mat-fab:

mat-fab:

April 20, 2012

Solidoodle was started in September 2011. The Solidoodle 3D Printer, designed by Sam Cervantes who worked for General Electric for four years in his early career. Later he helped design the Mosiac 3D printer for MakerGear and started selling his own 3D printer, Solidoodle.

The Solidoodle is a fully assembled and tested 3D printer with simple and home-use design. Most of the functional parts are laser-cut wood, and the whole system is enclosed in an attractive sheet metal case. The Solidoodle 1st Generation had a price tag of $699 with build size 4x4x4”, which was the least expensive, fully-assembled 3D printer available and even cheaper than most kits.

At NY Tech Day yesterday Solidoodle launched their new Solidoodle 2. The prices for this pre-assembled 3D printer series with a larger 6x6x6” (152x152x152mm) build area start at $499. This is the printer for people who just want to plug it in, feed in the filament, and start printing.

The new Solidoodle 2nd Generation 3D Printer has a durable metal frame that a 200lb man can literally stand on top of the machine while it’s printing.

Solidoodle requires you to install some software on your host computer before you can use your Solidoodle 3D printer, such as the Arduino Drivers, Python, Skeinforge and Prongerface software, but starting from 2nd Generation you don’t need to configure Skeinforge anymore. “Your printer has a limit switch on the platform and will home to the top. The first layer height is adjustable via a set screw on the inside rear panel of the printer.”

Other tech specs:
Uses 1.75mm plastic filament (ABS recommended)
11.5” x 11.75x 11.75” case footprint (LxWxH)
RepRap Sanguinololu v1.3a Electronics
Nichrome powered extruder
Extruder moves in XY, build platform moves in Z
Custom acrylic extruder with stepper motor, .35mm nozzle
Weight: 17 lbs
Accuracy: about .3mm (layer height) or 84dpi

Solidoodle 2 offers three different levels of 3D printer:

Base Model $499: with Acrylic build platform and open design (no outer cover/door)

Pro Model $549: with heated build platform, Upgraded power supply, spool holder, interior lighting and open design (no outer cover/door)

Expert Model $599: All the features of the Pro model + an outer cover & front acrylic door

Solidoodle is currently accepting pre-orders and the lead time is 5-6 weeks after you place your order.

Posted in 3D Printers / Source: http://www.3ders.org/articles/20120420-the-new-solidoodle-g2-3d-printer-is-launched-starting-at-$499.html

scalable-future-cities:

Quasicrystals represent a class of solids which lack translational symmetry, but nevertheless exhibit perfect long-range order and reveal well-defined rotational symmetries, which are not necessarily consistent with periodicity. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quasicrystal

http://complexphotonics.org/quasicrystal.html

ALSO: Girih Tiles (found with suggestions for wikipedia

Girih tiles are a set of five tiles that were used in the creation of tiling patterns for decoration of buildings in Islamic architecture. They are known to have been used since about the year 1200 and their arrangements found significant improvement starting with the Darb-i Imam shrine in Isfahanin Iran built in 1453.

from wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girih_tiles

(Submitted by John Guinn)

Viewpoint by Ramon Ray, Smallbiztechnology.com

As part of our series on how small and medium-sized firms use technology - which will run throughout March - we ask experts for their views.

Ramon Ray is a journalist and editor of Smallbiztechnology.com. Describing himself as a “technology evangelist”, he is also the author of two books on technology for small and growing businesses.

Technology is one of the most important aspects of business that make businesses well-oiled and optimally-productive machines.

Technology is often what separates those businesses that are able to respond quickly, act pre-emptively, thoroughly please customers and enable optimal communication and collaboration within and without the organisation, from those who are not able to do these things.

Over the years, I’ve observed that while many companies strive to use technology as best they can, some do it better than others. There are three fundamental hurdles that companies are not clearing in their overall use of optimising technology.

What’s lacking from business technology is:

• Training (education)

• Measuring technology ROI (return on investment)

• Continued innovation

While many small businesses are inundated with offers to implement social media campaigns, buy new mobile gadgets or do more with cloud computing, once purchased there is little, if any, follow up to ensure a maximum return on investment is leveraged from these technology investments.

