Logos representative only and should not be seen as an endorsement / preference / recommendation
Updates from the week ending Sunday, December 12th
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 version 6.5.0.565607, formerly the Maintenance RC and dated November 10, promoted November 15 – this viewer now contains a fix for the media issues caused by the Apple Notarisation viewer.
Release channel cohorts:
The combined Simplified Cache and 360 Snapshot project viewer, version 6.5.1.566335, issued on December 7.
The Jenever Maintenance RC viewer, version 6.5.1.566306, issued on December 6.
The Koaliang Maintenance 2 RC viewer, version 6.5.1.565905, issued on December 6.
Project viewers:
Performance Improvements project viewer updated to version 6.5.1.566443, dated December 8.
Snowdrops, December 2021 – click any image for full size
Back in November 2020, I dropped into Snowdrops, a Homestead region designed by Kess Smith (Kess Crystal), and made available during the winter months of 2020 / 2021 for people to enjoy (see: Snowdrops in Second Life). For 2021, Kess has brought the setting back, only this time bigger and with more to see, utilising a Full region for her vision – which this year she has shared with Trouble Dethly in designing and building it.
Snowdrops returns for its second year, bigger and better than before. We welcome you to explore this family friendly, photogenic, winter region in Second Life. With a variety of cold weather activities like a snowboarding, tobogganing, ice skating, teegle horses, mini golf and much more, there is something for everyone. Be sure to pick up your Christmas tree at the farm, take Santa’s train to a café for a cup of warm cocoa and other treats and find all the hidden nooks and hang out spots. Along the winter village, there are also free holiday gifts from Dahlia, KraftWork, Pitaya, Thor, Zerkalo, Elm, Moss&Mink and Atelier Burgundy.
A visit begins in a town square sitting towards the middle of the region. It is bounded on two sides by boutique stores for the brands mentioned in the notes quoted above, each of which has a little seasonal gift giver just outside the door.
The remaining two sides of the square are marked by a gazebo housing a small skating rink (with a skates giver) and a cosy little chapel, the two looking at each other across the band stand in the middle of the square. This band stand is home to a quintet of musicians and to information boards for the region’s social media links and to web pages that provide information on booking the local restaurant or the vacation cabins.
Snowdrops, December 2021
The latter are located in the north-east of the region, five in all, gathered around a frozen pond. All are warmly furnished and offer a little outdoor deck for patrons to enjoy as well during a stay.
The fine dining restaurant, meanwhile, sits atop the region’s high peak, located to the south-east. Offering indoor dining for small parties and a separate gazebo for couples wishing to have a romantic dinner, the dining areas offers commanding views over the rest of the region.
Snowdrops, December 2021
Reached via a ski lift that rises from the south side of the town square, the restaurant shares its hilltop location with a pavilion warmed by an outdoor fire, and a long slope that drops all the way back to the ski lift station, with sled and snowboard rezzers available for those who fancy a little on-piste fun. For those not interested in winter sports, the little mini-golf tucked under the trees a very short walk from the ski lift station might be more to their liking.
Across the region from the rental cabins, and tucked into its north-west corner, is Santa’s North Pole workshop, the walk to it from the cabins passing by a Christmas tree shop and the fenced grazing for Santa’s reindeer, perfectly at home in the falling snow.
Snowdrops, December 2021
These reindeer are not the only animals waiting to be found here; more deer are wandering among the trees or watching those who come and go from the rocks and hills that form a part of the region’s landscape, while horses wander their own fenced areas, with one offering rezzable copies of itself to ride through the region’s wilderness.
With paths and trails to connect its various points of interest – which include several cuddle spots – and finished with a gentle sound-scape, Snowdrops once again provides a photogenic, enjoyable winter visit.
Snowdrops, December 2021
My thanks to Kess for the LM and invitation to visit.
The Hubble Space Telescope – operations fully restored. Credit: NASANASA has successfully restored the Hubble Space Telescope (HST) to full operations after more than a month with the telescope either being in a “safe” mode, or only able to partially operate its science instruments.
