I think the best comparison we have to the current market in 3D printing is the early PC market. TRS-80, Apple II, Commodore, and similar. We are hitting where the cost is becoming affordable, but the user experience of most is inconsistent at best, and the time spent is usually not worth the return for many users.
Content is one question, do most people want to generate their own unique content or do they want the equivalent of a template to create new things?
Even if they have the content, do they have enough to consistently print in order to purchase a printer for themselves and learn to use it?
I'm working on one approach to the existing market, starting with the hardware, but will be building up the software more as we go. The MakiBox is the world's least expensive 3D printer, but also the most simple to assemble and maintain. We've gotten it down to where the assembly takes around 3-4 hours for most users and will see that go down with the final production design revision. Initial prints usually come out the first time, since settings are consistent between printers, which reduces a lot of the initial testing and calibration with the less expensive printers available.
The next target for us will be to see how to get the technology to where it is useful for the consumer markets. It will take another generation of development to get the hardware to that point, and we will be looking at a lot of different ways that software drives the work flow. I don't believe it is any one piece that is lacking, but a whole ecosystem that will emerge.
Actually, looking at the photo, I wonder if it was just the workers covering their faces instead of taking naps.
Myself, I've been over here for about 10 years doing stuff related to manufacturing, and I agree with the above post. There are good things and bad things about all of it, but in general it is improving. Since I've been coming here, I've seen the general living and working conditions improve, wages go up, and factories having to relocate further from the border to be able to get a sufficient supply of workers because the workers have new opportunities closer to home.
Now, we are considering Vietnam and other places for manufacturing since China is now too expensive for many products. Want to guess what the conditions will be like there?
I'm surprised that no one mentioned Titanium, which is an Open Source alternative to AIR that lets you package up native apps for all of the mentioned platforms.
The UI is CSS based, and you can combine several scripting languages (Python, Ruby, PHP) along with compiled modules to handle most general application development.
I've been using the beta of Sampi Plan, it is Basecamp on steroids. You can see what things are starting to get behind, keep big files in it, and it is all about that tasks and sub-tasks aspect that the OP was looking for.
Are you actually married, or are you just saying what sounds like might happen?
If you have a good relationship, the opposite can also be true.
1. Sex stops
2. She get's fat (probably you too)
Let me rephrase that for ya: Sex stops because you both got fat and can't be bothered.
My wife is in better shape than when I first met her because we've worked together to get her out of jobs that have excessive hours so that she can go to Yoga and other things to take care of herself more.
Sex is a two way street, if you are appealing to her, she will be just as interested as before. It takes work, you have to keep things fresh, everyone gets tired of eating the same thing all the time (puns intended).
3. All your money starts disappearing for no apparent reason.
Money should be clear and open, otherwise there will be doubts or disputes or just unspoken stress. However, yes, there are a lot of expenses that you might not have had when you were living in your mom's basement. Take some time to help with budgeting and understand where the money is going.
4. You will be surrounded by strange and insufferable relatives from some place you have never heard of.
I rarely see her relatives, even though we are in the same city as her parents. But, I get along just great with her family, either way, and I see just enough of them to keep it that way. If you are a good sport about this, it will generally help to keep her happy (if she likes to see family frequently). Just have a reasonable discussion if it becomes too much.
5. You will get to drive the old car.
If driving the old car makes any difference to you, then find an old car that you like.
6. Gaming did you say? That won't last long. "I can't believe you are going to play on the computer AGAIN. You just played last week!"
Just be clear about your priorities and make compromises that are acceptable to both people. Living together before getting married can help a lot in this area.
7. She will start asking you if she looks fat, despite the fact she is perfectly aware of #2
If she is fat, then figure out how to inspire her to get back into shape. It may involve you needing to get into shape, changing your diet, or doing things that she should be doing. Moobs may be par for course, but loosing them would be healthy for you in the long run.
8. She won't cook (See #1) and she won't be able to make a decent dinner.
If you know how to cook, then teach her. If neither of you know how to cook (because your mom did it for you each day), then learn together. It is OK to grow together and do things together when you are married. My wife barely knew how to burn eggs when I first met her, now she can generally make most anything and not burn, over-salt, or generally bung it up. It was an opportunity for us to spend time together and I was able to teach her something I enjoy.
