In June and July of this year, I reviewed the Official Second Life Guide and the Unofficial Guide to Second Life. Now it's time to look at a book that was published about 2 months ago: "How to do EVERYTHING with Second Life". It's actually one of the many 'How to do everything with ...' books.Firstly I want to say that I'm eager to learn. And those books that I have reviewed did, actually, teach me something. A few hints, some key shortcuts, I even learned what 'being ruthed' means. I've been on SL for about 9 months now, and to be honest, except for some specialities such as scripting, sculpties and designing clothes, I think I pretty much know my way around SL. I know the basics, and a bit more, I like to believe. So the previous books were nice, and the Unofficial Tourist's Guide was fun because of the places mentioned there.
But this afternoon I received my 'How to do Everything', and since then I couldn't stop reading! Holy Mahony, I wish this book had been published before the other two. This book makes the others obsolete!
Yes, that's a bold statement, I know. But just imagine, this book talks about the same things as the other two, and more. Those had all the elemental stuff in it, but mind you, when do you actually buy a book about SL? Right, when you're already hooked (like the rest of us). And when is that? Yes, when you have found your Second Life. And wouldn't you have the basics under your belt by then? Yes you would.
So, that's the reason I love this book. Of course, it deals with the basics, like enhancing your appearance, making friends, all that stuff. But this book does more. It actually explains things a bit deeper and deals with a lot more topics that might actually help you get to the next stage in your Second Life experience.
Whether it's stories about people's first experiences of owning land, or how to make transparent textures with Photoshop and uploading them. On how to find items that went under water or even under the grass, to reducing lag and increasing performance. Even where to go if you're looking for medieval roleplay, to a great 101 on LSL scripting.
I don't have the space here to tell you everything you can find in the book, but I can give you a quick summary of the contents, to give you a global idea of what the book covers. And there's a free chapter available for download (see link below). And like with the official guide, they picked the chapter that deals with inventory. So if you want, you can compare the both.
Part 1 - Get a Second Life:
SL essentials, communication and good manners, create your look, doing inventory, introducing the interface, advance interface techniques
Part 2 - Venture into the virtual world:
sex and the single avatar, going on a shopping spree, visit exotic lands
Part 3 - Go beyond the basics:
earn a living, buying good land and setting up house, building objects, texturing, scripting
Mind you some of the mentioned topics sound quite basic, but you have to trust me on this one: I am 100% confident that you will learn plenty of new stuff from this book, even if you consider yourself experienced. And if you don't? It's a fun read anyway and it's nice to freshen up on a few topics.
Factual info about the book:
Full title: "How to Do Everything with Second Life"
By: Richard Mansfield
Publisher: McGraw-Hill books
ISBN: 987-0-07-149789-3
No. of pages: 268
Order at: $16.49 at Amazon.com or $24.99 at McGraw-Hill
Look inside the book: first pages and FREE CHAPTER 4
About the author:
Richard Mansfield is the author of 41 computer books which have sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide and have been translated into 12 languages. He is an active Second Life resident.
My opinion:
Information value for starters: 5/5
Information value for advanced residents: 5/5
Graphic quality: 4.5/5
Easy to read: 5/5
Extra's: 4.5/5 (blog with scripting resources and more)
My personal overall rating: 5 out of 5