Second Life and OpenGL

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A question by Loki got me looking at the state of DirectX/Direct3D and OpenGL. We hear Windows runs games faster on Direct3D than on OpenGL. That is supposedly why Second Life™ viewers run slower, fewer Frames Per Second (FPS), than other games using Direct3D. But, some people say otherwise. One of those people is Steam or more accurately the online gaming company Valve.

Valve makes the Source Engine that runs Half Life 2, Left 4 Dead, and Dota 2. Valve is not a Microsoft fan, which I don’t find surprising as Microsoft is known for trying to make Windows a closed shop that keeps other gaming systems at a disadvantage. In testing in August 2012 Valve reported that OpenGL on Ubuntu ran faster than DirectX/Direct3D did on Windows. You can read more about that in: OpenGL is Faster.

This tells us it is not just OpenGL and Direct3D that solely control performance. The OS has quite a bit to do with it also.

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Is 3D Safe for Kids

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I was answering a question in the SL Forum about 3D and Second Life. The involved people seemed short on  info about how 3D works for single screens. So, I was looking for a good explanation of the state of the tech. I came across an article at Tech Crunch.

Title: A Guide to 3D Display Technology: Its Principles, Methods, and Dangers

The word ‘dangers’ caught my attention. How can 3D be dangerous? This is a 2010 article. But, it points out the nature of the human visual system and brain and what fooling it with 3D displays does. Something I had never heard of or thought about.

It seems people coming out of long 3D movies are having problems with depth perception. Oh fun! More incompetent drivers on the road.

The real problem pointed out is for young children. We really have no studies or solid data on the effect. But, the points made in the article seems intuitive, which doesn’t make them right. But, it is a serious consideration for those raising young children and exposing them to 3D TV and games.

Apparently this is enough of a problem that Samsung posted this warning on their site:

READ THE FOLLOWING WARNINGS BEFORE YOU OR YOUR CHILD USE THE 3D FUNCTION.

Update: See VR Matrix Disassociation from Real Life.

 

More Global Warming

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The data Warmers use most often comes from the UN’s IPCC, International Panel on Climate Change. In an ironic twist 20+ years into the debate more and more of the data used by skeptics comes from… yep the IPCC. If you are one that believes manmade warming is killing the planet, your beliefs are likely being fed by the mainstream media and the UN. If you’re a skeptic, you are either believing your friends or you are digging through reports and skeptic’s web sites.

Chart from Draft IPCC AR5
Chart from Draft IPCC AR5

You could look up the 1990 IPCC report and compare its predictions for coming years. We now have 20+ years of actual data since the report was written to look at. We can see how well the IPCC did at predicting the future, not very well. But, then you would have to get into the data and see how the IPCC has been adjusting it. Start with SurfaceStations.org to get the background on why adjustments are needed and in which direction adjustments should be made. 

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Patterns Updates with New Worlds

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I was looking at patterns today and saw it had a new update. It is showing as version 01F (49936). On the NEW screen are listed; ProtoWorld2 – The previous world Beta testers started with, Barren Plain – a new flat world, Red Bluff – a new vertical world, and Hanging Gardens – a fun build no doubt made to give people and idea of the possibilities.

Barren Plain
Barren Plain

I had to learn to jump to get the materials I wanted. I also found collapsing shapes behave a bit differently. 

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Looking Back at Second Life 2012

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The Linden Blog has a new article this month titled: A Look Back at Improvements to Second Life in 2012 and Forward to 2013. It is worth the read, but it is pretty small. Having written 568 posts this year I thought it was a little light. So, I decided to look back over the year. I had no idea how much work I was getting into.

This article is the result of my look back at 2012. I have uploaded the WORD (docx) file I used to compose the article. I think it makes for a handy quick reference that can be searched. I find trying to search the blog for specific information less than ideal. So, if you want a quick reference to when things happened, get the file. Please do not re-post or publish it.

This article is long. But, check it out to see how many things you remember. I was surprised how much I had forgotten. I was also surprised how fast and how slow some things happened.

For a short version of this article see: 2012 – The Short List

Please forgive the poor use of tense. I found writing in past tense rather awkward. Also, notice I have made page numbers correspond to months.

Update: I have added the 2013 review here: Second Life 2013 in Review

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