Here’s a follow-up to my earlier post (Link) regarding the Suicide Girls-in-Second Life situation. This has been posted to the Second Life forums by Wilder Linden as a result of some controversy brewing around this situation:

Suicide Girls in Second Life FAQ

Q. Is there a deal/agreement/contract between Linden Lab and the Suicide Girls?
A. No

Q. Were the Suicide Girls approached by Linden Lab to join Second Life as a part of a program or promotion?
A. No

Q. Were the Suicide Girls given a special offer to check out Second Life?
A. Yes

Q. Do the Suicide Girls owe Linden Lab something in return?
A. No

Q. Why did Linden Lab do this?
A. There is an interest in seeing how existing web communities can extend what they offer members by having a virtual space where they can meet and interact. The Suicide Girls have a very active community and Second Life is a good fit for them to be able to meet and greet each other as well as their site members.

Please remember that the residents in Second Life with the last name Suicide are like all residents and deserve to be treated according to the Community Guidelines and Standards.

There will be more web communities in the future joining Second Life as we continue to grow and expand and they should be given the chance to make a home just as we all have.

I am always willing to talk with concerned residents in world and would ask that you respect other residents’ right to privacy.

From reading some of the comments that preceeded this post, it’s apparent that some of the reaction is based almost entirely on the industry in which the Suicide Girls operate. This isn’t entirely surprising; however, given the … freestyle … nature of Second Life, the degree to which this is offending some of the residents is somewhat surprising to me.

It’s no secret that Second Life is a destination for many people interested in cybersex. There’s even been recent news about the website/blog now rating SL escort services… with far less community reaction of the sort I’m referring to above.

Guess we’ll just have to see how this particular injection of reality fares in the virtual world.

Short but interesting video of Multiverse CEO Bill Turpin’s presentation at Demo ’06 (Link). He discusses the one-size-fits-all MMORPG platform I posted about earlier (Link) and he and his associate demo/discuss a couple of tools they intend to provide to the 2200 developers who’ve signed up since their beta registration opened.

The talk doesn’t shed any new light, but one interesting thing he emphasized towards the end got my attention:

But just remember, the tools and technologies are just an enabler. Multiverse Network is actually a media company based on a media business model that includes advertising revenue and commerce transactions.

Too bad they’re not doing what I’d like to see happen: creating a unified 3D format that transcends both videogames and manufacturing. (see relevant posts: Link 1 and Link 2). At least that way there could be two distinct options: purely virtual (like we have now with games like World of Warcraft) and those that merge real and virtual. As evidenced by his own example, there’s plenty of money in subscription models. His comments and the platform’s limitation suggest an emphasis on embedded advertising in otherwise only virtual space to support this business.

Personally, I’d rather see Multiverse in its current form as being subscription model only and a new system, like the one that bridges the real and the virtual (how about calling it “Transverse”!) and which I often discuss here, could be the “media company” platform for advertising and commerce. It’d be like television: some is by subscription and some uses advertising revenue. Seems like that dual mode works better online than in meatspace.

To be fair, there appear to be some options with Multiverse, so maybe it won’t be so bad.

{Image source: Demo}

For the bloggers and aspiring authors out there, Eileen Gittins, CEO of Blurb, is interviewed by C|Net as part of their DEMO ’06 Conference coverage and they’ve posted the video online. At about 4 minutes, it’s worth watching for anyone creating content (Link).

What Blurb provides, in the words of Gittins, is “a tool to enable anyone to convert their digital content, of whatever kind, into a professionally-finished book”. Especially interesting to me was the primary example shown: a book of recipes. Because the originating blog had numerous contributors, in the words of the CEO, “Blurb supports community-contributed books”. Now that’s something I’d not given any thought and it sounds cool, but it does raise the thorny intellectual property rights issue.

While not cheap at US $32, the resulting output – a decent-sized 80-page hardcover – would make an excellent gift. Another option is if the book were priced at … say … $50 and sold to raise money at charity fund-raising events. If anyone could navigate the IP issues (and perhaps open source some legal documents to facilitate community efforts) it’s some of the more forward-thinking organizations out there (Randy, you reading this?).

This obviously isn’t really all that different from print-on-demand publishing already available online. However, it does appear as if this tool is more flexible and convenient than most services since it uses a “realtime drag and drop metaphor” in combination with what appear to be standardized templates. Good enough for a lot of people. The print-on-demand services I’ve researched typically accept manuscripts from authors and then, for a fee, either approve the layout for printing or provide that service… on top of the cut they get from the book.

So what we really have is a service that leverages other content creation/aggregation applications, reduces manuscript variability by providing a free layout tool to ensure conformance, and then acts as a marketplace for the finished product (not yet available on their site). The blog angle is nice, but blogs are an interactive medium; I doubt my links are going to translate to print. Additionally, most blogs appropriate images from other sites – often without listing credit. Even so, for those who are perhaps only documenting their travels – an example cited in the video – by posting their blog entries via email, this service is pretty nice.

It also reminds me of Nike iD. Limited customization. I bet we start seeing a lot of this.

{Just noticed the Blurb official presentation is online. Haven’t watched it yet, but here’s the – Link}

More news on the rapid-manufacturing front as C|Net has a short article on a custom shoe outfit setting up shop. From the article (Link):

A new manufacturing process is set to bring mass production to tailor-made shoes that can be built layer by layer from a 3-D footprint.

First to benefit will be professional soccer players, who are to be given tailor-printed boots offering more protection.

London-based company Prior 2 Lever, launching the system in April, will first scan a player’s feet by laser to obtain a digital model.

I must admit that beyond what Nike has been doing with their Nike iD program (read more – Link), shoes weren’t on my radar as being the most likely product to spearhead the technological shift to rapid-manufacturing. There are a few other products that come to mind which would seem a better fit for the technology in its present state. On the other hand, it’s a great way to get the word out to consumers.

I did a quick google on Prior 2 Lever and only found this abstract from a conference last September (Link). That might be a good stepping off point for more research… later.

Via a thread on CGTalk comes word of “The Virtual Director” (Link). You can read the full press release on CGTalk (I didn’t see it on the target site), but this is basically part realtime pre-visualization and part regular digital filmmaking. This is one of what must be dozens of efforts to merge actors with virtual spaces.

If you’re into this stuff, the video on the site might be interesting. But note that the above image is a clean render from an earlier session; the realtime stuff still looks much more primitive.

And btw, if you watch the video, correct me if I’m wrong but I think that’s Maya software they’re running. Guess we’ll have to wait for an explanation.

{Image source: Origami Digital}