Amanda Ghassaei 3D Prints Playable 33⅓rpm Records!

3D Printed Record

I printed these records on a UV-cured resin printer called the Objet Connex500. Like most 3D printers, the Objet creates an object by depositing material layer by layer until the final form is achieved. This printer has incredibly high resolution: 600dpi in the x and y axes and 16 microns in the z axis, some of the highest resolution possible with 3D printing at the moment. Despite all its precision, the Objet is still at least an order of magnitude or two away from the resolution of a real vinyl record. When I first started this project, I wasn’t sure that the resolution of the Objet would be enough to reproduce audio, but I hoped that I might produce something recognizable by approximating the groove shape as accurately as possible with the tools I had.
In this Instructable, I’ll demonstrate how I developed a workflow that can convert any audio file, of virtually any format, into a 3D model of a record, and how I optimized these records for playback on a real turntable. The 3D modeling in this project was far too complex for traditional drafting-style CAD techniques, so I wrote an program to do this conversion automatically. It works by importing raw audio data, performing some calculations to generate the geometry of a record, and eventually exporting this geometry straight to a 3D printable file format. . . .

This is *such* a rad project! Clearly not practical–it requires a big 3D printer with *really* high resolution in order to get a really low-resolution version of a single song–but I *love* the whopping oscillation artifact that the process introduces to the audio. *That* has some delicious sonic possibilities, in my humble.
Here’s a very brief interview/overview:

I Have a Story in the Current Asimov’s! #scifi

“Table of Contents” – Asimovs

What with all the seasonal hubbub, I totally forgot to shamelessly hype that my short story “The New Guys Always Work Overtime” is in the current issue of Asimov’s (technically the “Feb 2013” issue, it’s on newsstands now and will stay there until mid-January-ish). It’s your standard time-travel/labor relations/supply-chain management/crappy corporate job/boy-meets-girl story, and leverages basically every bit of German I know (Yes, *both* phrases!) It’s available in dead-tree format only, which is actually pretty quaint for a time-travel story set in an iPad factory. Better hustle on down to your local bookstore and trade paper money for paper stories.
CORRECTION: Duh; things have changed a little since the last time I had a story in Asimov’s. The magazine is now available for Kindle with a *FREE* 30-day trial–so if you just wanna check out “The New Guys” you can do so with no risk *and* no leaving the house. Score one for leaving in the terrible dystopian future! Asimov’s is a pretty solid magazine–if you’re into “soft” SF–so it’s worth the $3 “risk” if you flake out on canceling the trial subscription:

Guess what’s got two thumbs and a Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano?

This guy!
My departed grandfather (long story) gave me a Critter & Guitari Pocket Piano GR for Non-Denominational Gift-Giving Holiday (honest; it’s sort of involved. Just roll with it). Here’s a little early fiddling with it (listening with headphones will make it easier to catch the low octaves in the second half). This is a simply *delightful* instrument, the synth equivalent to the ukulele. Expect a more complete review in the New Year.

GIFT RECOMMENDATION: The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guides from No Starch Press

If there is an AFoL (“Adult Fan of LEGO”) in your life–or an über-nerdy LEGO kid–then No Starch Press’s two Unofficial Lego Builder’s Guides are must-buys.
I’ve lauded Allan Bedford’s UNOFFICIAL LEGO BUILDER’S GUIDE in the past; it’s an *exhaustive* treatment of all of the structural and design possibilities (both practical and theoretical) inherent to the LEGO System, as well as a handy reference work on parts, build techniques, and design styles.

This second edition offers a lightly revised text and a complete full-color makeover. It’s really, really pretty. My only beef is that it’s also almost 100 pages shorter than its predecessor, although I’m not sure how freak-out worthy that is: It’s pretty clear that the new tidier layout and slightly more compact typesetting is responsible for some of that shrink, and is balanced by the fact that No Starch has gone with a nicer semi-gloss paper stock, making this a more exciting gift item or coffee table book. That said, the second edition *did* loose several chapters–albeit ones that may have come off as filler to some readers (one was on brick storage and pre-build preparation, the other on crafting a few handy tools for building. I can see a lot of folks who aren’t sociologically interested in what’s happening in an AFoL’s head skipping these). The one omission that did bother me was the loss of the brief chapter on LEGO Technic. Fortunately, No Starch has compensated for that with:
THE UNOFFICIAL LEGO TECHNIC BUILDER’S GUIDE by Pawel Kmiec (whose name’s spelling I’ve had to approximate, as it calls for several letters I can’t readily located among the Special Characters).

Oh. My. GOD! This book is simply *incredible.* Like Bedford’s book it’s in beautiful full color, but where Bedford is chatty Kmiec is concise and textbookish (in a good way). Pages are dominated by excellent illustrations. It’s the engineering textbook Technic always needed, delving in to *how* Technic builds work and the intricacies of their designs (which are wholly unexplored in the Technic sets themselves, which include pictograph LEGO build instructions with no discussion of how a mechanism works or why a design decision was made). Kmiec offers some brilliant insights into, for example, the need for (and methods of) offsetting pieces by a half-stud, or the differing reinforcement methods available to modern LEGO Technic geeks. His discussion of mating traditional Technic bricks and the newer stud-less beams for sturdy, compact, and attractive builds is both an easy and informative read.
All told, this book is *beyond* exhaustive–at 320+ pages the damn think weighs in at over two-and-a-half pounds. Heck, there are *two* chapters dedicated solely to LEGO’s awesome pneumatic system, including several full BIs (build instructions) for pneumatic engines–and that’s just one facet of this gem. There are pages upon pages of BIs for linkages, differentials, couplings, transmissions (including one for a ten-speed transmission–it runs nearly 30 pages!) and more. If there’s a LEGO Technic fan in your life, this book is just about guaranteed to knock him or her out cold.

