The BBC has an excellent video (I could only get the Real Player version to work however) of virtual worlds, what people are making and how they’re making -real- money – “When it comes down to it, avatars – online characters – project your ideals and fantasies before you’ve had time to think of them. Which is what’s making online virtual worlds one of the hottest business propositions of dotcom boom Mark II.” Link.
Yahoo/Reuters has a story about the NYC Dorkbot meeting held yesterday that we posted about earlier in the week – at the meeting there were talks about the process of installing a $2 RFID tag in your hand, why you would do something like this, the necessary materials, different tag options, and what other people have been doing with these tags. Link. Also see our interview with one of the folks mentioned in the story.
Slashdot and Digg both have links (and interesting discussions) to this story about LCD goggles for the iPod video. We made our own version here on MAKE awhile back and I use LCD goggles for a lot of applications now, I really think one and two LCD viewing of content won’t be bizarre or sci-fi ish in the next few years. It won’t be as common place as the dudes who wear Bluetooth headsets full-time, but it wouldn’t be weird to see someone watching a movie on their iPod with LCD goggles on a plane.
Timo Arnall’s excellent experiment with RFID and physical spaces, like his desk…“For the last couple of weeks I have been experimenting with tagging personal space with the NFC. This started by embedding RFID tags in my desk, to use it as an information surface for contacts, SMSes and links. Underneath the desk I have stuck a grid of RFID tags, and on the top surface, the same grid of post-it notes. With the standard Nokia Service Discovery application it is possible to call people, send pre-defined SMSes or load URLs by touching the phone to each post-it on the desk.” Link.
Speedometers, rearview mirrors, many will have LCDS (I can’t wait to mod one!)….“To say the new Mercedes S-Class dashboard is impressive is probably the understatement of the year. Basically, it’s a [LCD screen] embedded in the dash that displays all your data virtually. What’s cool is it mimics analog gauges like the original Carrera GT concept was sporting when we all first saw it for the first time. But the real mind blower, is when the night vision activates and everyting in front of you disappears and you see a video screen displaying what’s in front of you.” [via] Link.
For any of you Second Life makers who have been itching to create the ultimate virtual home there are a couple of bidding wars over on Ebay. Both Linden Lab and Anshe Chung (largest virtual land owner) are holding auctions for your very own island, which includes 120 hours of in world consulting and building. Also, special thanks to everyone who came out to the virtual MAKE meet up on Friday write up here.
“Edible Estates is the brainchild of Fritz Haeg, who has made it his mission to replace the water-guzzling, pesticide-drenched grasslands of American front yards with functional, fruitful plots filled with all things edible. The first lawn revival took place in Salina, Kansas, where a family offered up their conventional front yard for transformation and vowed to maintain the garden as a living, thriving edible installation.” [via] Link. Reminds me of the self reliance efforts of WWII and Victory gardens.
