Second Life For Dummies E-Book

Sarah Robbins

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 358

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2011

Beschreibung

You've heard all about Second Life. Maybe you've already jumped with both feet--and gotten stuck. Or maybe you're a Second Life veteran who wants to build something or run a business. Fear not! Second Life For Dummies is hear to hold your hand, pat your back, and cheer you on through this new and enchanting reality. Written by a pair of Second Life old timers, this easy-to-use, flip-and-find guide is packed with expert advice, seasoned insight, and handy tips and tricks to get you moving fast. You'll find out how to set up your account, create an avatar, meet people and socialize, and find your comfort zone and stay in it. But it's a big world out there, so you'll also learn how to make stuff, buy stuff, do stuff, and keep track of all the stuff you're accumulating. Discover how to * Install Second Life get started * Create and customize your avatar * Meet and get to know fascinating people * Stay safe and comfortable as you learn and explore * Make, wear, and sell your own fashions * Script your Second Life * Buy land and build a house * Become a land baron or a money maker * Make real money in Second Life * Get a real-life education--even a degree Complete with fantastic lists of cool places, answers to big questions, and supplemental software, Second Life For Dummies is your ticket to a great virtual adventure.

Leseprobe

Second Life For Dummies®

by Sarah Robbins and Mark Bell

Second Life For Dummies®

Published byWiley Publishing, Inc.111 River St.Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774www.wiley.com

Copyright © 2008 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana

Published simultaneously in Canada

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Trademarks: Wiley, the Wiley Publishing logo, For Dummies, the Dummies Man logo, A Reference for the Rest of Us!, The Dummies Way, Dummies Daily, The Fun and Easy Way, Dummies.com, and related trade dress are trademarks or registered trademarks of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the United States and other countries, and may not be used without written permission. Second Life is a registered trademark of Linden Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Wiley Publishing, Inc., is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

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Library of Congress Control Number: 2007941626

ISBN: 978-0-470-18025-9

Manufactured in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

About the Authors

Sarah “Intellagirl” Robbins is the Director of Emerging Technologies for Media Sauce (www.mediasauce.com) in Carmel, Indiana, as well as a Ph.D. candidate in Rhetoric at Ball State University, where she teaches Rhetoric and Composition by using Second Life. She currently spends her time blogging at Ubernoggin.com and researching technology trends for education and marketing. She’s frequently on the go, giving talks all over the country about Second Life and Web 2.0 topics.

Sarah is the proud mother of five-year-old triplets (Morrigan, Teagan, and Xander), who recognize her avatar as “Mommy!” When she’s not hanging with the munchkins, she’s reading a few hundred blogs daily, attending seminars, knitting, and collecting socks. And yes, she does have pink hair in real life, too!

Mark Bell is a Ph.D. student in Telecommunications at Indiana University, where he studies social networks in virtual worlds with the Synthetic Worlds Initiative. Before going back to school, Mark spent 14 years in the software industry as a trainer, a documentation specialist, and an all-about super geek. He is a Canadian transplant in Hoosier Land and gets back across the border north (where they understand “real sports”) as often as he can. Mark is the father of Jackson, who is five. Mark blogs at Storygeek.com

In their “free” time, Mark and Sarah run the Second Life Researcher’s List (SLRL), throw parties for their starving grad student friends, and play Wii games with four five-year-olds.

Dedication

Sarah’s dedication: To my parents, Harold and Kathy, who, even when they cringed at my craziness, have always been encouraging of my off-the-wall endeavors. To my sister, Lara, who can still say she’s the “normal” one. To my kids, who are the light of my life and the reason I care so much about the future. And to Mark, love of my life, cream in my coffee, and my “Egg on Toast!!!!”

Mark’s dedication: To my mother, Madonna, who constantly gives me strength, encouragement, and love. To the memory of my father, Carl, that is fuel that ceaselessly powers my engine. To my son, Jackson, who I try to always give the best of me. To my siblings: David, Debbie, Terry, and Sharron, and their families, whom I never see enough but I learn lessons from every day. To Sarah, my love. I owe so much to this partner in mind, heart, and spirit. You have challenged me to obtain the highest levels of what I am capable of by being a perfect role model. To Davin and Vince, who I love like brothers.

