RLV and security

[BartPitcher]

Hi,

Obvious question, but could not find the answer.

For a navigation tool the RLV option has to be enabled to allow to put a direction marker on the screen. Very convenient but also works without I think.

• Is it possible to get a "virus" unwillingly by accepting scripted items from others? Or will I be notified when this is about to happen?
• RLV can do a lot of things to my avi I would not like to happen. I'm not into the things RLV seems to be developped for. Do I need to worry or do I need to safeguard my inventory with tags as mentioned in the firestorm article as precaution?
• Are there other issues to be aware of?
• Urm ... or am I getting paranoia? 🙂

Thanks, Bart!

[Erwin Solo]

In the Linden viewer, and most 3rd party viewers, you can hit Control M to get the world map, and touch the map to place a direction marker, and then minimize the map to get it out of the way.

In Firestorm, and probably other viewers, enabling "combat features" provides additional capabilities. 

I don't think you need RLV for direction finding at all.

[Fritigern Gothly]

1 hour ago, BartPitcher said:

Is it possible to get a "virus" unwillingly by accepting scripted items from others? Or will I be notified when this is about to happen?

No. Just like you can not get a virus by enabling and accepting Experiences.
RLV is a safe technology, or LL would have forbidden viewer makers from adding it to the viewer.
 

1 hour ago, BartPitcher said:

RLV can do a lot of things to my avi I would not like to happen. I'm not into the things RLV seems to be developped for. Do I need to worry or do I need to safeguard my inventory with tags as mentioned in the firestorm article as precaution?

For the riskier stuff (like cages, speech restrictions, forced teleport), the RLV-enabled item always asks for permission to control your avatar, unless you wear an RLV relay in which you have clearly and voluntarily indicated that items do not need to ask for your permission to control you!

The USB HUD (I think that's the item you are talking about, I use the pro version of this HUD myself) uses RLV to make the waypoints in the notercard visible by setting a beacon in-world without opening the map. This is only possible with RLV. The alternative is to  keep the map open and use up screen space which you could otherwise use to see around you, or to put other navigational tools. Also note that the basic (and free) version of that HUD does not use RLV.
 

2 hours ago, BartPitcher said:

Are there other issues to be aware of?

RLV has more uses than just BDSM. I wrote a Windlight control system which is a lot like the upcoming EEP, only it will allow more windlight settings per parcel than EEP does.
This is only possible with RLV and again, has nothing to do with bondage.

Also note that personally, I am not at all into BDSM or any other form of power exchange. But the thing about RLV is that it is a lot like BDSM, you voluntarily and temporarily give up a certain amount of control, but this control can be taken back at any time.
Even if you were to wear a permissive RLV relay (which the USB HUD is decisively not), if a person were to get trapped in on an object which will not release them, all they need to do is disable RLV and relog and they are free. 

But note that all the "scary" stuff can only happen if you wear an RLV relay, and you would know if you did. 
Moreover, if you never visit BDSM locations or other places where you can expect RLV traps, AND you don't wear an RLV relay, then RLV is very safe to use.

All in all, RLV is no more dangerous as LL's own experiences, which were developed as an answer to RLV.
LL's own Experiences will ask you only once for permission to control your avatar, and from that moment on, that experience can teleport you, animate you, sit/unsit you, attach items to your avatar and more, all without asking for your permission again. Everything which normally would require separate permissions are covered by a single permission for that specific experience.

So yeah, RLV is nothing to worry about, but that does not mean I don't understand your concerns. If you have more questions, just let me know.

[Ceka Cianci]

I use it for changing my outfits real fast..

I have a hud on my screen that is the shape of a little heart that is really small..I just click that and go to my outfits and choose what I want to wear..you just have to set up your outfits first is all..

I just wanted something so I don't have to keep going in my inventory to change all the time..I'm always adding new outfits.

If you don't give anyone access,nobody can get access.. I don't give anyone access and never had a problem yet..

[Qie Niangao]

31 minutes ago, Ceka Cianci said:

I use it for changing my outfits real fast..

This might be interesting. Are these "outfits" the same as the outfits in Inventory? (I know I could learn all about it wherever RLV is documented. I've been there, too -- I'm totally being lazy.)

[Qie Niangao]

2 hours ago, Fritigern Gothly said:

LL's own Experiences will ask you only once for permission to control your avatar...

Just for clarity: It's trivial to disable an Experience after enabling it, and you can change back and forth whenever you want.

Of course it's trivial to turn RLV on and off, too, or disable specific features.

I'm just sayin' Experiences aren't dangerous either.

