Pivot

So I've let this blog lie fallow for a while. But I'm back and am making some changes, because while I'm still a part of the maker world, I really want to write about other aspects of my life. Namely knitting, my balcony garden, and cooking.

I know that this can sound like something off of a pinterest board, but that isn't the point. I'm trying to document the candid side of DIY- not entirely DIY gone wrong, but DIY as it often turns out, a little bit flawed.

Those who follow me on instagram see a lot of these projects. So I thought I would document them a little more thoroughly.

So expect more of that up ahead!

I'm Here

I just watched Spike Jonze's short, I'm Here. Which is about Robots. And if you know me, you know I am big on Robots. I was really excited for this because I saw Her and was a huge fan of it, especially from a technological standpoint (expect more of that later).

While it is very sweet, it's treatment of it's robot characters touches on something that always bugged me about the portrayal of robots. Despite not necessarily needing a human shape, we continue to force them into humanoid bodies. I get that that's because humans love to see everything as humans not to mention that it makes better narrative, but given the history that Sci-Fi has for predicting the future (or at least how it looks- just look at the evolution of flip phones) I think we're heading in the wrong direction robot-wise. I know from personal experience that bipedal motion is not an easy feat and it's a miracle that we stand. Now there are companies like Boston Dynamics that have very successful  Bipedal Robots, but I see more everyday robots more resembling the Roomba.

I'm Back!

So my last post was about Ada Lovelace day way back in October, but there were so many other, better posts on other better blogs. And then I fell in the habit of not blogging, but here's to trying to get back on the horse.

So I could talk a lot about what I've been up to, but I'm just going to leave it at,the Beau and I got a cat! His name is Franz Joseph, after the Austro-Hungarian Emperor because I am a sucker for Tragic Monarchs.

Franz Joseph

I am actually working on more posts. So stay tuned! 

Women and Computer Science

Because Ada Lovelace Day is coming up, as well as this New York Times Magazine Article on top of  my mom's birthday coming up, I thought I would do some posts on Ladies and Tech and Computer Science as a whole. Because its (obviously) a subject near and dear to my heart. So a little background on why this is important to me, other than my personal involvement. My mom started her own tech company after leaving IBM in the early 90s, sold it in 2010, and is now the CEO. She basically did the start up thing years before the start-up as a concept was a thing and with no VC funding. So needless to say she is sort of a personal hero of mine.

So expect more on that as we get more into October including highlights of Computer Science when it was seen as women's work (shocker I know) and somewhat related, my favorite Grace Hopper Quote of all time (and no, it's not "It's easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission")

So stay tuned.

My First Wearable Project

Hello all. For all of those who didn't extrapolate from the name, wearable electronics or wearables is the art of making clothing and accessories that have electrical elements. Although there are some really cool things going on with 3D printing and fashion (link here), there is the much more accessible and more interactive aspect of clothing of using microprocessors like the Arduino but making them smaller and able to be sewed into projects two examples of such microprocessors are Arduino's Lilypad and Adafruit's Flora . Now you might be wondering why would you go to the trouble of incorporating microprocessors in clothing. And the answer is because it's awesome.

For Maker Faire I finally put together my first project, which was a scarf that I knitted myself and wired up with Adafruit Neopixels and the Flora. My original plan and what I'm still working on because GPS can be a bit finicky is making it point in the direction of home. I'll post pictures when it's officially done, which should be soon as well as my plans for Halloween. (For Maker Faire I just had it light up because I didn't realize how much of it was outdoors.)

LittleDog Robot

We interrupt your regularly scheduled blog to show you this. Cause this is awesome.

To the Faire

Ok, sometimes I can't resist a good musical reference. This weekend was the New York "World" Maker Faire (given the number of Maker Faires in the world right now, calling the New York Maker Faire the "World" Maker Faire has about as much of a global scope as the World Series) and I, being into these kinds of things, went for the weekend.

(The Beau and I at Maker Faire)

And overall had a great time. Due to sort of unfortunate planning, I didn't get to go to nearly the number of talks I wanted to just because with everything back to back as it was, getting space in the Auditorium was a nightmare if you didn't want to sit through a whole day's worth of 30 minute talks. I did to get see one of my personal idols, Massimo Banzi, a co-founder of Arduino, which was well worth it. Some talks I didn't get to see included one by the people behind Roominate, though I did get to see it in action, and it's just as cool in real life.

What was really cool was the 3D Printing Pavilion where a variety of companies and organizations tied to 3D printing showed off their wares. It was really exciting to see just because there is so much going on in that world right now. 

I also got to show off my first wearable electronics project, a scarf powered by Adafruit's Flora which is a really cool micro-controller that is sew-able, and can be incorporated in various different projects. (The scarf can be seen in the picture above, but the sunlight makes the LEDs a little hard to see) I have a post going into more detail about that coming up. 

There were also some really cool things in the Arduino tent, including the recently released Arduino Robot which while awesome, at a 300 dollar price tag, I'd rather just get a Roomba. And a recently released kickstarter for Moti, which is essentially a servo motor with a built in micro-controller. Although it's a little pricey, I'd be really curious to see where it goes. 

Other highlights included checking out the Junior Robocup table, meeting a very impressive high-schooler who designed a Leap Motion Plus (basically a Kinect) controlled virtual marionette. And a lot of sew-able electronics kits aimed a kids.

Overall I had a really great time and would highly recommend checking a Faire out when you have a chance.