Second Life® for Dummies®

Second Life® for Dummies®

by Sarah Robbins, Mark Bell
Released January 2008
Publisher(s): For Dummies
ISBN: 9780470180259

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Book description

You’ve heard all about Second Life. Maybe you’ve already jumped with both feet—and gotten stuck. Or maybe you’re a Second Life veteran who wants to build something or run a business. Fear not! Second Life For Dummies is hear to hold your hand, pat your back, and cheer you on through this new and enchanting reality.

Written by a pair of Second Life old timers, this easy-to-use, flip-and-find guide is packed with expert advice, seasoned insight, and handy tips and tricks to get you moving fast. You’ll find out how to set up your account, create an avatar, meet people and socialize, and find your comfort zone and stay in it. But it’s a big world out there, so you’ll also learn how to make stuff, buy stuff, do stuff, and keep track of all the stuff you’re accumulating. Discover how to

  • Install Second Life get started

  • Create and customize your avatar

  • Meet and get to know fascinating people

  • Stay safe and comfortable as you learn and explore

  • Make, wear, and sell your own fashions

  • Script your Second Life

  • Buy land and build a house

  • Become a land baron or a money maker

  • Make real money in Second Life

  • Get a real-life education—even a degree

    • Complete with fantastic lists of cool places, answers to big questions, and supplemental software, Second Life For Dummies is your ticket to a great virtual adventure.

