Posts Tagged ‘Business’

Print Your Own Business Cards

Business CardsOrdering business cards can often get expensive, especially when print companies require you to order a large batch, even though you really only need a few. By printing your own business cards at home, you can print smaller batches in a more affordable manner: for just the cost of the media and the inkjet cartridges. This will allow you to try out different designs, different wording, or even make cards for each of your many different jobs.

Continue reading “Print Your Own Business Cards” »

Major 3D Printing Patents Are Soon to Expire

Patent

Ask the average technology enthusiast (and maybe even the average Joe) what technologies they are most excited about, and chances are you will hear “3D printing” from more than a few. We’ve covered the Possibilities of a 3D Printer before, and it’s no secret that this technology could revolutionize more than a few industries, so what is holding it back from more mainstream adoption? The first obstacle is price, but the second, as it turns out, is patents.

Continue reading “Major 3D Printing Patents Are Soon to Expire” »

Print Your Own Books at a Kiosk

As more and more readers make the switch to eBooks and other digital formats, there are still many who prefer physical books. The problem, of course, is that you either have to order online and wait for shipping, or choose from what is available at your local bookstore. You could try to print a book at home, but you would burn through a lot of ink cartridges in the process, and the result likely would not resemble a real book. But what if you could simply choose from a large library of books and print yourself a physical copy on demand? Well, a number of companies have already started to make professional-quality on-demand books a reality.

Continue reading “Print Your Own Books at a Kiosk” »

Formlabs: A Kickstarter Success Story

Form 1 3D printerMashable reported a few days ago on the huge amount of money raised by Formlabs, another 3D Printing company:

Formlabs shattered its $100,000 goal on Kickstarter, and raised $2,945,885 — making the Form 1 3D printer the highest-funded tech campaign in Kickstarter history. The Form 1 can be pre-ordered at the discounted price of $3,299 through its website. Your products will be delivered in May; all pre-orders for April delivery are already sold out. Most 3D printers cost tens of thousands of dollars, so $3,299 is extremely low-cost, to put that price in perspective.

Continue reading “Formlabs: A Kickstarter Success Story” »

The Black Market of Office Supplies

Ink thiefMan…people will steal anything to make a buck:

A guy who worked in the “duplicating department” at the law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson has been charged with Grand Larceny for allegedly pilfering an estimated $376,000 worth of copy machine toner and selling it on the black market. Continue reading “The Black Market of Office Supplies” »

10 Essential Online Resources for Small Businesses

Any One Can

(Source:Big Omaha/Malone & Company)

The economy is still struggling and many people have found themselves without employment over the last few years. Those who have lost their jobs often decide that it’s the perfect time to make a life-change and strike out on their own in business. There’s a great deal of satisfaction to be had from running your own business. It’s incredibly fulfilling to take an idea you developed yourself and turn it into a force in the world that also brings in a great income.

However, starting a new business is not as straightforward as it might be, and there are many pitfalls that, if not avoided, will set the new entrepreneur up for a bumpy journey. Unfortunately, there are also plenty of people who will take advantage of inexperienced business people and sell them advice that is next to worthless. Business owners need information and guidance, but they also need to be very skeptical about whose guidance they take. To that end we’re going to get you started with 10 of the best online resources for small businesses and startups.

Continue reading “10 Essential Online Resources for Small Businesses” »

Art before Inkjet

The basic principles that underlie inkjet printing are easy to understand. A series of dots comprised of inks are squirted through a printer head at a substrate — most commonly paper. The exact mechanism by which this is achieved is quite complicated, but the idea of creating images by building up patterns of dots on a surface has been around for a long time, and was frequently used by artists. This week we’re going to take a look at three artistic techniques that artists have used to create paintings and printed works in a manner analogous to the inkjet printing process.

Detail of Seurat's La Parade showing the pointillist technique.Pointillism

Most painters create images by mixing paints on a pallette until they’ve got the right color, and then applying it to their canvas with a brush in long strokes. Pointillists instead use small drops of pure colour added in a precise arrangement and proportions, which, when viewed from a distance, merge into a block of color. This is very much similar to how inkjet printing builds an image. Pointillism was first used by French post-Impressionist artist Georges Seurat in the latter half of the 19th century, and has been employed by various painters since, including Van Gogh. Modern painters like Chuck Close use the pointillist technique to achieve photorealistic results for their works.

Continue reading “Art before Inkjet” »