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Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
In addition to many grid enhancements that FJ shared last week in his technology update blog post, the Viewer 2.5 beta cycle begins today. Viewer 2.5 Beta 1 is now available and includes several new features, usability improvements, and bug fixes. ... [More] Improved Web and Viewer Resident ProfilesThe biggest change in Viewer 2.5 Beta 1 is that we've replaced the Viewer-based profiles with web-based profiles. You can access the redesigned profiles on the web using your Second Life user id and in the Viewer itself. For example, here’s mine. In the Viewer, profiles now open in a web browser and you can open as many profiles as you like at the same time. And, if you wish, you can even connect other social identities from Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to your profile. Logging In to your Favorite LocationsA long-standing feature request has been the ability to access some of  your favorite Landmarks from the login screen, so you can quickly teleport to places inworld. In the Viewer 2.5 Beta, we've added a preference that gives you access to the Landmarks on your Favorites Bar from the Login Screen. To use this feature, go to Preferences > Privacy and select the check box labeled, "Show my Favorite Landmarks at Login." If you log off and then restart your Viewer, then you'll see a list of your Favorite Landmarks in the "Start At" drop-down box on the login screen. Also, when this feature is enabled and you share a computer account (login) with other people, they will see your list of Favorites if they run the Viewer 2.5 Beta.Decompression Performance ImprovementsFor a long time, we’ve used an older version of the Kakadu library known as KDU to load textures and images in the Viewer. The KDU Library has been updated to version 6.4 in the Viewer 2.5 Beta, which allows the Viewer to take advantage of significant decompression performance gains; our preliminary measurements gauge the performance gain at 30% for decoding images, which should translate to a visible improvement in rezzing time for complex scenes.Please note that per our support policy, we’re also deprecating Viewer 2.1.1 today. If you’ve been running Viewer 2.1.1, you’ll be prompted to download the latest Viewer release. To stay up to date on future deprecation announcements, please subscribe to @secondlife on Twitter.As  always, we want to know what you think of the latest beta so please keep that feedback coming. Share your impressions with us on Twitter and use the hashtag #SLViewer2.Helpful Links Download Viewer 2.5 Beta 1:Windows | Mac | LinuxViewer 2.5 Beta Release NotesSL Forum on Viewer 2 [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
We've got a full plate for next week. Here's the plan:Second Life Server (main channel) Due to the mishap with the Encroachment project on BlueSteel, we'lll  be promoting the "Simulator Shutdown" project from LeTigre. From the  preliminary tests ... [More] during the Release Candidate update last week, we're hoping that the roll will be about 30% faster. It should also reduce the  number of inventory problems that are encountered on region restart.2011-01-18 6:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)Second Life RC BlueSteel BlueSteel will see a return of the Encroachment project... now with less bugs! As a reminder, this project helps parcel owners deal with foreign prims that extend into the boundaries of their parcel.2011-01-19 8:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)Second Life RC LeTigre LeTigre is getting new project, "Viewer Metrics." This is intended  to help us get better viewer-side metrics, letting us know if changes we  make actually improve the user experience.2011-01-19 9:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)Second Life RC Magnum Magnum is going to keep "Centrals Supreme" for another week, with Simulator Shutdown merged in.2011-01-19, 10:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)Join us on the forums for questions, answers, and a little friendly chat! [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
As we begin 2011, I want to share the progress that we’re making on several important technology enhancements that I discussed in my last post.  As I mentioned, we are focused on improving the overall performance of Second Life while addressing some ... [More] long standing limitations such as  raising group limits, improving the chat system, and reducing lag.Group Limits Raised to 42 Today In October, we committed to increase group limits from the current 25 up to 40 in the first quarter of 2011. As of today, group limits have been raised to 42! To add groups beyond the previous limit of 25, you must be using Viewer  2.4 (or a more recent version). And if you’re still using Viewer 1.23, or a third-party viewer based on Viewer 1.23 code, then you can add more groups in Viewer 2.4 and they will still be accessible when you switch back to Viewer 1.23.That said, if there is an unexpected load, then we may need to lower the group limitation to maintain acceptable performance levels across the grid. If we decide to do that, then any Residents who have up to 42  groups will not lose their memberships. But, other Residents will not be able to exceed the new limit.Group Chat System Will Launch Gridwide By March 31stWe were set to deploy a prototype of the new group chat system in December, but last minute licensing issues were found with our chosen open source library. Now that a solution is in place, we expect to have the prototype available by the end of this month and an industry standard and high performing