Adored).  The art is displayed over two floors of the Manor, which has a total of seven rooms forming the Rose Gallery.

Melodiyaa is both a writer and a photographer. She has written for a number magazines in the Netherlands, and had always regarded photography as a hobby. However, when writing one article, she found she was without an assigned photographer – so she took along her camera and submitted her own photos with the article. As a result, she found herself in demand as both a writer and a photographer.

The Rose Gallery: Melodiyaa

For the exhibition at the Rose, located in Gallery 1, on the ground floor, six photographs Melodiyaa took whilst in Venice are presented to visitors. It’s a superb selection, mixing familiar sites: a view across the canals with St Mark’s Campanile in the background, gondolas moored along the canals, with more unusual – dare I say intimate studies – the décor on a gondola, the shuttered window of a house, the broken adobe of a wall, exposing the brickwork beneath.

In galleries 3 and 4, also on the ground floor and across the lobby area from Gallery 1, Shadow offers a broad selection of her digital art. She notes that she has little formal training in art, her degree being in philosophy, and that she views her art as meditative; a counter-balance to her mental activity, which often ranges to thoughts of the nature of existence and consciousness, from both scientific and spiritual perspectives.

The Rose Gallery: Shadow (MyShadowSelf)

The art on display spans landscapes, mandala-like pieces, chakras, fantasy-like works and more. some appear to have been grouped thematically. They also show a rich mix of materials and approaches: acrylic, pastel and pencil, mixed media, pastels and coloured pencils; all of which offer the visitor an intriguing insight of the artist and her work.

The upper gallery spaces host a historic display of events from Angel Manor’s past and the selected art from Shakti’s personal collection. These bracket the main exhibition hall, in which is the display of some of the most delicate Fabergé eggs I’ve seen in Second Life, with marvellous models by Pandora (Heloise Ghostaltar), Claire-Sophie de Rocoulle (tjay007), Pamela Galli, and Alia Baroque. Camming in on these is highly recommended, as they are exquisite (see the GIF below). They share the hall with a display of miniature bunnies by Eeky Cioc, Leo Maven and Apple Falls, and are preceded by a short history of the painted eggs.

An interesting ensemble exhibition, with a rich mix of art, my one critique is that it might perhaps be easy to miss the displays of work by Shadow and Melodiyaa, simply because the landing point and signage tends to direct arrivals to the upper floors, and with the ground floor galleries set back on either side, they might easily be missed.

An official opening for the gallery is set for 12:00 noon on Sunday, April 1st, featuring the music of Oblee.

SLurl Details

2018 SL UG updates #13/4: TPVD meeting

Posted on by Inara Pey

Cuivieenen; Inara Pey, February 2018, on FlickrCuivieenen – blog post

The majority of these notes are taken from the TPV Developer meeting held on Friday, March 30th 2018. A video of the meeting is embedded below, my thanks as always to North for recording and providing it. Time stamps in the text below will open the video in a new tab at the relevant point of discussion.

The meeting was reduced to under 15 minutes,with minor topics of discussion taking up the latter half. Please refer to the video for these.

Server Deployment Update

  • The Main (SLS) channel was updated on Tuesday, March 27th, to server release 18#18.03.14.513292, containing the new off-line IM and Abuse Report capabilities (see below).
  • The Magnum and LeTigre RC channels were updated on Wednesday, March 28th with server maintenance package 18#18.03.27.513831, containing internal fixes and the new off-line IM and Abuse Report capabilities (see below).
  • The BlueSteel RC was updated on Thursday, March 29th with server maintenance package 18#18.03.27.513838, comprising internal fixes.

SL Viewers

Viewer Pipeline

Note: At the time of the meeting, the viewer had just been approved for issue, but it wasn’t clear if it would be released before or after the Easter weekend. However, it was in fact issued after the meeting – see below.

[00:24-3:02] At the time of the meeting, the viewer pipelines were as follows:

  • Current Release version 5.1.2.512803, dated February 23, promoted March 1 – formerly the Nalewka Maintenance RC – No change
  • Release channel cohorts:
  • Project viewers:
  • Linux Spur viewer, version 5.0.9.329906, dated November 17, 2017 and promoted to release status 29 November – offered pending a Linux version of the Alex Ivy viewer code.
  • Obsolete platform viewer, version 3.7.28.300847, May 8, 2015 – provided for users on Windows XP and OS X versions below 10.7.