    Table of contents

    1. Copyright
    2. About the Authors
    3. Authors' Acknowledgments
    4. Publisher's Acknowledgments
    5. Introduction
      1. About This Book
      2. What You Can Safely Ignore
      3. Foolish Assumptions
      4. How This Book Is Organized
        1. Part I: Second Life Overview and Basics
        2. Part II: Living Your Second Life - Exploring and Socializing
        3. Part III: Inventory, Cash, and Land
        4. Part IV: Building and Customizing
        5. Part V: Real-Life Opportunities in Second Life
        6. Part VI: The Parts of Tens
      5. Icons Used in This Book
      6. Where to Go from Here
    6. I. Second Life Overview and Basics
      1. 1. The Meaning of (Second) Life
        1. 1.1. When One Life Isn't Enough: Explaining Second Life
        2. 1.2. Second Life: It's Not a Game
        3. 1.3. A Bit of History
        4. 1.4. Who's in Second Life?
        5. 1.5. Second Life is Web 2.0 in 3-D
      2. 2. Tweaking Your System: Adjusting Your Computer to Best Run Second Life
        1. 2.1. Hardware and Internet Requirements
          1. 2.1.1. PC requirements
          2. 2.1.2. Mac requirements
        2. 2.2. Understanding Lag: Is It You or the Grid?
        3. 2.3. Statistics: Finding Out the Source of Your Lag
        4. 2.4. Preference Settings for Optimal Performance
          1. 2.4.1. General tab
          2. 2.4.2. Input & Camera tab
          3. 2.4.3. Network tab
          4. 2.4.4. Web tab
          5. 2.4.5. Graphics tab
          6. 2.4.6. Graphics Detail tab
          7. 2.4.7. Adv. Graphics tab
          8. 2.4.8. Audio & Video tab
          9. 2.4.9. Text Chat tab
          10. 2.4.10. Voice Chat tab
          11. 2.4.11. Communication tab
          12. 2.4.12. Popups tab
      3. 3. Starting Your Second Life
        1. 3.1. Creating Your Account
        2. 3.2. Getting through Orientation Island
        3. 3.3. Making Your Way to Help Island
        4. 3.4. Exploring Help Island
      4. 4. Navigating the Second Life Interface and World
        1. 4.1. Exploring the Basic Menus
          1. 4.1.1. The File menu
          2. 4.1.2. The Edit menu
          3. 4.1.3. The View menu
          4. 4.1.4. The World menu
          5. 4.1.5. The Tools menu
          6. 4.1.6. The Help menu
          7. 4.1.7. Controlling the sun
          8. 4.1.8. Controlling your views
        2. 4.2. Getting Around in Second Life
          1. 4.2.1. Using your keyboard
          2. 4.2.2. Using Movement Controls
        3. 4.3. The Second Life World
        4. 4.4. Creating and Using Landmarks
    7. II. Living Your Second Life - Exploring and Socializing
      1. 5. Creating Your Second Life Persona
        1. 5.1. Avatar Anatomy
        2. 5.2. Editing Your Avatar's Appearance
          1. 5.2.1. Body parts
            1. 5.2.1.1. Shape
            2. 5.2.1.2. Skin
            3. 5.2.1.3. Hair
            4. 5.2.1.4. Eyes
          2. 5.2.2. Clothes
            1. 5.2.2.1. Shirt
            2. 5.2.2.2. Pants
            3. 5.2.2.3. Shoes
            4. 5.2.2.4. Socks
            5. 5.2.2.5. Jacket
            6. 5.2.2.6. Gloves
            7. 5.2.2.7. Undershirt
            8. 5.2.2.8. Underpants
            9. 5.2.2.9. Skirt
        3. 5.3. Customizing Your Avatar's Appearance
          1. 5.3.1. Buying an avatar shape
          2. 5.3.2. Skins
          3. 5.3.3. "Other" body parts
        4. 5.4. Getting Dressed
          1. 5.4.1.
            1. 5.4.1.1. Turning pants into shorts
            2. 5.4.1.2. Changing a shirt into a bikini
            3. 5.4.1.3. Arm warmers
        5. 5.5. Attaching and Detaching Objects
        6. 5.6. Hair
        7. 5.7. Accessories
        8. 5.8. Quick Changes: Saving Your Appearance as an Outfit
        9. 5.9. Wearing an Avatar on Your Avatar
      2. 6. Jumping into the Conversation: Express Yourself
        1. 6.1. Where My Peeps At?
        2. 6.2. Chatting with Other Residents
        3. 6.3. Chat Options, History, and Logs
          1. 6.3.1. Chat options
          2. 6.3.2. History
          3. 6.3.3. Logging chat
        4. 6.4. Making a Resident a Friend
        5. 6.5. Instant Messaging: Individual and Group
        6. 6.6. Notecards
        7. 6.7. Gestures and Animations
          1. 6.7.1. Pose balls
      3. 7. Getting a Social Second Life
        1. 7.1. Your Second Life Profile
        2. 7.2. Second Life Groups
          1. 7.2.1. Finding groups
          2. 7.2.2. Group profiles
          3. 7.2.3. Joining groups
          4. 7.2.4. Creating a group
          5. 7.2.5. Members' roles and abilities
          6. 7.2.6. Group Notices
          7. 7.2.7. Group proposals
          8. 7.2.8. Land and Linden dollar (L$) management
          9. 7.2.9. Building with groups
          10. 7.2.10. Messaging groups
        3. 7.3. Second Life Events
          1. 7.3.1. Finding events
          2. 7.3.2. Attending events
          3. 7.3.3. Adding events
      4. 8. Staying in Your Second Life Comfort Zone
        1. 8.1. Understanding the Risks in Second Life
        2. 8.2. Drawing a Line between Your First and Second Life
