Doodle3D, not to be confused with 3Doodler, is a tool that transforms any simple sketch into an object that can be created on a 3D printer. It removes the learning barrier by taking care of all the complicated steps in the software and focusing solely on creativity.

Doodle3D is obviously not a replacement for traditional 3D printing software, but it’s a great tool that lets anybody just start creating with a 3D printer instead of learning how to use design software. The software then sends the file to the Doodle3D Wi-Fi box that connects to a 3D printer.

The Doodle3D Wi-Fi box was available for $88, but the initial allotment of 100 boxes have already sold out. The box is now available for $99. The project has just started, and it has already raised over $16,000 of the $50,000 requested.

[h/t: Engadget]

Here’s how the prank went down: They applied super glue to the face of the iPhone 5. They then stuck it to the center of the road on one of the busiest foot traffic areas in the city. Hundreds of people were bound to come upon it, and they would obviously try to snatch it away before anybody else can. The super glue makes sure that doesn’t happen.

Despite ruining the first iPhone 5 in the country, it’s definitely one hell of a prank and marketing stunt. It reminds me of Yahoo’s crazy talking mailbox from earlier this year that gave away free prizes to random people. Both stunts received some great reactions that would be right at home on Candid Camera.

The Phone5.nl team should recreate this prank in a large American city like New York or Los Angeles. The people were respectful in the Netherlands and waited their turns to lift the phone off the pavement. It would create absolute chaos in a large American city and possibly lead to some hilarious hijinks.

[h/t: The Next Web]

A Google translated page for WedWereld shows a report that says the Dutch House of Representatives has put their weight behind the anti-ACTA movement. They have issued a motion to the state cabinet to reject ACTA. It’s important to note that this doesn’t mean the Netherlands will skip out on ACTA, but it does show that many in government are displeased with the treaty.

As we’ve explained before, ACTA is essentially SOPA on an international scale. It allows for many of the same functions that SOPA would have allowed, but it also features some other dangerous wording that could even threaten access to cheap medicine. Signings of the controversial treaty has already been delayed or outright stopped in countries like Germany and Bulgaria thanks to massive displays of unrest.

With the Netherlands now seemingly joining the anti-ACTA movement, it remains to be seen if the treaty will actually live through this year. The European Parliament seems set on passing ACTA, but the backlash from the citizenry has been enormous. If ACTA is passed, it wouldn’t be the first time that governments ignored the voices of their citizens. It also wouldn’t be the first time governments have faced the collective wrath of a citizenry scorned.

It’s going to be interesting to watch Europe over the next few months with the final vote on ACTA coming in the next few weeks. The current European debt crisis is already driving unrest to an all time high. I highly doubt Europe could contain the unrest caused by its delegates ratifying ACTA.

While we’re waiting to hear more on ACTA, the Netherlands pulled off another feat today that should make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The House of Representatives have also passed a motion that would see any future Internet regulation treaties or laws to be automatically rejected. It’s these kind of stories that let you see who the real champions of Internet freedom are. Looking at you, England.

[h/t: Slashdot]

Now, it appears as if the Netherlands is once again on the cutting edge, this time, with the country’s approach to net neutrality laws. Thanks to the passage of new legislation, the Netherlands is the first European country to make net neutrality the law of the land. Not only that, but the Dutch lawmakers also introduced restrictions concerning Dutch ISPs wiretapping their users, and introduced limitations concerning ISPs disconnecting their subscribers.

According to a report from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the wiretapping limitations include the use of deep packet inspections, which are no longer allowed without legal approval or consent from the subscribers themselves. Regarding the stipulations for which ISPs can disconnect a subscriber, the new legislation introduced six conditions, which are spelled out quite clearly:

…termination at the request of the subscriber, non-payment by a subscriber, in cases of deception, at the expiry of a fixed contract, force majeure, or if the ISP is required to terminate by law or a court order. In addition, the network neutrality provisions also permit blocking of an Internet connection where necessary for the integrity and security of a network.

Furthermore, the disconnection stipulations are based on EU standards from 2009, which states such an interruption of Internet service may only occur if the following conditions are met:

appropriate, proportionate and necessary within a democratic society, and their implementation shall be subject to adequate procedural safeguards in conformity with the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and general principles of Community law, including effective judicial protection and due process.

The adoption of net neutrality principles by the Netherlands was happily greeted by Bits of Freedom, a Dutch watchdog group that focuses on citizens’ digital rights:

Bits of Freedom, the Dutch digital rights movement which campaigned for these provisions, applauds the new law. It considers this a historical moment for internet freedom in The Netherlands and calls on other countries to follow the Dutch example.

