The Taste of Digital printing Technology (3D printing)

Three Dimensional Printing

Did you know that 3D printing is a digital printing technology that can allow you to print almost anything under the sun, it has gone to an extent of printing a house, can you imagine that? a good example is in China where they have giant 3D printers that can print up to 10 houses in a single day. 

3D printing is made possible by fusing layers upon layers of materials made from durable plastics and metals based on a template, designed with a 3D Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. Each layer is about 0.1 mm thick and consist of liquid, powder and sheet materials.

You can print out 3-dimensional objects based on a working template, and they aren’t just for show. They actually work! Manufacturers can provide you with a template where you can print a broken part of a machinery, let’s say, a screw, rather than order then wait for a replacement to come in.

Below is a taste for 3D printed working objects:

 

1.Electric Light Shoe

This shoe filled with intricate detail and lights is 1 meter long and not a pair of shoes you can wear. It was used as an Onitsuka Tiger commercial and created with a 3D printer. The link says you can purchase it for 5879.83 Euros and keep it as a modern sculpture in your home.
You can check out the amazing making-of of this shoe in this video.

2. 3D Printed Acoustic Guitar

Scott Summi created the world’s first 3D printed acoustic guitar, which means the rest of us now know it can be done.
With 3D printing, guitars can be made with plastic, complete with the metal soundhole cover and heel joint. Apart from making working musical instruments, avid guitarists can also make a 3D replica of the guitars of their favorite musicians or idols.

3. Hand-made Camera Lens

A camera lens is complex to create, but with 3D printing you can make your own lens and even stumble upon some creative and unique results.
The creator of this camera lens used acrylic to replace the glass on the lens and other tools and machines to combine the many small parts together. And best of all, the lens works! Check out these few pictures taken with 3D printed lens.

4. Shakuhachi Flute

This is a beautiful Japanese flute made out of stainless steel, 3D printed. It comes with a few different finishes such as gold plated matte or glossy and antique bronze matte (pictured below). The flute is 9.4 inches long and has a tiny dragon design if you look closely enough.
You can buy this beautiful music instrument for $239.95. Can you imagine what this means for fans of fantasy movies?

5. Rigid Heddle Loom

If you’re into weaving fabric then you could create this rigid heddle loom with a 3D printer and some raw plastic material; the whole thing held together by screws. The creator used a 3D modeller program called openSCAD to design this.
History class would be a whole lot more interesting when you can see actual tools of the trades from a period in time.

6. 3D Figurines From Children’s Drawings

Ever wanted to turn one of your child’s drawings into something ‘real’, from a drawing to maybe a sculpture? Well now you can, for 99 Euros. Your child’s colorful drawing can be turned into a work of art thanks to 3D printing.
The object is about 4 inches in length and can be used to decorate your work desk or home or be used as a trophy for your kid’s artistic talents.

7. 3D Fetus

"3D scans" of your unborn child is taking on a whole new meaning. Instead of a picture of your ultrasound, a Japanese company is now giving you a ‘Shape of an Angel’, a 3D print of your foetus for $1275. The 3D model is created by 3D processed image data with BioTexture.

8. 3D Printed Medical Models

When it comes to tech, science has to have a dab in it. With 3D printing, doctors would have a cheaper alternative to learn about the human anatomy and also be able to inject realism into surgery practice without the use of cadavers.
Since the printing of these medical models is so accurate, surgeons can also plan a surgery on a printed model like this before the real patient goes under the knife.

9.  A Working Gun

In the past, 3D printed firearms easily break after firing a few rounds. However today, non-profit corporation Defense Distributed offers users to download the necessary files to print your own firearms provided you have a 3D printer at home.
Here’s a video of one of their creations firing at semi-auto and full-auto modes.

10. iPhone 5 Case & Card Holder

This creation by Janne Kyttanen might look like a well designed iPhone 5 case, but it’s really more functional than that. It can also hold two cards too.
It’s named the Mondriaan Case which is derived from the painter, Piet Mondrian, who liked the design of multiple horizontal and vertical lines. There are 3 colors to choose from for a price of $34.99.

11. Gear Wraps

If you like to bring your gear around with you and want it to be organized neatly, then you could buy this 3D printed Gear Wraps that can save you the hassle and time of untangling your many cables.
It can be printed in a wide variety of different colors and ranges from a price of 10 to 20 Euros depending on the color you choose.

 

12. Infinite Sisu – iPad Stand

This stand is inspired by a Finnish concept of determination; the little muscular ‘man’ holding up the iPad is pretty hard to miss. This is definitely a work of art which you can purchase at a price of $161.
It might seem pricey for an over-glorified smartphone or tablet stand, but it’s the hefty price you pay for any kind of beautiful art.

