SecondLife Preview 1.8.0(6) up and running -- final release candidate!

The final release candidate for SecondLife 1.8.0 is now up and running and open to all residents born on or before October 17, 2005. A new viewer is required to access this version.

Please use the Help > Report Bug... menu to alert us to any issues you find in 1.8.0.6.

Second Life 1.8.0(6) Dec 12, 2005
================================
Major Features:
* Point-to-point teleportation is now available in Second Life
- Residents may teleport freely to and from locations they are allowed to access
- The landing point on a parcel is determined by the location set by the land owner with the About Land > Options > Landing Point > Set button
- If no landing point is set on a parcel, the resident will be delivered as close to the location specified on the map as possible.
- Estate owners may choose whether to allow teleport via point-to-point or Telehubs
- Parcel owners can block teleports onto their land
- The Z coordinate is honored; teleporting (or logging in) to your Castle in the Sky will now put you directly there!
- The World Map will be centered on the teleport destination, with a button provided to locate avatar

Minor Features:
* Ripple effect for water can now be turned on in the Graphics preference pane
- Ripple water uses the graphics card's pixel shading to create more realistic looking water
- The functionality will only be available for machines with cards supporting pixel shading
- Turning on this feature will cause viewer FPS to drop to some degree, so it is not enabled by default

* Improved In-world Classified Ad System
- The new scheme features the following changes:
- The new starting price for ads has been decreased from L$250 to L$50 for a one-week run
- Dynamic pricing of ads
- The poster determines the price they pay for the posting (starting at L$50)
- Direct teleportation links are now embedded within each ad
- The list of ads can now be sorted by the price paid to post the ad (from high to low, or low to high)
- We have also improved the interface to make it more intuitive to residents

Scripting Changes:

** New LSL functions:
* llMapDestination(string simname, vector position, vector lookat)
- Shows a given location on the map.
- Works in attachments, or during touch events.
* Parcels now store look-at direction for landing points.
- The "lookat" value is currently not in use, but will be in a later version
* llAddToLandBanList(key avatar, float hours)
- Add an avatar to the parcel ban list for the given duration.
* llRemoveFromLandPassList(key avatar)
- Remove an avatar from the parcel pass list for the given duration.
* llRemoveFromLandBanList(key avatar)
- Remove an avatar from the parcel ban list for the given duration.

** Changed LSL functions:
* llAddToLandPassList(key avatar, float hours)
- Avatars can now be added to the parcel pass list with no time limit by passing 0 as the hours parameter.

** Future LSL functions:
* llTeleportAgent(key avatar, string simname, vector position, vector lookat) (?)
- Teleport an avatar at a location (requires agent permission)

Bug Fixes:
* Maximum teleport height no longer limited to 256 meters
* Telehub icon and Infohub icon both appear on Map legend -- visibility is toggleable
* Landmarks can now be created with a z value of greater than 250m
* Removed "Show Telehub Coverage" on map
* Viewer no longer becomes unresponsive the first time you open the Finder
* Show Updates debug option once again working as expected
* Resolved a crash that occurred after declining an offer of inventory
* Fixed a crash when dragging texture onto base terrain swatch in Region/Estate tools
* Fixed some simulator crashes
* Resolved a problem with textures only being decoded one at a time