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In case you're interested to know more about my recent 3D printing experience, I've put together some more words and pictures. Feel free to take a look. Alternatively, there's also a link in case you want to print a copy of the Celtic knot yourself. That's right, you really can print your own. Still doesn't seem right.

Today I received my first ever 3D print. It's a 3D Celtic Knot which was generated by some code I put together while Joanna and I were in Tuscany a couple of weeks back. The model was sent off to a company called Shapeways in the Netherlands, and today I received the final printed object. The technology that allows you to print 3D objects is just phenomenal, both in terms of how clever it is, and the astonish potential it promises. It really does provide the opportunity to create just about anything, turning the wildest imaginings into reality.
I was pretty nervous getting it out of its box as I really wasn't sure how well it would come out, but in fact I'm astonished at how clean the printing is and how sturdy the object is. I hope to put together the full story of my 3D printing experience, from theory to reality, tomorrow.
One of the things I love about the idea of 3D printing, is that it really seems as close as we can get right now to the Star Trek replicator way of doing things. That might seem like an irrelevance - just a nerdy reaction - but I see it as a real vision of how things will change in the future. I find the shift from small-scale-bespoke, through mass-production, to mass-bespoke just a little exhilarating to be lucky enough to experience.