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Second Life: The Official Guide (Paperback)

~ (Author), Wagner James Au (Author), Mark Wallace (Author), Catherine Winters (Author), Cory Ondrejka (Author), Benjamin Batstone-Cunningham (Author), Philip Rosedale (Foreword)
Key Phrases: storage prim, alternate avatar, prim hair, Linden Lab, Help Island, Aimee Weber (more...)
3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Review

Although not a game in the strictest sense of the word, the increasingly popular virtual world of Second Life shares many commonalities with online gaming environments. Libraries interested in Second Life Library 2.0 (http://infoisland.org) and those serving populations active in virtual environments should pick up a copy of this official, thorough full-color guide. The book walks beginners through getting started in Second Life and customizing their avatars; tells them where to go, what to see, and how to define their virtual existence; and ends with a discussion of the future and impact of Second Life. Its CD contains textures, templates, Avimator animation software, sample animations, videos, and a code for exclusive in-world content. Recommended. (Library Journal, January 15, 2007)

"…an excellent job of talking through the history of second life…" (Trusted Reviews, November 2006)

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Product Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Sybex (November 6, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 047009608X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0470096086
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.1 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #397,222 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Michael Rymaszewski
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
storage prim, alternate avatar, prim hair, single prim, avatar skin, individual prims, scripted object, avatar appearance, second life, pie menu, virtual land, custom animations, female avatars, land use fees, scripting skills, symbolic price, welcome area, modify rights, linked object, virtual life
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Linden Lab, Help Island, Aimee Weber, Texture Picker, Anshe Chung, New Script, Color Picker, Duran Duran, Jaw Angle, Kermitt Quirk, Midnight City, World Wide Web, Help Wanted, History Wiki, Major League Baseball, Torley Linden, American Apparel, Lawrence Lessig, Philip Rosedale, Regina Spektor, Rivers Run Red, Adobe Photoshop, American Cancer Society, Business Week, Chin Angle
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Customer Reviews

64 Reviews
5 star:
 (21)
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 (21)
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 (11)
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 (6)
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 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
3.7 out of 5 stars (64 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Almost useless., July 25, 2007
By CenVillager "cenvillager" (Pembroke Pines, FL USA) - See all my reviews
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This book was a major disappointment.

There is very little How TO info in the book if you are not planning to create objects and try to make money in the sim. If you are just a visitor who wants a pleasant time sightseeing and chatting with others, then this book will disappoint.

A large part of the book is a tribute to selected SL residents who have made money in the sim. Nice for them, but who else cares?

Another chapter describes interesting specific locations in SL. Unfortunately, the vast majority of the sites are obsolete and gone.

Even if you are interested in learning scripting language to try to sell products in SL, there have got to be better instructional manuals out there than this.
When I had real HowTo questions, the answer was rarely found in the book.

I truly felt I had wasted my money in purchasing this book. You can learn as much useful info at the initial Help Islands and inworld tutorials once you enter SL.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Beginners and Old School Users, December 27, 2006
By Christopher J. Carella (Herndon, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
My copy of Second Life: The Official Guide arrived in the mail yesterday and I'm pleased. The easiest way to summarize the book, is that it acts as the manual that would come with SL if it were shrink-wrapped software.

Mark Wallace's, Chapter 3: The Grand Tour is fantastic. Before the book arrived I spent hours with a friend yesterday talking about Second Life. He had an account, had logged in, more or less understood what it was but didn't know where to find cool things. This chapter covers that turf. New and seasoned residents both will find a lot of value in this chapter. It covers everything from The Shelter and Anwr Oil Rig to Something Awful and Gor. I'll be spending a few hours going back through these places which I've toured in the past. This chapter alone makes this a worthy gift for someone you want to become a Second Lifer.

Cory Ondrejka's LSL chapter is also great. This is the well written, professional introduction to LSL that was sorely needed. Non-programmers will find the examples a great place to start and programmers will be welcomed with the standard sections like "What are types?" that they are used to from other languages.