Authors’ Acknowledgments

This book may have been typed by two people, but it was written by thousands. We humbly thank the Second Life community. Without you, your creativity, and your willingness to wear a box on your head, this book would have not been written.

Thanks to Steve Hayes and Blair Pottenger at Wiley for putting up with our delays, hectic lives, and overall nuttiness. Thanks to our tech editor, Ryan Williams, for catching our mistakes and knowing how tough it is to document something that constantly changes. And thanks to our copy editor, Teresa Artman, for not throttling us for our love of commas.

And to a few (okay, a lot) special Second Lifers (as their Second Life names): Fleep Tuque, who is endlessly enthusiastic; Robin Sojourner, the queen of all that is tricky about Second Life; Professor Beliveau, for being a butt-kicker; Milosun Czervik, for asking, “How’s the dissertation?”; AJ Brooks, for being our first fan; Akela Talamaska, for talking Sarah off ledges; Buddy Sprocket and Jeremy Kabumpo, for being fearless leaders; Jane Calvert, for rallying the troops for the book cover; Cleon Goff, for being the king of media; Cyrus Huffhines, Man Michinaga, and Rubaiyat Shatner, for bringing art to Second Life; Desideria Stockton, for making literature come alive; JoannaTrail Blazer, for her support and tallness; Larry Pixel, for his fight for quality education; Barry Joseph, for making the world a better place for kids; Marcius Dowding, for asking, “Is it done yet?”; Wendy Widget, for her “Go grrrrl!”; Veritas Veriscan, for her dedication; Wainbrave Bernal, for being brilliant and yet very ugly; Audio Zenith, for making education a great party; Buyers Sellers, for studying Metanomics; LauraMaria Onomatopoeia, for her constant cheerleading; and to Pathfinder Linden, for his help and dedication in the “old days.” Thanks to Sarah’s students for their willingness to be guinea pigs.

Special thanks to the Center for Media Design at Ball State University, Michael Holmes, Carole Papper, Kris Fleckenstein, and Edward Castronova for not thinking that Second Life was a crazy idea. Thanks to James Cheseboro for recognizing that Second Life is a culture. Thanks to MediaSauce, especially Bryan Gray, for believing that the revolution really is coming.

Thanks to Nick Geidner. This is all your fault! To Betsy Pike, our hope for the future.

Thank you to Linden Lab for making a new world for us to live in.

Most special thanks to our friends and family who understood “We can’t. We have to write!”

Publisher’s Acknowledgments

We’re proud of this book; please send us your comments through our online registration form located at www.dummies.com/register/.

Some of the people who helped bring this book to market include the following:

Acquisitions, Editorial, and Media Development

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Publishing and Editorial for Technology Dummies

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Debbie Stailey, Director of Composition Services

Contents

Title

Introduction

About This Book

What You Can Safely Ignore

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Part I : Second Life Overview and Basics

1: The Meaning of (Second) Life

When One Life Isn’t Enough: Explaining Second Life

Second Life: It’s Not a Game

A Bit of History

Who’s in Second Life?

Second Life is Web 2.0 in 3-D

2: Tweaking Your System: Adjusting Your Computer to Best Run Second Life

Hardware and Internet Requirements

Understanding Lag: Is It You or the Grid?

Statistics: Finding Out the Source of Your Lag

Preference Settings for Optimal Performance

3: Starting Your Second Life

Creating Your Account

Getting through Orientation Island

Making Your Way to Help Island

Exploring Help Island

4: Navigating the Second Life Interface and World

Exploring the Basic Menus

Getting Around in Second Life

The Second Life World

Creating and Using Landmarks

Part II : Living Your Second Life – Exploring and Socializing

5: Creating Your Second Life Persona

Avatar Anatomy

Editing Your Avatar’s Appearance

Customizing Your Avatar’s Appearance

Getting Dressed

Attaching and Detaching Objects

Hair

Accessories

Quick Changes: Saving Your Appearance as an Outfit

Wearing an Avatar on Your Avatar

6: Jumping into the Conversation: Express Yourself

Where My Peeps At?

