Second Life Viewer

UPDATE: It was brought to my attention that BlueSteel was rolled last time, so we're going to roll MaintServer to LeTigre instead.Thanks to the marvels of modern technology, this post is being written on AirTran flight 917 at 30,000 feet That's my ... [More] excuse for being late & keeping things short, anyway.Second Life Server channelWe'll be promoting the  Linkability project from BlueSteel to the main channel tomorrow morning.  We will also be turning on the new Inventory API that has been on  Magnum over the course of the week. That is done via a config change and  won't require an additional rolling restart.2010-11-30, 6:00am: Rolling restart on main channel2010-12-01, 9:00am: Enable new inventory API on 50% of Agni2010-12-02, 9:00am: Enable new inventory API on 50% of AgniLeTigre RC channelWe will roll out a MaintServer project containing miscellaneous bugfixes to LeTigre.2010-12-01, 9:00am: Rolling restart on BlueSteel (release notes pending)BlueSteel RC channel & Magnum RC channelIt looks like these channels will be getting a break this week.Head over to the forums for questions & answers. [Less]

Are you ready for the best (and busiest) time of the year? Be sure to mark your calendars for some fun this holiday season at Winterfest 2010: Friday, December 10 through Saturday, December 18.Hosted on the Global Online Hockey Association’s (GOHA) ... [More] six wintry regions, and featuring activities and events put on by numerous communities from around Second Life, Winterfest offers plenty to do, see, and pummel with snowballs. Whether you like snowboarding, playing hockey, ski jumping, cross-country skiing, ice skating, scavenger hunts, winter carnival rides or simply listening to some live music, we think you’ll find just what you’re looking for to get you in the spirit of the season.By popular demand, we’ll be bringing back the annual Lindens vs. Residents snowball fights. If you’ve ever had the desire to throw something at a Linden, this is the event for you. Bring it on, everyone. We’ll be ready!Need a new pair of ski pants? Got some for sale? The Winterfest category on the Second Life Marketplace is a great spot to look for new items to help you get outfitted for the season. Merchants with winter-themed content are welcome to post their wares to the appropriate sub-category for gift-giving and retail therapy enjoyment. We’re offering 13 different sub-categories under Winterfest for easy searching:Apparel (clothing and accessories, avatars, tattoos, costumes)Decorations (tree decorations, candles, menorahs, kinaras, bells, party decorations, fireplace stockings, snowman building, etc.)Greenery (trees, garlands, flowers, plants)Textures (snow, ice, gift wrap, etc.)GesturesFood & DrinkCards & InvitationsMusicSets (environments for land, parties, indoor scenes, etc.)Scripts (AOs, HUDs)Sports (skiing, sledding, ice skating, hockey, etc.)OtherCurious about what else is going on in Second Life to celebrate the season? Take a look at the Winter events channel on the Destination Guide. If you’ve got some ideas for more wintry fun to add to the channel, then take a look at our call for submissions blog post for winter activities.We’ll be announcing the full schedule of Winterfest 2010 events very soon. So, until then, bundle up, lace up your skates, and get ready for a full-fledged winter extravaganza! [Less]

Even if your real-world home is in a land of palm trees, you can still enjoy winter responsibly in Second Life! With US Thanksgiving a few days away, winter is upon us and I've been visiting all the Winter Activities in the Destination Guide. Have a ... [More] cool (hehe) place? Submit it! My wife Ravenelle and I have also been shopping at the Marketplace, because what says "Happy Holidays!" better than being a good consumer, right? If Second Life's sky and water still look too — well, warm — for your snowbound tastes, you can achieve a winter look in seconds. I've touched upon similar things in years past, but for the current Viewer 2.3 UI, you oughta see how easy it is in this video. Basically,Select World menu > Sun > Environment Editor.Click Advanced Sky button.Select Foggy from Sky Presets dropdown menu.Click LIGHTING tab.Increase Ambient sliders to taste... you can have a warmer or colder sky this way, or overall brighter as I do here with all set to 0.22.Many more WindLight/sky/atmospheric settings are here for your downloading pleasure.And oh, the sled in the video can be acquired here — it was such a Matrix-esque moment of "We need guns!" except, we needed sleds, and Naxos Loon and Lita Withnail came to join us. The spontaneous rush can't be beat. Here we are all "AHHHH AIR!!!!"The reindeer are coming out too, red noses and all.I'm intensely exploring Second Life and you can visit Here island (my home) and you can watch my adventures. Who knows when you might bump into me? Don't forget to ask for my bear. Now go take some pictures and video and be hawt... in the cold. [Less]

