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Presentations
Presentations show a project in detail give an introduction to a subject area. Be sure to see our full program for more great exhibits, presentations, performances, and more!
A Californian Academic Technology ShowcaseCome listen and learn from some of the State’s top academic research institutions to see how they use computer science and engineering technology to teach, innovate and have fun. This talk will incorporate a series of presentations from students, teachers and researchers; focusing on which classes a student should take, how to design a compelling science and technology project and what type o... [More Details] [Advocacy] Maker(s): Mark Hayes Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 12:30 PM (45 minutes) Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:30 AM (45 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
All About BotballLearn about the Botball Educational Robotics Program from members of the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics. You will learn how to form a team and get started in Botball competitions.... [More Details] [Robotics] Maker(s): Jenny Grigsby and Andrew Swanson Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 2:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Author and Make Your Own Book!Blurb BookSmart software is an easy-to-use, downloadable bookmaking application that allows users to drag and drop content into professionally designed templates – and then to customize them by using flexible layouts, backgrounds, fonts, colors, etc. In addition, we will show ready-made “Instant Classic” templates for several types of books, such as baby books, dog/cat books, and c... [More Details] Maker(s): Chad Jennings, VP of Product Design Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 3:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Citizen Weather Observer Program
The Citizen Weather Observer Program (CWOP) is a private-public partnership with three main goals: 1) to collect weather data contributed by citizens; 2) to make these data available for weather services and homeland security; and 3) to provide feedback to the data contributors so that they have the tools to check and improve their data quality. Russ will talk about CWOP as a public-private part... [More Details] [Citizen Science] Maker(s): Russ Chadwick Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 3:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Competition-Based Learning: A Robotics DecathlonThis roundtable table discussion looks at developing low-cost grass roots robotics programs and the benefits of developing robotics competitions. There will be 3-6 high school students and 2-3 graduates of the program now attending UCB.... [More Details] [Robotics]
Maker(s): Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 1:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Control lights and appliances using Express tools.This is HOT! Control lights and other appliances through your computer using fast and easy to learn tools, like professional programmers use. When the lights come on, your computer will read current headlines! 15-30 min.... [More Details] [Entertainment] Maker(s): Samuel Stokes Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 11:00 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Dancing4Fun: Building Your Own Dance Game
In this session from Microsoft, we’ll take a look at Dancing4Fun, a dance game that brings together various hardware elements, Windows Media Player, and the .NET Framework 2.0. You’ll learn how to make your own dance pad and how to get started with the Dancing4Fun project. ... [More Details] [Entertainment] Maker(s): Ed Kaim Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 12:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Denver Mad Scientists ClubA photo essay of the Denver Area Mad ScIentist Club (DAMSIC) and their projects over the years. Kinetics vehicles, Cardboard Derby, Jack-O-Launch, Critter Crunch, air cannons of various caliber, black powder cannons, tesla coils, Jacob's Ladders,and others. ... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): John Morse Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 1:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
DIY or DieMichael W. Dean will show his documentary film "DIY or DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist." A discussion will follow. He writes: "I learned filmmaking to create this film, rather than becoming a filmmaker first and deciding later what to make a film about. I had an idea that I felt needed expressing, and none of the mediums I already knew were fit to do it well, so I learned a new ... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): Michael W. Dean Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 4:30 PM (90 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (90 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
DIY RFID ImplantsEver wondered what it would be like to have an RFID tag implanted in you? I'll show you how I did it and discuss what I can to do with the implant afterwards. This talk describes where to source the materials, what the implant process looks like and projects that have come out of this scene. I will provide both video and physical examples of this technology in action. Some RFID projects being... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): Mikey Sklar Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 12:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