Chatting with Other Residents

Chat Options, History, and Logs

Making a Resident a Friend

Instant Messaging: Individual and Group

Notecards

Gestures and Animations

7: Getting a Social Second Life

Your Second Life Profile

Second Life Groups

Second Life Events

8: Staying in Your Second Life Comfort Zone

Understanding the Risks in Second Life

Drawing a Line between Your First and Second Life

Ratings: PG and Mature Regions

Handling Problem Residents: Muting and Reporting Trouble

Part III : Inventory, Cash, and Land

9: Becoming Materialistic with Your Second Life Inventory

Using Your Inventory

Searching Your Inventory

Working with Objects

10: Understanding the Second Life Economy

Money, Money, Money! — Linden Dollars and the LindeX

Buying and Selling Linden Dollars

Earning Linden Dollars

Getting Your Weekly Stipend

Referring a Friend

11: Spending Your Cash in Second Life

What Should I Buy?

Buying Things

Finding the Best Stuff to Buy

Bargain Shopping

Paying for Things Other than Items

12: Staking Your Claim in Second Life

Finding a Place to Rent

Buying Land

Setting Land Permissions

Dealing with Unwanted Guests — Freezing, Ejecting, and Banning

Part IV : Building and Customizing

13: Building Basics

If You Build It, They Will Come

Mastering Prims

Using the Build Tools

Dissecting Prim Properties

Selecting Colors and Textures

Working with Multiple Prims

Cleaning Up

14: Taking Your Building Skills to the Next Level

Building with Groups

Writing Scripts in Second Life

Second Life Open Source

15: The Clothes Make the Avatar: Creating Your Own Clothing

Haute Couture: Using Adobe Photoshop to Make Your Own Clothes

Editing Clothes Made by Others

Creating Accessories by Using Clothing Layers

Using Prims in Clothing

Making Hair

16: Making a Statement with Poses, Animations, and Gestures

Understanding the Terminology

Creating and Using a Pose

Making an Animation

Creating a Gesture

Part V : Real Life Opportunities in Second Life

17: Getting Paid in Second Life (It’s Not Easy)

Finding Your Niche

Selling Things in Second Life

Finding and Landing a Job

Kinds of Jobs Available

Being Your Own Boss

18: Bringing Big Business to Second Life

State of the SL Economy

Current Big Business Strategies in SL

Top Five Second Life Business Myths

Industries with a Second Life Presence

19: Education in Second Life

Learning and Teaching in Second Life

The Teen Grid

Touring Second Life Campuses

Part VI : The Part of Tens

20: Ten (Or So) Great Places to Shop

The Top Ten Places to Shop for Hair

The Top Ten Men’s Clothing Stores

The Top Ten Women’s Clothing Stores

21: Ten Great Places to Visit

Luskwood

Spaceport Alpha

Particle Laboratory

The Ivory Tower of Primatives

Isle of Wyrms

Virtual Starry Night

Nakama

The Pond

Paris 1900

Saijo City

Introduction

Everyone is doing it. Jumping into the exciting world of Second Life (SL) to see what all the buzz is about, to start a business, to catch up with friends, to teach a class, or just to go dancing without having to worry about how uncomfortable those heels are going to get by the end of the night.

Maybe you’ve only just heard about SL. Maybe you joined, logged in, and got stuck. Maybe you’re an SL veteran but want to know more about building, running a business, or another advanced skill. No matter who you are, if you’re interested in SL, you’ve got the right book in your hands. What are you waiting for?! Get going. There are more than nine million people waiting to meet you!

About This Book

Millions of people are converts of the SL experience, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Everyone is a newbie (a newb) at some point, but you don’t have to look like one. For Dummies books aren’t written just as guides but as trusted sources of information. We’re here, in these pages, to hold your hand, pat your back, and cheer for you as you try out this new reality. No need to be scared or uptight. Second Life is fun when you know what you’re doing, and you soon will.

If you’ve read anything about Second Life or have friends who are using it, you’ve probably heard some exciting stuff as well as some scary stuff. Safety is important to us, so you’ll see lots of tips and tricks for staying safe and comfortable while you learn and explore. Have no worries. We’re here to help.

