Maker Faire Bay Area chat

Jeff Haas

There were lots of interesting things at the Maker Faire this year. I'll put up a couple that I saw I think might interest this group.

Panavise announced a new small circuit board holder, it will hold PCBs up to 4.5 inches:

Jeff Haas

And here's the Monster 6502 in action!

Jeff Haas

And I got one of the Digi-Key rulers.

Heater.

As this is only my second visit to the USA and my first visit to a Maker Faire I have to say it was an amazingly wonderful event. I was overwhelmed by how big the event was, that is a lot of stuff on display and a lot of visitors.

Sadly there was a bunch of interesting things I missed out on:

We could not find the Monster6502 anywhere. I asked at an info desk and the girl said a lot of people had been asking the same question but they could not find mention of Evil Mad Scientist at the event. Presumably the monster was displayed on some other stand. Where was it?

We arrived too late to see the presentation that launched the Cinque RISC V based Arduino board. I would have loved to have seen Dave Patterson, the famous RISC architecture guy from days gone by.

I found myself standing 10 feet away from the famous Clifford Stoll. I wanted to barge up and introduce myself, I want to buy one of his glass Kline Bottles, but my brain froze over and I could not even remember his name at that moment. I though it would be too embarrassing to proceed.

On the other hand, everything else was brilliant. I had a lot of good chats with all kinds of people from high school kids enthusiastically describing their school projects, to an old guy showing of his air quality measuring experiments, to two of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen showing off the hats they make.

A highlight was one Englishman selling his Z80 computer boards. Very nicely made boards.
https://www.tindie.com/products/Semachthemonkey/rc2014-mini-single-board-z80-computer-kit/
I recognized the face from the Computerphile channel on Youtube:



Of course having ones head battered by a pair of smoke ring cannons in the Dark Room was a treat!

And, as KeithE here said, the Paella was perfect.

All in all a good time was had by all.

MikeDYur

Heater, too bad you didn't get to see the Monster6502. There really must be a lot going on at the Maker Faire, that presentations and demonstrations are not repeated on a daily basis.

But that Z80 kit looks like a nice project to put together.

Thanks for pointing it out!

Sincerely:
Kit hungry, solder fume deprived.

BTW: How many layers is that PCB?

Jeff Haas

That's weird about the info desk not knowing where the Evil Mad Science table was. They were in the big hall, and it took a bit of patience to get an unobstructed photo, there were a lot of people asking questions.

I spent both Saturday and Sunday and still didn't see everything! My wife was fascinated by the 3D prints of DNA. And the giant flame sculptures are always fun.

This is the first year that they brought over something major from Europe - Air France flew over this giant rideable ant sculpture, made by an art team in Nantes, who apparently have converted old shipyard buildings into a kind of theme park.

The Prusia 3D printer company showed their multicolor upgrade, and they won the "Best Of" award in Make Magazine's last round-up. I may finally break down and get a 3D printer after seeing theirs in action!

So much to discuss and remember!

KeithE

Heater. wrote: »

And, as KeithE here said, the Paella was perfect.

Are you sure that was me? I was up in Danville on Sunday ;-)

Heater.

Durp, OK it was Jeff Haas who suggested the paella. Thanks Jeff, it was great.

That giant ant was a thing to behold!

Jeff Haas

Glad you liked it! I found the recipe online:
http://ediblemarinandwinecountry.ediblecommunities.com/recipes/gerards-paella-beat-bobby-flay

Jeff Haas

Here's the website of the group that built the giant ant:
http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/en/

Holy cow, I think I have to go there and see it all in person!

Heater.

Great, open source food recipes !