Leaderboard

As promised in our PBR Materials announcement last year -- as of this morning’s Second Life server grid roll, we have increased the allowance of Land Impact by lowering mesh Download Weight by 15% for all of Second Life! Since much of Second Life today consists of mesh content, anyone who owns or rents land will see more land impact available on their parcels. How can I check if my objects have been affected? Right-click on the object you want to inspect, then click Edit, then click the More info link to see the current Download weight. We’d like to take this opportunity to remind residents that this allowance is being given for no charge and is intended to help offset any additional Land Impact spent on manually rezzed reflection probes and lights, and of course in anticipation of the upcoming Mirrors release. Land Impact is a finite resource, please rez responsibly! Updated: Frequently Asked Questions. Q. My private region can hold 20,000 prims (Land Impact). How many prims will I have after this 15% Download weight reduction? The region will still only be able to hold its original 20,000 prims, as the same for any parcel, or 30k private region. With this update mesh object's download weight has been reduced, requiring less land impact for objects where download weight is higher than physics and server cost, and letting your prims go further. Imagine a box that can only carry 20 pounds. With this update, the box is still the same, but the objects inside are lighter! To learn more about how weight is factored into an object’s land impact visit: https://community.secondlife.com/knowledgebase/english/calculating-land-impact-r273 Q. What types of items are NOT affected by the update? Animesh, primitives, and sculpties are not affected. The update will only affect static mesh objects that are rezzed onto your land. Q. How can I see what my meshes download weight used to be? At this time you will only be able to compare it by rezzing an object on the Beta Grid (Aditi) running older server code, which will be for a limited time as we are constantly moving forward. Any Beta Grid regions running server build 2024-02-21.7995320426 should report the old Download Weight. Q. This is confusing. Why didn’t you raise the region's prim (Land Impact) limits? Download Weight effectively controls the scene triangle budget. While the limit was appropriate when Download Weight was first introduced, it’s too restrictive by modern standards. By adjusting Download Weight independently of other resource limits, we can avoid overloading other systems (such as physics and script time) that are already using appropriate limits. Essentially, the weights were out of balance, with download weight carrying too much emphasis compared to other weights, and this change moves towards a better balance.

I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to the Second Life community. Thank you for being part of this wonderful world and giving us the time to carefully assess our situation after we became the subject of a blog post that has the potential to cause harm to our dedicated community members and the virtual world platform that so many people call “home.” The post contains a complex mix of accusations regarding Second Life, and it questions our strong dedication to maintaining a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment for all members of the Second Life community. Our Response to the Allegations At the heart of the blog post were unsettling accusations about sexualized, virtual avatar ageplay, including alleged violations of our community guidelines. I want to be clear: we have a zero-tolerance policy against sexualized ageplay. The safety and integrity of the Second Life platform are paramount to us, especially concerning the protection of minors. We will continue to enforce our existing governance policies and community standards and we are proud of our collaboration with law enforcement and organizations like the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) to combat child exploitation. These efforts underscore our commitment to a safe online environment. With that said, I want to acknowledge that we can do better; this has been a harsh wake-up call for us that we need to take tangible actions to improve Second Life’s governance policies and protective features that benefit the entire community. Our Actions Moving Forward I promise you that we are taking this very seriously. Very. Full stop. I promise we hear you. We know you're angry and you're confused. We are working to do our best to resolve your concerns and restore your trust in us. These are complicated issues and we want to do things right. We will make mistakes along the way. I wish I could say we will not, but we will. As owner of Linden Lab, I have initiated a thorough investigation, both internally and with external partners, to review whether or not there have been any violations of our company and community policies by employees, contractors, or community members. While early preliminary internal investigations suggest that some of the accusations are unfounded, I want to make sure that we get additional investigative support externally to ensure that the process is fair and thorough. One of our top priorities has been to ensure the safety of our residents, moles, employees, and families. There are real people behind the avatars, and it has been important to confirm that nobody was in actual physical danger. Additionally, I am taking proactive steps to review and revamp many of our policies, including a comprehensive review of our Community Standards, Content Guidelines, and Ageplay Policy. Any violation detected will be met with swift enforcement actions to protect our community. We’ll be sharing these revised policies in the coming weeks and, critically, we are turning to the community to help us shape the future of how governance operates within Second Life. Our Commitment to You Second Life remains a vibrant platform for expression, creativity, and connection. I and the Second Life team are deeply committed to protecting our community and ensuring that Second Life continues to be a safe, inclusive, and welcoming space for everyone. Your trust is our priority, and we pledge to work tirelessly to maintain and enhance the integrity of our virtual world. I appreciate the patience and support of our community as we navigate this challenge. Together, we will emerge stronger and more united in our mission to build the best possible virtual world experience. Oberwolf Linden Linden Lab Executive Chairman

