It has been some weeks since the last podcast. There is a new one out. Hear it at: Metareality.
I won’t get to listen to it until some time later this weekend. Friday night and I can hear my favorite Bar & Grill calling.
Metareality Podcast Out
Nalates Urriah
Cool VL Viewer v1.26.7.5 Released
This is an experimental version of Cool VL Viewer just released. Henri Beauchamp posted in the comments for the SL News 2013-2. I want to point out that Experimental Cool VL Viewer v1.26.7.5 has server-side baking support.
The feature is only available on the ADITI grid. But, using the viewer will test its ability to work with the legacy system on the main grid… well… legacy sounds a bit odd in this context. But, it soon is to be a legacy system… about February.
In the ADITI/Beta grid you can test it on both types of servers. See: Project Sunshine-Server Side Appearance.
Second Life News 2013-2v3
We learned a bit more about Tuesday’s lag fest. It was a hardware issue in the Phoenix collocation facility. A network link and its redundant backup both failed. The Lindens got it fixed about 5PM. See my first announcement of the problem: Second Life Problems.
Rumor is Meeroos got loose in the server room and gnawed the cables.
Rollouts
Wednesday the Multi-Threaded Region-Crossing code rolled out to all three RC channels. The Lindens saw a sudden uptick in problems, which was mostly server crashes. Another problems was the loss of avatar attachments after several region crossings. In some cases after a relog the attachments were still missing.
Second Life Dev Viewer 3.4.5 Review
The Second Life Viewer is getting lots of changes. Even more are to come in the next weeks as the Materials System that allows the use of normal and specular maps. The 3.4.5 version is currently in pre-beta stage, Development. You can download a copy by looking in the left column for: SL Dev Viewer DL.
Second Life 3.4.5 (268856) Jan 9 2013 13:53:27 (Second Life Development)
Download & Install
The file size when downloaded is 29.6mb. It is fast. The viewer installs in its own folder. So, you can have it and other SL Viewers installed without conflict. It also uses its own settings file. It won’t up set the settings on your other viewers.
Second Life Crashing SkyDrive Problem
Crashing when uploading textures and several other assets is caused by having Microsoft’s SkyDrive and similar software installed. There is a possible fix for SkyDrive. I assume a similar fix for other cloud drives would work.
I first saw MartinRJ Fayray describe the fix in the SL Forum. The fix requires editing the Windows Registry. If you are not familiar with editing the registry and the associated problems, avoid these steps until after you have read up on registry edits and have decided you are up to it.
Second Life News 2013-2v2
This week we are coming off the holiday No-Change Window. Yesterday we got a rollout to the main channels and restarts. The package is a maintenance release listed as having stability improvements. I generally think that means there is new code to fixes crash bugs and to close exploits. Whatever is in it, we have it.
Release Candidates
The Lindens hoped to get two new packages into the RC channels. Andrew Linden’s Interest List improvements were one of the candidates planned for testing. Due to some last minute discoveries, that package didn’t make it to the RC channel.