An excerpt from Second Life User Agreement

3.3 Linden Lab retains ownership of the account and related data, regardless of intellectual property rights you may have in content you create or otherwise own.
You agree that even though you may retain certain copyright or other intellectual property rights with respect to Content you create while using the Service, you do not own the account you use to access the Service, nor do you own any data Linden Lab stores on Linden Lab servers (including without limitation any data representing or embodying any or all of your Content). Your intellectual property rights do not confer any rights of access to the Service or any rights to data stored by or on behalf of Linden Lab.


After researching second life I have found that it is not all that it seems to be. In my personal opinion I have found that Second Life seems more like a scam being that they own all the intellectual rights for any and everything that happens in game. I don’t see how the reviews on this game have gotten as far as they have. I'm actually disgusted by the fact while in game one can obtain a job for in game money and that job might allow someone in real life to profit with real life money because of this user agreement.

In Life vs Real Life

The societies of Second Life have some similarities with society in real life, but there are some major differences as well. In both, you can meet new people, go out with those you know, dance, talk, drink, and even shop. There is also the possibility of having sincere relationships online through second life just like people have in real life (whether they be friendship or romantic). The differences include travel, disconnectivity, and integrity. Being able to travel instantly is a nice feature, but it takes away from a great activity that we enjoy in the real world, ROAD TRIP! I personally went on a road trip a few months ago to watch the Eagles play the Vikings in a playoff football game in Minnesota, and it was something I will remember for the rest of my life. With instant travel, it takes away that bond that you get when on a long road trip with friends, something that you cannot replace. Disconnectivity is a major issue as well. At any point in time, a person can log in or log out of second life, but you do not have that option in real life. This takes away the severity of consequences for actions and a lack of responsibility. A major issue that I have with second life as opposed to real life is integrity. While not all persons in real life are honest and true, if you are around them long enough you can pick up on their body language, demeanor, and other aspects of their being that tells you the whole story that they may not be speaking to you in so many words. In second life, all you have to rely on is the image that a person intentionally creates for you to see, and their delayed reactions through text and voice communications online. Think of the difference between a simple face to face conversation and an Instant messaging session. Anyone who has ever been involved with both of those types of communication know that its much harder to feel a sense of integrity from the person through the instant message than it is while in person.

Real life cannot be replaced by the current existance of Second Life. As second life evolves, as I am sure it will, I see it going to be more of a society like was portrayed in the movie "The Matrix." Eventually, sights, sounds, feeling, could all be incorporated into making a wholesome experience that can mimic reality, but thus far it does not exist.

This one I couldn't quite get a grasp on, but seeing as it relates to my current job I had to post it. Selling virtual computers on an online virtual computer game is just.. redundant redunancy! Maybe I don't quite get the culture of second life, but I was shocked to see this, and quite confused. I can understand it from an advertisement standpoint, but not a virtual computer for in-game.

You can dance if you want to! You can leave your friends behind! Or... you could bring your friends with you to this martini bar! It was quite interesting. I actually ran into a few people dancing in the bar, and also a few people socializing at the barstools. So log into second life, grab a cold one, and drink away with friends, strangers, and all those in between! While this may not SEEM like education, I find it to be a nice little social experiment.

What are the implications for the arts and society?

Although Second Life isn’t a highly graphically intensive program it would not contribute much to art. It is the creative process of its users that really makes an impact on art. Each user has the ability to create new and excites works of art, reenact plays or simply build a poetry house welcoming all. It simply is a second life, a life where you can take your curiosity and creativity and explore it.

Second Life has a lot of pros and cons to its societal impact. Society can definitely benefit from this virtual world. One can find love, or just a buddy that likes to talk and simulate driving race cars. One can get closer then ever possible to what they have always dreamed about doing with there lives but just thought it wasn’t possible. On the other hand, this program can be a cesspool for predators anywhere in the world. One can never tell if the avatar they are conversing with, is what or who they say they are.

One of my favorite things to do is watch the Discovery channel or check out their latest magazies, etc... In second life, I found an entire mall devoted to Discovery-related items, and this rocket happened to be sitting right in the center of the plaza. Discovery has always done great things with teaching science and history in fun and interesting ways.

This was sort of a hair salon of sorts that I found while traveling, and it inspired the ridiculous hairstyle that you can see on my avatar. It was neat how it worked, you just walked in and picked out a hair style from a photo, and could purchase it for linded dollars. They also had demo hairstyles you could try on for free to make sure you liked it first. Imagine if you could do that at the hair stylist in REAL life!

