And convenience is the battleground where paid content fights free stuff. The paid stuff isn't winning yet, but at least it finally gained some ground. It's about time it did so again :P

I tried sending you a message, but it seems I can only send messages to people that I'm connected to via a project. Will just donating $5 count as "being connected to you via a project"?

I'm tempted to make a 3D model of him, like a bust, and upload it to Thingiverse. Thousands of statues of the guy, all over the world :D

If I link from there to the IndieGogo campaign, that'd be some extra exposure too. I hope I do get to it in time!

People have experimented with using the lost wax method, substituting wax with PLA. That's at least one way to get metal parts from a cheaply printed object.

With a heated bed, warping is minimal, as far as I understand it. Of course, I haven't even bothered connecting mine to the circuit boards yet... Even with just yellow/white painter's tape on my print surface, I don't get any problems with this on most prints.

Granted, most of my prints could fit inside a 10x10 cm area on the print surface, so they're not very big.

As far as I know, a bridge is a hidden entry node. Unlike regular ones, they're not published on a huge list.. you can only request a few via a certain url at a time.

The rage runs deep here, considering I was just parroting what I read on Wikipedia about the continents a while ago. I'd like ask you people to give my mailbox a rest by no longer repeating the same "raaaah america is only the USA" thing. I got it by now. You don't like me saying such things.

The US is the united part of America, while there's also this continent called.. you guessed it.. America. It can be subdivided into North and South America, but if you just call it America, it's the whole you'd actually be talking about.

I use Blender for anything organic or smooth, or anything that can be done with a bit of simple vertex-pushing. I might look into Openscad for customizable or technical designs, or Sketchup for anything architectural that doesn't have to be very precise.

There's also tools for repairing STL files. You should ask on #reprap on freenode IRC about it. I don't need it very much, forgot the name.

Similarly, I have a Reprap printer. It takes work and knowledge to get it to work and keep working, needing attention like a spoiled little baby, but it's fun to mess around with. I also built my computer from parts, about 4 or 5 years ago. It still serves every purpose I use it for. It also has its share of weirdness sometimes, but I can deal with it.

To those with the patience for it, DIY can be a beautiful kind of project to work on. To those without, surely there's someone nearby who has the right skills and the right price.

FDM printers can already be had for less than $1000, and I built my own Mendel90 for about 500 euros. The PLA I use cost 32 euros per 2.3 kg, although it's a pretty cheap type. Been using it for a while now, still haven't run out. And even if I did find myself lacking material, I could chuck all my failed prints into a filabot or something and recycle it.

I regularly print at 0.1 mm layer height, and generally find that it could be better. If I had the patience for it, I'd go for 0.05 or 0.025.

My Z axis would be the most accurate axis on my printer, I'd guess. And it's just two simple leadscrews with captured nuts and one stepper motor each, driving them.
It's a 550 euro Mendel90, a Reprap variant.

None of the workers really have any responsibility for the decisions made. The responsibility would lie with those who -make- those decisions, the higher-ups. Ideally, you'd just find the person who made the decision to skimp on security. Sadly, that's easier said than done.

Either Bitcoin thrives for a decent while, or cancer gets cured. How is this a bad thing? :D

(Intentionally simplifying things, yeah, but still)