13. Customizable 3D Printed Bugdroids

Android enthusiasts would love an Android figurine to display on their desks, but what’s awesome about these 3D printed ones is that they have custom themes to describe your personality.
There are 25 designs to choose from for a price of $21.99; if you don’t find something that describes you, there is the option to customize your own bugdroids at a starting price of $29.99.

14. Hanging Light

From the same person who created the iPhone 5 case above, here is the Palm Lamp, Janne Kyttanen created this eye-catching work of art which comes in a variety of sizes. Use it as part of your decor, as a standing lamp, a table or ceiling light fixture.

15. Kaleidoscope Clock

Here is a two-pieces of 3D printed clocks, which comes in two parts, part A and part B. The clock is split into 2 ‘faces’, the purple numbered face and the design face behind it.
With a few instructions, you can put the two together and have it up and running in no time. The white Kaleidoscope Clock kit is available for a total of $51 or a black one for $61.

16. 3D Anatomica di Revolutis Sculptural

This work art is the creation of one of the most recognized 3D printing designer Joshua Harker. It’s printed with polyamide, a combination of nylon and glass fused together with a laser. Check the link out for more close-up photos of this fascinating and intricate creation.

17. Coffee Cups

These are espresso coffee cups printed out of Glazed Ceramics. The printing process takes almost a full day, and the One Cup a Day project aims to design and create 30 unique cups in 30 days.

18. 3D Printed High Heels

This pair of 3D printed high heels called Morphogenesis was designed by Pauline Van Dongen and made out of laser sintered nylon. She collaborated with Freedom Of Creation on the design which won a ‘Most Creative Collection’ award at the Mittelmoda 2010 event.
It comes in different colors and truly defines the future of 3D printed accessories.

19. 3D-Printed Fabrics

Designer Jiri Evenhuise worked together with Janne Kyttanen to make the needle and thread obsolete by using a software that collects a person’s body data to instantly create perfect fitting nothing.
This type of technology is recyclable, requires less labor, shortens production time and ultimately lowers the carbon footprint for a greener way to create clothing. Plus, you can be sure that clothing you buy online can fit you like a glove.

20. 3D Printed Bikini – N21

This bikini is made from Nylon 12, a strong, flexible and 0.7 mm thin material that is waterproof. Because of this, the creators said it’s ideal for swimwear and actually becomes more comfortable when exposed to water. This futuristic 3D clothing costs $200-300.


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Reference
http://www.hongkiat.com/blog/3d-printings/

The future of paper vs the internet

The depreciating value of paper 

Books are made of sheets of paper, a paper is well known in the market place as a surface used to print information on it for the purpose of making it public to the global society(publication), over the past decade, the world has experienced tremendous changes in the publication industry due to the introduction of the internet.

 Technology and more precisely the internet is slowly eradicating the use of paper especially in the communication and publication industry, this is because of increased production of ICT gardgets like smartphones and laptops at affordable prices. This has increased their use in the society at globally.

The Future Of Books

This is question to answer on your own, as for me i can actually tell from statistics that  paper has no future for as long as the Internet exist, the internet is appears to be cheap that paper or other printed materials, this is due to the fact that one only needs to have access to a network for him/her to be able to access any kind of information that he/she is in need of.  

Books are very expensive compared to the internet due to several factors such as cost, and storage space, printed paper require a physical space to be kept in while not in use, on the other hand a soft copy is kept in the cloud and can be accessed from the internet just by pressing a button in your gadget. 

Online/digital Libraries 

Many Libraries has gone to the extent of making access to their materials easy over the internet, one doesnt need to travel all the way to a library  to access particular information, instead, the internet is a solution to this, with data connection, libraries allow their users to access materials globally online hence saving them time and money.

 Through such online platforms, information can reach a large audience within a short period of time through the internet unlike paper/ printed documents.

The future generation

The future generation is highly dependent on the youth of today, the same people are the once who find it difficult to even purchase a book or a newspaper, instead they access all this online, thanks to the internet, one can nowadays send or receive information from anywhere at any given time from the internet. Reading has also become easy due to the fact that the internet has no boundaries and one can read a book over seas.

Conclusion

 From the above discussion i can confidently propose the my point that the future of paper is not guaranteed in any way. 

 

ICT Challenges in Education Sector In Kenya

 

ICT in Kenya

ICT has been one of the sectors growing at an alarming rate over the past 10 years In Kenya , it has made an impact in the world of communication and development. 10 Years ago communication depended on face to face communication, today things are very different, you only need your mobile phone, a computer or any other communication device to send/receive a message from anywhere in the world only by pressing a button.
What is ICT?
       ICT stands for Information Communication Technology, it is often used as an extended synonym or an umbrella for IT(information Technology),  but this is a broad term that stresses the  role of unified communications and integration of telecommunications( telephone lines and wireless signals), computers as well as necessary enterprise software, middle-ware, storage, and audio-visual systems, which enable users to access, store, transmit, and manipulate information.
     ICT have been widely used in the education sector to better the success of scholars,  this includes use of projectors and e-learning which has been  widely used by institutions of higher learning.

