Author: Maker Block

Planning for time travel isn’t as easy as you might think

It is my intention to travel in time in about three days.  My plans are as follows:

On Thursday December 9, 2010 I plan to travel back in time 3 hours along my personal timeline.

On Sunday December 12, 2010 I shall travel forwards again by 3 hours.

Upon meeting people I shall declare unto them, “Lo!  I am from the future!  And it is a glimmering shiny place!  I cannot wait for you to see it!”

What do astronauts use for their computer’s wallpaper?

What do astronauts use for their computer's wallpaper?
What do astronauts use for their computer's wallpaper?

Commander Scott Kelly provides a tour of the super small personal spaces on the ISS. Like every other kid with a computer, at some point I’ve used a variety of skyscapes or spacescapes as my computer’s wallpaper. What does Commander Kelly use? Green earth fields. I love it.

Real conversation from work yesterday

Co-worker: <Demands Christmas present for some flippant remark I made.>  Wait, do you celebrate Christmas?

MakerBlock: Well, I don’t have any Christmas stuff up in my office, so… I suppose not.  Well, I do have a picture of an Easter Bunny.  But, that’s because I believe in bunnies.  I believe in bunnies but not Easter, teeth but not fairies, and claws but not Santas.

Aren’t you glad we don’t work together?  You would have to put up with this kind of nonsense all the time.

Why would anyone want a vortex manipulator?

Vortex Manipulator and Sonic Screwdriver
Vortex Manipulator and Sonic Screwdriver

Answer: It’s a lot more convenient than strapping a TARDIS to your wrist.

Ever since seeing the season 5 finale of Doctor Who I’ve wanted my own printed vortex manipulator.  I have a feeling Nick Starno’s pocket watch case for the MakerBot Watch would be a good place to start.

Just another random thing in my list of stuff I want to make.

Doctor Who Christmas Special 2010 Trailer

Since the revival1 of Doctor Who they’ve had a Christmas Special each year, but it airs at least a day later here in the States.  Last year I totally missed the Christmas Special and had to wait several more months before BBC America re-aired it.  This year BBC and BBC America will be airing the Christmas Special on December 25!  Huzzah!

In case you enjoy this show too, above is the trailer for the upcoming special.  :)

  1. Regeneration? [↩]

Ideas for improvements on the Open Source Disc Shooter

Here are some of the ideas I’ve been kicking around:

  • A magazine1 that you clip in the front of the shooter.  When you clip it in it should depress a spring, or more likely, tension a rubber band.  When you press the button clipping the magazine in, it could actually eject the empty magazine.  That would be sweet.
  • Lower profile.  In looking at insides of the Tracer Guns, it looks like the only reason for the bulky barrels over a long thin slot is so the toy looks more like an actual gun.  I’d rather have an optimal design that uses minimal plastic than something that looks like a gun.
  • A variety of discs for maximum aerodynamics.  In the designs uploaded to Thingiverse I included 18 variations on a disc.  Perhaps some will fly or spin better than others.
  • Rubber band powered mechanism.  Rubber bands are easier to find, cut to size, and replace than metal springs.  It could also lead to a more compact design.

I’m sure other ideas will come to me.  I just wanted to jot them all down before I forget them.

Now that I have my chess set complete, it would be pretty cool to have a working OSDS prototype before Botacon.

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  1. Hey, Dave, happy??? [↩]