Don’t Miss The Philadelphia Maker Faire This Weekend

October 11, 2022 by Tom Nardi 3 Comments

For readers in the American Northeast that are looking for something to do this weekend, may we humbly suggest a day trip to attend the 2022 Philadelphia Maker Faire on Saturday, October 15th. After taking the last two years off due to COVID-19, the event has moved to the Independence Seaport Museum for its grand return, and is sure to attract plenty of hackers and makers who are eager to show off their pandemic projects.

Of course, the nature of these events is that you never really know what you’re going to see until you actually get there. But just browsing the list of confirmed projects that will have dedicated tables set up, we can tell there’s some very interesting stuff on tap — from fighting robots and hologram printers, to plasma physics and electric hydrofoils. While the deadline to submit projects for official inclusion has long since passed, we can tell you from experience that’s not going to stop folks from showing up with their own gadgets to show off to the captive audience. Especially if they’re of the wearable variety; it’s not really a Maker Faire unless somebody is wearing something that’s blinking.

Naturally the Faire itself is obviously the main event, but don’t forget that the Independence Seaport Museum itself is worth checking out while you’re there. You can tour the 130-year-old USS Olympia, as well as the USS Becuna, one of the last surviving WWII Balao-class submarines.

While the community might never truly recover from the loss of the flagship Maker Faires in New York and California, we do take some comfort in knowing that smaller regional shows like this one have been growing over the last few several years. They’re not only a great way to connect with like-minded folks in your area, but can help you connect with maker-friendly vendors and organizations which you might otherwise be unaware of.

Hackaday Wants You: Be A Supercon Volunteer

October 5, 2022 by Elliot Williams 4 Comments

Spot the volunteers! (Hint: red shirts. And you know what happens to the red shirts…)

The Supercon approaches! If you are thinking of attending, but the cost of admission is too steep, one way to get in for free is to volunteer. That’s three wonderful days of events, two nights of partying, lunch, dinner, and of course Supercon. All you have to do is help us run the show.

Volunteers help out all around, giving out schwag bags, hustling speakers here and there, and just generally working behind the scenes to make Supercon super. We’re looking for three four-hour shifts over the whole long weekend,

So if you’re interested in helping out, and you’d like to get in free and get super volunteer-only gear to boot, put in your application now. We’ll be accepting volunteers until October 20th and getting in touch by email on October 24th.

Of course, we just announced the first round of speakers, we’ve got the badge reveal coming up, and much, much more. Follow along here, or at Hackaday.io/superconference for more info.

East Coast RepRap Festival Returns This Weekend

October 5, 2022 by Tom Nardi 3 Comments

After laying low during the height of the pandemic, the East Coast RepRap Festival (ERRF) is just days away from making its triumphant return to Bel Air, Maryland. This two-day celebration of all things extruded is packed with talks, exhibits, and demonstrations that you won’t want to miss if you’ve got even a passing interest in 3D printing. You can purchase advance tickets now — adult admission for both days (Oct 8 & 9) will set you back just $10 USD, while anyone under 17 gets in for free.

ERRF 22 will honor Sanjay Mortimer with a bust printed by the community.

When we visited in 2019, ERRF was only in its second year, but it was already obvious that it was becoming a major event in the 3D printing world. The schedule included talks from 3D printing luminaries such as Adrian Bowyer, Josef Průša was on hand to personally unveil the Prusa Mini, and it seemed everyone who ever squirted out a bit of hot plastic on YouTube was there to stream live from the show floor. But then COVID-19 came around and jammed the extruder, as it were.

We’re glad to see that an event as young as ERRF managed to weather the pandemic and return to an in-person show. There was naturally a risk of loosing momentum, especially as the organizers opted not to go the virtual route these last two years — but with palpable online buzz about the event and a stacked lineup of speakers, vendors, and exhibitors, it seems like even a global pandemic couldn’t hold these hackers and makers down for long.

If you make the trip to Maryland this weekend and happen to run into a roving Hackaday writer, there just might be some special edition swag in it for you. But for those who can’t make it to ERRF in person, don’t worry. As always, we’ll make sure to bring you plenty of pictures and details from the show.

2022 Hackaday Supercon Speakers Will Inspire You

October 4, 2022 by Elliot Williams 10 Comments

The return of Supercon is taking place in just a month. We’ve got 45 fantastic talks and workshops planned for the three-day weekend, and they are as varied and inspiring as the Hackaday community itself. From molecules to military connectors, here’s an even dozen talks to whet your appetite.

Supercon is the Ultimate Hardware Conference and you need to be there! We’ll continue to announce speakers and workshops over the next couple weeks. Supercon will sell out so get your tickets now before it’s too late. And stay tuned for the next round of talk reveals next week! Continue reading “2022 Hackaday Supercon Speakers Will Inspire You” →

The Philly Maker Faire Is Back And Wants Your Hacks

September 12, 2022 by Tom Nardi 4 Comments

After two years of waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philadelphia Maker Faire is officially back for 2022. The one-day event will take place on Saturday, the 15th of October, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Independence Seaport Museum.

We don’t have a schedule or full list of what will be on display this far out, but given what we saw during our 2019 visit, we’re confident you’ll get your tickets worth. While we keenly felt the loss of the flagship Maker Faires in California and New York, we can take some solace in the fact that their absence has given these smaller Faires a chance to move in and grow in ways that might not have been possible before.

For those looking to take an active role in what’s often been called the “Greatest Show & Tell on Earth”, organizers will be accepting proposals until September 15th for individuals, groups, and companies that want to share their creations with attendees. Participation is free, so long as you aren’t trying to sell anything, and offers a fantastic way to show off those pandemic projects. That said, proposals aren’t limited to just hardware projects — artwork, live performances, and workshops will also be considered. Basically, if it’s something the STEAM crowd would be interested in checking out, consider it fair game.

If you can spare some time after seeing everything that will be on display at the Maker Faire, the Independence Seaport Museum itself sounds like a pretty fascinating place to check out. Beyond the exhibits and collection of maritime artifacts, the Seaport also offers the chance to take tours aboard a pair of unique vessels: the USS Olympia saw service in the Spanish–American and First World Wars, and USS Becuna is one of only eight surviving WWII Balao-class submarines currently available for public viewing.

Planning on attending the 2022 Philadelphia Maker Faire? Maybe even presenting? Let us know in the comments. Who knows, you might just run into a Hackaday writer in the wild and score yourself some coveted Wrencher stickers.

This Week’s Hack Chat Sets The Stage For Supercon

September 2, 2022 by Tom Nardi No comments

While the 2020 and 2021 Remoticons were a blast, we all know that virtual events are no substitute for in-person conferences. Which is why we’re so excited to once again invite the Hackaday community to converge on Pasadena in November for a weekend of talks, workshops, and hardware hacking for our sixth Supercon.

To help get the community prepared for the triumphant return of what we very humbly believe to be the greatest hardware hacking conference the world has ever seen, we invited Majenta Strongheart to this week’s Hack Chat to answer the community’s questions about this hotly anticipated event. There’s an incredible number of moving pieces involved in an event like Supercon, and as Head of Design and Partnerships at our parent company SupplyFrame, she’s integral to putting them all together right up until the doors open on November 4th.

The Chat kicked off with a general confirmation that yes, we did receive your talk and/or workshop proposal. It seems several people didn’t receive the intended confirmation message when they sent their information on, but Majenta assured everyone that all of the completed forms were received correctly and are currently under review. If you put in a proposal, you should be notified in the next few weeks about whether or not it was accepted.

With that out of the way, the next big question was the one that so many of you have been wondering: what does the Hackaday Supercon look like in the era of COVID? The truth is, things are still evolving and it’s hard to be sure of anything with two more months to go. But Majenta did confirm that the decision has been made to limit ticket sales compared to previous years so that attendees have a bit more breathing room — literally and figuratively. In addition many of the planned events will be held outdoors, and the talks will be streamed live for anyone who’d rather not sit in the audience.

Majenta also took this opportunity to let everyone know that the volunteer application form for Supercon will be available very soon, and that as usual, those who are willing to help out will get a free ticket in exchange. Speaking of which, if you’d rather pay the gold price, General Admission tickets for the 2022 Supercon are currently on sale.

As you might imagine, Majenta has been exceptionally busy as of late, so we appreciate her taking the time to sit down with us and Chat. If you couldn’t make this live discussion about Supercon, don’t worry. You can send questions, ideas, or comments, to superconference@hackaday.io and we’ll see what we can do.

The Hack Chat is a weekly online chat session hosted by leading experts from all corners of the hardware hacking universe. It’s a great way for hackers connect in a fun and informal way, but if you can’t make it live, these overview posts as well as the transcripts posted to Hackaday.io make sure you don’t miss out.

Electromagnetic Field Drops 2022 Talk Videos

August 31, 2022 by Jenny List 4 Comments

Earlier this year we made the journey to a field in the West of England for the Electromagnetic Field hacker camp. It was the usual few days of fun in the open air, but due to a few technical difficulties we were unable to point you to any of the talks. We’re happy to note that now the dust has settled they are uploading talks, and there are a decent number up on YouTube with more to come.

Paging through the talks uploaded so far, and there’s plenty to get your teeth into. We’ll start with a couple that should be viewed as a pair, [Robin Wilson] on UK railway signalling, and [Anthony Williams] giving us a crash course in railway safety, and then while we’re on a railway theme continue to [Hugh Wells] on hacking the train ticket system. Those first two amply demonstrate the best in our community, in that here are professionals sharing knowledge with us we’d never hear without working in that field.

Another esoteric talk that’s typical of a hacker camp schedule and which should be of interest to anyone who has wrestled with time synchronization comes from [John Dalziel], who gives us a brief history of time zones and daylight saving time. A talk that had me riveted during a train journey though came from [Cybergibbons], who describes penetration testing at a cruise ship scale.

These are just a few of the ones uploaded thus far, and as this is being written there are more appearing. So keep checking and you’ll see some really good ones. Meanwhile, have a read of our report from the event.