"By the end of the 20th century and the millennium (1997), a new ecological and interactive art expression came into being which, combining elements and materials whose colors are 100% natural, exalts nature... Rock Art."
This is how Mario Balderas (Mexico) presents the beautiful and original art work he creates.
I am talking mainly of terracotta pots fired at high temperatures, with different kinds of cacti or crassulas and original designs made with sand, clay, earth, and semi-precious stones - the colors of which are all 100% natural - sealed with natural, transparent, and permeable resin. Besides the materials mentioned before, river stones, seeds, seashells, wood, and other materials are used as well.
These are semi-precious stones hand-ground with a hammer and sifted. All colors are natural.
Why Rock Art? It could be mixed up with what we commonly know as rock art - prehistoric drawings found on rocks or caves. But, in the case of these pots, the name is used in the sense that they are made with materials that have existed on this Earth perhaps for thousands of years, like sedimentary metamorphic stones which Mario collects in places that go from Valsequillo to the fossil desert of Tehuacan. Likewise, as in prehistoric times, the designs are an expression of the surroundings, of nature, and an example of how materials of all types found in nature are used to make a handicraft of infinite creative possibilities. It is a sensory work, of sensitivity more than technique.
The idea of making these pots emerged from Mario's interest and liking for cacti, which he acquires in specialized nurseries in Tlaxcalancingo and Tenango de las Flores, in the Sierra Norte of Puebla, near Huauchinango. (It is important to emphasize that, as a sign of respect towards our planet and nature, all the cacti that Mario uses are grown in nurseries and bought; not one of them is plundered.) Designing came later, little by little and as the result of a trial-error process, since Mario never studied anything that had to do with design, drawing or painting (he's a psychologist). It was an ability that he discovered having and that he developed and perfected with time, because "practice makes perfect".
Making these pots - or the gardens or the stones or the pictures - is a complete step-by-step process that goes from traveling to the places where the materials are, getting the pots made, sanding them down, painting them, planting the cactus, making and sealing the design, and finally selling them.
Pots with planted cactus and prepared "bed" drying in the sun to make the design on top afterwards.
Mario also builds these carriers to transport the pots.
This work has become Mario's life philosophy, a way of becoming aware and realizing his surroundings, of using his intellect, intuition, and common sense to make something that requires patience and all the creativity he's capable of, because each pot has a unique design that is not copied from anywhere or anybody else and is created one by one by the skillful hands of Mario, my father.
This Altoids tin electric kalimba appeals to me as a highly portable but still simple musical instrument, and you can plug it into an amp, too! Learn to make your own thanks to Deansrds' tutorial.
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Want to make your own Tweet-a-Watt or Botanicall that posts data to a Twitter account for you to follow? In this class, we'll play with the Arduino Ethernet Shield and look at how to connect to remote servers. We'll build a simple project that will take button press data and post it to a Twitter account from the Arduino device using HTTP. We'll go over the basics of Ethernet, TCP/IP, and the HTTP protocol.
After studying and tinkering with different components for a year, I finally assembled my first Tesla coil. I chose a bipolar design inspired by one in THE BOY ELECTRICIAN by Alfred P. Morgan (first published 1913, reprinted by Lindsay Publications and available at http://www.lindsaybks.com/.) Unlike the more common upright coils, the bipolar coil has a horizontal secondary and primary, and the ends of the secondary coil terminate in vertical electrodes. As I wanted to build a small tabletop model, this appealed to me because the coil would not need an external ground connection. I also decided to build the coil in modular fashion, with easily separated spark gap assembly, tank capacitors, and power supply. This way I could experiment with different components and see what changing these parts did to the overall performance of the coil.
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Here're some instructions for tethering your Palm Pre. It works the same way as tetherbot for Android in that it's an SSH tunnel to the phone running as a SOCKS proxy. It'll only get you HTTP, but hey, it's something! Via BBG.
An illuminated bottle wall. There is a LED controllable light behind each bottle that is controlled from an on board computer. Something missing in the video is that the cavities for the bottles are empty at the beginning and people start filling them with empty containers to reveal the visuals. Everything started when Tom (the client) said, "I want to make a light bright with bottles for Bacardi, is that possible?"
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There's so much amazing work coming out of the AFOL* community these days that it can be hard to single out any particular work as outstanding. Nonetheless, mad_a0's mini-fig scale tank, with full interior detail, is, well... outstanding. Bravo! Via The Brothers Brick.
*That's "Adult Fans of LEGO" for you non-blockheads out there.
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So you've just made a tallbike from two frames, and you have a great time riding it around your neighborhood, but what happens when you want to take it farther away than your pedals can bring you? Instructables user sprocketscientist made a tutorial for a tallbike that comes apart for easy travel.
Sure, and as soon as junior gets one of these they'll roll out the must-have BabyPod Nano, then the BabyPod Video, BabyPod Touch . . . Ah, well more pics in the project's photoset.
