Dalek Art Car at Burning Man
A Dalek and a Storm Trooper walk in to a bar …
Drones & Vehicles
Now-A-Saurus: Chris Merrick (video)
The Now-A-Saurus was created by Chris Merrick and is a time machine with dragonfly wings that transports its riders to the present while spitting fire from its top. At Maker Faire Bay Area 2011 this art car whose wheels and curves are pulled from sacred geometry. It roamed the ground of Maker Faire Bay Area and elicited positive reactions from onlookers.
DIY $4 Grocery Panniers
A good set of bicycle panniers can cost a chunk of change, but if you’re thinking of heading to the store to pick up a few essentials they’re pretty indispensable. Check out these cheep and easy DIY bicycle panniers you can construct from a couple of reusable grocery bags, some masonite, and a bungee.
Opabinia Regalis: A Pyrotechnical Precambrian Pedal Car
The day before Maker Faire Bay Area opened, we ran into Kurt and Bobbi Pires putting the finishing touches on a unique quadricycle in the South Lot of the fairgrounds. Dubbed Opabinia Regalis, the vehicle is named after an extinct Precambrian creature and has now been reborn as an angry, fire-spewing art bike.
R2D2 Motorcycle Helmet
Philadelphia area maker Jenn Hall improved the visual quality of her motorcycle helmet by turning it into a R2D2 helmet. The process included scuffing up the existing paint job and adding consecutive coats of spray paint and laboriously cut masking tape. The whole thing is finished off with some PVC tubing, some blinking lights, and plenty of clear coat. What a great way to liven up an otherwise mundane safety apparatus.
Bike Theft: Thinking Outside of the Lock
Since most urban cyclists can never be sure what they’ll be locking to, they’ll often keep both a chain and a U-Lock for versatility’s sake. If you had an extra twelve pounds to make your bike theft-proof, how would you do it?
Maker-Spotting in the Wild
New York City is often analogized as a “concrete jungle.” For me that might be very fitting, as I often find myself hunting makers, But unlike a machete-wielding jungle-clearing Amazonian, my approach usually involves asking questions such as “What does this do?” and “How’d you make that?” So earlier this week, I was out for a lunchtime stroll when I spotted this guy Tucker on his bike.
