Month: December 2015

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Cloud Cyberinfrastructure Design Education Innovation Reading Technology

Latest read: Superforecasting

Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Wharton’s Philip Tetlock and Dan Gardner is another great read addressing analytics, human behavior and analytic technologies for establishing and sharpening forecasting abilities for any organization.

superforecasting the art and science of predictionThe book title is a wonderful attention grabber. We certainly live in the era of big data. Today business is driving the new age of immediacy.

Superforecasting acknowledges data lessons supplied by Nate Silver’s The Signal and the Noise as helping to define standards to data and how it misled the national media.

Yet just into the second chapter Tetlock and Gardner point to the research by Daniel Kahneman excellent work Thinking Fast and Slow to help determine behaviors shaped over time that have fundamentally changed how we predict success.

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Design Education Flat World Globalization Innovation IoT Maker Milwaukee OpenSource Reading Technology

FarmBot: Open­source precision farming

FarmBot is an open­source and scalable automated precision farming machine and software package designed from the ground up with today’s technologies. The world’s population is growing and is projected to surpass 9 billion inhabitants by 2050. As a result farms must increase production by about 60 percent to meet demand which is stunning since many believe we have reached the limits of traditional farming.
FarmBot

In comparison to desktop digital 3D printers and CNC machines FarmBot extends the idea of X, Y, and Z directions and applies it to plows, seed injectors, water and sensors in order to accurately and efficiently grow plants and soil. I think that I would like to try this out in my own backyard.

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Design Education Innovation IoT Technology

Glowforge laser cutter

Glowforge has quickly emerged as the best Kickstarter campaign to introduce desktop laser cutting. The entry point of $2300. The Pro version with an Air Filter for $5,000 is actually the right configuration.

Glowforge uses subtractive rather than additive manufacturing. The device will carve objects out or burn designs into a number of materials.

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Design Education Innovation IoT Maker Milwaukee Reading Technology

Latest Read: Makers: The New Industrial Revolution

Makers: The New Industrial Revolution is the best book hi-lighting the impact Makers have established over the last five years. The Maker movement is growing due to the collision of powerful digital tools, the internet of things and cost effective manufacturing. As a child I always wished for these advanced tools to bring to life my ideas, inventions and the toys my childhood friends would talk about and dream about making.

Makers The New Industrial RevolutionMy ideas for creating art was always apart of my Saturday art classes at the Toledo Museum of Art. The drawings I kept of my inventions have all but disappeared.

This is where Makers: The New Industrial Revolution comes into focus for parents and educators today a generation later. What is making this possible? The industrial global supply chain has driven the cost of affordable powerful IoT including the new $5 Raspberry Pi Zero that will drive new innovations at incredibly efficient price points.

We should be careful at home because the world is embracing these technologies. Remember Anderson shares his belief that inventors and creative types are actually makers. Now this is happening on a truly global scale.

If the buzz of 3D printers and filament reels make your eyes glaze please remember that YouTube is the best example of Makers sharing their passion. Look at any dedicated YouTube channel – say woodworking- and you will find Makers creating and uploading passionate lessons regarding their craft. Look no further than Esty for a commercial success as a reseller of Maker’s crafts now listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Simply unheard of just 5 years ago.

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Cloud Design Education Globalization Innovation Maker Milwaukee OpenSource Technology

Global 3D Printing Day in Milwaukee

Tomorrow 12/03/15 is Global 3D Printing Day. There are over 24,000 printers with 370 participating cities in over 150 countries participating. Luckily Milwaukee has over 30 established 3D Printing Hubs around Greater Milwaukee. There are many more throughout Wisconsin including Madison and Green Bay Hubs. 3D Hubs has established #3DPrintingDay has their twitter feed and Facebook page and Pinterest link.

3D Printing Day MilwaukeeBrowse a global map for your local 3D Printer hub location and drop by to see how they are participating in 3D Print Day to reveal local resources for digital manufacturing.

The main difference in each participating city is that the cities offer a different number of activities (most likely based on how active the community is and how many Hubs there are to host activities.)

But the idea of coordinating the same types of activities to run at the same time all around the world is definitely a testament to how much 3D printing technologies are growing in popularity and diversity of application.

In fact, London has planned is a great way to explain the template that many cities appear to be following for #3DPrintingDay. London 3D Hubs plans to honor Global #3DPrintingDay by showing people how 3D printing works tomorrow. This long day of 3D printing exhibitions includes 3D printing showcases and demonstrations throughout the day at various Hubs in London. For Londoners, this day will be jam packed with activities, according to Community Mayor Charlotte, so plan early and be ahead of the pack by reserving your spot now!

Similar events, planned throughout the world, all run from 12 am-12 am, providing a 24-hour day of 3D printing festivities in cities including: Kiev, Istanbul, Dublin, Lisbon, Milwaukee, Nairobi, Paris, Seattle, Taipei, Budapest, Cape Town, Zurich, and Buenos Aires.