Fancy a second life?

Ok, so I am still coming to grips with being a blogger and the whole nerd connotations that go along with it. But then I read stuff or nerd boy and I will have a deep and meaningful conversation about something he has read on slashdot or digg (or something else equally as nerdy) and it makes me think that all is ok in my life. However, there’s some hardcore shit going on man.

Take for instance this evening. We had a fantastic night at Bec & Brendan’s St Patrick’s Day housewarming party. Great couple, great house, great party company. When people find out that nerd boy and I both work in IT, the conversation can go in two ways:

“Oh. I hate computers. Do you fix them?/Do you know what is wrong with my wireless mouse?/Do you work on helpdesk?” – response most often received from hairdressers/beauticians etc.

The alternative is one of the conversations we had tonight. The inner nerd starts to come out in people and you get talking about interesting things in the world of technology. A topic which came up tonight was this concept of Second Life. Basically you create a new virtual you, which is your second life. The new you is called an avatar and you buy clothes, land, businesses, stuff – you name it. It’s a complete virtual existence. I had read a little bit about it, but the conversation had got me intrigued and horrified, so I had to look into it when I got home.

This is their wank marketing fluff:

“Second Life is so cutting-edge it defies genre classification. It's a game, a tool, a playground, a nation, and nearly everything in it is built by its residents. A digital space where everyone can be what they want, create what they want, and do what they want, and it’s growing fast. SL has a diverse, global set of users who are passionate about the world they're creating.”

Apparently people have already made millions from it. I guess there’s no point in trying to guess which country it has come from.

It kind of makes me sad when I read stuff like this. I just feel like shaking these people. There is life beyond the monitor people! I don’t know, maybe there needs to be outlets for people like this. Like those people on table 5 of The Wedding Singer.

p.s. When I call the husband ‘nerd boy’ I am not being demeaning. It is truly a term of endearment. Although it may appear that I bag him and Dad pulls me up for rubbing it in too much when I beat him, I know he’s great. He’s the smartest person I know and the person I will always want on my team. Love you long time NB.

p.p.s. A big congratulations to our good friends Shaun & Maria, who told us today they are expecting. And you guys thought we’d be the first….!

p.p.p.s. They say that kids learn a phenomenal amount of new words each week, so I am always chuffed when I learn a new word for my vocabulary. This week I learnt two! They were:

- Luddite: One who opposes technical or technological change
- Mocca: A moccasin wearing bogan (courtesy of Bec and Maryborough friends)