RFL of SL 2016 Season: Team Registrations Opens 1st Feb 2016

A press release was recently sent out informing everyone about the opening of team registration for 2016 Relay For Life of Second Life season. Team registration opens on Monday 1st February 2016 and the theme for 2016 is “Once Upon A Cure.

Key Dates for RFL of SL Season 2016

• Team Registration begins > February 1, 2016
• Paint SL Purple > February 28th – March 6th
• RFL of SL Kick Off  > March 6th
• Half Way There > May 14th & May 15th
• Relay Weekend > July 16th & 17th
• Wrap Up > August 14th

New Changes for 2016

• Each team will be required to have at least 5 on the team, including Team Captain and Team Co Captain
• Teams will have the opportunity to attend a class with Fundraising Advisors.
• See more information below!

Full Press Release

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

RELAY FOR LIFE OF SECOND LIFE TEAM REGISTRATION

DATE: FEBRUARY 1, 2016

WEBSITE: WWW.RELAYFORLIFEOFSECONDLIFE.ORG

Team registration for the 2016 Relay For Life of Second Life Season will open on Monday, February 1, 2016. Prospective Team Captains can register their teams at the official Relay For Life of Second Life Website: www.relayforlifeofsecondlife.org. Relay For Life of Second Life is an official charity of the American Cancer Society.

The theme of the 2016 Relay For Life of Second Life season is “Once Upon A Cure.

Once on the website you will find the registration form beginning February 1, 2016. There must be a Captain and Co Captain for each team to register. This year we have some changes in our team requirements.

Each team will be required to have at least 5 on the team, including Team Captain and Team Co Captain. There will be exceptions made for smaller teams but prior approval from the Steering Committee must be obtained. It is not necessary for teams to have 5 members to register. Members may join the team after registration.

New this year teams will have the opportunity to attend a class with our Fundraising Advisors. The role of the Fundraising Advisor is primarily to help Team Captains in the Relay For Life of Second Life become better fundraising leaders for their teams. Classes will include, how to set a goal, ways to reach your goal, how to use your tools, how to promote your event, how to engage and delegate their whole team in Relay For Life fundraising. These classes will be a wonderful learning experience with hands on learning.

First year teams are required to attend these classes. The Steering Committee may select your team to attend these classes based on your previous years fundraising totals. These classes will be open for all team Captains and Co Captains. On your registration form there will be an area to mark if you would like to attend a Fundraising Advisors class.

About Relay For Life of Second Life
Relay For Life is the signature event of the American Cancer Society and has been active, and continually growing in Second Life for 10 years. In 2005, the first Relay For Life of Second Life (RFL of SL) was attended by a few hundred avatars and raised almost $5,000 US dollars for the American Cancer Society. As of July 2014 RFL of SL ranks number 17th out of 5000 teams worldwide in donations received. We have brought in close to 3 million US dollars to help with the fight against cancer. This year our Relay weekend will be held on July 16th and 17th.

About the American Cancer Society
For 100 years, the American Cancer Society has been working to create a world with less cancer and more birthdays. Together with our millions of supporters, the American Cancer Society (ACS) saves lives by helping people stay well and get well, by finding cures, and by fighting back. The American Cancer Society is a nationwide, community-based, voluntary health, and international organization dedicated to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and service.

For More Information:
www.relayforlifeofsecondlife.org

www.cancer.org/involved/participate/relayforlife/second-life

 

Lab Chat Episode 2 Full Video & Transcript Now Available

The full video of the second Lab Chat featuring Ebbe Linden that aired on 21st January 2016 is now available to watch again. The full video (720p) runs for 1 hour and 36 minutes. Thanks to Zarrakan for uploading the whole episode. 🙂

The transcript and audio from episode 2 of Lab Chat is available here. Special thanks to Inara Pey for sharing the transcript and audio. 🙂

Great work! 🙂

Watch Again – Lab Chat – Episode 2

Spread the word! 🙂 

Project Sansar Approximate Time Frame

On 21st January Lab Chat #2 with Ebbe Linden was held in Second Life and the attendance was high. The transcript and audio is now available here and the video will be available soon.

Ebbe Linden talked about Project Sansar mentioning the approximate time frame. See below for the estimated time frame for the next generation platform- subject to change in the months ahead and note that these are still very early days. 

Project Sansar Approximate Time Frame

January 2016 – Ebbe Linden during Lab Chat #2 mentioned that the lab don’t yet have an open invitation email or anything at the moment. The lab are not yet ready to let more people in at this stage for alpha testing.