If you’re not convinced that SL is for you, what better way to find out than to jump in? And what better way to jump in than with a couple of Second Life old-timers by your side? We hope that with this book at your side, you won’t be intimidated by seeing how to navigate Second Life, and that when you get into trouble (got a box on your head? If you don’t get the joke now, you will later, promise!), you’ll know you can flip open this book and find what you need.

Second Life For Dummies is written to do more than provide the basics, though. You’ll find expert advice, seasoned insight, and handy tips and tricks to get you moving fast. Best of all, we (the authors) are residents of this crazy alternate world, too! When you find out how to make friends, you can look us up and actually talk to the authors of this book! You can’t beat that kind of customer service. This book is just the beginning of a big experience, and we’re happy to have you along for the ride.

What You Can Safely Ignore

Throughout the book, we include examples of code, steps for creating your own Second Life gear, and so on. If you’re a consumer and don’t want to be a producer, you can skip those sections. But you’ll be back to them later. We know you.

Oh, and all those boxes mixed in throughout the pages? Those are sidebars. They provide nonessential information. You can skip them if you want, but you’ll miss out on cool tips.

Foolish Assumptions

We’ll be honest. We had to assume some things about you to write this book. So, here’s what we assume about you:

You already know a little something about the basics of using your own computer. You know how to install software, surf the Web, and other basics of living in the 20th century.

You have at least a passing interest in Second Life. We’re not here to convince you to want to use it: just to teach you how to use it better. If you’re a skeptic, jump in and find out whether your assumptions are right. If you’re a naysayer, well go sulk somewhere else. No grumps allowed at this party!

How This Book Is Organized

Every adventure needs a plan. We divided this book into six parts to help you easily find the information that you need.

Part I: Second Life Overview and Basics

If don’t already have SL installed or don’t have an account yet, this is where you’ll want to start. We’ll help you get set up and walk you through the Second Life tutorials so you can get in there and start having fun.

Part II: Living Your Second Life — Exploring and Socializing

In this section, we cover the basics of establishing who you are in SL. This includes moving around, customizing your avatar with cool clothes and accessories, learning to chat with other residents, and staying in your comfort zone.

Part III: Inventory, Cash, and Land

Second Life is full of stuff! Stuff you can make, stuff you can buy, and stuff you can do. It all adds up to a lot of stuff management. Whether you’re a land baron, a money maker, or just a clothes horse, you’ll want to read over these chapters to see how to get on top of all your stuff.

Part IV: Building and Customizing

Second only to all the great people you’ll meet, the best part of SL is the ability to create awesome stuff. Build a house and live in it. Or better yet, build a house, sell it, and watch other people live in it and enjoy it. Maybe architecture isn’t your thing. Maybe you’re more into fashion? Well, SL has that, too. We show you how to make your first items of custom clothing (a t-shirt) and move on to making more complex items (skirts that sway and swish). We’ll even dig into the most complex part of Second Life — scripting. Yes, you, too can be a programmer!

Part V: Real Life Opportunities in Second Life

Second Life might be a virtual world, but there is real money to be made. It’s not easy to make a living in SL, but the tips we provide will give you a fighting chance and a leg up on the competition. We cover the basics of getting a job or starting a business, and then show you some examples of big business already in SL so you can learn from the masters. Finally, we’ll explore the biggest growing area of SL — education. Yes, there are people getting degrees using Second Life. Will the amazement never end?

Part VI: The Parts of Tens

These chapters are one of the coolest parts of a For Dummies book. These lists feature cool places and even where to find the best shoes! We’ve toured the virtual world looking for the best places so you don’t have to. Let us show you around.

Icons Used in This Book

Throughout the book are symbols in the margin. These symbols, or icons, mark important points.

This bull’s-eye icon points to tips and tricks that will make you more Second Life savvy.

These warning icons alert you to something that could cause trouble. Be sure to pay attention to them to save yourself time and worry.

This icon will remind you of something we think it’s important to keep in mind as you explore your new virtual life.

These technical tips might go over your head if you’re not the geeky type. If you are the geeky type these tips will give you even greater insight into ways you can customize your Second Life experience.

