Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week through to Sunday, November 6th, 2022
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 6.6.7.576223 – MFA and TOS hotfix viewer – November 1 – NEW.
Release channel cohorts::
VS 2022 release candidate (uses Visual Studio in the Windows build tool chain), version 6.6.8.576310, issued November 4.
Maintenance P (Preferences, Position and Paste) RC viewer updated to version 6.6.8.576321, November 3rd.
Project viewers:
glTF / PBR Materials project viewer, version 7.0.0.576331, issued November 3rd.
This viewer will only function on the following Aditi (beta grid) regions: Materials1; Materials Adult and Rumpus Room 1 through 4.
Once, in the days of yore in Second Life, Scottie Menges set out to build a place of romance with a sense of antiquity and – for those with the interest – of learning. Originally built entirely using prims in 2009, The Pillars of Hercules remained open for over five years as a place of exploration, meditation, dance, and photography, before closing its doors in late 2014.
Now the build is back; Scottie has spent around 10 months rebuilding a new Pillars of Hercules, one which retains much of the feel of the later iterations of the original as well as utilising newer designs for the likes of the great temple and adding a sprinkling of mesh elements in terms of some of the statues and some of the landscaping elements, and the setting opened to the public once more on November 4th 2022.
The Pillars of Hercules, November 2022
According to legend, the original Pillars of Hercules were the promontories of Calpe Mons and Abila Mons, said to flank the entrance to the Mediterranean Sea from the Atlantic. They marked the furthest west Hercules travelled whilst completing his twelve labours (as wrapped into both the Greek and Roman myths of Heracles / Hercules). Here the name might be seen of representing the fact that Scottie’s build wraps within it elements of both Greek and Roman mythology – including Heracles / Hercules himself, with the largest structure on the region raised as temple to him.
As with the original, the best place from which to start a tour of the region is at the southern harbour, which forms the main landing point. Here visitors can find a map of the new build, which includes direct teleports to the places indicated on the map. However, I would – in keeping with the signage – recommend exploring on foot before hoping around via teleport (or flying – some of the more remote locations may required visitors take to the air.
The Pillars of Hercules, November 2022
Also available at the harbour are boat and flying tours of the region – the former located alongside the landing point, and the latter on the far side of the harbour, where a pictorial history of both The Pillars of Hercules and Scottie’s other Second Life works can be found.
Exploring on foot will allow visitors to discover the more historical elements in the region – such as the reproductions of famous statues from Greco-Romano history – and the more hidden places within the build – such as the walk down into Hades and across the River Styx – just beware of the Gorgon who lies in wait; or the hidden way to the Underhill Library from the water garden (and vice-versa). Signage throughout offers the opportunity for visitors to learn about Greco-Romano mythology, such as the Greek god Astraeus or Hermes / Mercury, and touch briefly on the legend of Apollo.
Throughout all of this – and in keeping with the style of the original – are multiple poseballs offering places to sit and places to float. More modern sit points and places to dance also await discovery – both above ground and under water., whilst for amateur astronomers like me (and those interested in cosmology, the Tower of Astraeus is well worth the climb (or the TP…), as the uppermost floor presents a unique planetarium-style environment – and do be sure to sit at the telescope and switch to Mouselook; and I look forward to seeing what else Scottie has planned for these parts of the build.
Rightly “old school” in looks, the return of The Pillars of Hercules to Second Life is both a welcome harkening back to the first decade of the platform’s life, and the times when prims (and in-world individual and collaborative building) ruled the roost, and also a reminder of how awkward morphing the terrain mesh could be when trying to landscape large differences in elevation – and how easier things are today thanks to rigid mesh landforms, and items such as mesh rock formations, etc.
The Pillars of Hercules, November 2022
Rich in substance and history – both in terms of the human history it enfolds and in terms of the SL history it represents, The Pillars of Hercules makes for an engaging visit.
It’s time to highlight another week of storytelling in Voice by the staff and volunteers at the Seanchai Library – and this week previews the launch of a very special event.
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, November 7th: That Hell-Bound Train
Martin, an out-of-luck orphan, struggles to fulfil the American dream – but fate conspires against him at every turn.
