People download the program Second Life (SL), create an avatar and after learning all the basic movements and technical stuff, quite often arrive at the SL mainland and ask ‘What do I do now?' I have heard this said many times from avatars a day or two old who are wandering aimlessly around. Some never understand things and quit after a few days. Most people, before they join the virtual world, think it is a game with rules and targets, so it's no surprise that they are a little lost once they are ‘in world'. I suppose that's why some of the ‘gamers' who join turn their hand to griefing, as they expect a win or lose situation and have no social skills.

Many, however, soon realise that the beauty of SL is the social networking, allowing you to meet and talk to people from all over the world, and the possibilities to create an actual ‘new life' career are endless. I have been fascinated by the way some people have actually combined SL with RL to make a business or show their skills at creativity in whatever form they specialise in.

One person who intrigues me, is avatar Cher Demonge. Cher is a very talented graphics artist in real life and shows all the talents of being an outstanding entrepreneur in SL. Therefore, I have been watching Cher's SL career develop with interest.

Cher is an absolute powerhouse of ideas, his artwork is unique and outstanding and SL has given him a chance to display his work in a way that real life has never done. He even has his own gallery to display his work. Cher first bought a small parcel of land to build a meeting place for all his friends, he jokingly called it ‘Murray Rehab', using it as a place we could all use to get away from the griefers at Murray.

However, within weeks Cher had sold up and bought a large parcel of land at the ‘Ministry of Media (35, 162, 21) Neon Nights Complex'. He soon installed a nightclub, ‘Neon Nights', inviting people to dance there to earn Lindens, and within days he had expanded the whole of the area into a shopping precinct as well.

Because of his artistic skills, Cher designs his own products and builds them himself, anything from designer handbags (so lovely I bought one!) to household items and clothes. One of his main successes has been a range of designer kitchens, using vivid, strong colours, they would make an outstanding feature in any SL home.

I asked Cher how he started off, he said that he bought a piece of land to build on ‘just to see what he could do'. He had opened a few businesses in real life, but they were secondary to being able to let his creativity run free, creating his own individual world, which you don't get to do in real life!

He admits that, like a lot of people in Second Life, he has got addicted to the building side of things. He said that he builds something and then thinks, ‘I could build a gallery to show my art', then thinks about building something else as well. Cher says, because of this, he thinks his place will always be evolving. He is building rental properties at the moment, smart houses to rent out, and he says he would like to create his own ‘Neon Nights Community'.

In real life Cher has created lots of pieces of artwork and has a graphics degree. However, his real life work doesn't really allow him to pursue his creative side, so Second Life gave him that opportunity, he has had lots of positive feedback from the other virtual residents ‘in world' as well.

For those of you who are wondering why I have a picture of Cher as a beautiful girl avatar, Cher says that he appears most of the time in Second Life as a girl, although he is a real life guy. He says that he always used female characters in computer games and says he finds women very interesting and it's a ‘different view' on the way people treat you. He told me that as he knows what it's like to be a boy in real life, being a girl SL gave him the opportunity to try something far removed from his real world. Well all I can say is that Cher's av puts mine to shame, as he has created a really glamorous looking girl, wearing all his own designs as well.

Just like real life, there is no such thing as a free lunch, and to set all this up, Cher has invested a little real life money into his Second Life adventure. But there is the crunch, if you are willing to invest a little, work hard and market your product successfully, the world may be your oyster in SL. The day you created your avatar, like a new baby, you came into the virtual world with nothing, accept the challenge and see how high you can climb!!!

Teleport to Cher's place at Ministry of Media (35, 162, 21) Neon Nights Complex and be inspired!