Meanwhile, in the United States, ISPs still have entirely too much influence over the adoption of net neutrality, and they are, unfortunately, given much more credence then they would get in a country like the Netherlands.

The Joint Strike Fighter has had a rather tumultuous journey from the start. It was an undertaking by the United States, The United Kingdom, Australia, Italy, Canada, Netherlands, Norway, Turkey, Israel, and Japan to make a stealthy aircraft that could perform a series of events to replace aging land and carrier based aircraft.

The counties all had certain requirements that they needed the planes to have. The requirement is for: USAF F-35A air-to-ground strike aircraft, replacing F-16 and A-10, complementing F-22 (1763); USMC F-35B – STOVL strike fighter to replace F/A-18B/C and AV-8B (480); UK RN F-35C – STOVL strike fighter to replace Sea Harriers (60); US Navy F-35C – first-day-of-war strike fighter to replace F/A-18B/C and A-6, complementing the F/A-18E/F (480 aircraft). So 3 variants were designed. The F-35A, F-35B, and the F-35C. A is designed to take off of an airstrip, B is a STOVL aircraft, and C is designed for Carrier takeoffs and landings.

The most interesting of the 3 is the STOVL variant, the F-35B. STOVL (short take off and vertical landing) planes have been around for a little while. the most famous being the AV-8B Harrier Jump Jet. The Harrier had a technology called thrust vectoring nozzles which were basically 4 nozzles that could swivel to produce thrust in any direction. The F-35B has a central compartment that changes and twist the engine producing massive amounts of down-thrust. The plus side of this is that because the engine used on the B varient is exactly the same as the A and C variants, it can still go supersonic! This is huge since it will be used in an air superiority role as well as an attack aircraft for the United Staes Marine Corps.

Still in testing, the first F-35 that has been designated AN-1 will head to the flight line where it will undergo functional fuel system checks before being transported to the flight line for ground and flight tests in the coming weeks. This F-35A is heading to the Netherlands as they are one of the partners in the JSF program.

Also in F-35 news, recently it had it’s very first successful in flight refueling at night. Check out the video below:

In the land where parody accounts of celebrities brush shoulders with the insipid accounts of real celebrities literally getting paid to tweet, which is layered on top of millions of actually meaningful accounts, it probably isn’t a surprise to anyone that the United States is home to the most Twitter accounts with nearly 108 million accounts. While fathoming that amount is kind of a headache – seriously, that’s an average of roughly 1 account per 3 people in the United States – it only accounts for 28.1% of all Twitter accounts worldwide. Still, the growth of Twittering Americans doesn’t seem like it’ll slow down anytime since 5.6 million accounts were created in the United States in December 2011 alone.

Brazil and Japan are involved in an interesting contest for 2nd and 3rd place in the Twitterscape. Brazil has actually surpassed Japan in terms of the sheer quantity of user accounts but Japan still exhibits more Twitter activity than Brazil. Between September 2011 and December 2011, the study says, 30% of accounts in Japan posted a message whereas only 25% of accounts in Brazil posted a message. It’s all a matter of which metric you want to weight, but then again, it’s not like there’s a trophy for being #2 Twitter Country (not that there is for 1st place, either). Additionally, Japanese is still the 2nd most used language on Twitter after English.

While the United States might be the girthiest nation when it comes to Twitter accounts, they’re certainly not the most active (you like how that’s a metaphor for a lot of things related to the American lifestyle?). In fact, the distinction of most active Twittering country belongs to the Netherlands. One-third of all accounts located in the Netherlands posted at least one public message between September 1, 2011, and November 30, 2011. Japan and Spain follow in 2nd and 3rd place, respectively, while the U.S. places at 4th in activity. Still, even with the U.S. ranking as the 4th most active country on Twitter, that ranking would surely be lower if not for the sheer heft of accounts existing in the United States.

With so much drama in the Twitter lately, it’s a bit hard to anticipate how these figures will look this time in 2013. By then we’ll have a fuller understanding of how Twitter’s new policy of selectively withholding tweets (if and when they do) has affected users’ activity. Additionally, now that Twitter is expanding languages to be included in their Translation Center, such as Arabic and Farsi, it’ll be curious to see how those changes may affect the landscape of Twitter activity.

Anybody out there got any speculations you wanna bet on? See any changes on the horizon for how different parts of the world might use Twitter? Feel free to share below in the comments.

Torrent Freak is reporting that two large ISPs in the Netherlands, T-Mobile and KPN, are refusing to block access to The Pirate Bay after the Hollywood supported anti-piracy group BREIN demanded they restrict access. The ISPs said that blocking Web sites is a threat to the open Internet.

