"Second Life," the three-dimensional virtual reality chat room, complete with special effects, odd character names and the ability to fly, is coming on strong.

   More than four million people have signed up for an account on the service, almost half of them within the past few months.

   "Second Life" has its own official Web site and an official blog, and there are unofficial sites and blogs devoted to the virtual space, but most of what happens is in the digital community itself.

   And some truly amazing events have taken place there, which suggest this may be more than just a way to waste huge amounts of time.

   Reuters news service opened up a bureau in "Second Life." The forward-looking Swedes have opened up an embassy ''in world,'' as the Second Lifers call their space. Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards had his "Second Life" campaign headquarters vandalized.

   I've made the usual reporter calls and sent the usual e-mails to try to set up the usual interviews with the folks at Linden Labs, the brains behind the "Second Life."

   They're all too busy to talk, I was told, but their representatives suggested I just go ''in world'' myself and check it out. So, I have, and in a slight break from the usual routine here at Netizen, I'll interview my "Second Life" alter ego, Allex Benelli, who is very much a newbie at "Second Life."

   ALLEX BENELLI, SECOND LIFE NEWBIE

   Q: What's with the name?

   A: When you sign up, you have to select a name, and the system offers a set of last names, so you end up having to pick a first name. I kept trying to see if the name Henrik was available, after my favorite soccer player, Henrik Larsson, but Henrik seems to be a more popular name on "Second Life" than I could have ever imagined. Alex, my second choice, fared no better, so I ended up adding an extra ''L'' to Alex, and it worked. I like Benelli. It sounds Italian, even though I'm not, but I love Italian food and Italian soccer.

   Q: You pick a name. What's next?

   A: You pick your avatar, but it's clear you can change this once you enter the world. Initially, there are a couple of basic options, including ''Boy Next Door'' and ''Girl Next Door.'' A few of the other options look like anime characters. Two look like rabbits from the David Lynch version of ''Alice in Wonderland,'' if Lynch ever did such a version. The sign-up is all done from the "Second Life" Web site. You can also decide to give the Second Life folks your credit card number, even though the basic membership is free. Even though the basic service is free, if you give them your digits, you get $250 worth of the "Second Life" currency, called Linden Dollars. From the sign-up information, this is a one-time deal. Once you enter "Second Life," you can decide to give them your credit card details, but you don't get the free Linden dollar stash.

   Q: So, there is a charge, then?

   A: Not for the basic membership, but you need to be a Premium Member ($9.95 a month, with discounts for paying in quarterly or yearly installments) to buy land.

   Q: What's next?

   A: Then you download the "Second Life" application. I downloaded mine for my Mac OS X machine at home, figuring it had better graphics capabilities. It's also available for Windows and machines running Linux. The app is fairly large. The Mac download is 64MB, which took about five minutes on a broadband connection.

   Q: So you need a broadband connection?

   A: Absolutely. You also need a fairly updated computer, with a powerful graphics card. My Mac is a few years old, and there were issues with the speed at which the different screens refreshed themselves.

   Q: So, what's it like ''in world.''

   A: It's interesting. It reminds me of "Myst," but you have a lot more options. When you first enter, you're put in this place called ''Orientation Island,'' where you learn the basics of "Second Life," how to move around, how to search for places of interest and how to configure your avatar, essentially customizing the basic avatar you started with.

   Q: What was it like at first?

   A: I had trouble moving around. Movements are based on keystrokes, but I seemed to have difficulty figuring out how to make my avatar walk. It was also strange at first because my particular avatar was only a small bubble that contained my name. When I logged off and logged in again a short time later, I saw the avatar slightly front and center of my screen, similar to the characters in point-and-shoot video games. That helped the movement a little, but I still haven't figured out how to walk up or down stairs.

   Q: What's the best thing so far?

   A: The ability to fly is neat. I can fly more easily than I can walk, which seems odd. And there's no great penalty for flying into buildings. At least I'm not killing myself when I do it. I also found that the ''Mini Map'' feature is nice way of figuring out where you are and where others are. No need to ask for directions! The few people I encountered in the short time I was ''in world'' seemed friendly. I noticed a few people were chatting in Spanish, French and Portuguese, so it seems like Second Life attracts an international group of users. English is the main language, however.

   Q: Will you hang out in "Second Life" more?

   A: I might. I have enough trouble doing all the things I want to do in my First Life. But it's a fascinating environment.