Here’s why training, measurement and continued innovation are so important.

Training

I’m the “technology evangelist” and know quite a bit about technology.

Prior to being a technology evangelist, I ran my own tech consulting company, so I know more than the average person about technology.

However, even with all my technology expertise I still get frustrated from time to time - there are things I simply can’t figure out or don’t know how to do.

Business professionals are in a similar predicament, on a day-to-day basis, with the technology they use.

Imagine the busy sales professional who has just been issued her new tablet and related software and mobile accessories.

Without training, this new, but really cool, package of technology can be frustrating, leading to lost productivity and frustration.

Her day is spent in frustration, her customers are not being serviced as they should be, and she might resort to using technology not sanctioned by the company.

Training is important to ensure that as businesses invest in technology, their employees are able to use the technology to its and their full potential.

Remember those times when you’re in line at the grocery store and the clerk on cashier duty is new?

That’s what your customers, colleagues and outside partners feel like when your employees are not properly trained in using technology.

Another aspect of training is not just knowing how to use the technology, but to master the technology and find the hidden gems and higher level productivity tools to move from “functionally literate”, to knowing the technology so well it’s a natural extension of your day-to-day productivity.

Measuring ROI

Once technology is implemented, it is critical to measure the use of the technology to ensure it’s delivering on the ROI (return on investment) that you hoped to get out of it, and to see what further gains you might realise that you didn’t expect.

Of course measuring ROI might not always be a positive experience, but you might also realise that the implementation of technology is not delivering the results you expected.

Have clear goals and benchmarks of success - know what a successful technology implementation is for your company.

If you are using virtualisation and consolidating servers from 10 to 3, know what to expect from this change.

Maybe you are moving from software to software as a service (Saas) - do you know the key benefits this move will make for your business?

It’s also important to know the status quo - to know how things are ‘today’.

For example, maybe your sales team is complaining that they are not able to quickly complete sales in the field, as they must come into the office to complete a sale.

In response to this need, you work with your local IT consultant to implement mobile technology so your sales team can complete sales in the field.

If you see a boost in sales due to your sales team completing sales in the field - you’ll know the mobile implementation (or at least one aspect of it) worked.

If they are not able to close sales in the field - you’ll know the implementation failed to meet expected results and you can then consider what changes need to be made to get the desired result.

When implementing technology don’t stop at buying technology - measure it to ensure it’s delivering on what you wanted it to do.

Keep in mind that technology is dumb - it’s the human experts who implement the technology whose job it is to ensure it works properly. Before implementing technology, be very clear with your tech advisors on what your needs are.

Continued innovation

The latest flavour of the month is the launch of the Apple iPad 3.

So many people asked me if I’m buying the iPad 3 - no I’m not.

The iPad 2 I have (and other tablets from BlackBerry and Samsung) are just fine and meet my needs. Some people might find they need the iPad 3, but I don’t.

On the other hand, there is a new Dell XPS ultralight notebook that I’m looking forward to using, to replace my current notebook. Notebooks that are lighter, more powerful and have longer battery lives are always of interest to me.

You need to know what technology you need to upgrade and those that you don’t need to upgrade.

It’s important that you inventory your technology needs regularly to know what technology you need to upgrade and what is working just fine for you.

Continued innovation does not mean that you must upgrade technology, it means that you are periodically analysing your needs to determine if and when you should upgrade to new technology.

As part of this continued innovation, upgrading might not always entail upgrading the actual technology, it might mean using the same but having better business processes or work flow.

Often smart business managers find that their technology is not at fault, in as much as it’s another aspect of their business that needs to change - such as better hiring, better communication, better targeted marketing etc.

Well there you have it.

Social media, mobile computing, security and cloud computing are all important technologies in your business.

But if you neglect training, innovation and measuring ROI you’re wasting your time and money and not operating as optimally as you can.

Source: BBC

Viewpoint by Dr Mike Lynch CEO & Founder, Autonomy

As part of the Technology of Business series, each week we ask an expert in their field for their thoughts.

