This year has thrown us a variety of ‘curves’. We hope to keep to our schedules, but we may not update this website as often as we have in the past.
We hope that 2016 will be a better year for keeping you posted.
Life, Work, Time
Leave a reply
Category Archives: News
Maker Spaces
Do you like to make things?
Do you love Rube Goldberg inventions?
Did you want to be ‘Q’ from the Bond movies?
Or Caractacus Potts from Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang?
Then check out Maker Spaces. Better yet, check out your local library which may have a space of their own set aside for people who just want to make things.
Open Source Hardware
Many of our clients and friends question why we don’t use Microsoft or Mac/Apple products. We support them, but we do not use them. Instead, we as a company and individuals use Linux.
Why?
- It’s Free.
- We can access the code.
- We can go to a forum and find answers to questions for free.
- It is less prone to hack attacks and malware.
- It just works.
We are also members of the Open Source Hardware Association. In fact, we are founding members. Check out what’s going on in the world at their website. Better yet, visit a Maker Space and see what’s being invented.
Open Design Engine
Have you ever wondered how people plan or design a project? Do you want to see cutting edge Open Source projects?
Check out Open Design Engine
Website changes
Just as the cobbler’s children never have new shoes, IT techs are often the last to update their sites. We are working on migrating some of our other websites over to WordPress.org sites. Please be patient as this process is being done as we have time.
Interested in Space?
Chris Hadfield, Astronaut, Teacher, Musician
We all enjoyed Cmdr. Hadfield’s time in ISS. The National Post published an article about the seven lessons he’s taught the world.
It’s a great article full of photos, videos and highlights.
Quiet, yet productive
While this blog has been quiet, we have been rather productive.
Aaron Harper has been working with Jeremy Wright of Mach 30 to enhance and update the Shepard Test Stand as well as the Ground Station. Design improvements are based on the need and/or desire to kitify both projects.
There have been discussions on how to best update ODE as well. The website has some issues that need resolved by either an update or new code. It has also come to the attention of those that work with ODE, that they have created a Virtual Makers Space.
Last, but not least, Aaron has retooled his workshop to be more efficient and will be making various adjustments as time and funding allows. Further adjustments will be made when kits for Shephard or the ground station begin production.
A Good Time Was Had!
Yesterday was our Yuri’s Night Party with Mach 30. We had two maker spaces and our local high school involved as well as various members of Mach 30. It was a good time in spite of a few glitches.
First of all, Aaron had some issues with the Ground station he built. Some of the parts didn’t come in until the last minute. Then after he ran the first test, something died. Our suspect was the USB driver or actual port on his netbook. This meant that while we could show some things, there wasn’t going to be a live demonstration of the Ground Station. Aaron stayed up all night trying to fix it, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
Then there were some issues with me getting onto the high school network. The John Mall High School login server shut down, and our IT guy was out of range. So, I grabbed Mr. Somera and the three students and we came over to our house. Luckily, we arrived just in time to start the party.
Here is the video of the party. We all had a good time.
Mach 30 Yuri’s Night Party, 2013
Yuri’s Night
Space history is sprinkled with notable dates. We recognize October 4th, 1957, the launch of Sputnik as the beginning of Space Race. President Kennedy’s declaration that America would have a man on the moon by the end of the decade on May 25th, 1961 is another date, as is the moon landing on July 20th, 1969.
Two space related events have taken on a new significance. On April 12th, 1961, The Soviet Union launched the first man, Yuri Gagarin into space. Twenty years later, the United States launched Columbia, the first shuttle.
Yuri’s Night is an annual celebration that commemorates Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin’s historic first manned space flight in 1961, and NASA’s inaugural flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia, (STS-1), in 1981. The celebrations began in 2001, and has become a worldwide event. Together with Mach 30 and John Mall High School, we are celebrating Yuri’s Night.
Yuri’s Night covers a wide range of space and techno centric celebrations from large public events sponsored by NASA to private gatherings spent watching the stars or movies. The idea is to celebrate the achievements of human space flight across the globe.
Mach 30 is holding a Yuri’s Night Celebration on April 13th, starting at 4:30pm, EDT. Join us on Google+ hangouts and YouTube.