Where did the Summer go?

My kids go back to school on Wednesday and this blog is crying for attention.

What exactly does that sound like?

Yesterday, we were in a weed pulling frenzy next to the privacy fence. The neglected Golden Retriever next door gave up barking after I tossed a couple of sticks over for it to fetch. Then - here comes the pathetic part - it sidled up to the fence and looked through a crack with one sad eye and whimpered piteously while wagging its tail. The poor thing was just happy to get any attention at all. And we are not dog people.

The blog sounds exactly like that.

On the bright side, Google has still been getting my love with posts to G+ photo communities. It's fun, but I miss the long form and the Typosphere. You know - the long form I have not had time for because I have been on G+... and Twitter... and LEEDUser... and that pesky thing called work.

In the spirit of keeping this poor blog alive and breathing, I'm sharing a few snapshots from our July and August thus far. We traveled. I kept a daily journal on a fabulous Olivetti Lettera 22. I took a ton of photos from Fourth of July in Colorado to a County Fair in Kansas. We watched a ton of the reborn Doctor Who as we started to catch up with our daughter's awesomely geeky friends.

So, here we go with a whirlwind photo tour of the last six weeks, give or take. It's like an old-timie projector slide show, but not nearly as cool and analog.

So there you have it. We spent over a week in south central Colorado in the town of Crestone. We ate amazing food and got to visit the farm where it was grown while seeing their Yak herd. We hiked, and soaked in hot springs and miraculously bickered minimally considering we were living together constantly for over ten days. We saw amazing art at First Fridays and at the Nelson-Atkins galleries with a bonus appearance by a Devo cover band. I got to see a demolition derby and spend time street shooting on the carnival midway.

All in all, I'd say it was a pretty great six weeks!  As always, thanks for looking!

P.S. I have started a hashtag on Google+ by the name of #whatisthetyposphere  You know what to do.

Awesome Things Seen at the Kansas City Maker Faire

Welcome to the Kansas City Maker Faire! I took my younger daughter, the Gingercat, to the pre-show party Friday night before the show and the first day of the show. These are a few of the things we saw. A larger collection is located on my Google+ stream at
https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/114811329730901691376/albums/5895075333409105857

As is typical in geek events, cosplay characters roamed the show. The Iron Man entourage was a big hit! The female Iron Man was a little scary.

Gingercat was wielding my old Sony NEX-3. She now has a weapon to shoot back when she catches me aiming a lens her way!

Last year, I posted about a great IBM Selectric conversion. It has been updated and no longer needs a laptop to drive it. See version one at http://vintagetechobsessions.blogspot.com/2012/07/maker-faire-kc-part-1-printing.html

Behold the little Raspberry Pi processor that now drives this beast.

The creator had fun wandering around is costume as well. The Hammerspace makerspace and the Cowtown Computer Congress shared space and projects at the show.

And in the fun and weird category, here is a creation from one of guys at Hammerspace. He built this contraption in two weeks out of scraps laying around the shop. Children fish for babies to feed to the mother. No worries; new babies come along just as quickly.

Inky goodness! The lino cut print goes in my office. The best part about Maker Faire is getting to meet and talk with people about their projects.

This sculptor does large scale bronze. His pantograph device is pretty amazing!

Maker Faire wouldn't be complete without PowerWheels racing! This is what you get when you mix adults, battery powered kiddie cars and a whole bunch of modifications. They staged racing heats and endurance runs over the two day show.

We were happy to see Super Awesome Sylvia and her Dad, the Tech Ninja. Sylvia was showing her home brew WaterColorBot. She earned a spot at the White House Science Fair and got the run of the house while the parental units chilled.

This one is for Richard P on the current state of 3D printing. I reread his comment from last year regarding 3D printing. It was everywhere and is barely a novelty among the maker crowd today. Later this year, Staples will carry a household printer for less than $800. Kinkos may start printing services in stores. People are using Google Hangouts to collaborate on countless useful projects including mechanical hands, artificial limbs, machine parts and casts. Auto parts are made out of sintered, printed metal and MIT is experimenting with printing entire buildings.

Kansas City even has its own R2D2 builders club. These are not your run-of-the-mill models. Note the machined joints. Gorgeous!

Members of the Airship Noir group ran a little experimental station. I think this guest is being reprogrammed. Be sure to read the sign on the Jacob's ladder.

With almost 300 makers in the house, Union Station is getting pretty crowded with overflow in the parking lot and most of Science City. We almost didn't stop in one of the side rooms. Good thing we dropped in or we would have missed this cool device. What a great way to use unloved analog technology!

