But now, according to EA, EA Land will allow players to make their own things.

Note: My wife now works at Second Life publisher Linden Lab.

One of the major reasons why TSO never took off is that it really didn’t give players very much opportunity to create their own content. And that was particularly frustrating to many players, because The Sims creator Will Wright had promised that TSO would offer open content creation.

It’s probably too early to tell how EA Land will do, but I do have to say that it’s unfortunate EA couldn’t come up with a better name.

That means, of course, that there will continue to be–as there was in TSO–a functioning economy. But because players will be able to make more content, that economy could, in theory, have more complexity and depth than that of TSO.

In fact, there are, to this day, whole communities of people in Second Life and There.com that began in TSO.

(Credit:
Electronic Arts)

And while TSO, as it came to be known, never got the massive audiences of its single-player antecedent, The Sims–which came out of nowhere to become the best-selling PC game of all time–it did usher in and initiate a lot of people to virtual worlds.

“Like in the original Sims game, the goal is to let you customize the game completely,” EA wrote in a note to former TSO subscribers, “but in EA Land, you can see and buy the customizations of the other players.”

Born as The Sims Online, it will now be called EA Land.

This is a rather momentous move by EA, since it means it is bringing back from the dead–at least as far as perception goes–a game that, while it never really got off the ground, was extremely important in the overall development curve of 3D social virtual worlds with economies.

On Monday, Electronic Arts announced ‘EA Land,’ the latest iteration of ‘The Sims Online,’ an online version of its massive hit, ‘The Sims.’ However, ‘The Sims Online’ never achieved much success and became overshadowed by other online virtual worlds with economies.

My guess is that EA Land will have a hard time making too much of a dent in the virtual world space. That’s partly because it is hard to see exactly where it fits into the mix. Second Life is well established, though it does not have a huge audience; There.com also has a substantial audience; and then there are the kids’ virtual worlds, such as Habbo Hotel, Club Penguin, and the like.

For anyone familiar with The Sims Online, the poorly-received virtual world launched by Electronic Arts in 2002, take note: EA is relaunching it under a new name and for a new price: free.

Open-source venture funding strikes me as a very good idea. It’s a chance to smooth some of the rough edges of an idea long before you attempt to put your business plan into practice. Commenting on Cuban’s idea, start-up consultant Mark DeWalle notes that “in a network-based culture, it doesn’t work to operate with lots of secrecy. Access to information is shifting the competitive paradigm of business from the idea to the execution.” He’s absolutely right.

You must post your business plan here on my blog, where I expect other people can and will comment on it. I also expect that other people will steal the idea and use it elsewhere. That is the idea. Call this an open-source funding environment.

Start by open-sourcing your business plan. Then open-source your software too.

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While some entrepreneurs seek to protect their ideas with nondisclosure agreements, investor Mark Cuban has a different idea: open-source your business plan.

Mark Cuban

What does this mean? As Cuban explains, it means that start-ups should openly post their business plans online. Yes, this means that a competitor could take a plan and run with it, but given that the quality of execution often differs markedly from the quality of an idea, the risk may be lower than you think.

Actually, most businesses thrive on sweat equity, not intellectual property. Google? There were a range of other search engines available before Google started. Yes, PageRank arguably gave it a technical advantage, but execution (uncluttered search page) made Google what it is. If we were merely concerned by the quality of the search itself, Microsoft and Yahoo would have much better market share than they do.

Much love,
The Macalope

A sampling of
green-tech news with quick commentary.

The greenest laptop computers–MetaEfficient Reviews
It also listed the greenest desktop PCs this week.
Suniva and Solon announce supply contract worth more than $500 million–press release
Big endorsement of solar start-up Suniva, which was spun off from Georgia Tech earlier this year.

(Credit:
Mobile Fun)

Solar-powered case for iPhone 3G–Mobile Fun
Looks cool, but won’t it make the device really hot?
Clean tech: One sector is bucking global economic blues–WSJ.com
New numbers show big solar and second-generation biofuels still getting the most money. Dark clouds are the iffy IPO market and a potential drop in oil prices.
National labs help DOE strive for zero-net energy commercial buildings–GreenBiz.com
Putting more meat into the goal of having zero-net buildings by 2025.
The 10 wackiest Greentech ideas–Greentech Media
This is how you know we’re in a period of creative foment.
Hybrids gain a voice–Greentech Media
Lotus Engineering finds a way to make hybrids noisier, which may become a divisive issue.
Nissan’s Eco Pedal pushes for better mileage–Earth2Tech

In tandem with new car announcements, Nissan said it will have Eco Pedal feature in
cars in 2009, which shows drivers how to drive more fuel efficiently.
Paris Hilton responds to McCain ad–Funny or Die
Poolside Paris Hilton creates a hybrid of John McCain’s and Barack Obama’s energy policies.
Better batteries charge up–Technology Review
A reality check on EEStor, which claims a breakthrough in energy storage. It already has electric car maker Zenn and Lockheed-Martin as potential customers.

