Problems

Sunday people were losing their Linden homes. The Lab started looking for the cause Sunday and Monday got it fixed.

Dec 3, 09:38 PST Resolved – We have identified and corrected the issue that caused some Linden Homes to be abandoned. We are working to assist those affected; please file a Support ticket at https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new if you need help with this issue.

Dec 2, 20:00 PST Update – We are still actively investigating an issue involving some Linden Homes being abandoned for some Residents. We appreciate your patience while [we] continue to investigate.

Dec 2, 13:49 PST Investigating – We are currently investigating an issue where some users & apos; Linden Homes may have been abandoned inadvertently. If you have been affected by this, please file a support ticket at the following page: https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/tickets/new. Please watch this post for further developments. [ https://status.secondlifegrid.net/incidents/dfgl51dm33lz ]

I was curious what Linden Homes look like these days. They have changed. They are nice. Finding them to look at is a bit trick. The Linden Homes stuff on the website is here: Customize Your Home. I’m not sure this link will work for everyone. It is in your Dashboard->Account->Premium Membership->Explore Your Linden Home. They have pictures in the website. But, I wanted to SEE the homes.

Visit the web page to get the home style-names. Then search for those using the viewer’s search filtered to Places. You’ll find the InfoHubs for the homes. Once at a Hub, look around. You’ll see the local style of homes laid out around the hub. There are 2 or 4 styles in each area.

The video I made 12/5/2017 when I was checking them out.

Servers

The main channel is getting an update today, #17.11.17.510835. This update will have an impact on residents. The changes are listed as:

• IMs sent to an offline resident will only be sent to verified email addresses
• Internal Changes to Outgoing Emails

This is the update that closes the door on ‘unverified’ email addresses. If your address is not verified, the Lab will NOT send emails to it. You must go into your dashboard and verify your email address. This is the typical click VERIFY, get an email, and respond to it process. Otherwise no more email from the LL systems.

Blue Steel, Le Tigre, and Magnum all get an update, version #17.12.01.511131. All that is stated about this upgrade is: internal improvements.

This is likely more work on their ‘griefer entrapment’ …system(?). I think of it as like those speeding traps behind a blind curve in the road or the backside of a hill. So, griefers and copyboters may be able to do their thing, but are more likely to get caught.

The Lindens will only hint at what they are doing in this area. So, residents outside the know still think the Lab does nothing and complain and complain perpetuating the idea theft is pain free in SL. While justice in SL is not as swift and certain as we would like, the problems are being worked on.

Frustration

At this week’s meeting of the Server-Scripting UG the frustration was obvious. The subject of stopping item duplication came up. The Lindens acknowledge several vectors exist for duplicating items. One they believe they have plugged and possibly three more. The others they are working on.

Still, merchants in the Gacha game are having a fit. The Gacha items are a primary candidate for theft and duplication. It is nearly impossible to know what has been bought legitimately and what is stolen goods.

There is a rumor that the Lab makes money off the selling of stolen goods. That is inaccurate. Wile the Lindens at the UG meetings can’t comment on where money goes, there are RL state and federal laws regarding how money is accounted for in all accounting systems. As closely as the Lab is watched, I believe they adhere to the laws.

When someone sells something, there is a transaction fee paid to the Lab. Whether the goods are legitimate or stolen that fee is paid. That money does transfer to the Lab. The rest of the money transfers to the seller and is considered a liability of the Lab’s. That means it is money they someday may have to pay out. It is not theirs. They cannot lawfully spend it.

No one says what happens to money paid to banned sellers or people no longer logging in. In general practice companies have different ways of handling it. I don’t recall the Lab saying how they handle it. But, at some point after some number of years it likely becomes the Lab’s money.

The point is stolen goods are a financial complication for the Lab, not a profit center. The money can’t be used to pay this month’s electric bill. So, don’t buy into the spin thrown out by the frustrated trying to bad mouth the Lab.

Also, the engineers that fix the problems are not the people that could profit from not fixing the problem of stolen goods. There is no reason to think they would want to participate in the stolen goods market. Nor is it likely any of the Linden staff, management, or partners would.

See: Infringement Notification Policy

Lost Marketplace Listings

This was a problem. It has been fixed. So, items should no longer mysteriously disappear from your marketplace store. The Lindens think they have found the lost listings and gotten them back to their owners. But, they can’t KNOW that. So, if you have a problem, file a trouble ticket.

Enhanced Environment Project

Aka: EEP. Not just a new sound for SL…

Rider Linden is working on the server side of the feature. The viewer side is apparently mostly complete. So, those Windlight XML files buried deep in the program folder will become assets we keep in our inventory.

Rider is currently considering how to convert the Windlight settings we have into assets in our inventory. I currently have 938 setting sets. I probably use a dozen. There are about another dozen I use for special purposes.

I probably want some measure of control over how those are brought into my inventory. But even if not, I expect to be able to have folders of settings so I can organize them. As it is the Windlight settings are alphabetical. I want something better.

A new part of EEP I learned about today is the ability to mimic the northern and southern hemisphere sun. The sun will now travel on a Great Circle. A bit more realistic.

We will be able to change moon textures. The moon will move independently of the sun. So… can we have eclipses? I didn’t think to ask?

When asked if we can script moon texture changes Rider said it is possible for an individual user as part of an Experience… neat.

Media On A Prim

Have you noticed that MOAP has changed? You’ll see the change in the Alex Ivy version 5.1.0.511060 viewer. See the JIRA BUG-202691 – [Alex Ivy] Images displayed with Shared Media/llSetLinkMedia() now have scrollbars where they did not previously. Breaks existing content. There are images in the report that show the problem.

