Aug 20 2009
We had a good time assembling Arduinos with the Hack Pittsburgh gang last month, and they are offering a second class on programming the little beasties. Here's the summary:
Build a physical pixel with your Arduino microcontroller! In this introductory-level class, participants will:
- set up and configure the Arduino environment on their laptop
- learn basic electronics skills while building a small, functional circuit
- write code that:
- explores the inputs and outputs offered by the Arduino platform
- reads a dimmer
- controls the color of an RGB LED
- sends messages to your laptop for status and debugging purposes
- meet interesting and like-minded people who are passionate about technology and the DIY ethic
Prerequisites: an Arduino, a laptop, and a cable to connect the two
Date and Time: Saturday, August 29, 2009 at 2:00 pm
Location: HackPittsburgh, 1936 5th Avenue
Cost: $30 for members, $40 for non-members (includes all materials not specified in the prerequisites)
Tickets are available through their web site here.
Aug 19 2009
Ever been the subject of a little of life's unfairness and wished you could do something about it? Take a cue from this guy and his tale of woe.
Dave Carroll, a guitarist from Halifax, Nova Scotia, had a rather unpleasant experience while traveling on United Airlines in 2008. In his own words:
In the spring of 2008, Sons of Maxwell were traveling to Nebraska for a one-week tour and my Taylor guitar was witnessed being thrown by United Airlines baggage handlers in Chicago. I discovered later that the $3500 guitar was severely damaged. They didn’t deny the experience occurred but for nine months the various people I communicated with put the responsibility for dealing with the damage on everyone other than themselves and finally said they would do nothing to compensate me for my loss.
Most folks would seethe over this for a while and probably find an attorney to take the case, but most folks aren't accomplished musicians with a little web savvy. Carroll decided the best way to deal with his loss was to write a song about it called "United Breaks Guitars", which led to this music video that has been viewed over 4.9 million times:
After seeing this thing go viral on the Internet, you would think that United Airlines would consider addressing the man's grievances. Replacing a $3,500 guitar could generate a lot of good will for an industry that could really use it, right? Well, apparently not. His guitar was eventually repaired at his own expense and United did little more than apologize. So Carroll did the only thing he could do: he wrote another song and released the video yesterday.
Will this bring his story to a happy ending? We hope for their sake that United Airlines doesn't need a trilogy of his work to come to their senses, but if they do, I'm sure the third song will be a hit. I'm going to check out the rest of this guy's musical catalog real soon.
Aug 09 2009
A hands-on account of using WiMax in Baltimore