Critical Toys

May 18

May 17

FabFabbers - New Site to Share and Edit Your 3D Models

“GitHub is an online file collaboration site (mostly used for code/software development). OpenSCAD is free software to create 3D models (hosted on GitHub as a matter of fact). FabFabbers is a new site that has not only brought the two together with the ability to share and download files, they’ve also created an implementation of OpenSCAD in the browser.

“I was motivated to do this from discussions on the RepRap forums,” Marcos says “People seemed to have become disenchanted with some aspects of the Thingiverse terms of service, ownership/licensing of models, etc.”

~ Marcos Scriven about what drove the interest in creating the site.

~ solidsmack.com

Maybe I have a replacement for TinkerCAD…

(via cinoh)

May 16

rafaelfajardo:

(via Washington Project for the Arts » Blog Archive » DREAMer Kite Flying)

equalityandthecity:

Barbie Dreamhouse protest

joshuanguyen:

Are we really living in 2013? The Lego ads from the 1980s seem more modern to me.

(via albinwonderland)

what ur average tragedy looks like after 100 years

what ur average tragedy looks like after 100 years

(via barelyconcealednuance)

May 15

brucesterling:

British Consulate NY ‏@UKinNewYork13h

#PrinceHarry & the PM receive 3D printed dolls of themselves from@MakieLab! #Tech is @GREATBritain! @ClarenceHouse pic.twitter.com/fjCkAbC48Q

*Way 2 go Mrs Cory Doctorow

May 14

Can a Preschooler Grasp the Concepts of Programming? We’re leading the movement to make programming fun & accessible for children ages 5 and above, and the adults around them. (via Play-i.com - Let’s Hack Play!)

Vikas Gupta, Play-i’s founder and CEO, said the robots will be targeted at children aged 5 to 8, and will most likely work in conjunction with tablets. Using a tablet or other mobile device running compatible software, the child will be able to program his or her robot to perform certain actions. Gupta said the company is aiming to keep the price point low — very low. Unlike the personal robots we’ve seen to date, Play-i wants to keep its bots at under $100, making it a direct-to-consumer play. But Play-i is light on other details. It’s unclear how large or powerful the robots will be, whether they’ll have a humanoid shape or take on more of a mechanical form, and ultimately, which software they’ll run on or work with. And the robots won’t necessarily speak. (via Former Googler, Apple Engineer Tackle Educational Robots. - Lauren Goode - Product News - AllThingsD)

Toast Messenger by Sasha Tseng

May 13

“Traditionally, boys who play with dolls were scolded, stripped of their dolls and handed some trucks, their parents terrified of their son showing signs of femininity. Now, as transgender identities become more visible, select parents respond to their sons playing with dolls in a different way, assuming that their child’s interest in traditionally feminine toys makes them transgender or qualifies them as a girl trapped in a boy’s body. So-called progressive individuals are jumping on the “transgender bandwagon,” without realizing that their tolerance (and even support) of what they perceive as “transgender” might actually be a destructive reinforcement of an arbitrary gender binary.” Some Boys Like Dolls: Deconstructing the (Trans)Gender Binary — Lucas Walden (via klutzygeek)

(via makingfists)

sfmoma:

saltcathedral:

“The Rubber Duck knows no frontiers, it doesn’t discriminate [against] people and doesn’t have a political connotation. The friendly, floating Rubber Duck has healing properties: it can relieve mondial tensions as well as define them.” — artist Florentijn Hofman

Smile for Monday!