PHOENIX–Yahoo executives speaking at an online ad conference on Monday were mum on Microsoft’s takeover attempt, but were quick to tease a new feature, due out this week, on their home page–a feature that could be their rumored competitor to social news aggregator Digg.

In his first public appearance since Yahoo’s board snubbed Microsoft’s takeover bid, Yahoo Chief Executive Jerry Yang gave the keynote speech at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s annual meeting in Phoenix. Yahoo President Sue Decker came with him to talk about the company’s advertising business.

“Obviously I think we can’t say a whole lot about the (attempted acquisition) process we’re going through. Everybody has read about everything we’re doing so there’s not much more to add,” Yang said when asked during a question-and-answer session following his keynote speech.

Yang said he has been spending a lot of time with the board and “key constituents” discussing the proposal, and executives want to make sure that “where Yahoo goes is the right place” for customers, employees, and shareholders.

“We’re taking this proposal Microsoft has submitted to us very seriously. We’ve made a public statement about why we have not accepted the proposal given that it undervalues” Yahoo, he added. “It’s been a galvanizing event for all of us at Yahoo…I think Yahoo is a very unique asset. I’m a little biased.”

Relying on the same talking points, Decker said the Microsoft move had been a “galvanizing force and a catalyst” for the company, and admitted that the company had spent the past few years playing “catch up” on its search algorithm and search advertising.

Before the keynote address, Yang casually talked to attendees about becoming a father again (his wife is pregnant with a girl) and telling CNET News.com that he couldn’t comment on the Microsoft situation.

Meanwhile, Decker was suffering from a cold, a Yahoo spokesman said later. That would explain why she seemed out of breath during the keynote and coughed loudly during the Q&A session.

Susan Decker

(Credit:
Yahoo)

Digg rival due this week?
Decker did light up when talking about innovative products Yahoo is working on in the shadow of the Microsoft takeover bid.

There will be an announcement this week “on our home page where we have already been opening it up to third-party publishers…and refreshing it,” she said. “It allows us to surface the very best content on the Web.”

Decker didn’t provide more details, but chances are the announcement will be related to Yahoo Buzz, a buzz tracker for items chosen by readers, similar to Digg and Reddit, but also items people search for on Yahoo and the company’s network of publishers.

Decker also assured Web publishers that online ad networks and exchanges, like Yahoo’s Right Media, won’t commoditize ad inventory but will instead make online advertising more efficient.

“We see the exchanges as a critical part of the broader platform, driving openness and scale,” she said. “If we can decrease the friction out of the process, it should only increase the yield for publishers because that creates value for marketers.”

Later in the day a Microsoft executive said his company was still very excited about the possibility of merging with Yahoo.

“I don’t know if I can add a lot that is new. We continue to believe it would be a great combination,” Brian McAndrews, senior vice president of advertiser and publisher solutions group at Microsoft, said in a Q&A session. “Combined, we will be able to compete much better with Google.”

Asked to comment on concerns that combining the second and third players in the search advertising market would create a duopoly with too much control in too few hands, McAndrews said that would be better than a monopoly. “You want two; you don’t need more than two,” he said.

Revamped AppleTV that’s App Store compatible - Give the AppleTV a
Wii Remote-like controller and it’s ready to bring Super MonkeyBall to the world.

Let’s ignore the fact that Apple’s sold more iPhones and iPods touch (”iPod touches” just sounds wrong) than Apple TVs so Super Monkey Ball already reaches a wider audience. And let’s also ignore the fact that this doesn’t completely describe a transition to a lower-margin product. Instead, let’s run with the remote controller idea. Because the remote controller is already in your hand.

It’s the
iPhone and the
iPod touch. Both have the accelerometer and already act as a menu remote with Apple’s Remote app. Rolling out the App Store to the Apple TV is a fabulous idea that could really add legs to an otherwise average device. Upscale the graphics and you’re good to go. Game makers can create their own remote applications, allowing them to configure the buttons any way they like. Sure, there are some problems with that. Games may be a very good example of an instance where a physical button can be the difference between virtual life or death (”I thought I was pressing ‘fire’ and instead I was pressing ‘night vision goggles’.”), but the screen real estate on the iPhone and iPod touch is expansive enough that large virtual buttons could make up for this.

This is all pie-in-the-sky at this point. Maybe the product transition is an Apple TV/iPod touch bundle. Maybe it’s lowering the cost of the iPod touch to where it’s viably priced as a remote control.

More likely it’s none of these things, but if Apple isn’t going in this direction, maybe it should be.

Google programmer Finnur Thorarinsson formally marked the RSS support issue as “started” on Wednesday, though the feature is disabled for now.

“The first part of this has been implemented and checked in,” Thorarinsson said, referring to the part that discovers when RSS feeds are available on a Web site. The feature is disabled for now, though, because the second part, which will produce a page that lets people actually subscribe to the feed, isn’t yet available, he said in his comment about Chrome’s RSS support.

When Chrome debuted in September, many often basic features available in rival browsers were missing. Google has been working feverishly to add them, though. A total of 250 people flagged RSS support as being an issue of interest, second only to the Chrome extensions, which 725 people flagged.

