I'd like to see some people pitch emachineshop to take a position
in opposition to patents on software. Given the nature of their
product and service, their taking this position would be
particularly interesting.
Seth Johnson
Phil Shapiro wrote:
hi everyone -
wired magazine has a fascinating article about a new jersey company
that will manufacture whatever inventions you design with their free
windows CAD (computer assisted design) software.
http://www.emachineshop.com/
the wired article can be found at
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.09/fablab.html
this opens the doorway for some interesting constructivist learning
opportunities. youth and adults can develop skills using this CAD software
on a donated computer. they can take and teach workshops on how to best
use this software.
then when the time comes to order a physical creation of their design,
they might choose to use the new http://fundable.org web site to raise
funds for their design to be built. naturally, they would want to
create a video explaining why people ought to make donations for their
design to be built.
this video could be uploaded for free to the internet archive using
cyberduck (free ftp software for macintosh) or smartftp (free ftp
software for windows.) the internet archive is at
http://www.archive.org
i recommend uploading videos in mpeg-1 format, so they are viewable
by macintosh, linux and windows computers. it's best to upload
videos in segments of 10 minutes or less, so that synchronization
problems (between the audio and video) don't creep in towards the
end of the video.
to help people understand the capabilities of eMachineshop software,
some community members might create narrated screencasts. an
inventor/designer who created one or more quality screencasts would
be more likely to get their design/invention funded. a free windows
(and linux) program named Wink is good for creating screencasts. (see
http://shorterlink.com/?3K7VUA.) Wink doesn't have audio capabilities
yet, but that capability is going to be added to the software
sometime in the next few months. alternatively, the commercial
windows software named camtasia studio (about $300) is excellent for
creating screencasts.
antonia stone, the founder of CTCNet, named the original community
technology center in harlem, Playing To Win. she was so prescient
in understanding the connection between playing and learning and
economic empowerment.
we must seize the opportunity to learn and teach eMachineshop CAD
software. it's very smart of the company to distribute this software
for free. let's put it to use in our communities to teach
generalized computer design skills.
good things happen when the human imagination is let loose to roam
free.
- phil
if the technology access movement wholeheartedly embraces eMachineshop CAD
software, based on an article published in wired magazine, would that give
wired an easy way to do a cover story about the technology access
movement?
--
Phil Shapiro [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.his.com/pshapiro/ (personal)
http://www.digitaldivide.net/blog/pshapiro (blog)
http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/pshapiro (technology access work)
http://mytvstation.blogspot.com/ (video and rich media)
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others. - Desiderata
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