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November 4, 2009

This week in Maker Events

Looking to take a break from tinkering on your latest project this weekend? Here are some fine maker events to check out, from The Maker Events Calendar. Wish your event was on the list? Add it to the calendar!

Coming up this week:

Electromechanics for Everything
Oakland, CA
Wednesdays, Nov 4 to Dec 2, 2009, 6pm - 9pm

SOFAlab: Scientists Visualize / Artists Experiment
Washington, DC
Thursday, Nov 5, 2009, 6pm+

Alpha One Labs Grand Opening - "Light Up The Night" - Fund-Raising Party
Brooklyn, NY
Friday, Nov 6, 2009 8pm - 12am

Mobile Art && Code
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

World Championship Punkin Chunkin
Sussex County, DE
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

PCB Design Using Eagle @ NYC Resistor
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009, 2pm - 5pm

Data carving with Danja Vasiliev and Gordan Savicic
Berlin, Germany
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009, 2pm - 8pm

Intro to MIG Welding
Somerville, MA
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, 9:30am - 12:30pm

CPUs 0b1100101: Intro to computer processors @ NYC Resistor
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, 1pm - 3pm

Introduction to Electronics @ NYC Resistor
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, 3:30pm - 6:30pm

Drop-in Arduino and Electronics classes
Berkeley, CA
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009, 7pm - 9pm

GO-Tech November Meeting
Ann Arbor, MI
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009, 7pm - 11pm

Make Louisville inaugural meeting
Louisville, KY
Tuesday, Nov 10, 2009, 8pm

Stop Motion Animation Workshop
Milwaukee, WI
Wednesday, Nov 11, 2009, 6pm - 9pm

Start planning for:

ioBridge @ HackPGH
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, Nov 13, 2009, 7pm - 8pm

Intro to Soft Circuits @ HackPGH
Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, Nov 14, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

Build Your Own Retro Computer @ NYC Resistor
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Nov 14, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

Visit PIXAR with the Cartoon Art Museum
Emeryville, CA
Saturday, Nov 14, 2009, 11am - 4pm

DIY Vacuum Form @ NYC Resistor
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Nov 15, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

22nd Annual Faraday Lecture (FREE Science Demo)
Pittsburgh, PA
Tuesday, Nov 17, 2009, 7:30pm +

November 3, 2009

Make: NYC Meeting November 12

If you tried to go to the last Make: NYC meeting and were thwarted, like me, by the police blocking the street (for an unrelated construction problem), you'll be happy to read this announcement for the next Make: NYC meeting, featuring fewer cops!

Make:NYC Meeting 16 - Thursday November 12th, 6:30PM

We're bringing back a favorite challenge for all you makers! We're excited to see how new faces and new ideas can take this challenge to the next level

Challenge: Return of the Blimps

You've got brains, we've got blimps! Three teams will compete to make ordinary RC blimps perform extraordinarily. We'll provide the blimps, helium and some standard Make:NYC challenge materials. Arrive on time to make sure you get in on all the lighter-than-air action cause it's gonna be a blast!

Show and Tell

Meet your fellow NYC Makers and show off your creations! Bring your gadgets, gizmos, sketches, ideas, anything you'd like to put in the spotlight. We encourage NYC Makers to collaborate on and discuss DIY projects. If you're planning to bring a project, drop us a note at meetings@makenyc.org.

If you'd like to attend we have plenty of space for everyone, but please RSVP!

Make: NYC meeting 16
Thursday, November 12th, 6:30PM
Bug Labs
598 Broadway at Houston, 4th floor
New York, NY 10012

Do you have an event coming up? Check out the Maker Events Calendar and add yours!

November 2, 2009

Make: Halloween Contest 2009 - Last call!

Halloween may have come and gone, but there's still 24 hours to get your entries in to our Make: Halloween Contest 2009! We want to see your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects! All you have to do is fill out the form.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

There's still time left to enter the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Deadline is 11:59 PM PST, November 3rd. Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

A Halloween souvenir

Last Friday night, this piece of "blood"-soaked "meat" (which is, I think, actually some kind of dyed latex product) was smeared roundly about my face and neck by a large man, who may or may not be named "Thor," dressed as a butcher, at the 2009 annual Scare for a Cure haunted house, held ~~each~~ this year at the palatial Austin estate of video-game entrepreneur Richard Garriott, aka Lord British. I paid a couple of extra bucks for the special glowing red chemiluminescent necklace that identified me as amenable to the "extreme," full-contact version of the experience, and I'm so glad that I did.

