Just caught an interesting little interview with Guni Greenstein (RL name: Guni Graef), husband and business partner of Second Life’s Anshe Chung (RL name: Ailin Graef), over on Reuters/Second Life (Link). The part that most caught my attention was this:

No, we are not worried about tax implications since we fully report our revenues to the local tax authorities.
…
Yes, our business is based in China. We went to a developing area and invest heavily in training. We are also lucky to find an administration that is more experienced with virtual-world economies than in Germany.

I’m curious what the difference is in taxes between China and Germany. I’m also wondering if there are other people starting to consider officially moving their virtual businesses offshore. Good time of year to be visiting some islands.

I’ve been feeling like I could use some off-the-wall inspiration, so coming across an entry on WMMNA about a short film called “Metalosis Maligna” (Link) was just what the doctor ordered. It’s not especially good, but it’s short, kinda quirky, and it reminded me of another flick I really like. So now I need to rent a copy of “Tetsuo, The Iron Man“. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen that crazy-ass flick.

{Update: By accident I came across the introduction to Tetsuo on iFilm. For anyone who’s unfamiliar with this movie, this might give you a sense of why so many people (including myself) find it so interesting. Enjoy… but fair warning. It’s not for the squeemish.

Via C|Net comes word (Link) of a new version of Microsoft’s Virtual Earth. Seems as if the race between Google and MS to create the most compelling, interactive 3D version of the planet is progressing nicely, as both seem to have unique advantages over the other. Of course, the thing most people want to know is when will they support avatars. No mention of that, but there is an accompanying video (Link) and a short but nice slideshow (Link). That’ll have to do for now.

Ever since seeing some advance images for one of the concepts entered into the Los Angeles Auto Show Design Challenge, I’ve been wondering what the rest would look like. Fortunately the concepts are now available for viewing online (Link).

I have to admit, however, I’m unimpressed. The one that stands out – the Audi Dynamic Space Frame (Link) – is actually very much like a concept a classmate of mine, Phil Kucera, did way back in our final year at school. A shame it doesn’t really seem to go much further than his idea.

{Image Copyright © Volkswagen/Audi Design Center California}

If the journalistic community is fretting over losing mindshare and gainful employment to blogs and consumer-generated media, I can provide one example of why I believe they should. You see, for about two decades there’s been a mostly lone voice in the mainstream media talking about Design: Bruce Nussbaum. One would think I’d appreciate having someone talk about design – and I would – if I believed that what I perceive as increasingly worthless, honey-dripping hype was how the design profession would grow and gain respect in the corporate community.

Although previously mentioned (reLink), I’ll repeat a little history here. In the late 80’s Nussbaum told the world via BusinessWeek (April 11, 1988) magazine that Design had returned to America:

After relegating design to the backseat in the 1970’s, U.S. manufacturers are once again discovering that it is key to industrial competitiveness.

Right. And there was much self-congratulatory backslapping in the design community. Until everyone figured out it wasn’t quite true; that it applied to only a handful of manufacturers. I wish you could see the products chosen as examples of this new Return to Design. Sadly, there’s essentially nothing that a design student today would likely recognize. No truly great design icons; just mostly pretty, 80’s era geometric shapes.
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