Month: June 2013

Qtechknow: “My Open Source Education”

Qtechknow: “My Open Source Education”

One of my favorite things about Maker Faire are the young makers. If you ever needed assurance that the next generation is up to the challenge that life presents, a visit to Maker Faire will put your mind at ease. Kids steeped in making bring a unique viewpoint and skill set to the world that says: “I can do this. And if I don’t know how I can figure it out.” One of the standouts is 12-year-old Quin, or Qtechknow as he goes by. I worked with Quin to get his FuzzBot project onto MAKE, but met him for the first time at Maker Faire Bay Area last month. He was there with his folks to show off some his projects and give a presentation on Maker Faire’s “meet the maker” stage.

A Real “Man of Steel”

A Real “Man of Steel”

Have you ever talked with someone and just gotten a sense that they were a really good person? I felt that way after speaking with Mark Haygood about his full scale humanoid robot, Hex. He has big plans to improve Hex and develop him into a kit that can be used by schools and youth programs to interest kids in technology.

The Makers of Things

The Makers of Things

There’s something about Britain, it’s the land of God’s own hobbyists. The Makers of Things is a short film collection by Anne Hollowday documenting the work and workshops of the Society for Model and Experimental Engineers. While today we hackerspaces, makerspaces and fab labs, back in the 1800’s they had the learned society.