The photos here and on Google+ don't even scratch the surface. The show is a phenomenal success. The maker movement is strong in Kansas City with abandoned buildings being turned into maker hives. There is a reason why Google chose Kansas City for its first fiber Internet project. For more technology and artistic greatness, checkout #makerfairekc on Twitter.

I'll leave you with one of the headliners taking one of Nikola Tesla's inventions to the next level.

 Yet another Copyright notice *sigh* Yep, the words and images are Copyright DwayneF of Vintage Technology Obsessions. Having tired of vague threats, I will simply remind the reader that all content creators deserve their due. Please like, share, post, Google +1, etc. and share the social love. Follow and I will likely follow you back. Commercial use requires prior written authorization from the Copyright holder. And so on...

Typewriter Day Pronouncement: A Recent Convert!

Oops. That would be "altar". That's what I get for typing late at night.

Happy Typewriter Day to all of you! May you attract many new converts to the cause and may the typewriter of your dreams show up at a thrift store for five dollars. Miracles do happen!

Before I sign off, I have to share two images from our day at the Art of the Car Concours in Kansas City. It was, after all, our distraction from the awesome that is Typewriter Day.

Image the First: My other daughter has taken to photography like a duck to water. She has excellent situational awareness and likes being on the other end of the lens about as much as I do.

 

Image the Second: Because she was enjoying the cars and taking loving photos, some owners struck up conversations. One couple invited her to sit in their drivable show car (the best kind in my opinion).

Yes, the cars were a distraction, but I hope they made you happy, anyway. As always, thanks for visiting my little corner of the Internet.

Walking with Lemurs!

What do you get when you cross a well endowed research university and an endangered species?

One answer is the Duke Lemur Center in Raleigh, North Carolina. This is the one place on Earth that Madagascar based researchers can come to see their subjects up close and personal. In the wild, lemurs live up in the canopy and are observed with binoculars.

When Lemurs Attack

These amazing animals are Coquerel's Sifaka lemurs and are the most endangered with ever dwindling native forests. Wild lemurs are only found on the island of Madagascar.

Sifakas Bounding through Duke Forest

 Sifaka lemurs are able to jump 20-30 feet from tree to tree. Seeing them in motion is a real treat.

These lemurs don't stay still for long!

 I took my younger daughter to North Carolina for the Duke Talent Identification Program 7th grade talent search Grand Recognition ceremony. As with her older sister, she got to experience the incredible Duke Gardens, Duke's Hogwarts-like campus, the library and the Carolina campus.

My brother received his P.h.D. in Journalism at Carolina. I was ornery and showed up at the Old Well with a K.U. blue Quidditch shirt and a Duke blue umbrella. It rained most of the time we were there, so the Carolina blue sky was just a fantasy for us.

While we were in the neighborhood, an only at Duke experience with the lemurs was in order.

I told you they were hungry. Yes, this close. So cool.

 The rules are pretty simple:
1. Try not to step on the lemurs.
2. Follow directions.
3. The lemurs can touch you, but you cannot touch them.
4. Take all the photos and video you want, but share them with the world.

I am gladly fulfilling that final obligation.

Yes, they really are this adorable in person.

 The red-bellied lemurs were a bit more elusive and difficult to photograph since auto-focus doesn't pick up fuzz around the edges all that well. These two species wouldn't hang out with each other in the wild, but the Duke Forest isn't exactly wild, either.

As with all programs featuring endangered species, the Duke Lemur Center is highly regulated. The outdoor compounds are fenced, but the individual animals need to be a good fit for natural experiences. The tiny and nocturnal mouse lemurs are not candidates for life in the forest.

These lemurs dine on a special lemur chow and leaves.

These animals are well tended. We saw one fall around twenty feet when a branch broke. Such is life in the trees. The individual will be observed to assure there are no broken bones.

If you live anywhere near the Research Triangle area, you should treat yourself to the Walking with Lemurs tour. The money goes directly to Duke's U.S. and Madagascar based conservation efforts. It will be the best $95 you can spend. Really, just look at the stupid grin on this child's face!

I had an even goofier grin on my face during our visit.

The full album from our trip lives on my Google+ page at Claire and Duke TIP. As always, thanks for reading!

Copyright Notice: The words and image contained herein are copyright DwayneF of Vintagetechobsessions. Love the photos, share the photos, give them a G+ thumbs up, but please don't steal. The lemurs are hungry and they might track you down.