Gateway Airport Terminal, July 2022: Rage Darkstone and Nils Urqhart
Erik Mondrian pointed me towards Gateway International Airport on the Mainland continent of Sansara – not, as might be suspected, because I’m a sometimes SL aviator, but because it is the setting for a newly-opened art exhibition featuring 2D and 3D artists.
Located in the airport’s gallery, a spacious setting with a large main floor and suspended walkways around it, the untitled exhibition features Zia Branner and Nils Urqhart presenting 2D art works, with Terra Merhyem and Rage Darkstone offering 3D pieces. The gallery itself is spacious.
Gateway Airport Terminal, July 2022: Zia Branner
The 2D art – more of Nil’s superb landscape photography from the physical world and Zia’s ever-engaging abstract art, together with a series of stunning floral pieces – is neatly spaces and framed around the outer wall spaces on the main level and catwalks and on some of the inner supporting walls. Each piece is ideally sized and positioned for individual viewing.The 3D pieces have been placed throughout the main floor and along the catwalks so that they stand both as individual pieces and both frame and have elements of the 2D works as backdrops. As might be expected given these pieces are by Terra and Rage, the 3D works are instantly attractive and engaging, with some static and others mobile, colours scintillating and samples twisting and turning as if alive.
Gateway Airport Terminal, July 2022: Terra Merhyem and Zia Branner
With still-life elements celebrating dance and motion, Rage’s selection of pieces presents a richly flowing narrative, their colours and tones perfectly off-setting the blue tint of Nils’ winter landscapes. Across the hall, Terra’s vibrant and animated pieces are grouped as a series of individual collections of mobile sculptures which also flow one to the next, while their colours and motion offer a transitioning reflection of the sense of life within Zia’s art. Also to be found within Terra’s pieces are books of her art, ready to be enjoyed by visitors.
To be fully and properly appreciated, this is an exhibition that must be seen with the Advanced Lighting Model mode enabled in the viewer (Preferences → Graphics make sure Advanced Lighting Model is checked), and make sure you are using the local shared environment. Also, as a last point, keep an eye out for the exhibition gift!
Gateway Airport Terminal, July 2022: Nils Urqhart
Richly contrasting, finely balanced and very visual and appealing, a superb exhibition of work by four very talented artists.
Dukedom, June 2022 – click any image for full size
As regulars to my Exploring series may know, Busta (BadboyHi) is a region designer whose work I enjoy, and I recently had the opportunity – courtesy of an LM passed to me by Shawn Shakespeare – to visit a design he has put together for Kn0cks Shad0ws (Whozyer Daddy) and his Full region, Dukedom.
Designed primarily for photography, the region is divided north-to-south by the presence of an elevated rail line, making this a setting very much of two parts. To the west, and occupying the majority of the region, are wild lands, a place of tall trees, waterfalls, streams and touches of the bayou along the west coast. Along this shore are wooden cabins, shacks and an old houseboat that mix their presence with mangroves, wetlands and a rocky shoreline to suggest a little community eking out a living by finishing – something added to by a number of fishing boats, one of which has seen much better days…
Dukedom, June 2022
This is a place where wildlife abounds. gulls wheel and turn overhead, ibis stalk the mouths of the streams emptying into the coastal areas, alligators bask in the dirt of the local tracks and ignore the fact potentially tasty seals are not that far away, also basking themselves out of the water; deer watch more domesticated animals – cattle, goats, and geese; peacocks strut their stuff, bids sing in the trees and more. Ways around the coast and through the hunched uplands behind it are marked by rough trails, boardwalks, tree-trunk bridges that span the streams and hard-packed earth paths and steps.
Sitting between the streams and set a little back from the waterfront lies a roughshod deck extending outward over rocky ground from where a glass-fronted cabin sits. At first looking to be a cosy retreat, closer examination with reveal it to be something of an apothecary-come-magic store; a place well in keeping with the bayou vibes exuded by the lands below. Around it are offered several places to sit, including a welcoming cuddle sofa.