Continue reading “GIFT RECOMMENDATION: The Unofficial LEGO Builder’s Guides from No Starch Press”

O Vibro-Tannenbaum!

I’m not such the Christmas Tree guy, but many of you are (statistically speaking), so I submitted for your consideration: The Christmas Tree Vibrator (a phrase that I otherwise *DO NOT* suggest googling without SafeSearch firmly in place).

Christmas Tree Vibrator: Odd invention aimed to shake up your holiday tree

This 1947 patent for a “Christmas Tree Vibrator” turns out to be more confusing than risque.
The inventor, Leo R. Smith, argued that a vibrating tree was a way to make ornaments look prettier. The vibratory unit “for attachment to decorated trees” would “transmit a highly pleasing two-dimensional vibration thereto without interference with the decorations.”

GIFT RECOMMENDATION: The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 1: Cars, Castles, Dinosaurs & More! by Megan H. Rothrock

Throughout the year my publisher, No Starch Press, favors me with review copies of the new and interesting additions to their catalogues. So, between now and whatever-the-last-shipping-day-before-Xmas-is, you can expect a mess of gift suggestions to pop up here.
Incidentally, if you have a book or kit that bears reviewing, feel free to drop me a line; I’m not totally married to only reviewing books by my friends or publisher, those are just the ones that show up on my mailbox.
Kicking off this season of reviews is The LEGO Adventure Book, Vol. 1: Cars, Castles, Dinosaurs & More! by Megan H. Rothrock. This is a really beautiful survey of the modern world of LEGO construction lead by our intrepid guide, minifig Megs. This hardcover (suitable for gift-giving!) is packed with glossy full-color photos, and follows Megs in comic-book style as she tours the works and worlds of a dozen top LEGO designers (both pro and hobbyist). The book includes at least 200(!) designs, with 25 full build instructions for planes, trains, dinosaurs, robots, mechs, medieval accouterments, and more. The designs themselves are brand-free (no Star Wars of Harry Potter), and focus on modularity, adaptability, and reusability. Megs highlights lots little aesthetic flourishes that go a long way (with great observations about medieval brickwork, modern commercial roofs, engines, etc.) and introduces many innovative techniques (including some neat SNOT–that’s “studs-not-on-top”–construction tricks). She’s always sure to flag how a construction can be adapted to new designs.
The book favors some pretty complex builds (the T. Rex has 75 steps!)–which would tend to put it into AFoL (“Adult Fan of LEGO”) territory–but the book design is super accessible to younger builders, making it something of an ideal “idea book” (where it’s fine to aspirational instead of actionable). I gave a copy to my six-year-old and he was *thrilled.* After a few days (during which he read it cover-to-cover each night), I checked in for a review:

Me: “Hey, kid, waddya think of this book?”
6-year-old: “It’s cool.”
Me: “What’s cool about it?”
6yo: “Megs goes everywhere and I find out new things about LEGOs that I like.”

So, there you have it.

Handmade Letterpress Editions of “Tucker Teaches the Clockies to Copulate”–THE PERFECT HOLIDAY GIFT! (for certain persons of ill-repute and refined tastes)

Still looking for that literary, yet semi-obscene, gift to give to your favorite brass-goggled poindexter? May I suggest he or she might really and truly enjoy a personalized, handmade chapbook of my celebrated novella “Tucker Teaches the Clockies to Copulate”? The cover is handset and printed on the *very same* Chandler & Price 10×15 New Style Printing Press featured in Wikipedia!

The illustrated ebook pack is the same as the Kindle version available through Amazon, but DRM-free, and in formats suitable for almost any device. Includes mobi, ePub, PDF (in several print-ready layouts) files, and digital extras(!!!) Buying at the “Patrons” level gets you an exclusive, handmade, signed and numbered print edition (like the one in the pic)! Details on Pick-What-You-Pay options


Pick-What-You-Pay:




Domestic shipping is free; international folks: we’ll have to figure that out. It’s a big, crazy world.

Landfill Harmonic: A Student’s Orchestra of Upcycled Instruments in Paraguay

Landfill Harmonic film teaser on Vimeo

Landfill Harmonic film teaser from Landfill Harmonic on Vimeo.

There’s lots to love in this documentary–much of it sort of predictable (the “universal” appeal of music dominated by dead white European men, the indomitable human spirit, silk-pursing the sow’s ears, blah blah blah)–and I’d be lying if I said those things didn’t tug-tug-tug at my heart’s single string, but I’d likewise be lying if I didn’t admit that what I love best is the way the form of the violin has been optimized to the materials they have at hand. All fingers crossed that this film permits itself a few digressions into the technical aspects of making violins from salvaged cooking oil cans.