Kwartzlab Society Inc.

 
Karl and I took a ride over to Toronto on Saturday to see and support our friends at Site3, a "colaboratory" that has just opened its doors. Here's our good friend Seth Hardy demo'ing a Rubens' Tube (made by Adam Smith, I believe). Propane is pumped into this tube and escapes through a series of holes on the top. A speaker at one end of the tube plays a sine wave (or other sound) which changes the height of the various flames and approximates the wave form. Site3 loves fire.
 

More after the break...
 

 
We had a great time at kwartzlab last week at the second 5+5 event, where we invite 5 local artists and 5 kwartzlabbers to give 5-minute lightning talks on what they love to do.

Paul Walker is walking us through the Bananaphone design here.
 

More after the break...
 

 
'Twas the night before 5+5...
 
As with any show, there are a bunch of makers working in the background to make it all possible. I call these guys my 5+5 Roadie Posse, and they take the show up to a ho nutha level. I'll call them out here so you can thank them in person at the lab.
 
* Ben Brown - rockin the web streaming setup, the food prep, and 14 other things I'm forgetting
* Alex Williams, James Bastow, Karl Williams - cleaning and shuffling furniture
* Rob Adlers - total rework of the sound system including remounting the mixer and amp on sliding drawers, running additional speakers out to the lounge, and loaning his video projector for lounge simulcast
* Ed Blanchard - macgyvered up an awesome mount for simulcast camera and worked with Ben on the projector mount. Oh, and he'll also replace a light bulb if you ask nicely.
 
Thanks also to Darcy Casselman and Cedric Puddy for more chairs!
 
Big thanks, guys. One cool outcome of 5+5 so far is that each time we increase our capabilities at the lab. Last time was the main digital projector and a sound system. This time we're adding lounge simulcast, serious audio setup, and stream video.

More after the break...
 

 
James Nye - July's guest artist at kwartzlab opening Tuesday! Yeah, that's right, Tuesday for 5+5. Double header!
 
Help us spread the word! Print and hang this poster
 
Check out the event posting for deets.
 
Happy making,
DW

 
James Nye's paintings really blew my hair back tonight. He's having an open house at his studio at 8 Water St. North in Kitchener. First session was tonight (thu) and you can still catch him on Saturday June 19 from 5pm to 10pm. Go check it out.
 

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A bitter-sweet party to close artbar on Sunday night. Brian, Steph, and staff, we enjoyed drinking your monkey beer and puzzling the depths of the art world in your joint. All the best.
 

More after the break...
 

Deets are on the calendar page. Check it out.

DW

 
So we're rockin' on out of here today to go Californimakin. Maker Faire is happening out in San Mateo, California, so me and 5 of my buddies are flying out today to join in the fun. We're going out a couple days early to do a bunch of cool makerly stuff in the bay area. On Thu night we'll be hanging out at Noisebridge and I'll be giving a short 5-minute talk on my strawlenoid linear actuators that I developed for Animeyes as part of Noisebridge's regular 5 Minutes of Fame gig.
 
Ping me if you in the Bay Area this week(end). The more the merrier. And stay tuned for blog posts from the field.
 
Happy making,
DW

 
It should come as no suprise to anyone that the British have been hardcore makers all the way back to when you only needed 3 digits to describe the year. My trip to London this week illuminated that understanding beyond a yeah-yeah-of-course notion to a much deeper appreciation. It really blew my hair back to stand in front of Westminster Abbey and put my hand on stone that was cut and placed in the eleventh century to make this beautiful structure. What art and engineering!
 

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The guys from UW's Comp Eng program brought their fourth-year project by the lab for Tuesday Open night this week. Alex, Miron, and Alex from Project IRIS filled us in on the near-space balloon mission they're launching in the next few weeks. They brought in the capsule which features a digital camera, lots of great sensors, a GPS, and mechanism to phone home for pickup.

36km straight up, broadcasting thumbnails back to earth via a high-gain antenna, and storing telemetry data and snapping hi-res pics all the way. A high-altitude imaging system. These guys are real makers.
 

More after the break...