On the verge of giving up hope, our young protagonist is visited by a monstrous train, one whose conductor might just have a ticket to fame and riches… if Martin is willing to pay the price!
Join Gyro Muggins as he reads this classic short story.
A rendering of the Chinese Tiangong space station as it appeared immediately following the Mengtian science module’s arrival. From left to right: The Mengtian module attached to the axial port of the Tinahe-1 docking hub; Centre: the Wengtian science module attached to the starboard port of the hub. Centre right: the Tianhe-1 core module with the Tianzhou 4 resupply vehicle docked against its after port. Just visible and extending away from the nadir port of the docking hub, centre, is the Shenzhou 14 crew vehicle. Credit: CMSA
China has completed all major construction activities with its Tiangong space station following the arrival of the ~20 tonne Mengtian laboratory module at the station. Launched at 07:37 UTC on Monday, 31st October, 2022, the module arrived at the space station 13 hours later, completing an automated docking with the axial port on the station’s docking hub, the docking overseen by the current crew on three on the station – Chen Dong, Liu Yang and Cai Xuzhe.
Following this, on November 3rd, ground personnel used the docking manipulator on the module to literally grapple itself around to the hub’s portside docking ring. once a hard dock and pressurisation of the inter-module area had been confirmed, the hatches were undogged and the crew entered the module to commence preparing it for operations.
Next up for the station is the flight of the Tianzhou 5 automated resupply vehicle, due to launch on a Long March 7 rocket on November 12th. This will deliver additional supplies to the station ahead of the handover of the station from the Tianzhou 14 crew to the Tianzhou 15 crew, which is due to take place before the end of 2022.
A rendering of Tiangong as it now appears: to the left, and “pointing towards Earth” is the Wengtian science module; Shenzhou 14 can be seen docked at the nadir port on the docking hub, and Mengtian is in the foreground, forming the station’s T-bar with Wengtian. Extending back from the docking hub is the Tianhe-1 core module and the Tianazhou 4 resupply vehicle. Credit: CMSA
This was not the end of the story for this launch however; on Friday, November 4th, the core stage of the Long March 5B rocket made an uncontrolled re-entry into the atmosphere. As I noted in my previous Space Sunday update, China has cavalier attitude towards large parts of its Long March core stages surviving re-entry to potentially fall on a populated area. In this case, the final track of the booster core saw it passing over numerous population centres in southern Europe and the Middle East, including Lisbon in Portugal, Barcelona and Madrid in Spain, Marseille in France, and Rome in Italy. As a result, emergency services were on alert, and an air safety notice was issued, closing EU airspace along the track of booster against the risk of smaller debris striking airliners and cargo aircraft.
Tracked by the US Space Force and EU Space Surveillance and Tracking (EUSST), the booster eventually re-entered the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean, the remnants falling into the seas there without incident. The re-entry of this vehicle means the core stages of the Long March 5B account for 4 of the six largest objects making uncontrolled re-entries; only the U.S Skylab (1979; ~77 tonnes) and the Soviet Union’s Salyut 7 (1991; ~40 tonnes), are the only higher mass events.
Artemis 1 Back on the Pad; Artemis 4 Regains Lunar Landing
NASA’s Artemis 1 mission, featuring the first launch of the space agency’s massive Space Launch System (SLS) rocket has returned to the launch pad at Kennedy Space Centre.
The vehicle, which is due to launch an uncrewed Orion vehicle to cislunar space, has seen numerous issues and delays in making its maiden flight, and was most recently held-up by the arrival of hurricane / tropical storm Ian in late September. The roll-out to Launch Complex 39B on November 4th marked the fourth (and hopefully last) trip back to the pad, departing the Vehicle Assembly Building at 04:00 UTC, and reaching the pad 8.5 hours later. Following arrival, work immediately began integrating the mobile launch platform on which the vehicle sits into the the pad systems in readiness for the next launch attempt.
