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Pulling back from open source hardware, MakerBot angers some adherents

You likely know MakerBot Industries as the poster child for the new era of 3D-printing. You might not know that, until last week, the company and its CEO, Bre Pettis, were considered shining lights in the open-source hardware movement.

Think of open-source hardware, OSHW, as the physical equivalent of open source software. The Open Source Hardware Association, founded just this past March, offers an extended definition for OSHW. Its Statement of Principles sums things up thusly:

Open source hardware is hardware whose design is made publicly available so that anyone can study, modify, distribute, make, and sell the design or … Read more

Create your own candy

Every child loves to create his or her own custom flavored and form of gum or candy, and Candy Maker takes this experience into the virtual world with a free app full of colors designed for iOS devices. While we loved getting to create our custom chewing gum, chocolate or candy, the limited available features, as well as the ads, were very annoying. This may be especially true when talking about 4-year-old kids, who tap on everything that pops up.

Candy Maker is an app that children will love to play. They can create their own virtual gummies, candies and … Read more

The 404 1,134: Where it's safe to drink the water (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Amid weak reviews of Apple Maps, Google offers alternative.

- iOS 6 Maps has a bit of a ways to go.

- Apple Maps shows a post-Cloverfield NY, sans Lady Liberty.

- Fox 5 NY broadcasts fake iPhone 5 concept video

- Internet Archive launches TV News search database.

- First level from Super Mario printed as a Mobius strip.

- MakerBot revamps Replicator 3D printer, adds retail store.

- Low Latency No. 38: The waiting game.

Bathroom break video: DMX's first encounter with Google.… Read more

MakerBot revamps Replicator 3D printer, adds retail store

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based 3D printer manufacturer MakerBot hosted a press conference today, where it unveiled new products, as well as its first retail storefront. In addition to the store, the company announced a new Replicator 2 3D printer for immediate availability, a higher-end Replicator 2X due out in Q1 2013, and new 3D printing software, dubbed MakerWare.

The Replicator 2 comes on the heels of the Replicator, which debuted at this year's Consumer Electronics Show and went on sale at the end of January. The new model will cost $2,199, or $200 more than the highest-end original … Read more

Collage your pictures

Picture Collage Maker Lite for Mac is a free, nicely designed, easy-to-use photo collage maker for creating greetings cards, collages, or scrapbooks for special moments, and it has 150 great templates. Unfortunately, almost all of them are locked, despite the fact that the promotional material talks about more than 100 being available, which is annoying.

Although the design resembles other applications available on the market, such as CollageIt for Mac, Picture Collage Maker doesn't just copy its competitors. At first launch, users will be asked to choose a template from the long list of those available, but this is … Read more

Which 3D-printing service will make you a gun?

As I explored in this post, while it's possible to print a working firearm component with a 3D printer, it's not exactly the best way to create such a component. Still, more people might experiment with the idea as 3D printers become more common. And as 3D-printing technology develops alongside that growth, so will the popularity of 3D-printing services--companies that print objects for you based on plans you submit.… Read more

Breville countertop appliance makes rice and risotto

The Breville BRC600XL Risotto Plus Rice and Risotto Maker is an automatic rice maker that does more than just make rice. An elegant interface offers user easy operation via a set of no-nonsense buttons. The dedicated cooking functions include settings for: risotto, saute, steam, and slow cook as well as the ever-popular automatic rice-making mode.

The multi-cooker is designed for easy automatic operation, but with the inclusion of so many cooking modes, versatility on the countertop is a big feature. The saute function not only provides an easy way to build flavor by browning ingredients before fully cooking, but it … Read more

You don't bring a 3D printer to a gun fight -- yet

Welcome to the dark side of 3D printing.

The hobby is best known for creating colorful toys and trinkets, but some enthusiasts are working on design files that would allow anyone to print a working gun. These don't exist yet, but some believe it's only a matter of time.

Why would a 3D-printed gun be appealing? For one, it could potentially be cheap. You can buy a preassembled 3D printer for about $500. A spool of ABS plastic to print with goes for $50. Depending on where you shop, you can buy .38 Special ammunition for 30 cents a round. The plans will undoubted be distributed free like so many MP3s. … Read more

Google Map Maker users can now share their maps via Google+

Those of you who build and tweak your own maps via Google's Map Maker can now share them with your circles on Google+.

Any maps that you share via a post pop up on your Google+ profile, visible to the folks who follow you. They can then see your map and comment on it, according to the latest info from the Google Maps team.

Google has outlined a series of steps for sharing your maps on its social network. It's just as simple as sharing other content. Simply click on the Share button, type your message, and then … Read more

Create panoramic images with Microsoft ICE

Microsoft Image Composite Editor (or ICE) is a multiple image assembler that allows you to quickly import images to generate panoramic photos. You just simply have to drag and drop photos into the application, and ICE will automatically scan and combine the images to create a seamless, high-res panorama.

Despite its long, complicated name, Microsoft Research's app is simple and straightforward. You aren't required to prepare photos or perform any complex ordering. ICE automatically scans each image to determine the best method of stitching images together, both vertically and horizontally. Although I didn't expect it to perform … Read more