That’s right: the intrepid world-travelers from Barcelona’s blablabLAB are still playing world traveler, this time in São Paulo, Brazil.  They performed their “Be Your Own Souvenir” installation once more, this time seven days straight for an audience of 7,000 students!

Perhaps even better, they’ve recently posted a scan of Jon “maddog” Hall, legendary Linux programmer and community organizer, to Thingiverse! (Not enough beard detail if you ask me.)

Keep up the good work, guys!  And for everybody else: are you involved in a project that’s as awesome as what they’re doing?  Drop us a line at [email protected] and we’ll help share your story.

Untitled by blablabLAB

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A pink toothbrush case with a handle

A little while ago my daughter asked me to help her make a very specific kind of toothbrush case – a pink one with a bulbous end and a handle.  She and I worked together on the design until we arrived at something that was acceptable to my patron as well as possible in a mere 3 dimensions.

She was very happy with the final result.  I was actually a little disappointed that they turned out so well with the first print.  When printing things with my daughter, I like having a version that is sub-optimal in some way that we wouldn’t have realized before holding a printed version of our digital designs.  Having an initially defective result gives her¹ a way to look at an object and start thinking about how it could be improved.  In retrospect, I should have added a small hole to each end to allow for drainage. ²

Then again, there’s also something to be said for thoughtful design and careful planning culminating in a successful initial result.  It may not surprise me that she parlayed this success into her next request – a way to make her flip-top toothpaste tube easier to open.

1. Well, both of us, really [↩]
2. However, these can always be added with a drill or drill bit later. [↩]