Around June 2016 or soon after the lab will probably allow people to start to apply for Project Sansar in some way. The lab are looking for people who are willing to spend a lot of time testing, committed and who have the skills to create content for Project Sansar.

By June 2016 the lab will be inviting hundreds of creators possibly to get things moving. The lab will be picking those that they know and trust along with strategic partners.

Between July 2016 and September 2016+ the lab will increasing the number of people who can come in month after month to continue test/develop Project Sansar.

Project Sansar Opening the Door

If things go according to plan the lab plans to open the door for anyone to come in and play with Project Sansar around December 2016 – January 2017 (Open Beta). 

We can expect Project Sansar will launch to the public in early 2017 on PC along with mobile and different VR platforms after.

 

Lab Chat episode 2 audio on the Drax Files Radio Hour

On 21st January 2016 Lab Chat episode 2 took place and over 120 attended inworld. Ebbe Linden answered many questions ranging from Project Sansar to Project Bento with even questions asked by the live audience.

Lab Chat #2 Audio Released

You can hear the audio of Lab Chat epsiode 2 on the Drax Files Radio Hour here. The full video and transcript of the show will be uploaded within the next few weeks. Check out the amazing photos of the show #2 on the Lab Chat SL Flickr Stream.

Lab Chat #2 Coverage So Far 

• Nalates Urriah – Second Life & Sansar: What did we learn?
• Maddy Gynoid – Lab Chat # 02 – Ebbe Altberg – January 2016

If you attended the show what did you think ?

Add your views in comments! 🙂 

Lab Chat episode 2 with Ebbe Altberg starts at 10.30am SLT on Thursday 21st January 2016

LEA Theatre – 20th January 2016

The second episode of Lab Chat will take place at 10.30am SLT at the LEA Theatre in Second Life on Thursday 21st January 2016 recorded in front of a live audience. Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab will be answering more questions on Second Life, Project Sansar and much more.

Back in November 2015 the first episode of Lab Chat aired and that was very successful. Lab Chat episode 2 will be broadcast on well-known streams including Second Life YouTube channel, AviewTV and SLArtist. Audio and written transcription will be published soon after.

Arrive early to grab a seat and spread the word! 🙂

More information can be found on the Lab Chat website.

LEA Theatre 2016

Latest updates on VWBPE 2016, Project Sansar Pre-Alpha & Project Bento Filming Party

In the past week there have been some interesting blog posts/updates by Linden Lab on the Official Second Life Blog/Forums on VWBPE 2016, Project Sansar Pre-Alpha and details about the upcoming Project Bento Filming Party. See below for further details! 🙂

VWBPE 2016

On 15th January 2016 the Lab posted details on this year’s Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference (VWBPE 2016). The deadline for proposals ended on 17th January 2016 and the main VWBPE 2016 conference will be held on 9th – 12th March 2016. The theme for this year is Horizons.

The deadline has been extended for creative categories for exhibits and machinima which ends on 31st January 2016.

The Virtual Worlds Best Practices in Education conference aims primarily to strengthen the ties of the virtual worlds communities through networking opportunities and access to innovation. Whether you work in education, or support education, the VWBPE community embraces the work of all of those that work in this industry both directly and indirectly. VWBPE connects you with the people who share your interests in furthering the goals of education in an information age.

Whether your passion involves, imagination of artists, innovation of coders and scripters, the vision of designers, the ingenuity of out of the box thinkers, or the aesthetic interpretation of performers, VWBPE has a great program on the horizon for March 9-12, and they’re looking for your participation.

Stay updated on the latest VWBPE 2016 at vwbpe.org.

Project Sansar Pre-Alpha

On 15th January 2016 the Lab responded to a question about signing up to Project Sansar and here is the latest update so far…

Thank you for your interest, Iron! Currently Project Sansar is still in pre-alpha with a small group. We will be expanding our testing in the coming months and will be sure to announce when we begin taking applications from more creators.

This latest update sounds great that the Lab plans on expanding testing in the coming months for Project Sansar. The Lab plans to announce news on taking applications from more creators soon.

In the mean time Project Sansar is still in pre-alpha and you can expect it will go through several phases of alpha and beta before its ready to launch in 2016.

Second Life will be around for many more years to come as long as its profitable etc. Linden Lab has no plans to shut it down even when Sansar is launched. Sansar will be entirely different world than Second Life and it will be interesting to see how develops in the years ahead.

