tuition payment methods

Second Life (abbreviated as SL) is an Internet-based virtual world launched on June 23, 2003, developed by Linden Research, Inc (commonly referred to as Linden Lab), which came to international attention via mainstream news media in late 2006 and early 2007.[4][5] A downloadable client program called the Second Life Viewer enables its users, called "Residents", to interact with each other through motional avatars, providing an advanced level of a social network service combined with general aspects of a metaverse. Residents can explore, meet other Residents, socialize, participate in individual and group activities, and create and trade items (virtual property) and services with one another.
Second Life is one of several virtual worlds that have been inspired by the cyberpunk literary movement, and particularly by Neal Stephenson's novel Snow Crash. The stated goal of Linden Lab is to create a world like the Metaverse described by Stephenson, a user-defined world in which people can interact, play, do business, and otherwise communicate.[6] Second Life's virtual currency is the Linden Dollar (Linden, or L$) and is exchangeable for real world currencies in a resident to resident marketplace facilitated by Linden Lab.[7] There is no fee for registering an account or participating in Second Life, however registration of "payment information" (i.e. a credit card) is mandatory in order to participate in some functions, such as owning land or islands, as well as to access certain support features such as Second Life's support portal and online forums.
While Second Life is sometimes referred to as a game, this description does not fit the standard definition. It does not have points, scores, winners or losers, levels, an end-strategy, or most of the other characteristics of games. However, there are a variety of games which have been created within the Second Life environment.
At the end of March 2008, approximately 13 million accounts were registered, although a large percentage of these are inactive, some Residents have multiple accounts, and there are no reliable figures for actual long term consistent usage. In January 2008, residents spent 28,274,505 hours there, so on average about 38,000 residents were logged on at any particular moment.[8]. Despite its prominence, Second Life has notable competitors, including IMVU, There, Active Worlds, Kaneva, and the erotic-oriented Red Light Center.
In 2008 Second Life was honored at the 59th Annual Technology & Engineering Emmy Awards for advancing the development of online sites with user generated content. Philip Rosedale, President of Linden Lab, accepted the award.Residents are the users of Second Life, and their appearance is their avatar (often abbreviated to av, avi or ava). The basic avatar is human in appearance, but may be of either gender, have a wide range of physical attributes, and may be clothed or otherwise customized to produce a wide variety of humanoid and other forms.
Avatars may be creative or can be made to resemble the person whom they represent.[9] A single person may have multiple accounts, and thus appear to be multiple Residents (a person's multiple accounts are referred to as alts). However, the use of additional accounts requires the Resident to register them and pay a small fee, although after May 2006, there is no verification process preventing users from creating multiple "first" accounts using false information.[10] Avatars can be designed to match or copy the appearances of real-world users, thus an avatar can very much resemble the person who creates it. Avatars can also be modified to make a person taller, more attractive, or more muscular. Second Life provides residents the creative capacity to design his/her virtual-world person. A single Resident's appearance in Second Life can vary dramatically at will, as avatars are easily modified.
While in-world appearance may bear no resemblance to the player's real-world looks, a player's identity is generally less anonymous in Second Life than in other virtual worlds. Any avatar and any object in the world can establish whether or not real payment info is on file for his or her avatar,[11] although they cannot access any personal details from this payment information (This was implemented to provide age verification and also to enable users to distinguish between established paid-for accounts and free alts which can be thrown away at any moment). Some in-world services also require the resident to disclose his or her real name or other personal data to different source, although this is voluntary and hence the resident can choose not to use the services which require such disclosures.
A resident's creations are likewise far less anonymous in this virtual world. The Linden servers register your avatar as the content creator of the design. Thus, anything one creates hold explicit virtual copyright notices.[12] Linden also provides the flexibility to enable the creator of in-world creations to allow any recipient of them to modify, copy, or transfer the creation. A creator can allow any or none of those privileges to be extended to their fellow users.
Within Second Life, there are two main methods of text-based communication: local chat, and global "instant messaging" (known as IM). Chatting is used for public localized conversations between two or more avatars, and can be heard (seen messages) within 20 m. Objects can also use the chat channels. Chatting usually takes place on the "open chat channel" (channel 0) although there are billions of other channels available. A scripted listening device is needed to hear traffic on the other channels. Avatars and objects can also 'shout' and 'whisper' (audible within 100 m and 10 m respectively). IM is used for private conversations, either between two avatars, or among the members of a group, or even between objects and avatars. Unlike chatting, IM communication does not depend on the participants being within a certain distance of each other. As of version 1.18.1.2, voice chat, both local and IM, is also available on the main grid[13] and teen grid using technology licensed by Vivox,[14] a provider of similar services to other MMO worlds. Only avatars can use voice chat.
Avatars and objects can send and receive email as well, although this functionality is rather limited and not widely used. [29] Instant Messages roll over to an avatar's "real life" email when he or she is logged off (if the avatar has opted into this service and has provided a valid email address.)
