Live The Virtual Life: A Voyage on the Virtual World (Part 2)

Getting bored with your life? Now on internet you can start a new one, sounds strange but its true. Now Internet is itself a complete package of the things we people do in our life & the things we like. Are you ready to live the Second Life but in the virtual world of internet, so design your new appearance, home, friends & enter in to the virtual utopia that can be as detailed as you like, and you are the sovereign – down to details of currency, economy and government. This is all possible in games such as Second Life, by San Francisco-based Linden Lab.

The Second Life (Second Life is an online game that gives you a new life in a virtual world) “world” resides in a large array of Linden Lab servers. Subscribers (“residents”) run the Second Life client program which allows them, via the internet, to view and modify the Second Life world and participate in its economy. Most of the content is resident-created; indeed, residents retain the intellectual property rights.Second Life residents are represented by an avatar which may be customized in a variety of ways.

The basic avatar is a humanoid in shape and, through a series of graphical user interface (GUI) controls, can be modified by adjusting parameters such as size, build, colours and hair style. Residents can also create or buy clothing, and fit out their avatars with accessories. Second Life has its own economy, and a currency called Linden dollars (LUSD). Residents receive an initial amount of LUSD when they open an account, and a weekly stipend thereafter, the amount depending on the type of account. Additional currency can be acquired by selling objects or services within the environment. Residents can purchase LUSD directly, or convert between Linden currency and US currency through Linden Lab’s currency brokerage, the LindX Currency Exchange, with a rate that fluctuates daily. Interest groups can be created for a fee of LUSD 100. After three days an additional two members must have been recruited, otherwise the investment is lost and the group is deleted.

Second Life has become very popular. Many real-world celebrities have confessed to “living” their second lives in the virtual world. Problems also exist in this utopia. Some residents are malevolent; thus, groups of residents are actively trying to damage the world, by creating self-replicating objects that may eventually paralyse the server. Second Life speculators buy land at low costs in hopes of earning quick profits when it appreciates in value. There have even been real-life lawsuits against Linden Labs for loss of virtual property.

A virtual second life may not be such a utopia after all. It is entertaining & becoming eminent on the Internet.

Source: Second Life
More: Virtual KeyBoards

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