Saturday, June 30, 2007

Virtual Worlds list

Wrapping up the group presentations at Under the Radar's Entertainment & Media conference is the virtual worlds group. Only two of these companies (Doppleganger and Kaneva) offer what most would consider "virtual worlds" or a replacement for real life interaction with others. The other two consist of user avatars, and a video gaming platform.

Doppleganger is a 3-D world similar to Second Life. It survives through a mix of micropayments, and partnerships with various companies who want branded areas and appearances for celebrities, movies, and music. We checked it out a few weeks ago and came away impressed, albeit a little bewildered.

The service currently has 150,000 users, and CEO Tim Stevens says it's growing by 10% weekly.

Kaneva is part social network and part 3-D virtual world. I looked at the service in early February, shortly before the site went public beta in April. Despite the fact it's incredibly similar to social networks like MySpace, Kaneva's creators view its competition as movies and television programs. Like Doppelganger, Kaneva makes its money on the sale of virtual goods and sponsorship from content creators.


Meez is one of the more interesting virtual worlds services due to its specialization. Instead of trying to re-create real life, Meez focuses on user avatars. They recently partnered with Photobucket, and provides user avatars for several other services. The site has 2 million registered users, and is now getting 425,000 new users a month.

The site makes its money off partnerships and micropayments, where users use their virtual currently on clothing items. One of their competitors Gizmoz recently launched a face mapping tool that will take a digital photo and stick it on a 3-D avatar.

Multiverse is a development platform for anyone who wants to make their own massive multiplayer online game (MMOG). They've built the system to work with a "world browser" which co-founder Corey Bridges compares to a Web browser since users can visit a network of different games built on the platform.
Category: Social Network & groups Tags: UTR Media, Doppelganger, Kaneva, Meez, Multiverse, virtual worlds

Friday, June 29, 2007

Erev Yom iPhone

;->

David Mitchell's Origami Heaven - Modular Origami - Modulars in Motion

David Mitchell's Origami Heaven - Modular Origami - Modulars in Motion: "

David Mitchell's Colour-Change Collapsible Cube is a novelty cube that is strong and rigid in one direction but can be collapsed flat in another. Once flattened, the collapsed cube can be manipulated, while resting on the palm of one hand, so that each of the coloured faces comes to the front in turn.

Ref: M1023 / Diagrams published in Tarquin publications magazine Infinity 1 in Spring 2005.


Kite SuppliesKite Studio is a specialist supplier of all the materials you need for building kites and banners. We stock ripstop and oxford nylon, graphite, fiberglass, aluminum, line, fittings, notions, tools, and many other hardware items. Most of our customers build Kites and Banners with our materials, but our market has expanded into Radio Control (RC), Live Action Role Playing (LARP) Weapons, Stage and Set Design, Fabric Architecture, and many other custom projects.

Some of the tapes we carry:



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TAP15 - Acrylic Based Adhesive - Mylar Carrier. 1/4" width. High quality double sided tape for general fabric seaming. Good initial tack, low stretch, non-yellowing. Our most economical tape.
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TAP16 - 3M Super Seam Tape. 3/8" width. When used properly, our Super Seam Tape can eliminate sewing. Many builders claim tape is better for the sailcloth, particularly on film laminates and nylons where stitching can tear through the cloth.
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TAP18 - Our new C3 Sailtape is a uniquely formulated adhesive that eliminates the need to sew ripstop nylon panels together. Designed to build high peel and sheer strength, the initial tack level of C3 permits seams to be lifted and reset during the seam sticking process to assure smooth, flat seams. After a short period, C3 bonds with the spinnaker material for a permanent, flexible seam that is unaffected by moisture and sunlight.

C3 is designed not to shrink and simulates the stretch of the fabric so the seams do not appear tight when the kite is fully loaded. It is a cost effective alternative to sewing.

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FRT75 - Often called "crack and peel" - this is a 3/4 ounce x 2" ripstop with adhesive on the back. Can be used for a quick kite fabric repair. This is also a very popular material for wrapping the ends of LARP weapons.


Instructables Compubeaver --> How to case mod a beaver - in 29 easy steps!

Instructables Compubeaver --> How to case mod a beaver - in 29 easy steps!: "
introCompubeaver --> How to case mod a beaver - in 29 easy steps!
Turn a taxidermy animal into your desktop PC.

Both neat and handy!

Sew Sassy Fabrics - Lingerie Fabrics

Sew Sassy Fabrics - Lingerie Fabrics: "This page presents a description of the wide variety of lingerie fabric that we offer. Selections include lycra�, spandex, liquid smooth satin spandex, charmeuse, burn out fabric, and soft and comfortable brushed back satin and knits.
Fabric Samples

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

Toshiba TDP-ET20U Multimedia DVD Projector

Toshiba TDP-ET20U Multimedia DVD Projector:
Toshiba TDP-ET20U Multimedia DVD Projector
Super Close Projection™ with All-In-One Multimedia Features
$999.00

TDP-ET20U
uper Close Projection™ with All-In-One Multimedia Features
Toshiba's TDP-ET20U is the optimum projector for users who expect and demand connectivity flexibility, usage versatility and performance at a tremendous value. With an integrated DVD player and 5.1-channel Dolby Pro Logic surround sound for true cinema sound quality, the TDP-ET20U delivers all the big screen drama, sound and excitement with "extreme short projection" capabilities. The TDP-ET20U can project up to a 100-inch screen image from just 3.9 feet away.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

O'Reilly Radar > Everyscape: A 3D Worldviewer Made From 2D Photos

O'Reilly Radar > Everyscape: A 3D Worldviewer Made From 2D Photos:

everyscape

Everyscape aims to be able to show you the whole world -- both inside and out -- from its website. It plans to do this with normal 2D photos. Using proprietary technology Everyscape will stitch these photos together and 3D-ify them. The result is a pan-n-scan world accessible through a Flash viewer.