Google is working on extensions, too, which will let people customize the browser with features such as ad blocking. Extensions are a popular selling point with
Firefox, the second most popular browser after Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

Earlier this week, Google programmer Aaron Boodman published a how-to guide for writing Chrome extensions. “Right now extensions can only really contain content scripts, so that is all this doc covers. But we’ll be expanding it over time as more features develop,” Boodman said in an e-mail announcement of the how-to document.

The document caught the attention of another Googler–Matt Cutts, who oversees Google’s efforts to screen Web spam out of search results but who also blogs more broadly. “I’m sure the Chrome team is thinking about ways to add more functionality to extensions, but the current developer version of Chrome already lets you do a lot of neat things,” Cutts said in a blog post about using the Chrome extensions framework.

Boodman, though, followed up with a note of caution in a blog post of his own that said Cutts jumped the gun. “There’s not much to see yet,” he said. “We’re working on more toys, and you can bet we’ll start blogging when there’s something to play with. But not… quite… yet.”

If you work for a company with more than 1,000 employees in Brazil, the chances are overwhelming that your employer uses open source. Instituto Sem Fronteiras, a Brazilan research firm, surveyed 1,000 companies in late 2007 to figure out the rate and depth of open-source adoption, and discovered that 73 percent of companies with more than 1,000 employees use open source.

It also found that desktop open-source adoption increased 12.4 percent in 2007 by those already using it, while 53 percent still have yet to discover open source on the desktop. Apparently those that have been using it have liked the experience.

Why are these companies using open source? It’s largely a matter of cost:

As a possible reason for these companies’ interest in open source software, the Institute cited the ability to deploy lower cost platforms that can reduce costs, including reducing costs of security. Additionally, open source technology now has a track record of solid performance that makes adoption easier….

Cost and performance. That’s a pretty potent combination. Mardi Gras has got nothing on open source for excitement.

Correction: Representatives of the The Filter say the April 9 launch date in their correspondence to CNET News.com was inaccurate. The site is due to launch later in the April.

UPDATE 1:45 P.M.:
Peter Gabriel, the Grammy-winning recording artist and technology innovator, is scheduled to help launch The Filter, a music-discovery service in April.

Peter Gabriel will help launch The Filter

(Credit:
Petergabriel.com)

The Filter, Gabriel and the company’s CEO, David Roberts, will meet with members of the press in San Francisco on April 9th as part of the run up to the launch later that month. The company says that the site will launch with features that go beyond music discovery.

The Filter is designed to filter irrelevant material and deliver content that reflects an individual’s tastes. The company started in the UK as a music discovery service, but a representative said what is being launched next month is a very different platform, which she labeled an “online discovery experience.”

The service will recommended songs, videos, literature, and news based on a user’s existing digital library. Gabriel will unveil more details about the new iteration of The Filter closer to the launch next month.

Executives at The Filter also say their algorithm can make recommendations that cut across different entertainment platforms. Say, for example, you like film director Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, The Filter can suggest certain music based on that.

Gabriel and Eden Ventures invested $5 million in The Filter in August. According to an August story in the British publication The Independent, The Filter, developed by U.K.-based company Exabre, can identify about 5 million songs.

A former member of Genesis, Gabriel is perhaps best known for his classic album So. He has also been an innovator in digital media, developing multimedia CD-ROM-based games, including Xplora.

Twitter will give your business wings, or at the very least, it will send along some cute cartoon birds to carry your briefcase for you.

(Credit:
Twitter)

Twitter’s home page definitely gets some Zen cred by consisting of little more than a text field that asks, “What are you doing?” But that’s apparently about to change.

According to Kara Swisher at AllThingsD, there will very soon be a major revamp to Twitter.com.

The reason is to give potential Twitter users–you know, the ones who are curious about what these “tweets” on CNN are–a better idea of exactly what the service is and what they can do with it.

This is slated to launch next week.

“You can try (Twitter) out without having to sign up, so you can get an idea of what Twitter is before you use it,” Twitter co-founder Biz Stone told AllThingsD. “We need to do a better job of explaining ourselves to people who hear about us and then have no idea what do to.”

Part of this has gone live already: a section called “Twitter 101,” geared toward businesses that want to use the microblogging service for publicity, marketing, or customer relations. Co-founder Biz Stone announced this in a blog post on Thursday evening.

“We coordinated with business students and writers to surface some interesting findings, best practices, steps for getting started, and case studies,” Stone wrote. “The results demonstrate how customers are getting value out of Twitter and suggest techniques businesses can employ to enhance that value.”

This is important because of troubling (albeit unofficial) statistics that Twitter’s ubiquity may be fleeting. The majority of new users reportedly don’t stick around, and third-party studies have found that a small number of active members are responsible for the vast majority of “tweets.”

Getting a “real” home page could also be key for future revenue opportunities on Twitter’s end. The site is so lightweight that many avid users rarely access it at all, instead using third-party clients like Twhirl or TweetDeck. For Twitter, which still doesn’t have a head of sales, getting people back to its homepage could be the first step in making a buck or two off it.