Happy life through easy origami: shirt

http://art-smart.ci.manchester.ct.us/how_to/how_to_hi_shirt.html

fold an origami Hawaiian Shirt ( a short sleeved sport shirt).

The origami shirt is one of my favourite models: it is easy to make, and looks great! In the site above you will find step-by-step instructions to fold it, with pictures. The hawaian look is optional, of course: I for instance made this soccer-themed shirt 🙂

Game design as software engineering

A video game is not that different from any other software development; it perhaps depends more on hardware, but even so it is very similar. When you describe a program you need the client’s opinion and plenty of information to determine how the issue was being taken prior to the new development. In the end it is obvious that albeit there won´t be much relation between the analysis and the final development, that relation will still be more or less recognizeable.

But, what about video games? To start with, Continue reading Game design as software engineering

Blade Runner Origami Unicorn

http://bladerunnerunicorn.com/Unicorn_Diagrams.html

Thanks to the instructions in this site, you can emulate Gaff and leave the same origami unicorn he left Deckard in front of your suspected replicant friends´door. This origami unicorn has an intermediate level of difficulty, but the instructions come both in origami signs and pictures for every step, which makes it a recommended model not only for the film fans but also for anyone who wants to understand origami signs better, since you can easily see how the drawings correspond to the real foldings. Good luck and happy sheepy dreams!

Origami Menger Sponges

1. Begin with a cube.
2. Shrink the cube to 1 / 3 of its original size and make 20 copies of it.
3. Place the copies so they will form a new cube of the same size as the original one but lacking the centerparts, (next image).
4. Repeat the process from step 2 for each of the remaining smaller cubes.
After an infinite number of iterations, a Menger sponge will remain.

from Wikipedia

The Menger Sponge is a fractal particularly appealing to modular origamists, for two reasons: it can be made out of Sonobe modules (the very first “brick” that every origamist learns), and given its fractal nature, it can be expanded forever and ever. What follows is a list of origami websites on this fascinating structure: Continue reading Origami Menger Sponges

Lego of Choice: Digital Designer

http://ldd.lego.com/

With the free Digital Designer software you can build absolutely anything with virtual LEGO bricks right on your computer. Then you can buy the real bricks to build your creation and you can share it with thousand of other LEGO fans.

One of the problems I used to face every time I wanted to make my own lego models was that I never had enough bricks of the kind I was needing. It must be one of those “Murphy´s laws” that the brick you just need is the one you lack!

Until now, there was a partial solution to this issue: the L-cad program allowed you to design your model in the computer so that you could afterwards order the pieces you wanted. This walkaround was (is) very useful, but if there were an easier option to custom design-custom order models which was backed by lego, that would be amazing, and if it were user friendly… whoa!

Well, so a big WHOA! to lego, since they have done exactly that. Besides giving the users an easy way to design models on the computer, they have made it just as easy to order those models as custom sets. Again, WHOA!! 😀

Easy life through practical origami: envelope

My friend Covadonga sent me a very nice step-by-step guide to making this origami envelope, originally attributed to Frances Levangia. She writes, “I made these diagrams based on paper models because otherwise I would forget how to make it, so when I like something, since I have no idea of how to diagram, I do it in this way”. Thanks Covadonga! 🙂

While searching for information on the envelope, I came across this site, where you will find a very nice collection of letterfolds and envelopes diagrammed by John Cunliffe. This same model is included among them; for those who are learning how to read diagrams, it could be interesting to compare it with Covadonga’s instructions to see how the drawings translate themselves into foldings.

Related Article: Origami cd case

Lego of Choice: Harpsichord

http://www.henrylim.org/Harpsichord.html

With the exception of the wire strings, this instrument is entirely constructed out of LEGO parts(…) approximate 150 lbs. weight, and an estimated 100,000 LEGO piece count (…) It’s taken two years of theorizing, designing, collecting parts, building, testing, and rebuilding.

I first knew of the Lego Harpsichord after an article in make magazine, and have been wanting to write about it since then. From my point of view, this project stands on its own not only because of the sheer amount of Lego blocks used, but because Henry Lim has overcome the very specific problems that arise when designing and building a music instrument, plus the added challenge of making every single part of it out of Lego (well, obviously not the strings), departing with no previous knowledge on the field!

It is true that, if you Continue reading Lego of Choice: Harpsichord

The mega fish Tank!

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/totm/index.php

It is no wonder why Pieter van Suijlekom’s reef aquarium has been chosen as “tank of the month” by the Reefkeeping online magazine. With a lenght of 6 metres and weighing 8000 kg, this is the largest private aquarium I have ever seen, and I guess it must be one of the most impressive ever constructed. (My dentist has an impressive aquarium, too: a very good idea to soothen up the patient´s nerves before the torture). It is so big that a 22-mm thick safety glass sheet had to be custom made by Tetterode Glass so that it could stand the tremendous pressure of the water inside.

The number and kinds of fish and corals lodged inside this tank is by no means less impressive. To mention a few, you will find here examples of Seriatopora hystrix, Poccilopora verrucosa, one Halichoeres chrysus and three Naso literatus (naso literatus? this must be the Cyrano de Bergerac among the fish, I guess). The tank has been accomodated on the second floor of the “Open fireplace Center”, a shop in Vlaardingen, Netherlands. As you may see in the pictures, the room has been fitted with two comfortable armchairs (I have to talk to my dentist about it), and I’m sure that if I lived nearby I would grab some popcorn and go to the dock of the tank to watch the fish roll in, instead of spending my money going to the movies.

ps. I have just found the monster-megatank. Still, if not in size, I think that Pieter’s aquarium is much more impressive in terms of style.

Related Article: The minitank!

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Taste the Tril-o-bites

http://www.georgehart.com/trilobites/trilobite.html

These cookies are the result of my most recent research into what ancient trilobites would have tasted like if primitive biochemical processes were based on jam/chocolate/cookie molecules.

An easy recipe, served by George Hart, for the dinousaurs’ favourite cookies to enjoy at tea time. With lots of butter, chocolate and humour, what else can one ask for?

…Well, actually there’s more! you should must visit George’s site, and see for yourself some of his sculptures, his prototypes (I really want one of those rapid prototyping machines!), and his 3D puzzles, all based in polyhedra. Oh yes, and the picture of his office. I guess it looks like a phone booth from outside… 😉

Related Article: Chocolate chip cookies