Dr Mike Lynch OBE is founder and chief executive (CEO) of Autonomy, and executive vice-president (EVP) of HP Information Management. Autonomy, part of HP since October 2011, makes software that processes human information, or unstructured data, including social media, email, video, audio, text and web pages.

In his 1950 paper entitled Computing Machinery and Intelligence, computer scientist Alan Turing opens with the words: “I propose to consider the question, ‘Can machines think?’”

Sixty years on, the idea of intelligent computers seems a little less ridiculous.

Technology leaps forward year by year with ever greater processing powers, bigger clouds, faster internet connections, sleeker interfaces and cleverer self-learning algorithms.

It poses the question: are computers getting closer to human intelligence by being able to make value judgements, understand concepts and process a world that is not just black and white in real time?

The answer is yes.

Not only is this a significant step forward, but it also has the potential to fundamentally change the world we know.

If technology can give data meaning, whether it is voice, video, text or images, for instance, think of the prospect of using this insight to create a more predictable, and consequently less volatile, world.

For CEOs, using technology to spot the “unknown unknowns” during this time of economic uncertainty will be regarded as a “superpower”, helping them to make better business decisions and ultimately beat the competition.

Now think of the potential of applying this approach on a macro level to other forms of information, such as medical or seismograph data.

Outdated databases

The reason why understanding meaning in information has generated a lot of excitement is because of its enormous potential.

Today, thanks to technology’s mass appeal and accessibility, on a daily basis we collectively produce 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, and the growth rate is so high that 90% of all information ever created was produced in the last two years alone. The value of this information to organisations who want to keep ahead of the curve is huge.

In the business world, information has traditionally been housed in databases.

This has been an effective way to keep information safe and stored in a uniform fashion. However, the database was created as a way to work around the limitations computers had half a century ago.

As the majority of information flowing through organisations today is unstructured or ‘human information’ (90%), such as text, email, video, and audio, and therefore impossible to box into traditional databases, being able to manage that information so you know where it is and process it so you know what it means is essential.

For instance, you could store customer-service call centre recordings into a database if you really had to, but you would have no idea whether the customer was happy or not. This is exactly the type of insight businesses want to know after all.

To understand them, organisations have to take a new approach to managing and uncovering the meaning of their data. The next-age information platforms make sense of, and understand the meaning of, information and use it to solve problems, in order to give businesses a better understanding of themselves, their customers and the competition.

This is what has the analyst community so excited, due to the sheer size of the market opportunity.

Real-time progress

To see just how human information can add value, let’s think of a market for an online retailer.

The availability of vast quantities of data on current or potential customers on e-commerce sites offers online retailers huge value - if they can gather and analyse this information efficiently and in a timely manner.

Customer browsing and purchasing habits create sizeable data trails and, coupled with social-media integration, can allow content to be effectively targeted.

However, it has to be noted that businesses can only be effective if decisions can be made in real time.

Business data is of little use if companies are not quick enough to act on it, which is often the case.

Organisations that truly want to understand their customers and keep up with changing demands need to change their organisation culturally in order to do this successfully.

The challenge is that having tens or hundreds of thousands of customers, each with potentially thousands of data points connected with them, results in a very large amount of data being collected.

Part of this might be structured data that can be easily categorised, for example, gender, age, and geography, but the majority will be unstructured, human information.

The content and sentiment of a product review, for instance, is not something that can be slotted neatly into a standard database, but the ability to tap into information like this has huge implications for driving sales or safeguarding a reputation.

Unlocking real value

The key is to understand that data - leaving it exactly where it is - in order to create an infinitely scalable platform, and a powerful basis for analysis and action throughout the entire enterprise.

By applying meaning, we can cut through the gordian knot of trying to find that “perfect” database, and get to the heart of the issue - being able to process 100% of the information, structured and unstructured, to unlock real business value.

By applying the ability to understand meaning, businesses can get a view of all of their data, not only the 10% of “neat”, structured data, but the whole 100%.

What we can do now has never been possible before: the next IT revolution is happening in the “I” - the information - not the “T”.

