Pumpkin Carving

Carved pumpkin

I carved a pumpkin on Friday night during Fall Festivities Night at Hack Pittsburgh, what do you think?

For reference, it’s about 1.5 inches in diameter.

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Assembling a drill press


Here you can see how I built a drill press, and consider the vacant spaces on the top of my head. It wasn’t very complicated, so the video is very short…

This was really just a quick test. I learned that I need to put the D700 in manual focus mode when using it’s time lapse function, and also that a period of 7 seconds is too slow to capture this sort of activity. I still fear for my shutter life when abusing the camera this way, so I will probably stick to my Powershot S3 and CHDK firmware for lengthly time lapse videos.

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Come and learn about Soft Circuits!

Becky Stern's Soft Circuit Embroidery Workshop @ SMoCA
Now, I know you all are just itching to pay me* to teach you stuff, so here is your chance! I’m co-teaching an introductory Soft Circuits workshop with Elizabeth Perry next month on Saturday, November 14th, so be sure to be there! Tickets are available now for the low low price of $40 ($30 for HackPGH members), which even includes materials! Take advantage of this sweet offer before I become famous and charge you $1000 just for a signature!

We will be making a light-up cuff bracelet using industrial felt, batteries and LEDs, with a button for a switch. No previous experience with sewing, electronics, computing, or soldering is needed. It’s guaranteed** to be a fun time!

*Actually, all proceeds go to making Hack Pittsburgh an awesome place to be, but if you want you can also buy me a book or something.
**Guaranteed by design!

[photo above is by me, of a workshop held by Becky Stern]

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Ferrous Wheel

Ferrous Wheel

Here’s a quick look at my Ferrous Wheel piece, which is on display at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh. Theoretically I will put up my build notes and code for in the future. If you want to get a jump start at that, check this comment thread.

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My creation myth

Written as an artist’s statement for my upcoming exhibition:

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been interested in understanding how things work. It was on a family vacation to Disney World, however, that I learned how useful this knowledge can be, and why it is so important for me to understand it.

It all started when we went on a ride called 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Down, down we went into the depths. We saw ruined cities, lost treasure and fabulous monsters. My head was spinning, thinking of the fabulous technology that they were using to take us so deep below the sea. These must be very strong submarines, and they could drill a tunnel diagonally to reach the sea. But it was a trick! After we finished the ride, my father took me to the side of the ride and showed me that really, we only went a few feet underwater. See? And he pointed out exactly how they made it look like we dived much deeper- over there, they are releasing bubbles to make it seem like we are going under.

At first, I was mad because I had been tricked, but then I came to realize that it didn’t matter. Even though the ride was fake, it was this illusion that made it fun to ride on, and the fact that I was now in on the prank opened up a whole new way of looking at the world to me. Rather than just passively watching the show go on, I could figure out how they convinced us we were going underseas, what the ruins and treasure was really made of, and how the sea monsters were animated. And I learned that actually it takes a lot of planning and hard work to bring such a convincing illusion to life.

Now, whenever I am making something, I understand that there are two parts to what I am doing. First and foremost is the story that I am telling, what I imagine the thing I am creating to be. Remembering my lesson from Disney, I understand that how I made it can be equally interesting, so I take pains to allow the curious to discover what tricks I used. My greatest hope is that they will be inspired to make up their own tricks and bring the things they imagine to life.

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Things in my kitchen

Things in my kitchen

Made with montage:

montage +frame +shadow +label -tile 10x8 -borderwidth 1 -background white -bordercolor white -geometry 200x133 *.jpg stuff.jpg
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Spinner Synth, Part 2

Here are some photos of my second spinner synth prototype. I’ll make up a video demonstration soooon. Click any of the photos for a larger version.
Usage instructions
Frame detail Wheel lock mechanism Belt drive assembly Completed wheel mount As an artifact Rigging

Also, it’s short because it is for children :-D

Posted in Journal, tech, toughart | 10 Comments