Also, just because it is a Chinese address, does not necessarily mean that it is a Chinese citizen. Shanghai, Shenzhen and dozens of other Chinese cities are filled with entrepreneurial expats at the moment, who understand that the best business opportunities are now in places like the Pearl River Delta and not Paolo Alto. Many of these guys are very computer literate, and it only takes one disgruntled individual trying to get back at those responsible for flushing their home county's prospects down the toilet.

I wonder how long it will take for this to be extended to even more valuable 3D files such as .stl files

And what if the Chinese do not produce the particular plastic widget you require. Chinese factories are not well known for their imagination and creativity. A 3D printer is simply an extension of your imagination. If that is limited, then so will be your level of success with one of these machines.

A couple of months ago I worked really hard to research, write and independently publish an ebook on 3D printing, aimed at ordinary computer users. I made it easy to read, tried to be as imaginative as I could about all the different uses, and endeavoured to fill the book with useful, practical information. I even kept the price down to an absolute minimum ($3.49), just a fraction of the cost of my nearest competitor. I would have liked to have made it free, under a creative commons licence, but, after all, a man has got to eat. Since its release, I have worked hard on promotion, sending out review copies to anybody that showed an interest, as well as making a fair few clumsy mistakes in trying to obtain some free publicity. After all, it was my first attempt at self publishing. Most of all, I wanted to share my experience and enthusiasm with 3D printers, and counter all the articles that describe this technology as a fad, or simply over-hyped. Now Cody Wilson, on the other hand, only has to fart, and the media are all over it, giving him miles of column space, even though my dog probably has more creative flair than this gun obsessed redneck. Now, do not get me wrong, I am as anarchist as the next man (especially if that next man happens to be a noted MIT Professor ;-)), but it it is really getting me down that I am spending so long trying to get my work noticed, while some idiot, who wants to jeopardise the entire 3D printing industry, seems to get more press attention than the leader of North Korea. At the moment, I am working on an updated edition of the ebook. That may seem fast, but this technology is evolving much faster than most of us expected. My own makerbot experiments are going really well, but my enthusiasm is being hammered every time I read the latest news splash in the wiki weapon saga. What am I doing wrong? Am I banging my head against a brick wall? Am I destined to remain in obscurity while some upstart gun-nut steals the show?

When I was much younger the sci fi that really got me hooked on science was the stuff that was easily accessible, and cheap enough to afford with my allowance. That meant that I had lots of second hand paperbacks from Harry Harrison's 'The Stainless Steel Rat' series. I was also a big fan of the comic 2000 AD, which just happened to be at a very suitable price point for me. My point is that stuff you recommend must be cheap and easily available. These days, there is a lot of good science fiction available under a creative commons license, so how about sharing a few PDFs of Cory Doctorow or Bruce Sterling. Just out of interest, do your students read digital books or dead tree versions? One trend that I would like to see further improve, is science and technology books becoming available with supplemental material for teachers and students to use in classroom settings. At the moment, I am putting together this kind of material to go with the latest edition of my new book on 3D printing, and would be interested to learn about other science and tech authors that have done, or are doing the same thing.

I really like the idea of the 'Hidden' app, for when your Mac or iPhone is lost or stolen, Hidden will show you where it is and who has it. Is there something similar for PC laptops, preferably open source?

Malaysia is an easy option but there are lots of nicer places in Asia, especially if you do not want to live in 24 hour air con. For me I like the Tibetan foothills, where we get more sunshine than California, and yet there are still plenty of unspoiled valleys just waiting to be explored.