Maker Faire - Flight of the Bumble Bee

…has pretty much been the sound track to our lives for the past 4 months. Check out our Flight of the Bumble Bee video here: http://youtu.be/DwVyVqM3BAg?hd=1 This video will be playing in “ContainR” at Maker Faire. It’s next weekend folks, step right up and get your tickets! It’s only a 2 day event and there are a limited number of tickets.

less than 5 weeks to go

Only four more weekends left before Maker Faire. Four more weekends and still so much to do. No more time for slacking off. Curiously, I feel no sense of panic. Just the calm before the storm. More of a … fuzzy mellow blissfulness. Come to think of it, that may have something to do with the nearly empty pint glass in front of me. “Nah. Probably not. Probably just my deep rooted confidence in our general awesomeness.” I tell myself as I quaff my pint of liquid courage. Seriously, I’m getting really excited. Progress is actually going very well - the bench bookcase combo is almost finished. I designed a mockup of what our booth will look like in my imagination. So if it doesn’t end up looking anything like this, at least you will know that I imagined it would be cool. And that’s almost as good. Here is the image of the mock up in the gallery but it’s too small to read the writing: Projects Gallery Image You probably shouldn’t read the writing anyway because it’s got a bit of my crazy showing, but here it is larger anyway. Crazy Close Up Image We will have LED track lighting in various locations, such as behind the sign and behind the bench and bookcases. I’ll post more photos of everything soon, but not now. I’m feeling far too lazy now. After two solid days of sanding all I want to do now is have a bubble bath and a cup of tea. So the photos will have to wait. PS As you can see I have usurped Derek’s blog name for our new CNC company. It’s a cool name and I like it! We shall be relocating his blog to www.armyofevilrobots.com/dereksbloginthefurnaceroom . But don’t feel sorry for him. I’ve bought him a new red stapler.

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WILL WE MAKE IT?? VANCOUVER 2011 MAKER FAIRE!

WILL WE MAKE IT?? VANCOUVER 2011 MAKER FAIRE!

It’s true! Vancouver is holding it’s own Maker Faire in June 2011! For anyone reading who isn’t familiar with Maker Faire, it’s the ultimate DIY festival - a combination conference and trade show for Makers of all ages. Check out the Vancouver Maker Faire website: http://www.makerfaire.ca/ With reckless spontaneity and enthusiasm, we registered and paid our hundred bucks for a 10 ft x 10 ft space! We are now officially Maker Faire Presenters! How exciting! Moments after this transaction was made, came the dawning realization that this meant we would probably now have to make something. It is a Maker Faire afterall. The presenters are generally expected to make things. We haven’t got that part entirely planned yet folks, but don’t panic! Whatever it is, it will be sure to amaze and astound! And it’s probably going to involve a CNC machine that we just happen to have down in our basement. Handy no? The CNC machine was our present to each other this past Christmas. Derek built it while I sipped spiked eggnog, regularly voicing my unsolicited opinion about his methods from the comfort of a squashy chair. You can see already what a great team we make. This is gonna be AWESOME! We have made a few small projects with it so far. Check out the photos of the globe in the Maker Faire project gallery. Our current project is a doozy and we’re hoping to have it ready for the Faire along with many other projects. I’ll be posting all our progress photos in the Maker Faire Project gallery. I’ve got one in there of the first piece we finished cutting today for the big project. I shall be making regular blog posts about our progress, or lack of progress, whatever the case may be, over the next 3 months. Seriously, the lack of planning and direction not to mention time, makes this whole thing so much more thrilling don’t you think? Will we make it? Who’s to know? Stay tuned for the exciting next chapter…

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Model M Refurbishment

Model M Refurbishment

I recently went to the local freegeek and picked up an old Model M 1391401 for a STEAL. Part way through my USB upgrade, I found that not all great deals are created equal. While the condition of the plastic and electronics seemed pristine, there was a full cup of coffee poured into the bottom of the keyboard and congealed. I am assuming this happened about 20 years ago or so, and I would later discover that the mess had crystallized into a horrific and conductive smear on the bottom trace on the key membrane.

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KeyboarDuino

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S-9XY7L-gM&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]

KeyboarDuino is an arduino with a full usb/hid stack on it. Will be used for my custom keyboard design :)