Introduction: Maker Faire NYC 2011

Caitlin and I at the World Maker Faire 2011 in New York City.

Image notes may or may not be wonky and adding images is dodgy because it changes the order, so I will annotate with just a list below.  Follow along as they are not numbered. Mix and match.

* Opinions expressed may or may not represent the viewpoint of Autodesk, Inc. nor Make





No, that is not Kiteman in front of me.  Get your big head out of the way, you dummie.



Randy, Tetranitrate, Eric, random ibles sales person (Lee), Bilal (ex-intern), Christy, caitlinsdad, Caitlin(she fabric painted that robot shirt)

modded wheelchair, don't know if it was part of the accessiblity hacks group or just a burning man art-car

recycled metal parts art

gantry structure for the circus act, artists suspend from ropes and cloth strips to perform in the air.

0h10m1ke, 10,052nd and 10,253rd portrait drawn on cover of a matchbook...look up an interview on him on makezine.com blog.  He wants to popularize the word "parp" which was invented by a kid.

Life Size Mouse Trap.  Rube Goldberg chain reaction setup with sideshow trappings.  As the Brits would say "underwhelming", caus no one can fn see.  Peeples in the front, sit down or something, no one in the back can see beyond one or two deep.

Move on up the hill, still don't fn see anything.

Poor guy waiting to demonstrate his trebuchet, everyone was trying to see the Life Size Mouse Trap.

Coke Mentos show stage.  Won't be back to watch, can't fn see with the crowd.

Giant swing with water drop curtain.  Synchronized to stop when you pass under it.

Electric two seater car of the future.  Chevy Volt in the back.  Reps are under strict orders from Corporate not to open the display model nor let anyone touch the neato controls.  Rules from the Autodesk playbook.

Burning Man art car.  Climb aboard...you may have to get the waiver signed at the booths.

Midi controlled drumming and music machines.  Must be the perfomance art piece like last year's haircut thing.

Recycled cardboard "green use" tent

Hydroponic garden with recirculating water drop.  Plants are in felt pouches with gravel.

Lego FIRST Robotics.

Lego NXT robots and challenge course.

Everyone has a new and improved 3D printer.   Pony up 2 or 3 grand.

Randy and the crew.  No takers on the clap-off bra.  Anyone?  Wait....maybe if he put a candy jar near there...and he has a book out.

Dish scrubber brushbot.

Eric from outer space.

Learn how to pick a lock.  They may be better served by teaching someone how to get their keys out of a locked car.   I believe the guys from 2600 were across the way keeping an eye on them.

They gutted a bunch of tickle-me or dancing Elmos to create an evil empire.

Turtlebot racetrack.

Mobile bamboo bike frame manufacturing truck.  One guy was laying up carbon fiber joints.

Steampunk alley.  Not really too many running around in costume.  Did not spot anyone in kilts this year.  I guess I would have been overdressed in my NachoMahma kilt of righteousness.

Solar powered carousel.

Art car with singing fish and lobsters.  All wired to do the Singing Bass fish thing at the same time.

Quilt.  Didn't see Lion Brand Yarn or the Martha Stewart omniglub crafting craftacular this year.  Some more independent makers this year in a dark tent.  The knitting club was inside the museum this time.

New York flavor with the suit made from subway transit cards.  

Under the rockets at the NY Hall of Science museum.

Art from more recycled plastic.

Spooky animatronics.

Arc Attack stage.  Too bad no fashion shows this year.  ;.-(   Was looking forward to see the Diana Eng fashion show since we missed it last year.  Lynne Bruning did not stage a wearable electronics show this year.  *sigh*  Maybe next year Caitlin will do the catwalk again if there is one.

The hidden display area inside the museum is always the coolest.  

Some dude doing poetry with a lady in a light-up dress that muses on the chair.

More falling drops of water that are synchronized for POV effect.  The drops spell out letters or something.

Dancing light on wires.  The artist said that much has improved since the ible was published on that.  

Solar powered sewing machine.  Guy embroiders custom patches for you.

Display to demostrate pvc pipe bending heating tool.  Make walk-through car-wash by installing sprayheads in the pipe.

So, it was a better layout this year but it seemed to lost some of it's energy since the raucous noise of the jet-ponies and fire breathing stuff was not there.  OSHA must have clamped down on them. There were more food vendors but the lines were still long, especially for the one coffee vendor.  Movie-theatre prices for a bottle of water.  Step outside into the neighborhood to eat.  Finding the parking lot is only accomplished with the use of a GPS.  Not enough strange folk wandering around this year although the level of geektosterone was pretty high.

Tomorrow we are dragging along two of Caitlin's classmates.  It should be fun.

Day 2 images...