Second Life

Things about SL

#SL Scripting Update Week 33

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With some luck we’ll see the Scripting Maintenance Project roll to the main grid this week. Since last Wednesday Blue Steel has been running the project’s code. Kelly Linden says it is looking good and will probably be a candidate for roll to the main grid this week.

Image by: Marcin Wichary @ Flickr

Along with new scripting functions come simulator performance improvements. The graph shows some of the improvements. If I understand correctly we should be able see a noticeable improvement.

New Scripting Features in LSL

  • llSetMemoryLimit() – This sets the maximum amount of memory the script can use. With this function the sizing and color scripts for hair and shoes can be set to use less memory. Because there are so many copies of the scripts in hair this should have a large impact.
  • llGetMemoryLimit() – This reports what the memory limit is.
  • llGetObjectDetails() – A new item has been added to the flags: OBJECT_SCRIPT_TIME. This item returns the average script time an object or avatar is using. The value is in seconds and is the same number as one sees in Top Scripts in the Estate Manager’s Tools.

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#SecondLife Display Names Revisited

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Image by: Randy Son Of Robert @ Flickr

I use a display name, Nal. Simple, easy to spell, and solves the problem of my being called Natalie, which I don’t mind that much unless a Natalie is in the area. So, I don’t care that much about Display Names (DN) either way. I just read Avril Korman’s article, The Name Game: Display Names and the Law Of Unintended Consequences. This is a well written piece on the subject of Display Names. I recommend it.

I am a great believer in the idea that if one is going to complain they complain to someone that can do something about the problem and offer a solution, preferably more than one solution to the complaint.

Avril explains the problems with Display Names. This is not a simple they suck. But, a good analysis of what was intended verses what the results have been. I can’t find any point where I disagree with Avril’s thinking.

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Second Life Rod Humble 2011 Keynote

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Each year the CEO of Linden Lab addresses the residents on the future direction they plan to take Second Life. This year Rod Humble gave the address. I like to get the audio of the address and summarize the key points. I think people can read faster than most people can talk. Plus later when I need to remember what Rod said, I have a searchable summary of the address. So, here are the key points as I see and understand them.

If you want the bottom line, jump to my Summary at the end.

Rob Humble’s Keynote Address

UStream

The events and meetings are being streamed through UStream.com. The first meeting I went to, Future of Mesh, they changed the stream. We had to scramble to find the correct stream. In Rod’s keynote it was a bit easier. But, in both cases those attending in-world had problems. So, I suggest if you are planning to attend any of the meetings, watch via UStream in your browser. The URL’s are in the schedule. See: http://schedule.slconvention.org/. Also, the videos should be archived there.

The crowded regions were crashing my SLV 3.0.1 and Dolphin 2 viewers. Bummer.

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Remember the ARC Nazi?

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ARC is of course Avatar Render Cost. The lindens introduced it as a way to encourage more sensible avatar attire. What some residents did with it is to try to force others to conform to their idea of what is an appropriate ARC value. We call them Nazis.

Mesh ARC? - Pic by: amandabhslater @ Flickr

One of the things I suspect ARC Nazis have not considered is that different viewers give different ARC values. Nor have they considered that the current ARC values have little to do with reality. The numbers are a bit faked. It might have been better if the Lindens had ARC shown as; Good, Fair, Poor, Bad, Awful, and Disaster. Sometime after mesh roll out is complete the Lindens plan to revise the ARC numbers.

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What Mesh Means

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I have seen many people asking what difference mesh will make in Second Life. Others want to know what the difference is between mesh and sculpties. The best answer I’ve seen is in New World Notes article: What Mesh Will Do for Second Life Fashion – Illustrated.

The source for Hamet’s article is Damien Fate’s blog. Damien is showing many of the differences between mesh, standard SL clothes, and sculpty clothes.

I’ll point out again that the clothing textures people make for their mesh clothes will be unique to their clothes. If you do not have the clothing template for a particular maker, it will be hard to make clothes for that brand. But, will creators want more people making textures for their clothes?

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#SL Server Update Week 32

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Mesh seems to still be the top priority. Two of the release channels are running Mesh Enabled versions; Le Tigre and Magnum. Blue Steel is running a Server Maintenance upgrade. The Lindens have posted in the Wiki what changes are coming over the next few upgrades.

State of the Art?

Main Grid

The upgrade called Improved HTTP Service made it to the main grid last week. One of the items is improved texture fetch. As more users pile on HTTP Texture Get a problem was found in the servers and routers that handle the requests. Lately I’ve seen the time needed for textures to download go up. I’ve also seen more textures simply not download. I’ve also been in crowded places where I’ve changed groups 2 or 3 times to all the avatars to render. I still think changing groups to rez avatars sounds silly, but I see it work. This fix should correct the problem, but I can’t say I have seen improvement.

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