Toy Music Sequencer
MAKE Volume 13, page 132
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Lennon Luks gives an in-depth tour of the grid-based MIDI controller/sequencer he built as his final project at Western Carolina University.
This is me showing some of the capabilities of the MIDI controller that I designed for my senior project. It uses an ATMEGA644 microcontroller. 3000ish lines of C code. I'm much more of an engineer than an electronic musician, clearly.
The interface will remind many of the Monome project, as the input/display are quite similar - but the awesome sauce here is the machine's ability to control MIDI devices without the need for an external computer. The onboard hardware offers a whole lotta possibilities via a single graphical LCD + switches - looks like much fun. Much more info available on the project page. [via Synthtopia]
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Randy shares steps for adding two key upgrades to the Mini-Theremin kit -
True, there are already directions to do both of these things in the accompanying magazine, but what sets this how-to apart is that it is in English. If like me you can't read Japanese and unlike me, you couldn't figure out what to do from the pictures alone, this should help. Basically, what I am doing is adding an audio out jack and also a bigger, sturdier telescoping antenna. This is a great improvement on the original.
I've added an 1/8" jack to mine as well, definitely a great idea for those who also own the Gakken SX-150 synth. Once 'jacked' the mini can act as a handsfree controller for the SX by way of its control input. Hmmm ... think I'll be adding one of theses sturdier antennae as well. Read the full instructable for much mini modding infos.
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Marco Rapino, a developer working at the Center for Knowledge and Innovation Research at HSE in Helsinki, has developed a prototype controller using the accelerometer in his Nokia N95 smartphone, some Python, and the Blender 3D content creation suite.
The application is structured in this way:
Mobile client, a python script which reads the accelerometer data and sends it via bluetooth to the pc
A server that runs on your pc and shares the data with the BGE through a local UDP non-blocking socket
A Blender script which handles the cube rotation in the BGE using the n95 accelerometer's data
Most makers probably already know of Diana Eng. She was one of the contestants, the so-called "fashion nerd", on the second season of Project Runway. She's also been a guest blogger on CRAFT and is the author of the new book Fashion Geek: Clothes Accessories Tech. And Diana Eng is no poser nerd. To prove it, she's here to talk about... ham radio? That's right, Diana is a licensed ham! She loves the hobby and is excited about introducing a new generation of amateurs to it. She'll be contributing some posts here about ham, like this convention report, and doing some radio projects. We're thrilled to have her. Welcome, Diana! - Gareth Branwyn
SOTA, Summits on the Air, is an award program that encourages hams to make contacts in the mountainous outdoors. SOTA is not only for hikers, the program recognizes Activators, Chasers, and Short Wave Listeners. Activators hike up registered SOTA summits and activate the location by setting up a station and making a minimum of 3 contacts. Chasers can operate from home or other SOTA locations, and make contact with activators. Short Wave Listeners who are often unlicensed hear but do not contact activators. Activators and Chasers earn points towards awards.
SOTA began in the UK in March 2002 as the brain child of John Linford, G3WGV. Early on, most activity was on VHF and UHF FM frequencies (70 cm and 2 m) using lightweight handheld radios. Since activators and chasers were usually in the same country, there was no need for long range HF. The high elevation also helped the propagation, particularly of VHF. Now as the popularity of SOTA grows and technology gets smaller, activators and chasers are using HF to make contacts around the world. SOTA now has 28 active associations in locations ranging from France and Belgium to South Africa and Macedonia.
I recently hiked up Mt. Carmel in Connecticut with Tom Tumino, N2YTF and Dave Clausen, W2VV. Tom Tumino is SOTA Association Manager for the W1 call area and SOTA Regional Manager for New Jersey as well as President of the Hall of Science Amateur Radio Club, HOSARC. At the time, Tom had submitted Mt. Carmel to SOTA headquarters for formal inclusion in the SOTA program. As of July 1, 2009 Mt. Carmel is a part of the SOTA program with the designator W1/HH-002.
I asked Tom some questions about SOTA: [Diana Eng] How did you get started with SOTA and what made you want to bring it to the United States? [Tom Tumino] I got started with SOTA when my friend, Tom Golero, KC2CBA wanted to try something new and suggested that we try activating a nearby summit in the SOTA program. I now have 8 expeditions to 6 different summits under my belt and am the leading activator in the US.
[DE] How do you feel SOTA compares to other ham activities? [TT] The ham radio population is facing many of the same challenges with weight and fitness that the American population is general is facing. SOTA is a great way for hams to develop their field and emergency preparedness skills while also increasing their physical fitness level and enjoying some spectacular views and in this sense SOTA is almost completely unique in the Amateur Radio world. The SOTA program provides interested hams with a list of summits worthy of hiking for hams of all physical fitness levels. Also, the SOTA websites are a great repository of information for hams interested in facing the challenges of setting up a portable global HF setup on a summit with only battery power. All SOTA activations must take place in an environmentally friendly manor and the activating hams must get to the summit under human power with all of their gear.
