Linden Lab

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "FARO'a." , photo by Terra d'ombrA. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Inside the Nook." , photo by ★ Editorial Clarity~Flux ★. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

The Snowstorm project is happy to announce that we have a Materials Project Viewer available for alpha testing of support for Normal and Specular maps on Second Life objects! When generally available, this will enable content creators to make much richer looking materials with less geometric complexity. This is a very early test version - there are still known bugs, and certainly some that we don't know about yet. We do not recommend using it to manipulate content that you care about. Bugs should be reported in the Materials Project Viewer (MATBUG) project on Jira. If you use it, please leave automatic updates enabled, because we expect to release updates relatively frequently. Information on how to prepare textures in a way that's compatible with the Materials Project Viewer available on the wiki. This project is a great example of how we can improve Second Life through collaboration: it includes contributions from members of the Exodus, Firestorm, and Catznip development teams, as well as from Linden Lab. We don't yet have a target date for when it will be in the regular Release Viewer, but we're working toward that, and your help testing will make that happen sooner and with higher quality.

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "The end of the world ... pink mood." , photo by Awesome fallen.

From Draxtor Despres, here’s another great episode of The Drax Files: World Makers, which profiles creative Second Life users. The latest episode features artist, fashion designer, and Second Life merchant Eshi Otawara. Watch below, and be sure to check out Eshi’s store on the Second Life Marketplace to get some of her fantastic designs! hNtup7U6A24 For more info on the series, be sure to check out Drax’s website atdraxtor.com. If you haven’t yet watched the first two episodes, you can catch them at the links below: The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 1: Kriss Lehmann The Drax Files: World Makers - Episode 2: Jo Yardley

Today we’re excited to announce that the new Communications Hub User Interface (CHUI) is now a part of the main Second Life Viewer. The update should download automatically, or you can download the new Viewer here. will help you get started with what’s new:t8IUxCMyElU What is CHUI? As we’ve previously blogged about, CHUI puts Second Life’s communications tools in a more flexible UI that lets you customize it for the ways you prefer to communicate inworld. You can even turn it all off when you want to build, make movies, or simply be left alone for a while. With CHUI, you can: Add participants to a conversation already in progress See all of your conversations and everyone in those conversations, using an inventory-like UI Quickly move your voice connection between conversations and effortlessly adjust individual volume or overall volume in a single click View all of your recent communications in one window (Conversation Log) See what was said in any conversation (Conversation Transcripts) Set Do Not Disturb to focus on other things and get all the communications (and inventory offers!) you missed, after you come back Choose from four levels of notification for each of five different kinds of incoming communication. You can set IMs from friends and IMs from non-friends to different levels of notification Turn sound on and off for four different events, such as inventory offers and teleport offers Access voice morphs more easily Get to chat preferences and privacy preferences directly from the Conversations window. Type your chats into an expanding, multiple-line box Select multiple users across different conversations and start a new conference with them Choose which conversations are in their own windows, and which should be in a tabbed window -- you can have both now. Collapse any conversation to a single-line input with popup messages. See users and objects you have blocked in a new tab in the People window. How do you use CHUI? There are a lot of ways to use the new communications features, and we hope you’ll take the time to explore. We know a new interface can be frustrating while you figure out how to do the things you’re used to doing, but should help everyone get up to speed quickly.To all those who helped beta test CHUI, thank you for all the great feedback you have given us along the way, which was incredibly valuable and helpful during the development cycle. Your input is truly appreciated, and we will, of course, continue to improve on this feature in future releases.

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Buena Ventura" , photo by Hybie. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Untitled" , photo by Winter Hendes. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

If you have a private region in Second Life, there are several special services you might occasionally need, like region moves and name changes. The charges for these services depends on the number of private regions you have, and to make it easier for all of our customers to understand the fee structure, we now have laid it out in this chart in the Knowledge Base: To request one of these private region management services, please submit a case through the support portal.

