Geek culture

We love 3D printers here at Crave, but one small problem exists with the devices: They traditionally can't print sturdy thin lines. 3D printers use a layering process based on slices printed thinly and bonded together, which works well for voluminous objects, but not necessarily thin ones.

The DIWire Bender, created by New York design firm Pensa, works as a DIY wire printer that bridges the gap between 3D printers and commercial computer numerical control (CNC) wire benders. To create shapes, wire from a spool feeds into the DIwire, passes through several wheels for straightening, and leads to the three-dimensional head that bends wire as instructed. … Read more

This year at the San Francisco Bay Area Maker Faire, trying to juggle my own interests (talk to cool people) and my 5-year-old son's (build or break stuff), we both hit paydirt at the same time when we stumbled across the Grid Beam exhibit.

My kid spent 45 minutes in the hot sun inventing and screwing together a life-size car-like contraption, and I got to dive into the minutiae of the product with its creators, Phil and Richard Jergenson.

Grid Beam is Erector Set meets IKEA. The hardware is standard 2x2 wood beams with holes drilled through every 1 1/2 inches (which is the actual width of a 2x2 beam), and standard furniture bolts that will be familiar to anyone who's ever assembled a futon frame.… Read more

A tech company creates a robotic espresso machine that can be controlled by text messages and print bits of those messages on espresso foam. All in the name of duping gadget bloggers and others into spreading the company's name far and wide.

The blogosphere-manipulating company is called Zipwhip. And as you'll see in the video below, it has a product it would like everyone to know about. And, as we think we've mentioned, it also has a robotic espresso machine that can be controlled by text messages etcetera.

Now, this machine is not something that's on the market. Apparently it's a one-off created expressly for Zipwhip's offices (though Zipwhip has posted some info about it for those who might like to create their own).… Read more

Last time Jill Schlesinger was here, she advised all our listeners to be patient and wait to see how the Facebook IPO would react to the hype machine leading up to last Friday's open trading. Two weeks later, we hope you listened, or you may have lost some money.

Maybe not as much as Zuckerberg eating $2 billion, but either way you should tune into today's episode as Aunt Jill explains the two debacles that sent Facebook into a downward financial spiral.

Everyone needs an Aunt Jill, right? She'll answer a few of our listeners' questions this … Read more

Mozilla whisked the covers off Webmaker today, a new development initiative intended to encourage Web-based development across the globe.

The company stated that Webmaker's goal is to, "move people from using the Web to making the Web," in a blog post. Mozilla is encouraging people to participate in a series of coding events it's calling the Summer Code Party, and has partnered with some notable organizations and individuals to further its agenda, including author Cory Doctorow, OKGO musician Damian Kulash, Tumblr, Creative Commons, the London Zoo, and the San Francisco Public Library. … Read more

Congratulations to all of our colleagues at CNET TV for winning a Webby Award in People's Voice Award in the Technology category at last night's ceremony.

Plenty of celebrities including Bono, George Lucas, Al Gore, Buzz Aldrin, and more were on hand to pay tribute to Steve Jobs and celebrate the best of the Web. None of CNET's programming would be useful without viewers to watch it, so thanks to you for tuning in!… Read more

No, it's not the first thing people gravitate toward when tearing open their brand-new iPhone or iPad. Heck, it's probably not even the second or third thing (the USB cable and the Apple sticker are more popular I'm sure).

But, hidden deep within that pretty box is a cube that makes the whole thing work. It's an AC wall-charging unit, and it's as technically impressive as any other component in that box.

Ken Shirriff, a technology buff and blogger, has a complete teardown of Apple's tiny technical wonder on his blog, detailing (exhaustively, I might add) why exactly Apple can charge $29 for it.… Read more

I'm not one to watch an NFL game on TV or toss around the pigskin in the park, but if I did I would probably benefit from this magnetic football.

Ultimate Reception is a campaign on crowd-funding site IndieGoGo aimed at developing a magnetic football and gloves that improve catching ability.

Actually, the gloves are embedded with powerful magnets that attract a special layer in the football's skin. They're strong enough so that the ball will stick to the glove when the arm is outstretched and palm down. … Read more

For anyone who's seen the film "Contact," the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is a very noble cause. And over the last 35 years, Jill Tarter, who was the inspiration for Jodie Foster's character, has become known as the world's most famous alien hunter.

For years, Tarter has been the director of the Center for SETI Research, and in that position, she has worked harder than almost anyone on the planet to try to find new friends in the skies. So far, her work, and that of her many colleagues around the world, has been unrewarded. Yet, in spite of constant battles for funding and the skepticism of those who believe we're alone in the universe, Tarter has persevered, and SETI has continued. … Read more