taking a step into the virtual world

Encyclopedia Britannica describes Second Life as… actually there’s no entry for it on Britannica and even if there was, it’s a subscriber site and I don’t feel like paying for information.

Wikipedia defines Second Life as:

Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched in 2003, developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab), which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007.[4][5] A downloadable client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called “Residents”, to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, create and trade items (virtual property) and services from one another.

If interested, the entry continues on for a few thousand more words.

I have no real understanding of SL, but was happy to see that my unqualified comparison of it to Neal Stephenson’s, SnowCrash was actually reflected in the second paragraph of the super-official Wikipedia entry. While I might not have my own avatar, at least I know what sci-fi novel to compare it to.

But why am I writing about any of this? Earlier this week I got an email from Second Lifer (is that the right terminology?) Jenn D. Jenn has placed a Toynbee tile on a bridge in the SL town of Celerio Sim. Here’s some more information that was forwarded about that tile:

Since I can’t put these tiles on public property or private property that isn’t my own (they either won’t get rezzed, or they’ll pop back to me after a few hours), I’m working on setting it up so people who click it get their own copies, which they can spread around. 🙂 The coordinates are “Celerio 92, 236, 68.” Until I get it automated, anyone who wants a tile can just IM Carrie Talaj for one.

There is a second one somewhere in Second Life. But I ain’t saying where
it is. 😉

It’s good to know that after war, famine, disease and total environmental collapse force the last, struggling vestiges of humanity to live in nutrient rich, environmentally controlled pods that allow them to experience life through a BCI reality, at least there will still be tiles around! Here are some pics: