3D Printing the Future

A MakerBot hard at work.

I've been following the consumer 3D printing scene for a long while now and it's amazing to see the progress and developments that have been made in desktop 3D printing technology.  There's essentially been an explosion of 3D printers that have hit the market (through various means such as crowd sourcing-based Kickstarter, etc.) in the last 6 months with the most recent Kickstarter "3D printing" hit being the 3Doodler, a handheld ABS / PLA filament extruder which can be used to construct little artsy creations from plastic "wire."   What's really mind-blowing is how unbelievably simple the 3Doodler is (as I mentioned already, it's just the extruder / heater assembly from a desktop 3d printer fitted within a "pen-shaped" case, with literally the whole system costing dollars to make), yet the creators have become millionaires overnight--It's insane to ponder, but yet again I digress.

Last year I discovered a local Seattle gem, being the Metrix Createspace, which is described as a "hacker space" or basically a fully-fledged workshop for "Makers" of technical projects.  They offer tons of super cheap services including laser cutting, 3D printing, soldering, sewing, crafting, etc. and are open till midnight everyday.  Metrix is one of the coolest places Seattle has to offer--it's like all of Seattle's awesome techno wizardry condensed into an amazing "open-sourced hangout workshop."  Take a look at their VR tour page if you don't believe me.

Anyway, Metrix hosted a 2 hour workshop on 3D printing design which I just recently attended--the workshop ended up being 4.5 hours long but was pretty fantastic and insightful.  The future of consumer-level 3D printing has just begun and it is so very bright.  There are some issues associated with the technology such as intellectual property control and rights over 3D printed objects, but while the tech is not yet mainstream the solutions to these discussions are pending.  I learned quite a lot about the history of 3D printing and design considerations of printed objects.  There is so much untapped potential it's hard not to be excited about the ramifications of the technology.  I need to brush up on my 3D modelling / CAD skills and start putting my written ideas into fruition.

A hanging shio occolus.

While I was at Metrix I noticed there were a few shio lights hanging from the ceiling, which are really awesome "light sculptures" made from salt (crystallized sodium chloride) [shio / しお / 塩 is Japanese for salt].  I found out about shio lights last year on Kickstarter as well but didn't remember or realize that their studio is located here in Seattle.  The shio lights are insanely expensive (around $1000 each), but there's nothing like them on the market so I guess they have their own little niche.  I'd like to try my hand at making one using my chemistry background, but it seems like it might be a pretty messy process.  Maybe one day.

Nice Views

Freeway view - Downtown Bellevue

Since coming back to the US, I've been a bit slow with regard to re-accumulating "stuff"--things like furniture, everyday items, etc.  IKEA is typically a good one stop solution shop for this kind of problem and is where I perused for certain necessities.  In fact most all the big "furniture" items in my tiny apartment are from IKEA, first a desk and chair, and now a couch and coffee table.  While many of the household items from IKEA have a somewhat sought-after "modern contemporary European" look or style for an arguably inexpensive price, I can't help but notice how cheap and disposable all their goods are.  It's like everything is a giant façade or glittery shell covering over particle board and recycled plastic.  Sure it'll look "decent" for a little while, but any use will reveal its true cheap interior.  I'm not sure where I'm going with this rant, but I just wish there were higher quality yet inexpensive furnishings available from an alternative supplier.

（゜◇゜） - me

On a somewhat related note, a friend of mine finished furnishing his swanky high-rise apartment in downtown Bellevue and one of the bits he ordered was damaged on arrival.  He was sent replacements without having to return the damaged goods so I offered to take it (a nightstand) off his hands.  It's a nice solid wood piece which looks to have been dropped, but should be fixable with a small investment in a couple tools.  Regardless, I got to visit his amazing new apartment and it's like something from out of the movies.  It felt like how I'd imagine it to be if you were to "permanently" live in the fancy suite of a high-class hotel.

West Seattle - work view

That isn't to say that I don't have a view of my own, I sort of do, at my current work place.  I can't just look out the window of my office to get it, but if I go up a few floors of my building there's a small vista point which provides a decent view of parts of the university campus and West Seattle--not quite the same, but it's something at least!  