DIY TouchpanelsThere are bunches of ways to make your own touchpanels, running the gamut from cheap to insanely expensive and from delicate to unbreakable. I will cover the different technologies that can be used, which applications they are most suited for, and their drawbacks and advantages. I will be drawing on my experience creating museum exhibits and in the AV industry.... [More Details] Maker(s): Sasha Harris-Cronin Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 3:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Dorkbot: An Accidental CommunityDorkbot started in New York City in 2000 as a casual meeting of "people doing strange things with electricity." By spring 2006 similar groups had been independently established in nearly 50 cities around the world. I will talk about the creation of dorkbot, its subsequent spread, and ideas about its future. I will also share some thoughts on why dorkbot has been so (accidently) successful.... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): Douglas Repetto Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 1:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Fabricating the Big Blue BearWe'll show a 25-minute documentary of the making of the 42-foot bear sculpture "I See What You Mean." The work of conceptual artist, Lawrence Argent, this sculpture was installed in 2005 at Denver Conventions Center. It started out as six-inch toy bear that the artist scanned to create a digital file that was manipulated and scaled up. Then it was manufactured by Kreysler & Associates, America... [More Details] [Arts]
Maker(s): Artist; Lawrence Argent Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 2:00 PM (45 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (45 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Fun with Phidgets! Programming USB Sensors with VB.NETPhidgets are a collection of inexpensive, programmable devices, you control via USB and .NET programming. There are scores of Phidgets sensors (temperature, humidity, IR, current, distance, light, magnetic, motion, pressure), inputs (sliders, buttons, touch, rotation), LCD displays and motors. We’ll piece together a few and program them with the new (and free), Microsoft Visual Studio Express... [More Details] [Computers] Maker(s): Scott Stanfield Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 4:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Hacking Disposable Digital Cameras for Model RocketryI have hacked a disposable digital cameras and launched it in a model rocket, capturing video from high above my house. First, I will explain the whole hacking process from scratch: from physical disassembly, to what's inside, to how to read the memory chip. Next, we'll dive into reverse-engineering the program that controls the camera. Beginning with a mess of numbers, we'll develop tools th... [More Details] [Rocketry] Maker(s): John Maushammer Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 1:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Make Theatre |
Half a Million Hawks Later -- Humans Tracking Raptors at the Golden Gate
For two decades, the citizen-driven Golden Gate Raptor Observatory has kept track of the biggest hawk migration in the western US each fall over the Marin Headlands. Traditional scientific tools like binoculars, traps, and radiotransmitters have allowed volunteers to count 1000 hawks a day, to measure the rate of West Nile Virus infection in hawks, and to follow a hawk to Mexico, But others ... [More Details] [Citizen Science] Maker(s): Allen Fish Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 10:30 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
If Chips Talked Like CellsWe show how small, cheap microcontrollers can learn from cell biology to produce a new and more forgiving kind of logic that will be especially attractive to weekend experimenters. ... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): Ward Cunningham Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 2:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
InstructablesInstructables is a community for showing what you make and how others can make it. Making things is part of being human. Whether you make bikes, kites, food, clothing, protocols for biology research, or hack consumer electronics, good instructions are critical. Instructables is a step-by-step collaboration system that helps you record and share your projects with a mixture of images, text, ingr... [More Details] [Engineering] Maker(s): Eric Wilhelm Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:00 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
IPSwap: A Software Participation AgeIPswap provides a forum for consumers to request and purchase the latest applications for their software-enabled devices directly from developers who can monetize their creations that fill these needs. Consumers can request, find, and purchase software that meets their individual needs, such as improving the functionality of cell and VoIP phones, digital music players, wireless and mobile devices,... [More Details] [Computers]
Maker(s): Paul Pluschkell Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 4:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Maker's Bill of RightsMr. Jalopy has been working on a Maker's Bill of Rights. Join Danny O'Brien of the EFF, Dale Dougherty, Publisher of Make magazine to discuss ways that manufacturers can support people who want to mod, customize and rip apart products. We'll also discuss how companies try to prevent that kind of activity with harsh End-User Agreements and Warranties. ... [More Details] [Advocacy] Maker(s): Mr. Jalopy, Dale Dougherty, Danny O'Brien Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 10:30 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Making Instruments, Making MusicFORMAT: A show’n’tell panel discussion featuring musician-inventors who have devised their own instruments, from circuit-benders to contact-mic experts to USB-interface enthusiasts. After they discuss their work in a public dialogue, there will be a moderated Q&A session with the audience. And when the Q&A is over, the musicians will jam. THESIS: There is a growing population of music... [More Details] [Music]
