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Teaching in Second Life: Getting Started at DukeObjects in Second Life Objects in Second Life are a combination of geometric forms (vector graphics) and textures (bitmap images). The forms provide the shape and the pictures "wrap around" the objects to make them look fancier. To get really technical: you create objects in SL by pasting pictures on blocks of various shapes and sizes and mushing the blocks together. You can change the size and shape of the blocks, and you can change how many times the pictures get repeated on each block, and with what aspect ratios. Each object has some attributes that determine how users interact with them. The standard object is solid-you bounce off of it, walk on it, etc. You can choose whether instead to make objects hologram-like (you can walk through them even if they appear solid) and whether to make them stay in the air where you put them, or obey physical laws and drop or roll if another user or object interacts with them. What attributes you give an object depends on how you want users to experience it. For a building, you might want the floor and walls to be solid, but for water you might not. For a bouncing ball you might want physics, but for a levitating sign or flying carpet you might not. Remember that when you build in SL you are not limited to the ground; you can also build platforms in the sky, underwater, etc. Objects also have permissions associated with them. These determine both who can edit them and how they can be used. Some objects can only be edited by the person who created them, while others can be edited by a a group of users. Some can be copied, others only transferred to another owner. Still others can be copied but only if "sold" to another user. (Some real life people make their livings selling stuff in SL!) For this type of transaction the user who wants to access an object needs some of the local currency: $Linden dollars (more below). Connecting to External Stuff Second Life is mostly and in-world environment, but you can link to URLs, set up streaming video stations, and link to external data feeds. Recently Linden make web page links look much more integrated into the SL space; these can be accessed through a simple URL-linked script. Example below:
default
{
touch_start(integer total_number)
{
llLoadURL(llDetectedKey(0), "SL Scripting Portal", "http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/LSL_Portal");
llSetText("Click to go to Linden Scripting Portal",<1.0,1.0,1.0>, 1);
}
}
Scripting Scripts are attached to objects and either operate automatically, in proximity to a user, or through a specific user action. They can do things like activate "sitting" on an object, change an object's attributes, start up web link, make you dance, or teleport you to a new location. The DIO has a simple set of scripts available in our Script Garden for users to copy and use for their own projects (these were developed for ISIS 140); there is a wealth of scripting information and sample scripts out in the world and on the web. The SecondLife website has lots of resources on their LS Wiki. YouTube has a surprising number of demos available too. Linden script is its own language that is relatively easy to decipher. There are lots of built in functions that users can call upon. The easiest way to get started is to copy from an already existing script. Tools like the web-based site: http://www.3greeneggs.com/autoscript/ can help as well. $Lindens: The Local Economy Linden dollars are the in-world currency that allows you to buy and sell objects, real estate, services, and the like. You can convert real $US dollars to $Linden dollars in-world or on the Second Life website. Note that there is an exchange rate that varies for these transactions. There are a lot of $Lindens to a $US dollar. Even without owning land, if you want to build anything you will want to have some $Lindens so you can buy objects and import images to use in your constructions. You sometimes also need some $Ls to accesss objects or events. What we have done in ISIS classes where students are asked to buld objects is buy some Lindens centrally and then transfer (pay) them to the students. This allows them all to use free accounts, but does require that the instructor have a premium account (which allows him/her to handle more $Ls). $500 Lindens allows the upload of 50 images. That is about $2 US per student, and is a decent start for students learning how to model in-world.
Next: Communications in Second Life
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(This is kind of like the tiling background images people put on web sites or their desktops, but with more control over how they get distributed.) For the most part you build the geometric forms in-world, and import the images that you wrap around them. These objects can be placed in world or stored in your "inventory" for later use. 
At the current writing, the exchange rate is $1000 Linden = $4.09 US. There are some limits on how much currency trading can happen in SL. A year or two ago there were some scandals around Second Life banking and gambling activities in-world. More on this in the "Second Life as a 'Text'" section later. Longer-term users even have profiles that seem to mirror a credit report--some are allowed to do more than others depending on their histories. 