UW red square - work view

Last weekend I went to the local zoo with some friends which was my first time going to the zoo in Seattle (after being here for 5 years).  It's a decent zoo with; a good variety of animals, the smells weren't too excruciating, and it wasn't too crowded (although it is still the middle of Winter).  There wasn't too much of a selection of my favorite animals (lizards & geckos) but that's typical fare for a zoo--people seem to want to see the big stuff from Africa like elephants, giraffes, and lions.  I'd have to go to an exotic pet shop to get my fill of cute geckos and lizards if need be.  

The komodo dragons were active!

Finally, I found a cool shot of me in action (drifting) from the gymkhana a couple weeks ago.  Looks like I managed to get a little sideways in the shot.  Props to the photographer!

DriftDoctor Goes Drifting

Probably, the cleanest it'll ever be.

As mentioned in the previous post, and alluded to in post even earlier, I managed to pick up a replacement to my old beloved car.  What could possibly be suitable enough to replace that car?  Not too much, although there happened to be a fantastic driver's car that was released mid-2012 which I had been following with interest for a long while, though at that point in time I had never considered the possibility of owning one.  With "new years" come "new beginnings" and in this particular case, a new car.  The vehicle I managed to procure is the (Raven) Scion FR-S, otherwise also known as the Subaru BRZ, or in Japan, the Toyota FT-86.  I was unsure that I could ever own a Toyota, but the FR-S was just too good of a car to resist, being lightweight (2800 lbs), FR platform (front-engine rear-drive), OK power (200 hp), and fairly economical (4-cylinders).

Likely the cleanest the interior will ever be.

Having had the car for a couple months already and becoming pretty familiar with it's handling as a daily driver, I felt it was a good time to kick things up a notch and get better acquainted when things are taken to the limit--with a low-key gymkhana / drift event.  It's been a while since I've last been drifting, but it's kinda like riding a bike, you never really forget the basics.  However, in this case it's almost like going from a bicycle to a step below a unicycle.  I'll put things in simpler terms...  this car is hard to drift.  

There are many reasons why.  First, the power is OK, but the 4-cylinder motor produces little torque (151 ft-lbs at 6600 rpm).  If I suddenly slam my foot to the floor when applying gas, nothing happens, the car just slowly accelerates.  If I were to do the same in my old car, the rear wheels would quickly break traction and slide (like the beast that it was).  Second, the car lacks steering angle, at full lock I can't do a U-turn in a normal 2-lane road like I could with my old car (this is helpful for "catching" drifts).  And thirdly, the FR-S has "electronic active steering" which means the steering system is attached to an electronic assist system which modifies the steering ratio based on specific situations / speeds.  This is perfectly fine for slow-paced / daily driving, but during fast-paced lock-to-lock maneuvers while drifting, the steering feel is a bit strange.  It's manageable & learn-able but it's still just weird and a potential handicap until the disconnected feeling is mastered.  

Regardless, my first driving event with the car was a success.  I got to experience what the car feels like at the limit and found out that the car is very "grippy," you have to work really hard to get the car sliding well.  My first run of the day was a bit laughable--I didn't know how to turn off the traction control so I looked like a giant derp spinning out over and over as the car cut the throttle each time I tried to initiate a drift.  Lo' and behold I needed to press and hold the traction off button for five seconds till some lights in the dash appeared.  

Traction OFF - VSC OFF, OK, time to drift.

While drifting the FR-S is incredibly difficult, I did manage to pull off a few decent drifts and had a good time behind the wheel.  There were a few other guys at the event with the same car who were having a lot of trouble drifting as well.  But, the car is new, the drivers are inexperienced, and things will get better with time so I'll see how things progress later in the year.  

Prospects of 2013

Things have been largely uneventful as of late--I chalk it up to being due to poor Seattle weather and being in the midst of the middle of winter.  One indirectly positive aspect about this year's winter season is having a new car (new cars seem to have the reputation of being pretty reliable) which keeps me from having to stress over whether or not my car will survive the cold season and see the light of the coming summer or having to feed money into it for maintenance and potential repairs.  My last (precious) car, which was an absolutely amazing experience every time I got behind the wheel, was sadly in need of quite a lot of TLC and while it was very reliable, there was always the fear in the back of my mind that something expensive breaking was on the verge of becoming imminent.  Thankfully, I don't think I have to worry about anything breaking for hopefully a while, which is a nice relief (so let fun driving commence!).  

