Second Life News 2017 w51

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I think the Server-Scripting UG meeting is about the last UG meeting of the year.

Servers

There is no Deploys thread as of 10:45 AM. Nor has my region in the mainland been restarted. The last main channel restart was 12/12.

Simple pleasures
Simple pleasures

From the UG meeting we are told no new updates this week or next. So, all is quite… until 2018. Next UG is Jan 2. But, without a package on the RC channels a main channel roll is unlikely.

Simon tells us he is working a new shiny that we’ll see next year. O.O what a tease…

Viewers

The main viewer is still version 5.0.9.329906. It last updated in week #49.

Second Life Alex Ivy Viewer version 5.1.0.511248 – Last updated in week #48.

Second Life Maintenance Viewer version 5.0.10.330035 – Released December 13, week #50. So, this is a new item in the viewers list.

This viewer caries the Nalewka code name, a Polish drink. Nalewka is bringing you the next sweet batch of fixes. It’s what you’ve come to expect – we fixed some crashes and memory leaks, threw in bugfixes and improvements for a smooth and pleasant experience.

A little over a dozen bug fixes. Release Notes

Second Life Voice Viewer version 5.0.10.330039 – This is a new version released 12/12, week #50.

Second Life Wolfpack Viewer version 5.0.10.330001 – Last updated in week #49.

Second Life Project 360 Snapshot Viewer version 5.1.0.506743 – no update since week #27.

Second Life Project Animesh Viewer version 5.0.10.330058 – Last updated in week #49.

Second Life Project Render Viewer version 5.1.0.511446 – This is a new version arriving late last week, #50. I plan to try this one over the holidays.

Third-Party Viewers

No sign of a Firestorm release. So, it is looking Like Whirly had the inside line and we won’t see a release until after the first of the year.

The rest of the third-party viewer field is quite too.

Interesting Second Life Avatar: Snokra Snake

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It is a cute avatar. But, I find it interesting because of what is included in the package, which makes this an awesome deal.

Snokra Snake (SL Marketplace)

Snokra Snake by EpicGordon Broome

The features currently available with V0.9 are;

  • Well over 130 animations
  • Bento support, with tons of hand poses, tail poses and tail animations
  • Expressive face, with several shape controllers, jawtalk, and a hissy tongue!
  • Multiple chest sizes and nether states
  • Toggleable cobra hood
  • Easy-to-use applier systems
  • HUD driven alpha masking
  • Recolorable eyes
  • Shinyness slider
  • Eyelid and jaw controllers
  • Jawtalk
  • Three skins, which will be closer to 30 by release

Plus, notice in the image that Developer Kits are freely available and the item is copy-mod OK. That makes this a great learning tool and allows people to make clothes for Snokra.

For more of a review of the item see NiranV’s review here: The Snokra Snake & Content Creation. Also, more images.

Third-Party Viewer UG Meeting 2017 w50

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This week lots of things got discussed and explained in the third-party UG meeting. So, we have some information on Second Life™ viewers and some hints on the directions the Lindens are going.

I have some time mark information in my summary. Some of the sections I’ve just said what they are about as the discussion is too time consuming to accurately summarize. These are sections you should watch if you have an interest in the subject.

Alex Ivy has one more bug to fix, an updater problem. It is expected to release Friday, as another RC. With any luck we will see the version go out as the main viewer before Christmas.

There are some challenges getting the Linden Updater working with third-party viewers. Oz Linden says the Lab will work with third-party developers that want help with it. 

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Content Creation UG 2017 w50

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Thursdays are becoming busier for me. I find it harder to get to the Thursday User Group meetings. Fortunately, Medhue streamed the meeting.

The audio is horrible.

Index

02:00 – Bakes on Mesh Project. Under way. No time frames. They think it is going well.

The idea they are operating on is the change for baking on mesh objects (all objects?) will be only viewer side. The idea is they will use magic texture UUID’s. If the system sees a magic UUID the texture information will be sent to the Bakes on Service.

Vir Linden points out this leaves some questions unanswered. They have yet to figure those points out. In progress.

04:25 – Animesh. There is an update to the Appearance Service in the works. As there are calculation the service has to do depending on what you have attached to the avatar. Think of it as the height thing for those of us wearing spike heels… but not limited to. 

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Internet Freedom

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The Net Neutrality issue has been buried in in Leftist rhetoric. Almost all the coverage has been one sided. I have yet to see any major news outlet actually quote what the roll-back plan is or what the rules will be. Most coverage has been hysterical fluff and misdirection.

Today there is an article in the Wall Street Journal that does a decent job of giving the other side. You can decide how real or fake. I’ll point out most people will have a hard time figuring out the truth after the flood of propaganda they have endured.

The Internet Is Free Again (there is a pay wall) You can find summaries of the article but most are not actually dealing with the substance of the article. They just make assertions and state opinions. So, you’ll have to wade through the bias and propaganda to find the actual content. Plus there are all the #InternetFreeAgain slams from the clueless that have drunk the Koolaid.

The short version of the story is the subtitle of the article: Killing Obama-era rules will remove the FCC as political gatekeeper. The gatekeeper aspect is why I have consistently opposed Net Neutrality in the USA.

Almost all the coverage has been about how the change WILL cost you more money and restrict your access. It is how they motivate the generally apathetic that are not paying attention. Both are lies, but that gets lost in opinion and prediction neither of which can be debated. The hidden agenda that the government had taken control of the Internet to control political content was never mentioned.

Nor do they mention the always increasing cost of government regulation nor the regressive effect on low and middle-income people. The more likely factor to drive up everyone’s cost is government regulation.

So, the deed is done. The FCC has rolled the regs back freeing the Internet. Amazingly supposedly freedom loving people are screaming about that.

Now the political effort from the Left and various misinformed parties is to kill that freedom and give government regulators control over politics on the Internet. Make sure you know real facts before joining any political campaign or movement for or against NN. Way too often the campaign psychologists have figured out how to get people to act against their personal best internet.