I notice Terra Nova has resurrected the virtual property issue (Link), based on the same XBox 360 virtual property/market situation I previously mentioned (reLink). The debate levels keep rising, yet some of the same limited arguments continue as if videogames and virtual worlds exist in a vacuum (I guess to some degree it makes sense that some people feel that way).

Terra Nova at least has been a source of some excellent commentary. In particular, I enjoyed reading Ashok‘s comments. Here’s a few excerpts:

There are two questions involved in the more general topic of law and virtual/real assets:

1. How does, or how will, law treat such assets?
2. What do we make of popular perception?
… Continue reading →

Remember my post one year ago with the link to a bunch of polybot videos including one riding a tricycle (reLink)? Well, here’s another video to add to those.

This one is labeled a “self-replicating repairing robot”. From the YouTube blurb: “Engineers at Cornell University have designed this odd-looking machine that can rebuild itself and also could perform repairs on itself.”

Fun. Now imagine if that thing was a kirkyan as mentioned in comments from an earlier entry (reLink).

As mentioned recently (reLink), the piracy of virtual goods has once again become an issue in the virtual world of Second Life. The current discussion surrounds the lucrative skin trade (I had to say that). As most people familiar with this topic know, textures for avatars (aka “skins”) generate quite a bit of real world profit for their creators; reportedly more than $50k/year for the more talented and enterprising among them. So the emergence of the OGLE videostream capture tool was bad news for quite a number of content creators. I’ve even been told by an acquaintance working in Hollywood computer-generated special effects that manufacturer NVidia is concerned about the development. For some background and some relevant comments having to do with OGLE and Second Life, you might want to read a previous entry (reLink).

In any event Continue reading →

The Second Life Future Salon blog posts (Link) that Discovery Communications will be streaming video content into Google Earth. From the PRPressWire announcement the site references:

Discovery Communications today announced the availability of Discovery’s world-class video content on Google Earth, Google’s satellite imagery-based mapping product that combines 3D buildings and terrain with mapping capability and Google search. For the first time, Discovery will provide streaming video on Google Earth for locations around the world including popular destinations, historic sites and natural wonders, among others.

I would have thought Google would be streaming from their own video service offerings first. Then you could have people uploading videos of car chases in LA and viewers could be more immersed in the action and the buzz would be all over the MSM and then…

This might look familiar since I posted a construction photo some time back showing it – Zaha Hadid Architects’ Phaeno Science Center. Well, Arcspace has a nice new entry (Link) on the building with lots of photos and … some sketches . Oddly enough, it’s the most recent entry for April 2006, but the article has a March 2005 stamp on it. In any event, it’s still very cool.

I’m partial to the above image myself. It reminds me of a game level; especially that guard tower on the other side.

If you like this, you might want to check out the under-construction photos and some more links from that earlier post (reLink).

{Image Copyright © Thomas Mayer}