Maker(s): The musician-inventors are Krys Bobrowski, Chachi Jones (born Donald Bell) and Univac (aka Tom Koch). Marc Weidenbaum will moderate. Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:00 AM (45 minutes) Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:00 AM (45 minutes) Location: Maker's Lounge |
Monitor and Control an Aquarium or Hydroponic TankUsing a wet and wild approach, we will show you how an aquarium will be able to simulate tides, change chemical levels, and maintain the records of the water temperature, salinity. You will be able use a computer to feed fish, change fertilizer in a hypophonic tank. ... [More Details] [Science] Maker(s): Samuel Stokes Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 1:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Open DorkbotJoin Karen Marcelo of Dorkbot/SF who will host an OpenDorkbot session. Come see a variety of interesting projects.... [More Details] Maker(s): Douglas Repetto Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 5:00 PM (60 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (60 minutes) Location: Make Theatre |
Own Your Own Cell PhoneA session with Nathan Seidle and the Spark Fun Electronics mantra of trying the unknown, and when sparks fly, unplug it! We will discuss building your own cell phone along with a demonstration of the Port-O-Rotary cellular rotary phone. Topics on allusive technologies like GPS and Bluetooth will be boiled down and shown just how easy it is to play with old and new technologies. These 'black box' t... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): Nathan Seidle Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 3:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Make Theatre |
Precision Woodworking Techniques for Interlocking PuzzlesI plan to briefly discuss all of the steps involved in the manufacturing processes that I employ to make the world's most precisely built interlocking puzzles. Geared for the general hobbyist woodworker (rather than somebody who is already involved in puzzlemaking), I will be showing pictures, diagrams and videos of my machinery in action. It's going to be a lot of fun for everybody involved (eve... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): Lee Krasnow Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 4:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Radio of the FutureThe Software-Defined Radio is the crystal radio set of the 21st century. Learn how it works with free and open source software. We'll talk about open spectrum and how this might impact the future of radio. There will also be some extensive demos showing things that conventional radios are not capable of, like multi-channel operation and rapid reconfiguration. ... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): Matt Ettus Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 12:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Real-Time 3D with Managed DirectXThis session will provide an overview of .NET development with Managed DirectX, specifically for real-time 3D rendering and games. We will cover implementation details of a .NET game engine as well as aspects of 3D development, such as scene management and collision detection. 60-75 min... [More Details] [Entertainment] Maker(s): John Mauer Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 5:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Rocket Belts: Past and FutureI am a Rocket Belt enthusiast and builder. I have collected pictures and videos documenting the history, construction and milestone flights of rocket belts and jetpacks. I am using this information to build working scale models leading to a full sized unit. The goal is to use rigs and advanced materials to safely proof and evaluate designs.... [More Details] [Engineering] Maker(s): Andrew Filo Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:00 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Make Theatre |
SFLan and Community Wireless in the Bay AreaImagine the Internet with no strings are wires attached! We'll give you an overview on how you can build and participate in community wireless networks. If you live within Line-of-Sight of SFLan's network, you'll even get the Internet access for free. More information and coverage maps are at http://www.sflan.org/ ... [More Details] [Electronics] Maker(s): Ralf Muehlen Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 3:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Skype Home Automation: A Remote Control For Your HomeIn this session we’ll take a look at the Skype Home Automation project, a software system that leverages the Skype messaging network to control aspects of your home remotely. You’ll learn how to maintain control of your home from abroad, across the Internet and through firewalls, for simple tasks such as turning off a stereo and checking the temperature. ... [More Details] [Entertainment] Maker(s): Richard Davis Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 10:30 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Spelunking The Technology UndergroundThrough photos and descriptions, we'll visit the radical, technological, self-expressive world of the Technology Underground. The Technology Underground is inhabited by ardent amateurs who live on the (literally) cutting edge. Rockets, robots, homemade jet engines, flame throwers, Tesla coils, pulsejets, and rail guns are the currency of the TU. But it’s more than just scientific fun and game... [More Details] [Hacking] Maker(s): William Gurstelle - Author of Backyard Ballistics and Adventures from the Technology Underground Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 11:00 AM (45 minutes) Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 4:00 PM (45 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Surfrider Foundation: Water Quality TestingWe will present a story of how a small group of activists created a chapter of the Surfrider Foundation which has several successful programs including its own water quality testing program and lab. Over the years, this chapter has grown to a membership of over 500 people.... [More Details] [Citizen Science] Maker(s): Edmundo Larenas, Carol Ann Towe, Abigail Usher Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:00 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
