I saw an article from BusinessWeek yesterday about “affordable global real estate” and I thought I’d share the link and my observations here.

In The Worlds Most Affordable Housing Markets, writer Maya Roney lays out where the smart money chooses to live based on an index of home prices, cost of goods and services, local stability and quality of life. Keep in mind that the article is from Business Week and explicitly uses a standard based on the needs of a youngish middle manager and his or her average sized household / family, or about — 4 bedrooms.

The top pick is Bogata, Columbia which I admit isn’t a place I normally think of as “stable” but if you enjoy tropical on a Canton Ohio budget there are probably worse places you can wind up in. Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt comes in at number two in affordability, and honestly — looks absolutely gorgeous with a cost of living comparable to Muncie, Indianna.

The top 10 including 3 rather cold but gorgeous locations in Canada, and both Nicaragua and Panama and the top 25 including locations in Malta, Poland and Honduras. Viva!

Each city is compared to a US Market to give the potential home buyer a reference point on which to base their explorations, and each location includes one color picture which is supposed to symbolize that particular environment. The pictures are very “stock” and the article runs over as many pages as possible no doubt to maximize their ad exposure and SEO. The navigation frame for the top 25 locations is easy to use, and that makes comparing the cost of a home in the Carribean to the cost of a similar home in Bozeman nearly painless.

The idea here is that real estate in the US may be flat, but the international market is still bullsih. There may be some truth to that, though for most non-retired folk, such a move might be problematic unless they had recently been offered employment in Cairo.

As for me I have decided to retire in Mexico; surf all morning, sleep all afternoon and play Troubadour all night long for rich touristas. Viva baby!

–Dex

In this video – Israeli entrepreneur and venture capitalist – Yossi Vardi – gives a humorous 6 minute presentation at T.E.D about the phenomenon of local warming. He is an interesting person who focuses on the human side of investment, and clearly has a conscience. He can certainly afford to, his company, ICQ – was sold for 400 million.

“Happiness is relative,” Mr Vardi warns. “The more successful the high-tech sector, the more frustrated and unhappy the rest of society could become.”

Launch Video via Videoegg Player

You can read an excellent profile of Yossi Vardi in this Economist article

3D Printing

The rapidly expanding market of 3D Printing is something I have been following for a while now. Products range from open source / DIY kits and range from $5000 to $50,000 and all the way into the millions. They are used for prototypes, concepts, product creation, and more. People use them to create 3D sculptures of on line gaming avatars, architectural models, toys and many other things. Major car manufacturing companies like BMW, Boeing and General Motors use them. Various materials can be used to create 3D parts out of 3D design files. Everything from plastic to metal. Anyways, these are pretty cool. So many possibilities. I can think of dozens of applications. I bet all of you do too.

The Process:

Quote from ZCorp – a 3D printer manufacturer:

….a variety of powder/binder/infiltrant systems [can be used] to satisfy varying needs. These include high-performance composites for printing strong, high-definition parts; investment casting material for quickly fabricating parts that can be dipped in wax to produce investment casting patterns; and direct casting material for creating sand casting molds for non ferrous metals. For additional flexibility, models printed with these materials can be sanded, drilled, tapped, painted and electroplated.

I have also read over 12 years ago that the US Navy was experimenting with this technology. Now they apparently keep 3D metal printers on ships that use selective laser sintering to create metal parts on demand. This way they can stock pile the metal used for these pieces and carry more material in the same space normally occupied by the parts. Makes a lot of sense.

Rapid prototyping is the automatic construction of physical objects using solid freeform fabrication. The first techniques for rapid prototyping became available in the late 1980s and were used to produce models and prototype parts. Today, they are used for a much wider range of applications and are even used to manufacture production quality parts in relatively small numbers. Some sculptors use the technology to produce complex shapes for fine arts exhibitions.

Resources:

Rapid Prototyping Web Site – A wealth of general information

3D Printing / Prototyping

Z Corp – 3D Printers

Desktop Factory – 3D Printing

Stratasys – 3D Printing, Rapid Prototyping, Direct Digital Manufacturing

Mcor Technologies – Produces 3D models out of paper

3D Systems – 3D Printing, Prototyping

Voxeljet Technology – 3D Printers

There are many other vendors in the marketplace known as Direct Manufacturing Systems:

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) by Arcam AB of Molndal, Sweden.

LaserCUSING by Concept Laser Gmbh of Lichtenfels, Germany.

Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) by EOS Gmbh of Munich, Germany.

High Precision Ink Jet Manufacturing by fcubic ab of Molndal, Sweden.

Laser Engineered Net Shaping (LENS) by Optomec Design Company of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) by POM Group Inc of Auburn Hills, Michigan.

Direct Metal Printing by ProMetal of Irwin, Pennsylvania.

Selective Laser Melting (SLM) by Realizer Gmbh of Borchen, Germany.

Sintermask by Sintermask AB of Molndal, Sweden.

Direct Shell Production Casting (DSPC) by Soligen Inc. of Northridge, California.

Open Source Systems:

Fab at Home Kit – from Carnegie Mellon researchers

Reprap is short for Replicating Rapid-prototyper

Haha. What a world, what a world.

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails have a new 36 track instrumental album that you can buy. This money goes directly to the artist, the way it should be in my opinion. Trent has been experimenting with new business models and ways of making money from music, and sharing publicly on how each of these experiments have worked. He learned from the Saul Williams album that he produced, and its free or $5 purchase option. This NIN album is sold for $5 and up for options that include CD’s, art, deluxe packages, and more. $5 is virtually free anyways. Be patient though, the site is undergoing heavy traffic issues. My digital download failed at 8MB out of 270MB and I have sent an email to the store site support for assistance.

NIN Ghost Web Site

You can pay $5 for a download of max quality, non DRM infected digital tracks, or choose from a variety of options:

Nine Inch Nails presents Ghosts I – IV, a brand new 36 track instrumental collection available right now. Almost two hours of new music composed and recorded over an intense ten week period last fall, Ghosts I – IV sprawls Nine Inch Nails across a variety of new terrain.

Trent Reznor explains, “I’ve been considering and wanting to make this kind of record for years, but by its very nature it wouldn’t have made sense until this point. This collection of music is the result of working from a very visual perspective – dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture; a soundtrack for daydreams. I’m very pleased with the result and the ability to present it directly to you without interference. I hope you enjoy the first four volumes of Ghosts.”