Reviewing is itself a guilt-ridden pastime. Not because you’ve the power to ruin a writer’s reputation…because well, you don’t. At most you’ve the power to connect a few readers with books they might like, but that’s about it. No the guilt is all about keeping up. First you suffer from reading pile guilt, then you get to enjoy un-reviewed-book guilt. Not that I’m complaining. Ok, a little. We’re in it for the access to new books and authors and having to provide some sort of value is totally reasonable. Not only that, but most of us really enjoy writing reviews…it’s just that being naturally lazy, it’s easier to open up/download the next book on the stack and be off in a distant corner of the galaxy/realm/backyard fighting aliens/zombies/corporations/demons because we’re the only one that can save the day. Sigh. Continue reading →

The new issue of the economist is here featuring a section on 3D print manufacturing. They claim the violin on the cover was printed and plays beautifully, though I suspect it was just the body. For me, the problem with this technology is the texture. Like all digital processes the earlybstages have low resulotion, leaving the output grainy and unpleasant feeling. Ultimately that will be a non-issue, but it needs to be overcome.

Print me a Stradivarius
http://www.economist.com/node/18114327
www.economist.com
THE industrial revolution of the late 18th century made possible the mass production of goods, thereby creating economies of scale which changed the economy—and society—in ways that nobody could have imagined at the time. Now a new manufacturing technology has emerged which does the opposite.