The Art Of Motion ControlBruce Shapiro will discuss his different art machines. He will show video of several large-scale artworks, as well as images and video of his studio space, showing the wide array of “garage-built” CNC devices he uses to create sculpture.... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): bruce shapiro Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 3:00 PM (45 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (45 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
The Elevator Entertainment ProjectAre your elevator rides getting you down? Time between floors becoming a snore? Learn how to push a whole new set of buttons with Clint M Chilcott's Elevator Entertainment Project. We'll be learning how to use iTunes, Skype, speakerphones, and lockpicks to take an elevator ride to the wildside. Go from floor nine to party time in no time!... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): Clint M Chilcott Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 12:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Make Theatre |
The Life and Times of the Slide RuleI gave a similar talk back at MIT last fall which seemed to go off pretty well. The title might be something like 'Slide Rules -- The World's Handiest Calculators for 350 Years" or perhaps "Slide Rules over the Centuries." ... [More Details] [Science] Maker(s): Tom/ and Roger Shepard Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 11:30 AM (45 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (45 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
The Sibling Intrusion Detector (SID)This talk will show you how to build a simple intrusion detector. When a person breaks the beam from a laser pointer, a digital key-chain camera silently takes their picture. Inspired by little digital cameras selling for less than $25, I bought one to see if I could hack an external trigger. That turned out to be pretty easy but there was another problem. The darn this kept going into shut... [More Details] [Hacking] Maker(s): George Albercook Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 2:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
The Ultra Mobile PCThe Ultra-Mobile PC is a new kind of computer. It combines the power of Windows XP with mobile-ready technologies that make it easy to access and use your software on the go. With small, lightweight, carry-everywhere hardware designs, you can connect and communicate, accomplish any task anywhere and at any time, and be entertained and informed wherever life takes you. Come see what’s possibl... [More Details] [Computers] Maker(s): Todd Landstad Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 5:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 1:30 PM (30 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
Thinglink: IDs For Things You MakeUlla-Maaria Mutanen, creator of the Crafter's Manifesto, talks about her new project called Thinglink, an open database where makers can register and print out unique identifiers for their creations. Increasingly, web users find products (books, music, web pages) based on other people's recommendations. Recommendation systems like Amazon, Last.fm, and Delicious rely on unique identifiers (ISBN... [More Details] [Advocacy] Maker(s): Ulla-Maaria Mutanen Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 2:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Tim Anderson's Heirloom TechnologyThe author of Make's Heirloom Technology column talks about his visits to China, Guatemala, and various islands in the South Pacific. He will show examples of interesting technologies that are adapted to local needs. He will also talk about his various attempts to build a boat and sail to Cuba.... [More Details] [Hacking] Maker(s): Tim Anderson Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 10:30 AM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Times Square meets Calder meets Playskool Activity Center"Science, Mobilized" is a large-scale piece of functional art conceived as a way of bringing day-to-day developments in science to a public atrium space. It consists of very large sculptural elements suspended in a 40' cubic atrium, emblazoned with 27 direct-view and projection surfaces, fed by a server farm (ok, maybe a server garden) that continually harvests relevant multimedia content. Think... [More Details] [Arts] Maker(s): Scott Minneman, Chief Technical Onomist Day/Time: Sunday, April 23 1:30 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
Using PC technologies in Robots for Teaching Computer ScienceWe face a crisis in the software industry: where are the computer science students of tomorrow? There is a shocking decline in attraction and retention of such students at university level in the US. In talking with CS faculty and students, we have found that exciting applications such as robotics and computer gaming can enhance the computer science curriculum, raising attraction and retention fig... [More Details] [Computers] Maker(s): Stewart Tansley Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 11:30 AM (60 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (60 minutes) Location: Makeshift Theatre |
What Makes Atomic Clocks Tick?Common clocks consist of an oscillator and a counter. Atomic clocks achieve high accuracy by controlling the oscillator with a third ingredient: a set of atoms with a well-defined reference frequency. In this short talk, I'll explain the basics of atomic clocks and how the most common types work. I'll also describe a next-generation single-atom optical-frequency atomic clock, currently being deve... [More Details] [Science] Maker(s): Windell Oskay Day/Time: Saturday, April 22 12:00 PM (30 minutes) Day/Time: 12:00 AM (30 minutes) Location: DIY Theatre |
