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Holiday Make-a-thon

Make-a-thon

Join us on Friday, November 26th, 2010 for a Holiday Make-a-thon!

This will be a family-friendly event where you can avoid the crowds obsessed with getting the deal of the century on the latest must-have geegaw and actually make something that you can give as a gift this holiday season (or keep for yourself!)

The event is co-sponsored by Bucketworks, Milwaukee Makerspace, and UberDorkCafe. We’re asking for a $5 donation per family, and we’ll provide some snacks & drinks. (Feel free to bring something to share as well.)

make a thing!

So what will you make? We’ve selected a number of electronic kits if you want to try your hand at soldering/building. (And those Makerspace guys will teach you to solder and help you along the way, so don’t be scared if this is your first electronic kit.) Choose from the following SparkFun Electronics kits: Sapphire Bracelet, Diamond Bracelet or Ruby Bracelet for $49.95, It’s a Through-Hole Christmas, Charlie Brown! for $17.95, Simon Game for $24.95, Lectro Candle Kit for $9.95, and Terror-Min for $9.95. (Order your kits NOW so you get them in time.)

If electronics isn’t your thing, you can try to knit a coffee cup cozy or a scarf with Ashe, or try your hand at making Germ Soap (from American Science & Surplus on 6901 West Oklahoma Ave.) or go green and turn plastic bags into a sturdy one-of-a-kind messenger bag with Natali from the UberDorkCafe. (See video.)

We’ll also have James Carlson reading a story (book TBD) and Sam Dodge taking family portraits.

You don’t have to RSVP on The Facebook, but you can if you want… and you can see who else will be there.

(Hmmm, who knows? Maybe I can show people how to make an Arduino Powered Twitter Monkey…)

Update: See a time lapse video of the event.

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Web414 November 2010 (Audio)

Web414 Here is the audio from Web414 for November 2010 You’ll hear the intros, as well as our talk about MilwaukeeDevHouse5, 10 Minutes with Arlen, James Carlson talking about Open Atrium, and then Josh Dean talking about jQuery Mobile. (Warning: There may be an f-bomb or two in this.)

You can also download an MP3 file if you’d like. (And for our freedom loving friends, enjoy an Ogg file.)

Also, if you want to get all of the audio automagically downloaded podcasting style, subscribe to the feed.

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Twitter Monkey (Video)

Behold… the Arduino Powered Twitter Monkey!

By Popular demand (meaning, at least a few people asked) here’s a short video featuring the Twitter Monkey. Because really, what’s a project without a poorly produced video!?

For more info, see the original post: Twitter Monkey.

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Twitter Monkey

Twitter Monkey

Behold… the Arduino Powered Twitter Monkey!

The Twitter Monkey is powered by an Arduino and two servo motors. He patiently monitors Twitter for a specified keyword, and when he sees that keyword, he goes bananas, flapping his arms up and down like a maniac. (For his debut at Web414, the keyword is web414.)

Twitter Monkey was made possible with materials from Adafruit Industries and the local Dollar Tree. The code is heavily based on Alertuino code from MCQN Ltd., creator of the Bubblino.

Update: There’s also a video.

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Wooden Cameras

Photojojo Wooden Camera Gift Set

Did you see this Wooden Camera Gift Set over at Photojojo? It’s pretty damn cute. I mean, a wooden camera…. who would come up with that!?

But wait… I present to you… a Wooden Camera!

This isn’t a “Wooden Camera Gift Set” but it is a “Wooden Camera Gift” because this is the present that my kids gave me for my birthday back in June.

I’m pretty sure they never saw the “Wooden Camera Gift Set” mentioned since: 1. Photojojo mentioned it in October, and 2. They don’t subscribe to the newsletter. Why do they not subscribe? Heck if I know!

This camera is black, which means it’s a “professional camera” and it shows a photo of me from my younger days (possibly taken by senator dingdong) which depicts me shoving something into my face. Probably birthday cake. Also, mine came with a case, which is also black, which means it’s a “professional case” obviously.

Whenever my kids ask what I want for my birthday, I usually respond “Whatever, you don’t have to buy me anything, just make me something!” so I’m glad that they finally did make me something… and, they also made me proud. :)