My friend, Christie, got about a bucket of "blood" "vomited" onto her head by a ceiling-mounted ghoul, and came out looking like Carrie on prom night. I saw it happen, and the moment is frozen for me like a scene from a Dario Argento movie: Christie's blond locks, suffused by a pale, flickering, blue-green backlight, her mouth slightly open as she looks up, laughing, into the torrent of black, sticky ichor that tumbles, in exaggerated slow motion, onto her face. In my mind's eye, I can still see my own gaping mouth reflected in a small, spherical droplet of that blood as it spatters across space and time. I think that droplet will be falling, in my memory, for many years to come.

Thanks to all the volunteers who worked so hard to make this such an incredible event. If you missed it this year, go mark your calendars now.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

There's still time left to enter the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Deadline is 11:59 PM PDT, November 3rd. Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

North Brooklyn Hackerspace opening Friday: Alpha One Labs

A new hackerspace is opening in Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY: Alpha One Labs.

Alpha One Labs hackerspace was founded in the summer of July 2009. Boasting radical inclusivity, Alpha One Labs superb design aims to provide a safe, clean space for users of all ages and interests to work on projects together. We also have weekly classes including the expected soldering and electronic projects along with some exciting additions like popsicle stick projects for kids and "ask a hacker" sessions for seniors.

They're having a grand opening fund-raising party on Friday:

Come "Light Up The Night" at our Grand Opening Fund-Raising Party. We'll have a cash prize raffle (Based on number of foursquare check ins that night. $5 per ticket, winner announced at 12am), a silent auction with various items up for bids and games such as the plug and switch race, 4 player Dreamcast and more throughout the night.

Come dressed in your wearable lights and bring lasers! We have laser controlled lights! Beer and drinks are free. $10 donation at door. RSVP.

Alpha One Labs Grand Opening Fund-Raising Party
Friday, November 6th, 8PM
65 Maspeth Ave #1A
Brooklyn, NY 11211 (Graham Ave. L)

October 30, 2009

Teach Me to Make classes in the Bay Area

Judy Castro and Michael Shiloh run a series of classes called "Teach Me to Make" on a variety of subject such as electronics and arduino, mechanical sculpture, and electromechanics. Classes are run out of The Crucible and The Shipyard. Michael writes:

More recently (2-3 months) I've been teaching classes at my workshop which is now back in The Shipyard. I hold two classes every Tuesday: In the afternoon is a Project Lab, where students work on their own projects with my guidance, assistance, and tools. In the evening is the Arduino and Electronics class, where lately we have been focusing on controlling stepper motors. Both of these classes are stand-alone, in that students attend whenever they are able, and each meeting is guided by the knowledge and interest of those present.

This week in Maker Events

Coming up this week:

High Fashion Low Voltage (part 1) Arduino Lilypad @ Science Museum of Minnesota
Saint Paul, MN
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 9am - 12pm, then weekly

Workshop: Circuit Bending @ Balitmore Node
Baltimore, MD
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

Journey to the End of the Night
San Francisco, CA
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 7pm +

Dorkbot SoCal 38
Los Angeles, CA
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 1pm +

Manchester Science Festival 2009
Manchester, United Kingdom
Saturday, Oct 24, 2009 - Sunday, Nov 1, 2009

Dorkbot NYC
New York, NY
Wednesday, Nov 4, 2009, 7pm +

Start planning for:

Mobile Art && Code
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

World Championship Punkin Chunkin
Sussex County, DE
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

Grand Opening - "Light Up The Night" @ Alpha One Labs
Brooklyn, NY
Friday, Nov 6, 2009, 8pm - 12am

PCB Design Using Eagle @ NYC Resistor
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009, 2pm - 5pm

Intro to Soft Circuits @ Hack Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, Nov 14, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

October 25, 2009

MassTEC Conference

Last week, at the annual MassTEC conference, an interesting collection of technology engineering education, science, and math teachers gathered to share experiences and information. Here are some highlights:

Johanna Bunn, of the Boston Museum of Science, introduced the Engineering the Future curriculum, with interactive demonstrations of hands-on projects introducing students to structures, fluids, and electricity.

The forum on the Massachusetts state science and technology curriculum frameworks introduced a series of strand maps that show how the concepts and possible activities in the various STEM subjects interrelate. Their hope is that existing and new courses could be designed so that they step students through learning ideas within courses and how the courses could build upon each other. Right now, the maps are static PDFs, but their goal is to have them be more interactive in the way they connect projects and concepts.

Martha Cyr, Director of K-12 Outreach at the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, showed the TEACHEngineering site, which has resources for K-12 teachers. The site's search engine allows teachers to find curriculum and projects that map to many states' frameworks, and loads of scientific and engineering concepts. The curriculum tools on the site have a consistent look and feel and have been tested by STEM teachers.