Dukedom, June 2022
The sofa and benches around the cabin are a just a handful of all the places people can find to sit and pass the time; places that include swings watched over by baby chimps, and the carving of a giant hand holding a blanket in its palm which begs the question, was it carved over the bank of the stream against which it sits, or has come to reside there after the fact. Back down as the waterside sits a comfortable deck ideal for a small group, sitting alongside a makeshift watchtower.
Further back among the trees awaits more to be found among the trails; with two further cabins being chief among the sights. Each is comfortably furnished and offer welcomes to those passing, and both sit close to where the elevated train line cuts across the region and, beyond it, the purely urban setting.
Dukedom, June 2022
Occupying a little over one third of the region, this urban area sits as a busy, if a little run down, corner of a much larger town. The area under the elevate tracks looks to be undergoing repair / renewal, lots of people are out and about on the streets, a building is being heavily refurbished / rebuilt, cars are everywhere, and a military helicopter is clattering around overhead.
The latter might have been called by the local law enforcement as they attend a rather grisly homicide that has been committed on some waste ground to one side of the town. It’s a scene that – as is the way of things – has drawn a crowd of its own, some of whom are more interested in catching the situation on film and selfie, rather than offering respect for the life lost. But not everyone is drawn to the tragedy; at the back of the waste ground, a skateboarding area has been set-up and is of much more interest to local teens – although perhaps that is also a reflection on modern-day human nature and indifference…
Dukedom, June 2022
Throughout the region there as many points where photography is possible, although sadly, group membership is closed, so no props rezzing available. As an adult-rated region, there are apparently some adult-rated items spotted around – but nothing too obvious that I noticed from my ramblings through the wilds and along the streets.
I would also say that as a Full region with both the private island additional land capacity and with a lot of mesh and textures, Dukedom can hit some people’s performance, so be prepared to make some adjustments to your viewer if required. But that aside, Dukedom has a lot to commend itself; just take your time when visiting – and try not to disturb the sleeping bunny!
The following notes were taken from the Tuesday, June 28th, 2022 Simulator User Group (SUG) meeting. They form a summary of the items discussed and is not intended to be a full transcript. A video of the entire meeting is embedded at the end of the article for those wishing to review the meeting in full – my thanks to Pantera for recording it.
On Tuesday, June 28th t, the SLS Main and Event channel servers were updated to simulator release 572665, containing fixes for cases where llRequest*Data would return incorrect result; also, llGetVisualParams() now accepts hand_size as a parameter.
On Wednesday, June 29th, the RC channel servers will be subject to a rolling restart without any simulator code deployment.
Available Official Viewers
There have been no official viewer updates at the start of the week, leaving the current crop as:
Release viewer: version 6.6.0.571939 – formerly the Performance Improvements viewer, dated May 25th – no change.
Nomayo Maintenance RC (Maintenance N) viewer, version 6.6.1.572179, June 1.
Makgeolli Maintenance RC viewer (Maintenance M) viewer, version 6.5.6.571575, May 12.
Project viewers:
Performance Floater project viewer, version 6.5.4.571296, May 10.
Mesh Optimizer project viewer, version 6.5.2.566858, dated January 5, issued after January 10.
Legacy Profiles viewer, version 6.4.11.550519, dated October 26, 2020.
Copy / Paste viewer, version 6.3.5.533365, dated December 9, 2019.
In Brief
The issue of simulators that have been running for “4-5” days are ceasing to send Friends lists to those logging into them and requiring a restart to fix, continues for some. It’s not clear how widespread the issue is, but LL are aware of it.
Concerning the log-in / appearance issues experienced by some people on Monday, June 27th, Rider Linden commented:
We were updating one of the backend systems on Monday. Unfortunately it had complications. (Please see scene in Brazil re: Complications) and we had to roll it back. Among other things on the back end I think it hit the Bake Service. It should be working now and we’ll address the issue and try again at a later date with something more stable.
BUG-230584 – “Various Lindex data feed values are returning zero” has apparently been back in action for the last week or so, and is being investigated by the Web Team.