Second Life is getting some new, exciting features that will make the world look even better. Mirrors are arriving soon! While we love the realistic reflections PBR materials enable, mirrors take reflections to a whole new level. You can create a mirror using a method similar to reflection probes, but with a twist -- when a reflection probe is set to use the “Mirror” option, all surfaces near the probe will exhibit a real-time mirror reflection, including PBR and legacy materials. We chose this method to enable maximum flexibility. For example, you can create a big wall of mirrors and have minimal performance impact regardless of how many mirrors are on that wall. As long as they’re aligned with the mirror reflection probe, they can all show a mirror reflection. To conserve performance, mirrors are subject to some limitations. The Viewer will show the effect of only one mirror reflection probe at a time -- the one closest to your camera. Mirrors are planar, so they won’t work very well on the body of a car, for example. Like so many good things in life, mirrors are best enjoyed in moderation. Applying PBR materials to terrain will be possible in the upcoming featurettes release. You will soon be able to apply most GLTF materials to terrain. Initially, PBR terrain will support normal maps and metallic-roughness maps. Emissive textures will not be visible on some machines and transparent materials are not fully supported. We expect PBR materials on terrain to vastly improve the beauty of SL -- because there’s a lot of terrain out there! PBR terrain uses triplanar mapping, a texture-mapping technique which is new to Second Life. On steep slopes you will notice far less texture-stretching. To conserve performance, triplanar mapping will be enabled only when the graphics quality setting is set to “High” or greater. With the advances in GLTF PBR Materials and upcoming Terrain materials, we know it is time to increase the texture size limit to 2K (2048x2048 pixels). We are approaching this change carefully, and are still weighing pricing options for images larger than the current max size. 2K textures will allow artists to add significantly more detail to their creations and do things like efficiently consolidate more UV surface area onto a single asset. Mirrors and PBR Terrain will be available on the Beta Grid (Aditi) to start with, on the following regions: Rumpus Room 2048 Rumpus Room 2049 Rumpus Room 2050 Rumpus Room 2051 Interested in trying out these new features? You can download the Viewer here. Never accessed the Beta Grid before? Here’s information on how to access the Second Life Beta Grid: https://lindenlab.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/31000156725-accessing-aditi We can’t wait to see what fun and exciting new things residents create with these featurettes!

Save the date! On June 23rd, Second Life will be turning 21! The 21st annual Second Life birthday celebration (SL21B) will be held from June 21st through July 21st. Get ready for a month of fun-filled days of live music, performances, shopping, and amazing community exhibits! This year’s Birthday theme is Elements. This theme invites us to explore the fundamental components that make up our vast virtual landscape and the diverse communities within it. From the fiery passion of creators and artists to the fluid adaptability of our social environments, from the solid bonds within our communities to the fresh breezes of innovation that propel us forward, "Elements" is a celebration of the core forces that shape our experiences in Second Life. Just like last year, your exhibit does not need to stay in theme. Share your Second Life passions with us. Your interests. Your communities. Your world! Every year we celebrate because of you, the amazing and creative Residents who have chosen to call Second Life home. What has drawn you into this world, and what keeps you here? These annual festivities are an opportunity to show us what fuels your Second Life. Let's celebrate that together! This year we are again offering two types of exhibitor regions, General rated regions and Adult rated regions. If you would like to participate as an exhibitor with a presence at SL21B, then please fill out this exhibitor form no later than May 12th. Over the next month, keep an eye on our blog for more opportunities to participate in the SL21B celebrations as a volunteer, performer, and merchant! CURRENT APPLICATIONS FOR SL21B: Exhibitors Application - Applications close on May 12th, 2024

In my humble view, @Laurel Aurelia has one of THE most interesting and photogenic faces I've ever seen in SL. I've used her for pics before -- in fact, one of my favourite shots I ever took is of her -- but I wanted to experiment with a new photographic style a bit, and she very generously sat quietly for like 45 minutes while I took about 30 shots of her. So expect to see more. Here's a first try though.