A unique fisheye lens view of the Artemis 1 mission SLS vehicle moving out of the Vehicle Assembly Building, Kennedy Space Centre, at the start of its fourth journey to Pad 39B, November 4th, 2022. Credit: Joel Kowsky / NASA
If all goes according to plan, the rocket will lift-off on Monday, November 14th, at the start of an extended 39-day mission which will see the Orion vehicle and its service module spend some 15-16 days in a distant retrograde orbit (DRO) around the Moon before returning to Earth, with the uncrewed capsule splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. Providing no significant issues are encountered, the mission will pave the way for a second such flight in 2024/25- Artemis 2 – carrying a crew. Then in 2027, Artemis 3 should undertake the first crewed landing on the Moon since the Apollo missions of the late 1960s / early 1970s.
in addition, NASA announced that Artemis 4 – the third crewed flight of an SLS vehicle to the vicinity of the Moon – will now include a lunar landing, marking a reversal to plans announced earlier in 2022. Under those plans, Artemis 4 was going to be a mission focused solely on the construction of the new Lunar Gateway station, due to be placed in a cislunar halo orbit in support of lunar landings. This was to allow time for NASA to switch away from using the SpaceX Starship-derived lander vehicle of Artemis 3 with lander craft to be supplied under the Sustaining Lunar Development (SLD) programme.
Artemis 4 was to have focused on the assembly of the Lunar Gateway space station. However, it will now also include a lunar landing. Credit: NASA
However, NASA also has a so-called “Option B” in its contract with SpaceX that specifies the latter to develop and supply – funded by NASA – an enhanced version of the Starship lander, and it is believed that this option has now been exercised to enable a crew landing on the Moon with Artemis 4, which will still use the upgraded Block 1B version of SLS to deliver a crewed Orion vehicle and the Gateway station’s habitation module to lunar orbit in 2027.
In the meantime, Dynetics, one of the two contenders for the original Human Landing System (HLS) contract, has indicated it may well pursue the SLD contract, whilst Blue Origin, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman – the three main contractors in the so-called “National Team” and third contender for the original HLS contract – have indicated they will each independently pursue SLD contracts, with Lockheed Martin examining the use of nuclear thermal propulsion (NTP) in it vehicle architecture, seeing NTP as a key element for future human exploration of Mars.
Starliner Will Not Fly to ISS Until 2023
The first crewed flight of Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner to the International Space Station (ISS) has been further delayed to April 2023. However, the delay this time is not due to technical issues with vehicle, but rather to “deconflict” multiple planned arrivals at the station.
After a series of extended delays, Starliner finally completed an uncrewed flight to the ISS in May 2022, the second attempt at such a flight after software issues with the original December 2019 mission left the vehicle unable to achieve a rendezvous with the station.
Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner capsule “Spacecraft 2”, docked at the International Space Station during the uncrewed OFT-2 mission in May 2022. Credit: ESA
Whilst this second uncrewed flight was a success, there were a number of minor issues which meant the hoped-for December 2022 crewed flight to the ISS – called the Crewed Flight Test-1 (CFT-1) – had to be delayed until February 2023. However with a another crewed flight using a SpaceX dragon vehicle and a further resupply mission both due to reach the station in February 2023, the decision has been taken to slip the Boeing flight and reduce the volume of traffic arriving at the ISS in a relatively short time span.
Currently open at the Third Eye Gallery, curated by Jaz (Jessamine2108), is an exhibition of art by Zia Branner entitled EUNOIA, drawing on the ancient Greek word.
Essentially meaning “beautiful thinking, a well mind”, the word’s usage is more complicated than that. Originally, it was applied to the art of oration, and the need for speakers to cultivate a sense of goodwill between themselves and their audiences to encourage a better reception of their ideas and / or viewpoint. However, Aristotle used it to define the foundations for an ethical existence: the kindness and benevolence flowing between spouses. In this, it might be taken to mean approval, sympathy and readiness to help.
Both Isocrates, and (later) Cicero leaned towards a more political usage of the term (eúnoiã, in the case of the latter): as a means to describe an individual’s feelings toward party, or the city-state, and the benevolence in which the city-state or party so hold city-state should bear towards the honest citizens, and allow them their right to hold an opinion. Much more recently, it is used as a means of referencing good mental health and general good disposition.
