ReadWriteWeb

While the rest of the world was caught up with Google Buzz, Apple was quietly granted a patent for a virtual reality App Store. The store patent encompasses details such as seasonal and time-based lighting, color schemes and a basic storefront representation. A few bloggers have already criticized the patent as a relic from SecondLife past, the store may have more use when we consider it in the context of the XBox Live marketplace.

Six years after creating Second Life, Philip Rosedale announced that he would be focusing on a new project. Shrouded in mystery, the Linden Chairman and fellow Lindenite Ryan Downe began work in October on Love Machine Inc. Said Rosedale in today's blog post, "Yes, we are working on making a version of the Linden Lab LoveMachine (and some other tools too)...hopefully we can sell [this] to some companies and help them out." ReadWriteWeb sought to answer the immortal question - What is love?

When it first launched, the tech and business worlds were transfixed on Linden Labs' Second Life as a new marketplace. Science fiction fans flocked to the site for its Snow Crash and Matrix-like neo-apocalyptic feel. And finally, educators arrived to build inexpensive and immersive learning environments. While the hype has certainly dissipated with Second Life, the librarian and educator community remains. Today Linden announced the first statewide roll out of a virtual learning environment. Funded by a grant from the University of Texas State's Transforming Undergraduate Education Program the company will provide a huge space for faculty, students and researchers to explore a virtual undergrad degree program.

After selling Last Minute to Travelocity, Alexis Bonte developed an obsession with Sid Meier's strategy game Civilization. Bonte played so often, that his wife began to complain. He jokes that he partnered with George Lemnaru to started eRepublik Labs and the eRepublik game in order to satiate his gaming appetite through work. The company officially launched in time to win the 2007 Le Web awards.

eRepublik is a multi-player online strategy game where members interact as citizens of one of 60 countries. More than 125,000 active users sign in on a daily basis to work, join the military, form political parties, launch newspapers and in some cases, wage wars. Just last week the Iranian president was impeached. Meanwhile, last month Russia was invaded and Indonesian users hosted the game's largest real-world meet up.

Google Latitude is out, giving your friends the ability to tell where you are (or at least where your mobile phone is) 24/7. You can, of course, opt out in whole or in part - updating your location manually, or concealing it altogether. Which should prevent certain awkward conversations ("If that's my mother, tell her I'm not here!")... but maybe at the expense of triggering others ("Exactly why weren't you on Latitude tonight while you were 'working late'?").

Umair Haque is a smart guy. He studied neuroscience at McGill, did an MBA and econ/strategy research with Gary Hamel at London Business School, and began working towards a PhD in strategy and innovation at Oxford in 2004. He also founded Bubblegeneration, a consultancy that studies the economics of consumer-facing industries. Haque is now the Director of the Havas Media Lab, which advises entrepreneurs, investors, and firms with "craft, and drive radical management, business model, and strategic innovation." He also thinks Web 2.0 is full of crap.