The Aquarium!

This is a picture I took while visiting the underwater aquarium in second life! It reminded me alot of an aquarium I visited in Myrtle Beach where you got to go through a tunnel where sharks swam above and beside you. I believe it was the Ripley's Aquarium! The odd thing about this aquarium in second life was the random advertisements posted selling unrelated items.

Group Meeting in BBVista VS. Second Life

Meeting in Second Life proved challenging for our group. Either due to people unable to attend or other having trouble getting into Second Life. One night Chris and I met up in this cafe/club which was completly insane. We kept loosing each other and the conversation could be read by others standing around us.

I feel as though our group had more success meeting in our chat room on BB Vista than in Second Life. Second Life can be very challenging when you have a slow computer or low internet connection.

Italy

I am in Italy right now. I am not quiet sure where in Italy, but it's pretty nice here. Further down there was a large chess board that I could play if someone else was around to play aganist me. I could also arm wrestle as well.

Pondi Beach

Here I am at Pondi Beach! I went on the Waverunners, the water slide, in the pool, and on a hot air balloon tour of the beach. This was a really neat place to visit. It was nice not to get kicked out!

Here I am at the Unknown Theme Park. It was really neat to jump on different rides.

Some rides did not work and I did not see anyone else in the park. This would be a pretty cool place to meet up with other people and have fun.

Here I am in Jamaica. I wanted to see what/and if they even had Jamaica set up. I definitely believe that Jamaica is much more beautiful in person. I explored for a little while until I crossed into private property and got kicked out.

Oxygen Bar

This is me visiting the Oxygen Bar. I believe there was someone trying to talk to me, but I could have been wrong. It could have been an object because it was telling me to touch it. Here you can select a stool and dance on it. I think this is more for adults. In the picture I was sitting at the bar and there was no bartender.

Question 3

How can virtual worlds like Second Life enhance the teaching and learning experiences for students?

Some teachers want to try something new as a technique to their teaching. There are many different places within Second Life, and each place has a different purpose. Such as Renaissance Island, people can interact with other characters in a Shakespearean play.

There are some places, like libraries within Second Life. People post things that they feel is important. For example, I went to one library, and there was a room within the library that was all about sex education.

Teachers can set up their class with a place and a time, and the entire class can get together within a certain time, and learn something new. Teachers can set up little quizzes for their students to participate in. It can be a fun and new way to get students to pay attention, since computers seem to be the main component of everybody's lives these days. Teachers can even set up a power point presentation for their students to see...

The whole experience in itself can be interesting, especially if you do it as a class. It can be fun and "hip" for a teacher to try something like this as a teaching method.

Eden Center Amusement Park

Kelly: In the amusement park, there were a lot of rides, but you cant actually ride any of them...It would have been more enjoyable if I could ride them. I pretty much just sat on all the rides and and that was it, kind of boring. There were no other avatars here either. I wish I would have gotten to communicate with others...Everytime I saw others, I would attempt to talk to them, but nobody was friendly and nobody wanted to talk to me :-(

Siggy's Waterworks Island

Kelly: Here my avatar is going down a twisty waterslide! This was my favorite place so far. After she went down the slide and landed in the pool, I had her float around in the tube that is in the pool. Than I had her go down other slides that were in this area. She also sunbathed, relaxed in a hot tub, and "swam" although she pretty much just sank to the bottom of every pool. Then I went up these steps that were there, and it was a beautiful view. Although it was computerized, I could actually picture myself at the beach.

Danny's Diner and Bowling Alley

Kelly: I started out in the Diner, there were no other avatars around, I was completely alone. Next to the playing music there were little balls that said "Do the twist." So i had my avatar sit down and she started doing the twist! It was actually pretty cool, but it would have been better if there were others around. Right next to it was a bowling alley. I tried to go bowling...but that costs money, and I had none, at all. In that area there were a few other buildings, but everything in them cost money, so I didn't get to do much of anything.

Alliance Virtual Library

Kelly: This was an interesting place. If you click on the computers in front of my avatar, it will take you to an actual website about sex education. There are four other computers in the same room, and they all give you information on different aspects of sex, such as family planning and general human sexuality. There are a bunch of different rooms in this "library" and each room had a different theme. I only saw one other avatar in this area, and she did not respond to me when I tried to talk to her. So far people do not seem to be very friendly.

On Avatar Island

Kelly: This was a little group of people..not very friendly. I tried to communicate with them but nobody was responding to me.. There did not seem to be much to do here.