This isn’t new. The U.S. Postal Service tried this a while back, discovered that some people wanted to put naughty things on stamps, and promptly shut the service down (I think they called it a “trial”; good save guys!). After some subsequent buzz surrounding other postal customization services, they apparently took notice and restarted their own service, and before long vendor Photostamps popped up in the news offering custom stamps.

That’s now month’s-old ancient history. But surfing over to Yahoo’s homepage just now I was hit with an ad for their service and thought I’d call attention to it… as if I need to do that, the ad is pretty in-your-face. I’m guessing Yahoo is working directly with the USPS, so I feel kinda bad for the Photostamp people. I’d imagine Yahoo is going to pwn them in short order. And what a clever way to get people using their image hosting services.

None of this of course is to be confused with the We Stamp U service (a German company that provides custom-stamped postcards and who iirc extended their service to the U.S. prior to the USPS service restart). But I wonder if the We Stamp U folks have figured out that they need to offer something more custom. After all, which would you prefer: putting your custom stamp on your own mail, or having your custom stamp only on a limited range of post cards? I need to keep an eye on them and see how they adjust.

What a nice use for virtual world technology. Sue Stonebender (aka CBC syndicated columnist Sue Braiden) officially opened her Second Life island, A Better World, for business last night. And the business at hand is finding ways to leverage the social connectivity of 3D simulations to address global social issues of concern to her and those within her network.

Sue (shown above addressing guests, including, I believe, Pam and Pierre Omidyar) has been working diligently on creating a space which – if I’m not mistaken – is primarily intended to host virtual conferences addressing a variety issues; to bring people together to discuss everything from AIDs in Africa to abolishing the death penalty. It’s an inspiring and worthwhile effort.

One cool example of what’s being done is a virtual gallery of art created by African children afflicted with AIDs. I’m unsure how the images get from the children to the virtual world (I’ve asked but not yet received an answer, perhaps Sue will see this blog entry and inform us all), but the tiles have embedded links to websites that provide additional information for those interested in learning more about the dire situation in Africa. Without doubt one of the best ways to motivate people to act is to educate them. If a picture is worth a thousand words, hopefully an immersive space requires no words at all.

When Danny Hillis’ original essay was published in 1995, there’s a good chance I at least caught a piece of it – probably just some bold type on a printed glossy page; back then Wired magazine was a regular read so there’s a fair chance I did catch at least that much. If I actually read the piece however, it didn’t register. I suppose I was, in all the ways that matter, too young to get the point. It’s easy enough to understand what Hillis is saying. However I’m not talking about just understanding, but empathizing. Ten years after I get the point.

In 1977 I saw Woody Allen’s Oscar-winning film “Annie Hall” at the local movie theater. I recall enjoying the entire film, but when I think back on it – try to recall scenes from it – one segment always comes to mind: the “why bother, the universe is going to collapse” scene where exasperated adults (including a child psychologist) attempt in vain to explain why anything really matters. There’s something in that scene that has for me been carried forward in other films, such as “Brazil” and “Fight Club“. And when I think of “Fight Club”, especially as a designer, it’s hard not to recall the Ikea catalogue scene. It’s pretty damning.

I flipped through catalogs and wondered: What kind of dining set defines me as a person?

Is what I do for a living contributing to that kind of internal dialogue where what a person owns defines both who they are and their purpose in life? Sadly, I believe it does.

In recent years I’ve increasingly given consideration to my role in our voracious consumer society. And increasingly I find myself wishing I had a design response as eloquent as Dr. Hillis’ project, The Clock of the Long Now.

via FutureFeeder

{Image Copyright © 01996-02005 The Long Now Foundation}

What a great niche product: Dirty Linen bedsheets. And they’re still “dirty” after you wash them (a hint just in case some of you don’t get it). So for those of you looking to get a meaningful gift for that special someone… perhaps a gift that sends a personal message… check out the offerings on Groovy Q’s website. Always neat to find something clever that would likely never be carried by a large retailer!

via Cool Hunting

{Image Copyright © 2003-2005 GROOVY Q}

Now this is interesting. I attempted to post a comment to one of Bruce Nussbaum’s entries on BusinessWeek and have found that I’ve been “blackholed” (besides the obvious astronomical reference, I can’t help but think of this as a combination of “blacklisted” and “cornholed”). This could of course just be caused by the fallout from all the splog issuing forth onto the net (I’ve sure wasted my time dealing with it), but then again I don’t always agree with his comments so perhaps I really have been… blackholed (I kinda like that noun-to-verb construction).

Oh well, who knows. It’s just as easy to point to his entry, add a trackback (if it takes; trackback spam is a b*tch too) and post my comment here. So here’s a link to what I consider his time-late observation and here’s the comment I tried but wasn’t permitted to post:

This seems a little late, to be honest. A full year ago I found that I was underbidding some design firms in Asia. And around the same time my contacts in China were discussing the issues related to changes in the labor situation.

I believe it’s also been widely reported that the rise of an affluent middle class in Chinese cities has been driving up the cost of agricultural products – with the consequent effect being that the spring from which cheap labor has been gushing is slowing to a reasonable stream. Why leave the farm for some dangerous industrial job far from home when produce is now fetching higher prices at market? Someone has to feed all those people. Is it any surprise that other, recent reports have shown rural farmers gaining the edge in conflicts with the government?

What goes round, comes round.

That works.

I wonder how many other companies are trying to figure out how to deal with these kinds of unexpected, opportunistic invasions of their blog space. As irritating as it is, blog spam is a pretty creative (if selfish) invention. Reminds me of my previous posts where I warn people about how unruly a 3D internet will be. I think blog spam is a long, long way from being the worst we’ll see.

{Edit: I noticed a comment referring to this part of Nussbaum’s blog entry:

And if geography doesn’t matter, why should wages be differentiated on the basis of geography for the same work? Hmm…. That’s a big thought.

I agree with “Sledgehammer”. The reason for wage differentiation seems pretty obvious to me and I’ve mentioned it before (either on this blog or perhaps on the SL Salon): you can’t simply pay an industrial laborer in the third world the same wages as those in the U.S. because it’s likely that this rate will exceed the wages of local professionals… like doctors. Until their entire system is raised to the same standard as the developed world, it’s not likely to be in the long-term interests of that society to encourage the pursuit of the lowest-rung occupations (which would likely be the first to benefit from the developed world’s loving attention). Like most things in life, balance is an important consideration.}