The unofficial tourists' guide to Second Life - Paul Carr

Imagine a world in which land can be bought for less than a dollar and the only planning restrictions are those of its inhabitants' imaginations. An online tourist destination where you can spend the morning shopping for virtual designer clothes before heading off to a live virtual gig by Suzanne Vega or Razorlight. And if you're still not exhausted (or broke) after all that, imagine dancing the night away and perhaps taking a new friend back to your personal spaceship for virtual coffee or. well, you get the idea.

Founded in 2003, Second Life's population recently passed the 2.5 million mark with more arriving every minute, either to live or work, or just to sight-see. The Unofficial Tourists' Guide to Second Life introduces first-time visitors and new inhabitants to the virtually endless wonders offered by this exciting new world. All Second Life is here, including:

The essentials - what to wear and how to behave

The people - finding likeminded souls - or soulmates

Key places to visit - must-see tourist hotspots, shops and shows

After Dark - because when people say that Second Life offers all of the same experiences as the real world, they really mean it

Paul Carr is CEO and Publisher at online publishing house, Friday Towers. Prior to that he was co-founder and Director of Digital Media for cross-media publishing house, The Friday Project. He is also the founding Editor of award-winning satirical 'comment sheet', The Friday Thing (http://www.thefridaything.co.uk) as well as being responsible for a portfolio of websites including the critically acclaimed London by London (http://www.londonbylondon.co.uk). Before becoming a publisher, Paul wrote a regular new media column in The Guardian and was founding editor of alt-weekly paper, The London News Review. He regularly speaks about new media at events around the world.