On an unrelated note, I've started learning how to program in Java and I'm enjoying it quite a lot.  Learning a new language is definitely challenging, but it's extremely rewarding when successfully figuring out the solution to a coding problem (using the new language you've learned).  I've only begun to scratch the surface of learning to program but I hope to get better and better with time and hopefully bring some of the project ideas I've written down into a reality.  I recently wrote a cheesy little program which displays a pixelated "8-bit" Hatsune Miku using another program called DrawingPanel. It doesn't do anything except code the graphical representation of Miku but I think it's really cool (because I'm a noob that's never done anything like this before).  I'm sure when I get better at Java I'll look back and be really embarrassed about letting myself post this, but everyone has to start somewhere, right?

All in all, I have high hopes that 2013 will bring some interesting and exciting new things.  What exactly?  I don't even know but I'll hopefully have more interesting updates to provide until then.

Fish Sticks (& small mammals)

Keep these away from me, thanx

So I recently had an eye-opening revelation which I had never really thought about before, regarding a certain processed fish-based food-product.  Fish sticks, you would think they are simply "pieces of fish" that are breaded and fried, right?  Well, unfortunately there is more to fish sticks than just that.  Basically, almost all fish are infested with parasitic worms--some more than others.  Certain species of fish in particular are characteristically infested with worms, Cod and Halibut (including other bottom feeders) are two of many such species which come to mind.  I doubt you will ever see "Cod sushi" due to this fact, but that's not to say it isn't impossible.

The story is essentially this: fishermen catch boatloads of Cod (or other) fish, and have them "cleaned / gutted" coming to realize the guts of the fish are full of worms, but not just the guts--the muscles and flesh are also riddled with small parasitic worms as well.  Fishmongers realized that although the worms are supposedly safe for eating (after being cooked), consumers would probably lose their appetite being given Cod fillets full of worms (with good reason).  So they came up with the idea that if you throw the infested fish meat into a grinder and grind up the worms with the meat, the processed fish could be battered, and turned into deliciously "safe" fish sticks--and the consumer would be none the wiser.

Who knew this was the case?  I didn't.  It makes sense but now I'm just a little grossed out--though I'm not one to eat fish sticks aside from Cod-based "fish 'n chips" which is likely also infested given that the meat is hidden from sight within a thick coating of batter.  Will this new found knowledge stop me from eating Cod?  Probably not but this information will likely be in the back of mind forever now.

For anecdotal evidence from fishing enthusiasts see: http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php/4525-Worms-in-halibut

Now for anyone who had the displeasure of enduring that disgusting revelation, here is something to cleanse your mind.

Pictured above is the Etruscan Shrew, the smallest mammal in the world (by weight).  It lives in a wide-spread region spanning Eurasia and parts of Africa.  This shrew gets to be around 2 inches in length and weighs 2 grams on average.  They have a high metabolism and will eat around 4 grams of bugs throughout an entire day, everyday.



It's pretty amazing to think that such small creatures have complete vascular systems with a full set of internal organs within a tiny skeleton in such a small size scale.  Given that these shrews weigh 2 grams, the shrew's heart must be smaller than a pin-head--it's crazy to think that something that small is pumping the shrew's entire blood supply which also must be a tiny incomprehensible volume as well.  I'm having a hard time pondering it.

Back in Seattle

Black Butte, CA

A few days ago I made the long trip (driving) from Tucson to Seattle: a grueling 24 hour, 1600+ mile journey that was split into 2 legs--a 14 hour, 1000 mile leg on day 1, and a 10 hour, 600+ mile leg on day 2.  I mentioned previously that the last time I made this drive was during the middle of Summer so things would probably be a little different this time around, and they definitely were.

The excursion was largely uneventful and boring driving through the open desert from Arizona to Los Angeles, but then I found things to get really scenic through northern LA with its smooth rolling hills dotted with small shrubberies and I was reminded of how nice and varied the landscape and scenery is in California--my favorite state in the US. Whenever I drive up through California I see how self-sustaining (resource-wise) the state is with its huge expanses of fertile land for growing food, the pasturage for cows and other livestock, the pacific ocean and its fish stock, huge supplies of trees and lumber in the forests of northern California, windy zones with turbines providing power, oil pumps and deposits everywhere, not to mention the large quantities of gold and other precious materials that are present in the mountains.  California could likely operate as an independent self-sustaining country if it absolutely needed to.

