The LSL Wiki (run by that superlative sweetheart of the scripter set, Catherine Omega) has returned! The LSL Wiki's been out of action for quite a while. Too long, really. While there are snapshots of it in earlier stages, and assorted other LSL documents around, there is no better resource for scripters and would-be scripters than Omega's LSL Wiki.

Arguments with ISPs, inability to transfer the old domain name, a new one purchased. It's a miracle that Omega was able to pull all the old data and get everything going again - however, it is done, and it's all back. The wiki, of course, is a testament to the hard work and cooperation of many, not just Omega's work alone, but she has made this possible, and brought the beast back to life.

LSL stands for Linden Scripting Language. It's a state-based, event-driven language with a syntax common to many languages and a structure that is most similar to ActionScript. While many references describe it as being similar to C or C++ or a bunch of other things, those are misleading comparisons. If you come from an ActionScript background, you'll have a lot less trouble with LSL than if you come from a background strong in C.

What the heck does all that mean? Well, each object in Second Life that's more interactive than your basic plywood cube contains one or more scripts. The scripts wait for 'events' and then perform some task in response. Events are things like being sat on, touched, moved, having someone speak (type) in the vicinity, a certain amount of time passing and so forth. That's what event-driven means. The scripts are inherently responsive to changes in the environment. The scripter chooses what events will be monitored in each state, and when they occur the script can take actions or change into other states.

A state is a sort of 'mode'. When you've got your web-browser open, pressing a key might perform one action (pressing a key is an event), but if you scroll down and click in the comments box below (another event) then the browser changes modes(states), and pressing a key causes it to appear in the comment field. LSL works just like that. Each state lists what events to monitor, and a list of things to do when they happen.

Talking to my friend TD Goodliffe, who writes an amazing number of blogs about SL and other things, I find that he has been griefed a few times since the open registration came about. Many people have told me that griefing has become more of a problem: property Resistance over at the Forum tells me that since the new registration arrangements were introduced, a griefer will come to the Forum, they will ban him, and three minutes later he's back in a different body. They campaigned to be able to ban avatars based on their account status, and that was introduced in the most recent update.

TD is looking for an anti-push shield. Never having had to use one, I wasn't sure where these are to be found -- I am told Catherine Omega makes one (she can't have been wearing it during her recent brush with Homeland Security). If you know of a good shield, do let me know.