How To Fail At Laser Cutting

Laser cutters are CNC power tools, which means an operator uploads a job digitally and then pushes START to let the machine do all the work while they lie back in a hammock sipping a margarita, occasionally leaping out in a panic because the sound coming from the machine changed slightly.

Like other power tools, laser cutters are built around doing one thing very well, but they require an operator’s full attention and support. The operator needs to handle all the other things that go on before, during, and after the job. It’s not too hard to get adequate results, but to get truly professional and repeatable ones takes work and experience and an attention to detail.

People often focus on success stories, but learning from failures is much more educational. In the spirit of exploring that idea, here are my favorite ways to fail at laser cutting and engraving. Not all of these are my own personal experience, but they are all someone’s personal experience.

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Path To Craftsmanship: The Art Of Throwing It Away

Some hackers build sharp, mildly toxic nests of parts, components, and thrifty finds around themselves. These nests, while not comfortable, are certainly comforting. They allow the hacker’s psyche to inhabit a locale as chaotic as their minds. Within these walls of stuff and clutter, stunning hacks pour out amid a small cloud of cursing. This article is not for them.

http://www.computerhistory.org/atchm/an-analog-life-remembering-jim-williams/
Very few of us can actually function in a workplace such like that of the venerable Jim Williams (photo from linked article). Thanks to the commenters for mentioning him in the previous article.

For the rest of us, clutter is a Zen destroying, seemingly unconquerable, monster that taunts our poor discipline and organizational skill from the dark corner of our minds. However, there is an easy solution that is oft overlooked. Somewhat obviously, most organization problems can be solved by simply not having things to organize.

It’s taken me a very long time to realize the source of my clutter woes. My first tactic was to blame myself for my inability to keep up with the mess. A more superior human would certainly be able to use their effortless discipline to keep a space organized. However, the clutter was a symptom of a problem completely separate from my actual ability to keep a space clean.

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Adventures Of ArduinoMan – The Rudis

Rudis – A small wooden sword given to a Gladiator as proof of his achieved freedom. It signifies his ascent from being a slave to becoming a free man.

One thing is certain – anything that runs on electricity can be connected to the internet. The only obstacle is cost. And as costs come down, the reality of The Internet of Things will be upon us. Everything from cars to curling irons will be connected to the Internet. With this newly connected world will come a new breed of hacker. The Black Hats will move out from behind their keyboards and spill into the streets, only to be met by the White Hats as they battle for control over our endlessly connected world.

And such was the case on the morning of October 16, 2029. The air was cool and breezy when Randall C. Tubbs, a senior police officer at the Bronx 49th precinct, received a call over his radio to check out a tripped alarm at a nearby cell tower. Barely a minute had passed by when he pulled in to the Tower Road cul-de-sac on the day our story begins. The cell tower dominated the horizon, and was silhouetted against a cloudless blue sky. The trees of the forest surrounding the area were just starting to show their colors, with the yellow oak leaves being most vibrant. A narrow gravel driveway led to a small, brown, nondescript building at the base of the tower. At first glance, Officer Tubbs could see no sign of anything unusual. There was no service truck in sight, and the gate to the ten-foot-tall chain link fence surrounding the tower was latched shut and securely locked.

It wasn’t until he unlocked the gate that he first noticed something odd. A security camera on the right corner of the building was pointing toward the forest. He glanced around and quickly spotted two other cameras, each of them pointing away from the tower building. Clearly, they should have been pointing toward the tower and the door to the building… a door that Officer Tubbs now realized was slightly open. He could barely make out shadows moving around from the small sliver of light that was peeking ominously through the opening, suggesting someone was inside. Suddenly, the sound of his footsteps on the gravel seemed to become amplified, and his breathing so loud that for a split second he held his breath. He reached down and turned the volume of his radio to silent, and slowly began making his way to the open door.

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Hack Your Apartment: Keyless Entry With Little Effort

A typical buzzer for an apartment complex.
A typical buzzer for an apartment complex.

If you’ve been to an apartment complex with a locked front door, you’ve seen the buzzer systems. You press the corresponding button for the apartment you want and can talk to the resident. They can press a button to unlock the door briefly, and then you go up to their apartment and they don’t have to come down to let you in. But what if you’re the resident and you want to go for a run without your keys jingling in your pocket? What if you want to open it using just your smartphone?

I knew this was a silly problem, and everyone I told about it thought that for the amount of time and effort it might save, it was hardly worth it.

Challenge accepted.

How fast can I put this together using only parts I have around the apartment? Turns out about 2 hours.

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The SEC Has A Thing For Crowdfunding

Kickstarter is not a store. Indiegogo is not a store. No matter what crowdfunding platform you’re on, you’re not in a store. This is an undeniable truth, and no matter how angry you are about not being able to bring a cooler with a blender to the beach this summer, you did not buy this cool cooler, you were merely giving someone money to develop this cooler.

This reality may seem strange for the most vocal Internet commenters out there, leading them to the conclusion their pledge for a crowdfunding campaign was an investment. Surely there must be some guarantee in a single pledge, and if it’s not exchanging money for some consumer goods, it is exchanging money for a stake in a company. If that were true, backers of the Oculus Rift would have received several thousand dollars each, instead of a $600 VR headset.

Crowdfunding is not a store, and according to Kickstarter and Indiegogo, it is not an investment, either. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission’s rules for “crowdfunded investing”, “Regulation Crowdfunding”, or “Title III Crowdfunding” kicked into gear. Is this the beginning of slack-jawed gawkers throwing their life savings into a pit of despair filled with idiotic consumer products that violate the laws of physics?

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The Man Who Didn’t Invent The Personal Computer

[John Blankenbaker] did not invent the personal computer. Museums, computer historians, and authors have other realities in mind when they say [John]’s invention, the KENBAK-1, was the first electronic, commercially available computer that was not a kit, and available to the general population.

In a way, it’s almost to the KENBAK’s detriment that it is labelled the first personal computer. It was, after all, a computer from before the age of the microprocessor. It is possibly the simplest machine ever sold and an architecturally unique machine that has more in common with the ENIAC than any other machine built in the last thirty years..

The story of the creation of this ancient computer has never been told until now. [John], a surprisingly spry octogenarian, told the story of his career and the development of the first personal computer at the Vintage Computer Festival East last month. This is his story of not inventing the personal computer.

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Why I Go Through So Many Arduinos

I make things for people that can’t be bought off a shelf, and in the past several years I have gone through a lot of Arduinos. More and more, they are simply the right tool for both the job and the client. This wasn’t always the case; what changed?

My clients today still include startups and other small businesses, but more and more they’re artists, hobbyists venturing into entrepreneurship, or people who make one-offs like the interactive displays you find in museums or science centers. The type of people I work for has changed, and because of this, the right tool for their job is almost always an Arduino.

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