Articles of Note

This past week, the following kept me awake on the subway rides to and from work:

Desktop Factories -- a short review of Fab, by Neil Gershenfeld. Fab refers to fabrication, and in this context, personal fabrication -- the creation of almost anything at home. Fabrication systems usually include "a milling machine for making precision parts, a cutter for producing simple printed circuit boards, and software for programming cheap chips called microcontrollers." With these machines, conceivably anything that can be imagined, can be manufactured, including the fabrication machines themselves. If the concept takes off and prices drop, the results would be nothing short of a revolution in manufacturing and retailing. For more related to this topic, check out Building from the bottom up [PDF]; Fabrication of novel biomaterials through molecular self-assembly [PDF]; Ink-Jet Printed Nanoparticle Microelectromechanical Systems [PDF]; FAB LAB: An Alternate Model of ICT for Development [PDF]; Fab Lab Central.

Carving Up The Carmakers -- the North American car makers are not doing so well, and this article uses GM as an example. They're doing so bad in fact, that their financial businesses are worth more than their manufacturing businesses -- that valuation leaves the carmakers ripe for private investors to move in, carve them up and make a killing.

And You Thought Oil Was A Worry -- there is a growing dependence on natural gas as an alternative to oil. Lowering the dependence on the Middle East for energy is good thing -- but the natural gas producers of the world are waking up to the potential of forming their own cartel to control prices, increase their control of the market and their profits. From one dependence to another -- just goes to show you, nothing beats conservation.

The 'Unrecognized Epidemic' -- Beryllium is lighter than aluminum, stiffer than steel and a great conductor of electricity. For those reasons, it is being used increasingly in electronics, computers, and cars. The cost however is severe -- beryllium dust is more toxic than plutonium -- and today's legislation is hardly sufficient to protect those working with the metal.

Cable TV Could Get Its Mouth Washed Out -- Democrats are joining with Repulicans to protect family values, and their target is cable television. Gotta love politics -- there is hardly any investment in families, but lip service will be paid to the cause, and a scapegoat will be used.