Nate Ball of Design Squad told of his experiences in backyard, garage, and kitchen making. Though his school in Oregon lacked a hands-on technology and engineering program, his childhood was filled with adventures of the making sort. His rigorous personal projects and academic record led him to MIT, where he discovered what engineers do. When WGBH uncovered a need for youth to understand more about the realities and techniques of engineering, he was in a group of students who helped to develop possible projects for the show before he tested for and ultimately filled the role of host. The show encourages creativity, teamwork, and real world problem solving. The third season of Design Squad has just begun airing, and the site has lots of curriculum resources, and full episodes of the show.

If you are involved in an organization helping to prepare teachers and their students for a lifetime of making, pass along some links in the comments.

October 23, 2009

PopTech reimagines America

The PopTech conference is currently underway in Camden, ME. We sent some emissaries from MAKE, namely Zach and Kim DeBord, Mike Gould, and Stuart Gaines. Zach is an artist and BEAMbot builder. He did the awesome bots (and photos) for my "Pummer, Dude!" [PDF] piece in MAKE, Volume 08. Mike Gould has a project, "Lunchbox Laser Shows," in the upcoming "Kids of All Ages" issue, Volume 20, of MAKE. Stuart Gaines writes:

In Camden Maine this week, the annual PopTech conference has taken over the town's beautifully-restored 18th century opera house where an "A-list" of speakers contemplates the "re-invention" of America.
Just down the block, on Elm St., in a converted auto garage, two master makers are demonstrating how to take everyday objects, found in the techno-trash or commonly sourced on eBay, and re-invent them as high-tech gadgets with new purpose. It's a mini-Maker Faire amidst the dazzling fall foliage. All day long, a steady stream of PopTech attendees wander into the garage. In the first bay, they meet Mike Gould and learn how he embeds red, green, and blue lasers into lunchboxes and slide projectors. In the next bay, Zach DeBord and his wife Kim are fashioning buzzing, twittering toys, soldered together from junked calculators, spare motors, wires, and postage stamp-sized solar cells.

Just down Route 1, in nearby Rockland, a lucky group of PopTechies got a chance to pull a spoke-shave at The Apprenticeshop, one of the oldest traditional boat-building schools in the country. Lance Lee, founder of the Apprenticeshop, was on-hand to explain the joys of working with wood, and his boat-building projects, including a smaller version of Tremolino, a 19th Century lateen-rigged Mediterranean workboat used by Joseph Conrad.

Back at PopTech, speakers expound on the impact of new technologies with a thought-provoking mix of optimism and fear. A disturbing contrast to "creative re-use" was photographer Chris Jordan's photographs of seabirds brought down by plastic refuse. Jordan has just returned from Midway Island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. His photographs were literally "breathtaking." The opera house audience was left speechless by his story of the destructive impact of these everyday materials. See "Midway: Message from the Gyre" on his site.

PopTech runs through Saturday, October 24.

Marshmallow shooter battle this weekend in NYC

If you've built one of the marshmallow shooters from MAKE, vol 02, this Saturday's Marshmallow Civil War is for you. Actually, there's still plenty of time to head to the hardware store and make one in time for the event:

A historical reenactment in New York of questionable accuracy. With marshmallows. Many years ago, widespread unrest in the region and a perplexing overabundance of marshmallows led to a soft armed conflict between opposing sides. More moderate citizens flew the flag of Yellow, while the more radical aligned themselves with Red.

Marshmallow pistols, jet-puffed assault rifles, bow-and-mallows and Peep grenades decimated each army until no soldier was left alive. This is a reenactment of that epic battle.

Sides will be chosen, marshmallow weapons will be loaded, and chaos will ensue.

Commenter Shawn Q has set the tone quite nicely by saying "PH34R MY P33P GRENAAAADEZ." [Thanks, Fil!]

More:

The Steel Yard's Iron Pour fires up in Providence on 10/30

2008 Iron Pour

Beth from The Steel Yard in Providence, RI writes in with news of their upcoming Iron Pour:

Watch the Iron Guild fire up their furnaces for the 4th annual molten metal spectacular. In the past they've brought us fiery hearts, zombie kings, and glowing skulls. This year...pumpkin casting and a giant flaming Jack-O-Lantern!

Music provided by Empty House Cooperative.

Enjoy hot cider, doughnuts, and wood-fired pizza while you take in the performance. The event will also feature a bowl sale by the Steel Yard Ceramic Artist Cooperative.

We are looking for volunteers, contact Jackson at jackson@thesteelyard.org or (401) 273-7101 if you are interested in helping out.