group chat system available by the end of this quarter.Performance Improvements When Teleporting and Crossing RegionsAs you teleport, or cross regions, all of your avatar data (often a very  large amount of data) needs to be processed by both source and destination regions. In order to streamline this process, we are now compressing avatar information, making your teleports and region crossings faster and more reliable. In fact, we’ve found that teleport failures, due to avatar complexity, have dropped 40%. See the graph below for a more detailed view showing how much we’ve shortened region crossing time.Viewer 2.5 Beta Releasing SoonWe will soon launch the latest version of the Second Life Viewer -- Viewer 2.5 Beta. In addition to more performance and stability improvements, we’ve added enhanced web-based profiles, accessible both on the web and in the Viewer. And, if you wish, you can even connect your Second Life profile to other social identities including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn! You will also have the option in Preferences to choose your first inworld destination from the saved Landmarks in your Favorites Bar. This is very handy when you need to get to a specific destination quickly.Also, one of the most important new features added to Viewer 2.4 was the auto-updater capability. If you're using Viewer 2.4 or higher, then you won’t be inconvenienced by the notification and download process when we release a new Viewer.Planning to Implement Significant Grid Infrastructure Enhancements in 2011We’re planning significant grid infrastructure enhancements throughout the year including technologies to speed server-side rendering (SSR) and server virtualization (web and simulator services). We are also exploring new storage and asset delivery systems. Some of the benefits will not always be noticeable, but they are foundational platform changes that set the stage for rapid performance and scalability improvements. We will continue to keep you updated as we roll out these systems.I’m pleased with the progress that we made across the platform last year and I'm looking ahead to newer technologies that we will deploy in 2011 to enhance your Second Life experience. As always, I'll be watching for your feedback and thank you for making Second Life such an amazing place. [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
Ever been in an awkward situation where you wanted to wear several accessories at once, only to find that they all used the same attachment point? And wearing one detached another? ARGHHHH... WAIT! Before doing the old-skool "attach to a different ... [More] point and manually reposition", you should definitely know that in Second Life Viewer 2.4, we've formally introduced MULTIPLE ATTACHMENTS TO THE SAME POINT. (The eagle-eyed among you know it's been in testing for longer.)Heck yes.What this means is you can "stack" objects on any attachment point, as long as the total # of attachments your avatar is wearing is 38 or less. This video shows you a very practical situation many of you lady avatars can relate to: how to deal with when jewelry tries to attach to the same slot as your dress. Gotta be glam for your big night out, yeah? Special thanks to Nyx Linden, a master of multi-wearables, for confirming facts!For more details,check out the "multiple attachments" help pageSee something missing? I encourage you to fill in more useful info! Like inworld content, Second Life help is Resident-powered, and I'm here to inspire you to discover your power of self-expression. [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
Do you find yourself bothered by too many notifications? Do you want to hide instant message popups without having to go into Busy mode? There's a preference that can help with that in Viewer 2.4 and newer. For text instructions and more details,see the "incoming chat popups" help page
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
Awhile ago when we changed from the older-style "First and last name" at registration to "Single-word username" system as part of display names improvements, single-username Residents could view, but couldn't post to the forums and blogs here at ... [More] blogs.secondlife.com.After much tussling, we've fixed it as shown here, so go ahead and make your voice heard! I know it was terribly frustrating from the many messages I got. Our apologies it took so long, seeing as how important it is that you can ask for help from your fellow  Residents in Second Life Answers... and I'm guessing you have a lot to say. Single-username logins also work at the Bug Tracker.Related, single-username logins to the Second Life Wiki still don't work, meaning newer Residents can view, but can't edit the wiki help pages. We're still working on this and if it seems like we've gone strangely silent on giving updates, just ping me and I'll check with our tech experts to see what's going on. I promise. [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
