Second Life has been witness to a furore of protest over the last day or so, providing an interesting insight into intellectual property issues in a digital world. An in-world script called ‘CopyBot’ was doing the rounds, making it possible for any user to exactly duplicate an item from another’s inventory. Given that a number of people make a (meatspace) living by selling their SL designs, this provoked outcry and protests until developers Linden Labs announced that using CopyBot would be considered a TOS breach. What is most interesting is the diversity of attitudes among residents regarding the situation, as indicated by this comment thread.

Wouldn’t it be excellent if we could get rid of the countless proprietary chargers that our gadgets come with, in favour of one simple device that could charge them all without the need for plugs and cables? Of course it would, which means that an MIT boffin is on to a winner if he can get his ‘evanescent coupling‘ idea off the ground.

If Baghdad is an indication, failed states will see macabre innovation in the bureaucracy of death. Mobile morgues and tattooed dog tags. [digg]

William McDonough’s proposed green skyscraper deliberately emulates a tree: it, “makes oxygen, distills water, produces energy and changes with the seasons.” Nothing in this design is impossible, it’s “state of the shelf,” (in other words, the technology exists but might be too expensive for practicality).

The Technology Review reports that systems for concentrating and harnessing solar power are becoming cheaper. Fresnel lenses and mirrors allow a solar plant to take up less real estate, and more efficient silicon wafers turn more of the captured sunlight into power. [slashdot]