Where to Go from Here

Just getting started with Second Life? Turn the page. Do you have a specific topic of interest? Use the index or the Table of Contents to find the topic and turn to that page. Go on. You know how to read a book. Time’s a’ wasting!

Part I

Second Life Overview and Basics

In this part . . .

Learning to use Second Life is kind of like riding a roller coaster. Going up that first hill is slow and steep, but after you get to the top, it’s “Yeeeee-haaaaa!” all the way down. It’s a fun, exciting place full of smart, engaging people, and you’re going to be one of them. We show you how it’s done.

Before you can really enjoy all the fun stuff that attracted you to Second Life in the first place, you need to know the basics. In Chapter 1, we tell you what all the fuss is about. Even though Second Life changes every day, a few standard elements of this virtual world keep drawing in folks. Chapter 2 will help you prepare to get started. You need the right tools for the job, and because hardware is one of the biggest barriers to using Second Life, we tell you how to get your computer up to snuff to enjoy Second Life at its best.

After you garner a bit of background and your computer is prepped, you’re ready to jump in. In Chapter 3, you start getting your hands dirty by setting up an account. Finally, in Chapter 4, we show you how to log in and see how to get around. By the end of this part, you’ll be flying, walking, and teleporting like a pro.

Chapter Chapter 1

The Meaning of (Second) Life

Defining Second Life

How Second Life is different from a game

The origins of Second Life

Who has a Second Life?

Second Life is the Web of the future

You keep hearing about it in the news. Reporters flying around a digital world talking about the strange things happening there. Politicians meeting their constituents in digital bodies. Music events with virtual bands playing for virtual audiences. Companies such as IBM, Reuters, American Apparel, and Nike have all staked their claim to open digital storefronts.

This is the world of Second Life (SL). A world of avatars and virtual landscapes where anything can happen and usually does. Whether you’re a student taking online classes, a budding fashion designer looking for an opportunity to show off your latest threads, or just someone who likes to dance the night away without paying a cover charge, Second Life has something to offer. We’ll show you how to get in there, get started, and get up to speed — so read on!

When One Life Isn’t Enough: Explaining Second Life

Most of us have enough going in our First Lives (translation, our real lives) to wonder why anyone would need a second one. Running between meetings, trying to keep up with friends, and the occasional entertainment we might have time for seems to be enough to keep us busy morning to night. Rather than thinking about Second Life as just one more new technology to keep up with, though, think about it as a way to simplify much of what you already do. Instead of driving between meetings, you could fly. Instead of making five phone calls to organize your friends for tonight’s trip to the dance club, you could be sending them teleport requests to join you at the latest hip spot. Forget waiting in line to buy concert tickets; with Second Life, you can attend a live concert any time you’d like without paying ten bucks for a beverage.

So how does Second Life work? There are some basic elements to this cyber-world. After you understand how they work, you’ll be able to dive right in and start having fun.

Account types: Verified and unverified: If you associate a credit card or Paypal account with your account you’ll be listed as verified, that is you proved who you were when you created your account. Basic and Premium: Basic accounts are free. If you own land you’ll pay a monthly fee and be moved to a premium account. For more on account types, see Chapter 3.

Avatars: An avatar is your virtual body in Second Life. You could be a bombshell, decked out in the latest Gucci knock-offs, or a dinosaur wagging your tail, as shown in Figure 1-1. In Second Life, the only limits to your appearance are the limits of your imagination, your time, and your wallet. If you can think it, you can be it. For info about customizing your avatar, jump to Chapter 5.

Moving: Second Life allows you to get around in lots of ways. You can fly without without wings (see Figure 1-2), run, walk, drive a car, or teleport from place to place.

Figure 1-1: In Second Life you can lounge on the beach anytime you feel like getting a little sun.

Chatting: Second Life offers lots of different ways to communicate with fellow residents. You can send Instant Messages, text chat with those around you (as shown in Figure 1-3), or even use your voice with a microphone. For more details about how to chat it up with your Second Life cronies, see Chapter 6.

L$ (virtual money): Second Life has its own economy with a currency called the Linden (L$). You can purchase Lindens to buy virtual schwag from other folks, buy a house, cruise in your dream car, and so on. But here’s the best part: If you start a business or make money some other way in Second Life, you can exchange your L$ for cold hard cash. For more info about the Second Life economy, check out Chapter 10.

