Spring garden II, originally uploaded by sbmilagros.
Spring in Seattle means lots of flowering shrubs & trees, and days alternating rapidly between grey/wet and shining blue. In fact, the only day this yr that I’ve needed the down jacket I’ve been dragging with me was yesterday. And I was grateful to have it!
I stayed a few days with my older son & his wife in West Seattle. They bought a house last yr & have been working hard on fixing it up. I’m absolutely amazed by all the projects they’ve completed. I stayed in West Seattle last yr for a while, so it felt a bit like home. (That is, I know where to shop, eat, buy gas & park.)
Now I’m staying on Capitol Hill with my other son & his friends, and this is a new n’hood for me. It’s full of old mansions, and twee shoppes, and hipsters. Just down the street is the Episcopal cathedral & Bishop’s manse.
But in the middle of all this is a growing geek/hacker subculture… Two related shops, Metrix Create:Space and Ada’s Technical Books have located here, and their clientele is following.
I toured Metrix Create:Space a couple days ago. It is absolutely amazing. They are building & creating kits for 3D printers. What that means is (my understanding…) the printer takes a 3D file, created with a program like Blender. It then melts plastic & sprays it in the pattern of that 3D object. And viola, you have a plastic 3D object. There is also a laser burner, and user-members can buy time to use the machines. Take a look @ their website, b/c I’ve barely touched the surface.
This is the closest I’ve seen to a living version of the world Cory Doctorow describes, especially in Makers. If you haven’t read Makers, go down to Ada’s Technical Books about a block away, and buy it. Or a book (new or used) in just about any scientific or math-related field. Or a gift for your favorite geekish person.
Check out the photos…