9. You will have to leave the house when her literary friends come over to discuss the life analogies in some gay French author's book.
Tit for tat, boys night out, no problem.
10. LAN parties? No Fucking Way in her house!
This gets back to establishing priorities, a relationship is a two-way give and take. You should still be able to do what is important to you. Again, I would highly recommend living together before hand to really get this sort of thing established.
The good things about marriage are that it gives you a partner in life. Someone that you can rely on to get your back. When things don't work out, you know that there is someone that will understand.
If you don't feel like getting married will actually benefit both of you, then think twice about doing it.
I second this. I've got one and use it all the time. It is really excellent for taking your library with you, and it doubles as a notebook (a book to take notes in, not a notebook computer). The wifi works OK, but can be finicky. This is one of the only e-ink devices with a Wacom digitizer for taking notes and annotating documents. The software has been opened up and there is some community development Open Iliad, but you will find most of the active discussions and news on the forums.
It is hackable to extend the battery life to several days, and it supports CF flash, SD, and USB memory. The USB port can also be used for running a USB light or hooking up an external keyboard. For updating, it is possible to use SSH to connect to it, and then just rsync or whatever you want.
Since I've gotten this, I've started being able to read many books that are available for free as a CC licensed digital download. Cory Doctorow is a good example.
The cost is higher than similar readers due to the digitizer and wifi and *most importantly* the fact that it is a full A5 sized screen (8" diagonal). I've compared this to the smaller Sony reader, and the additional screen space is particularly valuable for reading PDFs since they do not re-flow the text to fit the screen.
For testing a single site, I've found that I can use as little as 200MB of RAM for the image to run with. Which is pretty good, since that is still 1/5 of what I have available.
Why not keep the application closed until it has broken even? Offer a free service and come up with some extra features that are very nifty which are only available in a paid edition. After everyone is paid off, then open source it.
They would not have the margins they currently do, but it is very well possible that they'd take huge marketshare from microsoft.
And it would mean an instant end to the microsoft tax on new hardware.
Their margins would be arguably higher, as selling software carries little additional cost versus hardware sales. Each additional unit is more-or-less pure profit.
I'm not convinced that it would be an instant end to the microsoft tax, but at least it would be another alternative. Neither option is free.
Yeah, I can just imagine the sort of filter they would need to put on it to prevent fantasy thoughts from being made real (at least to keep the noise down). Swearing alone would take up at least half of the filter.
Usually this is accomplished by a "jellyroll" arrangement, where the sheet is rolled up with a dielectric separating film (Mylar, etc.). So, you would possibly coat the Mylar sheet with the Graphene and then roll it.
Enron had something like this back in the day. It was a barge that was anchored in a port town on the Pacific in Guatemala which was connected to the grid by a handful of large power cables. It powered about half of the grid of the country, and was able to be removed quickly in case of civil unrest.
Unless the groom dreams of having a fairytale wedding, it is really just a matter of helping your wife to have something she dreams of. If that happens to be a long and drawn out day, then that is how it goes.
It let's you build up points so that when, later on, you want something that she doesn't see the point of, you can just point at the scrapbook of the wedding.
This has been happening for a while, but in different forms.
I would have to guess that they are talking about maps that are originating in China, and not maps served from outside of the country.
In the past, maps manufactured for a product such as a toy globe would need to pass similar scrutiny. So, you couldn't get the good exported if the cultural board didn't agree with the map that you were using.
Even if there are programs such as this, I wouldn't go for them. Things can change a lot between starting school and finishing, and you never really know where you will wind up.
If you are having trouble paying for the school that you are able to get into, then you should consider what it is you want to go to those schools for. If you are good enough, apply for a school as Early Decision, and many schools will find a way to make it possible for you to attend.
If you aren't good enough to get the scholarships at the top schools on your list, perhaps consider a smaller school that would give you what you need to attend, or perhaps a state school, depending on where you live.
Much of college is what you make of it, it isn't just the school. Just like other posters said, you might want to really re-consider why you want to go to those schools.
I've got one of these, and it is great for specific people (like me).
It is very usable on trains, ferries, anywhere that you might sit or stand and have people milling around. I just carry the mini dock with me, so I can hook it up to any spare monitor wherever I go, and I carry a folding bluetooth keyboard for when I'm working in a stationary place.
