Welcome to The Grid, the 3-D virtual world in which over 6 million Second Life residents call their second home. Though slightly pixilated and confined to a window on your computer screen and your graphics card, this metaverse is the next level of progression in social networking options. In Second Life, residents try their luck in the Sapphire Moon Casino, experiment with new genitalia at Extasia, shop for posh attire at the chic Tableau, and even report to work. You don't need a passport or a visa to visit Second Life; you just need a reliable (and fast) Internet connection and computer (Mac or PC) with the proper operating requirements.
Given the popularity of the movie franchise, the creators of Second Life probably considered calling the cyberworld "The Matrix,"but balked due to its negative connotations. The origins of Second Life do, however, have roots in the cyberpunk genre, specifically Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash. The program, which must be downloaded to your computer, was developed as a beta version by Linden Lab in 2003, but has proliferated as DSL and other mighty Internet connections have become more commonplace in households.
Maintained on a server in San Francisco, Second Life's operators are mainly hands-off in terms of The Grid (though they do enforce the six guidelines of Second Life, which includes prohibiting harassment, assault or indecent behavior toward other users and disclosing users' real world identities), a vast majority of the content is user-generated using a scripting language called Linden Scripting Language.
Much like your real life, your stay while on The Grid can be as simple or as complex as you choose to make it. Here, the computer nerds with the right kind of savvy become in-world hunks with the flashy clothes and fly rides, but laymen can utilize myriad appearance options available when designing their Second Life representation, called an avatar (derived from Sanskrit, meaning "incarnation). If you see something you like