Viewers

The main viewer updated to version 5.0.9.329906, the maintenance version running as an RC last week. The thing I like about it is the inventory fix. Previously if you detached anything from your avatar, the inventory window would jump to the top. You then had to scroll back to where you were. An annoying pain.

Alex Ivy Viewer version 5.1.0.511060 – This is the 64-bit viewer. This is a big deal and long awaited. It is the likely next to promote to the main/default viewer. It updated late last week from the version released in week #44. The nice thing is it has the inventory fix.

While I have been using the project and RC 64-bit viewers for most of the year it is nice to have it close to being the main Second Life™ viewer. We might see it release before Christmas. I think the week of the 10^th is most likely. If not then we probably won’t see it this year, expect January 2018.

This version was released late in week #48. Now almost a year after the initial release of the project viewer.

The Lindens and most third-party developers are strongly encouraging people to upgrade to the 64-bit viewer. The Lindens have designed the viewer to check for updates. If one is available, it is downloaded and it self-installs. The installer determines if your system can run the 64-bit version and if so, installs the 64-bit version.

If you have enabled Willing to update to release candidates in Preferences->Settings then you are likely already running this version.

You don’t have to worry whether you have a 64-bit system or not. Just allow the update and the installer will figure it out. But, if you want to be sure you are running or can run 64-bit, there is a little more to do.

If your computer has a CPU made after 2003 then your hardware will likely handle 64-bit software. The problem comes in your operating system (OS). Windows comes in 32 and 64-bit flavors, still. Windows XP was mostly 32-bit with few people running the more expensive 64-bit XP. Those that have been upgrading from XP to Vista, to Windows 7, 8, and now 10 could have stayed on the 32-bit side. The switch from 32 to 64-bit has been more of a pain than just an upgrade. So, people had to consciously make the changeover from 32 to 64-bit.

You can look at your system information to see if you are running 32 or 64-bit. In Cortana or the Ask me anything… or Search Windows field in the lower left of you screen type Windows Version or if you are feeling geeky type System Information. Or open Settings and look at ABOUT. All thee will show you whether you are running 32 or 64-bit. The last choice will show you whether you have a 32- or 64-bit CPU. You most likely have a 64-bit CPU. AMD and Intel have been pushing 64-bit CPU’s for over a decade now.

If your Windows OS is 32-bit, upgrade. You can Google for how to make the change. Unfortunately, it is a PITA. But, easy enough even for the novice.

If you are curious about the meaning and advantages of 64-bit computing check out the article in the Wikipedia. While there, kick in a few dollars to support the Wikipedia.

My point here is to get you running a 64-bit system before Alex Ivy releases. The Lab will continue to release updates in 32-bit. So, it isn’t like you are about to get kicked out of SL. But, 64-bit is way better. WAY…

Second Life Voice Viewer version 5.0.8.328552 – No update, released week #42.

Second Life Wolfpack Viewer version 5.0.10.330001 – This is a new version of Wolf. It is used by the Lab to collect more information about the latest main viewer. A small number of people running RC’s will be running this version. Except for reporting only the Lindens can see this is exactly the same as the main version 5.0.9.329906.

Second Life Project 360 Snapshot Viewer version 5.1.0.506743 – No update since week #27.

Second Life Project Animesh Viewer version 5.0.9.329815 – No update, released week #46.

Second Life Project Render Viewer version 5.1.0.510978 – Updated! The initial release was week #46. This is the first update.

Third-Party Viewers

RLV 2.9.22.1 – Released late in week #48. This version has a couple of annoying problems fixed. The inventory jump problem when anything was detached and a fix to body physics (better mammary motion). We will be seeing both of these fixes in other third-party viewers. They are already in the new main and maintenance LL viewers.

Marine says no RLV fixes this time.

Black Dragon Viewer version 2.9.4 is out. I think this mostly about a Linden snapshot fix that broke the BD viewer and this version fixes it. I don’t mean the Lindens broke BD. It is just their code didn’t work in BD, so NiranV took the fix out and things work better.

There is also a warning about Black Dragon not using standard Avatar Complexity values in the Alternate Viewer section of the SL Wiki. NiranV has a long rant about his position on the matter here: Complexity and its complex complexity.

The TL:DR is that NiranV is right but misses the point Oz Linden was making with the warning. Suffice to say the Lindens know the ACI calc has problems and they have been working on it in their free time… free time… they don’t have a lot of that. So, it is going slow.

There is, however, a plan to redo ACI and Land Impact at some point. This is something related to animesh as the Lindens have to figure out how to work animesh into the Land and Avatar render cost calculations. I expect to see that happen in 2018. Vir Linden and others are talking and thinking about it now.

NiranV didn’t want to wait and changed the calc’s in the Black Dragon viewer. The result is likely something that is far more representative of the actual render load on NiranV’s hardware. How well the values represent the render load on other hardware in general… who knows? But, NiranV’s thinking is rational in regard to how ACI should be calc’d. There are some loop holes designers use to get lower ACI that actually increase the render load while lowering the ACI number.

But, the point is ACI in BD is different from the ACI values in, I think, ALL other viewers.

Firestorm – I’ve seen another spat of wiki updates and version postings in the development channels. These typically precede a release. So, we are getting close. My guess is the team is thinking Christmas-present release. I expect to see it next week (#50 or week of 12/10). However, if they have problems, we may not see it until January :(.