January 22, 2008: 'Second Lifers': Stop Buying, Start Making Cool Stuff With INTRO TO LINDEN SCRIPTING LANGUAGE

Third S.L. Book Makes Heaton The Leader in Third-party S.L. Books

ST. LOUIS, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- INTRODUCTION TO LINDEN SCRIPTING LANGUAGE FOR SECOND LIFE (ISBN: 1604390042) is now on sale at Amazon.com and other leading online booksellers. The 236-page book can also be purchased at http://www.heatonresearch.com/. MSRP is $24.99 (U.S.).

Authored by Jeff Heaton, INTRODUCTION TO LINDEN SCRIPTING LANGUAGE FOR SECOND LIFE is a survey of the basics of LSL, including script control, "state machines," events, lists, and sample scripts which can be used as is, or can be modified. Heaton has penned a dozen tech books.

In compiling the book, Heaton drew on tips and tricks from peers through the heavily-trafficked http://www.heatonresearch.com/, as well as his own experiences as owner-developer of the S.L. island known as Encogia.

Many Second Life books are general user guides. By contrast, Heaton approaches his books from a programmer's vantage point, assuming general familiarity with Second Life as a "Resident," and at least minor programming skills.

On its website, Second Life is described as "a 3-D virtual world entirely built and owned by its Residents. Since opening to the public in 2003, it has grown explosively and today is inhabited by millions of residents from around the globe." Linden Research created the world and maintains god-like powers in it. The game has a Utopian flavor, as players have the power to fly, and discrimination is forbidden.

Linden Research developed Linden Scripting Language (LSL), which -- along with 3D building blocks -- enables players to create homes, businesses, and vehicles, and change the appearance of their virtual bodies.

The two other Heaton Research Second Life titles are Scripting Recipes for Second Life (364 pages), and Introduction to Textures, Animation, Audio and Sculpting (108 pages).

Jeff Heaton (http://www.jeffheaton.com/) is an author and former college instructor. The author of a dozen tech books and scores of articles, Heaton specializes in Internet, socket-level/spidering and AI programming. A Sun Certified Java Programmer and a Senior Member of the IEEE, Heaton holds a Masters Degree in Information Management from Washington University in St. Louis.

Related links:
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:30 SEC. VIDEO CLIP FOR TV B-ROLL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLRJn0d2cGA
http://www.heatonresearch.com
http://www.jeffheaton.com