As mentioned earlier, I wanted to get caught up on the happenings in the world of urban vinyl toys. For those of you who don’t know why I watch that niche segment on this blog, let’s just say that in a rapid-manufacturing future, simple products – especially those that engage consumers in the way these toys are able – will likely be among the first offerings available via the internet… as a 3D file download which is “fabbed” by the consumer.
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Ars Technica has an article on Hewlett-Packard defending it’s ink formulations (Link) that caught my attention this morning. Of course, you get the “Zomigod! They’re ripping us off” stuff. Even Ars Technica’s Nate Anderson takes that position:

…most are greatly inferior to the ink sold (for outrageous prices) by the manufacturers…

The part I can’t figure out is: have these people ever had to use a manual typewriter to generate their essays and thesis projects? Do any of them remember just how difficult it was to do things the old-fashioned way? Or is Anderson and the rest: a) under 30 or b) just plain ignorant? I guarantee you I would have paid twice what I do now for a way (including inkjet cartridges) to avoid the horror of trying to type up a full college report on an old typewriter… and do the graphs and charts by hand. I still remember my final aerospace design project. To look at it now is to cringe at the poor quality; the corrections and the poor alignment. Back then it was one of the cleanest reports submitted. But hey, perhaps Mr. Anderson should just do the obvious: Don’t use the technology! There are plenty of old typewriters just sitting around waiting to be used. Knock yourself out!
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That is, of course, because Second Life has no built-in voice capability. Even so, it appears that Harvard is going to hold a class inside SL to teach just that. From “The Chronicle of Higher Education” (Link) – hit “Cancel” to get the snip:

Harvard University plans to hold its first class in a “virtual world” this fall, using a video-game-like environment called Second Life.

Charles Nesson, a renowned professor at Harvard Law School, is teaming up with his daughter, Rebecca Nesson, an instructor at Harvard Extension School, to offer a course on argument in cyberspace that is open to the public through the extension school.

I’m not sure that arguing in cyberspace is any different than arguing anywhere else, but it sounds like it could be fun. And with Linden Lab shutting down the SL Forums, this might give people a chance to brush up on their dissin’ skillz.

Without doubt, you need to check out the video. The Christopher Walken speech pattern is awesome.

via Slaw

I’ve been remiss in keeping tabs on the good folks (and good posts) over on Vinyl Pulse. For that reason I wanted to go back to something that was brought to my attention by a post over on the Core77 design forum. The sculptor for the Angels and Gringos toy project started a thread to inform us of a “how-to” video over on Vinyl Pulse. I’ve just watched it. Fun stuff. But like the Itokin toy (reLink), I find it interesting that no one seems to pour mold material for their masters using a vacuum pump (that’s how you reduce bubbles in the negative which is what you use to create a positive master). From that thread:

The video is the “The Making of Sancho” – Sancho is a piece of vinyl art I will be releasing in November. The mold took me from the clay piece to the resin casting that would become my tooling master.

So if you have a few minutes, check out the Angels and Gringos entries on Vinyl Pulse (Link) and then maybe take a peek at the moldmaking video (QT Link). Air evacuation or not, it’s still interesting to see how the niche people are getting the job done. There certainly doesn’t seem to be a quality issue.

C|Net posted a gallery of robot submarines (Link) a few weeks back that, of course, got my attention. The above image was especially intriguing. Notice anything interesting about it? That nameplate on the side says “Stratasys”. That would be the name of the rapid-prototyping machine manufacturer Stratasys. Nice. I especially liked how the team used both RP and commonly-available materials to create their robot. Can hardly wait for the organic shapes to start finding their way into these kinds of projects. Seems like an amazing opportunity for universities to increasingly pair off Engineering students with ID students.

And while I’m on the subject of submarines, I happened across a post on collision detection (Link) about Swedish designer Milko Ozlu’s human-powered concept sub, the “U-Scull”. I vaguely recalled it and then found a link to the RCA Vehicle Design Show from 2004 (Link). Always great when an Industrial Designer fires up imaginations. Better yet when it happens twice.

{Image Credit: University of Central Florida}