I threw together a couple of simple geometric models this weekend on the laser. As it happens, one nested nicely within the other. DXFs after the cut.
Continue reading »
Hey folks, here’s the long of the short of it, Bre Pettis has a pilot of his very own TV show coming out!! Whether his show will air for a whole season depends on the Neilsen ratings, which is the TV equivalent of a little black box watching what you’re watching! His Neilsen ratings depend on you to watch the pilot. Here’s the info:
History Channel
9/26
9pm
http://brepettis.com/blog/2008/09/04/history-hacker-history-channel/
If you’re not home, Tivo it. But ok, maybe you’re reading this saying, what’s in it for me? Consider the gasps you’ve heard from people who are uneducated about hacking when you utter the word. The concept of hacking in this country is highly unfavorable due to the fact that most people don’t have a clue what hacking means and haven’t read about the ethics and manifestos behind it. Airing a show like this on national television brings an educational background and understanding for hacking and hackers to the masses. And besides, knowing Bre, you’ll probably see how to make some really cool stuff!
This decade is ours – 2000s belong to the geeks! Let’s take it all the way to the top!
Sparkfun just launched the Arduino Pro Mini for $19… it’s tiny, and cheap, and been in the works for a long time. Here’s their description:
It’s blue! It’s thin (0.8mm)! It’s the Arduino Pro Mini! SparkFun’s minimal design approach to Arduino. This is a 3.3V Arduino running the 8MHz bootloader (select ‘LilyPad’ within the Arduino software). The Pro Mini is very much like the Wee, but we added a handful of features to become a fully certified Arduino board.
A few weeks ago I taught a cupcake hacking class. This class was primarily based on how to electrify your cake without poisoning your friends. The first rule of thumb is to use lead-free solder. We all know soldering with it is a bitch, but piece of mind that you won’t fill your friends with toxins is well worth it. Lead free solder is mostly tin (approximately 95ish%). Other elements in lead-free solder are not exactly healthy to consume, but we take other measures to ensure it doesn’t touch the cake anyhow. The elements found in lead-free solder are as follows: tin, copper, bismuth, zinc, antimony, and indium. The Los Alamos Chemistry Laboratory gives a good overview of elements and their everyday uses. After you have your LEDs, motors, peizos, and other electronic parts soldered together, you’ll want to coat any exposed wires and solder with wax, regular parafin wax, because having wax touch your cake is safer than metal! I like to take extra measures with my cakes and also line the electronics with saran wrap and parchment paper. The battery should always be outside the cake. If you notice the battery leaking acid, for god sakes don’t eat the cake!! Niki, a student in my class made the LED pi cupcake shown above; a cupcake with an identity crisis.
Some resources to learn more about lead free solder and chemical properties of solder are:
More geek-filled electronic cakes can be found on my flickr!
Bill picked up an optivisor for the space, and attached an LED lighting enhancement. My SMT sequin work just got a googolplex times easier.
Picture of the optivisor in action after the jump
Continue reading »
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. 😉
I’m learning QCAD and there is a bit of a learning curve. Got any tips or tricks? Leave ’em in the comments!
More tutorials – Link
Make:NYC was once again hosted at NYC Resistor. This event is a free event open to all… with one requirement. People who show up are expected to get their hands dirty and make things. At the last meeting we had a windmill energy challenge. 4 teams created windmills in an attempt to generate the most energy. We had some exceptional results. You can find out more about Make:NYC at www.makenyc.org.
Craft night is now Hacks and Crafts night and it’s back! Working on an autonomous glowing frisbee that tells time in six languages? Making a new dress that will solve all of Humanity’s problems? Knitting something the likes of which has never been knitted before? Robofrog? Bring a crafting or hacking project over to NYCR and hang with other hackers and crafters. Craft night is back and it’s better than ever! This week we will also have a book binding project to work on.
Thursday August 28th from 6-9 PM, right here at NYCR, 397 Bridge street , Brooklyn
Suggested donation of $5 (if you can’t afford it, come on over anyway. Free cookies!)