3D printing to change our world

I've recently done quite a bit of reading about this technology that mind you has been around for quite a while (as in 20+ years). The process of 3D printing is quite simple. You break down a 3D object into minuscule layers (horizontal cross sections) and you print those one on top of each other starting from the very bottom of the object and moving all the way to the very top. Suddenly you find yourself with a fully functional 3 dimentional object made of whatever material went into the printer.

3D printing has long been used for prototyping, or making mini replicas of an object to help designers visualize what they have in mind when it goes to manufacturing. But like the PC 40 years ago, these special printers were quite expensive and production was very limited. However the PC became ubiquitous and with that came the age of the internet both of which revolutionized our world (on all fronts: business, economy, social...).

The cost of 3D printer has been rapidly decreasing and with the lowering of prices more and more people will be able to afford them. Then it's only a matter of time before people begin using them at home in their basement grow their own products using 3D designs that they found on the internet. the article below goes into more details on some of the implications, and I also added a few links to other articles on the topic.

If you were to go to google trends and type 3D printing you would get this http://www.google.com/trends/viz?q=3D+printing&graph=weekly_img&sa=N

Notice how the number of articles published on the topic has been on the rise. Usually that's a good indicator that something is happening. I would keep my eye out on this tech, as it could indeed usher a revolution similar to what the PC and the Web did.

A great article about how 3D printing will change the way we acquire products and how it will impact the world economy

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/jamais-cascio/open-future/material-issue

How Jay Leno uses it to make old car parts.

http://gizmodo.com/5311414/jay-leno-uses-3d-printer-to-replace-rare-old-car-parts

3D printing using stainless steel

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/08/04/the-future-of-fabrication-is-here-shapeways-announces-stainless-steel-printing/

What Philips think about how we'll consume food in 2030

http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/cliff-kuang/design-innovation/food-2030-printed-demand-crafted-your-diet

Who needs wires

This is another article along the lines of using radio frequencies.  I can see a future with little to no wires for us.  Combine a better way to acquire signals with wireless electricity technology seen in articles such as this one and you can quickly see that we will finally be free from the mess of wires that encumber our homes and offices.

RF signal processors are pretty commonplace in consumer electronics. Which is exactly why it's exciting that two MIT researchers have created a super-radio based around the function of the human ear that's substantially faster and 100x more power efficient than today's signal processors.

The inner ear is able to take in all the noise in a surrounding area, and adapt how it processes the sound accordingly. Gizmag says that in a similar fashion, the RF Cochlea is able to analyze a wide range of frequencies, and maximize how it routes data for maximum bandwidth and minimal power consumption. In testing, these designs have been faster than anything they've ever seen before.

What this means for the rest of us is the development of faster, smarter radios for signals such as television channels, cellphones, wi-fi, etc... These "smart radios" could not only take unused bandwidth from one application and put it to work in another, but they could also learn to avoid certain frequencies based on the radio waves in their current location. The end result would be stronger, clearer wireless signals.

The researchers also think it would be possible to commercialize this technology within a couple of years, if someone was so motivated. I like that. [Gizmag]

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Test post from Flock

I just found out about this new application called flock that gathers all of your social networking tools into a single application.  We'll see how well it works for me.

If you want to try it out for yourself, just go to http://flock.com/

Blogged with the Flock Browser

From Social Media to Social Meduim

Have you ever heard of the saying that if you throw enough people at it you'll find a solution? OK, don't quote me on that quote since I'm not sure how it goes, but it's sayings like these that come to my mind when I hear about new business models based on crowdsourcing.

Business:
Here are two examples of companies that basically make a living off of such an idea:
Quirky and Zoybar. I really believe that there is something to be said about this kind of business model, it really seems to tap into the psyche of the newer generation that wants to have a voice in the products that are made.

Connecting:
Two newsworthy things I would like to share. First of all Facebook has finally flipped the switch on last week and the rush to personalized urls has begun. I was able to snatch mine at http://www.facebook.com/jonathan.m.crow. Stumbled on a neat little blog post about how cellphones are changing our behaviors. I thought it would be worth reading. You can find it here

Entertainment:
With the E3 hype having gone by, I went back to crawling my feeds for something interesting. I was surprised to hear of the announcement from Turbine that they were taking Dungeons & Dragons Online to a free to play model. It's not something you hear of everyday, but after reading a recent article on why they did it.

