Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?

Interesting article in the Wall Street Journal about this guy who spends all his time on a computer with his avatar. Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?

.....A burly man with a long gray ponytail, thick sideburns and a salt-and-pepper handlebar mustache, Mr. Hoogestraat looks like the cross between a techie and the Grateful Dead fan that he is. He drives a motorcycle and wears faded black Harley-Davidson T-shirts around the house. A former college computer graphics teacher, Mr. Hoogestraat was never much of a game enthusiast before he discovered Second Life. But since February, he's been spending six hours a night and often 14 hours at a stretch on weekends as Dutch Hoorenbeek, his six-foot-nine, muscular, motorcycle-riding cyber-self. The character looks like a younger, physically enhanced version of him: a biker with a long black ponytail, strong jaw and thick handlebar mustache.

In the virtual world, he's a successful entrepreneur with a net worth of about $1.5 million in the site's currency, the linden, which can be earned or purchased through Second Life's Web site at a rate of about 250 lindens per U.S. dollar. He owns a mall, a private beach club, a dance club and a strip club. He has 25 employees, online persons known as avatars who are operated by other players, including a security guard, a mall concierge, a manager and assistant manager, and the "exotic dancers" at his club. He designs bikinis and lingerie, and sells them through his chain store, Red Headed Lovers.

"Here, you're in total control," he says, moving his avatar through the mall using the arrow keys on his keyboard. He married a red headed avatar in his virtual life and his wife is mad.

Sounds like a good life ...I'm not sure if it is is cheating though. I think it is probably like any hobby or addiction. This guy just needs to spend more time with his wife. Maybe I should give up the blog and other blogging stuff and spend more time with the wife and kids.

Here's a link to the web article. It has more details to help you decide. Is This Man Cheating on His Wife?