Entrepreneurial Ideas for Second Life 

After you explore Second Life, think of some intersting entrepreneurial ideas within Second Life and post them to the wiki

Getting Started in Second Life

Some of you may have heard of the virtual community of Second Life.  Some of you may be very familiar with it: an almost endless world of neighborhoods, houses, shopping centers, playgrounds, landscapes, and avatars (the animated people or creatures representing SL participants), all created and built by its users.  UNC Chapel Hill has islands there.  In SL, you can be anyone or anything you like, build yourself a better house, have a better job (or no job), date, spend money, fall in love, get married, even have children!  You are free to represent yourself exactly as you wish.

SL is one of a number of virtual worlds that have been created.  It has received a lot of publicity for several reasons:  it was designed for an adult community, it has been embraced by a number of companies and universities, and it is by far the most sophisticated of the virtual worlds.  It is not intended to be a game--instead,  people use Second Life for a number of IRL (in real life) purposes:  holding meetings, teaching classes, studying human behavior, and earning money.  Other systems (such as GaiaOnline, Zwinky, and There) have been designed for a younger population.  This can be seen in the graphics, the environments provided, and the activities that are provided.  For example, game playing is a significant aspect of GaiaOnline or Zwinky, but is not part of the basic Second Life environment.

READY?  JOIN SECOND LIFE (SL):

     CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT, CHOOSE YOUR AVATAR NAME, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD:
  1. Visit this site first:  http://sl.nmc.org/create.php**     
  2. Follow the instructions on that page to create your avatar's name.  (For PART 1, be sure your avatar's gender is the same as your IRL gender).   Select a first name that is unusual so it isn't taken yet (e.g., sound out your real-name initials:  if your name is Katie G. Black, your first SL name could be KayGeeBee).   Once you've created an SL name that is accepted, WRITE IT DOWN. 
  3. YOU MAY DESELECT the "I wish to join the NMC Community in Second Life" button.
  4. After you've completed all the boxes, click on the Create My Account button.
  5. You should receive an email confirmation with a very long password.  Copy the password, then go ahead and download (save!) and install the SecondLife software on your computer.  Be sure you remember where you are SAVING the executable file so you can open it to install the program     If you have problems installing Second Life on your computer, you may need to use one of the Davis Library special SL computers, described here:
PROBLEMS?  

Unfortunately, with the sophistication of SL comes software complexity.  If you run into problems installing or running the SL software on your own computer, we invite you to try one of the following fixes:

If you have a Lenovo laptop, it may not run the regular SL software without crashing every few minutes.  Instead, you might try downloading and installing an alternative viewer program:
      find it here:  http://viewer.onrez.com/

OR you can use one of the specifically designated computers at the Davis Library Extension Lab 3010, third floor, stations 41 through 58 only.  ITS has installed new video cards and the latest version of Second Life, but only on these specific machines. 
Look for the SecondLife icon on the desktop and launch it.  DO NOT USE any other computers at Davis for this; they have not been updated and will not work!
    
OK, moving on....
  1. Next, visit:  http://secondlife.com    and log in to your account (Resident Login link, upper right) with your new SL name and paste in that long password from the email message.
  2. Now, CHANGE that long password to something you'll remember.  To do this, look under the right-hand pane under Your Account, and click on Password.
    LAUNCH SECOND LIFE, CHANGE YOUR AVATAR'S APPEARANCE, AND EXPLORE SECOND LIFE:
Here's a handy SL REFERENCE GUIDE that will help you to change your appearance, move around, chat, and teleport to different islands.   We suggest you print this sheet out now and keep it it front of you each time you enter SL. 
  1. Launch the Second Life program from the green icon on your desktop.    
  2. Sign in, using your SL name and new password.  Click CONNECT.
  3. You'll see your avatar, which looks like other plain beginner avatars.  
  4. Personalize your avatar's appearance.
  5. Practice walking, flying, and chatting with other avatars.  
  6. Teleport to at least one completely different island.  Wander around. 
  7. Find an interesting and  recent (within the last year) news article of your own that discusses a particular application (use) in SL; e.g., education, business, sales, whatever.... 
  8. Go to secondlife.com/showcase, and watch some of the Arts & Culture, and Photos & Machinima galleries.  This one is quite interesting:  SecondHealth.