After playing with this puzzle for a few days I’m really happy with how it turned out and I think the above improvements will make the next version a little bit better. This reminds me of Forrest Higgs’ recent commentary on engineering with a RepRap in the design cycle. It’s so easy to test out a new design that I don’t hesitate to whip something up, print it off, SEE and FEEL how it works and any unintended nuances of that design, and then redesign with these revelations in mind.
On Open Data
I saw this video the other day (I think as a result of someone’s Tweet?) and just around to watching it now. The things people built using data that had been opened up from the government was pretty incredible.
Interestingly, I have a totally different website that operates by only using data that is already freely available from the government. If I had more data from the government, my site would be even more useful to my demographic.1
All of this, the video, my own website, got me thinking – if the data from the government can be released as “open data” – in what ways is our government already open source? We know the laws that supposedly govern us and our administrators… I suppose, open source is the ideal upon which our government was founded in the first place.
Video from Streetfilms covered by PlanetGreen/Discovery.com Tweeted by PlanetGreen RT’d by clothbot.
- There’s a MUCH longer story in there that’s not very interesting. [↩]
Thingiverse based business?
I just had an idea for a mini-business!
I think there are enough interesting things on Thingiverse that a MakerBot/RepRap operator could make a little bit of money printing some Thingiverse models for a fee.
More stolen content???
This time I blame DaveDurant. As you can plainly see from his opening blog post, he freely admits that he is TAKING the content that was being published HERE quite regularly and putting up on his OWN site!!!
For shame, DaveDurant, for shame.
Kidding aside, Dave just published some great stuff about his MakerBot high resolution printing record and Skeinforge Support.
http://davedurant.wordpress.com/2010/07/31/skeinforge-support-part-1/
Yes, I will fix your computer
I have a rule for all of my friends. I will fix their computers for free, twice. :)
It’s a good rule and it has helped my friends and myself on many an occasion. Contrary to the impressions of those unfamiliar with the inner workings of their own computers, diagnosing and fixing a computer problem is not a matter of innate knowledge. It’s basically 50% making common sense interpretations of errors and common sense changes to settings and 50% Googling for the answer.
Given fixing computers can be tremendously time consuming, WHY would I spend my free time fixing them for free? Simple. My rule is, I’ll fix your computer twice. First time, you give me your broke down computer and I get the OS working, repair whatever it is, and give it back to you good as new(ish) and if there’s a problem with it again, you give it to me to fix again. Second time, you give me your broke down computer and I get the OS working, repair whatever it is, and I keep it.
Oh, and if you want to know why you should never help someone with their computer problems unless it is really dire, check out this Dilbert comic.
Do you want one of these?
I’ve printed up this 3x2x1 Rubik’s puzzle cube, but I’m looking to improve it. The colored sides consist of little bits of nearly-square paper I colored with crayons and glued onto the cube surfaces. If you wanted to improve it you could just peel them off, sand them down a little, and apply better looking stickers. It’s not without it’s flaws, but it is functional. 1
I’d like to try a little experiment and see if anyone wants to buy this prototype off me. I don’t want to spend the time to set up an Etsy account, eBay auction, or any other of the variants out there. So, is anyone interested in buying this first draft?
If you’re interested, please leave a “bid” in the comments. I’ll ship anywhere in the U.S. for $2.00. Highest bidder at the end of seven days from now will be the proud owner of this one-of-a-kind item.
Edit: Payment via PayPal, please!
Update: 8/4/2010 a top bid of $10!
- It is a first draft/prototype after all. [↩]
Revising the 3x2x1 Rubik’s “Cube”
I finally found the time to print a copy of my 3x2x1 Rubik’s Cube. Having printed it, I’d make a number of improvements in the next design iteration. I would:
- Make the circular slots in the center cubes smaller or the circular tabs in the four outside cubes larger.
- Enlargen the holes for the nut and bolt.
- Make these cubes solid so that they slide against each other easier.1
- Consider replacing the entire nut/bolt requirement with a connection similar to the becco block connectors. This would make for a totally printable solution.
- Print the cubes two at a time to minimize warping without a heated build platform.
It slides reasonably well and is certainly functional. However, after several center cube rotations I will tighten the center bolt.2
MakerBot Toy Repair
I had previously fixed a toy fire truck by modeling a broken swivel and printing a new one.
Today I discovered a handle had broken off a magnetic drawing toy. The yellow handle is hollow and separate from the red plastic body. It is held in place by plastic tabs that slot into body and protrude into the handle. The plastic tabs that held the handle in place were themselves hollow – and cracked right where the handle met the body.
I measured the broken part, modeled it in Sketchup, duplicated it, exported to an STL, put through the brand new RepG, printed, opened the toy, inserted the printed parts, put it back together, and DONE. Since the printed tabs are on the inside, it is functionally perfect and cosmetically indistinguishable with an off-the-shelf model.
Without a MakerBot, it would have been either cosmetically unsightly or prohibitively expensive to repair. Win.
Long week
It’s been a long week and I’ve been very very glad of this weekend. Unfortunately, a big fat chunk of this Saturday was also devoted to work-like stuff. I didn’t get a chance to design or print much this month.
Once I get some time, I’d really like to get a MakerBot heated build platform. The only problem is they’ve been out of their SMT kit for a while now. And, without the SMT kit, I can’t assemble the HBP kit, so I won’t need the new relay kit.
Should I pace myself?
This blog is as much for me as it is for anyone else. 1 When something occurs to me, I type it up and click “Publish.” However, this means I’ll go days without a single post and then have a flurry of half a dozen posts. Some of my posts languish in draft form, half-notes, jottings of ideas, etc. 2
Help me out here. What’s better – if I pace my posts – say one a day – or just have them published as they occur to me with random gaps?
As a loyal reader, what do you prefer? Come now, both of you can chime in. <crickets> Bueller?