Today I got to play with a 310 from zCorp. Nice tool I have to say. This is a powder binder system based monochrome 3D printer. That means that powder is filled in a hole layer by layer and a inkjet nozzle basically paints the appropriate cross section on it and therefore the powder is glued together. So you can form almost any object. But there are some problems with the thing, one It takes ages to dry. I have some rather small part about 30 x 50 x 5 mm but even after an hour drying the first part I touched crumbled directly. Second a resolution of 300 dpi, yeah you wish I might make so validation parts to see what it can do depending on the feature ( I am going to post them later). And last but not least the whole powder thing is a bloody mess. It takes ages to free your parts form the excessive powder masses while avoiding damaging your part on one hand and not letting the used powder fall back in the feeder.

Well I am going to test some of the other systems. Because I will need flexible parts at the end anyway. I am also going to try shapeways a dutch 3D printing social thing.

I keep you posted

Well, after not having a TV for the last tree and a bit years I was able to cover my daily craving for news, information and entertainment entirely by the web. Audio and video podcast together with the shire amount nonsense that found its way on my screen through twitter. My girlfriend and I became completely addicted to this way of self conscious consume of media.

After being back in Germany over christmas and reliving the experience of normal TV entertainment I am impressed how anybody can stand this. And it not only the unbelievable bad translations. The main problem are the producer assume there audience to have the intellect of a brick. No controversy, no critic on anything, a ‘what ever you do, don’t say anything that could upset anybody’-mentality. So you can feel that there is the same kind of attachment of the producers towards there productions like that of a McDonald’s (or Burger King or any other one of those) employee to a particular burger

That’s is something I am not used to anymore.

If you are a frequent podcast listener/viewer you are used to sometimes bad quality, but never to a lake of engagement or even a feeling that nobody gives a shit about the show they are doing.

This all was true for the podcast and the staff of 1up.com.

It WAS.

Yesterday the 6th of January 2009 the 1up network was bought buy UGO networks that is part of the Hearst Corporation. So what? Well, couple of hours later twitter was going haywire. First it was announced that EGM just died and then one by one twittered that they have been laid-off. Incredible, as I read through the list that was posted on joystiq I could not believe it. It seems to be the usual story, a big and well established media concern buys a company without understanding why it is successful.

That the power of the community of a website is not attached to a URL then to the people that are the face and voice of it, is still not understood. I am not sure how well 1up will develop. I from my perspective can and want not support this kind of management. I am just sorry for all the folks that are still at 1up because you are going to be struggling as much as the folk that have been laid-off. It is going to be a pain to keep the place alive.

Well I am going to miss you guys, I hope it wasn’t the last of you that we all heard from you. My advice is get together, start selling you Grandmas’ houses get a domain and put a big “donate”-button on it.

The Best to all of you.

J