Big fun in the virtual world

Tonight I spent a little time online in Second Life, the virtual world simulator which has been a wonderful creative and social platform for some years now.  There's really nothing like it, in my opinion (aside from real life itself).  The simulator features a real world economy (with Linden dollars that are convertible to real dollars), with people using highly personalized avatars to exchange virtual goods, services, and even weird kinky stuff if you're into that.  Here's a picture of a virtual party that I just went to:

What really makes Second Life unique are the creative and personal development tools.  You can pay money to buy virtual land for any purpose, such as opening a store, running a dance club, or creating a role playing environment.  You can build your own graphical objects, such as a vehicle, and then attach a script to it, to make it functional and interactive.  Some years ago, I created a comic book in Second Life (featuring comics drawn by hand in real life), which was basically a handheld viewscreen operated by a script.  Touching the viewscreen would cause the "book" to advance to the next page.  I even built a little store from which to sell the comic book to other avatars, but technical issues with running Second Life prompted me to leave the virtual world for about 2 years.  I returned to Second Life a few months ago, and interestingly, it is much more stable on my computer now than it had ever been before (even though I'm using the same computer). When I have time, I would like to buy some land again and re-open a store!
  
If you haven't tried Second Life before, it could be a valuable experience for you.  There are a lot of competing social websites available today, but SL can give you a unique way to express yourself and to meet and interact with other people, from all over the world.  I've met a lot of people through Second Life, and it's fascinating how your online experiences can be as much a part of your memories as anything that happens in real life.  There are good times and bad times, good people and bad people, and really, all the little nuances in SL that drive us nuts in the real world too.  There are even little mice that run around the virtual dance floors (don't step on them).   :)