Google+ Gone … to MeWe?

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You probably know Google+ is gone, closed, poof… It didn’t work out for Google. So, the Second Life™ community using Google+ needs a new home. Daniel Voyager is suggesting MeWe.com. There is the website for the desktop and a mobile app.

It is sort of free… they want your whole list of email contacts. You have to know servers cost money. So, a free service to you typically means YOU are the commodity being sold. Well, you and your friends. Thus, the nag to upload your contact list.

QAnon

They have my email as part of the signup process. But, I’m not giving them my friends email addresses.

I’m not sure how much I’ll use MeWe. I’ll play with it for a time and see if it helps my blog or I find some handy feature.

Or… it might just be they think all those contacts are needed to get you working on MeWe. It’s like, what is Facebook if you have no Friends? Boring! So, they try to hook you up. But, then how do they make their money? The MeWe store isn’t going to cut it, IMO. Continue reading →

Second Life News 2019 w14

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There was lots of detailed information in the third-party dev UG meeting last week. We got a bunch of information on what is happening with a couple of problems. Currently, disconnects and detachments are front lines.

Servers

From ‘How Does Your Avatar Look Today?’ 4/2019 – Click

The main channel rolls to #19.03.15.525315. This is the OS upgrade. It includes the EEP support.

The RC channels Blue Steel, Le Tigre, and Magnum will be the first version with UDP asset fetching disabled or removed. See the Tools & Tech section of the SL blog Obsolete Asset Fetch Disabled for more details.

The UDP change will mean older viewers using UDP asset fetching will stop working correctly. Avatars are likely to not render or render as Ruth/Roth. Sooner or later you will have to update…

Disconnects

The RC channels will have a change that is hoped will help with the disconnect problems people are experiencing, which seems to have started in December or January. Some think EEP is causing the disconnects. EEP is coincidental with the disconnects. The current analysis of the problem suggests it is in the TCP communication between the viewers and servers.

In the March 29, Third-Party Dev UG meeting Oz talks about the problem and why it took the Lindens so long to notice. Video Basically, the problem is not showing in the performance stats the Lindens watch.

The disconnects seem to fall into groups, those occurring during a teleport and those that are periodic (disconnect every so many minutes). People trying to chase the problem down are having problems reproducing the disconnect. They have the problem rated as #1 & #2 and have lots of people on it full time plus a QA team of remote users, meaning far from the Lab distance-wise.

There are rumors about different things one can do to stop the disconnects, change the WL/EEP sky, cancel a TP mid-teleport (cancel, open World Map – find destination region – wait for it to come up and you pop in), and others. For others the key is location, Blake Sea is a problem and Heterocera is not a problem. Continue reading →

SL’s Big EEP Fear

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It is April 1… but I’m not putting you on.

In week 13 there was a third-party viewer UG meeting. A significant part of the meeting was spent discussing the EEP – Enhanced Environment Project (EEP).

The EEP Viewer is in RC and has been for several days. It is the big push in the viewer pipeline. Vir Linen thinks the Love Me Render viewer is the likely next candidate to be promoted. But, EEP should be ready to release in 2 to 3 weeks… Firestorm thinks they will be 2 to 3 weeks behind that. I think 5 or 6 weeks behind, but I’ll be happy to be wrong.

EEP Editing Problems – 4/2019

As soon as EEP releases the Lab will move on to EEP2. Some of the things people want in EEP are being put into EEP2 to allow EEP to release sooner.

EEP is causing the current black stars and changes in the appearance of some Windlight (WL) environments. So, lots of complaining going on. I’ve turned off ‘Use Region Default’ on my Firestorm viewer. You do that in Preferences->Firestorm->Windlight->Automatically change environments… (uncheck). I can still control whether WL is using the region-default WL or not with the Photo Tools controls.  Continue reading →

Second Life News 2019 w13

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WARNING: ASUS motherboard users, you have been attacked. Users in Russia (18+%), Germany (16%), France (12+%), Italy (6+%), and the USA (5+%) are the main targets.

The attack targets specific machines. It is hardcoded into the Trojan. So, checking if you are a target is easy. Check to see if your MAC address is in the list. Links follow…

Once upon a time, there was a demoness.

Once upon a time, there was a demoness.

The virus was transmitted via infiltration of the ASUS update system. As the system provides Certified patches most anti-virus programs failed to detect it. So, you may have updated and opened the doors without your AV warning you.

This story started breaking 3/25/2019. ASUS and anti-virus companies have been working on this since January 2019. ASUS has responded with ASUS response to the recent media reports regarding ASUS Live Update tool attack by Advanced Persistent Threat (APT) groups. They have a repair tool for the problem on that page. Continue reading →

Second Life Bits and Bites… 2019 w11-12

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Yes… bites as in small consumable chunks.

SL as a RL Dating Site?

Seems some think so. Here I was thinking it a meat market for kinky hookups. But, in various places, Second Life™ is promoted as more than a meeting point for quick hook ups… it’s for LOVE!

See the DatingNews.com article Linden Lab™ Has Built 3D Virtual Worlds Where Singles Can Explore & Foster Real-Life Relationships (3/14). It is interesting, including some history and a positive take on SL. Yay!

I am curious to find out what people coming into SL after reading the article think of SL…

Star Citizen gets Females

Star Citizen is an EVE Online type game currently/still in development. Expensive to play as players are paying for game development. Visually it is pretty awesome looking.

Google+ To Close

Google+ closes the end of this month, March. Everyone writing about it is encouraging people to SAVE THERE Google+ CONTENT… What!?! WHY? Who puts content on social networks that they want to save?

Second Life ‘Featured’ Destination?

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Today I see the Lindens are featuring a Drax video on SL’s Insilico (URL Destination Guide – This lands one at the OLD main landing point.) in Destinations. I personally thought the video fell far short of portraying Insilico as the amazing build that it is. But, Insilico has lost its awesome. It is no longer the amazing build of perspective and scale illusions of the Skills Hax days (2015 and before). So, Drax made the best of what is left.

Drax made a video in 2015 that does a better depiction of Insilico… abet, as it was.

In 2016 it was thought Insilico would close. See my Insilico Update – The LONG Story. Things worked out and Insilico is still around but without Skills Hax.

In SL search there are a number of links (7) into Insilico. Checking them and the older LM’s I have I find most are useless. I would say this is the primary Insilico Cyberpunk Roleplay LM (SLURL). The SURL in the Destinations article is pretty lame and totally inadequate when one considers they were promoting roleplay. However, land there and hang out, you will get you a link in local chat to the Cyberpunk RP location. Now if one just notices it…. Continue reading →