Pimp our cups

Wine & Weld is coming up, and the only things that will make the day complete are some diamond encrusted wine glasses for the pre-welding post-welding celebration. However, if you're on a budget rhinestones, stickers, gems, and paint will have to do. 

Wetlands Research Using Remote Technology

Daniel made an awesome wetlands science project that was at least in part completed at HackRVA. Check out the featured main-page blog post for more details.

Crowd Fund Rewards Complete

Oh my gosh, this took FOREVER! ... wait, I mean, the rewards for last years crowdfunding project have been promptly completed on the standard 1 year timeline which all things crowdfunding are subject too.

If you'd like to make (CNC Route / Laser Cut / whatever) your own - also possible. Design files on HackRVA Thingiverse page here.

Things Now Attached to the Wall: Part 1 of 134

There are many new things attached to the wall, providing a stability completely unexpected from Aaron updating this blog. This ongoing series will examine many of the things stuck to the walls or close to the walls of The Space and examine their intrinsic beauty.

Exhibit one: Aaron likes to take pictures with his iPod. As other technology confuses and angers the great redheaded beast, he is allowed to grunt and scrape his paws against the screen to make the pictures happen, saving us a rage-fueled rampage where he tears off limbs in the same manner as an enraged orangutan. To that end, a simple, 3D-Printed solution with off-the-shelf hardware was developed to allow him to bang hammers against sensitive, printed boards on camera while not having to destroy (or lose once again) his iPod.

If you find his silly iPod left haphazardly in a place it doesn't belong, this is the place to put it. Also, it's a 3D range, magnetic anchored (or weight anchored if on a table) holder to direct your camera for pics or video.

The Greatest Invention

Fire, the wheel, and the Sisyphean drudge of maleficent need, as the philosopher Heidegger might label as the always-already of human is-ing, causes mankind to forge forward in the noble endeavor of creating that which fills the hole in our creative and most base (and basic) of needs. Such a man is among you in the living flesh, dropping the proverbial manna of creativity upon your brow in the manner of what may be the greatest invention of our generation, of our time: the post in a bucket.

Here, it is being used to hang wires for spray-painting metal:

Do you See?

It has been used to hold up a tarp to shield your virgin eyes from the deadly light of welding. As the tarp was up, you didn't, but do you See?

Its uses are multifaceted, its angles more intricate in the Euclidean simplicity than a careful study of the multifoliate rose.

I present to you the Post in a Bucket (tm) (patent pending).

Back Space Pedal

by Aaron

 

This is a gaming pedal (as in driving a car) that has been converted into a human interface device which moves cursors in reverse when stomped upon. In other words, a back space pedal.  It utilizes a salvaged PS/2 keyboard circuit for the interface.

HandShakeBot 3000

by Aaron

Cody visited for a Saturday afternoon of hacking. A few creative fitz-kits jointings and a sewing machine motor with variable-speed pedal-control, and this insistently polite "robot arm" is born. Now we need to train it to give tours of the space.

Tool Taxidermy

Not long ago, HackRVA lost a dear and trusted friend, Pinkie Taiwan. It was a trusty hot glue gun that bound together not only piece-A to piece-B--it bound together the community. Feeling jealous of the attention being paid to newer, more "sophisticated" electronic devices, Pinkie reached for the stars and surpassed expectations by managing to execute a processor-like command. Too bad it was halt and catch fire.

You will now find Pinkie's charred remains mounted on the wall as if it were the head of a majestic stag. Take a moment of silence to remember the passing of a dear friend.

The Bet: Aaron v Nelson

The Setting: Back yard, beers, 2 AM.

The Challenge: Nelson makes a wheelchair accessible ramp lead from the main room of HackRVA to the electronics lab (a three inch rise in floor height). Aaron's rules are that it can't be a stapled-together POS (at least safe and usable if not perfect) and it has to be easily moved and stored when not in use.

The Conversation:
"I could do it in forty-five minutes."
"Bull****! You couldn't build anything in under an hour. If you can make a ramp in under an hour, I will buy you dinner."
"It's a date."

The Product:

The End-Time: 45 Minutes.

I like my porterhouse steaks blue-rare, Aaron.