Simple Arduino-Controlled, No-Pump Plant Watering

Make this computer-controlled plant watering system that doesn't use a pump.

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New X-Carve CNC Router Bulks Up for Advanced Usage

Last May, we spotted what looked like an updated version of Inventable's X-Carve. The company has now made it official.

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Audio Storytelling at DC Public Library

This feature was originally published on the Incubator on August 22, 2014.

DC Public Library has a new space for digital projects and some incredible folks working to connect people with one another, information, and the tools to tell their own stories. Peter Timko reached out to share the workshop series he’s developed, drawing on the library’s resources and his own skills in audio production.  Read on to learn more about what he’s up to and download handouts he created for the course. Enjoy! ~Erinn

Audio Storytelling at DC Public Library

by Peter Timko

In July 2013, the DC Public Library opened the Digital Commons, an 11,000 square-foot space dedicated to expanding access to state of the art equipment and software. The Commons features 48 public access PCs, 12 express computers; 12 iMacs; four iMacs with high-end design software; three 3-D printers; an Espresso Book Machine for self-publishing; and a Skype station and videophone for customers who communicate using American Sign Language.

But the Commons isn’t just about connecting people to technology– it’s also about connecting people to each other. 

But the Commons isn’t just about connecting people to technology– it’s also about connecting people to each other. We offer a space for traditional library users, entrepreneurs, developers, designers, students, and educators to meet, collaborate, co-work, and learn together. Staff members help the Commons achieve this goal by creating programs and classes based on their own interests and expertise. We’ve offered classes in everything from 3-D jewelry design, to resume writing, to computer programming.

I came to the DC Public Library with a background in radio and audio production. Inspired by the diverse and lively atmosphere of the Commons, I decided to put my skills to use collecting interviews with some of the many patrons. I talked to American studies professors, card-playing teens, and nomadic political activists. These interviews resulted in a StoryCorps-style series called Voices of the Library, which allowed patrons to hear the stories of their fellow library users.

However, I wanted to do more than just collect other people’s words, so I created the digital audio storytelling workshop to give patrons the tools they need to tell their own stories.

Meeting once a week for four consecutive weeks, the DAS workshop was a first attempt at creating a sequential, hands-on course that challenged to students to create their own work. I wanted the class to be open to people of all backgrounds, so I designed the content be accessible to absolute beginners and to have very low barriers for entry. I teach how to record and interview using basic tools like a smart phone or laptop; how to edit using a free program called Audacity; and how to access and make use of easily available resources like public domain sound archives.

I try to run the course more like a workshop or writing group than a class. I keep the groups small, only about eight students per session, and try to limit the amount of straight forward teaching I do. In the first class we listen to examples of different types of audio – including examples like RadioLab or Memory Palace – and talk about how sound is used to create stories. The second class is dedicated to the technical aspects of editing, and the last two classes are about sharing ideas and work. Students play audio they have collected and are encouraged to give feedback and commentary.

Students have made a wide variety of pieces reflecting their own personal lives. Char H., an older woman who grew up in DC, created a radio diary about her experience watching the city change from the windows of the buses she has ridden for decades.

So far, students have made a wide variety of pieces reflecting their own personal lives. Char H., an older woman who grew up in DC, created a radio diary about her experience watching the city change from the windows of the buses she has ridden for decades. Another student created an audio tour of DC, exploring all the ways Puerto Rican heritage has touched the city, from food and music to the 1954 shooting conducted by Puerto Rican nationalist Lolita Lebrón.

I plan to keep running the course and hope to expand it this winter when our new maker space and recording studio opens. Ideally, I’ll be able to help students create some really polished work and find an outlet for them to be played publicly, either at a listening lounge event at the library or as a series on a local station.

Want More?

• Download a copy of Peter’s course handouts to use as a template: Handout 1.  Handout 2.
• Connect with DC Public Library online at dclibrary.org, and follow them on Facebook and @dcpl on Twitter
• Check out the DCPL podcasts on their website and on iTunes.

 

Peter Timko is a library associate at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library and a member of the From Block2Block audio collective.

