For John Zdanowski, it is a whole different world out there - literally. Zdanowski manages the virtual economics of Second Life, an Internet-based virtual world, where "residents" interact with one another through motional avatars. In other words, he is in charge of policing the virtual currency exchange within a fully immersive, three-dimensional universe that has almost quadrupled since its inception in December 2006.

"Second Life is a rich, collaborative environment, where you are interacting with people in a way that you don't on the Internet," Zdanowski said. "There are all sorts of creative folks building artistic designs, architectural designs, virtual experiences and interactive objects. Users are buying and exchanging goods and services with other users and it is growing like crazy."

But do not get confused. Second Life is not a game, although Zdanowski says relating it to the game world is the easiest way to understand Second Life. The key difference, Zdanowski explains, is that anything you make in this three-dimensional universe, is your own.

Just like in our existent economy, people in Second Life exchange money - virtual dollars which they can exchange for real money. The currency in second life is Linden dollars, where a single Linden dollar is worth a third of a cent.

With more than 100 employees across the world, the San Francisco-based company now has nine million users. Most of the company's revenue comes from hosting the virtual world application, that is, selling land and space on the server.

Second Life is pioneering a larger market for virtual invention and cybertechnology that is unfolding before our eyes. College majors in virtual product development and digital arts have found their way into college curriculum and educators comprise a large population of Second Life's users. Possessing the creativity and foresight to recognize this market Zdanowski and the creators of Second Life have set the standard for a world that is on the horizon in the not-so-distant future.