Tony Stark Delivers Real 3D-Printed Bionic Arm To 7-Year Old Iron Man Fan 43
MojoKid writes "Here's your feel-good story for Thursday afternoon. Albert Manero, who has a degree in Aerospace engineering from the University of Central Florida and is currently pursuing a doctorate in Mechanical Engineering, has made it a point to serve others. He helped found Limbitless Solutions, a volunteer foundation that uses 3D printer technology to build bionic arms for children that have either lost a limb, or were born with partially developed limbs. Seven-year-old Alex fits into the latter category and Manero, with the help of the Microsoft OneNote Collective Project, has been hard at work to develop a new 3D-printed bionic arm for him. And once the project was finished, Microsoft and Manero were able to find the most "qualified" person on the planet to deliver the arm to Alex: Tony Stark AKA Iron Man Robert Downey Jr. Awesomeness ensues, of course.
Far less of a jerk than Ironman (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman (Score:5, Interesting)
Robert Downey Jr. has been through hell and back. He and Treat Williams were good actors who dropped off the scene in the 80s and 90s after falling prey to substance abuse. Downey cleaned up and managed to make his way back to the top. Williams was not so lucky. He had a good role in Everwood, but he didn't make it up to A-list status.
I always felt that Downey, with his past drug and alcohol addictions, was a great choice to play Tony Stark, the subject of "Demon in the Bottle" fame. They touched upon Stark's alcoholism in Iron Man 2, but didn't really give it the treatment it could have gotten.
Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman (Score:5, Interesting)
In a couple places I've seen people dismiss RDJ as "a druggie who got lucky".
Sorry, but cleaning up your own life is not LUCK. It's hard fucking work. As hard, or harder, than anything else he's ever done in his life.
But now, he's famous (possibly pigeon holed) for playing a character who makes technology COOL!
This opens up the opportunity, in this case, for an important medical technology to be presented in an attractive, funny, approachable way.
Incidentally it also gives this kid a thrill and makes his life better simultaneously.
And RDJ CHOOSES to participate in this sort of thing. Furthering the coolness of technology
That, right there, is "class act".
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I'd say for a famous Hollywood person, it's more difficult than others.
Maybe, maybe not. You're certainly surrounded by temptation in Hollywood, but given the number of abusers in the system, I think you're more likely to get a second chance in Hollywood than in many other industries. It's a place where your talent can rocket you quickly to the top. Most people in most industries, even extremely talented people, will toil in obscurity for their whole lives. Employers will look at their resumes, see the red flags, and dump 'em.
Re:Far less of a jerk than Ironman (Score:5, Interesting)
In a weird way, he personally is an example to others that addiction can be managed and "defeated" to the point of having a "real" life. The war is NEVER won completely, the cravings NEVER go away...seeing anyone climbing back up the ladder and taking the reins of "the wagon" like he has is inspirational.
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RDJ just got serious points with me. I'll bet the list of requests he must get to do things like this is unending. Very, very cool of him to take the time. I couldn't help but be a little disappointed when Alex said his name was Robert instead of Tony.
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I think Alex made some big points with Robert Downy Jr. when he didn't call him Tony. I was impressed too... it makes Alex not just a "fan" but a connoisseur of the Iron Man movies.
It would be neat if Alex got a cameo in a future IronMan movie.
Once in a while a good story (Score:1)
Albert Manero; kudos for a good job.
Robert Downey Jr. : SuperHero is just a job. Being way cool is the real deal.
Re: 3D printed arm? (Score:2, Funny)
You are misusing the word "luddite". A luddite is extreme. A luddite doesn't use a typewriter, a luddite smashes your typewriter with a rock, then feels guilty for having used a rock as a tool.
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You are misusing the word "luddite". A luddite is extreme. A luddite doesn't use a typewriter, a luddite smashes your typewriter with a rock, then feels guilty for having used a rock as a tool.
The Luddites weren't Amish. Even that would be a caricature of Amish beliefs. What the Luddites were against were -new- technologies taking over jobs. They were fine with the technology they already had, not so fine with shifting tides making them obsolete.
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That is exactly what a Luddite was. Someone who wanted a piece of the new wealth as his job was taken from him to make others wealthy. Especially when that "someone" is most of the population and the "others" are a fraction of one percent of that population.
If you lost your job and were not a Luddite, you're either inheriting a piece of your forebearers' wealth created in boom times, or you're suicidal.
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The Luddites weren't Amish. Even that would be a caricature of Amish beliefs. What the Luddites were against were -new- technologies taking over jobs. They were fine with the technology they already had, not so fine with shifting tides making them obsolete.
That's not so different from the Amish then, after all.
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Amish will use new technology if it is required. The main aspect of their culture isn't specifically the avoidance of technology, but avoiding the accoutrements of pride and vanity.
If a technology is necessary and can be incorporated without disruption (or requiring a connectedness to the 'English' world) it quite often is. Refrigeration technologies powered by propane is one of the more obvious examples. Obviously it varies from sect to sect and some are more restrictive than others.
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Amish don't avoid technology. They avoid any -use- of technology that they suspect will degrade the family and community units, so high tech might be fine for one situation but not for another. Therefore, a phone for socializing is no good. But a phone for emergency doctor calls is not contrary to their beliefs.
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A Luddite was a worker in Victorian England who saw his livelihood and life being destroyed by industrialists who themselves became so wealthy the entire era became eventually known as the Guilded Age, as in gold.
Luddites didn't want to stop history, nor did they hate technology, or its benefits. What they WANTED was a piece of the pie that was taken from them - they wanted some relief from the horror that awaited anyone in England/Ireland/Scotland/Wales who no longer had an income. They were right; the era
Whaa whaa (Score:1)
Someone has beef with 3D printers I see.
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Pretty much. He throws this tantrum every time he's faced with incontrovertible proof that 3D printing not only can be useful, but is, each and every day.
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Only Americans will become president of the united states.
What's the word I'm looking for? (Score:5, Funny)
Great story, great guys, but what about that glitch?
The super-hero's robotic arm was faulty.
That's... irony, I guess.
Albert is doing amazing work (Score:5, Informative)
Albert Manero at his team at UCF are doing a great job. One bit I want to add: the community that he's working in is e-NABLE ( http://www.enablingthefuture.o... [enablingthefuture.org] ). The "one note" stuff is just a Microsoft sponsorship deal, done after-the-fact, and while their financial and marketing sponsorship of Albert's work is awesome (his work takes time and money, even if he gives the results away for free), it would be better to credit the actual community that contributed to the design, not the made up community that MS created for marketing spin. In particular, the hand used in the Limitless design is Flexy Hand (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:242639) by Gyrobot, who's a very cool guy who deserves some credit for his work.
Want list (Score:1)
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You're missing the point - you can get a prosthetic limb on the NHS but it won't be delivered by f***ing Iron Man will it? And when it breaks, will Iron Man fly in through you roof to fix it, and then depart through your wall, leaving holes you'll treasure forever ? - no, thought not. This isn't boring old extract money from your taxes to pay for health care stuff, this is _Hollywood_, it's the all American exciting and fun way to extract money from your wallet for the same shit you watched last year in o
The smile on the kids face... (Score:5, Insightful)
Said it all. I"m 49 years old, and if RDJ had stopped by to reprise his role as Tony Stark to bring ME a prosthetic limb, I doubt I coulda stayed still. :) Giving a little kid with a birth defect a working arm like that... well you accumulate karma points pretty damn fast doing stuff like that.