Users can also play simple games and explore a virtual land called Lutari Island.
The complex program has an indirect firing system that registers virtual land mines and mortars and laser-beam machine guns.
For a while, video games filled the gap, presenting new, uncharted virtual lands to satisfy players' wanderlust.
You can buy virtual land, build a house (or have an SL architect design one for you) and fill it up with virtual furniture.
Anshe Chung, the avatar of a Chinese-born language teacher living in Germany, has a virtual land development business with holdings worth an estimated £135,000.
Mr. Bennett said legislators felt the rules had gone beyond restricting pollution, becoming a virtual land use plan by mapping out where developers could build.
This year, AOL and its competitors have been engaged in a virtual land grab for advertising technology companies, with Google's $3.1 billion deal for DoubleClick perhaps setting the pace.
In recent months, Groupon and LivingSocial have been leading a virtual land grab, with dozens of companies angling for a bigger share of the fast-growing market and swallowing start-ups at a rapid rate.
Daily Deal Web Sites Become Players in Their Own Deals | Groupon and LivingSocial have been leading a virtual land grab, with dozens of companies angling for a bigger share of the fast-growing market.
To use the e-commerce jargon, there's a virtual land grab going on, and when it comes to staking a claim, traditional advertising (everything from TV and radio to print and outdoor posters) is seen as crucial.
The island can be dedicated as parkland, and set aside in a virtual "land bank" for public use when the funds can be found to provide whatever cleanup is required.