Please call or e-mail our office with any questions at 401-273-7101 or contact@thesteelyard.org.

Iron Pour
Iron Pour 2008 - a set on Flickr

October 22, 2009

Thumping, squawking, & soldering @ the first Handmade Music Austin!

There was no shortage of attendees (or noises!) at Austin's first Handmade Music event. The mass kit-build was a definite success, with all participants bringing home fully-functional mini sound modules. Kit designer Eric Archer came equipped with 25 different capacitor recipes for his Mini Space Rockers - thus keeping the sonic landscape fresh - and loud!

October 21, 2009

This week in Maker Events

Coming up this week:

Milton Keynes Science Festival
Central Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009

Sewing Workshop
San Francisco, CA
Friday, Oct 23, 2009, 7pm +

Manchester Science Festival 2009
Manchester, United Kingdom
Sat, Oct 24, 2009 - Sunday, Nov 01, 2009

Make:RDU inaugural meeting
Durham, NC
Saturday, Oct 24, 2009, 2pm +

Twin Cities Maker Halloween Extravaganza
Near Stillwater, MN
Saturday, Oct 24, 2009, 2pm - 6pm

The Jet Pack Show
San Carlos, CA
Saturday, Oct 24 - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, 11am - 3pm

CPUs 0b1100101: Intro to computer processors
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, 1pm - 3pm

Hacky Halloween
Pittsburgh, PA
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009, 8pm - 1:30am

FPGA Workshop
Washington, DC
Wednesday, Oct 28, 2009, 7pm - 10pm

Start planning for:

High Fashion Low Voltage (part 1) Arduino Lilypad
Saint Paul, MN
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 9pm - 12pm

Workshop: Circuit Bending
Baltimore, MD
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

Mobile Art && Code
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

World Championship Punkin Chunkin
Sussex County, DE
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

PCB Design Using Eagle
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Nov 7, 2009, 2pm - 5pm

Intro to Soft Circuits
Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, Nov 14, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

October 18, 2009

Steampunkin!

Hans Scharler just submitted this cool hack-'o-lantern to our Make: Halloween Contest 2009. It includes a motion detector, some LEDs, and a fog machine, and when someone approaches it lights up and shoots "steam" out of its ears.

Make: Halloween Contest 2009

Microchip Technology Inc. and MAKE have teamed up to present to you the Make: Halloween Contest 2009! Show us your embedded microcontroller Halloween projects and you could be chosen as a winner.

October 15, 2009

NYC Papercraft show

Slash: Paper Under the Knife (warning: autoplay video) is the NYC Museum of Arts and Design's third major exhibition, and if it's anywhere near the quality of Radical Lace and Subversive Knitting or Pricked: Extreme Embroidery, it should be fantastic. MAKE favorite Brian Dettmer is involved, as well as many many other incredible paper artists.

Slash: Paper Under the Knife takes the pulse of the international art world's renewed interest in paper as a creative medium and source of artistic inspiration, examining the remarkably diverse use of paper in a range of art forms. Slash is the third exhibition in MAD's Materials and Process series, which examines the renaissance of traditional handcraft materials and techniques in contemporary art and design. The exhibition surveys unusual paper treatments, including works that are burned, torn, cut by lasers, and shredded. A section of the exhibition will focus on artists who modify books to transform them into sculpture, while another will highlight the use of cut paper for film and video animations.

Selected artists will be commissioned to create site-specific or site-referential works, and others will be invited to create work onsite in MAD's three artist studios that will subsequently be installed in the exhibition.

Slash: Paper Under the Knife

October 7, 2009 - April 4, 2010

Museum of Arts and Design

2 Columbus Circle NYC

Handmade Music Brooklyn tonight: felted signal processing, electro-rock, & more

We'll be enjoying another helping of handmade & homebrew sounds this eve @ Brooklyn's 3rd Ward. Handmade Music ringmaster Peter Kirn of CDM gives a preview -

From Sarah and Lara Grant, we have a dress that makes music, with tube-like apparatus made of felt for connecting sound, modular fashion. From the raucous duo Great Tiger, we get a homebrewed arcade controller Ableton Live that mashes loops into dance music with a quick button push. Yep, it’s Handmade Music time again in New York tomorrow Thursday. If you’re anywhere in the area, come on down – and feel free to bring your own projects and/or expect some surprise technological appearances. If not, we’ve still got some MP3s, visuals, and how-to information to share.
If you do make it to Brooklyn, we can promise some behind-the-scenes demonstrations, noise, at least one live set, and free, ice-cold Colt 45s while they last.

