Adam and I upgraded Hexascroller to control 5 m of Adafruit RGB LED strip through a spare serial port connected to a Teensy 2.0 that drives the strip via SPI. Now when a new message is displayed, the accent lights switch to a bright flashing mode to attract attention, then they will return to soothing, slow color changing mode.

Click the “Read more” to see additional photos of the installation and setup.

Edit: Thanks everyone who came out for the hackathon!

Here’s a semi-live shot of the hackathon at NYCR this weekend! Say hello internets.

During my recent trip to Japan, I got a quick look at the endless passages of electronic component vendors in Akihabara. Unfortunately, my traveling companions weren’t nearly nerdy enough to spend hours there with me.

Taken on iPhone generation 1

So a group of artists flying under the banner of “Ad-hoc Art” has renovated a row of empty store fronts around the corner from NYC Resistor. These buildings were bought out for a building project that never happened, and with the economic downturn may never happen. It’s great to see that someone has taken advantage of that and brought us something truly great.

So if you are coming by Resistor for a class, or for our party Saturday. Stop by. These things are amazing, and my iphone camera does not do them justice.

But for those of you far away in distant lands, here’s a flickr set from my iPhone.

Thanks Ad-hoc Art team. Your work is awesome.

When I was a teenager I wanted a “real camera” so so much — I built a pinhole camera from the instructions in a 4-H booklet, and I shot rolls of 110 with it and also a crappy little camera I bought at a department store with money from my library job. What I really wanted was a 35mm camera, though — a Real Camera. 

I never got that real camera, although over the years I shot plenty of rolls of 35mm film in various random point-and-shoots. I always found it kind of dissatisfying, though. But five or six years ago I got a digital point-and-shoot and it was wonderful! I took so many pictures, and learned so much, and last year I jumped in with both feet and bought a Nikon D70 and a couple of lenses — in my heart, this was my first Real Camera. 

Tenzing! cc-licensed by yarnivore

This month, though, I’ve made a 180-degree turn. Instead of pursuing fancier and more expensive digital technology, I’m exploring 35mm film rangefinder photography. In 2009!

Yashica Electro 35 G - photo by Suviko - cc-licensed

I’ve been thrilled to discover that there are so many wonderful people, all over the web, still using these cameras. Better yet, they not only post their photos, but belong to super-active communities where they discuss the gory technical details. The didactic generosity I’ve seen already is wonderful — people really take the time to share their knowledge.

Electro 35 test shot - cc-licensed by Geopelia

I’ve cleaned up my new/old Electro 35 G (it’s got a 45mm f/1.7 Yashinon lens) as well as an Agfa Silette (Apotar 45mm f/3.5 in a Prontor-S shutter). I’m in the middle of shooting my test rolls, and I can’t wait to see the shots! 

Turns out I’m not the only person at the Resistor who likes cameras and film — so we’re going to be playing with developing here. Of course, there are groups on Flickr for that, too.

It’s taken over 20 years for me to get back to the idea of shooting 35mm (and soon, 120) film. I’m perfectly happy with how this has turned out, though. If Malcom Gladwell is right, and you really do need 10,000 hours of practice to succeed, then I’ve just been putting in my time, shooting lots of frames and getting more comfortable with my tools.

Nick Bilton surveys the horizon from his high perch in Brooklyn

A few of the Resistors were on the rooftop discussing life, the universe, and everything.  Nick went a little higher to find the answers.  I know who’s going to install the repeater antenna when NYCR’s radio station goes live.

A couple of weeks ago Bre posted about digital pinhole photography, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. Last night I spent about 30 minutes playing around at NYCR, following Bre’s instructions, and here’s the first image I was happy with:

pinhole image of Club-Mate bottle, by yarnivore

Today I spent an hour or so in the garden fooling around, and I’m already thrilled.

black-eyed Susans and echinacea, by yarnivore

There are tons of resources all over the web (just for starters, here’s a Digital Pinhole Photography discussion group on Flickr), but I encourage you to make a lens and start shooting before you read a lot — it’s easy to get started, and you don’t want to waste valuable daylight shooting hours inside on the web.

Thanks, Bre!