The second half of the meeting was dominated by chat and ideas around a number of ideas and feature requests, including BUG-4706, BUG-4906 and BUG-40680. Please refer to the video below for details.
Nvidia have issued driver updates that appear to fix the rendering artefacts reported with GeForce driver version 516.40 (+ others).
The issue has been primarily reported against Windows and some Linux flavours, when running the viewer with Advanced Lighting Model (ALM) enabled. It would result in some objects to flashing or blinking in and out, or rings and lines to be displayed across in-world objects (as shown in the image below).
Image showing some of the artefacts created during scene rendering following an update to the Nivida 516.40 driver – now fixed in driver version 516.59
According to Techpowerup.com, the new Windows 516.59 (Windows) drivers contain the following fixes:
[Red Dead Redemption][Vulkan]: Some objects may flicker when player is indoors.
[OpenGL] Minecraft Java Edition may display artefacts when using Optifine shaders.
OpenGL] Artifacts may appear in Second Life when connecting using third party viewers.
[Neverwinter Nights] Light sources not rendering correctly.
[Vulkan] Path of Exile displays flashing black textures.
[G-SYNC] Games may stutter when bringing up the Xbox app overlay.
[UE5] General UE5 stability improvements.
(my emphasis on the Second life bug).
Users Ven Banana ((VenKellie) and Wurfi informed me of the driver release after installing and testing it for the fix – my thanks to them for doing so.
In addition driver version 515.57 has the fix for Linux.
Artsville is the name given to a new collaborative arts hub in Second Life, which opened over the weekend of June 24th through 26th with a trio of 2D art exhibitions. The hub is the work of Vally Lavender-Prodigy (Valium Lavender), who provides the space for the hub on her ValiumSL region; Frank Atisso, who has closed his own Art Korner to focus on curating Artsville, with the overall design and layout of the hub by Megan Prumier.
In the latter regard, Megan has produced an engaging, modern setting for the hub in the form of artificial island-platforms sitting directly above the surrounding water, each with its own features and attractions and linked one to another by flat glass walkways.
Set under a twilight sky that gives the impression the Sun has not long since set, these stucco-finished platforms and the buildings to be found on some of them has an understated, slightly sci-fi presence, edges limned in white strips and low lamps periodically spaces around edges – this is very much a place where Advanced Lighting Model is needed (Preferences → Graphics → make sure ALM is checked and disable Shadows if required) to appreciate the point lighting.
Artsville, June 2022
Between them, the two largest of these island-platforms present, respectively, the landing point, offering a minimalist touch of horticulture in the form of box hedges and junipers given a topiary twist, and the island housing the three 2D gallery spaces, of which more in a moment.
Four glass walkways reach outward along the cardinal edges of the landing point, each marked by a great arch. Beside offering the way to the 2D galleries, these walkways respectively lead to: a small island with the promise of Coming Soon; the centre’s café and presentations centre; and a further sets of island platforms of various sizes, each featuring 3D at by Mistero Hifeng.
Artsville, June 2022: Maloe Vansant – Freaking Beauties
Whether the 3D art areas represent a single, permanent display or will feature other 3D artists over time, I’m not actually sure. However, they offer a sense of space and peace as they all eventually leading the way south and east to where an impressive event space has been placed out by Megan, with one of the routes to it leading through an impressive sculpture tunnel constructed by Megan.
The 2D galleries are arranged on three sides of a platform which almost mirrors the landing platform, with the exception that the glass-over-the-water area forms the events space for exhibition openings. For its first exhibitions, The galleries are simply numbered 1 through 3, and for Artsville’s opening, they bring us exhibitions by Maloe Vansant, presenting Freaking Beauties; in Gallery 1; Hayley Dixon’s Just a Little in Gallery 2; and in Gallery 3, When You Open A Door, by Scylla Rhiadra.
