Fantastical Playgrounds From Danish Firm Monstrum

Danish design firm Monstrum designs and creates fantastical playground scenes for kids to climb on in locations around the world. Founded by Ole B. Nielsen and Christian Jensen, the award-winning firm has an extensive background in theatrical set design in theaters throughout Copenhagen that strongly influences their groundbreaking aesthetic. Each new playground becomes the backdrop for a dramatic scene, from towering robots to hoards of attacking insects.

World's First Carbon Fiber 3D Printer

Gregory Mark was looking for a better way to make race car parts, so what did he do? He built a 3D printer that prints out lightweight carbon fiber.

The main advantage of the MarkForged printer is that the parts it prints out are 20 times stiffer and five time stronger than ABS plastic parts and has a higher strength-to-weight ratio than CNC-machined aluminum.

Travel Photo of the Week

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

Libraries Are Becoming Makerspaces

“At the library, we introduce people to new ideas, new concepts through books and programs. The Maker Lab is introducing people to new technology through collaborative learning and creating that is hands-on.” So says Mark Anderson, chief of the Business, Science, and Technology Division of the Chicago Public Library.

A study on library habits by the Pew Internet & American Life Project found that 59 percent of Americans definitely want libraries to have “more comfortable spaces” for working and collaborating. Forty-seven percent said libraries should definitely offer “more interactive learning experiences.” So libraries have begun taking up the call of creating Makerspaces for their patrons to learn the technology and skills needed to use 3D printers.

Libraries in Westport, Connecticut, Fayetteville, New York, and Fort Wayne, Indiana have created high-tech makerspaces. The Chattanooga Public Library has the 4th Floor, a 14,000-square foot space that is part public laboratory, part educational space. More are on the way.

Read more about the Chicago Public Library program.

Family Of Five Spend A Summer On The Road In A Westfalia Camper

Here's another great video from faircompanies.com that I found on Lloyd's Blog. Kirsten Dirksen had some video work that she needed to do along the Pacific Coast and decided to take her family along. She bought a VW Westfalia camper and packed up the kids and significant other and headed out.

A Green Container Home

Here's another beautifully laid-out container home courtesy of Small House Bliss. Made from two 8′ by 40′ containers placed side-by-side, the front half of the house is an open living/dining/kitchen space. The back half has one bedroom, bathroom with shower, and a small flex-use space. 672 square feet with 9.5" ceilings!

Fun Time! A Children's Book That Is "The Little Prince" Of 3-D Printing!

"LEO the Maker Prince" is a book inspired by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's 1943 children's classic "The Little Prince" and is intended to jump start your child's creative powers and process.

The story is told through a narrarator visited by a young prince from outer space who has recently crashed on Earth. The prince is given a drawing of a sheep, which he scans and then creates a model by 3D printing.

The really cool part of this is if the young reader has access to a real 3D printer. They can download files to print out all the characters of the book.

As the book's protagonist states, "I draw, he prints, and together we make."

Treehouse Near Woodstock, NY

Here is a beautiful photo spread on a treehouse near Woodstock, NY, courtesy of Tiny House Swoon. 100 feet square with solar and rainwater collection systems.

Boeing 777 Model Built Entirely From Paper Manilla Folders

Someone has too much time and too many manilla folders on their hands. In 2008, when he was just a junior in high school, Luca iaconia-Stewart was given an assignment to create simple paper models using cut paper manilla folders. He was inspired and after five years what has resulted is a 1:60 scale reproduction of a Boeing 777.

He plans on finishing it this summer and is considering a new project: an even larger, 20-foot model. I found this on thisiscolossal.com and here is Luca's flickr page.

Travel Photo of the Week

Mount Bromo, Indonesia by Frederic Huber

The Life Of A Female Trucker In North Dakota

Presenting The Jeff-O-Caster

Yes folks, here it is in all its glory. This is the first guitar that I've ever built, I built a bunch of guitar amps a few years ago, something that I'd wanted to do since I was a teenager, but a guitar alway seemed out of reach. The wood work alone seemed insurmountable, but fretting the neck, that was something I was sure would end up being off.

Life is much easier now in the days of 3D printing and CNC machines. I just had the nice folks at Best Guitar Parts do the body and neck for me. I just had to assemble and wire it.

It sounds amazing, rich and resonant. I guess I'll be selling a bunch of guitars on Ebay soon.

Sharing Garden Shows The Way To A Moneyless Food System

From Shareable.net...

"In Monroe, Oregon, the Sharing Garden started and managed by Chris Burns and Llyn Peabody is the gift that keeps on giving. Over the past few years, the garden's bounty has tripled thanks to the support and hard work of "Sharegivers" (aka volunteers) who donate various materials and actual labor three mornings a week."

