Second Life and Virtual Worlds
Nalates Urriah This week we got some new viewers and updates to existing ones.
SL Main/Default Viewer: 3.7.26.299635 – Appeared: 3/06 – Adds the Avatar Hover Height Slider.
RC Maintenance Viewer version 3.7.27.300636 – Appeared: 4/8 – Long list of fixes – This viewer got an update from its previous 3.7.27.300323. It has performance fixes that make using it very nice to use.
April 9 – Machinimatrix updated AvaStar. The announcement is here: Avastar 1.4-5.
AvaStar now has the ability to use custom shape keys. This doesn’t mean the shape keys can be loaded into Second Life™. It does mean you can use them to speed your design while working in Blender.
As the video shows, (if you clicked through) you need both AvaStar and Sparkels installed to use the shape keys feature.
Gaia doesn’t really explain the work flow one would use with Shape keys. I expect there will eventually be a video explaining that process. However, training videos from Machinimatrix now tend to be in the form of retail training courses. The basic overall-this-what-this-does-videos are still free. But, the detailed how-to-videos are sold as training courses.
This is a subject that comes around every so often. I tend to look beyond the drama and actual issue to see who is arguing and how they are arguing. Tells me a lot about them. Even more when I later learn more about them.
One of the interesting things about Avatar Render Cost (ARC) is the numeric value. Have you thought about that number? What is it? Inches, meters, light-years, weight of electrons used in the render process?
It is a nonsensical number. The Lindens used some equation to calculate an arbitrary value that is useful for comparison only. More is bad, less is better. They color the number is based on a coloring scheme that reflects there idea of good, heavy, and bad… green, yellow, and red. You can find the equation (sort of) here: Second Life Render/Draw Weight.
Large cyberattack was carried out via Google
This is making the news today as we find out Russian and Chinese hackers have been into and are in the White House computers. This looks to be a finger to Obama by the Russians after the President said he was making a big push for cyber security… yeah, secure this.
Google advertising pushed links to Engage Lab that used exploits in Java, Adobe Flash Player, and Microsoft Silverlight to infect computers.
The attack lasted about 2 hours before Google detected it and shut it down.
The app Webpage Screenshot is apparently a spying program. A Swedish newspaper broke the story. Today Google is taking down the app and killing its ability to report to its master.
See: Google Chrome Extension Spying On You.
Sex is a big part of art. And there is no exception for photographic art in Second Life. If you haven’t heard of Domino Dupre (NSFW) check out her collection of erotic imagery from Second Life on Flickr.
You’ll find her composing a regular collection of erotic imagery that is shown on The Sexiest: PornStars’ blog. (NSFW)
There is an app for that… Ben Lang writing for Road to VR has published: Latest Version of ‘Virtual Desktop’ is Here, The Free App That Makes Your Entire Windows Computer Oculus Rift-capable.
If you have an Oculus or Oculus like HMD, you can download Virtual Desktop and see what the future may look like. Get the links from within the article.
Would you have thought…?
Massively Overpowered is carrying a story about how US sanctions against Russia is hitting players in Crimea. See: Sanctions Force World Of Warcraft, Diablo Iii Ban In Crimea.
Agent Inventory System version 3 is about new back end programming that improves the inventory system. Listening to Firestorm Team members and other third party developers there have been big problems with the system. It has been enabled on SL servers for some time now. Form where I am I can’t tell if it is problematic code made by the Lab or integration problems because of third party developer code.
Marine explains there were other problems too. So, they have had legitimate reasons for avoiding HTTPInventory.
Either way, the result has been a problem and third party viewers have lagged implementing the update. Now that the Lab is disabling the older UDP protocol for inventory things have to change.
We aren’t hearing a lot about what is happening with Second Life™ development at the Lab. This usually happens when the Lindens are completing a well known project, like Experience Tools. Or they starting a new project they aren’t completely sure will fly and they are saying nothing.
In this case I think they are focusing on Experience Tools. It isn’t that they aren’t working hard and or not much is happening. It is more about how exciting is finding a ‘;’ that is in the wrong place? Not very. Plus there are a couple of things finishing up that I suspect are consuming resources. The Tools Viewer that is a representation of the change in compiler tools is one that has created a bit of a bottleneck. I think once it rolls out the bottleneck will break loose and we will see more features releasing.