There are some external websites that allow Residents to locate each other from outside of the virtual world, and SLurl.com allows external links through the Second Life World Map to locations in-world.
Land parcel containing deliberately ugly advertising images, placed deliberately to spoil the view of nearby landowners and encourage them to buy the parcel at an inflated price. Now, after years of resident activism, considered a TOS violation (see TOS below). Alt Abbreviation for alternate account, an avatar created by a single user beyond his or her original (primary) avatar. Anim An animation; a small program, executable in-world, that allows an avatar to move or adopt a pose. AO Animation override; a scripted attachment sold in-world that substitutes more lifelike movements and poses for the default animations that come with the basic avatar. AR Abuse Report - the standard way of reporting TOS violations via the game interface. av, avi, avie, or ava Abbreviations for "avatar." FIC Feted Inner Core - SL resident Catherine Fitzpatrick's term for a supposed "clique" of successful residents on SL, seen as having been granted special favors (by Linden Lab, landowners or other influential organizations) that maintain its success. FL First Life (i.e., Real Life). Grid Shorthand for the entire SL world, e.g., "They're way across the grid." Also refers to the technological underpinnings of Second Life, as when the grid goes down temporarily for maintenance. Griefer A Resident who is harassing other Residents by using any of offensive language, bumping, or generating garbage objects to leave on land, or any number of other activities that significantly disrupt another resident's in-world experience.[15] Group Groups are used to network with other users for a specific purpose, e.g., networking. Users can create groups and invite other users to join their group. HI (HIP) Help Island Public - the second of the two "tutorial" areas, distinct from Orientation Island (OI). Help Island is social, allows activities to be chosen freely, and is not mandatory. Due to pressure of usage, there are now two identical adjacent Help Islands. IM Instant Message - a private, one-to-one text chat between two or more avies. IM Hell When an avatar is flooded with so many IMs that others in contact with him or her might think s/he's away from the keyboard because s/he can't respond quick enough. L$ Linden dollars, the basic currency of Second Life, also often referred to simply as "L". Lag Term used when the simulator or client are running slower than expected, causing jumpy animations, juddery movement and sometimes delay in transactions. LL Linden Lab Lindens Can refer either to L$ (above) or to the staff of Linden Lab, all of whom have avatars with the family name "Linden" in-world, e.g., "I had a meeting with Jeska Linden yesterday" or "Torley is my favorite Linden." LM Landmark - a geographic location in Second Life which gives a location by simulation, latitude, longitude, and altitude. Log Used to indicate both "logging on" and "logging off" Second Life; e.g., "When did you log today?" and "I need to log in a minute." Also "relog" - closing and restarting Second Life, usually as a way to improve the program's performance. LSL Linden Scripting Language, the programming language used in-world. MDC Metaverse Development Company - a real-world business that creates Second Life content for other real-world businesses. Mentor A user with more than six months of Second Life experience who volunteers with Linden Lab to help answer questions of any nature about Second Life as well as teach new skills to those who seek them. OI (OIP) Orientation Island Public - the "tutorial" area in which all new Second Life users begin. Unlike HI (above), OI is more formally directed, mandatory, and can be completed individually. Orbit Use of a weapon or LSL script to fling an avatar high into the air. While this can be fun among friends, it can be considered griefing (see griefer) if done without consent. PM Private Message (Same as IM). PNs Abbreviation for "Patriotic Nigras," the name of a particular group of dedicated griefers. Prim Abbreviation for primitive object. Prims are the basic building blocks of any in-world creation in Second Life. Rez Refers to creating or spawning an object (or sometimes, an avatar) in-world. Also used colloquially to refer to the sharpening of the visual field necessary when arriving at a new location. For example, "I rezzed my boat and went sailing," or "I'm still rezzing, can't see you yet." Taken from the movie Tron. Rezday An avatar's "birthday," the day a Resident first created that avatar. RP Role-play. RL (IRL) Real life; in real life. Sim A Second Life simulator: the area hosted by a single server CPU. (Also called a region or - rarely on SL but commonly on other online games - a zone). These are independent Second Life simulators, each with their own characteristics, rules, ratings (PG or Mature), and themes. SL/MG Second Life; main grid. SLT Second Life Time (based on Pacific Standard Time, which is the real-world time zone of Linden Lab in California) Tag A 'Group Title' When you join a group (see above) a group title will appear above your 'name tag'; e.g., a mentor (see above) will have the tag 'Second Life Mentor.' The purpose of these is to help readily identify members of that group, but are used for advertising purposes in some cases. TG/TSL Teen Second Life; Teen Grid. TOS/CS Terms Of Service and Community Standards - the standard statements of the "laws" of Second Life. TP Teleport - instantaneous travel between one point on the grid and another. Voice Second Life's third party service, used for talking instead of the traditional typing. WA Welcome Area - one of several designated locations in the main grid that new users are sent to after passing through OI and HI (above).