I often enjoy the Half-Life 2 content people make. And this one is no exception. The video above is a recreation of Frank Lloyd Wright’s “Fallingwater Home” design. Having visited the structure, this looks like a pretty good rendition.

And people wonder why an industrial designer takes an interest in this stuff. Why settle for a model (Link) when you can have both?

For more of what the HL2 engine can do, you might want to check out a video to which I linked last year – Link. When I first saw it I was duly impressed.

via Wonderland

C|Net has picked up on the EVE Intergalactic Bank story I mentioned earlier (reLink) and posted an article, “Cons in the virtual gaming world” (Link). I’m only really posting this because reading the Yale blog or the posts on Terra Nova can be daunting. This article is far easier to digest and might help some people start to get a sense of what the general issues are.

{Update – TenTonHammer has posted a synopsis of an interview with EVE developer CCP (Link). Worth a read just to see how much game currency was scammed; supposedly it’s into six figures.}

As mentioned earlier, I wanted to get caught up on the happenings in the world of urban vinyl toys. For those of you who don’t know why I watch that niche segment on this blog, let’s just say that in a rapid-manufacturing future, simple products – especially those that engage consumers in the way these toys are able – will likely be among the first offerings available via the internet… as a 3D file download which is “fabbed” by the consumer.
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Ars Technica has an article on Hewlett-Packard defending it’s ink formulations (Link) that caught my attention this morning. Of course, you get the “Zomigod! They’re ripping us off” stuff. Even Ars Technica’s Nate Anderson takes that position:

…most are greatly inferior to the ink sold (for outrageous prices) by the manufacturers…

The part I can’t figure out is: have these people ever had to use a manual typewriter to generate their essays and thesis projects? Do any of them remember just how difficult it was to do things the old-fashioned way? Or is Anderson and the rest: a) under 30 or b) just plain ignorant? I guarantee you I would have paid twice what I do now for a way (including inkjet cartridges) to avoid the horror of trying to type up a full college report on an old typewriter… and do the graphs and charts by hand. I still remember my final aerospace design project. To look at it now is to cringe at the poor quality; the corrections and the poor alignment. Back then it was one of the cleanest reports submitted. But hey, perhaps Mr. Anderson should just do the obvious: Don’t use the technology! There are plenty of old typewriters just sitting around waiting to be used. Knock yourself out!
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That is, of course, because Second Life has no built-in voice capability. Even so, it appears that Harvard is going to hold a class inside SL to teach just that. From “The Chronicle of Higher Education” (Link) – hit “Cancel” to get the snip:

Harvard University plans to hold its first class in a “virtual world” this fall, using a video-game-like environment called Second Life.

Charles Nesson, a renowned professor at Harvard Law School, is teaming up with his daughter, Rebecca Nesson, an instructor at Harvard Extension School, to offer a course on argument in cyberspace that is open to the public through the extension school.

I’m not sure that arguing in cyberspace is any different than arguing anywhere else, but it sounds like it could be fun. And with Linden Lab shutting down the SL Forums, this might give people a chance to brush up on their dissin’ skillz.

Without doubt, you need to check out the video. The Christopher Walken speech pattern is awesome.

via Slaw