You can explore a very large 3D virtual environment in an online world called Second Life (http://www.secondlife.com).  Once you log in you can create a virtual being tailored to your preferences which represents you in Second Life.  This character is called an avatar.  You can change the look of your avatar, as well as the clothing style, hair, skin, weapons if needed, even down to the style of shoes.

You then use your avatar to go exploring, dancing, or even meditating in the Second Life world. You can meet other avatars in this world, these are called residents ingame, and you can communicate with other residents using text messages and, with a headset and microphone, you can use voice chat.

There are currently over 10 million avatars registered in Second Life, although usually "only" about 55 thousand or so are ingame at any one time.  If you do not care to be bothered by anyone while exploring, just set a "Busy" switch — this tells nearby avatars you cannot receive any text messages or voice chat with them.  Besides just exploring Second Life, you can also attend quite a few live events at any given time, such as music concerts, book discussions at ingame libraries, even rummage sales where you can buy discounted clothes and even eyeglasses.

This just scratches the surface of the many activities you can experience in Second Life. Give it a whirl.  There are many people around who will gladly help you out, and the Second Life website has a lot of newbie information to make you feel right at home.

Tim Jameson is a Second Life resident, and maintains a blog related to Second Life news and videos.  Visit Second Life Absorption!

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