Fab Lab

This is the closest thing to my dream shop, what I want to do with the rest of my life. A hackerspace  reminds me of the old computer clubs I belonged to when I was a kid. Enthusiastic, nerdy,  fun to be part of, and you learn a bit... but no one took anyone seriously. Metrix, here in Seattle is closer, a damn cool place that does some of what I want, but isn't able to make all the incredible things like Techshop and Fab Labs can.




For me to set up a full fledged Fab Lab the way I picture it in my mind, It would cost a couple hundred thousand dollars.Along with a built in coffee shop, this is my dream.

 Neil Gershenfeld, explains it well in this Ted talk, on what I want to do. He's on my list. (he rambles a bit, but all fascinating stuff, and gets around to fab labs about halfway through)

Robot that changes from wheeled to walking (sort of)

This is so cool. (source) If it follows me home, can I keep it?

real time teleoperation of a robot

From singularity hub, who wrote up a a great article with more videos. And the video originally came from ieespectrum



Now, just the make the robot forty feet tall, put the operator in a Virtual reality hamster ball (inside the robot is optional) and go on a building destroying rampage while monologuing about your plans to control the human race!

Seriously, the really cool part is that the robot can make interactive judgments to maintain balance and complete tasks even when the operator or outside forces would have caused it to crash. It's not following the controllers steps exactly, as that would have caused it to fall over.

Ewan Dobson does a trance song on a guitar

(from wimp)

People ask me what my musical taste is. I'm not sure I have a specific genre, other than clever, skillful, specific to my own interests, or a reminder of the music when  I grew up. Trance music isn't real high on my music choices... but if you made me mutter an expletive while I'm watching the video, you go right to the top. Ewan Dobson has this SKILL.



Candyrat has a lot of  videos of other music too. Looks like this company is well aware that youtube is the future of music

A 3d printed sculpture of YOU for about 90 bucks

step one: take two pictures of yourself, one front, one side.
step two: upload them to THESE people, plus some money.
Step three: wait for your mini-me to come in the mail.

(from Gizmodo)

Make magazine is proposing converting some libraries into techshops. If they do (or even if they don't). I want to run one.

The LinnStrument

via BoingBoing

Roger Linn has been a name in the music industry for a very long time, Prince, Michael Jackson and Gary Numan all used his drum machine to create sounds never heard before. Here is his latest... and I think he's made magic again.


                                                         at about 1:33 he plays something that sounds almost classical.

Dr Steel, Future World Ruler

Dr Steels website outlines much of his plan for world domination. His youtube channel  helps flesh it out a bit. Not to mention his music video's

The Hot Wheels Secret Race Battle (projection mapping)

3d printing with silver... make your own jewelry

From Wired you can now use a cad program to make your own design ( or pick one from their gallery) customize it, and send it in, Shapeways will use their 3d printers to make a wax mold, and cast your design in jewelry quality silver. They then clean it up and mail it to you. It doesn't HAVE to be jewelry, but that's the general idea here. Prices seem based on how much silver is used, how long the print takes, and not very much else.

Khan Academy

He's already on my list. In his own words, he explains why.

The wise men of Gotham (3)

Once upon a time, a traveler had to pass again through the town of Gotham (where the men were as sharp as river stones). He had been this way a few times before, and knew he did not wish to linger. The traveler set his head down and tried hard to stare at his feet as he walked as quickly as he could.  As he walked he heard many cries around him, and was almost successful in ignoring them.


However, as he walked, a townsman saw him. "He can help us!" shouted the man from Gotham, "He's helped us before!" The traveler was quickly surrounded by the people of Gotham.


Unable to continue, the man who was not from Gotham clenched his teeth and said with pain "And what then, is the matter this time?"


"It is the holes! As fast as we fill one in, another appears!" The man who was not from Gotham looked around, and sure enough, there was evidence that many holes had been recently filled. He also quickly spotted a pattern. He held his walking stick with both hands, and counted to twelve under his breath before he asked his next question. "Can you show me then, how you fill in the hole?"