At home, I can just slip it into the dock and it is immediately connected with my 19" LCD and full size keyboard and mouse.
When needed, I've got a very slim USB powered DVD/CD writer that I can take with me, and a similar backup HD that I can also store all music a video on, separate to the internal drive where I keep work files.
The screen is small, but very usable. The main difference is that you do hold it closer to your face to use it, but with the design, it is made to hold in two hands, not to be used in a lap or similar type of situation. I do have the fonts at 120dpi, so they are readable.
At 500g and with a very small (1/4 the size and weight of normal) power brick, I can carry this thing around with me anywhere and not be grumbling at the end of a long day about how it is weighing my bag down.
The advantage that US (Western) engineers have Vs. Chinese engineers is flexibility and adaptability. It is part of our culture that we approach things in such a way that if a problem comes up, we are more comfortable with taking a new or different approach. Chinese engineers (generally) tend to just plow through a problem.
But, this is a general cultural difference. In school in China and Hong Kong, memorization rather than learning material is key to success, so people tend to stick with what they know instead of trying out new things that might have advantages, but also are unknown.
In Hong Kong, I can use my RFID enabled watch to pay for most forms of local trasportation (rail, bus, boat), buy anything at 7-11, Circle K, grocery stores, and at many other food places, including McD and KFC.
The best thing is that it is a debit system, so it is completely anonymous, unless you choose to connect it to a credit card. The re-filling stations are located at most places that you use it (you can buy your groceries and also re-fill your Octopus).
See www.junghans-systems.com and http://www.octopus.com.hk/eng/index.jsp
Slashdot Mirror
printrbot simple is 300 bucks too.
The MakiBox LT is $200 and is the same basic specs to the Simple. The $300 MakiBox HT does ABS and has a heated print bed.
I think the best comparison we have to the current market in 3D printing is the early PC market. TRS-80, Apple II, Commodore, and similar. We are hitting where the cost is becoming affordable, but the user experience of most is inconsistent at best, and the time spent is usually not worth the return for many users.
Content is one question, do most people want to generate their own unique content or do they want the equivalent of a template to create new things?
Even if they have the content, do they have enough to consistently print in order to purchase a printer for themselves and learn to use it?
I'm working on one approach to the existing market, starting with the hardware, but will be building up the software more as we go. The MakiBox is the world's least expensive 3D printer, but also the most simple to assemble and maintain. We've gotten it down to where the assembly takes around 3-4 hours for most users and will see that go down with the final production design revision. Initial prints usually come out the first time, since settings are consistent between printers, which reduces a lot of the initial testing and calibration with the less expensive printers available.
The next target for us will be to see how to get the technology to where it is useful for the consumer markets. It will take another generation of development to get the hardware to that point, and we will be looking at a lot of different ways that software drives the work flow. I don't believe it is any one piece that is lacking, but a whole ecosystem that will emerge.
Interesting, as I suspect that at least part of the development of robotics, for the coming years, may be in the exoskeleton field.
Yep, when you encapsulate the human into the robot, it is much easier to take over.
I prefer the Pilot Hi-Tec-C. I use the 0.3mm size, and it fits all the requirements. It is gel, comes in many colors, and is cheap. http://www.amazon.com/Pilot-Hi-Tec-C-Gel-Basic-Colors/dp/B001GR4CQO
Actually, looking at the photo, I wonder if it was just the workers covering their faces instead of taking naps.
Myself, I've been over here for about 10 years doing stuff related to manufacturing, and I agree with the above post. There are good things and bad things about all of it, but in general it is improving. Since I've been coming here, I've seen the general living and working conditions improve, wages go up, and factories having to relocate further from the border to be able to get a sufficient supply of workers because the workers have new opportunities closer to home.
Now, we are considering Vietnam and other places for manufacturing since China is now too expensive for many products. Want to guess what the conditions will be like there?
I'm surprised that no one mentioned Titanium, which is an Open Source alternative to AIR that lets you package up native apps for all of the mentioned platforms.
http://www.appcelerator.com/
The UI is CSS based, and you can combine several scripting languages (Python, Ruby, PHP) along with compiled modules to handle most general application development.
I've been using the beta of Sampi Plan, it is Basecamp on steroids. You can see what things are starting to get behind, keep big files in it, and it is all about that tasks and sub-tasks aspect that the OP was looking for.
