Last summer during a Solarbotics Robotics for Educators session, one of the teachers noted something about many of the mainstream robotics and electronics learning platforms commonly used in classrooms. He said that those platforms suffered from the Black Box Effect. This effect was where the “black boxes,” the controllers, were plugged into the computer and […]
Maker Faire, Closed Monday, Skeleton Sta...
Dave Hrynkiw
May 15, 2013
Ahoy! Avast! Listen up me hearties, because we have a few important things to cover before we meander on to our weekly dose of Cool Links. First off...
Solarbotics will be closed on Monday, May 20th. We're not sure who this Victoria broad is or why she decided to give us a holiday named after her, but we think this whole 'getting the day off' thing is pretty swell. She should be royalty. Maybe even knighted. Erm, knightetted, I guess.
Second off...
Maker Faire. It's a thing. And it's thinging this weekend in San Francisco, where we'll be in attendance. Come on by our booth and free (and mini) Arduino workshop to say hello. After that, you can poke around and see all the UTTERLY COOL STUFF that's there. Even if we weren't going to be there, we'd still recommend checking it out.
Third off...
We're going to be running on skeleton staff for a few days. And we're not talking about Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest zombie skeleton pirates either. Most of the staff will be down in San Francisco for this Maker Faire shindig, with a few souls staying behind to keep things going. As a result, order processing and customer support might not be as snappy as usual until we get back up to normal strength, around Wednesday the 22nd. Your patience is appreciated.
Okay, and now onto the Cool Links show, starring Some Cool Links:
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Freeduino.begin() by Siddharth Sharangpani & Bhagyashri Sharangpani There are a lot of books that talk about the Arduino, but the Freeduino isn't so lucky. But its day in the sun has finally arrived because the folks at bhashatech.com made the very first e-book about it. |
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Grinder Skating in the Park We've seen many an impressive walker robot over the years, but Nick Donaldson's Grinder robot is pretty noteworthy, due to its ability to skate as well as walk (hint: think more rollerblades and less skateboard). |
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The Worldwide List of Open Source Hardware Online Stores The fine folks over at Making Society have compiled a big ol' list of Open Source Hardware Stores, including yours-truly. It makes for a pretty handy resource. If nothing else, check it out for the awesome maps made from circuitboards. |
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An Ornate Rug Made of Discarded Computer Parts and Other Electrical Objects Federico Uribe is a pretty sneaky artist. Most carpets are comfy to step on, and this one made from all sorts of electronic bits will not be comfy to step on. At all. |
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The Image Toaster Don't lie, we all wish we could put images on our toast. Scott van Haastrecht has made a solution for you, using an impressive build to toast 6x6pixel designs into the bread of your choice. |
Alright, so to summarize. Saturday and Sunday we're at Maker Faire, Monday we're closed, Friday and Tuesday we're all skeletons, and every day of the week the internet is pretty fun. Right? Right.
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