Tag: bucketworks

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Holiday Make-a-thon (Time Lapse)

As we often do here at RasterWeb!/2XL Networks, we made a time lapse video… this one is from the Holiday Make-a-thon that was held at Bucketworks recently…

Some of thing things that were made: LED ornaments, handmade wrapping paper, recycled bags, popsicle stick ornaments, and lots and lots of art… Oh there was also knitting, and at least one maker worked on a YBox. There’s probably a lot I missed, but then I was busy making things as well. It was great to see kids and adults working side by side creating things, hopefully we can do it again.

Thanks to Bucketworks for hosting the event, as well as sponsors Milwaukee Makerspace, and UberDorkCafe.

Oh, and if you missed it, don’t worry, I hear they may be planning another one soon…

You can also see this video at blip.tv or view an MP4 version.

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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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BarCampMilwaukee5 Lightning Talk: Firefox 4

At BarCampMilwaukee5 we did Lightning Talk where you get 5 minutes to talk about a subject. (5 minutes only! We time it and when the alarm goes off, you’re done!) I talked about Mozilla Firefox 4, which is/was in beta at the time.

My main point was too let people know that Firefox 4 is much improved over previous versions of Firefox. I know a lot of people who have switched to other browsers (mainly Chrome) due to speed issues, and while speed is important, I don’t think it’s the most important thing.

My suggestion to people was to completely wipe their existing Firefox profile (which could easily be 5 years old by now) and install the Firefox 4 beta, and see how fast it was. Don’t install any add-ons, just start browsing fresh, and see what happens. Keep an eye one arewefastyet.com too, and see how those numbers and lines are looking.

I also touched on Mozilla Drumbeat, Game On, Firefox Sync, and Firefox Home. I probably left out a lot of things I would have liked to mention, but I did this unprepared. Also, you can actually say a lot in 5 minutes.

Special thanks to Chris Larkee for filming the Lightning Talks. You can find them all at YouTube, and Chris said they are all available under a Creative Commons license, but since YouTube has no concept of such things, you’ll just have to take our word for it. You can also find this video at blip.tv

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MilwaukeeDevHouse5 – Hack the Bucket!

Hack the Bucket? Hack the BarCamp!

It’s been a long time since we’ve held a MilwaukeeDevHouse, and while Milwaukee Hacker House has been doing somewhat regular events, DevHouse hasn’t, but we’re changing that!

BarCampers, Web414ers, and anyone else that does a meetup or event at Bucketworks, we invite you to MilwaukeeDevHouse5, happening on Friday, December 3rd, 2010, from 5pm to Midnight.

Here’s what I’d like to see happen: We do some brief intros, explain what we hope to accomplish, then we generate some ideas, and then we make those ideas come true. (There will also be food & drink of course! It needs at least some party atmosphere!)

We may not finish everything we start that night, but it should serve as a starting point. Also… the sky is the limit.

The sky is the limit. Really. We mean it, Any idea should be shared. Do you think there should be an iPad on the wall in every room? Should BarCamp have electronic SmartBadges that alert you to things? Should the grid wall be a giant touch screen? Want permanent videoconferencing and video streaming stations everywhere? RFID tags on everything? A grid of 20 monitors on a wall displaying artwork, photos, and data? Robots that serve us drinks? Anything. Don’t let any limits to your imagination keep you from sharing.

Once we have all these (possibly crazy) ideas, we’ll set about trying to make them happen. The “iPad on the wall in every room” idea might turn into “computer near the wall in every room” until, you know, we get the funding to make all of these dreams come true… but really, we’re hoping to spark some ideas, and adjust them to fit into what is possible with the resources we do have, or can secure.

I’ve got a few old computers, displays, and other hardware at the office I’ll probably bring along in the hopes that we can hack them into something interesting.

Will you join us?

(The graphic is based on an original photo by Tracy Apps, published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike license. Thanks!)