Thing #15 Online Games Part 2

I was curious about Second Life, so I watched several videos about it on You-tube and read an excellent article about the Teen Second Life in the January 2008 issue of Odyssey magazine. The environment of Second Life has a surreal, dreamscape-like quality to it that is somewhat disturbing, but intriguing as well. I went as far as signing up and creating my avatar, but then backed out when I discovered that I had to download the game software onto my computer. I didn't want to do that, so alas, Dimity Undercroft will never walk the virtual streets of Second life-which is just as well. I have a feeling that becoming involved with this would be VERY time consuming. Unless you have previous knowledge of Java based programming and 3D modeling tools, there would be a huge learning curve in order to fully participate. I would rather spend my time in ACTUAL reality, interacting with real people, and visiting real places. Here is a link to a short video that was pretty funny--it shows how it might look if real people interacted with each other the way they do in Second Life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flkgNn50k14

It was interesting how the Charlotte/Mecklinberg library was using the Teen Second Life, offering "virtual library services", and involving the teens in creating "Alliance Island".