When we announced that we would be closing Teen Second Life and bringing our under-18 Residents to the Main Grid, we also made clear our intention not to compromise the experience that teens have access to. Today, I’m happy share our plan to create ... [More] rich and enjoyable Second Life experiences for teens, while keeping in mind their security and safety when joining the Main Grid.A Rich and Secure Experience for TeensOur goal is to provide a safe, secure, and rewarding experience to all Second Life Residents, no matter their age. Accordingly, we are putting safeguards in place on the Main Grid specific to the following teen age groups:For 13- to 15-year-olds:13- to 15-year-old Residents will be restricted to the estates of a sponsoring institution.These Residents will not have access to inworld search or our Web-based Marketplace.For 16- and 17-year-olds:16- and 17-year-old Residents will have access to all SL regions rated General (i.e., containing content appropriate for all ages), on the Mainland and private islands.These Residents will not be able to enter Moderate- nor Adult-rated regions, even if they have payment information on file and/or have used our Web-based identity verification system.These Residents will be able to communicate fully with and befriend all other users on the Main Grid. This includes local chat and IM.With nearly 5,000 General-rated regions in Second Life, the area that will be accessible to our 16- and 17-year-old Residents will dwarf the 100 regions currently available on Teen Second Life, giving them far more space to create, explore, and experience their online environment and what they can do there.Our 16- and 17-year-old account holders will also be able to communicate fully with all other users on the Main Grid (unless they have been muted or otherwise restricted). This was an important decision for us, and one we think will make Second Life richer for all Residents.Welcoming Teens in the New YearBringing teens to the Main Grid is now less than two months away. We plan to shut down the Teen Grid and transfer accounts to the Main Grid in early January, once the holidays have passed. Here’s what to expect:When the teen grid closes, 13- to 15-year-olds will no longer be able to register for Second Life unless they are brought in through an affiliated organization. On the Main Grid, these younger Residents will not be able to travel outside the estates of their sponsoring organizations.16- and 17-year-olds registering for Second Life will be directed to the Main Grid rather than to Teen Second Life.We will transfer all 16-17s remaining on Teen SL to the main SL grid, as well as those 13-15s that are affiliated with TSL Resident institutions. This includes all the inventory of those accounts. (The accounts of our other 13- to 15-year-old Residents will become inactive, but will be automatically restored when they turn 16.) All of the land on Teen Second Life will be transferred to the Main Grid. This includes teen mainland, teen private islands, and teen organizations’ estates.At that point, Teen Second Life will be officially closed -- but the experience of teens in Second Life is only just beginning. We strongly believe that teens have as much to contribute to the Second Life community as their adult counterparts, and we do not want to restrict the flow of ideas and information between the two groups. We all have much to learn from each other.As we continue to focus on making the Second Life experience faster, easier, and more fun for all Residents, we’ve also made a number of improvements to search to provide teens with additional security and control. We look forward to seeing the new kinds of creativity and community our teen Residents will bring to the Main Grid. Welcome, teens! [Less]

At Linden Lab, we recognize that SL Search is an aspect of the Second Life experience that is a top “back to basics,” priority to improve. So, over the last few months, the SL Search team has been working hard to make Search results more accurate and ... [More] prepare for the Teen Second Life migration to the Main Grid. Here's a brief overview:New Filters for Search with General or Moderate RatingsUntil now, we've had both land and language filtering in search results. However, there was no real difference between General and Moderate content filters. We're tweaking the content filters, both by defining a "Moderate" set of keywords and by altering some of the teen-related language in the adult filters. If your parcel or profile does not appear at the maturity level you expect it to, then edit your text. You will usually see your edits reflected in Search within six hours.Classified Ads Now Get Extra Level of Rating ValidationClassifieds have always allowed Residents listing a Classified to self-declare the maturity rating of their ad. With teens gaining access to the Main Grid, we've added content filtering to provide another level of rating validation. If you list an ad and don't see the maturity level you're optimizing for in search results, then just edit your text. You should see the edits reflected in Search in about an hour.New Functionality Automatically Builds in Keyword VariationsWe’ve also added new functionality (stemming and stop words, for all the industry professionals out there) into Classifieds, which means that advertisers don’t have to stuff their descriptions with every variation of a keyword. For example, a search for “Dance” will return descriptions with “dancing,” “dances,” and “danced."More Sophisticated Filters to Identify Spam and Optimize Search ResultsWe've moved from the more rigid "past this point and you get dinged" method of calculating boost to one that balances several features of your page. These aspects include how often words are repeated, the nature of the objects on your parcel, the size of the parcel, unique descriptors, and the use of symbols and ALL CAPS. It is important to note that the filter takes into consideration many things. Depending on the combination used, your score could be impacted negatively or not at all.A note about the perceived "size boost": We want to promote all relevant locations in Second Life -- big or small. Larger stores, with bigger inventories, are more likely to be mistakenly downgraded in Search for repetition in their descriptions and objects. So, we give larger parcels a minor buffer to allow for that. We’ve also adjusted this buffer so that it should be less noticeable. In addition, we now apply a negative boost for parcels that are below the minimum size permitted in search.All of these factors are now rolled into the one visible spam boost rating on each parcel. It’s worth checking it over the next two weeks as we roll out changes and make the appropriate updates to your information. Edits are typically reflected on the World page in a few minutes and up to six hours in Search.Destination GuideFinally, we’ve made some changes to the Destination Guide to reflect each listing’s parcel maturity. This will ensure that teens have access to all of the Destination Guide listings they see in the Find window and all Residents will now see Destination Guide entries filtered by maturity level.Let Us Know What You ThinkWe hope that these changes benefit everyone in Second Life -- inworld businesses and Residents alike. Keep an eye on Search release notes for ongoing updates. Try it out and let us know if you notice the improvements. We look forward to your feedback in comments below! [Less]

I’m delighted to announce that today we have released Viewer 2.3 as the main Second Life Viewer and the default download for new Residents. This release includes the full launch of Display Names allowing greater self-expression, improved Event ... [More] Scheduling, Viewer Hints, and many additional performance and usability enhancements. For more information on the new features, see our Viewer 2.3 Beta blog post.This is just a few short weeks from when the Viewer 2.3 Beta was made available; a big thanks to those Residents that downloaded the beta and provided feedback.Download the Viewer 2.3 Release today, try it out, and Twitter your thoughts using the #slviewer2 hashtag.And, if want to learn more about Display Names, then there are plenty of places to find information including some excellent videos by Torley. Check out the helpful links below.Please note: If you are using an older version of the Viewer (including most 3rd party Viewers) that still has three login fields (first name, last name and password), please read this page for guidance on how Display Names affects logging in.Helpful Links Downloads: Windows | Mac | LinuxViewer 2.3 Release NotesDisplay Names FAQsChanges to Display Names Based on Your Feedback with VideoDisplay Names Knowledgebase Article with Instructional VideoUsernames Knowledgebase Article with Instructional VideoSL Events WikiSL Answers on Display NamesSL Forum on Viewer 2 [Less]