Maloe’s Freaking Beauties is the most visually striking of the three, presenting a series of avatar studies offered in powerful, vibrant colours and strong contrasts; the magic of post-processing giving them a captivating and eye-popping edge, with a richness of tone and focus to draw the eye into each of them.
Artsville, June 2022: Hayley Dixon – Just A Little
With Just A Little, Hayley Dixon offers a short introduction. In it, she notes how, by adding just a little colour and / or light into an image, it is possible to completely transform it.
This is thoroughly demonstrated within the 10 images she presents, all of which are presented in black-and-white or monochrome tones, and which use light to great effect. Some make use of light in the most minimalistic of ways, drawing the eye into them, causing us to almost adopt a tight focus on the lines before slowly pulling back in the manner of a cinematographer so that the complete scene and its narrative might become clear (such as with pause); others intentionally contrast the use of light and dark in an almost yin/yang balance to present their mood and story.
Just A Door is another thought-provoking series by Scylla Rhiadra. Like Hayley’s, it comes with an introduction. However, I would urge visitors not to read it directly – or at least, to not read beyond the first question and the two sentences that follow it.
Artsville, June 2022: Scylla Rhiadra – Just A Door
This is because – for me – framing the exhibition through the supplied exposition beforehand risks diminishing the power and layering of metaphor waiting to be peeled back within each of the ten images and their accompanying texts – all of which combine to form a rich treatise on love, relationships, attitudes, the unlocking (or blocking) of potential; the richness of allowing the imagination to flower and bloom (and the potential emptiness of turning it aside). It is a layering that deserves to be examined free from the preconceptions which might result from reading such notes in advance, so as to allow their narrative richness of each piece to percolate freely through our subconscious thinking and challenge us in the most subtle of ways.
Which is not to say Scylla’s exploration of her work should be ignored; it does provide additional depth and underpins the exhibition as a whole. But in coming to it last (which, fortunately is easy to do given it is tucked between the entrances to the gallery, and so can be missed when initially entering), we allow her words to underscore our own thinking on, and reaction to, the individual pieces, rather than having her words shape that thinking.
Artsville, June 2022: Scylla Rhiadra – Just A Door
Artsville is an engaging new addition to the SL arts scene, and I look forward to further exhibitions there. I do, however, have one small critique: the gallery spaces could benefit from lighter interior finishes than was the case at the time of my visit; the tomb-like darkness left me squinting to make out details of some images, and then scrambling around in inventory for an alternate EEP by which to view the art (the images of the exhibitions shown here have all be had their contrast altered via post-processing to better present them); a lighter finish to the interiors would eliminate this kind of distraction.
Outside of that, all three exhibitions form engaging displays of art well worth visiting, with Artsville as a whole equally engaging in its general presentation.
The Artemis 1 Orion MPCV and its European Space Agency service module sit atop the first NASA Space Launch System (SLS) on Pad 39B at Kennedy Space Centre, a full Moon framed between the vehicle and one of the pad’s lightning towers. Credit: NASA
NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) has finally cleared the last significant hurdle in the preparations to launch the first of the vehicles on its much anticipated lunar flight.
On Friday, June 24th, agency officials declared the test campaign for the maiden vehicle to be almost complete after it finally cleared the critical wet dress rehearsal (WDR) test on a fourth attempt – the first three in May each ending with issues that forced NASA to roll the vehicle and its mobile launch platform back to the Vehicle Assembly Building (VAB) at Kennedy Space Centre, Florida, so both could receive modifications.
The final dress rehearsal started on June 20th, and concluded 20 seconds early due to a leak in a hydrogen bleed line. While this did not compromise the test itself, it did prevent 13 of the planned 128 command functions from being performed as a result. Most of these had been previously tested, so the curtailing any testing of them during the WDR was not seen as cause for concern.
However, mission managers opted to perform one additional test prior to rolling the vehicle back to the VAB for final inspections and launch preparations. This will be a test of hydraulic power units used to gimble the nozzles of the vehicle’s solid rocket boosters to provide directional guidance while the boosters are firing. One it has been completed, the roll-back to the VAB will be carried out on July 1st.
