But... What Would Beethoven Print? (3D Printing)

You just know the kind of organ
Beethoven would have chosen to print

There's been quite a lot in the media about wonderful advances in 3D printing in the medical field. No doubt about it, these are indeed noble uses for technology. Imagine being able to just pop that new appendix, still warm from the printer, into the fella on the table before you. Sure applications like print-on-demand bodily organs allows for great advances in medical science. But what really strikes my fancy, when it comes to 3D printing, is the creation of our own musical instruments. I'm not so much interested in the bodily organ as I am in the pipe organ.

The idea of a musician being able to design and create that pipe organ is what really intrigues me. Thinking about pipe organs  naturally leads to thoughts of  Beethoven. I'm guessing Beethoven would also have been more interested in printing a pipe organ than a fresh new lung or kidney.

Freude, schöner Götterfunken

Tochter aus Elysium!

(Joy, beautiful spark of the divinity,

Daughter from Elysium!)

These lyrics, from Beethoven's famed 9'th symphony, enhance one of the most beloved classical music pieces in the western world*.  Beloved by people, that is, who have access to classical music training. Outside of choral singing, for those who come equipped with the right sort of vocal chords, that training requires access to a musical instrument. 

Though this symphony has words, the emotions that stir in the hearts of the performers as they come together to make this music happen, can't be accurately described. In fact, it spoils the experience if you try.

Yes indeed, there are musical folks working on rolling their own instruments. Check out the beautiful creations on Six 3D-Printed Musical Instruments, and what 3D Printing Could Do for Musicians. Sure 3D print-your-own-instrument technology isn't yet exactly at the affordable-for-the-masses stage, but neither were cell phones just a few years back. Maybe it won't be too long before that day, a few autumns from now, when the kids line up to pick up this years social studies text, the math workbook, and their sixth grade instrument. There just waiting for Mrs. O'Houlihan to come back from the staff room with that replacement box of liquid brass for the classroom 3D printer.

Any parent who has ever ponied up for an organ, clarinet, french horn, string bass, or flute knows that a child's access to an instrument of her own can make all the difference, when it comes to  being exposed to the wordless and wonderful joys of making her own music. Will many kids give up before the age of 10? You bet. Is there any guarantee that an individual will make it to even third chair violin in a small local symphony? Nope. 

But I know that if, at the age of 8, more kids are given the opportunity to play a hundred renditions of Frère Jacque on that french horn they printed at home, then one day the freude! of Beethoven's 9'th symphony is going to be waiting out there for one more kid looking for a little wordless wonder. 

And one more kid is going to get a chance to be a part of a wordless spark of divinity, at one with the daughter from Elysium.

* Classic western music is extremely popular in Asia as well.

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Web Resources

3D Printing Organs, Other Medical Applications http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/12/opinion/lungs-chip-3d-print-organs/

Wikipedia: 3D Printing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_printing

Six 3D - Printed Musical Instruments and what 3D Printing Could Do for Musicians  http://createdigitalmusic.com/2012/10/six-3d-printed-musical-instruments-and-what-3d-printing-could-do-for-musicians/

Beethoven's 9'th Symphony Rules Supreme, as far as I'm concerned. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symphony_No._9_(Beethoven)

Three bitcoins in the Fountain

What kind of happily-ever-after is there for the bitcoin?

"Three Coins in the Fountain" was a regular post-war, classic oldie, on late night television when I was growing up. When it's heroines, Frances, Anita, and Maria tossed their lucky coins into the Trevi Fountain, they were wishing for diamond rings. Actually, they were supposed to be wishing to return to Rome, but every popcorn snacker in the 50's theaters knew they were intent on love - the kind of love that ends in marriage. A girl of that time wasn't supposed to have much on her mind other than traditional marriage.

With all that "glorious technicolor",  and the romantic lure of handsome fellas like Louis Jourdan and Rossano Brazzi (yes, the ultra-suave Emile De Becque in South Pacific), viewers 
just knew any coin - whether it was American quarter or a five lire piece - that got pitched into that much-visited Roman landmark 
was a guarantee of a happily-ever-after ending.

Not so much with todays not-quite-mainstream bitcoin. 

With twelve and a half million bitcoins in circulation, however, we've come to a point where it's not just a select group of digital know-it-all, hacker types controlling this crytopcurrency. Nowadays, the IRS and Wall Street are taking an interest. The IRS has issued tax guidelines for virtual currencies. Agencies in other countries are making similar moves. Banks and speculators are investing in Bitcoins*.

Oh and various criminal types are focusing on bitcoin transactions as well. Gotten in on any good Ponzi schemes lately? Ponzi masters are only one style of robber barons misusing Bitcoin technology. Who knows what other trolls are hanging out under bridges, persuing bitcoins on the dark side of the web.

Government agencies, financial mavens, and calculating criminals are all interested in getting, keeping and enhancing the value of Bitcoins. Well we all know who comes next. Yup, us regular folks just may be thinking about slipping bitcoins into our virtual wallets any day now. I'm starting to get a vision....

There I am, hopping up on the elliptical at the gym, strapping on my Oculus glasses for that virtual ride through Disneyland, an experience that's bound to keep me entertained while I pedal the virtual miles away. Just up ahead is Snow White's wishing well. 

I'd really love to see the monthly sales figures go up on My Heart Beats Faster  ebook at amazon.  What could be a better investment in my sales futures than a Disneyland wish?

Is my digital bitcoin, like it's more traditional 1954 cousin,  going to guarantee me my own happy ever after ? Let me just reach  on down into that digital wallet.....

* Note the capital "B" - which 

refers to the technology and management of the currency, versus 'bitcoin' - the actual currency.

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Web Resources

Three Coins in the Fountain - The movie
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Coins_in_the_Fountain_(film)

What's a bitcoin? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

San Francisco Chronicle Bitcoin Politics and Business Changes http://www.sfgate.com/technology/article/Bitcoin-supporters-clash-over-ideological-5360314.php

Facebook and Oculus - What about those 3D glasses? http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_25426490/biz-break:-harsh-reality-for-facebook-after-2b-oculus-acquisition

What's Crytopcurrency? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency

Where might digital trolls hang out? Dark Web/ Deep Web - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_web