What Peter Jackson doesn’t do, he has someone else do. However, when Peter Jackson wants it done right, he doesn’t outsource his work. He simply starts his own studio and takes control. Meet WETA.

What’s important about WETA is that they’re getting their hand in all the big productions these days. After the raving success of The Lord of the Rings, Jackson and his massive crew of creative 3D artists became magnets to the industry. Since then, they’ve worked on feature films such as King Kong, I Robot, and Van Helsing. What’s more is the list of things to come. Projects like the acclaimed Microsoft game Halo will be turned into a movie. WETA is also working on the sequel to the Chronicles of Narnia, titled “Prince Caspian”.

In process of expanding the toolset at their grasp, WETA recently announced a licensing of new graphics technology from Microsoft. According to sources, the SIGGRAPH 2007 conference brought these new technologies to light for the team at WETA. Citing that the tools could speed their development process as well as improve upon what they already have at their disposal, WETA developers will be able to improve upon their creative process. If only we could see another from the Lord of the Rings series… the Hobbit maybe?

As for what this means, it means we’ll be able to see WETA get their hands dirty a bit more. While not directing, Jackson takes on projects with WETA to keep in the movie game. While there’s nothing really just over the hill for Jackson himself, we can expect that the forthcoming productions for the digital graphics company will only bolster Jackson’s clout.

I was wondering to myself what makes a costume great. For most people it’s the frills, buttons, accessories, authenticity, and whatever else you can add to make it look like it took a lot of work. Frankly, these top 5 simple costumes prove that less truly is more.

5. T-Shirt Ninja - Just Google these words and there are pages that teach you how to do this. It reminds me a lot of making T-Shirt Bikinis when I was a kid. It doesn’t matter who you are, t-shirt ninja masks are always a good option.

4. Shower - Pretty Simple huh? Get some PVC pipe, a shower curtain, a shower head, and figure out how to hoist it up. Well, maybe not as easy as others… but I’d go to the small amount of trouble to be a shower any day.

3. Napoleon Dynamite - Those Vote for Pedro shirts are everywhere. I guess the hardest part to pull off will be the ratty golden locks and the drained face look. I don’t know what dreams Jon Heder had at night to inspire him to make that movie, but the costumes were classics. If only we could get a Liger outfit.

2. Naked Cowboy - Despite the very minimalist approach here, Naked Cowboy does be sure to sport some pretty flamboyant gear. If you manage to divert your eyes from the disbelief of his nakedness, you’ll notice some hideously decorated boots and a hat. Not to mention the fact that he desecrated a perfectly nice guitar with some cheesiness. In the end, there’s hardly anyone in New York who doesn’t know Naked Cowboy.

1. Blue Man - I always wondered just how hard it is for these guys to get all blue. I’m sure there’s work involved. Despite that, the costume is about as simple as it gets, completely effective, and a mark of pop culture. That’s why Blue Man makes our number 1 spot.

“there are three jihadi terrorists registered and two elite jihadist terrorist groups in Second Life and they use the site for recruiting and training. This is on top of the Second Life Liberation Army. “

In light of the Second Life comment I made earlier, I thought I’d address this current news story that’s abuzz in the virtual world space. According to articles located in Slashdot, P2Pnet, and other techie news sources these virtual worlds like Second Life are becoming a hotbed for terrorist groups to train and enable sympathetics to become recruited.

As opinions shoot back and forth, I have to wonder what the other groups think about this. By other groups I mean people who use Second Life for profit and positive interaction. The real world implications are vast, but is there any way for people to stop this kind of open, virtual world extremism? There has already been a case of “virtual terrorism” in Second Life recently in efforts to make a point. But what happens when these issues cross over into the real world?

Real World Control over A Fake Environment

I mean no harm in saying fake, but in comparison to what life really is, Second Life is an alternate reality. As such is the case, how do you police a virtual world? As it stands, the debate over Internet governance weighs so heavily in favor of total decentralization that it would mean the same thing. Having any kind of policing in a world like Second Life would indicate that some form of government would have to exist. Who would this government be? Is Linden Labs responsible for not only governing the technological implementation and advancement, but also the social behavior of its residents?

And that’s not the end of the problem either. At this point the biggest draw to Second Life has been its free and open format. It allows people to access and do whatever they want, within the technical limitations of the environment. This culture has developed so far that any truncation of “virtual rights” would alienate the users as a whole. How would Linden Labs or anyone else ever enforce restrictions? How true are these allegations anyway?

Behind a Virtual Mask

This isn’t the first time that things like this have popped up about terrorism on the Internet. Terrorist groups have been known to assemble on the Internet as a form of cheap and effective communication. We have such a hard time cracking down on kids taking the new Avril Lavigne song, so it makes sense that extremists see this crack in the armor as a chance to exploit and promote their ideals.

So what does this say about people using the Internet to mask who they are and be something else? The virtual community provides so much positive and forward thinking but also engenders some of these large problems? Does this anonymity lend more to negativity than it does to progress and positive global thinking?

It’s a shame that there are a few that ruin it for the whole, but issues like these don’t go unnoticed. As the electronic frontier gets pushed further into unrecognizable territory, opponents speak out more in defense to the electronic community. Yet, the modern rush doesn’t slow down. Government leaders all over are petitioning for a stranglehold on these technologies in order to regulate just how much of this extreme information gets tossed around. On the other hand, the people speak out against government in defense of their rights. Techies are typically afraid that ulterior motives propel governments to seize large scale communication rights for their own gain.

As for you and I, how do we maintain the right to participate and live anonymously with strangers? Is there ever going to be a way to facilitate positive global communication with strangers without the demons inside coming out of the small minority who want to use it for negative gain?

“‘Manga is an international language,’ said Michio Oguri, the chairman of the fifth annual event which is being held in the central Japanese city of Nagoya this weekend.”

Tokyo culture is ever trickling down into the United States and Western Europe. This time I’m referring to their cosplay culture. Though still widely seen here as a bit “nerdy”, anybody who’s anybody joins in the cosplay fun in Japan. Call it their own little Halloween. And that kind of infective growth does seem to take hold on the western side as well. It’s only a matter of time before we’ve all dressed up to honor our favorite movie and TV franchises.

According to this Reuters news article, fans just gathered in numbers for a big Cosplay Summit in Japan. Notably, many different nationalities showed up to represent their favorite anime, manga, and video games. One young mexican girl states “Becoming an anime character is like being in a dream”. We give recognition to her for representing the mission of Second Skin.

The fun is in the creation. It’s one thing to just show up in a costume you already have. But taking the time to build one from scratch and make an accurate representation takes real talent. Almost like an alternative sport, cosplayers like to show off and compete in costume contests to prove their creativity and dedication.

We love this stuff, and we hope to see more of it. Send us pictures of any cosplay stuff you may have to our email and we’ll post it.