With the same fervor that rallied the open-source free software movement, members of such groups as Seattle Wireless, in Seattle, Washington, SFLan in San Francisco and Consume.net in London are bolting radio antennas to their roofs and broadcasting a shared invisible connection to their friends down the block.

FORBES: Digital Spin

For those of you without kids or who live on a remote island without a broadband connection, Minecraft is a legitimate worldwide phenomenon, a building block video game that launched in 2009 and now has over 8 million paying customers and a total of 40 million users worldwide, its own conference, and a legion of YouTube stars.

FORBES: The Great Lego Minecraft Shortage of 2012

In an interview with Heap, Melissa Block asks what it's like to have that direct connection throughout the process.

NPR: Imogen Heap: Even The Kitchen Sink