3D Printing could be the next big step into Piracy

Saw this article on the BBC today which if it comes to pass as they say could revolutionise the way we do, well everything.

the new range of 3D printers - Printers which can build a prototype of a product you see on line - have not just become much more advanced in the recent past, the used to be little more than a plastics moulding device which it would have seemed had little ability to affect the normal persons day to day life, the usefulness in the design and manufacturing industries seemed clear, being able to send a plastic prototype across to your business partners instantly would revolutionise those businesses.

However now they are claiming that they are closing in on the ability to recreate actual usable products, perhaps the most interesting change mentioned in the article however is the Price, down from north of £2,000 to around £300 which could definitely place it within the budget of most households.

I guess the only question now is that after my recent article in which I asked how many people would lose their jobs due to Google's new AutoDrive car, will the ability to have products manufactured directly into your home simply mean there are even fewer jobs available than ever before?

Christmas Craft Market

The Crawley Conservative Association and The Crawley Conservative Club are having a Victorian Themed Christmas Craft Fair and Fun Day.

There will be over ten stalls selling a variety of Craft Items and gifts just in time for Christmas.

We hope to see as many of you there as possible.

The Event is at the Conservative Club in Jubilee Walk, Three Bridges, RH10 1LQ from 12:00 - 16:00

Skyline - Death from Above

Latest movie was Skyline (I am hoping to have some posts that are not about movies soon) Now I have already heard from one occasional blog reader that this is one of the worst films of the year but I have to admit that I thought it was ok, although ok is probably as far as I will go.

The film was directed by special effects artists Colin and Greg Strause (The guys who sunk Titanic - In the movie, they're not really old) so it is little wonder that one of the main characters, played by Scrubs star Donald Faison, is a millionaire playboy special effects artist. The male lead, Jarrad, is played by 24's Eric Balfour with his girlfriend Elaine played by Scottie Thompson formerly of NCIS, the film focuses on an alien invasion and as you would imagine given the Brothers Strause's history is very special effects driven, there are hundreds of great scenes however the actual story itself fails to live up to the great effects.

I would have to say that the biggest disappointment to me was that all of the big surprise (Well surprise is a bit of a strong term) moments were given away in the trailers. The film may well have been a lot better if I hadn't seen the trailer but unfortunately I will never know, This actually appears to be a popular trend in Hollywood these days where any suspense or big action scenes are given away long before you enter into the cinema. Aside from my disappointment of to much information in the trailer perhaps the most telling indictment of the film is that the highlight of the film is that the penthouse apartment where much of the action happens has a telescope that is linked to the main wide screen TV, how cool is that! I would like to get one but to be honest not sure that there is much point in seeing the A23 on my TV anymore than I enjoy watching it out of the window.

The idea of the film has of cause been done before and this version really adds very little new to the genre, the Aliens are relatively different and a lot of work clearly went into the depth of different EBE (Extra Terrestrial Biological Entity - The Political Correct way to say ET.) that seemed to be roaming the streets of LA. one review of the film stated that it was a cross between Transformers and Independence Day, Now as I thought that Transformers was really poor and Independence Day was good I guess a mix of the two would be Ok.

Let the Remake In

Last weeks movie trip was to see the movie, Let Me In.

Now it is important to say that if you want to see this movie you should really see the original Let the Right One In. after all the remake can not be better than the original - Although in truth I found that both films were very similar and as a result would actually prefer to watch the American version as after all it is always much easier to watch a movie in your native tongue.

Anyway the film follows the story of a 12 year old boy, Owen, (Kodi Smit-McPhee the boy from the Road) who is struggling with his parents divorce and a school bully. He meets a mysterious young girl called Abby (Chloe Moretz star of Kick-Ass) who teaches him that he should stand up for himself, leading to him striking the Bully and splitting his ear. As he becomes closer to Abby however he realises that something is not as it seems and that far from being a 12 year old girl she is in fact a very old (Actual age was never disclosed) Vampire.

The film features two very good performances from the main young actors (As did the original with both Lina Leansersson and Kare Hedebrant receiving many accolades for their roles.) the supporting cast were not as compelling but as this is really a story about the relationship between the boy and the vampire this does not detract that much from the over all movie. In fact this film could actually work even if there was no vampire in it as it is when you get down to it a romantic coming of age drama - but to be honest I watched it for the vampire.

So if you want to be pretentious or can speak Swedish I would recommend watching Let The Right One in, however if you are too lazy to spend the film reading then this is still a very good movie.