New Android and iOS Alpha builds were published Wednesday, April 3rd. We’ve been working hard for the last two months and are excited to share some major steps forward for the mobile client -- correctly displaying avatars and teleport improvements have been at the top of the list. If your avatar depends on an avatar shape deformer, you should immediately notice the changes to avatar rendering! Avatars that didn’t render at all before, or didn’t look the way you intended, now render correctly. Teleports are also greatly improved – no more getting stuck on a loading screen! If you’re on a parcel with streaming audio, you’ll now be able to use standard audio controls to stop/start and change the volume (tap main menu > tap the audio metadata at the bottom of the screen). We also found and fixed some issues with the order of group chat messages. There are definitely some known issues (h/t flexiprims!), but overall we’re sure you’re going to love the changes we’ve made in this release. Interested in checking out the Second Life mobile client? All Premium Plus subscribers are invited to participate - learn more about how to apply here. If you’re already participating in the Private Alpha, we appreciate your time, participation and feedback! Please continue to report issues in our feedback portal and from the app (main menu > Give feedback or file a bug). We’ve heard you, and know that there are lots of people waiting for wider access to mobile. We are working hard to expand access - and we will keep you updated with details and timelines as soon as we can!

What do we do now, now that we are happy?

One of my photographic alts.

This is a piece for an exhibition in May. I'm now beginning to try applying some of the things I've learned from doing all of those messy portrait thingies.

Ok, LAST PIC OF @Laurel Aurelia !!! (Probably.) And I think the one I like best?

This is my newest version of Estragon (aka "Gogo") from Waiting for Godot. The mostly-dead tree in the background is one of two "stage props" used in the entire play. The other is a rock. A weeee bit visually challenging!

This is technically not my avatar, it is Harlow Bloodrose. This is an image I did of him for a steampunk event poster:

🟠♥

Oh dear. People, where are your lovely pictures???? Well, never mind. Here's another by me -- apologies for crowding them in. It's in imitation of a much nicer work I ran across on Deviant Art, dating from 2009 and by an artist called Rust2D. I liked the effect, and wanted to see if I could replicate something similar.

Got bored last night. Decided I wanted to be the villainess from a Pixar movie for a bit.

Because one can never post too many pics of @Laurel Aurelia, here's another shot.

I've been looking for more creative outlets and ended up settling on a virtual scrapbook. This project has been really helping me come out of a creative slump. My next spread will feature some of my SL friends and I had the idea to take photobooth-style pictures with them to add to the scrapbook. Before I take pictures with others I tend to take test pictures to see if the idea translates well. Here are my tests shots for this little project.

Hi 😃 For those of you into railways, I have just completed more railroad maps - there is one showcasing the chaos of Heterocera and one with the current state of Bellisseria railways. (I have not added Shobu stuff yet as it is currently not yet built or really ridable - but I will as soon as it is opened!). You are welcome to use the maps to do whatever you like (display them, add to your vehicles, put them on your pillow). There is also a free MP link but I don't know if it is acceptable to post here. (I apologize if this is not the right forum - I am not a frequent user...) Anyway enjoy!

This shot was supposed to be something else, but it became this instead. Oh well. Sometimes my pics have a mind of their own.

Happy Friday! Make it a good one 😘

Beauty lies in the eye of the beholder, right? 😜

Sometimes the weirdest accidents happen after a misclick kills a different shot. This came about by chance and in the wake of calamity. Without makeup too, for a change. https://www.flickr.com/photos/191119559@N02/53617587787/in/dateposted-public/

😛

One failed experiment later. Flickr doesn't like transparency. GnARGGHhhh. https://www.flickr.com/photos/191119559@N02/53662967387/in/dateposted-public/

I spend my weekends in rl. Reuniting with my favorite sl people on Sunday is always beautiful

Sorta liked how this one turned out.

Didi (Vladimir)

Heyalp! Mah floor is eating me! Or maybe I'm supposed to edit this brand of pose ball.. 🤔

Worse than the walk of shame... Going back to the "shag-pad" rental you have dropped 3 times in the past 2 months cos of bad relationship decisions! But at least I still look pretty!

A little less messy than has been usual of late. But still a little messy. Also: Fameshed is going to bankrupt me this month.

"Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetl...oh!"