As quick as they could the townsmen filled in the hole. and once again were surprised to see a new hole appear. For each hole they had filled, they had dug another. The man who was not from Gotham then said, with tired resignation. "I can solve this issue for you, if each of you pay me a coin." With that he was promptly handed a sack (as the Gothamites had filled it already). 


"Right then." Said the man who was not from Gotham "This kind of hole must be filled to the top with wet river sand. But the sand has to come from one bucket at a time, taken from many parts of the river" A cheer went up as the Town rushed to the river and quickly loaded bucket after bucket with sand, and poured it all into the most recent hole. And soon the hole was filled. 


The Townsmen looked around, and no new holes were in evidence, and cheered again. They all thanked the traveler (who would someday have a great career in the field of tech support) and payed him a second time. The traveler once again went on his way, slowly shaking his head.

I tell the stories of the wise men of Gotham  to my kids in the car on road trips. These tales have been around for a very long time. 

This fantasy world

I'd have to turn back in my alpha nerd game-masters badge if I didn't post this.

In related news, the doubleclicks are now my newest favorite group.

Social Media Revolution

There's a movement going on, and these people are tracking it.
Army of Davids by Glenn Reynolds  (instapundit)
(conservative)
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow (BoingBoing)
(liberal)
Transparent Society by David Brin (DavidBrin)
(pessimistic)
The Singularity is Near by Ray Kurzweil  (Kurzweilai)
(optimistic)

People may agree or disagree with the social labels I put on these four, but if you read those four books, and check in on the websites once in a while, (using the labels as filters) you will have a fairly solid foundation on at least four ways to see the near future, and a lot of the revolutions and social upheaval in the world will make a lot more sense.

and then there's this.

We may have found fossils from another planet

Dr Richard B Hoover thinks he found fossils on meteorites that would HAVE to be from another planet. From Gizmodo. From DailyIndia, From Yahoo,  From PerthNow, and from The Telegraph... But nothing yet from the New York Times, or Discover, or AP News.... I'm not going to be exited about this just yet... Besides, there is the disturbing thought of the great filter  by Robin Hanson

According to the Great Filter hypothesis at least one of these steps - if the list were complete - must be improbable. If it's not an early step (i.e. in our past), then the implication is that the improbable step lies in our future and our prospects of reaching step 9 (interstellar colonization) are still bleak. If the past steps are likely, then many civilizations would have developed to the current level of the human race. However, none appear to have made it to step 9, or the Milky Way would be full of colonies. So perhaps step 9 is the unlikely one, and the only thing that appears likely to keep us from step 9 is some sort of catastrophe. So by this argument, finding multicellular life on Mars (provided it evolved independently) would be bad news, since it would imply steps 2–6 are easy, and hence only 1, 7, 8 or 9 (or some unknown step) could be the big problem. (from Wikipedia)

(update)
Reuters just picked up the story.

(another update)
Wired is pretty skeptical, with a pretty good argument.

(another update)

Pic of the actual meteorite microbe

kidney printed on 3d printer, during presentation

from next big future... During TedMed (videos's won't be out for a while, but I guarantee I'll blog on it when it comes out) Anthony Atala printed a mold and scaffold that looked like a real kidney from living cells during his presentation... wow. he's on my list.

Turns out it's not a real kidney, we haven't solved all of the problems yet, but we are close to being able to print a surprising number of organs from the patients own cells.



here's the TED



And people wonder why I stopped reading fiction.

Pirate box update

A way to share without even needing to get on the internet.

their main site has a bunch of new tutorials.

3d printing a bicycle

bikemagic

Here's the bbc article.  All the parts for this bicycle were printed out from a 3d printer. This is the very beginning of a post industrial future.

Most lifelike robot yet

THIS is a robot

from Evan Ackerman, who used to be Botjunkie, via slashdot

The Wise men of Gotham (2)

Once upon a time, a man on his way to somewhere else, traveled through the town of Gotham, where the men were as wise as sheep. Even though it was dark outside the traveler had decided not to stay in this town, as he had been this way before, but as he was hurrying through he heard the sounds of men upset and crying. 


Against his better judgment, he looked towards the sound, and saw much of the town gathered around a well, Wailing, holding their heads, and and pacing back and forth. The traveler sighed, knowing he might regret this, but concerned that maybe this time they truly did have a disaster, he approached and asked them what was the matter....


