The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
One of my all-time favourite authors, Neal Stephenson, wrote a book 16 years ago called Snow Crash. In it, Stephenson envisioned a virtual world that he called the metaverse. People logged into this space and had everything there that you could have in reality. Many of the characters owned massive businesses and homes in the metaverse. Others had full social lives and friends from around the world. The place was so real that characters who were infected with a virus in this space managed to infect their real bodies. When Second Life first hit the Internet, I was interested because I had read StephensonÕs book. A free download, Second Life gives you access to a complete virtual world. When it first came out, I created a Second Life account and then promptly forgot about it as the computer I had at the time wasnÕt powerful enough to deal with the graphics; but lately IÕve been trying it out. When you first sign up for Second Life, you download the free software that gets you into the world. The first time you log in, you appear on an island that is for beginners. Here you can find tour guides who can help you learn to walk around or fly. They can help you learn how to interact with objects, change your clothing, or navigate to someplace you might want to go. Once you learn a few of the basics about getting around, it was easy to begin to explore. There is a lot of information available on the web about Second Life. There are hundreds of blogs kept by residents of this virtual world that detail their experiences and places that you might want to visit. Linden Labs, the creator of the world, has posted a lot of information online as well. It is easy to find lists of what they call ÒlandmarksÓ (instead of bookmarks) and slurls (Second Life URLs) that you can simply click on and have your avatar teleported there. IÕve spent time in the last week in a space that is a realistic mock up of ancient Rome. IÕve visited the Second Life library and read a few of the dozens of magazines and newspapers that are produced just for the world. IÕve been to an entire island that is dedicated to teachers and teaching and sat in on a few lectures about different topics. Be warned ahead of time, Second Life has a lot of spaces that are not meant for kids. Many of the avatars are inappropriate for children and just as in the real world, there are a lot of online spaces with things going on that you most likely donÕt want your children watching. That being said, these places are easy enough to avoid and you can carry on with your explorations of other places. If teens are interested in getting a Second Life account, there is an entirely different grid called Teen Second Life that is monitored and kept safe for them. Second Life is different from most video games in that the people who participate own everything that is produced. With most games (such as World of Warcraft or Everquest), anything you take the time to design is actually owned by the company. In Second Life, people are encouraged to set up shops and businesses and make things that contribute to the game. This means that thousands of people actually make their living by designing things in the world. People buy land and design houses on them, selling them to others at a profit. Other people make clothing, or items for houses, or cars to help you get around, or balloons, and any number of other items. If it exists in reality, it is probably in Second Life and someone is selling it and making a living doing so. While IÕve got a long way to go and plenty to learn before IÕll be any kind of an expert in Second Life, itÕs been fun to explore and see what people have created. My next steps are to learn how to build something and see about putting up a house somewhere. ([email protected]) Tech Notes runs Mondays.