Miscellaneous:
Looks like google docs is getting some competition, and it's not an unknown brand. check out Acrobat's new site here https://acrobat.com/#/cpdf/CreatePDFBegin

Onward we go...

So now that I've decided to impose some structure on myself I will do my best to also be more regular at the task of recording my findings... Yes, I know we've heard this before, but hey it doesn't hurt to say it again. Eventually it'll stick.

1. Environment: Nothing as of yet Except for an article in engadget indicating that while GM is going through with Ch11 Bankruptcy, this should not impact their production and plans for the Chevy Volt.

2. Connecting: Juicy stuff on Facebook; a great article at Fast Company on Pay with Facebook and some of the implications of such a move. Another article on the future of journalism. And yet another article on a new social network designed to help people with product development. You can check the site directly at http://www.quirky.com/

Wow, this section keeps on getting bigger! This is an interesting article from Wired on Twitter and how it could change the landscape of "quantum thought", as in the expression of fleeting thoughts and moments.

3. Entertainment: only one thing to say about this section so far and that is E3! This is the place for anything that has to do with electronics and entertainment, and it's all happening this week. I'm sure there will be some juicy things to come. Speaking of new things to come... Check out Microsoft Project Natal which recognizes you and any motions you do. The video on the blog shows a host of various applications of the Natal technology.

4. Miscellaneous: I knew I'd find something interesting and quirky for this section. Take a look at this article about a new kind of eyeglass that could be controlled by your eyes.

Slow process

OK, bare with me as I try to slowly come into something of worth. I realize that so far, I haven't been very consistent with not only my postings, but my topics.

I've decided to try and add a little structure to my meanderings. Not too much, since it would defeat the whole purpose of calling this a meandering, but enough that if anyone including myself decide to go back and read this stuff, they (and I) would be able to make some sense out of it.

So, in order to impose a little structure I will try to have sections to each of my postings. So far, I've been able to identify 4 sections that fit into my meanderings:

1. Environment: Anything and everything that has to do with the environment, and the preserving of it. It often revolves around technologies that make use of alternative energies to power devices, vehicles, buildings... as well as new sources of energy that could help reduce our dependance on fossil fuels.

2. Connecting: Any technologies, that enable people to share thoughts, ideas, emotions, feelings, or allows them to simply express themselves as individuals would fit into this category. Coverage ranges from actual technology (such as cellphones, netbooks, WIMAX...), to services and applications (such as Facebook, Twitter, Flikr...).

3. Entertainment: This section could very well fit into the connecting part since such a large portion of entertainment involves others. But I felt like it needed it's own section, so for now, I'll keep it separate. Coverage would range from hardware used for entertainment to softwares people use and/or simply activities that are becoming more common at the time.

4. Miscellaneous: Every list somehow is not complete with an "other" bucket. I inevitbly run into some stuff that makes me go WOW this is just plain interesting! For example, I've seen a lot of stuff in the pipeline around the area of medical tech that I believe iwll have a significant impact on how people approach healthcare and taking care of themselves. I could create a medical field bucket, but somehow I don't always have something of interest in this area, so for now it's better to leave it in the miscellaneous section.

So there you have it! 4 sections for our eyes to feast on. It's entirely possible that some of these section will read, "Nothing new of interest, better luck next time!" or something of the sort. That, of course, is the point of me meandering as oppose to hunting down relentlessly a single topic. Plus, it kind of fits my style of research.

Cutting cost...

So lately, my wife and have been thinking about getting serious about paying off our credit card, and one of the things that came out of this was a decision to reduce unnecessary expenditures.  My sacrifice on that front was to no longer pay to play online, and thus I delved into the vast realm of free to play MMOs.  I've had experience with games such as Diablo I & II and Guild Wars where you pay to buy the game and then get to play the game for free (OK you had to pay for some of the Guild Wars expansions, which I never did), and have enjoyed those for a time.  In the past I've even explored games like Shaiya, and Last Chaos, which were free to play MMORPGs.

But recently I stumbled upon another free to play MMORPG that caught my attention because it was touted as a WOW clone and included features like dual classes, player housing, mounts and public encouters.

So two weeks ago I decided to go ahead and download the game and give it a chance.  I will post later some of the feedback I have to give about the game, but by now you are probably wondering which game I am referring to, so without further ado here's the name...

Runes of Magic

Check it out, if you haven't.  You may be pleasantly surprised.