Niran’s Viewer Finalized Review

Niran has released the ‘Final’ version of Niran’s Viewer. That is final as in finally complete, not the last. Niran’s blog has an article that is worth the read. I’ll mention the main points, but I won’t cover all the details.

Niran’s Niche

Some viewer developers want their viewer to be the best viewer. Kirsten’s was bleeding edge technology for the best rendered image. Henri’s Cool Viewer seems to be about stretching the life of V1 viewers, which in Henri’s case is probably more about the user interface than the code. Linden Lab’s viewer is about being easy to learn. Firestorm is a power user’s viewer, imo.

Nirans Viewer 1.00

Niran wants to create a viewer with the best render image. For Second Life I think that is an awesome goal. I may be a bit more visually oriented than most. So, I like high quality graphics. I loved exploring Blue Mars. But, I need more computer to run at the quality I want. My duel core just isn’t cutting it with my new graphics card.

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SOPA is Still a Problem

SOPA is: Stop Online Piracy Act. Sounds like a good thing. But, like most government actions it’s bad for the people. Watch the video. Words cannot describe it. I first saw this on GoSpeed Racer’s site.

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If you have not seen this video, check it out. Its 15 minutes long. This federal law is about limiting the free flow of information on the Internet under the banner of stopping information piracy. It is another way for the failing music companies and their lawyers to make a ton of money. As the law is written politicians will be able to control speech on the Internet and that has to be bad for freedom.

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OK, you have seen the sky is falling and it is a conspiracy video. It will take some research to verify everything you heard. But, some of the lawsuits are easy to check out. Also, the extradition from the UK can be checked. All that I’ve had time to research checks out. Now it’s time to catch your breath and get some perspective. Facts are always good for perspective.

One can Google H.R. 3261 (USA House of Representatives) or SOPA. Bill is sponsored by Rep. Lamar S. Smith (R – Texas) – Cosponsors are listed HERE and 8 of 31 are from California. Look to see if your rep is in the list. If so, note it so you will know who to vote out in 2012. Latest Major Action: 12/16/2011.

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Moving #SL Magic Boxes

Hopefully in the first quarter of 2012 the need for Magic Boxes will go away. Until then, we occasionally have to move them. That often creates problems with the items we have in the Market Place. But, it is possible to move them and avoid the problems.

Magic Box Move

To avoid problems you need to understand that everything rezzed in-world gets a UUID, a Universal Unique Identifier. I get confused trying to remember how an object’s UUID changes or does not change when we take it back into inventory and later rez it again. In general each time something is rezzed it seems to get a new UUID. Also, it gets confusing figuring out which things in the box have which UUID’s and how those match up with the items in the Market Place. Thinking that through is too much brain damage.

So, this is actually a tutorial on how to move objects and RETAIN their existing UUID. This process is not limited to just Magic Boxes.

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My Take on the Firestorm-Phoenix Q&A Video

If you read the announcement of the Firestorm-Phoenix (FS-PH) Q & A, you know there was a reason for having the secession. Jessica Lyon, the voice for the FS-PH Team, said the reason was anger and frustration in the community. So, what is the anger and frustration about and where is it coming from?

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You probably know Third Party Viewers (TPV) developers are leaving, KirstenLee and Kirstens Viewer, and new ones are appearing, Cinder and Milkshake Viewer. We also know Linden Lab is advancing their viewer at a blistering pace. In general we see things moving forward and new technology is adopted. A Neilson report shows that Second Life has almost doubled market share (New World Notes) in the last few months.

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Builders Unite

A nifty JIRA was recently posted. See: VWR-27809 – When building it is often diffcult to stretch an object along a narrow axis. I run into this whenever I’m building. When stretching objects I use the Ctrl-Shift keys to bring up the stretch handles. The basic idea is to be able to press a key … Read more

Milkshake: a New #SL Viewer

When I find a new viewer I’m always nervous about using it. Since I approve all comments posted here I saw Sven idyll’s comment in the Exodus Viewer review. Feeling sad that we have lost Kirsten’s viewer, I’m curious. I have an Alt just for testing such viewers. Time to get him out… my guy is brave.

Milkshake? Logo

TPV Directory

The viewer is not listed in the Third Party Viewer (TPV) Directory. That doesn’t mean a lot for security. Viewers registered there are self certified. The Lab only removes them or refuses a listing for a known or obvious cause. So, there is little difference between a listed viewer and those not listed in regard to security.

One has to make a judgment call in regard to the safety of a viewer. There is no way to know, short of reading the code and compiling it yourself. So, one takes their chances, which is why I used an alternate.

Facebook

The viewer has a Facebook page. For whatever that means. Cinder Roxley created the Facebook page for the Milkshake Viewer.

Web Site

It is sort of mandatory for a viewer developer to have a web site and blog about their viewer. If there is a web site for the viewer, I did not find it. However, Sven idyll did blog about the viewer. Sven is Swedish, so I have to use Google to translate the blog. Such translations are not perfect, so I sort of get the idea. See: Milkshake?

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