3D printing

This morning, blueeowyn linked to a site about 3D math art produced by a three-dimensional printing technology. Similar technology has been suggested for use in manufacturing computer chips and some drugs products. Sounds great, right? Like a slow replicator from Star Trek. But the legal woes may be ahead of us...

Here's an article that suggests that such technology could lead to "Napster for devices." Why should you pay for a new DVD player if you can print one for the cost of the "ink" after downloading the digital plans?

If digital music and books screwed up copyright, what will 3D printers do to patents?

ren fest silliness?

Suppose the year is 3572, and they're having a 21st century festival -- they'd have a quaint little city on the ground! with shopping malls, football stadiums, theatres, lots of archaic displays of two-dimensional television, sidewalks that don't move, etc., and maybe a ren fest!! A ren fest within the 21st century fest. Hmmmm...


Imagine being Will Riker and beaming down to what you thought was a post-industrial planet, only to be confronted with Henry VIII and grovelling peasants!


Imagine having a Roman Festival at a Tudor ren fest. Maybe a 1/2-hour or 1 hour series of events on the joust field, all in chitons (is that the word?). There could be an archery contest (here, deputy, hold this target), a short Roman play, racing (didn't they do that in the nude? Or was that the Greeks?), bear bating (Um...we couldn't find a bear, so we're using one of the deputy reeves), chariott racing (the jousters won't let us use their horses -- oh, deputies!)