This is how it works: first you open a blueprint on your computer screen, then you press print. A machine builds up the object gradually, either by depositing material from a nozzle, or by selectively solidifying a thin layer of plastic or metal dust using tiny drops of glue or a tightly focused beam. Products are thus built up by progressively adding material, one layer at a time.

Additive manufacturing requires less workers than standard manufacturing, and because objects can be described in a digital file, they can be easier to pirate. Nevertheless, it has several advantages, such as reducing costs and waste, allowing the creation of parts in shapes that conventional techniques cannot achieve and enabling the production of a single item quickly and cheaply.

At the moment the process is possible only with certain materials (plastics, resins and metals) and with a precision of around a tenth of a millimetre. This new technique is being tried out only by a few academics and industrials, but it may change the world as deeply as the first mass production factory did.

Today is 6 January, and today Christians celebrate the Epiphany, the revelation of God the Son as a human being in Jesus Christ. Western Christians commemorate principally the visitation of the Biblical Magi to the Baby Jesus. Together with the religious feast, in Italian folklore, 6 January is also the day of Befana.

In the book Vestiges of Ancient Manners and Customs, Discoverable in Modern Italy and Sicily by Rev. John J. Blunt, the author says Befana descends from the Sabine/Roman goddess of strength and endurance named Strenia. She is usually portrayed as an old lady riding a broomstick through the air wearing a black shawl and is covered in soot because she enters the children’s houses through the chimney. She visits all the children of Italy on the night of 5 January to fill their socks with candy and presents if they are good or a lump of coal or dark candy if they are bad. The child’s family typically leaves a small glass of wine and a plate with some food for her.

One of the legends about her story tells that she gave shelter to the Three Kings on their way to Bethlehem to see the Infant Jesus. They asked her to join them, but she declined. Later she changed her mind and tried to search out the Infant Jesus but she was unable to find him. Although she has been unsuccessful in her search, she still leaves gifts for good young children because the Christ Child can be found in all children.

The Internet world is being transformed by a number of powerful forces, three of which stand out: technological progress, a new breed of rich investors and Chinese Internet firms. Technology makes it faster and easier to grow a business, and web companies, of which we have already blogged, are the current trend: initial public offerings (IPOs) of Internet start-ups are springing up everywhere.

In May 2011, LinkedIn, a social network for professionals, was floated on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and was valued at $8.8 billion—572 times its profits in 2010—at the end of the first day of trading.

On 16 December 2011, shares in Zynga, maker of “FarmVille”, “CastleVille” and other online games, entered the Nasdaq, priced at $10 each. After trading started, the shares briefly rose to $11.50 before going down below the IPO price, giving the firm a market capitalisation of about $7 billion. The company boasts 227m monthly active players of its games, and 54m daily users, most of whom play via Facebook.