Third Eye Gallery: Zia Branner EUNOIA
It is in terms of finding that mental balance and our desire / need / want / struggle to achieve it that Zia presents this collection of her art. Presented in her familiar mix of abstract and impressionistic work, these are piece in which – as the artist notes in her introduction to to this exhibition – the ebb and flow of colours (for Zia, red and blue) represent the ebb and flow of our emotions in that drive to try to achieve that sense of equilibrium.
In all lives from time to time it isn’t easy to have a mind in balance. We have our downs, we have our challenges. There is cold, there is warmth. Our strength then lays in our goodwill, in our kindness and with this the balance in our mind and our well being goes up again.
– Zia Branner
There is something faintly ironic in the idea that “balance” is something that should be sought after; the idea that we must strive for it through meditation or study or exercise or whatever so often can lead to frustration or annoyance that the calming balance we desire remains tantalisingly out of reach. Yet through art we can find that balance, be it as the artist or the witness. For the artist, the act of creating art can be a harmonising act; bringing the disparate parts of self together to present a finished work; for the witness, it presents the opportunity to become lost within the flow of a piece of art, to naturally put aside consciousness of self, and thus achieve that inner equilibrium.
Third Eye Gallery: Zia Branner EUNOIAAll of this is present in the 11 images offered in this collection. Whether you see the expressions of mood / emotion in Zia’s red and blue or other colours or whether to see the expression of a coastal scene or of a daydream matters not; these are pictures in which it is easy to lose oneself in the flow of colour or the contrast of hard and soft line – and in doing so, perhaps find a balance of thought for yourself.
Come Write In, November 2022 – click any image for full size
November is a notable month for many reasons; however, for budding (and some established) writers, it is National Novel Writing Month (often shortened to NaNoWriMo) – a 30-day challenge to write a novel of at least 50,000 words. The brainchild of San Francisco freelance writer Chris Baty, the project was actually first held in July 1999, but moved to November in 2000 to take advantage of the “miserable weather”.
During its first year, the project saw 21 people take part. In 2000, 140 participated, and the project gained the attention of US national press and also bloggers such that by 2001, the numbers taking part had grown to 5,000; and things snowballed from there. By 2005, the project had been registered as a non-profit organisation in the US and had gained international status with budding writers the world over participating annually.
Come Write In, November 2022
I mention this because Kestrel Evergarden has established Come Write In – a Writer’s Retreat, a place where Second Life writers can visit, relax, hone their writing skills and develop their NaNoWriMo entry – or simply write for their own pleasure or talk writing. Occupying a cosy parcel on the north side of Heterocera, Come Write In offers numerous points of retreat, indoors and out, where writers might relax in-world and listen to the voice of their muse.
The home of a small, but growing community of writers – visitors are welcome to join the local Come Write In (CWI) group – the setting offers, in the words of its Destination Guide entry:
Private tents and communal space, games to unwind with, and an inspiring setting beautifully landscaped to call for your Muse … CWI offers prompts, resources, and more to help you reach that 50k in 30 days goal, and more.
Come Write In, November 2022
Nor is this purely a Second Life only adventure – Come Write In is an officially recognised NaNoWriMo virtual write-in location, open to writers from outside of SL.
From the roadside landing point, CWI offers a number of indoor spaces (one of which looked to be a new development at the time of my visit) built around a deck and open-air café. Alongside of these sits a terrace space for discussions, a games area with table-top games and a winding path that winds through a landscaped setting visitors and writers alike might explore.
Come Write In, November 2022
This meandering path wanders past a round pond fed by a stream that tumbles its way through the setting, passing under a pair of bridges which bracket the pond, before vanished into a tunnel. The path also offers access to the private tents mentioned in the DG description. These are available for short-term rental (L$50 a week, and provided with their own furnishings. These are offered for the purposes of unwinding and (again) retreats where one might exercise one’s writing muscles – or use as a place to toss around ideas with a close friend or two.
Rich in plants and wildlife, with plenty to see, CWI forms an excellent retreat for both budding writers and for those looking for a quiet, natural retreat.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 