Next, they will say that it guarantees his taxes as well.
My Advice...don't get married. It's a trap.
What happens when you get married:
Are you actually married, or are you just saying what sounds like might happen?
If you have a good relationship, the opposite can also be true.
1. Sex stops 2. She get's fat (probably you too)
Let me rephrase that for ya: Sex stops because you both got fat and can't be bothered.
My wife is in better shape than when I first met her because we've worked together to get her out of jobs that have excessive hours so that she can go to Yoga and other things to take care of herself more.
Sex is a two way street, if you are appealing to her, she will be just as interested as before. It takes work, you have to keep things fresh, everyone gets tired of eating the same thing all the time (puns intended).
3. All your money starts disappearing for no apparent reason.
Money should be clear and open, otherwise there will be doubts or disputes or just unspoken stress. However, yes, there are a lot of expenses that you might not have had when you were living in your mom's basement. Take some time to help with budgeting and understand where the money is going.
4. You will be surrounded by strange and insufferable relatives from some place you have never heard of.
I rarely see her relatives, even though we are in the same city as her parents. But, I get along just great with her family, either way, and I see just enough of them to keep it that way. If you are a good sport about this, it will generally help to keep her happy (if she likes to see family frequently). Just have a reasonable discussion if it becomes too much.
5. You will get to drive the old car.
If driving the old car makes any difference to you, then find an old car that you like.
6. Gaming did you say? That won't last long. "I can't believe you are going to play on the computer AGAIN. You just played last week!"
Just be clear about your priorities and make compromises that are acceptable to both people. Living together before getting married can help a lot in this area.
7. She will start asking you if she looks fat, despite the fact she is perfectly aware of #2
If she is fat, then figure out how to inspire her to get back into shape. It may involve you needing to get into shape, changing your diet, or doing things that she should be doing. Moobs may be par for course, but loosing them would be healthy for you in the long run.
8. She won't cook (See #1) and she won't be able to make a decent dinner.
If you know how to cook, then teach her. If neither of you know how to cook (because your mom did it for you each day), then learn together. It is OK to grow together and do things together when you are married. My wife barely knew how to burn eggs when I first met her, now she can generally make most anything and not burn, over-salt, or generally bung it up. It was an opportunity for us to spend time together and I was able to teach her something I enjoy.
9. You will have to leave the house when her literary friends come over to discuss the life analogies in some gay French author's book.
Tit for tat, boys night out, no problem.
10. LAN parties? No Fucking Way in her house!
This gets back to establishing priorities, a relationship is a two-way give and take. You should still be able to do what is important to you. Again, I would highly recommend living together before hand to really get this sort of thing established.
The good things about marriage are that it gives you a partner in life. Someone that you can rely on to get your back. When things don't work out, you know that there is someone that will understand.
If you don't feel like getting married will actually benefit both of you, then think twice about doing it.
I second this. I've got one and use it all the time. It is really excellent for taking your library with you, and it doubles as a notebook (a book to take notes in, not a notebook computer). The wifi works OK, but can be finicky. This is one of the only e-ink devices with a Wacom digitizer for taking notes and annotating documents. The software has been opened up and there is some community development Open Iliad, but you will find most of the active discussions and news on the forums.
It is hackable to extend the battery life to several days, and it supports CF flash, SD, and USB memory. The USB port can also be used for running a USB light or hooking up an external keyboard. For updating, it is possible to use SSH to connect to it, and then just rsync or whatever you want.
Since I've gotten this, I've started being able to read many books that are available for free as a CC licensed digital download. Cory Doctorow is a good example.
The cost is higher than similar readers due to the digitizer and wifi and *most importantly* the fact that it is a full A5 sized screen (8" diagonal). I've compared this to the smaller Sony reader, and the additional screen space is particularly valuable for reading PDFs since they do not re-flow the text to fit the screen.
If you are running on windows already, you can use the free VM that MS provides for this exact purpose: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=21EABB90-958F-4B64-B5F1-73D0A413C8EF&displaylang=en
For testing a single site, I've found that I can use as little as 200MB of RAM for the image to run with. Which is pretty good, since that is still 1/5 of what I have available.
Why not keep the application closed until it has broken even? Offer a free service and come up with some extra features that are very nifty which are only available in a paid edition. After everyone is paid off, then open source it.