Posted by JaneyBracken

As SL'ang Life Magazine, it is our great pleasure to invite you to the special event, a presentation of Portuguese Second Life Community. Our aim is to present the most interesting activities of Portuguese Residents and join the celebrations of the Portuguese Communities Day (June 10th). SL'ang Life magazine strives to actively participate in promoting initiatives leading to the creation of a community in SL. Thus, we offer space on our island and on pages of our magazine to present local activities to new public. A transcript of all presentations will be available at SL'ang Life magazine’s website, and a report from the meetings will be printed in our magazine. Such events are a chance to start a cooperation and to learn about similar projects from all over the world. We would like to thank Ibrahim Bates, member of Portuguese Community, writer, our reader and most of all our friend, without whom this event would not be possible Please, join us as we welcome Portuguese Community to SL'ang Life. Kind regards, SL'ang Life Team ô€€ ô€€€ Portuguese Community presentation schedule: http://slanglife.com/center/events/?id=319 Day 1 (June 5th) ~ exhibitions openings ~ Day 2 (June 6th) ~ Welcome party ~ Day 3 (June 7th) ~ Portuguese university researchers in SL ~ Day 4 (June 8th) ~ Portuguese creators presentations ~ Day 5 (June 9th) ~ Portuguese sims presentation ~ Day 6 (June 10th) ~ Portuguese Community Day ~ During the whole event you are welcome to vist the info kiosk area in the southwest part of the island, displaying Portuguese Residentsts' activities. -– SL’ANG LIFE – PRINTED MAGAZINE ABOUT SECOND LIFE. Available FOR FREE for all SL Residents. All you have to do is to make a subscription at http://slanglife.com/
Posted by Muza Waco

Monogram Virtua Entertainment is proud to sponsor their first annual Second Life Erotica Expo. Hundreds of Erotica collectors from both the cyber and real worlds are set to arrive in Second Life May 31st to see both the erotic, sensual, sexual and exotic in cyberworld art and novelties. The Erotica Expo opens at 11AM Pacific Time at the convention center on Monogram Tria (http://slurl.com/secondlife/Monogram%20Tria/146/127/23) where Monogram Virtua???s co-founders Harold Whaley (SL name Hdub Shepherd), Randall Rubin (SL name Dubble Rokocoko), and Marketing Director Andrea McCloud (SL name Anakalia Catteneo) will be in attendance. An small entrance fee will be charged to attend the event.
Visit Monogram Tria (205, 110, 22)
Posted by Anakalia Catteneo

free xpoloder lag
Visit Iladil (35, 223, 72)
Posted by Magic Samourapoom

More than 500 years ago, Portuguese begun one adventure that took then all over the planet discovering new worlds. Today, exploring is focused too on imagination and travelling not only in the real world but virtual worlds too. To celebrate Day of Cam??es, Portugal and the communities, June 1st, about 2.3O SL, opens in Second Life ?? an exhibition related to the Portuguese Discoveries. Photos, facts and music connected to the invitation that all travellers make that the beginning of new adventures and discoveries through SL?? islands and regions, some based on the reality, others on our imagination. http://slurl.com/secondlife/Portucalis%20II/27/196/21
Visit Portucalis II (10, 193, 21)
Posted by Tpglourenco Forcella

iReport.com: See more photos from Explorer Island and and the event >>
NASA's JPL sim "Explorer Island" was full to capacity this sunday as space exploration enthusiasts gathered for the final hours of the Mars Odyssey/Phoenix Lander reaching Mars and preparing for the deployment and landing of the Phoenix Lander. Explorer Island is JPL's gateway for Second Life residents to experience space exploration and education as well as keep up to date on current space exploration events, JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory)style.

This is an impressive sim to say the least. The sim landing point alone has hours worth of sights to explore and interactive content. Stationed in Orbit at roughly 350 meters is the Magellan Probe experience (photos included) with information about the history of the Magellan missions. In orbit much higher at 650 meters is the Victoria Station Visitors Center at the Mars Victoria Crater site (photos included). Here you will be awed by the experience of going "into" the Victoria Crater on Mars. For the best experience, your draw distance should be set to max for that "I'm on Mars" feeling. Victoria Station Visitor Center also has images and experiences for the Viking missions to Mars, and so much more on Explorer island about the history of space exploration.

