Nalates' Things & Stuff

Intel vs AMD for Second Life

2018/05/28 by Nalates Urriah

Second Life™ users want performance. Most of you know Second Life is NOT an optimized game world but rather a hobbyists-built world that can drag even the best gaming machine down to single digit frame rates. So, performance is a thing among SL users.

CPUs are the heart of performance with the GPU being the legs.

Both Intel and AMD have new CPUs out. So, the natural question is which is best for running Second Life?

In general, this is how the two stack up in head to head testing. (8+ min)

For some data processing in the beginning AMD is noticeably ahead. Yet in the games similar to Second Life the Intel consistently renders about 5±% more frames.

Mystery Booms and Bangs Around the World

2018/05/26 by Nalates Urriah

I am curious. So, my interests are wide ranging. For years I’ve heard of unexplained booms and UFOs. (Now renamed Anomalous Aerial Vehicles – AAVs.) But, I have yet to find people providing realistic explanations or even good evidence. So, it is easy write these reports off as part of the conspiracy crowd’s enchantment. But, good evidence is mounting. Mostly due to the proliferation of cameras and microphones around the world.

The number of booms reported and RECORDED is increasing. So, something is making noise. Booms are common in SoCal. We have Camp Pendleton and their artillery practice. But, that doesn’t explain it for most of the world nor even all the booms in SoCal. The marines do not practice every day.

This is one of the more ‘reasonable’ sounding videos proclaiming we do not know. However, if one looks at the collection of videos posted in this channel… if your skepticism doesn’t jump to the red zone, you you likely should be classed as gullible.

How to find Cheap, Good Stuff in the SL Marketplace…

2018/05/25 by Nalates Urriah

Ryan Schultz has published a little tutorial on his site, Second Life Steals, Deals, and Freebies: How to Find Free and Inexpensive Items on the SL Marketplace. I think it is a handy tutorial on how the SL Marketplace search features works… I use the word ‘works’ loosely.

Using the left-column of filters makes finding stuff a bit easier. But, one has to know to make the search using the top ITEMS – Merchant/Store search setting ‘Search In’, ‘Show Maturity Levels’, and ‘Keywords’ before adding the left-column filters.

The ‘Sort By’ in the mid-upper right of the page just below the ITEMS search is also a big help. The sort can be changed at any time in your searches.

You can also search for a store or merchant. Once you select a merchant/store you have the option to ‘Search this store’. Then follow with left-column filters.

Things in the marketplace do not age out. Also, when merchants stop using Second Life, their stuff remains in the market place. Even if it requires a third-party server to work and that server is taken offline. All of which is a BIG gotcha for new SL users.

So, the sort order can be important search criteria.

Windows 10 Intel® Graphics Driver

2018/05/24 by Nalates Urriah

I see there is a new driver out for those people using Intel HD Graphics. This is a driver that supports the iCore 6^th, 7^th, and 8^th generation CPUs.

For those that have been having problems with SL viewers telling them they have an out of date driver, this may help.

Get the driver here: DRIVER VERSION: 24.20.100.6094.

Second Life News 2018 w21

2018/10/122018/05/22 by Nalates Urriah

Servers

There are no updates to the main or RC channels this week. No restarts are planned either.

The updates are still in testing over in ADITI. Mazidox Linden expects to have more information by Thursday’s Server Beta UG meeting.

Viewers

A new main viewer came out late last week. The Maintenance version 5.1.4.515016 is now the default viewer.

Looking back, I didn’t write up much about this version. There are a load of changes and improvements in this version. Check the release notes for ALL the details.

ᴋɪʟʟ ᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ... — ᴋɪʟʟ ᴏᴜʀ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏ ʜᴇᴀᴠᴇɴ…

The interesting changes are…

In the Appearance editor we are supposed to have a Wear Only This Outfit. I can’t find any such choice.

Temporary attachments can now be removed. I think the change is these temps now show in the WEARING tab so they can be selected and detached.

Some login problems have been fixed and error messages improved.

Second Life News 2018 w20

2018/05/15 by Nalates Urriah

The main channel got a roll. And there is a Deploys post. So, version #18.05.07.515224 is now on the main channel. This is the one that adds the new LSL functions for the coming name change.

Blue Steel, Le Tigre, and Magnum are all to be determined. If nothing rolls out, all main grid regions will be running the same version. Or we might see something roll to the RC channels.