In June, the online, 3-D utopian sprawl called Alphaworld appeared doomed to fade into a virtual ghost town. When Alphaworld software developer Worlds Inc. was forced to sell out, the more than 110,000 cyberarchitects who colonized this virtual sphere found themselves lost in cyberspace. But lucky for them, Alphaworld resident and independent contractor Rick Noll and Worlds Inc. modeler Danny Viascas decided to play virtual Donald Trumps and max out their credit cards to buy Alphaworld. "People view these homes as their possessions," says Noll. "This would have destroyed an awesome technology and torn apart our community." Their new San Diego-based company, Circle of Fire Studios Inc., now sells the software for people to build their own worlds. In just a few months, the community has exploded into its own universe with 160 new worlds, and the company has secured partnerships with bigwigs such as Boeing and Philips.
ELECTRIC WORD
New World Reorder
