New;Any advice?

The Ivory Tower is going to have a website added to its tutorial material. I don't recall when.

Where is the best place to find free ones? And does anybody have tips on how to use animations? Do I need a device of some sort? Thanks in advance for advice on this subject!

I really don't have anything to add, since the newbie experience was different for me way back in the day. Back when I started, SL was just making the transition from radio to videogrammaphone. It was still in black & white, and mono sound. The few 2 bit hookers in SL at the time were really 2-bit hookers.

At first, I caused a stir with the audience, because there weren't many avs of color in SL. LL was actually one of the first online communities that sought diversity. Unfortunately, Proctor & Gamble took quite a bit of heat for sponsoring a "hippie world full of pointy-headed liberals", and SL lost a major sponsor. Those years were rough for LL, but eventually Ford started sponsoring SL. I got to drive a new shiny red Mustang, and all the other beta residents got their pick of their favorite Ford vehicles to drive. That came to an end when the 2nd sim opened, and all our shiny new Fords got lost in sim crossings.

Flying came at the right time in SL. Everyone was picketing the Governor's mansion over the loss of our rides, and Philip decided to finally go public with avatar flight. Flying was an immediate success, but many avs were lost in the early days. There was a belief that if you flew out over the ocean long enough, you would circle the world. Back then, people actually believed that SL was on a sphere. Poor bastards flew into the void and never came back.

Actually, that was quite a bit to add. I do tend to ramble on a bit. I could go on about where furries came from and SL going to two color Technicolor, but those are stories for another day.

Molly, don't overlook the Content Creation section of the forums. A lot of generous and knowedgable people frequent the place to help you through any aspect of the technical side of SL. Good luck!

Welcome to SL. Heres a list of things you can do to avoid spoiling your time here.

1. Be careful who you do business with.
Think twice about paying money to anything/anyone until you really know what your getting in return. Also try not to scam other people either. Information circulates the grid pretty fast about people who do this.

2. Always sit down to avoid being pushed into space.
Second Life has a very bad physics system that can be abused by a script that pushes people without consent, sending them thousands of meters away disrupting what they were doing. Don't do this to people, and try to sit as much as you can to avoid being hit by it if you don't wish to be.

3. Don't argue with trolls.
Some people just enjoy to stir up trouble and argue about anything just to get you to argue back. Doing this would be considered Feading the troll. It just makes them do it more. Ignore these people and they will eventually lose interest. Also don't do this. ;p

4. Only get land from governer linden.
Some land barons (who will remain nameless) have a bad history in taking land out from under their customers or cheating them off the batt. We all know who they are and you need to not worry. Just only get your land from Linden Lab to be safe.

5. Do not judge other cultures or lifestyles.
This is frowned upon and seen as griefing. Second Life is all about Diversity. If Diversity bothers you, then it isn't for you. Expect to see all kinds of people, even things you would have never figured to exist. 1 thing is, it's not all about sexual attractions.

6. Don't do things that would tick people off, unless you don't plan on staying here.
This is self explanitory. Second Life is a online World that is abused quite often for it's lack of restrictions. If you see that your angering someone by what your doing, don't do it.

7. Don't give your password out to anyone.
This is a bad idea, even if you trust the person with your life. They could do something to get you banned, or spread lies about you. Also just sharing it is against the TOS.

8. Be careful what groups you join.
You could join a group of griefers and lose your account. Some groups are made for this purpose. Also some groups are scams to take your money. The signup fees are hardly looked at by the average group joiner. You could get scammed out of all your money just by hitting the join button.

9. Make sure your on the right grid.
If your under the age of 18 please make sure that your logging into the teen grid. If your over that age then your on the right grid right now. This is for your own safety.

10. Avoid laggy areas.
If your experiancing lag, try ajusting your settings to acommidate, but if your at minimal already then you should teleport away from that area.

11. If you need money try one of these option.
You could create things (anything you want) and get yourself a vendor and find a location to put it. You should do fine. You could also be a escort at a club, or a dancer. You can also get payed for sex (>.>, or as a bodyguard. You could start your own business, or apply at an already existing one.

12. have fun.