Fire-Wired Blog

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com Everyone has that one gadget in the house that runs perfectly for years and then unexpectedly falls apart. It might be the disc tray on your Blu-ray player or the ceiling fan that pops a screw. For me it was a waffle iron that snapped its hinge in the middle of breakfast. The industrious among us might head to the hardware store and replace the broken part, but more often than not it seems those adventures are exercises in futility. Thankfully, there is an advancement in manufacturing that promises to end these nightmares: the 3D printer. As if taken straight from Star Trek, 3D printers take digital three-dimensional models of real-world objects and physically produce them using epoxy resins and malleable plastics. First actualized in the mid 1980s, 3D printers have only recently become fiscally and technologically feasible to be used as a means of parts production. As with many new technologies, 3D printers run the gamut of...

This article was first published by  dmcityview.com Christmas may be three weeks in our rearview mirror, but for tech nerds the world over, January’s Consumer Electronics Show is the real reason for celebrating. For years this annual mega-conference has been the venue for companies to release the latest and greatest tech innovations. In recent years, CES saw the unveiling of 3D TVs, eye-controlled computers, futuristic concept cars and much more. This year, it seems, curved flexible glass smartphones are the most buzzed about gadget. As powerful as smartphones are, few treat these miniature computers with the respect they deserve. They’re tossed in purses, sat on while in back pockets, their screens are mashed up against keys and loose change, and most likely one in three of you reading this have suffered the arrhythmia-inducing cracked screen. Until now the only defense against our reckless behavior was hard plastic cases and thin screen covers. Flexible phones are the answer ...