        3. 8.3. Ratings: PG and Mature Regions
        4. 8.4. Handling Problem Residents: Muting and Reporting Trouble
    8. III. Inventory, Cash, and Land
      1. 9. Becoming Materialistic with Your Second Life Inventory
        1. 9.1. Using Your Inventory
          1. 9.1.1. The Inventory window
            1. 9.1.1.1. The File menu
            2. 9.1.1.2. The Create menu
            3. 9.1.1.3. The Sort menu
          2. 9.1.2. Contents view
            1. 9.1.2.1. The My Inventory folder
            2. 9.1.2.2. The Library folder
        2. 9.2. Searching Your Inventory
        3. 9.3. Working with Objects
          1. 9.3.1. Understanding object attributes
          2. 9.3.2. Giving and receiving objects
          3. 9.3.3. Deleting objects in your Inventory
          4. 9.3.4. Renaming objects in your Inventory
          5. 9.3.5. Sorting and filtering objects in your Inventory
          6. 9.3.6. Unpacking boxes to acquire objects
      2. 10. Understanding the Second Life Economy
        1. 10.1. Money, Money, Money! — Linden Dollars and the LindeX
        2. 10.2. Buying and Selling Linden Dollars
          1. 10.2.1. Virtual Wall Street: The LindeX
          2. 10.2.2. Buying Linden dollars via the Web
          3. 10.2.3. Buying Linden dollars within Second Life
          4. 10.2.4. Selling Linden dollars
          5. 10.2.5. Cashing money out of Second Life
        3. 10.3. Earning Linden Dollars
          1. 10.3.1. Camping
          2. 10.3.2. Getting a job
          3. 10.3.3. Running your own business
        4. 10.4. Getting Your Weekly Stipend
        5. 10.5. Referring a Friend
      3. 11. Spending Your Cash in Second Life
        1. 11.1. What Should I Buy?
        2. 11.2. Buying Things
          1. 11.2.1. Finding stores and vendors
          2. 11.2.2. Buying an item
        3. 11.3. Finding the Best Stuff to Buy
        4. 11.4. Bargain Shopping
        5. 11.5. Paying for Things Other than Items
          1. 11.5.1. Tip jars
          2. 11.5.2. Cover charges
          3. 11.5.3. Paying for services
          4. 11.5.4. Importing files
      4. 12. Staking Your Claim in Second Life
        1. 12.1. Finding a Place to Rent
        2. 12.2. Buying Land
          1. 12.2.1. Land types
          2. 12.2.2. Should I buy from a resident or from Linden?
          3. 12.2.3. How much land should I buy?
          4. 12.2.4. Caring about the neighbors
          5. 12.2.5. Owning land as a group
          6. 12.2.6. Setting your Home location
        3. 12.3. Setting Land Permissions
          1. 12.3.1. Using the About Land tool
            1. 12.3.1.1. The General tab
            2. 12.3.1.2. The Covenant tab
            3. 12.3.1.3. The Objects tab
            4. 12.3.1.4. The Options tab
            5. 12.3.1.5. The Media tab
            6. 12.3.1.6. The Access tab
            7. 12.3.1.7. The Ban tab
          2. 12.3.2. Using the Region/Estate tool
            1. 12.3.2.1. The Region tab
            2. 12.3.2.2. The Debug tab
            3. 12.3.2.3. The Ground Textures tab
            4. 12.3.2.4. The Terrain tab
            5. 12.3.2.5. The Estate tab
            6. 12.3.2.6. The Covenant tab
        4. 12.4. Dealing with Unwanted Guests — Freezing, Ejecting, and Banning
    9. IV. Building and Customizing
      1. 13. Building Basics
        1. 13.1. If You Build It, They Will Come
          1. 13.1.1. Who made all this?
          2. 13.1.2. What are prims?
          3. 13.1.3. Where can I build?
        2. 13.2. Mastering Prims
        3. 13.3. Using the Build Tools
          1. 13.3.1. Focus
          2. 13.3.2. Move
          3. 13.3.3. Edit
            1. 13.3.3.1. Position
            2. 13.3.3.2. Rotate
            3. 13.3.3.3. Stretch
            4. 13.3.3.4. Select Textures
            5. 13.3.3.5. Edit options
          4. 13.3.4. Create
          5. 13.3.5. Land
        4. 13.4. Dissecting Prim Properties
          1. 13.4.1. The General tab
          2. 13.4.2. The Object tab
          3. 13.4.3. The Features tab
          4. 13.4.4. The Texture tab
          5. 13.4.5. The Content tab
        5. 13.5. Selecting Colors and Textures
          1. 13.5.1. Applying colors
          2. 13.5.2. Applying textures
        6. 13.6. Working with Multiple Prims
          1. 13.6.1. Making copies
          2. 13.6.2. Selecting multiple prims
          3. 13.6.3. Linking prims
        7. 13.7. Cleaning Up
      2. 14. Taking Your Building Skills to the Next Level
        1. 14.1. Building with Groups
          1. 14.1.1. Sharing objects with a group
          2. 14.1.2. Setting permissions on objects with groups
          3. 14.1.3. Deeding objects
          4. 14.1.4. Debugging permissions
        2. 14.2. Writing Scripts in Second Life
          1. 14.2.1. Writing scripts in LSL
          2. 14.2.2. How do I program in LSL?
        3. 14.3. Second Life Open Source
      3. 15. The Clothes Make the Avatar: Creating Your Own Clothing
        1. 15.1. Haute Couture: Using Adobe Photoshop to Make Your Own Clothes
          1. 15.1.1. Creating a custom t-shirt
