Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Paradox: Article about Open Source Hardware published in a presitgious paywall journal

In the journal Science was published this article:

Joshua M. Pearce.  2012.  Building Research Equipment with Free, Open-Source Hardware. Science 14 September 2012: 337 (6100), 1303-1304.
I was unable to read this online through the publisher's website, as it is behind a Paywall.   How absurd is this?


Note that it would cost $20.00 to access this article for 24 hours.  That is ONE ARTICLE.  (In reality, this is somewhat cheapter than some other journals.)

Here is a link to an informative podcast (why is the idea of a "podcast" linked to the name of a proprietary device developed by an aggressively competitive and exclusionary company---why is this even acceptable in any manner, to anyone, in the land of the free?)

I am interested the open source microcontroller---Arduino.

The idea is a fantastic one.  The parallel with Open Source Software is pertinent.  3D printing custom reaction flasks with a catalyst printed in?

Dremelfuge: print out a chuck to make a high speed centrifuge.

I learned about Thingiverse.  This is getting interesting.

Within an hour of posting a plan for a lab jack, someone from Finland posted an improvement.  This is the power of free software, in meatspace.

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