Second Life
Posted by admin in Digital Divide on May 27, 2011
Think your life is not interesting enough? How would you like having another life? Yes, a second life, a virtual life of your own that you can live over the Internet. The Internet is constantly updating and reinventing itself with a variety of interesting applications and websites. I still remember the excitement of being in an online chat-room for the first time. It was new and hence it was fun. Soon we were in an era where we were way past the chat-room obsession and hooked on to the instant messengers.
Today we live in an era of social networking websites and blogging. It was just a few days back when I heard about an already existing phenomenon on the net called Second life! It is similar to chatting but it is a level higher than chatting since it allows you to actually “be” in the virtual world and “meet” the fellow virtual netizens. Well, that’s exciting I thought as I was determined to try my hands at having a second life! Having created an account and wandered into the virtual world for quite a while, I might have already lost my enthusiasm about it, but here is the deal about this virtual world.
About Second Life
Second life is a virtual world launched by a privately held American Internet company called Linden Research Inc in the year 2003 that enables users to experience a virtual world. Second life is similar to our life where we go out, discover new places, and socialize with people. Second life enjoys tremendous popularity which is evident in the fact that, as of March 2008, approximately 13 million accounts were registered at this virtual world.
Registering on Second Life
Registering for the second life is quite simple and easy. You need to fill out a few details like you name, age, gender and of course your email id. You also need to pick out a first name and a last name for yourself during the registration. Once the registration is done you are sent an email, which contains a link that needs to be visited for activating your Second Life account. You can choose a free membership or a paid one according to your preference. If you thought that this is it, then wait! There’s more! Now you also need to download simple software that is an interface to be used while logging into the virtual world. Once you download this file, you need to run the setup on your computer to get you started. After this all you need to do is enter your user name and password and login to start your second life!
Features of Second Life
Well the Second life virtual residents can enjoy several features like choosing their own appearance and chatting with the fellow members. Post registration you can pick an avatar based on your gender and other body-type preferences. You can select your clothes and accessories from a wide variety of options given to you. Read the rest of this entry »
Urban vs. Rural Living
Posted by admin in Digital Divide on May 26, 2011
People inhabit different parts of the world and lead different types of lives. Their lifestyles change across the various regions on Earth and so do their mentalities. The resources available in their regions, the plant and animal life that is native to their area have a direct impact of their way of living. People all over the world have been divided into two distinct groups by this marked line of difference between an urban and a rural life. Those inhabiting urban areas lead an urban life while inhabitants of rural parts of the world experience a rural living. What is the difference between a rural and an urban living? What are the pros and cons of the two different ways of life? Let us see.
Urban Living
Urban areas are equipped with all the modern amenities. The modern-day facilities like the Internet, telephone, television and satellite communication facilities are widely available in the urban areas. A majority of the households of the urban areas are blessed with this technological advancement.
The newly developing shopping complexes, theatres, food malls and restaurants are a commonplace in urban cities. Huge constructions, large housing complexes, skyscrapers are found in most of the urban metropolitan cities. Elevators, escalators, storeyed parking areas and towering constructions add to the magnificence of the urban cities.
Due to a greater availability of all the modern facilities along with an increase in the number of educational facilities and career opportunities, people of the urban areas lead an economically more stable and a luxurious life. The increasing attraction of the people towards the urban parts of the world has resulted in crowding of urban areas. The increasing population, majority of which prefers settling in urban cities, has led to an imbalance in the density of human population. Excessive industrialization has invited environmental problems like pollution.
However, the rise in economic growth that has resulted in self-sufficiency in the common masses has resulted in a self-centered nature of society. While technological advancement has brought the world closer, human beings have gone far apart from each other. Buildings that touch the skies have built walls between people. The rise in prosperity has been eclipsed by the decline in peace.
Rural Living
Rural areas are not crowded with concrete constructions all over. Houses are rather widely spaced with ample room for fields and gardens. Rural areas are some of the only areas fortunate enough to house the greens. People in rural areas live in close proximity of nature. Apart from people, there is room for pets and grazing animals that help maintain equilibrium in nature.
Due to a relatively lesser number of people inhabiting the rural areas, the rural parts are not overcrowded by people. These areas are blessed to have least amounts of pollution. Read the rest of this entry »