Introducing the "DrinkJet" Printer

This week's Globe column focuses on OnLatte, a two-person proto-start-up that's trying to build a business around a modified inkjet printer that can print edible imagery on cafe lattes and glasses of Guinness.

From the piece:

A video showing the first prototype printer in action has been viewed more than 800,000 times on YouTube. The founders of OnLatte Inc. have put comic strips, kitty cats, flying horses, and corporate logos on cups of coffee, and they've printed Barack Obama's face on the head of a glass of Guinness (the brew is foamy enough for printing).

The company has been invited to the prestigious Siggraph trade show, which brings together computer graphics gurus from around the world, and received coverage from newspapers and TV shows from across the globe without the help of a public relations firm.

But the big questions for the two entrepreneurs trying to get OnLatte off the ground are whether there's a business here, and who will back it.

Here's a video demo:



(Props to Joost Bonsen for coining the term "drinkjet printing," which is just brilliant.)

Howtoons: The book that'll turn your kids into inventors, scientists, or engineers

I saw Joost Bonsen, the Mayor of MIT, earlier this week, and he showed me a fresh-off-the-presses copy of his first book, Howtoons: The Possibilities are Endless!

If you know children, this is what to buy them for Christmas, Chanukah, or Kwanzaa. It's a compilation of fun projects that kids can do -- like making a marshmallow shooter, or a turkey baster flute. Bonsen guarantees that they will be accepted into MIT if they read it; actually graduating is their problem.

To get a feel for Howtoons, check the Web site.