See the above image? That’s from Alienware’s website (Link) in which it is an embedded background. Alienware is owned by Dell Computer, a very big corporation. So big that every executive officer currently listed on the Yahoo Finance page makes a seven-figure salary. See the image below?
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I couldn’t have timed this bit of news any better, coming as it does on the heels of the Nissan virtual vehicle dispenser in Second Life: the Mass Customization blog brings word (Link) of what is possibly the first working prototype for a shoe created using one of the technologies most often associated with rapid manufacturing. From the post:
Today, I had the opportunity to have the world’s first working prototype of a totally new shoe concept in my hands: a 100% laser-sintered shoe.
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The TNO shoe concept, named ‘Head over Heels’, is the first application of rapid (digital) manufacturing technologies (more about RM) to an entire product in the footwear industry. Such a concept would allow the rapid customization of shoes to a radical extreme – without any of the constraints of conventional custom manufacturing mechanisms like the need for custom lasts, custom cutting of materials, and a new organization of the work process in manufacturing.
As expected (only not quite so soon) comes word from Electric Sheeper Giff Constable of Nissan’s entry into Second Life (Link). I’m liking the vehicle dispenser enough to give me a reason to post about this – very Smart car-like (and I’m a fan of the Smart if you recall – reLink). It’s also more in keeping with the possibilities inherent in using virtual worlds. Instead of just being about the car, it becomes more of an Experience. That last bit should sound familiar for at least a couple of reasons (reLink 1, reLink 2).
Unfortunately I didn’t have time to get a password to claim a toy and play. I did, however, take note of who created the doppelganger vehicle sitting out on show… it wasn’t whom I thought it might be (anyone who followed my trademark debates on the old Second Life forum will know to whom I’m referring).
via eightbar
There’s an interview over on Reuters/Second Life with Amazon’s Jeff Barr about the future of shopping (Link). It’s okay. A little short and a little light on details, but worth a read. Amazon – or more properly some of the people working for Amazon – is one of those companies you just have to keep an eye on. If you’ve not checked out some of the things they’ve been doing with Second Life (e.g. reLink), I’d recommend developing an interest. More than almost any other company, I expect Amazon to be blazing the trail for the future of commerce – both online and off.
There’s not much I like more than enjoying someone’s creative effort when it’s personal and it’s genuine and it’s a little off the beaten path. When I first arrived in Second Life, it turns out I was fortunate enough to have acquired a talented programmer for a virtual neighbor, AlphaZero Sugar. I won’t talk about the real world work he does, even though it’s related to activities about which I’m particularly fond. Instead I’ll keep my comments to the creative effort he passed my way last night: the dreaded ChickenGun.
I’ll start by including a bit from the instructions:
Congratulations on your purchase of the latest in poultry based weapons systems!
The ChickenGun combines the natural aggression of the modern domesticated chicken with the high acceleration of an electromagnetic rail gun, mixed in with a bit of high explosives to create the deadliest, or perhaps just the most amusing, weapon in Second Life today.
