Second Life, meet Skype; Skype, meet Second Life

For those not familiar with it, Second Life is a MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role playing game). I know, I know, purists will argue that Second Life isn't a game; that's fine, you say potato, I say potato.

Skype, I'm sure everyone is familiar with - Internet phone service on the cheap - computer to computer calls for free, unlimited domestic (US and Canada) calling for $29.95/year, various plans/rates for calling the rest of the world, etc.

I've been playing (take that purists!) Second Life for 6 months now. For me, playing Second Life consists of signing in, searching for a place that has "camping" and then sitting in place for hours on end, all the while getting paid in Second Life's currency (Linden Dollars).Typically I make $8L/hour (note to congress: this is higher than minimum wage, even after the proposed hikes which were shot down).

Linden dollars can be exchanged for real currency (cold hard cash, cabbage; the conversion process is not easy, certainly not for the non-Internet savvy, but it's doable), the rate averages around $267L to $1USD. So my daily camping about $0.72USD. Here's the math (you can skip this section if numbers scare you):

$8L/Hour * 24 hours/day = $192L/Day
$192L / $267L/$1USD = $0.72USD

Do you see where this is going? That $0.72 is real money, cold hard cash; cabbage if you will. Why not put it to good use, right? So I did. After only 42 days of camping, I had accrued enough cash to pay for my annual Skype unlimited calling plan (more math: $29.95 / $0.72/day = 42 days). And, what's more, as I continue to camp in Second Life, I continue to accrue money (eCapitalism in action!). I can plunk that $0.72/day down on SkypeOut minutes - it'll buy me over 34 minutes to destinations around the world. Killer deal, don't you think?

All without putting up a penny of my own money, all without getting up off my ass. Ahh, the Internet...