Driving through the heart of California things were again uneventful through a good chunk of northern LA up to northern California where around Mount Shasta the scenery took a quick turn toward becoming a white mountainous wonderland.  Temperatures during my drive through the mountains of northern California dipped to as low as 19 degrees Fahrenheit (-7 C) and the roads definitely showed it with large portions being completely covered and iced over.  Many of the worst sections of road were coated with a thick layer of red gravel (?) which may have included some kind of ice-inhibiting chemical as well (salt, etc.).  The worst areas were those in shadowy valleys which didn't see much sunlight, preventing the road surface from heating up, and giving a nice un-melted icy slick on the surface.  I only experienced 2 "pucker moments" where the rear (thankfully) of the car nearly slid out but I quickly recovered, slowing down till reaching a slightly warmer area.  The scenery from Mount Shasta up to a little past the Oregon border was really nice, and barring the slippery conditions, was a pretty exciting drive.

Everything shifted to mostly green (scenic-wise) past this point and the drive was again uneventful into Washington state where the conditions felt a little strange.  It may have been the fact that I was 8 or more hours into the second leg of a long drive, but the snowy white scenery coupled with a white foggy sky and a lack of a definite horizon was throwing off my balance and there were times where due to parallax, I wasn't sure if I was travelling on a flat road or if I was going down a sharp declining road vs an inclined road.  It was only a little disconcerting and I mostly tried to ignore the feeling and get to the next area asap.

Things were familiar on the approach to Seattle and I managed to arrive at my destination and apartment without issue.  The next days were spent "starting over" in life with acquiring consumables and other junk needed to settle down.  Seattle doesn't seem to have changed much in the last 6 months when I was gone.  Though one thing I have noticed is that grocery stores and retailers are now charging for paper bags so the "ban of plastic bags" law must have passed recently.  People at the grocery store seem to be using their own reusable grocery bags now so I guess everyone is trying to be a little more environmentally conscious (people are going to have to do a lot more than that to make a drop of a difference though)--it's a start at least.

My new apartment is a tiny studio unit but I think it'll suffice.  Pretty much the only furniture I have is a desk and chair pictured below as my primary base of operations and from where I'll likely be making most of my future updates and postings.

Taste of Tucson

Vacant hummingbird nest

As my time in Arizona has come to a close, I had the opportunity to eat some classically Sonoran cuisine, as per the suggestion of my bff who also came to visit family here.  Every year it seems to be a tradition to visit one of the many restaurant / food joints in Tucson which serve Sonoran hot dogs.  What is a Sonoran hot dog?  See the photo below:

Looks pretty gross in this picture I must say...

A Sonoran hot dog consists of a grilled hot dog wrapped in mesquite-smoked bacon nested in a soft bun and topped with beans, onions, tomatoes, sauce, mayonnaise  mustard, and whatever other "fixings" you desire--a slab of house guacamole in my case.  Not exactly the healthiest cuisine in the world (read: heart-attack central) but a couple per year shouldn't hurt too bad right?  Cheap treats.

Homeward bound

I've been going through a bit of a life transition currently as I'm finally back in the States, Arizona to be specific.  A little relaxation and calm is on the agenda till the end of the year.  Following my brief holiday in Arizona I'll be moving (driving!) back to Seattle to continue working there.  Last time I drove from Arizona to Seattle was during the middle of Summer (with no A/C), a solid 24 hours of driving split between two days--it was an interesting experience of which I don't hold too many fond memories but perhaps the second stint will be more bearable (?).  Key differences will be that this time I'll be driving in the middle of winter.  I recall a good deal of winding roads through mountain passes in northern California approaching Oregon.  Hopefully these passes won't be impassable due to inclemental weather.  I'll probably be making the attempt regardless though.

Some family came to visit recently and we took a nice drive outside of the Scottsdale / Phoenix area toward a few lakes nearby.  We made a few stops at Tortilla flats which was a small western "faux-town" with a few shops selling trinkets, and at a small "gold mining" settlement which was essentially a light western-themed tourist attraction revolving around gold-mining life and culture of the old-west.  It was an interesting adventure.