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Freeze Crystal Clear Ice Balls for Cocktails

Cool your next cocktail with large, beautiful spheres of ice made with this simple technique.

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15 Ingredients for Building the Perfect Food Truck

Start up your mobile eatery with a customized food truck. Here are 15 things you'll want to consider.

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Can a Juvenile Hall Makerspace Help Teens Suspend Their Disbelief?

This story was originally published on the Future Development Group blog, and is republished here with permission. Willing suspension of disbelief… in education. Interesting phrase, isn’t it? Unless you’re a fiction writer or a movie producer, chances are you haven’t heard this phrase before. Willing suspension of disbelief is defined […]

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Makerspace Organizers Convene at The White House

Makerspace representatives convened at the White House to discuss makerspace challenges and opportunities, and connect with officials.

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Maker Spotlight: Cristiana Felgueiras

Cristiana, the maker behind the phenomenal Get Hands Dirty series, shares her journey, her favorite mediums, and her thoughts on the future.

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Monitor Light Pollution with Photodiodes

Create a simple light detector to create a light pollution survey of your town or county to find out where your local dark sites are.

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3D-Printed Raspberry Pi Skycam for Drone-Free Aerial Video

It rides a monorail of string, streams video, and is remote-controlled from my phone... It is my very own 3D printed skycam.

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Build a Persistence-of-Vision LED Globe

This isn't your typical schoolroom globe... Create a Persistence-of-Vision LED Globe to display a map, a skull, or message.

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Maker Faire San Diego: Calling All Early Birds and Makers

calling all artists and makers for the San Diego Mini Maker Faire!

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Kits and Community Lead to Grit

Kit-building grows confidence, develops grit (the ability to persevere) and can help you become a successful maker.

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Programmable LED Handbag for Any Occasion

Tweet #twitterbag to have your messages displayed on this Geek Mom's purse. Read on to learn more about her project.

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Maker Spotlight: Hannah Wides

Hannah Wides has focused her talents on not only perfecting her woodworking skills, but also educating and organizing Maker communities.

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Temple University Libraries’ Artist-in-Residence Series: An Introduction

by Nicole Restaino

I’m delighted to share Temple University Libraries’ Artist-in-Residence Series as we prepare to launch the initiative’s third iteration. This month, I’ll be providing background on our libraries, our programming, and how the artist-in-residence project fits into our overall programming strategy here at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA.

First, a bit about who we are and our Beyond the Page public programming series. Temple University Libraries serve our university community of more than 45,000 graduates, undergraduates, faculty, and staff. Located in North Philadelphia, the central campus library is also open to our neighboring communities, scholars and researchers visiting our unique special collections, and the general public. We also have branch and satellite libraries at our suburban and international campuses. Main Campus is in the heart of the second largest city on the East Coast, and as such, we leverage programming to position our organization as a unique and vibrant participant in the city’s rich cultural fabric.

…we leverage programming to position [the library] as a unique and vibrant participant in the city’s rich cultural fabric.

Our Beyond the Page public programming series consists of 50-80 events, lectures, exhibitions, performances, and other programs per year. The series’ major objectives are to:

• emphasize the interdisciplinarity of the Libraries and promote our organization’s status as an active center of creation and ideation
• highlight Temple’s role as a major cultural producer in Philadelphia,
• attract new audiences throughout the campus and city to our organization,
• support curricular goals and objectives at the university,
• and develop programming that highlights our library collections and archives.

To meet these goals, we partner with individuals and organizations across the campus and the city. In the past, we’ve designed programs with everyone from our university’s offices, programs, departments and centers, to major museums across the city and other universities in Philadelphia.

Though the Libraries have always hosted talks and exhibitions, this comprehensive series has grown over the past ten years—last year we welcomed over 2,000 individuals to events in the Beyond the Page public programming series. Frequently, programming is organized around broad, interdisciplinary themes, such as Digital Cultures, Music, Games/Gaming/Play, and Sustainability. These themes are loose organizing principles, a central concept along which we develop interdisciplinary, interactive programs. We select topics that are urgent or emergent in contemporary culture, meet with partners and conduct our own research to develop content, and, from there, curate a robust series.

