second life

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Second Life is a simulation-of-3D place on the web where lots (and lots) of people go to build things, to interact, to experiment (socially and otherwise).

The real world is getting more involved all the time (real world companies trying to sell stuff via Second Life, for example).

Educational institutions are beginning to scratch the surface of the possibilities of distance learning, distance collaboration, 3d image modeling, and much more.

I am beginning to explore Second Life, with an eye toward thinking of ways that the outfit I work for may be able to convey content in that forum......

There is a steep learning curve. (!!!!)

You first have to choose your name, which is the only thing you can't change in Second Life, short of starting allllll over from scratch, so it seemed reasonable to me to take some trouble over it.

Then you choose a body in which to begin. It's 3D -- you're not just a name, you're an image, of some sort..... They offer about 10 human shapes you can choose between, and modify a bit, and you find yourself on Help Island, in one of those beginner shapes.

With other people who are also rank newbies, who are also in one of those same beginner shapes.

(No need to keep a human shape -- I've seen a couple of gas clouds, already, and I know you can take animal shapes, cartoon shapes, and in one book I saw a pic of someone who looked a lot like a plate of spaghetti. Without the plate.)



In some ways, beginning is kinda like being two years old -- everyone is toddling around, running into things and each other, no one sure how to move, how to talk, what to do next.....

I picked a shape in which to begin, only to find it is a male elf. Oh. So I made me be female, and messed with the shape of the body a bit.

I only saw one other person in that shape, from a distance. A sort of generic college-boy look is quite popular (saw several of those), and a couple of girly girls in a pink dress. (Well, pink dresses. Only it's two of the same girl in the same pink dress, visually speaking.....) One guy was wandering around in just his underwear (and a big tattoo....). He told me he lost his pants. I thought he seemed a bit chagrined, but maybe he was pleased, I don't know. He named himself Smoocher, so maybe he meant to be nearly naked.....

Everyone is wandering around saying "I'm new" -- well, yah, we alllll are new there, that's the point.......

There are some signs, and some tutorials. Which are hideously slow -- and since this is for work I was doing it at work, hard"wired" to fiber, so you can't really get a faster connection..... Though I suppose it may be that the machine I have on my desk at work is slow......... (They recommend a pretty souped-up machine with a gooooood graphics card.....)

In any case, I'm finding it all rather funny. All these "people" walking into things, practicing jumping and flying (you can fly; it's cool!) and walking backwards. Walking up to others and just standing there. Eventually saying something inspired like "I'm new"............. Two of the boys (one of them ol' Smooch) admired my clothes. I told 'em the clothes were standard issue....

I can type a lot faster than anyone I've met there so far................

One can take snapshots in Second Life, and save them to one's hard drive. I offer you my young and not creaky (and able to fly!) second self. Am I cute, or what? And so sensibly dressed, in exploring clothes (rather than in a little pink dress, or my underwear and a tattoo.....). (lol)





I wish I had timed how long it took me to get the pic above. Generally speaking, you are observing from somewhere above and behind your head. To detach the camera, and move it around in front of you.... Well, let's say I found the controls to be a bit ... opaque. Clearly need more practice..............

I had thought I would sit, casually, on the bench, but, well, as you see.....

(You can only sit down in certain places, which have the animation built in to make your avatar sit.....)



You can jump, as well as flying, and I spent a little time trying to see if I could land on one of these cubes.



Eventually I was victorious.





One of the things you can do in Second Life is acquire tons and tons of ... stuff. It's all either free or very cheap, in US dollars (yes, real dollars, or fractions thereof -- tiny fractions, like pennies, or even a fraction of a penny). It's very easy, I've read, to acquire so much stuff you spend more time looking through your stuff to find something in particular than you spend going to lectures or exploring a new city, or whatever.

As I am painfully involved in divestiture of real stuff, in real life, acquisition isn't very appealing. Even of virtual stuff........

There is a lot of free stuff available on Help Island (where everyone begins), but it's awfully hard to know what I actually might *want*. I did take a cape (not the one I'm wearing; that one came with the whole look).....

I think I've pretty much tasted what there is to do on Help Island. Well, I haven't looked at all the tutorials, but given how slowly they load, I think I'll google for help when I need it, rather than trying to soak up everything now........

There are all sorts of places you can go. I've read there's an Orientation Island that's very useful. I'm not sure if the various "enter your second life!" things get you there.......... It certainly looks like I can just go ... to London, if I like.....

(Don't you love my hair? It flies around when I land after flying, or if I turn.... I may enjoy having long hair, given that I don't have to take care of it!)



I'll keep you posted.........

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