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Sail" , photo by Bruixa Bernard. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "A beautiful landscape" , photo by marianne.mccann. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Once again, the Destination Guide editorial team pored through countless submissions for all sorts of interesting and varied locations. Quite a few events as well, truth be told. Much like last time, we wanted to highlight things that caught our attention. They could have a higher than usual level of polish, a silly sense of humor or just be plain fun to wander through. That said, let’s get to it. This time around, we’re bringing you some more adventures than usual. Prepare to delve into the jungle and find a tropical warrior’s final treasure, seek out demonic eggs to uncover the death of a beloved fairy tale egg, or dive into the depths of mind-shattering madness in a dark and dreary carnival. For those of you looking for something a little more light-hearted, we’ve also got a club ripped straight out of Miami (by way of Dubai), procedurally generated Mandelbrot patterns and a soothing, summertime Siberia. As always, few things are as fun as sharing new places, so show your creative side and make something cool. 3D Mandelbrot Fractal Art The 3D Mandelbrot Fractal Art exhibit showcases sim-wide variations of Mandelbrot fractal art. The spectacular script-controlled fractal landscape changes many times throughout the day. Visit in Second Life MadPea Madness Fair It's time to go insane at MadPea's Madness Fair! Running April 7th at 12 pm through the 27th, the Madness Fair will have vendors from all over the grid selling a wide range of products for L$150 or less. Also expect opening day DJ's spinning killer tuneage, fun games, carnival rides and a generally maddeningly good time. See you there. Visit in Second Life Lost Treasure of the Inca Warrior Do you have what it takes to find the warrior's treasure? Embark on an epic expedition, solve puzzles and dodge deadly traps as you navigate your way through the Devil's Cave and crack the vault to discover precious treasures in this mysterious and steamy setting. The treasure is waiting, go and claim it. Visit in Second Life Taiga A soothing and awesome place reminiscent of the Siberian taiga. Take a step back and return to a more natural space, an arboreal land completely surrounded by forest. Visit in Second Life The Who Killed Humpty Dumpty Hunt The Who Killed Humpty Dumpty Hunt runs for one week only from March 27th to April 3rd, so you'd best hunt fast. Search through the Sim for Evil Easter Eggs to win prizes from ten top designers. There are no hints for this, but don't worry, it shouldn't be too hard... Visit in Second Life Vipera Vipera offers multiple DJ and dancing venues on a beautifully landscaped sim with waterways, jet skis and lots of areas to explore. Friendly welcoming staff greet and entertain you nightly from 7 to 11 pm. If you want a place to hang out where everyone knows your name, you want Vipera! Visit in Second Life

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Eggs, Chairs and Bunnies, Oh My!" , photo by Amy_Beebe. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Wispy Tree" , photo by Lady Fandango. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Music of Life" , photo by Sophia. A. Trefusis. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "{writer's block}" , photo by SOMETHING.CATCHY.. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Miwa ~ Rise" , photo by Miwa. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "♥192" , photo by Nati Williams {Inspire Your Look} ◡‿◡✿. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

We’re excited to share another episode of Draxtor Despres’ fantastic series, The Drax Files: World Makers, which profiles Second Life users. If you missed the first episode, you can check it out here. The latest episode profiles the talented Jo Yardley, the creator of the 1920s Berlin Project in Second Life. Check out the below, and be sure to visit 1920s Berlin to explore the world Jo has created!EkE_F2nEf4g The 1920s Berlin Project Travel back in time to this big city during an amazing era. Wander down Unter den Linden, explore the dirty old back streets, see a movie at the cinema, visit the museum, enjoy cabaret, dance the Charleston in a small Tanzlokal or at the gay Eldorado club in this role-play sim with a 1920s dress code (freebies provided). Visit in Second Life For more info on the series, be sure to check out Drax’s website at draxtor.com.

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "Pookabi" , photo by Filomena Quinnell. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "i can see for miles" , photo by Ely Hynes. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "The White Unicorn" , photo by MαX Rσмєяσ. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "White Gallery" , photo by xanna ziskey loves SL. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Check out the Second Life Pic of the Day, "relentless rain" , photo by Strawberry Singh. Don't forget to check out Second Life on Tumblr, Facebook and Google Plus!

Second Life is a fun and social space, so meeting and making friends is easier when you understand the basic controls and options for chat. Learn about the text and voice chat features that can help you meet and make friends in Second Life in our latest QuickTips video tutorial. Watch the QuickTips video tutorial here. OiI0N1Ulvq8 Learn even more in about Second Life communication in our Knowledgebase: Text chat and instant messages Using voice chat Did you miss our previous QuickTips videos? Check ‘em out!