Off-Line and Abuse Reports Capabilities

[0:44-1:36] Two new capabilities are now grid-wide:

  • The new IM cap is to overcome of off-line IMs failing to be delivered when a user logs in. Currently, these are delivered via UDP, whether or not the viewer is ready to receive them. With the new capability (once grid-wide and implemented within the viewer), the viewer will request off-line IMs, which the server will package and deliver to the viewer via HTTP.
  • The new abuse report cap will replace the need for the viewer to have AR categories hard-coded into it. Once fully deployed, and a viewer update released, it will mean the view will request the current list of AR categories from the server when starting up, making the management of the list easier, and hopefully reducing the number of ARs filed under outdated categories.

However, both require further revision, and they require viewer-side updates as well. These should be appearing in the next Maintenance RC viewer issued by the Lab.

Bakes on Mesh Project Viewer

The Bakes on Mesh project viewer, version 5.1.3.513936, was released on Friday, March 30th after the TPV Developer meeting had concluded.

From the release notes (link above):

Bakes on Mesh is a new feature to allow system avatar baked textures to be shown on mesh attachments. Currently you will need a special project viewer to use it. Bakes on Mesh does not depend on simulator code, so it should work in all regions and all grids.

Basic features

  • Any face of a mesh object can be textured using one of the server baked textures.
  • The corresponding region of the system avatar is hidden if an attached mesh is using a baked texture.

Benefits

  • Avoid the need for appliers -> easier customization workflow
  • Avoid the need for onion avatars -> fewer meshes, fewer textures at display time
  • Avoid the need to sell full-perm meshes. You can customize any mesh you have modify permissions for simply by setting the flags and equipping the appropriate wearables.

Avatar wearables are baked into six different textures (BAKE_HEAD, BAKE_UPPER, BAKE_LOWER, BAKE_EYES, BAKE_SKIRT, BAKE_HAIR) by the baking service. You can now apply these textures to your avatar’s object attachments’ diffuse texture slot. Right click on the attachment, click edit and from the edit face menu select textures. Click the diffuse texture icon to open up the texture picker. The texture picker has an extra radio button mode called ‘bake’ for selecting server bakes. The ‘bake’ radio button mode has a drop-down for selecting BAKE_HEAD, BAKE_UPPER, BAKE_LOWER, BAKE_EYES, BAKE_SKIRT, BAKE_HAIR server bake textures. When an attachment is using a baked texture, the corresponding base mesh region of the system avatar is hidden.

If a mesh face is set to show a baked texture but is not attached to an avatar, you will see a default baked texture. If you are using an older viewer without bakes on mesh support, then faces set to show baked textures will also display as the default baked texture, and base mesh regions will not be hidden.

Known Issues

Detaching a mesh object that’s using BAKED_HAIR, does not make the base hair region visible. You have to log back in or teleport again. This will be fixed in next release.

A filter for Bakes on Mesh JIRAs has been created by Whirly Fizzle.

 

This Weekend in Second Life Dance

Posted on by R.

Guerilla Burlesque - Cirque de Nuit - March 28 2018

Hi there. R. Crap Mariner, not just anybody’s Dance Corresponent… your Dance Correspondent. (Marvel insists on my not saying “friendly, neighbourhood” because some kid who throws globs of sticky gunk at criminals has it trademarked.)

Idle Rogue’s Cirque de Nuit opens this weekend. I hope you’ve got your seats booked.

I’ll be posting dance performance schedules, similar to Inara’s posts about Seanchai Library readings. We’ll start with the weekend events for now.

Let’s get started, here’s the events that I had on the calendar as of press time…

(All times SLT)

Friday, March 30 2018

6:00PM Elysium Cabaret

Elysium Cabaret – Welcome to the Weekend!