Mannheim - Weihnachtsmarkt

Last weekend after spending some time checking out the markets of Heidelberg, I concluded my Weihnachtsmarkt tour with none other than Mannheim's sizable centrally-located version.  Much of the same types of things could be found in this market, however, one key difference to the experience was the fact that it was night--dark and very cold.  I've managed to use my nose as a barometer of all that is cold and that particular night was so cold I couldn't even feel my face.  My nose told no lie as the following day the view outside my apartment window was filled with a snowy white wonderland.

The Mannheim Weihnachtsmarkt had a pretty nice atmosphere--a frosty night well lit up with sparkly yellow dots of light surrounding the smells of wine and sausage and vibrantly colored trinkets and crafts.  I mentioned in the last post that I tasted my first cup of fine Gluehwein while getting my haircut.  Being that my first Gluehwein experience was so good I incorrectly assumed that all Gluehwein would be equally amazing--this was a disappointing assumption.  The Gluehwein that is sold in market stalls is just... bad.  I think one of key differences is probably the quality of the wine used as the drink's base.  Market stall Gluehwein uses really cheap red wine as the stock fluid and it really showed, tasting like nothing more than cheap hot red wine.  

The market was loaded will all sorts of foodstuffs, including: handmade chocolates, french fries, smelly cheese, and more.  There was also a presumably Turkish guy selling tea and expensive stuffed dates which cost about 3 euros a pop.  As tempting as they were, the price was a bit too much.  The smelly cheese I mentioned was pretty interesting in that giant blocks of solid cheese were placed directly under an extremely hot lamp causing the surface of the cheese blocks to boil and bubble forth foul cheese smells.  The molten surface would then be scraped off and spread onto some kind of bread and served.  I don't remember what this cheese / technique was called but it looked nice. 

There was also a lot of fun activities for young kids with pony rides, train rides, Ferris wheels, carousels, and more.  This balanced aspect of German festivals was quite nice with there being "something for everyone."  All in all it was a pretty good experience.  My recommendation: A++ would attend again.

Heidelberg - Weihnachtsmarkt

Heidelberg castle overlooking the Weihnachtsmarkt

Given that my time left in Germany is short and coming to a close, I spent a good part of an afternoon in Heidelberg, which is a much nicer part of Germany, made evident by all the obvious tourists completely filling the streets.  Getting to Heidelberg took an easy 40 minutes or so by local train and is a nice escape destination from the neighboring Mannheim / Ludwigshafen twin-cities.  Heidelberg boasts a very picturesque cityscape centered in the hills and is one of Germany's many recommended and romanticized cities.

As I alluded to earlier, when I arrived it was strange because it seemed like almost everyone was speaking in English--American English.  This was pretty radical and never happened in Mannheim or Ludwigshafen, primarily due to the fact that these two cities don't really have anything to offer to (English-speaking) tourists.  In Heidelberg I saw all the stereotypical hand-crafted German wares being peddled such as insanely expensive wooden cuckoo clocks, intricate beer steins, crystal figurines, train sets with tiny model houses, various wooden toys, nutcrackers, and more--I haven't yet seen any of these things in Mannheim.

Another thing I noticed was that Heidelberg has a massive Japanese / Asian tourist presence.  I first began to notice this when I saw "warnings" in shops which were also translated in Japanese.  Then I became award of the hoards of Japanese people travelling in clusters and packs while getting their shop on. There was even a Japanese "duty-free" souvenir shop called Unicorn, staffed with real-life Japanese people!

Coinciding with my visit was the Weihnachtsmarkt or "Christmas market" which is essentially another excuse for the Germans to throw together another type of festival or street market--a seemingly everyday occurrence.  The Weihnachtsmarkts exist in every German city in some capacity with multiple markets present wherever space allows.  Within the market, various seasonal foods, drinks, goods, and more are vended for the better part of over a month, from now until December 23rd.

One of the most talked about topics related to the Weihnachtsmarkt is Gluehwein which is a seasonal German beverage, essentially "spiced red wine" which is served hot.  I didn't try any in Heidelberg, however, a cup of some "special recipe" was offered to me while I was having my hair cut in Mannheim.  I must admit it was quite good and easily palatable--I acquired the "Asian glow" during my hair cut that day (sad).  Other seasonal foods include roasted chestnuts, Stollen (fruitcake things), and gingerbread everythings.

The brief trip to Heidelberg was pretty good although it was quite rainy, which put a damper on my visit.  It's nice that this city is in close proximity to dirty Mannheim, although it would seem that this notion has become largely inconsequential to my future at this point...