Common ICT challenges in Education Sector in Kenya
Despite the positive impacts that ICT has brought in the community, there have been challenges hindering it's success in the education sector, some of the challenges are:

1. Lack of qualified teachers to teach ICT in schools.
2. Lack of computers.
3. Lack of electricity to power the computers.
4. High cost of computers in Kenya.
5. Broken down computers and delays in repairing them.
6. Burglary of computer hardware.
7. Fear of the computer administration. Most school heads think that maintaining computers is hard and expensive. They fear failing to be able to maintain the computer labs
8. Lack of internet or slow and poor network connectivity.
9. Lack of initiative by the community leaders. The computer projects need passionate individuals to drive them.
10. Obsolete and sub-standard computers being introduced in schools.
11. Increased moral degradation through web and internet. Parents and teachers fear introduction of computers might open up immorality like pornography.

These are some of the challenges that has faced the education sector in Kenya, they need to be curbed by ICT officials in Kenya for better chances of success in the ICT sector.

By Biffon Momanyi, Information Scientist, Moi University,Kenya.

3rd world Countries vs 1st

Traffic, Population & Development 

Nairobi Kenya, 
A good example of the 3rd world countries city is Nairobi.
The picture beside shows the beautiful City of Kenya, the picture can easily draw your attention, have a look at it once more. It has beautiful and attractive tall buildings that makes the face of Nairobi CBD, but the true story i hidden within the daily commuters of Nairobi and its environs.

Kenya's Capital Nairobi is one of the biggest and the busiest city in Africa,it represents many 3rd word cities, with a population of about 5 million people and 3 million vehicles both private and P.S.Vs. Development and job creation has always been one of the most concentrated agenda among-est the current leaders of Kenya, this comes despite them being aware of the dangers in the growing rate of population with less jobs, the current condition in the city has become even worse as more vehicles are registered every day compared to other counties in the Country, this means at least every Nairobi citizen is trying their best to own a vehicle.

Traffic in the city
 Its not bad to own a car, its good for personal transport and personal businesses, but look at what will happen if the roads are not expanded to serve all the vehicles at a go, the picture on the right shows what will happen to the worst extent if the current road's condition is not solved with immediate effect. This is one of the picture of what awaits the Nairobi vehicle owners everyday to and from the central business district.


The Thika Super Highway was constructed with the aim of reducing congestion for the Nairobi-Thika road users,it is the most expensive road in Kenya, thanks for the good road but less to our expectations, check what is happening in the biggest road in the country. Congestion and Traffic jam is the daily routine for the road users.

Population

Nairobi has experienced daily population growth, this is because more Kenyans move to the city for reasons best known to themselves, this reasons includes job seeking, schooling or other reasons, due to such reasons the city remains like this(in the image on your  right).
The population increase within the city has had several negative impacts to the Nairobians since crime rate is also increasing due to lack of jobs to the youth, now this also needs a solution with immediate effect for the benefit of the citizen.

Development plans
Development is what most Kenyan citizens would like to see in their everyday life, but remember that will include time saving yet traffic is one of the things that has interfered with peoples time, getting home from town is a story to tell and vise versa, this will of course alter the development plans that every one is trying to achieve,  Development will first be easily accomplished if people can get to working destination in time, and if the Kenyan schools can produce job creators and not job seekers, 

If the Kenyan roads could be compared to this, bullet train transport in China and other 1st world countries, then there could be less to doubt about development. Otherwise, third word countries still have more challenges to face in terms of development, traffic within cities being one of them.

This pictures on your left should act a motivation and the driving force for many 3rd world countries, The 1st world countries have gone no the extent of producing the bullet trains that travels at a speed of up to 300 miles per hour , they are as comfortable as you can't imagine, this has even given the citizens of such countries enough reasons why they should not own a vehicle, This trains are very cheap and time saving, good examples to mention are China and Japan.

Time
As it has always been in the minds of many, TIME IS MONEY, this is absolutely true to say, without enough time you cant be able to catch up with your daily target and plans.
For 1st world countries, its easier to safe time compared to 3rd word countries, this is due to the strategies and measures they are putting in place, it is high time for the 3rd word countries to borrow ideas and work hand in hand with 1st world countries for their own benefit.

This picture on your right shows an example of a well developed City in a 1st world country, Beijing,China. China has the largest population but they are much ahead in terms if development, transport is not a problem at all.

Other good examples of a well developed City are Las Vegas Nevada and New York City in the USA.
This image show the New York City.  From the above story you can easily tell that in 1st world countries, technology and development is part of the daily life.

Story Created and produced by Biffon Momanyi, Information Science Student Moi University, Kenya.