Solder of Fortune

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Tuesday saw the first step in our plan to revive our class schedule now that our space and sleep schedules have recovered from Maker Faire, and what better way to get started than to have two illustrious makers as our guest lecturers? These two giants were none other than Mitch Altman of Noisebridge and TV-B-Gone fame and Jimmie P. Rodgers of LOLshield fame both of whom are currently on a road trip to promote their clever kits and educate young and old about how easy and fun soldering can be.

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Power Wheels Racing Is a Crowd Pleaser

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Most of us have memories of seeing Power Wheels advertisements on TV, dreaming of far off adventures over rocky terrain in our own power wheels jeep or zooming around the Indianapolis Speedway trying to claim first place. Then we see the real things that barely have enough power to hit 2 MPH. Downhill. Most of us gave up on our grand fantasies in these tiny toys and bought real cars that ran on gas instead of dinky batteries, but a few bold men and women would not let reality crush their imagination. Collectively these people are known as crazy, but these crazy people have taken old Power Wheels vehicles and souped them up to herculean proportions in an attempt to show the world that they are not in fact crazy. This act in and of itself may too be crazy, but the results can only be described as awesome.

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Learn to Solder Workshop: Mitch and Jimmie at i3Detroit, Tuesday August 10th.

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You can solder! Yes, you. It’s easy, and you can learn how this Tuesday at i3Detroit. Mitch Altman and Jimmie P. Rodgers will be here to give one of their renowned kit-building workshops. You buy a kit, assemble it with expert guidance, and end up with a cool toy to show for it.

If you already own a soldering iron, stand, tip cleaner, or wire cutters, please bring them — we’ll provide as many as we can muster, but more are always helpful. Regardless, you should reserve your seat right away!

Mitch Altman likes to bring newbies into electronics. He’s best known for inventing the TV-B-Gone, a one-button remote control that turns off TVs wherever you may encounter them. He’s also a big fan of hackerspaces, having co-founded one, and is currently touring as many as possible, selling kits and helping get people into electronics.

Jimmie P. Rodgers is a microcontroller geek who enjoys circuit-bending, teaching, and putting entirely too many LEDs on things. His projects include the OpenHeart, various Arduino shields, and lots of noisemakers. He and Mitch are traveling the midwest, holding workshops and generally being awesome.

i3Detroit is metro Detroit’s first hackerspace, an open workshop where members and guests share tools and ideas. i3 stands for “imagine, innovate, and inspire”. Located in Ferndale, the 53-member group builds things, holds classes, and launches high-velocity snack food.

i3 Detroit Girrrls Get Together – 8/8/2010 at 3PM

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The girrrls of i3 Detroit are at it again!  Tomorrow at the space, they will be getting together to hang out, make cool stuff, and teach one another new skills.  We have even heard rumblings of an all female project for the 2011 Maker Faire in Detroit possibly in the works.  Awesome!  Dennay will be showing some basic knitting techniques.  Jaime will be showing off the various uses of the Cricut.  And others have been talking about an 8-bit Mario Blanket.  This is not a class and no registration or RSVP is needed.  Just a laid-back day to come share imagination, innovation and inspiration with our fun gals.

Have you been meaning to meet the girls of i3?  Now is your opportunity.

Have you been wondering what this i3 Detroit thing is all about?  Tomorrow is the perfect opportunity to come and meet some of our awesome female members and learn about the space from their point of view.

Ready to come make something, you maker gal?  Hands and minds are available for assistance!

This event is open to the public and anyone interested in learning more about i3 Detroit is encouraged to come by (girl or guy!)

Fun and Games at Maker Faire

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They say there’s no rest for the wicked, and given the never ending stream of visitors at our Maker Faire tent over the weekend, we must have been very bad lately. Our popularity was only eclipsed by our success; garnering an amazing 8 editor’s choice ribbons among our projects, as well as multiple interviews with Leo Laporte on his livestream from the event. Keep reading below the break for details on individual projects.

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