If it’s Friday, it’s Elysium Cabaret! Fancy some imagination? In The Empire Room at Copperhead Road, every Friday at 6pm SLT the dynamic performers of Elysium Cabaret take the stage to bring you a solid hour of entertainment! Featuring elaborate sets and choreography sequenced to an eclectic genre of music, Elysium Cabaret offers something for everyone. Grab your friends and get their early because the sim fills. Come celebrate Friday! Welcome to the weekend!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Copperhead%20Road/74/64/2754

Elysium Cabaret - March 23 2018

7:00PM Idle Rogue’s Cirque De Nuit

Directed by Blaze DeVivre, with the assistance of Sho Kyong, and produced by chryblnd Scribe, this year’s production will feature new acts, new dancers, new art installations and perhaps a little something we haven’t done before.

Billed as “a steampunk circus in black and white”, Le Cirque de Nuit pays loose homage to The Night Circus, a novel by Erin Morgenstern, which tells the tale of an enchanted circus travelling the globe during the Victorian era. Our production features dance acts with themes of circus, illusion and steampunk, and the strictly black-and-white acts are interspersed by colourful art installations from Second Life artists and musicians.

Oh, and there’s a blog post.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Idle%20Rogue/63/242/3980

Saturday, March 31 2018

1:00PM Elysium Matinee

Elysium Cabaret is thrilled to present a matinée show for your entertainment pleasure, starting at 1pm! Featuring the very “Best Of” the past month’s shows plus special guests! We look forward to sharing our love of music and dance with you!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Copperhead%20Road/74/64/2754

3:00PM Idle Rogue’s Cirque De Nuit

Directed by Blaze DeVivre, with the assistance of Sho Kyong, and produced by chryblnd Scribe, this year’s production will feature new acts, new dancers, new art installations and perhaps a little something we haven’t done before. I’m just throwing this sentence in to see if you’re actually reading, okay?

Billed as “a steampunk circus in black and white”, Le Cirque de Nuit pays loose homage to The Night Circus, a novel by Erin Morgenstern, which tells the tale of an enchanted circus travelling the globe during the Victorian era. Our production features dance acts with themes of circus, illusion and steampunk, and the strictly black-and-white acts are interspersed by colourful art installations from Second Life artists and musicians.

Have you read the blog post?

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Idle%20Rogue/63/242/3980

6:00PM Whymsee Noir

For the Let’s Dance show, we trade in our sets for MORE dancing and LESS wait time between songs! There will be lots of wiggling, dancing, physics, and a little dazzle thrown in for good measure! Dance along with us or have a seat in our comfy chairs, we like it when you watch! No naked avatars, just dancing. Come to the show and see what all the fuss is about!

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Whymsee/96/192/3286

7:00PM Moulin Rouge

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Moulin%20Rouge/172/131/31

7:00PM Idle Rogue’s Cirque De Nuit

Directed by Blaze DeVivre, with the assistance of Sho Kyong, and produced by chryblnd Scribe, this year’s production will feature new acts, new dancers, new art installations and perhaps a little something we haven’t done before.

Billed as “a steampunk circus in black and white”, Le Cirque de Nuit pays loose homage to The Night Circus, a novel by Erin Morgenstern, which tells the tale of an enchanted circus travelling the globe during the Victorian era. Our production features dance acts with themes of circus, illusion and steampunk, and the strictly black-and-white acts are interspersed by colourful art installations from Second Life artists and musicians.

Please, for the love of God, read the blog post.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Idle%20Rogue/63/242/3980

Sunday, April 1 2018

Nope. Nothing at all. Go up to your skybox and clean your inventory… okay, lamest April Fools joke ever.

5:00PM – Winds Of The Sahara

Each Sunday we have a shiny, new show at Winds of the Sahara Theatre. Our dances range from burlesque to performance art and you are sure to be amazed at all of the wonder that sets, costumes and music can create. We’ll put sparkles in your eyes and leave sequins on your shirt collars.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Aladona/124/193/2001

7:00PM Idle Rogue’s Cirque De Nuit

Okay, fine. You don’t love me enough to read the blog post. I get it. I’m okay with it. I’ll find some way to survive.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Idle%20Rogue/63/242/3980

7:00PM The Art Factory

The Art Factory presents: The Greatest Showman! A show about Phineas T Barnum’s start with the circus we know today! This show will leave you inspired to be yourself! We promise to leave you stunned with razzle dazzle and songs that will make you dance in your seat! The show starts at 7pm slt but you may want to come a little early for a seat.

(Short shameful confession: At first, I thought it said “The Greatest Snowman.” I need new glasses.)