Except maybe to scripters. 👲

[Fritigern Gothly]

1 minute ago, Qie Niangao said:

I'm just sayin' Experiences aren't dangerous either.

That was my point  

[KT Kingsley]

19 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

This might be interesting. Are these "outfits" the same as the outfits in Inventory? (I know I could learn all about it wherever RLV is documented. I've been there, too -- I'm totally being lazy.)

It can be done pretty much the same way: a series of outfit folders in the #RLV folder, filled with links to the actual items. You can get RLV to report the folders to populate a menu. To change an outfit you can lock everything in the target folder that's already worn, remove everything else you're wearing, and then add the rest of the target folder. I've found it's worth waiting for RLV to report that everything in the target folder is now worn before redisplaying a menu.

For myself, I put sub-folders for things like a jacket that can be removed independently into the outfit folder. It's this sub-folder capability that persuaded me to go the RLV route, something that's sorely missing from the system outfits, though it was available briefly after the initial introduction of outfits.

Edited July 14, 2019 by KT Kingsley

[Nalates Urriah]

34 minutes ago, Qie Niangao said:

This might be interesting. Are these "outfits" the same as the outfits in Inventory? (I know I could learn all about it wherever RLV is documented. I've been there, too -- I'm totally being lazy.)

I would say yes. The new Peanut Open Collar RLV has simpler (and reportedly faster menu response) to wear outfits. The difference between the two Outfit Styles is RLV outfits can be exposed for another to do the dressing and undressing. This has become way popular for AFK-Sex workers.

I have both Inventory/Appearance Outfits and a few RLV outfits. I find it takes more clicks to make and use RLV outfits than it does for Appearance Outfits. I now tend to make an Appearance Outfit and then copy it into an RLV folder to make the RLV outfit. Appearance and RLV outfits all live somewhere in inventory. I think the Inventory and Appearance panels respond quicker and they don't time out. I only use an RLV outfit when I have a ... bedroom ... experience in mind for it.

Edited July 14, 2019 by Nalates Urriah

[Coffee Pancake]

9 hours ago, BartPitcher said:

Obvious question, but could not find the answer.

I work on the Catznip Viewer with Kitty Barnett, a small part of the project is RLVa which is then ported to other viewers including Firestorm.

First of all, you must have RLVa enabled for anything RLVa to actually work.

RLVa allows scripts from worn attachments to send very specific commands to your viewer. RLVa's capabilities are very much limited to the available commands, if we don't add a command to do something, then RLVa can't do that thing. 

Quote

• Is it possible to get a "virus" unwillingly by accepting scripted items from others? Or will I be notified when this is about to happen?

No. You can get some very deviously scripted objects, but even the most devious can't do anything beyond the very limited capabilities on offer.

We do get asked for new capabilities from time to time, and the potential for abuse is always the first consideration.

Quote

• RLV can do a lot of things to my avi I would not like to happen. I'm not into the things RLV seems to be developped for. Do I need to worry or do I need to safeguard my inventory with tags as mentioned in the firestorm article as precaution?

RLVa commands can ONLY be issued by a worn attachment. Simply turning RLVa on without an attachment that issues commands will do absolutely nothing. It does not affect viewer performance either way.

If an attachment does something you don't like, you can always open prefs, disable RLVa, relog and put the item in the trash.

The initial development of RLV by Marine was very much aimed at the kink community, however the commands provided can be used for anything (much like a lego set). The Wardrobe inventory organizer website is a great example. 

For rezzed objects (like a chair, or adult furniture item), the rezzed thing can't issue RLVa commands to your viewer, so a worn attachment needs to listen for those commands and then 'relay' them to your viewer. If you don't want RLVa rezzed objects to be able to issue commands, don't wear a relay.

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• Are there other issues to be aware of?

We wrote a short FAQ - https://wiki.catznip.com/index.php?title=RLVa_Frequently_Asked_Questions

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• Urm ... or am I getting paranoia? 🙂

Not at all. 

If you have any specific concerns or questions, do please drop me an IM in world.

Edited July 15, 2019 by CoffeeDujour

[Ceka Cianci]

4 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

This might be interesting. Are these "outfits" the same as the outfits in Inventory? (I know I could learn all about it wherever RLV is documented. I've been there, too -- I'm totally being lazy.)

It uses the outfit folder yes.

This is the system I use..

She has the whole video in text so she isn't talking all the time,just the introduction and the very end..

It's pretty informative and simple..That's the only reason I even considered it..she showed it as pretty user friendly..

 

[Coffee Pancake]