Live your Second Life to the fullest!

• Get started and get comfortable fast

• Understand the culture, and avoid beginner’s mistakes

• Create the right look for your avatar

• Master Second Life’s building and texturing tools

• Learn how to terraform, build, and landscape your first plot

• Create your own Second Life “objects” and clothing

• Attend the best Second Life virtual events

Create Your Virtual Life in an Incredible Online World...Right Now! 

Imagine a virtual landscape where everything is created and owned entirely by residents like you. Imagine a place where you can enjoy sunsets, ride a jet ski, buy land, plant a garden, get a tattoo, go sky diving, spend an evening dancing the night away, or relax at home by the fire. Picture a world vividly developed, socially dynamic, and strikingly real where you can bring previously unimaginable things to life with friends from around the globe. This is Second Life®, the hottest Internet phenomenon in years…maybe ever!

Now, there’s a totally real, totally independent guide to Second Life. This full-color book is as rich as Second Life itself! It’s packed with insider tips, easy step-by-step techniques, and interviews with dozens of SL residents telling you what they wished they knew when they started! Brian White pulls no punches: You’ll learn exactly what’s great and not so great about SL...how to thrive in its unique culture, and how to create your dreams!

The more time you spend in Second Life, the more useful this book will become...teaching you more advanced skills; everything from vehicle construction, Linden Scripting Language, particle systems, to creating custom animations and the new sculpted prims!

Visit the companion site in Second Life to find all the textures and objects from this book as well as the contributor’s gallery and other goodies: http://slurl.com/secondlife/humuli/222/123/29

Contents

                        Preface  xvi

Chapter 1          Welcome to Second Life  3

Chapter 2          Exploring the New Frontier  27

Chapter 3          Communication and Social Networking  47

Chapter 4          Your Avatar–Your Virtual Self  67

Chapter 5          Second Life Culture and Relationships  93

Chapter 6          Building Basics  119

Chapter 7          Advanced Textures and Clothing  171

Chapter 8          Making the Magic: Scripting Basics  229

Chapter 9          Land Ownership, Terraforming, and Landscaping  253

Chapter 10        Particles, Vehicles, Animations, and Sculpted Prims  283

Chapter 11        Photography, Music, and Movies  333

Chapter 12        Practical Matters: Under the Hood of the Metaverse  347

                        Index  366

Amazon.com® Reader Reviews (Ranked by Helpfulness)

Average Amazon.com® Rating:  Based on 8 Ratings

Excellent read, high praise for the hands on easy to read tutorials - 2008-11-10
Reviewer Rating:
I've read many books on Second Life but none come as close to being the perfect book as this one in terms of helping a newbie understand this exciting virtural world, and how to make the most of the environment, the community, and the economy. Each chapter starts with an overview but quickly gets down into practical applications of the chapters topic and then adds a step-by-step tutorial on how to use that feature or principal to get real stuff done inside of Second Life using common building tools already available to most residents. I just wish I had started with this book instead of having it be the last one of many. A must read for anyone wanting to get the most positive experience out of Second Life. And technical enough for even those who have been residents inside of SL for awhile to learn new concepts and how to apply them.

I highly recommend reading this book if you are even the least bit interested in finding out about Second Life and how it works. And for the verteran an overview but also practical steps to making your experience even richer inside Second Life.

If you want only one book to read for Second Life this is your book.

Excellent starting point for Second Lifers - 2008-08-09
Reviewer Rating:
This is an excellent first book for those who have signed on to Second Life, fooled around some, and have lots of questions. My advice is put a few hours into Second Life, then read this book. The presentation level was just right for me as an intro. But start by going on Second Life, THEN read the book.

average information - 2009-07-22
Reviewer Rating:
I bought this book after playing the game a couple of months. I did gleam a few pointers in the building section but really nothing that isn't common knowledge once you get started. There are many friendly people in SL that will help you for free. If your in your fist week or sooner of playing then this might be ok but remember, SL has very good help on their website and many newbie help centers.

See you inworld as Wilkes Sweetwater

Best Intro to SL - 2008-03-05
Reviewer Rating:
A good intro that is well illustrated. Almost all the tutorials work like they are supposed to. Much better than the Official Guide.

Very helpful - 2008-08-05
Reviewer Rating:
This book is very helpful when you are trying to learn how to use Second Life.

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