"And, in true Sharing Garden fashion, the harvest is distributed not only to the volunteers, but also to the food bank next door, as well as churches and other community members in need... all for free, as part of what Burns calls "nature's economy." He points out that, 'None of the other lifeforms on the planet use money or currency of any kind. There's a symbiotic relationship, an interdepency. So we're trying to model that in the garden so that people understand they can give freely without having to account for their giving, and knowing they will receive what they need.'"

Fun Time! Junk Head 1, Stop Motion Sci-Fi Film Created by One Man!

A Lion Made From 4,000 Pieces Of Hammered Metal

A recent sculpture by Istanbul-based artist Selçuk Yılmaz. See more on his website.

Huge Vertical Garden Incorporates Over 33,000 Plants

In Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain, a vertical garden has been created to cover almost 15736 square feet of the Palacio de Congresos Europa's (Palace of Congresses Europe) exterior. The garden incorporates over 33,000 individual plants and was designed by Alicante-based sustainable architecture firm Urbanarbolismo.

It is designed to improve energy use for the building and is expected to increase thermal insulation by as much as 270 percent.

Travel Film of the Week - Cambodia

College Students Anonymously Create Beautiful Illustrated Quotes On A Classroom Chalkboard

Each week at Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) in Columbus, OH, anonymous students take over a chalkboard in an empty classroom on the 3rd floor of the Crane Building to chalk beautifully illustrated quotes. The students, who are collectively known as DangerDust, said during an interview that each project can take up to 11 hours, but it’s a way to gain inspiration during a long semester of work.

Researchers 3D Print Blood Vessels Using Patient's Skin Cells

From 3ders.org comes news that Saga University in Japan and Cyfuse Biomedical, a biotech company in the field of regenerative medicine, have developed a 3d printing technology to create arteries using patient's skin cells. The intention is to use the technology for artificial dialysis and transplantation in coronary artery bypass surgery.

App Teaches You To Meditate Even If You Think You Can't

We live in a fast paced world and reality constantly wants to intrude. If you've ever tried meditation, you know it can be difficult and there should be an app for that.

Well, there is.

Buddhify can get you on the path and keep you on the path. There are lots of guided meditations for all aspects of your life whether it's sitting, cooking, working or just being mindful and it's only $2.

For iOS7 or later and there's an older Android version, too.

Fun Time! Absurd Animated Portraits By Romain Laurent!

Oh so amusing, See more HERE.

Einstein On The Beach Streaming

Phillip Glass and Robert Wilson's epic, Einstein on the Beach, is now available for streaming courtesy of from FranceTV.

Or you can watch it here.

3D Printed Arms For Children Of War

Just before Thanksgiving 2013, Not Impossible's Mick Ebeling returned home from Sudan's Nuba Mountains where he set up what is probably the world's first 3D-printing prosthetic lab and training facility. Mick managed to give hope and independence back to a kid who, at age 14, had both his arms blown off and considered his life not worth living. Cost of the Arm? About $100.

Read more HERE.

Travel Photo of the Week

The Golden Temple, Amritsar, India

A Pill For Perfect Pitch

One of the things that sets some musical people apart from others is perfect pitch, the ability to know exactly which note is being played or sung. Long thought to be very refined sense of relative pitch or simply a myth, it is an actual phenomenon that apparently now can be had by anyone that takes a dose of Valproate, a drug used to treat epilepsy.

More information is available from the online science journal Frontiers.

Nanomaterials Could Enable Large, Flexible Touch Screens

From MIT Technology Review:

"3M will begin selling flexible transparent conductive films made of silver nanowires for use in touch screens. These nanomaterials could enable wider adoption of large touch screens for interactive signs, displays, and personal computers. And the flexible films may come to be used in future foldable, curvy personal electronics, too."

Beautiful Elegant Coffee Table Unfolds Into Dining Table

This transforming coffee table was designed by Duffy London and is available in wood and metal versions starting at (only!) $1300.

Fun Time! North Carolina Conservative Town Councilman Resigns Using Klingon!

As if North Carolina didn't have enough problems, now a town councilman has used a make-believe language to resign his office.

David Waddell used Klingon to quit his council job half way through his term. He's a conservative and  is known for voting "no" on almost everything, including motions to adjourn. Perhaps he kept asking himself if he wanted to continue to attend the meetings and his answer was always no.

Mr Waddell said the letter (below) was an inside joke. I find it particularly amusing that Mr. Waddell obviously identifies with the most paranoid, violent and war-loving race in the Star Trek universe. This should not be ignored by the people of North Carlina. Live long and prosper!

Hey McFly, We're One Step Closer To Hoverboards

Japanese engineers from The University of Tokyo and the Nagoya Institute of Technology recently developed a device that uses sound waves to move objects through three dimensional space. Read more about it HERE.

The "4 Block" Rocket Stove!

Got four cinder blocks? You can make a "rocket" stove. Stay warm. Stay fed.

Travel Photo of the Week

New Year in New York City