January 22, 2011: Shapeways Dice

If you haven't heard of Shapeways, let me describe it thusly: customizable 3D objects. You find an object you'd like, choose a material, and pay for it. They print the item out and ship it to you within a few weeks.

Besides the dizzying array of thing you can get -- everything from chess pieces to belt buckles to toothpaste squeezers to a frickin' vuvuzela -- you can choose various materials. Plastics have a variety of colors and tensile strengths, plus there's sandstone, metal, and glass. Glass takes the longest to produce (I wonder if that's because they factor in an "oops!" component).

The link that took me to Shapeways was actually for their dice . . . oh, the dice! Fractal, torus, steampunk, parachute, spiked, art deco, sunken, extruded -- ok, you get the idea. I was rolling Will-4 to avoid stressing out my credit card. Not that I need any more dice, but I do love them.

Of course, I do have a gamer wife, and Valentine's Day is coming up . . .

-- Paul Chapman