The longest-running space mission in Earth orbit, HST has been subject to a range of issues throughout its career, all of which have been overcome, although this has been only of the more draw-out in getting resolved. It started on October 23rd, when the telescope started sending error codes indicating the loss of a specific synchronisation message that provides timing information used by its instruments use to respond to data requests and commands correctly. Two days later, the same error codes were again issued, prompting Hubble to cease science activities and enter a “safe” mode.
Throughout out the rest of October and early November, mission engineers on Earth worked to diagnose and rectify the issue, and on November 8th, 2021, were able to report a restart of the main computer system and a set of back-ups had allowed science operations to recommence on the telescope’s Advanced Camera for Surveys (ACS). Later in November, operations were restored to the Cosmic Origins Spectrograph (COS) and then the Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC-3), Hubble’s most heavily-used instrument, leaving just one major science instrument out of commission.
That was the Space Telescope Imaging Spectrograph (STIS), which was finally restored to operational status on Monday, December 6th, marking Hubble’s full return to its science programmes.
However, the October glitch, following on as it does from a systems error that caused the telescope to enter a safe mode in July 2021, serves as a reminder that HST is running on software and systems designed and built in the 1980s.
As a result, the mission team has been evaluating and testing ways and means to refine and update the telescopes software on both its operating systems and its science instruments. This means that mid-December should see the COS gain a significant software update, with the remaining science instruments also being updated early in 2022.
Such upgrades are vital to Hubble’s continued career, given there has been no means to physically service it since the space shuttle was retired in 2011 – and NASA / ESA very much hope to keep the observatory running through until at least the end of the 2030s, consumables permitting.
That said, and if all goes according to plan, Hubble will so no longer be the only large-scale, space-based observatory in operation.
As I’ve frequently reported in these pages, the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is due to be launched from the European Spaceport, Kourou, French Guiana, on December 22nd, 2021. This is actually 4 days later than planned, the result of unexpected vibrations passing through the telescope after a clamp unexpected released as JWST was being integrated with the Launch Vehicle Adapter (LVA) – the element that physically connects the telescope to the rocket. This required a period of checks to be carried out to confirm the telescope’s instruments and systems had not been damaged by the vibrations.
However, following confirmation that no damage had been caused, two of the four remaining pre-launch operations for the telescope have now been completed and a third is in progress.
On November 23rd, European Space Agency engineers started the delicate operation to fill JWST’s propellant tanks with 168 kg of highly toxic hydrazine gas and 133 kg of equally toxic dinitrogen tetroxide oxidizer, both of which are needed to power the observatory’s thrusters. So harmful are both of these propellants, the loading took a total of 10 days, during which time engineers working in the same space as the telescope had to wear Self-Contained Atmospheric Protective Ensemble (SCAPE) suits – essentially space suits for use on Earth that completely isolated them from their surroundings.
JWST sits within a clean room, folded ready for vehicle integration, and receiving its highly toxic thruster propellants as engineers wear SCAPE suits for their protection. Credit: ESA
With fuelling completed on December 3rd work then commenced on bringing both the telescope, mounted on its LVA, and its Ariane 5 launch vehicle together for the first time, moving both of them into the Final Assembly Building and readying them for mating together. This work was completed on December 7th, 2021, clearing the way for the mating process to commence.
Mating involves lifting JWST and its LVA up to the high bay of the building, and then lowering it on to the top of the Ariane booster. Once this has been done, a final series of tests on telescope, LVA and booster will be carried out and the Ariane payload fairings will be closed around the telescope. After this, a final check-out will take place, and the final pre-launch activity will see booster and payload moved to the launch pad a few days ahead of the launch.
The launch itself will in turn mark the start of the most complex deployment of a space instrument undertaken to date. It will take JWST 16 days to reach its operational halo orbit at the Earth-Sun L2 point, with the entire deployment taking some 29 days, as the video below explains.
