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August 2009

Kwartzlab Members - create an account at kwartzlab.ca!

24Aug2009

Hey there, I've heard some folks are having problems finding the kwartzlab lists (announce and discuss).. the only way to get on those lists is to create an account on the kwartzlab website, and set your mailing list preferences. MakeKW user accounts aren't linked over there. If you're a member, send an e-mail to either Steph or myself (ben [at] kwartzlab.ca) with your username, and we'll bump it up to member status.

The announce list is mandatory, but the discuss list is currently opt-in, so if you have an account but aren't getting discuss messages, then you may want to check out your mailing list prefs over there ;)

Just a heads-up!

This is a balancebot

21Aug2009

I just came across this video of a balance bot, and I was impressed....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LUpN9PZ84g&feature=player_embedded

I Won!

19Aug2009

I didn't get the grand prize, but I did win a sweet Thingamakit from Bleep Labs for my Laser Synth-Guitar.

See all the winners here:  http://www.instructables.com/id/Art-of-Sound-Contest-Winners/

And yes, I will certainly bring in my thingamakit to show off once it arrives and is built.  :)

kwartzlab's new home

16Aug2009

 

Hey, don't just watch the video tour of kwartzlab's new home, come on over to my kwartzlab blog and check out stills from our cleanup-meetup.  Oh yeah, and join us!  Time's a wastin' for getting in on a founding membership which comes with a leap-of-faith key right out of the gate and a warm fuzzing feeling inside when you discover you've found your people.

DW

Yet Another Social Meetup(tm)

Submitted by Doc on Thu, 2009-08-13 12:31
Date: 
Thursday, August 20, 2009 - 7:00pm
Location: 
Barleyworks Board Room @ Huether Hotel, Waterloo

Hey folks, we've got another social meetup on the books! Once again we're getting together to share ideas, show off projects and have a pint or two in good company. Gus has talked about doing a 'Howto' theme where we bring making-related books. If you have a favourite 'how-to' book, magazine or manual, bring it along! Alex will be bringing out her digital sewing machine as well.

Location Details: Huether Hotel Board Room (upstairs at Barleyworks) - 59 King Street North, Waterloo (google maps)

Yet Another Social Meetup(tm) - Thurs. August 20th @ 7:00pm

13Aug2009

Where: Barleyworks Board Room @ Huether Hotel
When: Thursday August 20th @ 7:00pm

Hey folks, we've got another social meetup on the books! Once again we're getting together to share ideas, show off projects and have a pint or two in good company. Gus has talked about doing a 'Howto' theme where we bring making-related books. If you have a favourite 'how-to' book, magazine or manual, bring it along! Alex will be bringing out her digital sewing machine as well.

The kind folks at the Huether have asked for a better idea on how many people are attending (so they can allocate people, etc). If you're coming out, please RSVP by adding a comment to this post, or e-mail me directly (ben [at] generik.ca).

Hope to see ya there!

Location Details: Huether Hotel Board Room (upstairs at Barleyworks) - 59 King Street North, Waterloo (google maps)

Thinking about a mobile app for makers

11Aug2009

[ Cross-posted from my blog ]

I'm thinking about writing a mobile application for makers. Why you ask? A few reasons come to (my) mind. Because I'm seeing a need and I'd like to fill it. Because I think stretching myself beyond my current level of geekery is fun. Because I can (and you likely could too).

The first problem I'd like to solve is the "Oh my gawd I can't believe someone is throwing that out I could so use that in a project I need someone to help me fish it out of the dumpster" problem.

Consider this... iPhone (or Blackberry, or Google phone, or whatever) in hand, you snap a picture and click the "Sound the Alarm" button. The application sends out notifications to all your maker friends (in the method they prefer). Maybe it checks their location to see if they might be around. Maybe it sends out an e-mail or tweet or Facebook post calling for help. The notes flying around tell them that you'll stick around for the next 10 minutes, and that you've got time later in the night (say 2:00 AM?) if anyone would like to help.

Maker friends... can you think of something else to add along this line, or even some completely unrelated mobile app that might be handy to have? Would you use this application? What other social networks sites would you want to connect with? Is there already an application like this, so I don't reinvent the wheel?

A kit we could sell to sponsor the Hackerspace

11Aug2009

Hi everyone,

This is sort of a two-part post.  I'd like to describe a simple little project that has been simmering on my back burner for a while, but that I'd like to resurrect.  I'd also like to suggest offering it as a kit that we could sell (hopefully, one of many!) to help fund the Hackerspace.

The project is a simple clock, that displays the time in a matrix of 4 by 9 LEDs.  They are arranged as four colums of 9 LEDs each.  Each column corresponds to a time digit - hour10s, hour1s, minute10s, minute1s.  A separate LED blinks to show seconds.  The whole thing runs on a single ATTiny2313.  Perhaps you saw me show it off at the very first Arduino meeting.

Anyway, I think this would make a great kit to sell, and to offer as a soldering excercise.  I estimate the cost wold be under $20 in parts.  Everything is through-hole and easy to build with only basic soldering expertise.

Why not start today?  Well, the software needs work.  My prototype tells the time just fine, but it needs a bit more flash!  Right now the LEDs just turn on and off during time transitions.  I think it would be great if they "fell" from the top when incrementing, and drained through the bottom when transitioning from 9 to 0.  That'll take some programming skill that I don't yet have.  Is anyone willing to pick up where I left off?  I'm perfectly willing to handle all the hardware stuff, from supplying materials to ordering PCBs from China (and of course assembly).  Let me know and we can meet up sometime to work on it.

- Jeff

P.S. Oh, one more thing.  Once it's done we could write up an Instructable to help promote it!  I'd suggest registering "KWArtzLab" as a usename for this purpose.

Group buy for a super-high-end Headphone DAC?

10Aug2009

Hey everyone,

Check out this project on DIYAudio.com:  http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=59357&perpage=...

It's a bleeding-edge DAC and headphone amplifier.  It's designed to plug into a TOSLINK (optical) or digital coax connection, and sounds so good you'll hear compression artifacts in anything but well-mastered CDs and DVD-Audio.  How do I know?  Well, someone at my work built one and contributed to later revisions, and says that it's The Best Evar (my words, not his!)

So anyway, I was thinking of building one or two myself (one as a gift).  The trouble is that single boards are expensive, but if you buy a few then the total price goes down.  Same goes for parts, though not quite as dramatically.

Does anyone want to build one, too?  You'll need some elite surface mount soldering skills, though I can help with that if you don't want to ruin the board or parts.  Total cost would be about $250.