Burke and Hare - a capitalism story

I have to admit that I was torn on whether I was interested in seeing this movie or not, on the one hand it featured Simon Pegg, who I have been a massive fan of since Sean of the Dead (and Spaced but I only watched that on DVD after Sean came out.) On the other hand it also starred Andy Serkis who I have never been a particular fan off. My mind was in the end up made up by the trailer which after I saw it, I knew I definitely did not want to see it. It looked like lowest common denominator comedy which is not really my idea of a good film. Unfortunately fate had other ideas and it was the only film on at the time we had, so we saw it.

Luckily this turned out to not being a complete disaster as it was actually not so bad, the gross out element was mainly contained at the start and did not consist of much more than was seen in the trailer, and even then it was not much more than a little sidebar to the story.

The story is based roughly around a true story and centers around the two title characters as they struggle to make a living in 19th Century Edinburgh. A living they, through acts of coincidence end up making through the supply of dead bodies to teaching hospitals, a living however that is difficult given the relative scarcity of the product. They therefore decide that it may be an idea to increase the supply, in part as Pegg wishes to finance the first all female production of Macbeth for his love interest played by Isla Fisher.

Eventually, as you always knew it would, the long arm of the law (well as it is played by Ronnie Corbett I guess long is a bit of a stretch) along the way however the film, whilst in no way getting close to classic comedy, has enough to make it an average night out - not a great endorsement I agree, but much better than I thought going in.

Paranormal Activity 2 - pretty normal to be honest

Back to the cinema this week and this time the film was paranormal activity 2. I have to admit to being really disappointed with the first film, I know it received great reviews and the concept of a minimal production haunted house film is interesting, however I thought the execution lacked originality I had hoped for. However as I am a big fan of the genre I was still looking forward to the release.

The first issue with these "first person" films, is that they need to come up with the reason they are filming, this gives the unfortunate break from believability of a character who for some reason feels the need to film an intimate conversation with his wife, although essential to the plot it is not exactly the actions of a good husband. The film makes attempts to rectify this with the inclusion of a CCTV system, this however still presents an issue with the plot as it would be suspicious if all the action occurred in front of a camera however at least they have given it a try.

So on to the other limitations, having installed the CCTV system it takes an extraordinary amount of time to actually check the system once the unusual starts to happen and a large amount of the time is given over to a pool cleaner which simply added nothing for me.

All in all however I did enjoy this film more than the original and really enjoyed the way in which attempts were made to link the two films which although quite possibly creating more plot holes than they closed, including some quite astonishing leaps of guess work by one of the main characters I was at least grateful for the attempts.

Tottenham beat Inter Milan

I have refrained from too much football talk since the world cup as the early part of the season is rarely any guide to future performance, and as a Spurs fan, I am always slow to get excited.

Last night however was simply amazing, when the draw for the Champions League was made I thought that simply to see a team of the quality of Inter playing at White Hart Lane would be a great experience, but I never imagined we would, not just win, but make it look easy.

There were hints of what may happen when the ten men spurs team, well Bale and 9 support players, fought back from 4 down to come back to 4-3. Still after that however I had heard people saying we were out of our depth and would get hammered, suspiciously the same people who are strangely quiet today!

Anyway, in case you missed it the most shocking thing was that Bale was not involved in the 1st goal, and that he didn't score any himself, he set up two though so I'll let him off, spurs won 3-1 to go top of the group and within one win of reaching the next stage.

So what of the rest of the season? I would be blinded by my love of the team if I suggested that Spurs were not having a few more struggles this year than I would have liked but clearly the potential is there, we just need to unleash it.

Bale is clearly loving his football at the moment, Van Der Vaart has settled in quickly and last night we saw flashes of Modric at his best, however if we are to see off Man City's challenge for our 4th spot we need to improve.

Lennon needs to step up, with Lennon and Bale on the wings we can run any defence ragged, but he is not quite up to his best at the moment. Also our strikers need to find their form, we have really missed Defoe and the sooner he is back the better. Finally our defence needs to start to look capable of a clean sheet, obviously this is easier said than done with Woodgate, King and Dawson all with prolonged injuries.

My best Spurs 11 (assuming full fitness)

GK Gomes
RB Corluka
CB King
CB Woodgate
LB Ekotto
DM Huddlestone
LM Bale
CM Modric
RM Lennon
AM Van Der Vaart
FW Defoe