social networking

3 Articles

Hackaday Around The Web And Into The Future

May 14, 2012 by 16 Comments

Like everyone else, we’re scattered all over the web. We would be silly not to be getting our information out there in as many ways as we can manage. We promise that the site always comes first, but you can also find us on Facebook, G+ (yes, we’re approved this time), twitter, and we even have a flickr group where people post pictures of their projects!

We’ve got some stuff planned for the near future that we’re excited about too.

1.We’re working behind the scenes to bring out a new template for the site. This will allow us to clean things up a bit and hopefully make browsing a little easier (searching too!). Don’t worry, we’re not changing the logo.

2.We are also planning on starting some “show and tell” sessions on G+. We love what Adafruit has been doing with theirs, and we’re hoping to join in on the fun. We realize some of you are opposed to g+, so feel free to offer other solutions to do the show and tell, we would be happy to hear them. They will be recorded and linked on the site here, so you can follow along even if you can’t join.

3.We’re bringing back the store! This time, however, we’ll have a full spread of stuff. We’re not making it in our garages anymore. For now, it will be clothing and accessories, but we’re considering doing some electronics and tools in the near future as well.

The writers are also very busy with things on the web. We’re not always locked to our keyboards slaving away. If you want to be able to follow along with us, you can find our information after the break.

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Happy Birthday Internet, Here’s $40,000

November 1, 2009 by 45 Comments

balloon

Darpa has another contest coming up. You may remember some past Darpa competitions, like the 2007 Urban Challenge. Where hackers, engineers, and scientists alike came together to build autonomous vehicles. The game this year is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Internet.

The rules are simple enough, find a bunch of red balloons and mark their latitude and longitude. The hard part? There is only 10 balloons – spread across America. It will take an extreme amount of social network engineering, but it all pays off with first place receiving $40,000.

Ik-a-sketch Collaborative Scribbling

October 8, 2009 by 6 Comments

ik-a-sketch

At this year’s PICNIC conference [Neil Mendoza] and [Edwin Dertien] built a giant Etch-a-Sketch to help bring attendees together. The drawing area is a rear-projection screen, rather than a physical powder based setup, and is surrounded by the familiar red frame with vertical and horizontal control knob. Because the two knobs are too far apart for one person to use at the same time, two people must work together to move the stylus.

To help break the ice the device was designed to incorporate social networking. Each knob requires that an RFID (embedded in the conference badges) be scanned by the person controlling it. Both users are then connected as friends through a social network and when they’re done “making art”, the beauty of their creation is delivered to them via email.

We don’t know about you, but our etch-a-sketch attempts have always been crappy. There are some folks who can turn out a masterpiece on the thing, but this is really just meant to grab your interest for a minute or two and help you meet some people. One feature that should be noted, this giant device requires shaking to erase the image.