photo by Stephen Sweeney

If you picked up a Hackerspace passport from Adafruit, why not get it stamped in Newcastle? That city’s MakerSpace is a “communal garden shed of mad inventors.”

From my point of view, I’m definitely drawn to the community spirit and the social side. For others it’s an ability to share equipment. Some people might want to use a drill or a saw but don’t have the facilities at home. Having the Makerbot as a shared resource is also great.

People just come along and build stuff, but you don’t necessarily need to have a project. We also like to talk about things and bat ideas around. We do consider ourselves a club. We’re like-minded but not necessarily alike in ability.

And it’s not just a MakerBot among the rakes and shovels in this garden shed. They “have a kettle and everything, even though we sometimes run out of milk.” Just as long as they never run out of brown ale.

 

You thought I was exaggerating when I said there was a NERF arms race going on? Look here, doubters!

There is an Instructable up for an Arduino-controlled NERF Vulcan. The instructions involve some admittedly crude hacking — like, with a saw — so this should be performed or supervised by a responsible¹ adult.

The end product of the tutorial is an automated gun that “will just shoot for 2.5 seconds, stop for 2.5 seconds, and so on,” but worry ye not, as it could “easily be expanded to do whatever you want.” For example, “you could use a proximity sensor to make security system, you could use an ethernet shield to shoot it remotely, the possibilities are endless.”

Endless? I’d much rather the possibilities here be ended. Full of limit. I think it’s an appropriate time to say for the first time on this blog: hide your children.

 

1. to an extent [↩]

Next Saturday, April 21 — right around the corner! — is ACE Academy’s 3rd Annual ACE Innovation in Austin, TX. The event is an “all ages oriented, public event celebrating Austin’s community of creative entrepreneurs.”

That sounds wonderful, except so far there won’t be a MakerBot there! Anyone in the area with a MakerBot on hand should absolutely spend the day out at the University of Texas campus and share the love with this community. Laurie writes at Nereus Notebook that the event will include,

demonstrations of stop-motion animation, 3D printing, robotics, rocketry and various community programs. Show your support for Austin’s young innovators and our highly-creative entrepreneurial community if you’re in town.

Sounds like a fun afternoon!

Remember to check out MaterialConnexion’s print/3D exhibit, running through May 11, 2012. This is a great chance for anyone curious about 3D printing to get an upclose look at a MakerBot Thing-O-Matic and the actual printed objects it can make. There’s a range of 3D-printed things on display, including prosthetics and even a bikini, so visitors can really explore the breadth of additive manufacturing.

UPDATE: View the video above here at WSJ.com.

The exhibit is open to the public, and runs from 9 AM to 6 PM, Monday through Friday.

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Material ConneXion
60 Madison Avenue
2nd floor
New York, NY