Hey all. Another round of deploys next week, barring any disasters Second Life Server channel (main channel)We'll be promoting the Encroachment project to the main channel this week, as well as enabling compression on the entire grid.2011-01-10 ... [More] , 11:00am: Enable Compression grid-wide2011-01-11, 6:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)BlueSteel RC Channel:This  project, "Viewer Metrics" is intended to collect data on Viewer  performance, specifically around asset download speeds and frame rate.  This will help us know if what we're deploying actually improves the  user experience.2011-01-12, 8:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)LeTigre RC Channel:We'll just be updating the project that was already here, "Simulator Shutdown," with the Encroachment project merged in.2011-01-12, 9:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes)Magnum RC Channel:Since  we're also enabling compression everywhere, Magnum will be freed up for  a new project. I'm calling it "Centrals Supreme," because it is a  bundle of a 3 updates to our "central servers." The Centrals, as we call  them, are all the various machines that do things besides simulating regions. The three updates are:Mapserver: a minor update to the machine that generates the region images that you see on the World MapInventory API: you may remember that this service was deployed a few weeks ago. We've  since had to disable it due to conflicts with older viewers. This deploy  is to add a version number to the API, thereby making it only  accessible to newer viewers that can properly interact with it. Older  viewers will use the legacy inventory protocol that has been on the grid  since the dawn of time.Region Conductor: this  is the services that decides which simulator to put regions on. When  your region is down, either from a restart, crash, or whatever, the  region conductor finds an empty sim to start it up on. The changes here  are to improve the efficiency of how regions are placed on sims. 2011-01-12, 10:00am: Rolling Restart (release notes) Please bring questions & comments to the forums. [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
The Second Life editorial team is looking for great romantic and Valentine’s Day-themed events and locations to showcase in the February edition of The Sandbox newsletter, as well as in the Destination Guide.Is your favorite store or location ... [More] participating in or preparing a special Valentine’s Day hunt, event or promotion? What do you think are some of the more beautiful and romantic spots in Second Life?Share your favorites with us here no later than 5 PM (Pacific) on Jan. 10, 2011 and we’ll check ’em out! Don’t forget to include the SLurl link so that others can find your place or event, too.We also have a special opportunity for those venue owners or groups coordinating grid-wide or store-wide Valentine’s Day hunts. For the first time ever, we’ll be publishing some “first location” clues and hints to share with The Sandbox readers. If you are organizing a Valentine’s Day hunt and would like to participate, please email the Editorial Team or leave a comment with basic information on your hunt no later than 5 PM (Pacific) on Jan. 10. [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
What's a HUD?In Second Life, objects can be worn on one of the eight HUD (short for heads-up display) attachment points. HUDs are essential to understand, since every SL Resident eventually comes across them sooner or later.A HUD typically consists ... [More] of a control panel with different buttons you can click on to do context-specific stuff. Some HUDs are "passive" and only meant to be looked at, not touched.While general attachments appear on your avatar's body and other Residents can see them, HUDs are only visible to you and have a fixed viewpoint, similar to how they're used in video games and apps. However, the scripted effects of a HUD, like emitted chat, can be visible to other Residents and objects.HUDs are an evolution of user interaction in SL: before HUDs, Residents were limited to typing commands in chat or touch dialogs (pop-up windows with choices to click on). These methods are still used — sometimes in tandem with HUDs — but HUDs are often more visually attractive and user-friendly, making them approachable.Objects specifically designed to be used like that may have "HUD" in their name to tell you where they'll appear, or they may have "(wear me)" in their name.This video quickly gets you started on the basics: Yes, HUDs are mighty fine for games in Second Life too. Wanna learn more?Check out our guide to HUDs... and share your fave HUDs and tips & tricks for all things HUD-related in the comments! [Less]
Posted about 13 years ago by [email protected]
Hey guys, we'll be having the first deploy of the new year next Tuesday. Here's what's on our plate:Second Life Server (main channel)We'll  be promoting the "Compression" project to the main grid. The main  feature here is that region crossings and ... [More] teleports now compress avatar  data as they happen, which results in faster completion times. This  feature will be deployed in a disabled state. Magnum will have it enabled for testing.2011-01-04, 6:00am: Deploy to main channel (release notes)Second Life RC BlueSteelBlueSteel  will be getting the "Encroachment" project. This aims to address the  issue of objects encroaching onto a parcel you own (more details here). This will depend on a future viewer interface before it is fully usable.2011-01-05, 8:00am: Deploy "Encroachment" (release notes)Second Life RC LeTigreLeTigre  is getting a set of back-end fixes that address the simulator shutdown  process. This will help make restarts (both rolling restarts and  individual region restarts,) safer and more reliable. This roll will  also rename all the LeTigre regions back to LeTigre.2011-01-05, 9:00am: Deploy "Simulator Shutdown" (release notes)Second Life RC MagnumWe  will be rolling Magnum with the same code that is going to the main  channel, the "Compression" project, and also enabling the compression  feature for the first time. This feature compresses data sent between  regions during teleport and region crossings, and should decrease the  time to complete those actions.2011-01-05, 10:00am: Deploy "Compression" (release notes) Bring questions & comments over to the fourms. [Less]