Building your world: Everything in Second Life is built by Second Life residents. Every shopping mall (see Figure 1-4), every water slide, every awesome pair of sunglasses was made by someone just like you — and it’s easy to discover how. To get started building objects in Second Life, head to Chapter 13.

Don’t feel like you have to read this book in order from cover to cover. We organize this info to be used in chunks. For example, if you already know how to chat, jump to another chapter and see how to deck out your avatar. Keep the book handy as you explore Second Life and even after you become a pro. We’ll be here to give you tips all along the way.

Figure 1-2: With or without wings, you can fly in Second Life.

Figure 1-3: Two newbie avatars’ hands make typing motions as they chat on Welfare Island.

Figure 1-4: Malls in Second Life look much like the mall down the street.

Second Life: It’s Not a Game

Want to make a bunch of Second Life users mad really quick? Call Second Life a game. Although it looks like a video game similar to World of Warcraft or The Sims, Second Life isn’t a game. In SL, you don’t level-up, complete missions, or earn new armor. So exactly what do you do in Second Life? Well, you live a second life. Anything you can do in real life (from washing dishes and buying a house to getting a job and getting married), you can do in SL.

Because SL isn’t a game, the folks who use it don’t refer to themselves as players. Instead, the people who inhabit the SL world are residents.

There are games in SL, though. You can play poker, golf, baseball, pool, or any other real-life game you can imagine. There are also games unique to SL, such as Slingo (as shown in Figure 1-5), which is a bingo-like game first created by a SL resident and now available on many other platforms. You can also participate in role playing games as a vampire, werewolf, postapocalyptic scavenger, or whatever else your role-playing heart desires.

Figure 1-5: Folks waiting for a game of Slingo to begin on Dutchusa Island.

You can make your own games in SL by discovering how to program objects in Chapter 14.

Most people with an Internet connection have at least heard of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. These Web sites let you connect with people with whom you have something in common and might enjoy talking to, and Second Life isn’t much different. You’ll be able to join groups centered around hobbies, affiliations, nationalities, and other interests. You’ll also be able to make friends with people who are interested in similar things, thus building your own social circle in Second Life, which means you’ll always have someone to hang out with.

A Bit of History

Linden Lab, creator of Second Life, created a virtual monster that now has a life of its own — only a few thousand users has grown to a few million in less than a year. From October, 2006 to September, 2007, the population of the SL environment increased 900 percent from 1 million accounts to 9 million accounts.

To read more about Second Life’s history, check out the SL History Wiki (www.slhistory.org) and the official blog of Linden Lab (http://blog.secondlife.com).

Second Life is loosely based on a virtual reality featured in Snow Crash, a 1992 novel by Neal Stephenson. In the book, the main character “jacks” into a digital place called theMetaverse where people travel, socialize, and do business virtually. In the book, as in SL, the world is created by the people who populate it. Ten years later, Philip Rosedale and his company men created Linden World, which then became SL. The rest, as they say, is history.

In honor of SL’s roots, we still refer to the environment as the Metaverse. Other SL lingo gets inspiration from other classic sci-fi sources. For example, when objects are created or taken out of your inventory, they’re rezzed, which is a term that comes from the 1982 film Tron in which unstable digital objects that disappeared were said to “de-rez.” But even though SL has roots in the geekiest of sci-fi, what it has become is far from, “Beam me up, Scotty.”

To read up about some of the crazy firsts in Second Life history, visit the SL History Firsts page at www.slhistory.org/index.php/Firsts.

Who’s in Second Life?

You’ve probably heard the news reports about companies like IBM and Dell claiming their territory in Second Life (as shown in Figure 1-6), but they wouldn’t be there if tons of activity didn’t already exist in the space. Big Business isn’t alone in Second Life, so who else is in there with them?

Second Life residents are certainly early adopters. On the whole, they’re the kind of people who feel the need to poke and prod at every new techy gizmo that comes along. Second Life statistics show that the average user is American and about 28 years of age. The population is split almost half between men and women.