I would imagine there will be more further updates on Project Sansar during the upcoming second Lab Chat event taking place at 10.30am SLT on Thursday 21st January 2016 over at the Linden Endowment for the Arts Theatre in Second Life. Ebbe Linden will be answering questions from the Second Life Community forums, Check out the thread to see submitted questions so far.

Project Bento Filming Party

On 14th January 2016 the Lab posted details about an upcoming Project Bento Filming Party for the Drax Files happening at 12pm SLT on Tuesday 19th January 2016. The event will be taking place on the Aditi grid at Bento Island.

This will be a great opportunity for all those interested Project Bento to come and show their Bento creation builds. “Selected creators may be filmed and/or interviewed to be featured in an upcoming episode of the Drax Files”. 

Project Bento is one of the biggest changes to the Second Life avatar ever! More than 90 new bones have been added to accommodate features like subtle facial expressions, articulating fingers, smoothly-flapping wings, waving tails, and much more that was previously impossible or required complex workarounds.

If you’re a creator who’s testing out Project Bento, or one who’s eager to give it a try – now is the perfect time! We’re looking for creators to show off some of the possibilities of Project Bento for an upcoming episode of The Drax Files. There are detailed instructions on how to get started and how to get to the beta grid (aditi) on our wiki page. (TIP:Testing on Aditi does not cost you upload fees!)

On January 19th at NOON SLT, there will be an open casting call for anyone who has built something with Bento to come show off their work. Selected creators may be filmed and/or interviewed to be featured in an upcoming episode of the Drax Files. You will need to login to Aditi in order to access the location (secondlife://Aditi/secondlife/Bento%20Island/128/128/23). The location will not be open until NOON SLT on January 10th Information about Aditi and how to access it is located on our wiki.

In addition to the open casting call, creators are encouraged to contact Draxtor Despres inworld with information about what they’re making. Video, screenshots, descriptions – the more information the better, and the sooner you can share that – the better as well. Chosen creations and their creators will be contacted with information for a private filming on  January 20th, 2016, with Draxtor and Torley Linden.  

Machinimists are encouraged to come film during the open casting and get an early peek at the creative ways Project Bento is being utilised.

Stay updated on the latest Linden Lab posts here.

Share a photograph on what Valentine’s Day means to you and be part of Linden Lab advertising campaign

On 13th January Linden Lab posted Share What Valentine’s Day Means to You for a Chance to Be Featured. Linden Lab are inviting residents to share a photograph on what Valentine’s Day means to them. There is a great opportunity to be part of the Lab’s advertising campaign for Second Life which sounds great with a month to go until the big day. 

• Share your story in a picture > Submit to the Official Flickr Page tagged “SLVday2016”
• Images must be at least 2048×1207
• The chosen image will be showcased in an email to Residents & some banner campaigns
• Submissions end on Friday 29th January 2016
• See below for more info! 

The blog post reads this in full…

Valentine’s Day is just on the horizon and will be here before you can get through a handful of heart candies! We’re looking for some great Second Life pictures from the community to feature in upcoming email and banner campaigns – with credit to the photographer – of course!

In a snapshot, let us know what Valentine’s Day means to you in Second Life.

Share your story in a picture and on our Official Flickr Page with the tag “SLVday2016” so that we can see all of your amazing works. You may submit as many as you like between now and January 29, 2016.

We’ll showcase the chosen image(s) in an email to Residents, as well as in some banner campaigns. We’ll let the chosen image creators know via Flickr and ask for an avatar name for the credits.

Submission Requirements:

• Images must be at least 2048×1207
• Make sure that your submissions are appropriate for all audiences.
• Show your avatar or avatars in a scene inworld – an image that tells a story is going to make an impression.
• Keep your image free of additional text/logos
• Make sure your lighting is not too dark and that avatars can be seen well

A difficult weekend for Second Life

The Grid Is Down While We Bang on Things – used during downtimes many years ago! 

On Monday 11th January April Linden who is a member of the Second Life operations team posted a blog post named Why Things Were Less Than Optimal This Past Weekend in Second Life. Due to a “series of independent failures happen that produced the rough waters Residents experienced inworld”.

A master node of one of the central databases crashed on Saturday and this was one of the most used databases in Second Life. The failure caused disruption for a lot of Second Life residents during the weekend. By Sunday evening the operations team managed to re-stabilize the grid back to normal again.

Here is what happened….

On Saturday 9th January

Shortly after midnight Pacific time on January 9th (Saturday) we had the master node of one of the central databases crash. The central database that happened to go down was one the most used databases in Second Life. Without it Residents are unable to log in, or do, well, a lot of important things.