Frequently, programming is organized around broad, interdisciplinary themes, such as Digital Cultures, Music, Games/Gaming/Play, and Sustainability.

The artist-in-residence series developed to more deeply explore a chosen theme through a single practice. While on campus, our visiting artists present workshops, a public lecture, a talk on theory that informs their practice, and a performance, exhibition, or artist-curated event. By approaching such a broad variety of topics and methods, our artists highlight the interdisciplinarity of the Libraries. And, as an experiential, performative program, our artist-in-residence series demonstrates how the Libraries actively support cultural production. Finally, by hosting artists and makers with national reputations, we accomplish our goal of providing unique cultural programming that resonates throughout the city.

We bring in artists from outside our immediate region, contracting with creators from the Midwest and West Coast, as we also take care to research and contact artists with emerging and unique practices. This generates audience interest and helps us to reach new patrons; attendees feel like they are getting a really special experience with an avant-garde artist they wouldn’t be able to see perform or exhibit otherwise. Participants thus far include micha cárdenas, director of the University of Washington’s Poetics Operative Lab and member of Electronic Disturbance Theater 2.0; Angela Washko, performance/video/installation artist and faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University; and Fallen Fruit, a social practice collective out of Los Angeles.

Next month, I’ll provide more specifics around micha and Angela’s practices, their presentations at Temple, and how they engaged with our audiences. Stay tuned!

 

Nicole Stengel Restaino is an art historian, arts administrator and public programming curator. She is currently the manager of public programming and communications at Temple University Libraries, setting strategy, content, and assessment plans for cultural programming and events, publications, and outreach. Nicole contributes to ProgrammingLibrarian.org on best programming practices and regularly presents at and attends arts administration and scholarly conferences. 

Get in touch with Nicole at restaino@temple.edu.

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Making the Future in Cambodia

Makers in Phnom Penh, Cambodia gathered for the SEA Makerthon to create projects for sustainable farming practices.

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Construct a CNC Plasma Cutter for $3000

David Randolph was faced with a choice: buy an expensive plasma cutter or build a cheaper version at home. He chose the latter.

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Maker Spotlight: Jen Herchenroeder

Jen is a polymath with skills in all manner of engineering and artistic techniques and is a key member of the Baltimore maker community.

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8 Tips and Techniques for Making Homemade Cheese

If you're experimenting with home cheesemaking, these tips will fortify your fromage forays.

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5,000 Lightbulbs Make Up This Shifting, Illuminated Moon

As you spin a wheel, this huge moon made of lightbulbs seems to wax and wane.

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Laser-Cut Patterns in Nori for Stylish Sushi

If you want to take your sushi rolling from dull to dapper, you can add fun designs straight to the nori with a laser cutter.

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Create a Faux Neon Sign with EL Wire

Bend EL wire to create safe, affordable glowing words and graphics.

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Build a Simple Transistor-Amplified Touch Switch

Learn the history of the tech that gave us radio, TV, computers, and the Marshall stack — and then build a touch switch to explore how amplification works.

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This Week in Making: Autonomous Boats and Wheelchairs for Toddlers

This past week we were inspired by an autonomous boat making its way across the ocean and a baby who is learning to roll instead of walk.

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Maker Spotlight: Ian Jaucian

Ian Jaucian is an artist with a passion for science, who uses his skills in robotics and electronics to create thought-provoking art.

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Weekend Watch: Painting With Gunpowder

These animal illustrations don't become art until they go up in flames — that's what happens when you sketch with gunpowder.

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Maker Spotlight: Arman Mizani

Arman Mizani is a woodworker who has been running a community workshop, Surface Project, to teach furniture making.

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Back to School with This Circuit Playground Class Scheduler

Kid's class calendar too complicated? Make this class scheduler to keep it all straight.