As we explore ways to make the Second Life experience faster, easier, and more fun, we are testing a number of approaches to bring new users closer to the richness of our virtual world. Yesterday, we quietly launched a beta test of a new technology ... [More] that opens up Second Life to new users like never before: Second Life on the Web! The SL Web Viewer allows new users to become Second Life “guests” through the Web and enjoy basic SL functionality while exploring exciting destinations in Second Life -- all without downloading a Viewer.We need your help to test the SL Web Viewer!Just click http://interest.secondlife.com/beta to check it out. There is a 45-second video that will run while the system loads and then you’ll either be offered an “Explore Now” button -- which means that you have successfully qualified -- or a “Join Now” button -- which means that you do not qualify for the test at this time*.  If you qualify, you’ll be asked to share your email address to create a temporary guest account to use the SL Web Viewer.We’ll be running tests like this from time to time, and we may ultimately choose to further pursue some or none of these approaches, depending on what we learn from our testing, but we’re very excited to make SL an easier experience for guests and look forward to hearing what you think.*Note: We’re in the early stages of testing this technology, and not everyone who navigates to the link will be able to access the SL Web Viewer. [Less]

Hey guys, here's the plan for this week:Second Life Server (main) Channel We'll be promoting the LeTigre project, "Threaded Rez." It contains a known issue (SVC-6528)  that makes it appear as if Linden Trees are not movable (they actually  are ... [More] movable, but the viewer doesn't get the update correctly.) We feel  that this is a minor enough inconvenience to not delay the entire  project. We have a fix which will be included in the RC channels.2010-11-16 6:00am: Rolling restart on the main channel (release notes)BlueSteel RC Channel We've got a new project called "Linkability" that makes some  optimizations about how objects are linked together, along with some bug  fixes.2010-11-17 9:00am: Rolling restart on the BlueSteel channel (release notes)Magnum RC Channel We've made a few updates to the back-end systems for the Inventory  API and will keep the Magnum sims configured to use the service. The  Magnum sims will also be rolled with the latest release version to keep  them up to date (Threaded Rez).2010-11-17 10:00am: Rolling restart on the Magnum channel (release notes) We don't have another project for the LeTigre channel right now, so it's not likely to see a roll this week. Also, due to the upcoming US holiday Thanksgiving, we won't be having any rolls next week! Enjoy the break.Questions & comments over on the Forums. [Less]

The DPW has a long-term project of making longer coastal sailing routes possible on the seas of Second Life. We've just added more than 20 Homestead Regions around the shore of the Nautilus continent. They're brand new so far, and our Moles still ... [More] have to go in and encourage plants, fish, shipwrecks, flying saucers, etc. to appear in those areas. Also, we'll need to add some rez zones and race buoy zones, in time.For now, though, please try these Regions out! They may not show up on the Map feature for a day or so, but they're there. The Regions are:between Elhaddad and Psychwar:ArezzoPieveCortonabetween Gerache and Rannet:FolignoGubbioLuccaNorciaOrvietonear Leoming:SoncinoMontefalcoUrbinoViterboVolterraValenzaTrioraCividalenear Leximus:SpoleoSpelloSan GimignanoPienzaPerugiaGalganoPulcianoAlso, a number of Sea Homestead Regions near these new Regions will get fish, kelp, etc. courtesy of our Moles!Happy sailing! [Less]

Ever wonder why other avatars are striding so pretty while you march like a soldier-duck hybrid?That's because they have animation overrides, scripted objects that replace your default animations with way cooler ones when worn.All you usually need to ... [More] do is right-click and Wear the AO in your inventory, then click an ON button (if it's not automatically activated).Yes, they're that awesome.In this friendly video, I show you exactly what animation overrides are and what they can do for your avatar's expression. This is an essential Second Life thing to know, because everyone comes across them sooner or later. (I've often been asked "Why is my avie not walking like yours in a video you made?") Special thanks to Hellespont Hoorenbeek for reminding me I needed to do this, it's a great example of a "SHOW IT IN MOTION" question that deserves to vividly be answered.Go to the Animation Override category in the Marketplace to pick up one or more! They range from free to premium-priced and like cars, there are basics in common but many variations between models.Looking for a specific style of animation override? Head on over to ze Wanted forum and ask away!What other essential product types should all Residents know about? [Less]