This sort of failure is something my team is good at handling, but it takes time for us to promote a replica up the chain to ultimately become the new master node. While we’re doing this we block logins and close other inworld services to help take the pressure off the newly promoted master node when it starts taking queries. (We reopen the grid slowly, turning on services one at a time, as the database is able to handle it.) The promotion process took about an hour and a half, and the grid returned to normal by 1:30am.

After this promotion took place the grid was stable the rest of the day on Saturday, and that evening.

On Sunday 10th January 

That brings us to Sunday morning.

Around 8:00am Pacific on January 10th (Sunday), one of our providers start experiencing issues, which resulted in very poor performance in loading assets inworld. I very quickly got on the phone with them as they tracked down the source of the issue. With my team and the remote team working together we were able to spot the problem, and get it resolved by early afternoon. All of our metrics looked good, and I and my colleagues were able to rez assets inworld just fine. It was at this point that we posted the first “All Clear” on the blog, because it appeared that things were back to normal.

It didn’t take us long to realize that things were about to get interesting again, however.

Shortly after we declared all clear, Residents rushed to return to the grid. (Sunday afternoon is a very busy time inworld, even under normal circumstances!) The rush of Residents returning to Second Life (a lot of whom now had empty caches that needed to be re-filled) at a time when our concurrency is the highest put many other subsystems under several times their normal load.

Rezzing assets was now fine, but we had other issues to figure out. It took us a few more hours after the first all clear for us to be able to stabilize our other services. As some folks noticed, the system that was under the highest load was the one that does what we call “baking” – it’s what makes the texture you see on your avatar – thus we had a large number of Residents that either appeared gray, or as clouds. (It was still trying to get caught up from the asset loading outage earlier!) By Sunday evening we were able to re-stabilize the grid, and Second Life returned to normal for real.

It’s really interesting to hear April’s perspective on what went on and April mentions at the end of the blog post “My team takes the stability of the grid extremely seriously, and no one dislikes downtime more than us”.

One of the things I like about my job is that Second Life is a totally unique and fun environment! (The infrastructure of a virtual world is amazing to me!) This is both good and bad. It’s good because we’re often challenged to come up with a solution to a problem that’s new and unique, but the flip side of this is that sometimes things can break in unexpected ways because we’re doing things that no one else does.

I’m really sorry for how rough things were inworld this weekend. My team takes the stability of the grid extremely seriously, and no one dislikes downtime more than us. Either one of these failures happening independently is bad enough, but having them occur in a series like that is fairly miserable.

See you inworld (after I get some sleep!),

April Linden

I remember the weekly downtimes Second Life had many years ago which lasted for hours and the old message “the grid is down while we bang on things”. Since then the grid stability has improved but things can still go wrong at any time and take everyone by surprise even after 13 years of Second Life being online.

Thanks to April Linden for explaining what happened during the weekend and apologising for the situation.

• Second Life Grid Status Reports – see for maintenance updates, issues and public server releases.
• Tools and Technology – see for the latest developments and grid updates

A visit to Eclipse Beach island in Second Life

Amazing!

Today I went to visit Eclipse Beach island in Second Life to have a look around and relax. It’s a lovely region for exploring and surfing. The Moai statue looks great, the white sand, the huge waves and much more. I recommend that you should come and visit during 2016.

The New Monkey Cove. A small place to surf and enjoy the peace that only the ocean can give. Surfing

Surf, sit on the Beach or hang out near the ship wreck. Just Relax

Camp area

Lovely views

My 2016 monkey adventures start 

Teleport to Eclipse Beach island

Firestorm Viewer version 4.7.1 will be blocked on 7th January 2016

Jessica Lyon who is the project manager of the Phoenix Firestorm Project announced on 4th January 2016 that Firestorm Viewer version 4.7.1 will be blocked on 7th January 2016. The 3 version rule commitment to Linden Lab will be continuing throughout 2016.

Version 4.6.9 will be blocked after the next release, so it’s best to stay updated with the latest Firestorm Viewer version.

As mentioned during our latest update and keeping with our 3 version rule commitment to LL, we will be applying a block to version 4.7.1 Public Beta on January 7th. This will leave only version 4.6.9 available to Windows XP / Mac 10.6 users, and that will be blocked after our upcoming release. If you are still on Win XP or Mac 10.6, please update your operating system now!

Useful Firestorm Viewer Links

• Official Firestorm Viewer Homepage
• Check out How to Update Firestorm for more information
• See here for Firestorm Documentation
• Download the latest Firestorm Viewer