Most people who use Second Life are interested in having fun. They use SL to connect with people who have common interests and generally hang out much as most of us do in real life. In addition, those of us who hang out in SL do a lot of shopping to deck out our avatars and our virtual homes so we can look good as we socialize and have a cool place to do it.

There are, of course, the residents of Second Life who create what the rest of us enjoy buying. SL is full of virtual store fronts selling everything from clothing and jewelry to homes, cars, and gadgets, as shown in Figure 1-7. With the building tools in SL and other software, such as Adobe Photoshop and Poser from e frontier, these creative people market and sell products so the rest of us can better enjoy SL. For more information about beginning your own business in Second Life, read Chapter 17.

Figure 1-6: IBM Island’s business center has many meeting spots as well as product information.

Figure 1-7: The Muse jewelry shop has a beautiful display window to make you want to come inside.

Second Life is Web 2.0 in 3-D

A couple of years ago, Tim O’Reilly (www.oreilleynet.com) coined the term Web 2.0 to describe the new boom of Web sites that invited users to interact in new ways. O’Reilly described the sites as

A way to transform a Web site into a platform (Google documents, for example)

A way of harnessing the powers of collective intelligence (such as Wikipedia)

Allowing access to large specialized databases (such as Google maps)

Providing services instead of products

In the past few years, we’ve become accustomed to Web 2.0 sites. Second Life might represent the next big thing in these kinds of Web services for the following reasons:

More than software: The software that you download to access SL isn’t SL itself: It’s a way to connect to the servers that host the world. The software is just a viewer. The real value of SL is in the grid (the collection of islands that create the Second Life world) itself.

A collective effort: The true beauty of SL is that all its wonders are created not by the company that made it (Linden Lab) but by the folks who use it.

A source of collaboration: After you start exploring SL, you’ll realize that the most powerful element of the environment is the people in it. They collaborate, cooperate, and create a fantastic experience for themselves and others. Sure, there are jerks, but jerks are everywhere. Overall, the population of SL is an amazing resource for all who choose to become part of it.

A service, not a product: Linden Lab provides a service: access to the grid. The products that are sold in SL are sold by the residents. It’s the people who live in SL who make money from their work, not Linden Lab.

The one and only way to get into Second Life is to create an account and log in. In the next few chapters, we walk you through the steps you need to get in there and start having fun — and a Second Life.

Chapter 2

Tweaking Your System: Adjusting Your Computer to Best Run Second Life

In This Chapter

The right equipment for the job

What to do when Second Life seems to chug rather than glide

What’s making you lag?

Adjusting the Second Life settings to work best

Updating the software

One of the biggest obstacles to using Second Life is, well, using Second Life. Not just any computer can run it, and having the wrong hardware or Internet connection can make using Second Life as frustrating as herding cats.

If you’ve experienced any of the following, you probably need this chapter:

You’re walking or flying, and you can’t stop.

Walls, people, and landscapes are gray on your screen.

Everything beyond your avatar’s arms reach is invisible until you walk toward it.

Your avatar looks gray or naked.

You can’t walk or walk very fast.

These problems and lots more can be remedied by using the right hardware, having the right Internet connection, and adjusting your Second Life settings.

In this chapter, we give you tips and tricks to make Second Life run best on your computer. You learn to troubleshoot the most common Second Life problems, update the software, and know what performance issues are your fault and what’s just Second Life lag.

Hardware and Internet Requirements

You might have already checked the hardware and Internet suggestions on SecondLife.com before you downloaded the software. If you didn’t, the following sections provide a quick reminder.

Please note that the requirements in the following sections are Linden Lab’s minimum specs for hardware. The better your computer, the better Second Life will work. If you intend to run other applications in addition to Second Life, be sure to exceed the minimum specifications.

PC requirements

The following list covers the hardware and Internet requirements needed to get Second Life up and running on your PC:

Cable or DSL Internet connection: Don’t even think about using dial-up. Plugging in is much better than using a wireless connection.

• Dial up: If you hear a modem screeching when you connect to the Internet chances are you have dial-up. This kind of Internet connection simply isn’t fast enough to connect to Second Life.