They would not have the margins they currently do, but it is very well possible that they'd take huge marketshare from microsoft.
And it would mean an instant end to the microsoft tax on new hardware.
Their margins would be arguably higher, as selling software carries little additional cost versus hardware sales. Each additional unit is more-or-less pure profit.
I'm not convinced that it would be an instant end to the microsoft tax, but at least it would be another alternative. Neither option is free.
Yeah, I can just imagine the sort of filter they would need to put on it to prevent fantasy thoughts from being made real (at least to keep the noise down). Swearing alone would take up at least half of the filter.
Usually this is accomplished by a "jellyroll" arrangement, where the sheet is rolled up with a dielectric separating film (Mylar, etc.). So, you would possibly coat the Mylar sheet with the Graphene and then roll it.
Enron had something like this back in the day. It was a barge that was anchored in a port town on the Pacific in Guatemala which was connected to the grid by a handful of large power cables. It powered about half of the grid of the country, and was able to be removed quickly in case of civil unrest.
Unless the groom dreams of having a fairytale wedding, it is really just a matter of helping your wife to have something she dreams of. If that happens to be a long and drawn out day, then that is how it goes. It let's you build up points so that when, later on, you want something that she doesn't see the point of, you can just point at the scrapbook of the wedding.
That's funny, I'm running AdBlock Plus right now on FF3 RC1.
This has been happening for a while, but in different forms.
I would have to guess that they are talking about maps that are originating in China, and not maps served from outside of the country.
In the past, maps manufactured for a product such as a toy globe would need to pass similar scrutiny. So, you couldn't get the good exported if the cultural board didn't agree with the map that you were using.
And I thought that it was loose lips that sunk ships.
Even if there are programs such as this, I wouldn't go for them. Things can change a lot between starting school and finishing, and you never really know where you will wind up. If you are having trouble paying for the school that you are able to get into, then you should consider what it is you want to go to those schools for. If you are good enough, apply for a school as Early Decision, and many schools will find a way to make it possible for you to attend. If you aren't good enough to get the scholarships at the top schools on your list, perhaps consider a smaller school that would give you what you need to attend, or perhaps a state school, depending on where you live. Much of college is what you make of it, it isn't just the school. Just like other posters said, you might want to really re-consider why you want to go to those schools.
I've got one of these, and it is great for specific people (like me).
It is very usable on trains, ferries, anywhere that you might sit or stand and have people milling around. I just carry the mini dock with me, so I can hook it up to any spare monitor wherever I go, and I carry a folding bluetooth keyboard for when I'm working in a stationary place.
At home, I can just slip it into the dock and it is immediately connected with my 19" LCD and full size keyboard and mouse.
When needed, I've got a very slim USB powered DVD/CD writer that I can take with me, and a similar backup HD that I can also store all music a video on, separate to the internal drive where I keep work files.
The screen is small, but very usable. The main difference is that you do hold it closer to your face to use it, but with the design, it is made to hold in two hands, not to be used in a lap or similar type of situation. I do have the fonts at 120dpi, so they are readable.
At 500g and with a very small (1/4 the size and weight of normal) power brick, I can carry this thing around with me anywhere and not be grumbling at the end of a long day about how it is weighing my bag down.
The advantage that US (Western) engineers have Vs. Chinese engineers is flexibility and adaptability. It is part of our culture that we approach things in such a way that if a problem comes up, we are more comfortable with taking a new or different approach. Chinese engineers (generally) tend to just plow through a problem.
But, this is a general cultural difference. In school in China and Hong Kong, memorization rather than learning material is key to success, so people tend to stick with what they know instead of trying out new things that might have advantages, but also are unknown.
In Hong Kong, I can use my RFID enabled watch to pay for most forms of local trasportation (rail, bus, boat), buy anything at 7-11, Circle K, grocery stores, and at many other food places, including McD and KFC. The best thing is that it is a debit system, so it is completely anonymous, unless you choose to connect it to a credit card. The re-filling stations are located at most places that you use it (you can buy your groceries and also re-fill your Octopus). See www.junghans-systems.com and http://www.octopus.com.hk/eng/index.jsp
Try this link to what is probably hinted at: http://www.computerworld.com/hardwaretopics/hardwa re/story/0,10801,76511,00.html