"It's the moon!" shouted one of the men from Gotham, "It has fallen into the well!" The other men nodded in agreement.


At this, the traveler held one hand to his stomach, and rubbing another to his forehead, with eyes closed, and wishing he had some medicinal herbs, he asked them "And how did you discover this?"


"It was I who discovered this, as I went to the well and gathered some water this night, and there, at the bottom of the well, I spied the moon! It may soon drown if we do not rescue it!"


"I.... see." Said the man who was not from Gotham. "I can solve your problem, If each of you pay me a coin." And as quick as can be, a sack was passed around, and all in attendance gladly gave to rescue the moon.


"First gather wood and nails, and the door of that barn over there, and we will cover the well with a roof, so the moon can never fall back in." The Men for Gotham quickly went to task, and under the direction of the traveler, the well had a roof in very little time.


After this was done, the traveler threw a bucket into the well, and drew it up acting with care and precision."Now see, I have rescued the moon from the well." The traveler showed each of the Gothamites in turn the moon in the bucket. Then, with a quick throw, He flung the contents of the bucket into the air, incidentally splashing the bulk of the townsmen. "And there it is," loudly proclaimed the traveler, "The moon is back in the sky!"


The wet but celebrating men from Gotham were so happy to have the moon back in the sky, that they passed a second sack around, paying the man who was not from Gotham again for his help.


And the traveler  (who would someday have a great career in the field of tech support) left the town, slowly shaking his head, as the men from Gotham cavorted and danced.

I tell the stories of the wise men of Gotham  to my kids in the car on road trips. These tales have been around for a very long time.

Anna Graceman, Musical prodigy

she's eleven.












(from Wimp)

They found a big cave on the moon

From Slashdot and the moon society

Great... how soon till we head up there, put a silicon aerogel lining up, fill the whole thing with air, and add a few throw rugs?

webcam social shopper.

Augmented reality using a webcam.

shop online, AND try it on (sort of)

Wise men of Gotham

Once upon a time, in the town of Gotham, where the men were as wise as geese. A traveler passed through. As he traveled through the town, he came across twelve men, upset and crying.
 The man who was not from Gotham  decided against his better judgement (as he had met people from Gotham before) to ask the wailing men what was the matter.
"We have lost one of us in the woods, but we do not know who is missing!" Said one of them, and the others nodded in agreement.
The man who was not from Gotham closed his eyes and held his palm to forehead as he sighed "And how do you know this?"
"Because, before we left, my wife counted us out, and sure enough there were twelve... but now, each of has counted, and only eleven remain... Such a terrible disaster!"
The man who was not from Gotham, head still in hand, glaring at his shoes, asked a question he already knew the answer to. "Could you show me then how you counted?"
And sure enough, he watched as each of the Gotham residents counted out to eleven. and each one forgetting to count themselves. "one two three four five six seven eight nine ten eleven! and each of us has come to this number! But who is it that is missing! Woe is us!"
The traveler then stated. "All right then. If you each pay me a coin, I shall solve your problem." And as quick as can be the Gotham men gathered the requested coin, and presented it to the traveler.
At which point the man who was not from Gotham took his walking stick, and struck each of the Gothamites in turn. "One. Two. Three.Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Eleven. and  here is Twelve!"
The people of Gotham were so pleased that they had found their lost townsman, that they quickly agreed to pay the traveler extra. And as the happy townsmen headed back, the man who was not from Gotham (who would eventually have a great career in tech support) continued on his way, slowly shaking his head while holding his bag of coins. 

I tell the stories of the wise men of Gotham  to my kids in the car on road trips. These tales have been around for a very long time.

Acoustic Levitation

Natsumi Hayashi isn't the only levitation story around.

This is a story about Tibetan monks, using musical instruments, levitating a large stone into its proper place in a wall being constructed. I love the story but do not have any evidence to back it up, nor do I claim it is true... but wow.



This is a Hielscher Ultrasonic device suspending water droplets in mid air.



and this is a demonstration of acoustic levitation I'd turn the sound off... it gets annoying pretty fast.




and of course... there's always Oobleck