A closer look at the lineup can be found over at Create Digital Music

Handmade Music
October 15
7:30 pm – 10:00 pm
195 Morgan Ave
3rd Ward, Brooklyn, NY

October 14, 2009

This week in Maker Events

Coming up this week:

Science Days
Rust, Germany
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 - Saturday, Oct 17, 2009

HANDMADE MUSIC NIGHT: Felted musical suits and arcade button music!
Brooklyn, NY
Thursday, Oct 15, 2009, 7:30pm +

California Hot Rod Reunion
McFarland, CA
Friday, Oct 16, 2009 - Sunday, Oct 18, 2009

Milton Keynes Science Festival
Central Milton Keynes, United Kingdom
Saturday, Oct 17, 2009 - Sunday, Oct 25, 2009

Bay Area Hamcram
Fremont, CA
Saturday, Oct 17, 2009, 8am - 5pm

Joule Thievery
Brooklyn, NY
Saturday, Oct 17, 2009, 4pm - 6pm

Arduino/Soldering 101 - Make your own Arduino and Learn to Program it!
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Oct 18, 2009, 1pm - 4pm

William Gurstelle Presents "Absinthe and Flamethrowers" (PDF, see page 5)
Owatonna, MN
Monday, Oct 19, 2009, 7pm - 8:30pm

Introductory Arduino Class
Brooklyn, NY
Monday, Nov 19, 2009, 7:30pm - 9:30pm

Start planning for:

Manchester Science Festival 2009
Manchester, United Kingdom
Sat, October 24, 2009 - Sunday, Nov 01, 2009

Video Editing in iMovie '09
Pittsburgh, PA
Saturday, Oct 24, 2009, 2pm - 4:30pm

Make:RDU inaugural meeting
Durham, NC
Saturday, Oct 24, 2009, 2pm +

CPUs 0b1100101: Intro to computer processors
Brooklyn, NY
Sunday, Oct 25, 2009, 1pm - 3pm

High Fashion Low Voltage (part 1) Arduino Lilypad
Saint Paul, MN
Saturday, Oct 31, 2009, 9pm - 12pm

Mobile Art && Code
Pittsburgh, PA
Friday, Nov 6 to Sunday, Nov 8, 2009, all weekend

October 13, 2009

Steampunk art exhibit opens today in Oxford

Here's by way of a can-we-still-be-friends for those annoyed by yesterday's steampunk toilet post. The Museum of the History of Science at Oxford's Old Ashmolean building is hosting an exhibit of contemporary steampunk art curated by Art Donovan. It runs from today until February 21, 2010. If you're interested in steampunk and you're anywhere near the UK during that time it's probably worth checking out.

Handmade Music Austin: workshop, jamming & more - this Sunday!

Austin area synthheads are in for quite a sweet treat - the Handmade Music Austin event series kicks off this Sunday (Oct. 18th) with a kit-building workshop and subsequent group synth jam -

4ms Pedals, Bleep Labs, Eric Archer, and Church of the Friendly Ghost have brought Handmande Music to Austin! Starting October 18th, we will offer monthly workshops at Salvage Vanguard Theatre where you can learn how to solder, build a synth kit, show off your own musical DIY project of any type, and jam with the new Andromeda Space Rocker synthesizer kits.
Free beginner classes! This free class is for anyone, even if they've never picked up a soldering iron or know the difference between a capacitor and a resistor. We'll show how to solder, discuss the basics of electronics and build an analog drum. Soldering equipment will be provided but if you have your own tools, bring them along.
In the upper division class, we'll walk you through one of our new modular, networkable synthesizer kits and discuss synth design. Each event will feature a different kit, starting with one of Eric's drum machines. Classes are $45 and include a kit and all necessary materials.
Each device can communicate with each other via an ir network. This means that when you place them next to each other they automatically sync and play at the same tempo. There will be 100% analog drum machines from Eric, a digital bassline generator with analog filters from Dann of 4ms, and an Arduino based synth with an analog VCO from Dr. Bleep. These kits will be available online after the first event.

Sounds like good times to me! Get the 411 on sign up and class times over @ HandmadeMusic.NoisePages

October 9, 2009

NYC big wheel race Saturday

With prizes for most original vehicle and best costume, I'm wishing I had heard about the NYC big wheel race a bit sooner...

Bring your big wheel, trike, skateboard, velocipede, or handmade contraption on wheels along with your superhero costume to race down the Great Hill in Central Park against the greatest front and rear axelers.

If you do manage to get a vehicle together, wear a helmet!

2nd annual NYC Great Big Wheel Race
Saturday, October 10, 3-5:30pm
Central Park Drive, 104th St east side