Here is a social phenomenon worthy of checking out for yourselves.

Second Life is a Virtual Social world where users log on and choose to be what they want to be. It's a different world than this one (of course) where teleports and flying like superman are normal activities such as reading a newspaper.
What cought my attention is that Corporate America and other notable entities are diving into this virtual world to offer not only their virtual counterpart of their products, but they advertise the products they sell here, in what they call First Life. Universities started using Second Life as a place where to teach architecture and other subjects that benefit from the virtuality of Second Life.

So I logged on. It's free.
Created an Avatar (person) named Grahm Kondor. Why that name? after 15 minutes of trying it was the only combination of names that I like that was available. Yup.. There are over 3 million other avatars all with different names.
So there I was starting at my avatar getting shaped, colored and dressed in a white t-shirt and blue jeans and flip flops. Great, my style!
I won't dwell on how much silly time I spent on reshaping my avatar and coloring it green.
I find a bill board that advertised to click on it to be teleported in a safe environment where I could have fun building stuff. OK. Click.

SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHHHHH

Here I am again. In front of me there is an open area with a coffee table, several couches and a chimney... Like a livingroom without the house around it.
As I walk towards it, my headsets start playing a song from the beatles. ALLRIGHT!! I reach the couch and I sit down. That's where I noticed another avatar sitting in a nearby couch. I have no idea how to communicate at this point so I look at alternatives.
I see a cup of chockolate milk on the coffee table that nobody is using. I grab it hoping I could offer it to the stranger in sign of peace... but as soon as I grab it, my avatar takes a sip of it...
Obviously I didn't take in count my new Self, who was apperently thirsty.
I turn around to sit and this is the first time I noticed a big huge telescope. Cool. I use the gesture menu to have my avatar go: "WOW!" as he spreads his arms in surprise.
I click on the telescope and I get a message stating that the telescope is propery of something something University and that I need to be a member of the university to use it.
Well there goes my idea...
Fine... so I can sit, anjoy music... I have no Linden dollars (that is the currency in Second Life, currently traded against the US dollar). What else can I do? FLY of course....

up up and away.... and there I am flying around the world.

Now this is cool. I bring up a wide world map and search for heavily populated areas.... bingo... click there.. teleport here... and SWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSHHH again....

Where am i?? This looks like a ...... Shopping mall.

It figures that where the most people go in their second life is the same place they go in their first life. Oh well... The music is catchy here, There is a stage... WOW... at least 7 other avatars dancing their butt off... Now this is fun... they have seats... I go close to one to sit down and.. what?
I can get paid linden dollars to sit for 30 minutes and enjoy the show? Can I trade these Lindel dollars to real dollars for my first life? I CAN ???
allrighty then.. Now I understand what the shopping mall is all about.. you make money, you spend money... you waster you time and someone else get's rich... just life first life... but I had to go to second life to enjoy it...

let's see... Gestures menu... dance loop 1... hmm click on it...

There I was, in the middle of a shopping mall dancing my butt off. Now here happens something that you don't see in firstlife... a good looking woman avatar stands up from her seat and starts dancing with me.

Oh what a night.... du du du dada... something something until the something something.. da da...

well that was fun... Thank you Beverly (her avatars name)... I take off again... searching for more clues on this Second Life phenomenon.

But it was late, my first life needed to go to be... ok... log off... go to bed...

When I woke up this morning I had other ideas for my second life, none for my first life... interesting, and dangerous at teh same time.

Has anyone heard of Second Life? anyone logged on to it at all just for curiosity?

1st Daren
2nd Grahm Kondor (scrubbing the floor at some mall trying to make money)