For those who don't have life...try Second Life!

I was listening to the TWIT podcast and they mentioned a site called www.secondlife.com. Think of it as the Matrix without the bad guys. I signed up...it's free. You might encounter me as Randal Knight (use me as a referral so I can get some Linden Dollars) in the game.


The premise is that you create an account (It's free, but you can upgrade to a paying version at any time), create a persona (you can change your physical appearance and dress) and walk around this virtual world. You can chat with others, buy and sell merchandise, or just hang around. You can even fly around or using the map, teleport to different areas of the world. Now the map is HUGE! What I found funny is that the sites with the most players were actually gambling places. In these places, they actually pay you to either dance, sit in a chair or like I did, hang out in a hot tub (10 minutes will get you $3 Linden). I can see how this can eat up hours of time.

I found it interesting that some houses had alarm systems that kicked me out. You can buy land and build a house, or sell real estate. You can open up an online store, a bar and I guess gambling parlors.

Now the fact that Microsoft bought a full island (for $15k) is something. Imagine visiting the island and attending a seminar, or shopping in an online store...it's starting to be a little freaky!

So what does this tell us about society? Well...for one thing, kids today are exposed to a world that lies beyond the physical. Take away a teen's cel phone and they can't operate normally. Take away their MSN (BTW, I'm netwark@hotmail.com) and they freak out. Remember when you actually had to write a letter and place a stamp on it to communicate? Now, it's all instantaneous. No waiting. Being online, in a virtual city is normal. Is it bad? Well, like all Internet sites, there is some dangers. Predators can seek out the weak and inexperienced. Take www.myspace.com as an example. You have to be a certain age to join, but honestly, most are like 12 years old! (BTW, I'm at www.myspace.com/netwark ...the things I have to try for my public....) Yes, kids have been lured away by unscrupulous individuals, but is it really the fault of Myspace? Should we ban parks because the same individuals might hang out there looking for the innocent? No. We can educate our children on the dangers of the Internet, the dangers of communicating with strangers. The Internet has changed the way we work (I can actually work one day from home, just doing stuff off the Internet :), the way we communicate (as I am writing this, I'm chatting with a childhood friend on MSN, who contacted me through some grad website.), the way we buy things.

Will I get a second life? I have one, but the question is...if I spend too much time on Second Life, will have to find a Second Wife?