Source: BBC

source: iTunes MIT

‘microsoft citizenship exhibition’ by coast office architecture in wallisellen, switzerland
all images courtesy cost office architecture
image © david franck


stuttgart-based practice coast office architecture (zlatko antolovic, alexander wendlik) has shared with us images of ‘microsoft citizenship exhibition’, a spatial installation for microsoft’s office headquarters in wallisellen, switzerland. integrating augmented reality technology at the core of the project, the design overlays four virtual spaces on an existing floor of the building to maintain the flow and function of the office.



interior view
image © david franck


running continuously along the walls, floor and ceiling, the project graphically delineates four zones within the revolving space. the colours of the strips are pulled from microsoft’s branding logo of red, yellow, green and blue. the computer-generated sensory inputs correspond to display four subject areas: society, environment, economy and future. when viewed through a smartphone or tablet screen, virtual ‘walls’ with interactive elements are observable.



courtyard
image © david franck


in the central glass-encased courtyard is an additional exhibition called ‘microsoft cloud installation’. composed of a series of colourful houses raised on stilts, the project represents the company’s current and potential partner’s of the company within the national border of switzerland. the bright installation serves as the core of the project and is virtually accessible from the cafeteria and informal meeting area.



‘microsoft cloud installation’
image © david franck



views of cloud installation in augmented reality mode
images © david franck



view of courtyard from meeting space
image © david franck



image © david franck



image © david franck



image © david franck



image © david franck



cafeteria
image © david franck



cafeteria in augmented reality mode
image © david franck



‘economic issues’ zone
images © david franck



image © david franck



image © david franck



image © david franck



plan



augmented reality diagram



‘microsoft cloud installation’


project info:

client: microsoft switzerland gmbh
exhibition curator / microsoft citizenship and sustainability officer: joanna hafenmayer
microsoft program manager ‘new world of work’: kevyn eva norton
team: L2M3, coast office architecture

Source: designboom

unnamed soundsculpture from Daniel Franke on Vimeo.

Project by Daniel Franke & Cedric Kiefer

produced by:
onformative.com
chopchop.cc

Documentation:
vimeo.com/38505448

The basic idea of the project is built upon the consideration of creating a moving sculpture from the recorded motion data of a real person. For our work we asked a dancer to visualize a musical piece (Kreukeltape by Machinenfabriek) as closely as possible by movements of her body. She was recorded by three depth cameras (Kinect), in which the intersection of the images was later put together to a three-dimensional volume (3d point cloud), so we were able to use the collected data throughout the further process. The three-dimensional image allowed us a completely free handling of the digital camera, without limitations of the perspective. The camera also reacts to the sound and supports the physical imitation of the musical piece by the performer. She moves to a noise field, where a simple modification of the random seed can consistently create new versions of the video, each offering a different composition of the recorded performance. The multi-dimensionality of the sound sculpture is already contained in every movement of the dancer, as the camera footage allows any imaginable perspective.

The body “constant and indefinite at the same time” bursts the space already with its mere physicality, creating a first distinction between the self and its environment. Only the body movements create a reference to the otherwise invisible space, much like the dots bounce on the ground to give it a physical dimension. Thus, the sound-dance constellation in the video does not only simulate a purely virtual space. The complex dynamics of the body movements is also strongly self-referential. With the complex quasi-static, inconsistent forms the body is “painting”, a new reality space emerges whose simulated aesthetics goes far beyond numerical codes.

Similar to painting, a single point appears to be still very abstract, but the more points are connected to each other, the more complex and concrete the image seems. The more perfect and complex the “alternative worlds” we project (© Flusser) and the closer together their point elements, the more tangible they become. A digital body, consisting of 22 000 points, thus seems so real that it comes to life again.

text: Sandra Moskova

nominated for the for the MuVi Award:
kurzfilmtage.de/en/competitions/muvi-award/selection.html

see video in full quallity:
daniel-franke.com/unnamed_soundsculpture.mov

HQ Stills
flickr.com/photos/37752604@N05/sets/72157629203600952/

Le Centre Pompidou présente Paroles d’artistes, Marc Fornes

Le Centre Pompidou présente Paroles d’artistes, Marc Fornes
Toutes ses sculptures sont réalisées et fabriquées sur le logiciel 3D Rhinoceros.
Collections contemporaines, Paroles d’artistes… von centrepompidou