Just like we all heard last, week, Valve is coming to Linux. What I wasn't expecting was three secret announcements this week. Tuesday we got the announcement of Steam OS hitting your living rooms (Big Picture) and Wednesday the Steam Machines! I am wondering what the third announcement is, and when it will be revealed! The Steam OS is a Linux-based system designed just for living room PC and its built around the Steam service itself. That way, you have no worries regarding loss of friends, games or anything else you are used to. Anyplace you can run Steam, you can run Big Picture. And, play to your own comfort zone—with keyboard and mouse, or controllers, or type with a game controller. Let the competition begin! Game developers are quickly targeting Steam OS for new releases. As far as Steam Machines go, Valve is partnering with various companies to release hardware designed to play games on your TV. Beta testing is starting this year, and not surprisingly, details are still vague. One thing is certain, there will be multiple pieces of hardware made by different manufacturers! They will also be hackable and full of all the thousands of native games Steam has.

It is marveling how often we are now hearing about the latest and greatest affordable 3D printing or scanning option, and each one seems to emphasize its own different feature. Peachy Printer sure is something else man. Peachy is a photolithographic-based printer, it’s open-source hardware and software. Creator, Rylan Grayston from Canada truly rethought how a 3D printer could be made. Not only does it look different, the process involves salt-based water and a powerful laser beam acting to create a mold. First a 3D model must be designed via (free) Blender software, then Peachy’s plugin assesses the model and converts it into audio waveform. With just a standard stereo audio cable, the headphone port on your computer will transfer the signal to Peachy. According to the designer “This waveform drives a pair of electro magnetic mirrors. The higher the volume, the higher the voltage, the more the mirrors move.” The reflection that occurs manipulates the path of the laser. That audio waveform you have converted will then drive these mirrors, allowing the laser beam to ultimately draw out the shape of the object. It is all so scientific and almost magical to watch.

Finally, besides my “What The Tech” segment, I wanted to discuss some of the latest Apple news going around. At least some of the 200 million people that have downloaded iOS 7 to this point aren't so pleased with the changes on their smartphone. The new parallax and zoom features are driving many of the complaints as many folks are saying they have been experiencing motion sickness, vertigo, nausea, and headaches due to the motion on-screen. Personally I am not bothered by it, and I usually don't like change. It is also funny to notice how similar iOS 7 and Android look! Another dilemma recently happened. This ones kinda big and not limited to iOS 7. Apple has kicked Google Maps to the curb and really wants its users to focus on the native “Maps” app for navigation and directions. But some disappointing things have recently happened involving car accidents due to bad directions given by the app. Twice in the last few weeks Alaskan drivers have made a dangerous detour down an airport runway at the Fairbanks international airport after being given these bad directions. The airport asked Apple to disable directions and they neglected to do so, hence why the incident occurred a second time. Pretty incredible that the airport had to resort to blocking off that particular runway.