A Second Life

The wholly virtual world known as Second Life has attracted more than a million active users, millions of dollars, and created its own—very real—economy. The Making of Second Life is the behind-the-scenes story of the Web 2.0 revolution's most improbable enterprise: the creation of a virtual 3-D world with its own industries, culture, and social systems. Now the toast of the Internet economy, and the subject of countless news articles, profiles, and television shows, Second Life is usually known for the wealth of real-world companies (Reuters, Pontiac, IBM) that have created "virtual offices" within it, and the number of users ("avatars") who have become wealthy through their user-created content. What sets Second Life apart from other online worlds, and what has made it such a success (one million-plus monthly users and growing) is its simple user-centered philosophy. Instead of attempting to control the activities of those who enter it, the creators of Second Life turned them loose: users (also known as Residents) own the rights to the intellectual content they create in-world, and the in-world currency of Linden Dollars is freely exchangeable for U.S. currency. Residents have responded by generating millions of dollars of economic activity through their in-world designs and purchases—currently, the Second Life economy averages more than one million U.S. dollars in transactions every day, while dozens of real-world companies and projects have evolved and developed around content originated in Second Life. Wagner James Au explores the long, implausible road behind that success, and looks at the road ahead, where many believe that user-created worlds like Second Life will become the Net's next generation and the fulcrum for a revolution in the way we shop, work, and interact. Au's story is narrated from both within the corporate offices of Linden Lab, Second Life's creator, and from within Second Life itself, revealing all the fascinating, outrageous, brilliant, and aggravating personalities who make Second Life a very real place­—and an illuminating mirror on the real (physical) world. Au writes about the wars they fought (sometimes literally), the transformations they underwent, the empires of land and commerce they developed, and above all, the collaborative creativity that makes their society an imperfect utopia, better in some ways than the one beyond their computer screens.

Some new users to Second Life may find that it can be very difficult to navigate this new 3D space and even harder to find some of the more interesting places to visit. Many of the best places to visit in Second Life have remained a secret to the most active and seasoned users, until now! Now there is a guide for everyone who wants to access the top destinations on Second Life. “This book provides over 200 destinations in six areas - shopping, entertainment, education, real life in Second Life, adults only, and where to live” to “ over 100 top destinations in shopping, entertainment, adults only, virtual travel, education, and where to live. Answering questions like - where to go for a night out on the town, how to find the best shopping experience or find a specific area like Adidas. The book briefly covers the basics of navigating Second Life with tips on flying, teleporting and creating landmarks, then jumps into the main areas of travel. It also includes profiles of some of the people behind these locations. In most cases they are just as colorful as some of the places they create. Each location will be highlighted with a brief write up, screen shots, and location information.

Today, it has been said, the world is "flat," as online media allow information to move easily from point to point across the earth. International legal differences, however, are increasingly affecting the ease with which data and ideas can be shared across nations. Copyright law, for example, affects the international flow of materials by stipulating who has the right to replicate or to share certain kinds of content. Similarly, perspectives on privacy rights can differ from nation to nation and affect how personal information is shared globally. Moreover, national laws can affect the exchange of ideas by stipulating the language in which information must be presented in different geopolitical regions. Today's technical communicators need to understand how legal factors can affect communication practices if they wish to work effectively in global contexts. This collection provides an overview of different legal aspects that technical communicators might encounter when creating materials or sharing information in international environments. Through addressing topics ranging from privacy rights and information exchange to the legalities of business practices in virtual worlds and perspectives on authorship and ownership, the contributors to this volume examine a variety of communication-based legal issues that can cause problems or miscommunication in international interactions. Reviewing such topics from different perspectives, the authors collectively provide ideas that could serve as a foundation for creating best practices on or for engaging in future research in the area of legal issues in international settings.

Explores our developing participatory online culture, establishing the core principles which drive the rise of collaborative content creation in environments, from open source through blogs and Wikipedia to Second Life. Argues that what is emerging is no longer just a new form of content production, but a new process for the continuous creation and extension of knowledge and art by collarborative communities: produsage.

Over the last five years there has been an increasing use of immersive virtual worlds, in particular Second Life, in Higher Education. A Practical Guide to Using Second Life in Higher Education is a pedagogically-informed text that guides staff in the use of Second Life for Higher Education. Although there are currently a growing number of books about Second Life available, much of the focus has been on designing the environment, ways of building and the general ease and use-value of the environment. This book is aimed at those who want to use Second Life for teaching in further and higher education. It provides both an overview and an in-depth stance about aspects of the immersive world for teaching, learning and assessment, as well as suggestions about researching (in) Second Life.

Set in New York City and Eastern Europe, these stories explore the indelible mark left by unexpected historical and personal traumas. Firan effortlessly blends elements of realism and fantasy to create a rich and spellbinding narrative world. Each story revolves around a middle-aged male protagonist, who struggles to find meaning in his life as he experiences failure and desperately reaches out in pursuit of happiness.

As the world rapidly moves online, sectors from management, industry, government, and education have broadly begun to virtualize the way people interact and learn. Virtual Learning Environments: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools and Applications is a three-volume compendium of the latest research, case studies, theories, and methodologies within the field of virtual learning environments. As networks get faster, cheaper, safer, and more reliable, their applications grow at a rate that makes it difficult for the typical practitioner to keep abreast. With a wide range of subjects, spanning from authors across the globe and with applications at different levels of education and higher learning, this reference guide serves academics and practitioners alike, indexed and categorized easily for study and application.

The number of electric vehicles (cars, buses, e-bikes, electric scooters and electric motorcycles) sold in the Nordic countries is currently increasing quickly. That means that more electricity is used for driving, and also that more of some important metals are being used than earlier. This report regards the fate of the lithium-ion batteries used in vehicles in the Nordic countries. Currently the “Battery Directive” (EC, 2006) which is a producer’s responsibility directive, is under revision and this study is a knowledge base intended for use by the Nordic Environmental Protection Agencies for their referral response in the revision process. This report focuses on the aspect of metal resources, but it does not elaborate on a broader range of environmental impacts, as these were outside the scope of this study.