There is certainly a fair bit of nostalgia for us oldbies. Hamlet has a chapter profiling a number of residents and provides a history lesson in another. The history lesson is a must read for new residents and a stroll down memory lane for the rest of us.

Finally, Wallace closes the book out with a step towards 3PointD.

If you know someone new to Second Life, want to encourage someone to log in in 2007, or otherwise love all things Second Life, you should pick up this book!
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57 of 70 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Your Second Life "Official Travel Guide", December 3, 2006
Wow. Second Life: The Official Guide is just great. But I need to explain where I am coming from.

I'm happy to be a reasonably early technology adopter and I usually practice the "jump in and try it" mode. For example, I figured out my blog in 2004 without any guidance. But as I was thinking about Second Life as a brand new resident a few months ago, I was sort of feeling like this isn't a new technology metaphor, it's a travel metaphor. Second Life is a new place that needs to be learned more than it is a new technology that needs to be learned.

I've traveled the world a great deal. For example, I lived in Japan for six years and Hong Kong for two as Asia Marketing Director for a big American company. My entire career has been as an internationalist. I've visited some 40 or 50 countries on business or pleasure and logged several million air miles. Before departing for somewhere like Bombay or Bangkok or Brussels, I always purchase a travel guide and read it on the plane. I just like knowing the basics like what's a funky old restaurant to try, how to hail a cab, and how much to tip (or not).

What Second Life: The Official Guide does is act as your travel guide to a new place. The authors got that right. Thanks! Just like a great Frommer's travel guide, the book is chock full of places to go, people to see, etiquette, currency exchange, what to wear, and more. In fact, the publisher, Wiley, could do a version of this book as an actual Frommer's guide, to complement the Sybex computer book imprint that Second Life: The Official Guide is published with. Wouldn't that be cool!?

Yes, there is also a boatload of stuff for Second Life experts including details on the Second Life scripting language. This stuff is beyond me but if it is as well written as the parts that I devoured, than even long time residents will get a great deal of practical information from the book. Several of the authors work at Linden Labs, the company behind Second Life so it must be accurate.

Thanks for doing this book, guys. It is important.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Good SL Overview
Like any guide of this nature covering something as fast changing as Second Life, this book is a little out of date in some aspects. Read more
Published 5 months ago by L. Bryan

3.0 out of 5 stars Needs an update.
It has a lot about the characters who built the game and next to nothing about locations and character building. When I go to SL it seems it's all shopping. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Melissa T. Anderson

5.0 out of 5 stars SECOND LIFE
I purchased this book about 2 years ago, and it helped me a lot when I first started playing in the Second Life virtual world. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Caroline McMASTER

2.0 out of 5 stars It's advertising
The book it's a mere description of the service. It's not a book for parents. The can find hints of the place reading the description of what you can find on it.
Published 14 months ago by Rafael Lopez Callejon

4.0 out of 5 stars Free guide to Second Life
I think this book is great for learning the basics, for understanding how Second Life works, and for gaining a flavour of what awaits you. Read more
Published 24 months ago by Regis Braathens

1.0 out of 5 stars Unneeded
I face this book (and the many others like it) from a different point of view... if you need a book first to find your way around in SL, you better should not be there at all... Read more
Published 24 months ago by T. Struszka

5.0 out of 5 stars Good starter
Very good starter book for the absolute newbie. Really helps to get on and start having fun.
Published on December 11, 2007 by Al

5.0 out of 5 stars second life
Sure, sure, second life - what is that? Well, take it from someone older than 21 by many years, this is the best game around! Read more
Published on October 30, 2007 by E. Price

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beginner's Guide to Second Life
Book was what it was advertised to be. Full of easy to understand instructions. Excellent buy.
Published on October 9, 2007 by Elizabeth Jones "Kaye"

3.0 out of 5 stars Second Life, the Cadillac of VR Sites.
Like Second Life itself, this book gives you the basics and then expects you to find someone willing to explain the rest. Read more
Published on September 22, 2007 by Forrest L. Horn, Sr.

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