Today was a special day for many at NASA, JPL, University of Arizona and Second Life residents and space enthusiasts. Phoenix Lander – Landed on Mars polar region at 4:53pm PDT (May, 25th, 2008) carried to and deployed by the Mars Odyssey Orbiter which made the 422-million-mile flight at roughly 60,000mph from Earth to Mars after launching on Aug. 4, 2007, in about 7000 hours. The landing, delayed by only 7 seconds but within normal landing times, put the Phoenix Lander at the furthest side of the landing zone. The Phoenix Lander landed almost perfectly flat and level and being less than a 1/4 of a degree off vertical center, is considered a perfect landing.

Pictures were received at the University Arizona Science Center almost exactly 2 hours after landing and transmitted to the JPL Mission control at the California Institute of Technology shortly after to an elated science team (photos included). The data (telemetry) takes 15 minutes to reach earth at the speed of light making remote control of the flight and landing impossible. Onboard programs provide all the necessary instructions for a successful flight and landing with the exception that course corrections can be sent from earth during flight if need be.

The Flight Operations team had been dismissed only minutes earlier when the Surface Operations team had taken over and prepared for the first photos to reach earth. The first photos were scheduled to be of the deployment of the solar collection array that will start charging the landers batteries for use by the onboard equipment. The second photo would be of Phoenix landing pads and the surrounding mars ground around them followed by photos of the horizon. Mars Lunar rovers have been present on the planet for going on 4 years. Past missions to Mars: Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Pathfinder (first landing rover) and 30 years ago the Viking Missions to mars Viking 1, launched on 20 August 1975, and Viking 2, launched on 9 September 1975. Each spacecraft consisted of an orbiter and a lander. (no rovers at that time) Mission teams: NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.; Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver; and the University of Arizona, Tucson.

This was the first successful Mars landing without airbags since Viking 2 in 1976. Another critical deployment will be the first use of the 7.7-foot-long robotic arm on Phoenix, which will not be attempted for at least two days. Researchers will use the arm during future weeks to get samples of soil and ice into laboratory instruments on the lander deck. Images: Courtesy NASA/JPL-Calech/University of Arizona (more images available at http://phoenix.lpl.arizona.edu/images.php?gID=0&cID=7) Links: Phoenix Mars Mission – http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/main/index.html Phoenix Mars Lander Blog – http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/blogs/index.html This is Rocket Flasheart reporting for CNN in Second Life.
Posted by Rocket Flasheart

iReport.com: Watch the video >>
The renowned Second Life artist Ravenelle Zugzwang has been exploring machinima in Second Life, and along the way she has created a visual buffet of 19 video shorts, a series revolving around Ducky. These shorts are being very well received by the Second Life community. You may find them either on Flikr or on YouTube. All but one run under one minute thirty seconds in length. Most of them also highlight a creator or location to check out in Second Life. The Ducky series quickly spoils your senses with color, movement and sound. Who is this Duck that is not a Duck? http://www.youtube.com/user/Ravenellea
Posted by Ravenelle Zugzwang

Members of Myst Online Explorer were having fun on SL. A movie and costume event was held over at Eder Je'ffe Drive-in. As you can see from the photo the contestants were dressing up as food which was the theme of the event. However, a few of the contestants were goofing off dressed up as: trashcan and dinosaur fossil. All fun and games.
Posted by Earadride Callisto

Three Second Life entrepreneurs, ATown Fall, Phelan James and Niki Wilder, have announced an ambitious new project that will include what could be the largest watersports development in Second Life. According to the Second Life surfing blog SurfWatch the new mega-estate or 'continent' called the Broadwater Antilles looks set to become a powerful force in Second Life diving, sailing, surfing and other watersports. The group of sim estates, currently includes TCH Estates, Wilder Estates and Hedonism Estates. The estates will be linked together by a large collection of open space ocean sims landscaped and 'seascaped' especially for watersports and other leisure activities. Photo: Barbuda, one of Broadwater Antilles surfing sims.

Please contact me by email or inworld if you would like any more info. Thanks Barchan
Posted by Barchan Paderborn