Via WMMNA comes word of another anti-advergame(?) called, simply enough, “McDonald’s” (it must be officially endorsed, it uses the arches). From the Molleindustria website (Link):

Making money in a corporation like McDonald’s is not simple at all. Behind every sandwich there is a complex process you must learn to manage: from the creation of pastures to the slaught, from the restaurant management to the branding. You’ll discover all the dirty secrets that made us one of the biggest company of the world.

I have to admit, this just looks like a grab for publicity – the free sex games hint at a potential business attempting to run in the background. So maybe what we really have is “anti-advergame as loss-leader advertising”.

In any event, no doubt the use of McDonald’s trademarked arches is going to get a reaction. However, from the description provided the game itself doesn’t appear to be all that critical; slaught(er)ing animals for food is what most people do. Big deal. Is that one of the “dirty secrets”? Hell, I’d be more interested if one of the dirty little secrets is that the Big Mac is actually Soylent Green.

{Update: It appears the more mainstream press is starting to cover these anti-advergame stories. Read C|Net’s piece – Link – and be on the lookout for more.}

{Image source: la Molleindustria}

Via Make: comes this interesting story over on Wired, “Roll Your Own Ringtone” (Link). I’ve not kept up with either music freeware or the latest in cell phone annoyances; enough to try to keep up with what I blog here on a daily basis. But this struck me because of how ringtones popped up on the musical radar seemingly out of nowhere, became a startingly large industry almost overnight, and is now on the verge of having the masses basically take control of the product. In my opinion, few products more fittingly represent the future then the humble ringtone. And now that eBay has started supporting digital-downloadable offerings, we might see a few success stories in the coming months.

I wonder how these breakbeat Beethovens are going to protect their creations and cash in on their work. Other than the first few MSM oddities and the rare hidden talent, I suspect most will go unnoticed; not like they can go out on tour with a supporting band and sell concert tickets and t-shirts. Lars is probably grinning from ear-to-ear at the thought of this. Just wait til all those Napster-loving kids have the tables turned on them. I bet most don’t make it through the first round.

{Update: Another article over on Wired about this: Link. Control just continues to slip away, doesn’t it?}

Okay, well, maybe I could. And after reading Google VP Marissa Ann Mayer’s article on BusinessWeek, me and the rest of the creative world are probably going to give it some thought. For those of you not yet smitten, go read her entry (Link) and join the growing crowd.

The name “Materialise” should ring a bell to anyone that’s visited this blog lately as I just recently posted an image of some of their work (Link). However, people should be aware that it’s a much bigger outfit than just some guys in a shop surrounded by SLA machines. The cool products we designers gawk at is usually the work of Materialise’s MGX division, but among their other divisions is Materialise Software. And from today’s press release, it’s apparent they’ve been busy.

The above image is a screen from the 4th generation of their Rapid Shell Modeling (RSM) software application, initially an exclusive software product. In December, Materialise announced (Link) that this software would be available for general sale. At that time they also announced that version 4.0 would most liketly ship in September 2006 – they’re way ahead of schedule. I have to wonder if that’s a hint of things to come. From today’s press release (Link):

With the new release Materialise is taking this innovative software for the automated design of hearing aid shells to the next level. This latest version takes in major enhancements to the user interface and introduces comprehensive binaural modeling. Materialise has updated and extended its functionality for In The Ear (ITE) modeling. The key innovation however is the possibility to design earmolds. Scheduled for release early April, RSM version 4 is expected to greatly advance its ease-of-use and to speed up the design process for hearing aid shells significantly.

For those of you familiar with some of the primary end-use applications for rapid-prototyping technology (aka rapid-manufacturing), the focus on hearing aids won’t be a surprise. For those of you who aren’t familiar, hearing aids are about as close to the perfect application for this emerging technology as one could hope to find:
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This cutting edge company, more than any other, appears to be leading the charge toward a wholesale shift in how products are manufactured. That’s no small thing. Neither is the speed at which it could occur.

via Core77

{Image Copyright © 2005 Materialise NV}

Well, this is *somewhat* welcome news as I sit here crying in my samosa’s. Okay, not crying so much as pouting while scarfing. I was hoping to get into NYC to join Jerry P (of Acceleration Studies Foundation and the SL Future Salon blog) and Michael F (of Eyebeam) for a tour of the Eyebeam Openlab facility. That didn’t happen so on my way home I consoled myself by stopping at my favorite Indian restaurant, the Tandoor (map). Having just turned on the box and surfed over to the Second Life forum, I caught this very-related announcement by Robin Linden:

We’ve been discussing this issue further, and it seems like the best way to address the concern about texture copyrights is to take the same approach that the Patent and Trademark Office takes — provide a mechanism for proving first use.

Since we do have information about texture and sound creation and uploads, we’re going to implement a way for people to prove they originated the texture. This will work through the development of a User Interface element to display the original upload date and name of user who did the upload.

In the event of a dispute, this information will help to establish the original Second Life owner of the texture or sound.

“This issue” happens to be the ability of the GLIntercept code Michael is using with OGLE to capture textures from the videostream. I knew about it of course since I reported about it earlier in my attempts to capture data from Second Life. In the meantime, an SL resident posted something on the SL forum and on the O’Reilly “hacks” website (Link – now dead) about it. A few people got very concerned. Some links in the forum were edited out (right or wrong, I’m not taking a position on that). And now it appears as if Linden Lab will attempt to police it which is extremely interesting.

A few days back Jarod Godel asked why I hadn’t mentioned the ability to rip textures from SL on this blog (I’ve only been documenting my ripping the 3D data). My answer was simple: I didn’t want to be the bad guy. Because some – many – of the biggest and most profitable virtual world businesses are entirely based on selling texture “skins” and texture “clothing”. The ability for people to now rip/pirate, upload, and sell them for themselves is a big problem. At least now it’s out in the open. I guess we’ll see how things go.

{Update: For the sake of completeness, here’s a link to a “private” message conversation I had about this a few days ago – Link. Funny how “private” stuff finds its way online. No matter. Just another reason I can point to for why I’m not anonymous in Second Life.}