There is a world of possibilities on the Internet: a world of games, of sex, of drugs, of activism, of education, of enlightenment, of debasement.

There's also a world of worlds: Second Life.

Born in 2002 as LindenWorld, Second Life enables users to interact with other users as residents in a virtual world, with the help of computer graphic avatars.

While its creator, Linden Labs, initially called Second Life a game, it's more of a virtual space in which residents create their own environments, rules, toys and games - even re-create themselves.

This boundless environment has proven popular. In the past six months the world's virtual population has jumped from 1 million to more than 4 million registered users.

With this surge in population has come a transformation of sorts: No longer is Second Life just about creation and expression, virtual utopias and dystopias. Increasingly the cyberworld is about the same things the real world is often about: sex, money and power. Many of the most popular locations in Second Life deal with cybersex and virtual drugs, both legal in the game.

The virtual economy, built around Linden Dollars purchased and sold for real cash, has created a village industry of in-game entrepreneurs willing to craft anything from new bodies and virtual homes to hot digital clothes and functional anatomy. The numbers have even attracted real world companies such as BMW, American Apparel and Scion.

As the economy has grown, so has the power wielded by some, with land barons and real estate mavens taking over giant stretches of the world's best land. Those who feel oppressed have risen up, detonating virtual nuclear bombs outside virtual malls, defacing property and even coating the skies with screaming slogans.

Avatar

In the world of Second Life, you are your avatar, though that doesn't mean your avatar is always you. The avatar can be male, female, or an animal. Here are three of the most interesting.

Francis Chung

The famed scripter designed a digital gun that includes muzzle flash, drifting smoke and ejects casings with each shot. She also created the world's first full-body hug, allowing residents to embrace in-game.

Tateru Nino

Tateru's ceaseless work with volunteers and new users has earned the real-life autistic her own cult. The Cult of Tateru, represented by a single rose crossing a heart, placed shrines on Help Island, the starting point for all new users, to show appreciation for her work creating and tweaking the location.

Jenna Fairplay

Purveyor of one of Second Life's most popular casino and sex clubs, Jenna says she runs The Edge based on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. The formula, which values sex and fun as much as friendship and security, has helped her craft one of the most popular pleasure palaces in the game.

Economy

Second Life runs on Linden Dollars, for which you have to pay hard cash. For example, you'll pay about $1.10 for 300 Linden Dollars. Make enough of them and you can even bank out for a profit.

Scion City

Residents come here to purchase a customizable version of real Scions and drive them around the game. A virtual Scion will run you 300 Linden Dollars (about $1.10). Unfortunately, the car doesn't just stay in the game, it has to stay in the city.

Will code for Lindens

Making money is as easy as clicking on the right thing. People will pay your avatar to do anything from washing windows or filling out surveys to dancing in a nightclub or sitting in a chair.

New Citizens Incorporated

Stomping ground for people fresh to Second Life, this hot spot is full of freebies you might just need, such as fancy clothes, building materials and pet dragons.

Entertainment

This world is really about having fun. You can catch a virtual concert by real musicians, listen to book readings or even play a game within the game.

Live Music

SL is packed with plenty of ways to listen to live music. DJs spin records, musicians pl-ay clubs, the large crowds have even attracted the likes of Suzanne Vega, Regina Spektor, Chamillionaire and Ben Folds.

Book readings

The Bantam Dell Book Shop lets you peruse a collection of real-world books. While you can't read them in game, you can buy the real thing through a Web site. Real authors even pop by. Recently, Dean Koontz stopped in to promote his latest book The Good Guy.

Gaming

While this may not be a game, it has its fair share of them. They can be as simple as playing a game of chess to full-on, first-person shooters or mini-massively multi- player role-playing games.

Underbelly

One of the world's biggest attractions is probably its seedy side. Everything from virtual sex to drugs and crime help put the zest in what would otherwise be a bland utopia.

Amsterdam

What sort of virtual reality would it be if it didn't have its own Amsterdam? The detailed re-creation of the famously open city features such landmarks as the Central Station and the National Memorial statue in the Dam Square. Of course those "other" landmarks are well represented as well.

Drugs

Mushrooms, marijuana, pills, needles, you name it, Second Life has it. Sure, most of the virtual reality drugs don't do anything other than look goofy and none is illegal, but some of them change the way you see the world, for just a little bit. Most popular is seclimine, a virtual hallucinatory drug created by a real hypnotic therapist.

Crime

While there are "laws" in place to prevent harassment, attacks, littering and loitering, there are plenty of places and people willing to commit a crime or be the victim of one. One particularly disturbing bit of fantasy lets you sign up for a stalker database, which would-be stalkers can dig through for virtual victims.

Places

The world is broken down into thousands of locations, called simulations. While these sims are meant to be connected, they really function as separate worlds.

The Virtual Hallucinations House

Walking through this building, which was created by students and doctors, gives people a taste of what it's like to have schizophrenia, from shifting text to the floor falling away to a disturbing cacophony of voices talking to you.

Svarga

This virtual ecosystem has clouds, bees that pollinate the flowers, birds that fly about looking for food, and wind that blows the plant seeds to fertile ground. The whole thing is a sort of environmental artificial intelligence.

Midian City

Think Blade Runner but with vampires. This world within a world is one of Second Life's many popular games. The dark look of the game and its dingy city streets is worth a visit even if you don't feel like playing.

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