• DSL: DSL is an Internet connection that runs on your phone line but is always connected and works at a faster speed than dial-up. Most DSL connections will be fast enough to connect to SL.

• Cable: If your cable company provides Internet access you probably have a pretty fast connection. However, some cable systems split the signal between you and the other folks in your neighborhood. If you find that your connection seems slow we suggest you give your provider a call and ask whether the strength of your signal has been diminished by being shared. If it has, most companies will install a booster on your line that will fix the problem.

• Wireless: If you’re using a laptop that isn’t plugged into an Internet connection then you’re relying on a wireless connection. On a home network wireless connection speeds may be high enough to run Second Life but sharing a wireless network on campus or at a coffee shop might diminish your signal enough that Second Life will lag.

Dealing with updates and other problems that aren’t your fault

You’ll be pleased to know that not all problems with Second Life are your fault. Known bugs do exist in Second Life. SL updates about twice monthly, and each new version has new features — as well as new bugs. When too many people are logged in to Second Life at once (typically over 40,000 avatars), you’ll see some problems with teleporting, inventory management, and so on. When an emergency bug fix is released, you might see rolling updates that cause regions to reset and consequently kick you out of the program. Occasionally — and this is rare — you’ll notice that your money (L$) is temporarily gone or that your inventory isn’t accessible. These are pretty extreme bugs and really rare, but they do happen.

Windows XP: Some folks are indeed running Second Life on Vista without problems. Others can be heard screaming obscenities across town. If you have Vista it’s worth a shot to try to run Second Life if you have the current drivers for your video card installed.

An 800 MHz or better processor: 800 MHz will get you in, but 1.66 MHz or better will give you better performance.

256MB RAM or better: This must be a joke on Linden’s part. Have at least 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM.

Video cards: This is the toughest requirement to meet. Second Life supports nVidia GeForce2; GeForce4 MX; and ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better cards. However, many officially unsupported cards work really well. Video cards that are referred to as being “on board” meaning that they aren’t separate cards but are part of your motherboard will very seldom work. You need a card with at least 128 megs of onboard RAM and “on board” motherboards never have their own RAM. Make sure you have the latest drivers for your card by downloading them from your manufacturer’s Web site.

Mac requirements

The following list covers the hardware and Internet requirements needed to get Second Life up and running on your Mac:

Cable or DLS Internet connection: The connection restrictions with PCs are similar with Apple computers. AirPort: Using an Apple AirPort may cause lag due to diminished signal.

Mac OS X v. 10.3.9 (Panther) or better: Update often to have the latest version.

1 GHz G4 processor or better: Both PPC and Intel Apple computers are compatible.

512MB RAM or better: Again, as with a PC, 1GB of RAM is far better.

Video cards: Second Life supports nVidea GeForce 2; GeForce4 MX; and ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better cards. Most Macs come equipped with a fairly good video card.

Understanding Lag: Is It You or the Grid?

The more time you spend in Second Life, the more definitions of lag you’ll hear. Anytime anyone is unhappy with the performance of Second Life, whether because of their own machine or from the Second Life servers, they complain about lag:

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bump you. Lag.”

“Boy, the lag is bad on this island. Too many people here.”

“I didn’t mean to show up naked to the party. I had on clothes but they didn’t appear ’cuz of lag.”

Lag is the slowing down of Second Life and may be caused by a number of things. Most references to lag may be caused by poor computer performance or a slow Internet connection. Here are a few symptoms of lag and how to diagnose where the blame falls.

Symptom:I can look around, but I can’t move.

Diagnosis: You’re disconnected from Second Life but haven’t realized it yet. When you use Second Life, you’re actually connected to lots of servers. Some provide the island you’re on; others provide your inventory or your cash balance. Getting disconnected from any one of them will cause you to be sort of stuck in place. Chat might work, and you might even be able to open your inventory, but you can’t walk. If you experience this “stuckness,” close Second Life and restart it to reestablish the connection to the servers. Also, this is possibly the result of more than one person using Second Life on one network. If your co-workers or friends log on while you’re on and you get locked up every time they do, you might need to contact your network administrator to allow multiple connections to Second Life.

Symptom:I can move but when I try to walk I start walking and I can’t stop.

Diagnosis: