This is the 2013 series premiere of Technology and the Arts, a webcast exploring the connections between technology and art. Co-hosts Brian Kelley and John LeMasney discuss Arduino, Raspberry Pi and a study on how technology can be used to teach young people about creating art. For more information, visit http://technologyandthearts.com.
At 7 pm, on Monday August 5th, 2013, I’ll be at Princeton Public Library, I’m going to be giving an introductory overview of open source hardware, the Make movement, and the ideology of openness. In particular, I’ll be talking about Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and related hardware projects.
(post event note: Thanks to everyone who came out, and here is the link to the presentation)
The Arduino is an electronics learning platform. The instructions for how to make one from scratch are freely available, which is why it is considered open source hardware, though many people find it far easier and supportive to the platform to just buy one. You can get them at your local Radio Shack. Once you have it connected to a computer, you can begin to program it or run programs that others have made for it, called sketches. The key idea with Arduino is that you program it to accept input from sensors or scripts, and to produce output in the form of light, sound, and other signals. With this basic idea, you can use the Arduino to solve little problems like knowing when the Dryer has stopped, feeding your animals reasonably while you are away, or making sophisticated environment based games.
The Raspberry Pi is perhaps a simpler idea for the uninitiated: a computer capable of doing most anything your laptop, desktop, tablet or phone can do (given the monitor, keyboard and mouse) available for $25-$35 dollars, depending on model. Because of the incredibly low price but relatively strong computing power, you can use the Pi to do all kinds of interesting things that you would not consider doing with your desktop or laptop machine. Running home automation, media servers, dedicated graphics workstations, an email terminal, a streaming media interface for your TV, and much more.
A few colleagues have learned that I always offer my first hour of consulting with a new client for free, and have given me lots of advice:
The reasons that I give my first hour of consulting for free to new clients considers these and many other issues. I’ll discuss them here.
I may only get one hour out of a client, but if that’s the case, I was not likely going to get a lot of business out of them anyway, and they are likely to speak well on my behalf to their friends and colleagues if it goes well. If even one referral comes from any client, it is at least worth an hour of my time.
I have spent many hours volunteering my time doing my consulting, presentation, and training work, and it has come back to me a thousand times over in referrals, new paying work, experience, and good-faith networking. Volunteering also happens to bring me joy and happiness,all by itself. I am focusing more now on paying work these days, but I will never regret the volunteer hours I have put in.
I welcome people to take advantage of me, or try to. I think that if someone sits with me and sees what I have to offer them, I can make an impression that makes them think of me the next time they need graphic design, technology support, a presenter, a media consultation, etc.
Perhaps the most important reason for the first-hour-free clause is that I may not wish to continue to work with someone after hour one, and they may not wish to work with me. Everyone has their philosophies, concepts, experiences, and values, and they may sometimes make for uncomfortable partnerships. I’d rather not have to ask for money from someone who does not wish to work with me, and I’d rather not take money from someone who I’d rather not work with. It’s more important that we be able to amicably walk away, saying “I’m sure you will find success, thanks so much for your time!” with smiles on our face, cheer in our heart, and money safely remaining where it was.
This philosophy also acts as a standing discount on the remainder of our work together, meaning that if I work with someone for two hours, it’s as though they had a 50% off coupon.
So if you are wondering if I can help you, remember that you can find out for free, no strings attached, for the first hour that we work together. I promise.
In this session, we looked at the reasons why infographics are becoming an important, highly popular way of presenting information. We showed how to find data, how to build your message, and how to put together your infographic using great, free tools. Below is the presentation for this two-hour session.
If you like this post, or if you feel like it might help someone, please share it. Thanks!
I’ve been rather depressed lately. It’s mostly chemical-based, but there are a few stressors and other triggers that have been bringing it on. I tend to meet depression at major points of life change, and some, like the end or beginning of the year, are built-in. There’s also, though, the change that my body has gone through, and the ways in which my eating has changed for maintenance mode, rather than losing mode. One might think that the suddenly allowed addition of 700 extra calories in a day would be welcomed, but for me, it has been a fearful transition. There’s fear that my eating habits will return to the way that they were, where I eat simply because food is there, or simply because of the way that I feel, and that’s scary. I enjoy eating according to a plan, with a purpose, and to a goal, but now that the goal is reached, there is more unknown than known in the future. One might ask “Isn’t your goal now to stay where you are?” Well, yes, but there is more enjoyment in movement towards betterment (transformational) than stability in betterment (transactional), and even though I know what I must do, there is a struggle there with no clear wins or finish lines. I’ve met this depression before, when I graduated from degrees, when I accomplished other goals, and when I changed relationships. There is pain in ending, and fear in new beginnings. It works out in the end, when there is stability and familiarity in the new situation.
I have been eating cautiously lately, mostly whole foods, mostly vegetables, nuts, whole grains, and fruit. There is joy in eating what you know, and a certain solace in the familiar.
It’s cold, and so I’ve continued to slack a bit in my movement. I’m walking about 5000 steps a day, about half of what I walk in nicer weather. I’ve been spending most of my usual walking time finishing projects and starting new work.
We’re back…August 5!
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