Submitted by scott on Mon, 12/27/2010 - 11:18

I had heard that there was legitimate academic interest in the online virtual world of SecondLife. I had previously downloaded a copy of the program but found my system to be inadequate. I now have a newer box running Ubuntu 10.04 (lucid) with a NVIDIA accelerated graphics driver (version 173). There was no installation required, I simply down loaded the latest version of SecondLife for Linux and unpacked the bundle in a Desktop directory. The executable is already there.

So, I started it up and found myself on the threshold of this virtual world. I still needed to create a user name and password. This I did and then I entered into SecondLifes introductory region called Welcome Island. This is where you learn how to make your avatar walk, sit, stand, chat, fly etc. I flitted around in there for a time. There was another avatar bouncing and twirling about. He came close by and started emitting "rays" from his hand at me. I have yet the figure out what that was all about.

Eventually I "teleported" to an area designated as "home". There were a number of other avatars moving about, some dancing. I was then "invited" to a club across the street. I accepted and found my SL (SecondLife) self in what was described as a safe zone where politeness is the word of the day. Apparently people with more experience visit this area and act as guides and advisors to new comers.

This is about as far as I've gotten. I have no real idea why I am spending time with this except that perhaps it will help introduce my other web activities to a larger audience. Also, Linden Labs, the originators of SecondLife have an affiliate program. This may represent a way to add a few more nickels and dimes to my meager income.