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Josina/188/161/22

The Art Factory - March 21 2018

I assume there will be a few more shows this week… folks are just taking their time getting the notices in, finishing up their routines… that sort of thing. I’d prefer to error on the side of caution and just post the ones confirmed at press time.

Check with the Dance Queens event calendar for updates and additions to the weekend’s schedule, as well as the many events that happen during the week. And then, next weekend… something extra-special is happening: The Festival of Saint Put Up Or Shut Up!

So, folks, is this useful? Let me know. Drop me an IM when you get to a show and that you enjoyed it.

Guerilla Burlesque - Cirque de Nuit - March 28 2018

The Ruins of Deepmarsh in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Ruins of Deepmarsh; Inara Pey, March 2018, on FlickrRuins of Deepmarsh – click any image for full size

Update: Ruins of Deepmarsh has closed, SLurls have therefore been removed from this article.

The Ruins of Deepmarsh is a Homestead region designed by River (Moya McCallen) as “a tranquil haven for those looking for an out-of-the-way place to hide for a while, especially with someone special. ”  It’s an open, rather eclectic region in looks, mixing the outdoors with art, places to relax and little curios to discover.

A visit begins at the landing point, a little isle in the midst of a group of islands. A telephone kiosk stands on this little piece of land, watched over by a greyhound and bunny. It forms a teleport system – but only for those who are part of a private group based on the region; for casual visitors, it is the surrounding islands that are open to the public.

Ruins of Deepmarsh; Inara Pey, March 2018, on FlickrRuins of Deepmarsh

These are linked together, for the most part, by a network of bridges which offer a way – at least in part – to explore the landscape. Three radiate out from the landing point itself, and which you take is entirely up to you. To the north sits one of the larger islands. Broad and flat, it is home to a wooden deck built around an oak tree. More bridges link this island with its smaller siblings sitting on the north side of the region, while an old ruins sits atop an off-sim island, watching over all of them.

Curling around to the west, and then running south, the large island breaks into a series of headlands or is inset with little coves, each with its own feature waiting to be discovered. All of them are dominated by the bulk of a large Moon literally rising from the sea; on the headland before it a window frame floats serenely above the ground at the end of bridge (careful when crossing the latter!), offering a pose point from which to take pictures (at midnight, perhaps?) with the moon as a backdrop.

Ruins of Deepmarsh; Inara Pey, March 2018, on FlickrRuins of Deepmarsh

South of the Moon and the old watchtower facing it, the weather becomes wetter. Thunder grumbles and lightning flashes, while an old rowing boat is suspended from telegraph poles rising from the turbulent waters, offering another place to sit, cuddle and / or take photos.

To the east, the weather is fairer, while the islands offer more places for sitting and cuddling, be they on a beach, inside an old cabin build up against a grassy dune, within a cavern reached by yet another bridge, or simply atop a dune. Several are watched over by sculptures by Mistero Hifeng. Elsewhere there are swings and benches upturned boats wedged in place and with cushions and blankets beneath, while gulls pass overhead, critters run through the grass and herons stand like butlers awaiting a summons.

Ruins of Deepmarsh; Inara Pey, March 2018, on FlickrRuins of Deepmarsh

The majority of the landscape is open to the sky, the trees few and scattered, some with backs bent from long years in the wind. However, one of the islands is crowned by a copse of oak tree through which a sandy path leads to another piece of art, a secluded swing next to it.

The eclectic nature of the region comes from things like the telegraph poles and their suspended rowing boat seat, a bridge held above the water by a trio of hot air balloons, the biplane alongside the deck near the landing point, the single island with its touches of Buddhist mysticism – even the landing point’s telephone booth. These also at first seem a little out-of-place among this nesting of islands – but so to do they feel a part of it, adding to the personality of the region.

Ruins of Deepmarsh; Inara Pey, March 2018, on FlickrRuins of Deepmarsh

The Ruins of Deepmarsh – as the description suggests – offers an excellent getaway for those looking for somewhere quiet in which to relax or to hide for a while. Photography is welcome, and the region has a Flickr group for those wishing to submit their images. Should you enjoy your visit, as we did, please consider making a donation towards the region’s upkeep at the landing point.

SLurl Details

  • The Ruins of Deepmarsh (Beck, rated Moderate)