Meet Bre Pettis, a founder of Makerbot, a Brooklyn-based company that makes machines that make things. Makerbot is a 3-D printer that can turn any design you dream up into a plastic 3-D object, so you can create your own toys, statues, remote control cars, models of locks and keys, anything that you want to see and touch - all from your own design.

The Makerbot community also has a social aspect to it. Once you settle on a design you love, you can share it with the world at Thingaverse.com, and allow other Makerbot owners to reprint your creation. And, if you’re looking for something to create with your Makerbot, you can download the blueprints for previously created objects from the site.

Makerbot uses a type of melted plastic to draw a picture of the object. Then layers on the plastic, drawing layer upon layer until a 3-D object is created. Once enough layers are stacked, a two-dimensional object thought can become a tangible, touchable thing.

"How would you contact the ones you love if the cell/internet networks went down? How would you get the news out to the greater worldwide community if there were things you were seeing that the world needed to see?"

Pettis has put out a call asking people to submit ideas for survival apps that would be useful in the event of a true internet Appocolypse. 

"I want an app that creates a localized IRC channel that anyone within wifi range can join. The idea here is that wifi can't be jammed locally, so it would be nice to set up a localized network to chat with your neighbors without leaving the house," writes Pettis. 

Holler at us with some suggestions in the comments. 

bpopper [at] observer.com | @benpopper