Desideratum Art Gallery: Xia Chieng – Assburguer’s Mood Diary
Asperger Syndrome (AS or sometimes referred to just as Asperger’s (without the “syndrome” when used with the apostrophe)) is an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) characterised by significant difficulties in social interaction and nonverbal communication, along with restricted and repetitive patterns of behaviour and interests. As a pervasive developmental disorder, Asperger syndrome is distinguished by a pattern of symptoms rather than a single symptom, and can be demonstrated by sufferers in a variety of ways, and also presents them with numerous means of dealing with it in their daily lives.
Xia (Xia Chieng), for example, has found a means of addressing the condition through art, using oils and watercolours to express the feelings and emotions she experiences and to give a sense of the her personal situations, outlook and experiences.
This is something I’ve covered twice in the past with regards to her work – the first in 2019 with Life through Xia’s Diary in Second Life, and the second in 2021 with Art and Asperger’s in Second Life, back in September of the year. However, for those who missed those exhibitions, Xia now offers Assburguer’s [sic] Mood Diary, now open at Desideratum Art Gallery.
Desideratum Art Gallery: Xia Chieng – Assburguer’s Mood Diary
If anything, this is a more expressive exhibition that either of the previous two; not because there is more art on offer through this exhibition, but because Zia herself provides a commentary on her art and her life that takes us deeper into her art and her exploration of self.
I see artistic creation as a tool for self-transformation and healing, a way to dialogue with my internal demons and those of our culture, a means to create my own myths with which one moves through the world.
I am on a personal journey; personal exploration into the essence of life, the relationship between the relationship between my senses, ideas and perceptions and the external world; my conception of space and substance. Only things that are personal can be truly real for me.
– Xia Chieng
Desideratum Art Gallery: Xia Chieng – Assburguer’s Mood Diary
As a result, this is a powerful series of self-portraits that delve into Xia’s world, each telling a specific tale or mood whilst also being placed into groups defined by both style of the art itself and a collective narrative that flow through them. In this, there is an incredible amount of care and thought that has gone into this exhibition – up to and including Xia’s spelling of “Assburguer’s”, which she notes is a common mis-spelling of the syndrome used by those afflicted by it), all of which further deepens the power and personal nature of the art in display, making it an exhibition best explored through Xia’s words more than my own.
My art is narrative, but not literary, it tells stories but does not create their meaning. It may not mean anything more than we can individually feel. My work is a thing, an object, presented to you for your pleasure and for my relief. It just is what it is. It is not explained alone. I found in art and Second Life a way to escape from the ordinary world, creating my own worlds.
– Xia Chieng
Hence why these are images that should not just be taken physically or literally, there is a metaphorical / symbolic element to them as well – hence the use of the keyhole in Xia’s forehead in several of the images in the case of the latter, and with pieces like Memento Mori, Shadowman, The Keys and Lying Mirror.
But it was in art that I found away to express my feeling and thought. with this I do not pretend that others understand me, but that I find in it a way of knowing myself and transcending what torments me.
– Xia Chieng
Desideratum Art Gallery: Xia Chieng – Assburguer’s Mood Diary
Thus, Assburguer’s Mood Diary is an exceptionally powerful, emotive selection of art, and one that I – again – highly recommend.
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 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.
Sunday, December 12th, 13:30: Teatime Holiday Radio Classics
Richard Clarke is a lawyer with his own legal practice in Pottsville, New York who has a reputation for been far too nice to be a profitable businessman, since he always fails to demand payment from his poor clients and never takes on those he doesn’t believe are innocent. But Clarke’s main problem is that he is hopelessly in love with the lovely Janie Brown, even though her wealthy father has decided that she is to marry the even wealthier Bill Potts.
When Clarke’s too-kind attitude fails to impress Janie’s father, he decides to heed Brown’s advice and move to New York City and earn money. This doesn’t go too well, forcing Clarke to play games of deceit to impress Janie and her father, starting him on a spiral that eventually leads him to gaining a reputation as a “mean” lawyer. While his newfound reputation brings him the adoration – and business – of wealthy clients, it doesn’t endear him to Janie. Could his success wreck his chances of marrying her – or is all she is hearing about his new approach to business and life really true?