I feel that the SOTA program is the most exciting and challenging award scheme in ham radio and holds many benefits for its participants unavailable in other popular award schemes. Participation in SOTA has taken me to heights and summits I never would have known about never mind hike up.
[DE] What type of radios and rigs are used most often by SOTA activators? [TT] A nice collection of photos of activators and their gear can be found at: http://www.flickr.com/groups/sota_pics/
Many activators carry small, lightweight "dc to daylight" rigs such as the Yaesu FT-817. Such rigs can be used on voice and Morse code modes on HF, VHF, and UHF frequencies. Unfortunately, radios such as the FT-817 afford only 5w of output and are not optimized for low current drain meaning operators have to bring up more than 2 AH of battery power.
Some of the more physically fit operators are bringing up large, portable radios such as the Yaesu FT-897 & FT-857, or Icom -706MKIIG which allow an output of up to 100w on HF and 50w on VHF if activators can bring up batteries capable of sustaining current draws of 20 amps.
Recently there has been a move back to basics in SOTA, with some operators favoring light weight, CW only HF rigs with low current drain. Such radios are "no nonsense designs" that allow hikers to tackle the highest and most challenging summits with a minimum of extra weight. Many of these radios are built by the activators themselves from readily available kits.
I would say the most popular antennas are simple wire antennas for HF and simple home made Yagi type antennas for VHF/UHF.
[DE] What is your SOTA setup? [TT] Lately I have been bringing a Kenwood TH-D7AG APRS hand held radio with me to the summits along with an Elecraft K3 (a small desktop radio). Together these radios give me all mode HF, and FM VHF and UHF capability along the ability to relay my position in real time to the global chaser community via APRS.
[DE] Which do you think is the most interesting SOTA award, and why? [TT] As the Association Manager for the W1 area I have to say I am a bit biased to some of the unique awards we have in W1. The Master of the Black Dog Certificate which is particularly interesting for its connection to local legend. To be eligible for the Master of the Black Dog Certificate, an activator must have completed valid activations from all of the three summits in the Hanging Hills Region.
The Black Dog of the Hanging Hills is a supernatural hound that appears in Hanging Hills folklore. Folklore holds that the spirit has haunted the region since the early 1800s and manifests itself as a small black dog, often gregarious in nature, who leaves no footprints and makes no sound. According to legend, to see the Black Dog the first time results in joy while a second sighting results in misfortune. Seeing the Black Dog a third time is said to be a death omen.
One of the earliest accounts of the Black Dog was published in the Connecticut Quarterly, (April-June, 1898) by New York geologist W.H.C. Pynchon. According to Pynchon, in February 1891 he and geologist Herbert Marshall of the United States Geological Survey were conducting geologic research in the Hanging Hills when they saw The Dog. Pynchon had seen The Dog once before. Marshall, who had seen The Dog twice, scoffed at the legend. Shortly after the two of them saw The Dog, Marshall slipped on the ice atop one of the cliffs and plunged to his death. His body was later recovered by authorities.
For the record I have yet to see The Dog...
[DE] How does a mountain become a SOTA Summit? [TT] To qualify as a SOTA summit, a summit must in general have a prominence of more than 500 feet .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prominence Once an individual identifies a summit with a prominence of more then 500 feet, he/she can submit the summit to the Association Manager that handles the geographic area that encompasses the prospective summit. In the north east states that would be me. If I can verify the prominence of the summit, I can submit the peak to SOTA headquarters for formal inclusion in the SOTA program.
[Makezine] How can people get started with SOTA? [Tom]Regardless of your interest (Activator, Chaser, or Short Wave Listener (SWL)), the first step is to register so that you may upload logs of your contacts to the SOTA system. There are no fees for participation in the SOTA system.
If you can't get out/have no desire to go hiking, you can get a list of upcoming activations and activations heard live on the air (spots) and tune your rig accordingly.
If you are interested in activating a summit, SOTA maintains an excellent repository of information submitted by its members to make hikes easier. From this website you can find a summit near your location and perhaps a little about where to park and find proper hiking maps for the summit. You may also find links to pictures and video of past activations on the summit you are interested in. The Yahoo SOTA group "Summits" also has a helpful file titled summits.kml for Google Earth. You can find summits.kml in the file section of the Yahoo SOTA groupl.
Of course prospective participants should feel free to email the Association Manager of their region with any questions they may have and we will be happy to help them.
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Hack your Brain with the Trip Glasses in the Maker Shed! Get comfortable, put on the glasses and headphones, close your eyes (the LEDs are bright!), and flick the power switch. Enjoy the hallucinations as you drift into deep meditation, ponder your inner world, and then come out after the 14-minute program feeling fabulous.
Randy shares steps for adding two key upgrades to the 
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