By way of traffic being sent here from a post over on the MIT Advertising Lab blog, I made my way over to a short article on Fortune titled “A factory of one’s own” (Link) which discusses the future of manufacturing and the growth in personal fabrication. Nothing really new, but still worth a read (all news on personal fabrication is good news at this stage). I’d also suggest reading the AdLab post (Link) as it includes a portion of an essay that carries this into areas about which I frequently post: the intersection of this technology with business. I like the way advertising is called out as a layer of meta-data sitting on top of the truly necessary information; and as such how it could be easily discarded. There’s plenty to consider and plenty to discuss. Hopefully we’ll see more coverage in the press and in the blogosphere.

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}