User:Tav5057/Blogs
Blog 2: Open Source Ecology
The Open Source Ecology project is an interesting endeavor. I am always critical of these types of “save the world” projects. This is because I know how common it is for someone to solicit donations and support with false promises and some fancy talking.
Two personal thoughts: You could find out how to make these types of projects by doing some internet searching. Additionally, these designs would be superior as they have probably been tested and refined by multiple people. Obviously, the catch is that there would not exist a step-by-step guide and videos of construction. That is the nice thing about the OSE project and exactly why it stands out as something so innovative. The cynic in me still wants to believe that if I were building one of these machines, the best way to go about it would be to find great designs by someone on the internet, and slowly pick apart how they were constructed. I guess the intention of this project is not to provide instructions for the best machines that can possibly be made, but rather to provide complete instructions for pretty good machines.
I think it’s a step in the right direction, and it’s ultimately a good goal to have something like the OSE project around. However, I feel that a more realistic goal would be for a person to take on a machine where they can offer the utmost level of expertise. Having a small group of people force out numerous machines is not the way to yield the best results. Though, I suppose the only way to initiate a large scale OSE movement is to focus on quantity over quality, and gain widespread exposure in the short term. With time and further development, the machines can be refined or entirely redesigned by others.
My second thought is that the OSE project will not benefit as large of an audience as many people would like to believe. It seems that you would need access to fairly advanced materials (compared to say, raw lumber) and tools. Therefore, those that would benefit most from a “civilization start-up guide” would not have the resources necessary to carry out the process. I’m sure there are plenty of people that live in industrialized nations and could use cheap ways to build machinery, but portraying OSE as a sort of instruction manual for creating a civilized way of life is a bit misleading, in my opinion.
After looking at http://opensourceecology.dozuki.com/ , I don’t really understand where the fully detailed instructions are for any of these builds. Maybe I am just not finding them, or this website is still in development, but I cannot find much more than an infographic for each project. The money seems to be pouring in for Marcin via donations so he must be doing something right.
I am also a bit skeptical after seeing one of Marcin’s latest videos here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT79kyvPbAs. He describes the new business model – sorry, “enterprise” model – that they will be using this year. From my understanding, people will pay to help build the projects as a learning experience. To me, this seems as though the project is straying from its original goal and indeed becoming more of a business.
This article http://sinistercyb.org/wp/2013/07/problems-with-open-source-ecology/ seems to support my views about OSE. It is a good idea but Marcin’s execution seems to be all smoke and mirrors.
The fact that there are many accounts of negative experiences on the farm is not reassuring. By their accounts, volunteers are worked long hours in miserable conditions. Past participants are eager to tell of the injustices served against them while at the farm. This can be found through some online searching. One example I found was an archived blog post that had since been deleted. Two workers on the farm were accused of tampering with the water supply to sabotage the operation. There were previous incidents that culminated to this event, but in the end, the two people were wrongly accused and forced out as a result. You can read about that here: http://web.archive.org/web/20100613084052/http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/?p=979.
I was able to access the New Yorker article by retrieving a pdf from here: http://filepost.com/files/2c2d56f6/The_New_Yorker_-_23_&_30_December_2013.bak.pdf/. After reading “The Civilization Kit”, I am even more dismayed by the OSE project. Marcin’s response can be found here: http://opensourceecology.org/wiki/New_Yorker_-_Article_Response. Essentially, the New Yorker article gave a brief look into the goals of OSE, and then documented the turmoil of the workers that have volunteered or have been employed there. It gave off the idea that the project is not as grand as it sounds on paper. Marcin’s response was very predictable; he said that the writer of the article is not looking at the big picture. They smell sewage and a lack of clean water or food, but Marcin sees efficiency. He felt that the goal of OSE is the top priority and everything else comes second. I think this was predictable because I expected him to respond to these negative accusations by jumping back to all the wonderful ways he is going to save the world.
I think it would be a challenge to start up some sort of OSE student club. There would be a lot of legwork involved. The reason I say this is because I am involved with the EcoCAR team for my senior design project. The team is currently finishing up the conversion of a 2013 Chevy Malibu to a hybrid powertrain. The similarity I can see is the highly technical nature of the project. We have a dedicated garage and supply of tools, which makes it possible to carry out such a project. This is only available to us because of the work done by countless people over the many years the program has been around. There is a ton of logistics to be sorted in terms of safety and liability when working on a serious hands-on project, which an OSE club would probably lend itself to. I can’t think of any professors who would be specifically interested in this sort of club. However, I think that our EcoCAR advisor, Gary Neal, would be a good contact if a serious effort for an OSE club was made. He could probably provide valuable insight on the hurdles that would have to be overcome to establish something of this nature.
Blog 1: Thingiverse
- My account is not 4 days old so, as far as I know, I cannot directly upload pictures yet
A. Something amazing/beautiful
For some reason, I enjoy miniature cities and landscapes. That's why I found this piece to be so amazing. I think it would be cool to throw together a simple model of my house or neighborhood and print it at some point. (Link).
B. Something funny or strange
It's not so much this single object that I found funny/strange, but the collection of "beefy" objects on thingiverse. This must be some sort of cult following that I am not aware of. There are beefy sharks, beefy minions, and what appeared to be a beefy Kim Il Sung. This beefy turtle is a rather tame example. (Link).
C. Something useless
I found this spring object which appears to be quite useless. Although, if I had my own printer I would probably print it just to play with it. Therefore, maybe it isn't as useless as I thought. (Link).
D. Something useful
Upon seeing this object, I had many memories from the summer come to mind. I spent many hours researching and trying to construct my own steadicam. I had come up with so many designs that were small and simple, but couldn't easily be made by hand. I don't know how many times I wished I had a 3D printer. I think this is one of the moments where I decided I wanted to build my own some day. I chose this for my useful object because it is a prime example of an application where 3D printing can make a very difficult task much, much easier. (Link).
MaxGlide - Glidecam cheap and efficient!
E. Something which surprised you
This is the only time I have found myself looking at dresses. I swear. I thought it was surprising that someone would print something that covers nearly the whole body. I imagine it must need sufficient flexibility to not fracture during normal movement. Or maybe it's just for show. It actually looks a bit grotesque to be honest. I can respect the work that went into it though. (Link).