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This Glowing Pony Bike Can Reach 20 MPH for Extra Fast Whimsy

What started as a straightforward drill bike has turned into an elaborate glowing, art bike shaped like a pony made by artist Scott Blake.

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DOTA 2 Clockwerk Cosplay Brings Together Sound, Lights, and Servos

The Packing Tape, a cosplay crafting team from the Phillipines, created this amazing cosplay of Clockwerk from DOTA 2.

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Maker Spotlight: Brent Chapman

Meet Brent Chapman, cyber warfare researcher for the US Army and prolific maker.

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Review: Updated 3Doodler Brings a Broader Range of Materials and Accessories

No matter what kind maker you are, practically everyone – from electrical engineers to hardcore crafters – are enchanted by the magical notion of a 3D-printing pen. So, I was delighted when the crowd-funded folk heroes behind the 3Doodler reached out to me to try out their latest offering: the […]

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Don’t Miss Out: Last Call to Exhibit at Maker Faire Shenzhen

Maker Faire Shenzhen is celebrating the maker movement in China and recognizing the significance of Shenzhen as a global capital for makers.

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The Idea Studio at Fond du Lac Public Library

Today we’re thrilled to host Mel Kolstad, artist and library lover, who tells us about the brand new Idea Studio at the Fond du Lac Public Library. Enjoy!

by Mel Kolstad

After nearly three years of planning, grant writing and building, Idea Studio is finally a reality, and Fond du Lac has its very own makerspace!  We celebrated our Grand Opening on Saturday, July 23, and had about 400 people walk through.  It was a huge success!

Back in late 2013, Fond du Lac Public Library director Jon-Mark Bolthouse began thinking about the possibility of our library having a makerspace.  Through him, an advisory panel was formed, and my husband Brian and I were very honored to be asked to be on it, along with about 12 other people.  We met quasi-monthly at first, and then monthly as the space progressed.  

The planning went through several phases at first but then, in mid-2015, the City of Fond du Lac had the opportunity to purchase the building right next door to be utilized as a used book store, which would be run by the library.  So when that bookstore opened, a large space in the library’s basement became available – and Idea Studio was the perfect fit!

As the space took shape, excitement began building.  Many of us on the advisory panel were the guinea pigs for being “badged”, which is how one is able to use some of the more complicated equipment in the space.  I am happy to say that I am now badged in the sewing machine/serger, the CNC (Carvey) machine, and the recording studio.  This means that I am now able to use any of that equipment without help anytime the Idea Studio is open!  YAY!

Here I am getting “badged” to use the sewing machine!

So at this point you may be wondering what exactly IS available in this amazing space.  SO much!    It’s divided into different “zones” – we have the main area, which is where our two 3-D printers are located, along with the sewing machines, the die cutter, the general art area, and the electronics, like Makey Makeys and Little Bits components.

There is a full recording studio in a small room off the main space. It’s equipped with a keyboard with midi, three mics, guitar, bass guitar, a Mac, and an audio converter.  Imagine creating your own podcast, complete with theme music – it’s possible in this space!

There is also a full kitchen!  Because we’re not health department compliant, it won’t be a space to use for making food for sale (like jams, salsas, or the like), but it will be used for demonstrations – and not just for food!  Here I am utilizing the space to make paper during the Grand Opening! 

There is also another room with a door that houses our laser engraver and our CNC (Carvey) machine.  Because these two pieces of equipment are loud, they have their own room.  Right now there are only two people who can operate it, but you can ask to do most anything!

As you can see, the space is GORGEOUS.  It was designed and implemented by Keller and Interior Systems.  We are SO lucky and honored to have this amazing space, which can be utilized by any Wisconsin resident, so we hope you take a trip to Fond du Lac to check it out! 

Learn more about the Idea Studio at Fond du Lac Public Library.

All photos furnished by Brian Kolstad and Terri Fleming

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Prototyping with Living Cells

This is the second installment of our series on the state of biohacking. You can read the first installment “Safari in the Biohacking Society” and watch for more articles in the future. Bioprint Is the New Print The greatest bridge between the world of makers and the world of biohackers is […]

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