In this article, the author provides an overview of Second Life[trademark], or simply SL, which was developed at Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based corporation. SL is an online society within a threee-dimensional virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, where they can explore, build, socialize and participate in their own economy. The author then traces the history of SL which started when Philip Rosedale, chief executive officer of Linden Lab and visionary of SL, dreamed of creating an online world for alternate reality--a place where one could do anything. In addition, the author describes the issues and solutions concerning SL and the future plans of its developers for its growth. (Contains 2 figures.)