3D On The Web. Cheap!!!

Len Bullard is an old-school authority on 3D standards. He has lots to say about 3D worlds such as Second Life, as well as corporate experiments and investments in 3D technologies. Unexpected diversions abound, ranging from a rant on OOXML to a demonstration of his songwriting abilities.

Highlights

— VRML Meant Self-Hosted Worlds. Qui bono?: "Talk community as much as you like. Use all the classical arguments of objectivism vs communal obligation. It will come down to the company offering the service, the terms, your willingness and ability to litigate and their willingness and ability to contest your litigation. "

— Second Life Slows Down: "Yes, they now have competitors. See the history of Las Vegas for analogies."

BeyondVC

Ed Sim has been in the private equity business since the first Web wave, and his breadth of knowledge and experience shows. Updates are infrequent, but his insights into entrepreneurship, the roles of VCs, social networking tools, and other Web trends are invaluable.

Highlights

— Social networking and ads — who's paying attention?: "I remember one of our portfolio companies in the early days of the web had automated bots for instant messaging where we could insert ads into the stream of conversation. ... People just did not care. They were on the system to IM not to view ads."

Bubblegeneration

Expressing contrarian views of Internet technologies and the Internet economy can be a blood sport, but Umair Haque frames his debates so skilfully that even his detractors are forced to give him props. Be sure to read the Bubblegen comment threads — pure gold.

Highlights

— A Wake Up Call For The Venturescape: "Today's crop of VCs are nice guys - but fast being corporatized: comfortable in their myopia, highly risk-averse, cronied into each other, and, unfortunately, totally out of tune with the problems they should be solving."

— Google, The Macropocalypse, and Rethinking Strategy: "By doing good — killing domain tasting — Google takes a very real short run hit: but massively amplifies the long-run health and vibrance of the ecosystem."