Hovering near waterfall

CNET News.com editor Leslie Katz recently became a resident of "Second Life," a three-dimensional digital universe built and owned by its inhabitants. Here, Leslie's avatar, named Amelia, hovers near a waterfall on Sala, one of the continent's islands and a favorite destination of Amelia's.

Joining Linden Lab's virtual world is free, but once inside, there are multiple opportunities to spend money on clothes, real estate, art, furniture and more. While it's easy to score garb for free, Amelia splurged and bought herself this fancy dress for 300 Linden dollars (about $1).