Originally a stage play starring George M. Cohan (who was famously portrayed by James Cagney in the 1942 film Yankee Doodle Dandy), The Meanest Man in the World became a 1934 comedy film starring Jack Benny and Priscilla Lane. Now it is brought to us by the Seanchai team of Corwyn Allen, David Abbot, Gloriana Maertens, Elrik Merlin, and Caledonia Skytower, Live at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.
Seanchai Winter Holiday setting
Monday, December 13th, 19:00: A Few Miles
Join Gyro Muggins as he reads the 1960 short story by fantasy and sci-fi author Philip José Farmer.
19:00: Vintage Christmas – stories by L. Frank Baum and Lucy Maud Mongomery
Live in Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting with Caledonia Skytower. The landmark will be distributed on the day.
Seanchai Winter Holiday setting
Wednesday, December 15th, 19:00 Adventures from Terry Pratchett’s Hogfather
Susan had never hung up a stocking . She’d never put a tooth under her pillow in the serious expectation that a dentally inclined fairy would turn up. It wasn’t that her parents didn’t believe in such things. They didn’t need to believe in them. They know they existed. They just wished they didn’t.
There are those who believe and those who don’t. Through the ages, superstition has had its uses; nowhere more so than in the Discworld where it’s helped to maintain the status quo. Anything that undermines superstition has to be viewed with some caution.
There may be consequences, particularly on the last night of the year when the time is turning. When those consequences turn out to be the end of the world, you need to be prepared. You might even want more standing between you and oblivion than a mere slip of a girl – even if she has looked Death in the face on numerous occasions.
Caledonia Skytower read selection from the 20th book in Pratchett’s Discworld series at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday setting.
Seanchai Winter Holiday skating pond
Thursday, December 16th:
19:00: The Season in Music and Poetry
With Ktadhn Vesuvino and Caledonia Skytower, Live at Seanchai’s Winter Holiday skating pond.
Winter Dream Obsession, December 2021 – click any image for full size
For those seeking a winter setting suitable for photography, Winter Dream Obsession might be just the place. Designed by Chanel (MONIYA Robbiani), it occupies roughly half a full region and offers a lot of seasonal and festive cheer.
The winter sun brought out the purity of the heaven-given snow, as if were a blank page for our merriment, inviting you to live a unique experience in a freshly cut Christmas trees smelling of stars and snow and pine resin…
– Winter Dream Obsession, About Land
Winter Dream Obsession, December 2021
Teleporting to the location lands visitors on a village street; where in the world it might be is entirely up to those arriving to decide. The cobbled street is dusted with snow, the houses along it decorated for the season, At one end of the street sits a winter gazebo, a golden tree decorated at its centre, a grand piano available for music.
Winter Dream Obsession, December 2021
At the other end of the street stand tall gates, partially open. A sign beside them points towards a covered bridge, suggesting the path will lead to the North Pole. Whether or not the cottage that sits at the end of the path belongs to Santa or not is again left to visitors to decide, whatever one makes of the figure in red face-down in the snow to one side of the path; is it Santa passed out from all his hard work, or is it a reveller from a local party who has perhaps had a little too much of the mulled wine…or something…?
Winter Dream Obsession, December 2021
The houses and cottages along the street are all furnished, each offering a respite from the snow and the cold for those who need it. Mid-way down the street sits a little outdoor café, offering hot drinks for those who would like to remain outdoors but feel they’d like to warm themselves up a little. Alongside of it, a path leads to the local park, again decorated for the season, with a mini-Santa presiding over everything from his little store.
Elsewhere, Christmas trees can be obtain from a local barn, whilst those who wander for a little, there are also places to spend time cuddling or romancing. And those who do wander should try beyond the large pavilion as well, where stone step rise to a balconied path
Winter Dream Obsession, December 2021
This is a setting rich in detail, from the little holiday scene village, to the scene set out in the park, to the little train carrying Santa and his elves to all the richness of details the the houses.
But again, rather that have me wibble on about it – why not pay a visit for yourself!
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 