All posts by Lenore Edman

About Lenore Edman

Co-founder of Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories.

Neighborhood Holiday Parade


Lakewood neighborhood holiday parade




Yesterday was the Lakewood Neighborhood Holiday Parade, and this was our second year watching it. It is a charming tradition: the middle and high school bands march together and play holiday music, all the local classic cars come out (some of them bearing local politicians), and they host a toy drive. It was bright and sunny and all the classic cars shone. For more pictures (from both this year and last) you can check out my flickr set.




Lakewood neighborhood holiday parade

The Sashimi Tabernacle Choir (on the Smithsonian Channel)

The Sashimi Tabernacle Choir

The Smithsonian Channel’s series America Wild & Wacky is featuring ArtCar Fest. In a blog post about the episode, they linked to my flickr video from Maker Faire of the Sashimi Tabernacle Choir. Here for your entertainment is my clip of hundreds of computer controlled singing sea creatures performing Bohemian Rhapsody.

No Refills?

Maker Faire Austin

On our way to Maker Faire Austin, we grabbed a bite to eat at the San Jose airport, where we saw this rather confusing sign on a soda machine:
“NO REFILLS–Refills Available For .59¢”
So which is it, refills or no refills? And do they really make change for a penny?

Maker Faire Austin Pictures

lovely sign for the show barn

We had a wonderful time at Maker Faire Austin. I’ve put some pictures and videos up in this flickr set for your enjoyment.

Electrified Monopoly   Maker Faire Austin

Our neighbors at Maker Faire were Kris and Carly who were doing very fun things with LEDs, like making Monopoly more fun by lighting up when you land on certain squares. The no-solder wiring system was very clever, and the flashing blue and red lights in jail were perfect.

Maker Faire Austin   It's the gnomes that make it perfect

This cute little robotics platform stopped by for a visit, but in order to see most of the rest of the faire we had to pry ourselves away from our table, which was tough. There was a nice collection of art cars, including this Chia Car. Maker Faire is wonderfully overwhelming, and we didn’t take very many pictures. Luckily, many other people took pictures too, and you can check lots of them out on flickr.

 

LED Ghosties for Halloween

LED Ghostie

You can make these simple LED ghosties (based on LED throwies) from a soda bottle, a couple of LEDs and batteries, string, and a scrap of fabric. Hang them in your trees, your haunted house, or in your porch for Halloween. They look especially excellent because the eyes seem to float in mid-air behind the fabric.
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A Sinusoidal Acrylic Bracelet Design

Acrylic Nesting Bracelets

Sleek sinusoids for your wrists. Laser-cut acrylic.
A free design from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories, complete with dowloadable files so that you can make your own. (And isn’t this a good time for your first laser project?)

In case you haven’t been bitten by this particular bug yet, here’s a quick intro. Laser cutters are an awesome tool in the modern DIY arsenal. This type of laser is a lot like a laser printer, but uses deep infrared carbon dioxide laser that can cut or engrave most plastics. You can find these at hacker spaces like NYC Resistor and membership shops like TechShop and The Sawdust Shop, so it’s finally getting to the point that almost anyone can learn to use one. However not everyone lives by a laser shop, so sites such as Ponoko, Pololu, and Big Blue Saw offer laser cutting services and enable you to submit jobs from anywhere.
Acrylic Nesting Bracelets
Our bracelets are cut from a single sheet of acrylic (using a laser, obviously!) in concentric wavy rings to form a nesting set of various sizes. The light plays through the transparent acrylic in fun and fascinating ways.
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