As you may or may not be aware, the Court of the Hague ruled that Ziggo and XS4ALL, the two largest ISPs in the Netherlands, have to block access to The Pirate Bay.

After the ruling, XS4ALL was quoted as saying they were disappointed that fundamental rights had been traded for “commercial interests.”

BREIN brought the case against those two ISPs, but they weren’t finished yet. They issued requests to other ISPs in the country to block access to the torrent site.

KPN and T-Mobile both made statements saying that they would not be honoring BREIN’s request. Torrent Freak says that this means millions of Internet users in the Netherlands can still access The Pirate Bay without the use of proxies.

They both spoke out against censorship and said that they would only block access following a court order. They told Hollywood that innovation is a better way to deal with piracy than straight out censorship.

KPN said that they don’t believe a blockade is the right solution, but “robust, attractive business models that are easy to use and offer a fair deal to both producers and consumers of content.”

T-Mobile made a similar statement saying that they will only respond to a court ruling, and not the demands from a “private party such as BREIN.”

BREIN is expected to bring the two ISPs to court over their refusal to block access to the site.

It makes you wonder if these anti-piracy groups even get that what they’re doing has no effect. We’ve seen it time and time again. You censor a Web site and users get around it with little to no effort.

You would think that Hollywood would finally learn to innovate and remain competitive instead of just suing everything that remotely threatens their business model from the 20th century.

Mueller explains that while the Galaxy Tab will continue being sold in the EU, the appeals court’s decision doesn’t lift the preliminary injunction against the Galaxy Tab that was granted to Apple back in August. That injunction, however, could be lifted as soon as next week.

In better words than I could possibly articulate, Mueller explains why this legal patent saga between Apple and Samsung has continued at an incremental pace throughout different parts of the world:

The two companies need the courts in various jurisdictions to clarify where Apple’s exclusive scope of protection ends and Samsung’s freedom to compete begins. There’s no mathematical formula based on which they could simply agree that Samsung’s products are allowed to have a degree of similarity of up to (for example) 70%. Instead, they need guidance from judges.

It’s amazing how after knowing and following this court drama for this long, only now has someone described the dispute with perfectly concise and illustrative words.

The Google Merchant Center is in large part what makes Google Product Search work; it’s a site that allows businesses to submit data product feeds, ensuring that users see up to date information.

This led Kirill Kounik, a product manager responsible for the Google Merchant Center, to recommend in a blog post, "If you’re a new merchant and would like to start submitting your products to Google for Spain, Italy, or the Netherlands, we recommend checking out the ‘Getting Started’ articles in our Help Center, and then reviewing the data feed instructions and requirements for your target country.  Existing Merchant Center users now have the option to select Spain, Italy and the Netherlands from the target country drop-down menu when registering their feeds in the Merchant Center."

Kounik also noted, "As we launch in new locations, we want it to be easy for you to make your products accessible to customers around the world.  Our data requirements differ by country, so you can now view the data feed specifications for all countries in your native language by using the drop-down box on the top of the Data Feed Specification help article."

These may be significant steps for Google.  Google Product Search isn’t something the average person uses every day, but together with offerings related to maps, news, and financial info, the tool helps make the company’s brand more appealing.

Don’t be surprised if Google’s global market share increases as a result.

The idea was to compare the effectiveness of search against other media as well as look at the interaction of search with those other media. They measured the impact of Heineken’s "Jouw Heineken" campaign, which led consumers to jouwheineken.nl, where they could design custom beer bottles for purchase. In addition to search, they used TV, online display ads, and YouTube.

Here are the key findings that Google highlights from the study:

- A Search impression alone creates 23% more brand preference for Heineken than the whole Heineken campaign without search. A search click creates 69% more brand preference.

- The fact that search was able to affect a brand metric like brand preference shows the ability for search to move consumers further into the purchase funnel, beyond just awareness.

- The addition of Search to TV increased overall brand effect by 1.5 times, illustrating the synergistic effects of Search and TV.

- Search proved to be 53% more cost efficient than TV in creating Top of Mind Awareness.

- The eye-tracking heat map portion of the study concluded that the 1st search result on the left side captures and retains the most attention.

- Frequency testing showed that three impression contacts were 39% better than one at moving brand preference.

Last week, Google shared some findings from a separate test that it ran with Levi’s. The conclusions drawn were similar. The companies found that paid search ads raised consumer awareness of the Levi’s brand, regardless of whether or not they were clicked.
 

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