The Artemis 1 SLS vehicle sitting on its mobile launcher at Pad 39B, Kennedy Space Centre, imaged from orbit on June 18th, 2022 by a Maxar Earth observation satellite. Credit: Maxar Technologies
At the VAB, the vehicle and its launch platform will undergo a final post-WDR inspection, which will include replacing the seal responsible for the hydrogen leak. It’s expected that overall, the final check-out plus any required work will run through until early August. Providing nothing serious is found, the vehicle will be rolled back to the pad to commence 10-14 days final launch preparations. This will be in time to meet two immediate launch windows: August 23rd through September 6th (excluding the period August 31st-September 1st) and September 19th through October 4th, 2022.
The Artemis 1 mission is designed to fly an uncrewed Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) on 20+ day mission to cislunar space including 6 days in lunar orbit. It will be a preliminary check-out of Orion’s life support, propulsion, guidance and communications systems during an extended mission, prior to repeating the flight with a crew on board with Artemis 2.
CAPSTONE
On Monday, June 27th, NASA will be launching another mission to cislunar space.
The Cislunar Autonomous Positioning System Technology Operations and Navigation Experiment (CAPSTONE), is a 25 kg cubesat the size of a microwave oven designed to study what is called a lunar near-rectilinear halo orbit (NRHO) – an extended elliptical orbit around the Moon that will bring the satellite to within 1,600 km of the lunar surface before lifting it away to up to 70,000 km. It is a similar orbit to the one that will be used by NASA’s planned Lunar Gateway station.
While extreme, such an orbit allows for continuous communications with Earth and allows for extensive study of the Moon. When placed in a similar orbit, Gateway will allow astronauts to reach almost any point on the lunar surface using suitable landing systems.
The CAPSTONE cubesat sitting on an engineering bench during testing of its solar arrays. Credit: NASA / Dominic Hart
CAPSTONE is due to be launched from New Zealand aboard a Rocket Labs Electron rocket at 10:00 UTC om Monday, June 27th, 2022. As the Electron is not capable of delivering CAPSTONE directly to the Moon, it will use the company’s Photon kick stage to push the cubesat into an extended 4-month flight to the Moon, where it will enter orbit on October 15th. The extended, slow flight will allow CAPSTONE to carry out a range of tests prior to reaching the Moon and is not reflective of the kind of transit time crewed flights will require to reach lunar NRHO (5-10 days).
Once in orbit around the Moon, CAPSTONE will spend a further 6-months studying the NRHO environment around the Moon and in communication tests both with Earth and with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been orbiting the moon since 2009.
SpaceX Triple Header with a Touch of Mystery
SpaceX carried out three near “back-to-back” launches over the weekend of June 17th-19th, albeit from different launch complexes:
On Friday, June 17th, a Falcon 9 lifted-off from Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Centre, carrying aloft the company’s latest batch of Starlink satellites for deployment.
On Saturday, June 18th, a Falcon 9 lifted the SARah-1 radar imaging satellite to orbit on behalf of the German military, after lifting-off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
On Sunday, 19th, the third launch lifted-off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, ostensibly to place the commercial Globalstar FM15 into a “parking” orbit as a back-up for the company.
A Falcon 9 lifts off June 17 carrying a batch of Starlink satellites, the first of three launches SpaceX performed over a little more than 36 hours. Credit: SpaceX
While all three saw the successful return and landing of the Falcon 9 first stage of each booster, the June 19th mission has raised eyebrows due to the apparent secrecy around it. The Globalstar FM15 is a relatively small satellite – just 700 kg – which should have allowed the Falcon first stage to return to the SpaceX landing zone at Canaveral; instead it landed on a drone ship at sea, suggesting it was flying a heavier payload that required greater thrust to push it to orbit.
SpaceX also did not cover the launch with anything like the kind of live streaming they generally put out for their launches; what footage that was put out suggested the vehicle was carrying an additional payload adaptor, hinting at a further payload – although nothing has been said to confirm or deny this.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 