Basement Apollo Guidance Computer

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In November of 2000, John Pultorak got to thinking about building a replica of a 60′s or 70′s era digital computer from scratch. By 2001, he started placing orders for technical documentation and had chosen his target machine, a Block I Apollo Guidance Computer.

Four years later, in September 2004, he had completed a fully functioning replica of the worlds first integrated circuit computer.

In the 1960′s, each Apollo moon mission had one AGC in the command module, and a second in the lunar module. These were used by astronauts to collect real-time flight information and control the spacecrafts’ navigation and guidance systems. Almost half a century later, John Pultorak has one in his basement, and thanks to his remarkable documentation and collection of reference materials, you can have one in your basement too!

Block I Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC):
How to build one in your basement

Maker Faire Austin: Deadline Tomorrow!

Look at all these happy Makers and Make enthusiasts:

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This was at Maker Faire Bay Area 2008. Let’s ‘make’ sure Austin 2008 is even more impressive by getting your project entry now: the deadline’s midnight tomorrow!

If you need a refresher, here’s an intro to Maker Faire from the Bay Area Faire:

Now, hurry and submit your project!

Maker Faire Austin: Deadline Thursday!

If you haven’t already, gather up your best project, read the Call For Makers, and submit your project for Maker Faire Austin 2008. You’ve only got until midnight Thursday!

Last year was a blast, and this year should be even better. Here’s a robot tour of Maker Faire Austin 2007 by Mark Frauenfelder:

I just entered my project; it took maybe 10 minutes. Get to it, and I’ll see you there October 18th!

Austin / San Antonio Event: Terrific Treehouses

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(A rendering of “Our Green Treehouse”)

If you find yourself with a desire to see examples of how we might live more in harmony with nature, with a stress on the “in” part, there’s a collection of treehouses being unveiled in San Antone through tomorrow:

The Balcones Chapter of the USGBC invites you to come see “Our Green Treehouse” at the public grand opening of Terrific Treehouses at the San Antonio Botanical Garden from August 30, 2008 to September 1, 2008. The display continues through December 7, 2008.

The USGBC-CTB treehouse, “Our Green Treehouse,” is made possible through collaboration with Texas Public Radio (TPR) and the Metropolitan Partnership for Energy (MPE). Designed by Lina Luque at MPE and built by USGBC-CTB volunteers led by John Rivenburgh, Our Green Treehouse is an open-air backyard retreat made entirely of sustainable materials featuring rain water capture and solar panels to harness renewable clean energy to power the LED fixtures that illuminate the space at nighttime.

Our Green Treehouse will be aptly located near Water Saver Lane on the grounds of the Botanical Garden. A special thanks to Allen and Allen Lumber and Hardware and Novastar Energy for their contributions of lumber and solar panels, respectively.

Also sponsored by the Aveda Institute of San Antonio, Our Green Treehouse will be auctioned off on-line at www.tpr.org in early December with proceeds benefitting Texas Public Radio.

Brought to you by the San Antonio Botanical Society, Terrific Treehouses will feature up to nine locally designed treehouses intended to delight and stir the imagination. More information about Terrific Treehouses can be found here.

For more on treehouses, check out:

Pringles can macro photography

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With an empty Pringles can and some lens and body covers, Photocritic devised a way to make a reliable extension tube for taking macro photos. You can make the tube for a few bucks worth of materials – unless you have spares, in which case it’s free. Once it’s made, you just wrap a standard lens in fabric, shove it backwards in the tube, and slide it in and out of the tube to adjust focus, similar to how a bellows would function. The photo above, which he took of a match head, really illustrates how cool this is, especially when you consider the cost.

Extreme Macro Photography on a budget

Pop-up pirates – yarrr!!

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Paperforest points us to this excellent article about pop-up book design in the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) newsletter. The article, by artist and paper engineer Ray Marshall and artist Wilson Swain, is about their book, The Castaway Pirates – I’ve seen this book, it’s complicated and awesome. The article starts on page 10 of the newsletter.