On a slow, muggy night I’ll sit back, pop open a can of high density polyethylene and take a look at all the activity happening in the world of 3D fabrication. It’s invigorating. I highly recommend it.

Recently, on such a night, I came across two bits of info from my two favorite fab sites, Fabbaloo and Replicator. I’ve started paying more attention to the low-cost 3D printer news since featuring the Vinyl + Resin Work of Cris Rose with the desire to print out some of my own models for resin casting. If you’re wondering what’s up, you’ll find this interesting too.

So, last week we looked at a lot of new features in SolidWorks 2010 – the ‘best’ features and how to use some of the more prominent ones. It was, by far, a brief look at what will spill onto your screen come release day.

There were a few mentions of what was lacking in the new release, but now we swing right through the middle, as hard as we can, tearing as few important ligaments as possible. I’ll touch on ten, but no doubt you could add a few more. What would they be?

Cruuuunch. Remember the sound, because it’s likely to be the last thing you hear as you see the contents of your body somehow digested through the visible Endoskeleton support structure of the latest in robo-gadgetry, the Eccerobot.

If the name isn’t enough to make you contemplate full, electro-conductive body armor options, the clunky movement of the Eccerobot may be. Held together by kiteline and bungee cord tendons, the thermoplastic polymorph bone material aims to give a more complimentary humanoid appearance. Video following.

How does a little more automation and a little less hassle sound to you? If you’re familiar with working with extruded text in a model, there’s no doubt you’ve had times it would have worked out beautifully to control it with a Custom Property through configurations.

In SolidWorks 2010, you can now control what type is shown with the raw power OF YOUR MIND… and also a Design Table and a Custom Property. It’s easy. You should learn the steps below, show it to your coworkers, and bask in the adulation.

It all started with a pony. Two as a matter of fact. Then it got ugly, but also pretty, but mostly ugly. Out of nowheres the drones appeared, dropping these links all over the ponies. It was cruel. Josh Nizzi – Ya know that Transformers Movie? The second one? Yeah, a lot of that, is…