Astrodime at Maker Faire Rhode Island

Astrodime at Maker Faire Rhode Island

Sept 30 2009 by Amanda

This is a recap of Astrodime’s experience at the Maker Faire festival in Providence, RI. The website for the festival is at http://makerfaireri.com/.

On Saturday, September 19 the Astrodime Transit Authority demonstrated our tin can telecommunications system at the Maker Faire Rhode Island festival. The technicians of Astrodime, including sam, Julia, Lisa, and Amanda worked directly with adults and young children in using the AstroCan communications systems. Many adults were eager to prove to their children that the tin can system worked just as well as their iPHONES.

Set in the heart of the Financial District in Providence, Astrodime’s exhibition consisted of 2 videos displaying the most current INtransit journal “Can You Hear Me Now?” and “Secret Decoder”. Also on display were the hand-crafted iCANs, tin can phones, and wire tapping devices. Between 2pm and 10pm locals and out of towners experimented with our iCAN, tin can party line, and tin can phone wiretapping. Throughout the day, over 200 people tested the tin can communication device, and sam experimented with our wiretapping capabilities.

Maker Faire is the foremost event for grassroots American innovation. Being the first Maker Faire festival in Providence, this event attracted over 50 makers, inventors, and artists to showcase their most recent inventions. One of the highlights of the day was the disco bicycle party, designed by the custom frame bike-makers Circle A Cycles; another rare gadgeteer was Tellart, and they installed an interactive mixed reality pong game that people could play by wearing helmuts with IR LED’s attached. As Maker Faire continued into the late evening, the Providence River was set on fire as the themed “Celebration of Life” Waterfire festival took place!

Sam and Julia on the iPHONES

Astrodime using the Party Line

Astrodime technology

Tin Can Telecommunications at NAMAC

On the last day of NAMAC,  Astrodimers MaryAnn, sam, Bebe, and Julia (with some assistance from Walter) did a  demonstration of cutting edge tin can technology at the Park Plaza Hotel. You would be surprised how many people don’t believe tin can phones work!! Sadly we didnt have a chance to demo our Party Line or Wire tapping techniques but we did make the iCAN available. Here’s a few quicky cell phone pix..

Bebe tries out the iCAN

Maryann and Bebe talk to themselves near the NAMAC table.

Good Social Networking site and a Hot Tip

Thanks to AstroDime member Gina Kamentsky, we found a great social networking site called Squidoo. Then a few of us got together to pool our knowledge about using digital photo frames for playing video. Here’s the result, let us know if you have any suggestions!

http://www.squidoo.com/lensmaster/workshop/digital-video-in-photo-frames

Introducing the iCAN

AstroDime think tank operators and engineers sam smiley and Gina Kamentsky designed the first prototype of the iCAN, a telecommunications device where you can actually here yourself think (if you speak out loud that is)

Here’s our beta version:

our pvc and tin can masterpiece

You can actually bid on it on Ebay until November 6.

Check it out on eBay!

Video in a suitcase

Here are some pictures from AstroDime’s installation on Oct 17-19. Basically, Bebe, sam and Ali projected video in a suitcase, put Queen Victoria’s and President Buchanan’s voices in tin cans, and hung the vests.

The gallery space was pretty interesting.

Video in a suitcase

President Buchanan in a can

Fry’s Electronics in Vega$

Just came back from Las Vegas, where I had been teaching for a weekend. I was told by my techie friends that no visit to Las Vegas is complete without stopping at Fry’s Electronics before hitting the airport home. So I did..and got some sweet little battery powered Sony speakers, and some astronaut ice cream.

-sam smiley

View from the highway

Entrance, overwhelmingly Las Vegas

AstroDime at Rock and Roll Yard Sale

Mary Ann, Sam, and Gina went to the Rock and Roll Yard Sale in Union Square, Somerville on Sept. 6. It mostly had mostly vinyl, but a few people bought DVD’s. It was really fun and the evening ended with a screening in which an awesome music group called Devil Music Ensemble created a live soundtrack performance to “Red Heroine”, a silent martial arts film from China 1929.

Selling AstroDime videos and T-Gina comix

AstroDimers installing AstroCan phone system

Bebe working on an installation

Gina testing one of the phones

-Sam looking confused

-Ali thinking over installations at headquarters

-John and Jode wading through bushes to install a system.

-Maryann on her way to Bumpkin for reenforcement

Success at the MIT Flea

today astrodimers took our old decrepit gear (well actually some of it is pretty good gear) to the MIT Flea Market, to do a fundraiser for FAST WOMEN. Success! we made a fistful of money, enough to press 100 copies of FAST WOMEN and artist fees. Certainly we will be at the next one on Sept 16, so come visit us! we are also looking for reasonably working electronic gear, to donate to us so we can sell it for future issues.
Here’s a picture of the Flea from their web site, next time it will have Mary Ann and me in it. Look for us on Sunday September 16! -sam smiley