          2. 15.1.2. Making clothes from scratch: A baseball jersey
        2. 15.2. Editing Clothes Made by Others
          1. 15.2.1. Adjusting sleeve length
          2. 15.2.2. Changing the color of a garment
        3. 15.3. Creating Accessories by Using Clothing Layers
        4. 15.4. Using Prims in Clothing
        5. 15.5. Making Hair
      4. 16. Making a Statement with Poses, Animations, and Gestures
        1. 16.1. Understanding the Terminology
        2. 16.2. Creating and Using a Pose
        3. 16.3. Making an Animation
        4. 16.4. Creating a Gesture
    10. V. Real Life Opportunities in Second Life
      1. 17. Getting Paid in Second Life (It's Not Easy)
        1. 17.1. Finding Your Niche
        2. 17.2. Selling Things in Second Life
        3. 17.3. Finding and Landing a Job
          1. 17.3.1. Looking in the classifieds
          2. 17.3.2. Placing your own classified
          3. 17.3.3. Asking around
          4. 17.3.4. Apprenticeships
        4. 17.4. Kinds of Jobs Available
          1. 17.4.1. Camping
          2. 17.4.2. Entertainment industry
          3. 17.4.3. Fashion industry
          4. 17.4.4. Being a landlord
        5. 17.5. Being Your Own Boss
          1. 17.5.1. Starting a business
          2. 17.5.2. Planning
          3. 17.5.3. Marketing a business
          4. 17.5.4. Setting up shop
          5. 17.5.5. Managing your business and hiring help
      2. 18. Bringing Big Business to Second Life
        1. 18.1. State of the SL Economy
        2. 18.2. Current Big Business Strategies in SL
          1. 18.2.1. Marketing
          2. 18.2.2. Virtual meeting and training space
          3. 18.2.3. Information and support
        3. 18.3. Top Five Second Life Business Myths
          1. 18.3.1. Bringing your business into SL is a way to get rich quick
          2. 18.3.2. Every business will work in SL
          3. 18.3.3. You can't make any money in SL
          4. 18.3.4. You have to invest a lot of money in SL to be successful
          5. 18.3.5. Second Life is so vast and empty that no one will buy my products
        4. 18.4. Industries with a Second Life Presence
          1. 18.4.1. Computer software and hardware
          2. 18.4.2. Automobiles
          3. 18.4.3. Media and entertainment
          4. 18.4.4. Clothing
      3. 19. Education in Second Life
        1. 19.1. Learning and Teaching in Second Life
          1. 19.1.1. Simulations
          2. 19.1.2. Role playing
          3. 19.1.3. Building
          4. 19.1.4. Social events for learning
        2. 19.2. The Teen Grid
          1. 19.2.1. Global Kids
          2. 19.2.2. PacficRim Exchange (PacRimX)
        3. 19.3. Touring Second Life Campuses
          1. 19.3.1. Ohio University without Boundaries
          2. 19.3.2. Glidden, Northern Illinois University
          3. 19.3.3. Literature Alive
          4. 19.3.4. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
          5. 19.3.5. Angel Learning Isle
          6. 19.3.6. Info Island
          7. 19.3.7. New Media Consortium
    11. VI. The Part of Tens
      1. 20. Ten (Or So) Great Places to Shop
        1. 20.1. The Top Ten Places to Shop for Hair
          1. 20.1.1. Gurl6
          2. 20.1.2. Calla by Tigerlilly Koi
          3. 20.1.3. Vixen by Verikai Vargas
          4. 20.1.4. Calico Creations by Calico Ingmann
          5. 20.1.5. Bryce Designs by Bryce Tully
          6. 20.1.6. Adimu by Rubina Stanwell
          7. 20.1.7. Sirena by Natalia Zelmanov
          8. 20.1.8. Tekeli-li! by Tekelili Tantalus
          9. 20.1.9. Casu Capra
          10. 20.1.10. Hair Solutions
        2. 20.2. The Top Ten Men's Clothing Stores
          1. 20.2.1. Blaze by Blaze
          2. 20.2.2. House of Zen by Zen Deledda
          3. 20.2.3. Tonktastic by Tonk Tomcat
          4. 20.2.4. Nyte'N'Day by Nyte Caligari
          5. 20.2.5. sf designs by Swaffette Firefly
          6. 20.2.6. D & A Designs
          7. 20.2.7. STELLAR DESIGNS by Lex Morgan
          8. 20.2.8. DE Designs
          9. 20.2.9. Dan Senyurt's
          10. 20.2.10. Romance by Corwin Vargis
        3. 20.3. The Top Ten Women's Clothing Stores
          1. 20.3.1. Midnight City
          2. 20.3.2. Canimal
          3. 20.3.3. LittleRebel by Jonquille Noir
          4. 20.3.4. Nicky Ree
          5. 20.3.5. Coconut Ice by Andromeda Raine
          6. 20.3.6. DiamonX Studios by Raudf Fox
          7. 20.3.7. Indira Bekkers
          8. 20.3.8. Pizazz by Lynour Richelieu
          9. 20.3.9. Escape by Kya Eliot
          10. 20.3.10. Boing Fromage by Elka Lahane
      2. 21. Ten Great Places to Visit
        1. 21.1. Luskwood
        2. 21.2. Spaceport Alpha
        3. 21.3. Particle Laboratory
        4. 21.4. The Ivory Tower of Primatives
        5. 21.5. Isle of Wyrms
        6. 21.6. Virtual Starry Night
        7. 21.7. Nakama
        8. 21.8. The Pond
        9. 21.9. Paris 1900
        10. 21.10. Saijo City

    Product information

    • Title: Second Life® for Dummies®
    • Author(s): Sarah Robbins, Mark Bell
    • Release date: January 2008
    • Publisher(s): For Dummies
    • ISBN: 9780470180259