Thing 12

This Thing threw me for a bit of a loop at first. I'm the first to admit that I suck at making any sort of decision, and now I had to pick a technology to talk about?! Which one? My awesome iPhone I'm so very much in love with? Podcasting, the e-tool I'm both interested in learning more about and yet too nervous to make use of?

In the end I went with Second Life. You won't be able to follow this link at work however - tis blocked. Which isn't overly surprising, but gave me a laugh. See, I first heard about Second Life years ago. I remember 60 Minutes did a piece on it, and while it looked interesting, it wasn't my thing. Recently, it was brought up again at the e-Mentoring workshop I attended - the trainer even uses it as part of her teaching and whatnot...but it is blocked. I only hope she doesn't want to make use of it again in her online workshops! ;-P

Now, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Seeing as you can't follow the link, I'll explain the whole thing a bit - but seriously, you need to have look at the website when you can because I know I won't do it justice.

Second Life is an online 3D virtual world. You create an account and an avatar - which here is a 3D representation of yourself (or fantasy self, as is usually the case), and give yourself a name. You choose your first name, and Second Life generates a list of last names for you to choose from. It's truly that simple - you download the software, log in, and BAM! You're transported to a whole new world.

Now, this place is HUGE! I am not kidding. Second Life is bigger than you can even imagine - it's not just a game, but a life. You can shop, meet people, join book clubs, visit places you can only ever dream about (the Milky Way, for example) and places that maybe you just don't have the chance to visit yet in real life (or as it's known in Second Life, First Life). People literally replicate real places for you to explore - including Mexico, castles in France, and world renowned art galleries. But it's also a world of fantasy and gaming - you can join in futuristic role playing games; or go back in time and visit the Victorian era.

You can buy or rent land so that you can build a home or something else. People actually even work in Second Life. You can purchase "Linden Dollars" to spend within the world, which has a USD equivalent, so people design things for others to buy, and in doing so earn real money. Pretty cool.

Everything Second Life is pretty cool to me - it is both awe inspiring and terrifying! So, after all of this, just how hooked am I? Well, I'm on my way to addicted I think.

My Second Life name is Jinx Celestalis. My avatar has long black hair (for now) and wears a gorgeous black dress (also for now). I don't find it easy to use at all, but I'm getting there. I first explored the place on Saturday night, and met Larry, who took me shopping for the dress, jewellery and hair. Once Jinx was all dolled up, we went dancing! That was beyond fantastic - turns out I'm a great dancer! ;-) According to Larry it takes over a week just to learn the basics of Second Life! Boy, is he right. This morning I ventured out on my own, did some "freebie" shopping (as in for items that don't cost any money), and flew for the first time. Oh, you read that right - in Second Life you can fly, and to get from one place to another you teleport. Which is awesome but scary - last time I teleported I materialised smack bang in front of a huge dude. Freaky! I also met a lovely lady this morning who is part of a vampire/lycan/angel clan, and who has friended me so that she can invite me to future clan events...now you understand why I'm on my way to addicted, right? ;-P

I truly look forward to getting more involved in Second Life - I plan to visit those French castles, and I so look forward to experiencing the Victorian Era!! The only problem is that I am truly terrified by it. Weird, I know. You'd think it'd be easier over the computer, but the whole idea makes me nervous - I can't start conversations, and I actually try to avoid people. But that is just for now. At the moment I'm completely a fish out of water, but I think the more I use it, the better I'll get at it, and feel more in my element. Besides, I've already made 2 friends who have gone out of their way to teach me and make me feel welcome, so I know I'll get there.