So you read Snow Crash (and if you haven’t, what are you waiting for, it is along with Gibson’s Sprawl Trilogy responsible for popularizing a whole genre of science fiction and a ripping good tale to boot) and you thought ‘how cool was that!’ My guess is so have the folks at Second Life, but instead of just thinking about it, they proceeded to try and build it, and they’ve come the closest so far to realizing Stephenson’s vision of an immersive virtual world. Normally it costs a one-time fee of $9.95, but to celebrate their anniversary they’re giving away free registrations. You’re a download away from checking out one of the coolest community built online worlds that exists, go check it out quick.