A Los Angeles Hackerspace
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Enter the Game Engine
Posted on November 12th, 2010 • Filed under Events, News & Updates, Uncategorized • 2 Comments
After Jok did an awesome job with a Homebrew Game class we were hooked. Video games have come a long way since Pong and Wolfenstein. We might be tackling those in the next console gaming class, but what about Doom? Doom marked a revolution in game design and customization. I don’t know about you, but I spent more creating levels for Doom than I did actually playing it. On November 17th CrashSpace will host an introductory talk about game engines and what makes the game behind your modern games tick.
Today’s games offer players fully immersive virtual worlds rich with realistic graphics, physics, 3-Dimensional sound and artificial intelligence. If you want learn how to build and use an engine yourself, or you simply have always wondered how these complex games are made, then join speaker Jean-Philippe Steinmetz, of Trilogy Studios, as he provides an introduction to the game engine. In this talk he will provide an in-depth look at the architecture behind a typical game engine including its motivations and history by looking at existing technologies as case studies.
8p Nov 17th at CrashSpace (link). FREEE for members. $15 suggested donation for non-members
prototype for a jacob's ladder.
Posted on October 18th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • No Comments
We put together a makeshift jacob’s ladder tonight for fun at Radio Mondays, using a 7.5 kv neon transformer.
This is two brass tubes (one bent to put the arc point above the temporary frame), carrying high voltage arc just to the point of being capable of jumping. (the rule of thumb is 1mm per 3kv). The convection of the superheated air pulls the arc upwards, until it can’t sustain the arc, and it breaks.
Things were a little fiddly, as you can see in the above video, so we pulled out at 12kv transformer, to see if more power improved things.
The larger transformer seemed to help:
MEGA TAKE APART (October 9th)
Posted on October 8th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • No Comments
As you may have noticed from the calendar, it’s that time again.
Electronics live a fast life. They’re useful, and exciting and shiny, and then they’re either broken or useless all too quickly. And you can’t just toss them in the garbage because they’re full of weird stuff.
But there is hope!
Through the use of 21st century super-science, old electronics, books, computers, and plastic bits can go on to live a useful life, being repaired, modified for new use, or harvested for valuable components, the remainder being safely disposed of via an accredited e-waste recycling service.
Donations help us by both giving us stock to use in awesome projects, and spare parts for other objects, and by allowing us to pick the best bits out for use and storage, and recycling the rest, which is good for our storage space, and the environment.
This Saturday from 12 – 4, I’ll be accepting and processing donations at the space. This also serves the secondary function of giving members a chance to come down and pick through the treasure, in case there’s something interesting they want for themselves, or would like to make sure I keep at the space for a future project.
Hello world!
Posted on October 7th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • 1 Comment
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!
Simon Kit Build Night, 8pm Sept 15
Posted on August 31st, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • 2 Comments
The next Kit Build Night is 8pm, September 15. The kit is the Simon Kit from SparkFun:
- SparkFun Simon Kit page
- Assembly instructions PDF
This is a really fun kit. It blinks, it makes noises, and it’s Arduino-compatible.
Kit Build Nights are open to the public. Everyone pays for the kit, non-members pay an additional $10+ donation to have access to our tools and expertise to help build the kit. We all build the kit together. At the end of the night, you’ve built something cool you can take home and play with.
Costs: $25 for members, $35+ for non-members. (give what you can, we need it 
If you’re interested in a kit, contact tod at todbot.com to reserve one.
We only have 15 kits available. Payment is cash at the door on Weds night.
Tonight: Handmade Music LA
Posted on June 25th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • 1 Comment
There’s a little bit of cross-posting going on around this little event we’re having here, but we want to make sure that you (yes, YOU! No, not the person behind you, YOU) come out and see what we’ve got going on.
There will be hacked acoustic instruments.
There will be blinking lights.
There will be repurposed MakerBots.
There will be noise.
There will be melody.
There will be fun!
More info is at http://handmademusic.noisepages.com, but all you really need to know is, be at CRASH Space tonight at 8.
In the meantime, here’s a little preview of the Guitamaton, one of the instruments that will be on display tonight.
Come by and say hello!
The Joy Of Wire: June 3
Posted on May 31st, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • 3 Comments
This Thursday, June 3, Steve Lampen will be giving his Joy Of Wire presentation at Crash Space.
Steve has given this talk dozens of times as a special presentation for his employer, Belden, the leading manufacturer of cable for the broadcast and entertainment industries. Now he gives it to a larger audience. This thought-provoking presentation covers the march of technology, focusing on those with lack of vision that stood in the way of progress, and on the technologies that has been lost and rediscovered. He covers subjects as varied as Aztec basketball and the Big Bang, and challenges his audience about their own lack of vision and where we are going. Are you ready for tomorrow? There are ethical and moral questions rapidly coming which many do not see or understand. And, believe it or not, he brings the journey back to the subject of wire and cable.
Steve Lampen has worked for Belden for nineteen years and is currently Multimedia Technology Manager and also Product Line Manager for Entertainment Products. Prior to Belden, Steve had an extensive career in radio broadcast engineering and installation, film production, and electronic distribution. Steve holds an FCC Lifetime General License (formerly a First Class FCC License) and is an SBE Certified Radio Broadcast Engineer. On the data side he is a BICSI Registered Communication Distribution Designer. His latest book, “The Audio-Video Cable Installer’s Pocket Guide” is published by McGraw-Hill. His column “Wired for Sound” appears in Radio World Magazine.
Talk starts at 8pm, open to the public. Free for members $10 suggested donations for non-members.
Radio Mondays: amateur achievements
Posted on May 25th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • No Comments
Given this last weekend’s (by all accounts) wildly successful maker faire, at Radio Mondays yesterday we decided to highlight amateur projects through history. This turned into a quick and dirty retrospective of Radio amateurs in general, (or at least the parts that struck my fancy). It seemed popular with the attendees, but unfortunately I didn’t record it. Here’s the slide outline of the presentation, just remember each slide had at least ten minutes of expansion and side notes.
Click through for fancy presentation player.
click it
Evil Mad Scientists LA Meetup! Sunday, 6-11 PM, 11-Apr-2010
Posted on April 9th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • 3 Comments
Evil comes to Crash Space, yay!
Our good friends at Evil Mad Science Laboratories are coming to LA, and they want to hang out with us for an evening. Open to everyone, but of course if you’re not a member, we would really appreciate donations.
As they say:
If you’re unfamiliar with EMSL, they created the bristlebot, which we demo’d at Crash Space a few weeks ago. They also created the Larson Scanner LED Cylon/Knight rider kit we used for the first Speed Make competition. They’ve been doing so many cool things that it’s difficult to list them all. Needless to say, they’ve been featured in MAKE magazine multiple times.
I recommend anyone who has a cool project to bring it in and we can have lots of fun comparing them all.
We’ll have some refreshments and snacks too, because it’s not hacking unless you’re getting cheetos dust on your circuit.
MEGA TAKE APART – this saturday. – the 13th. (tomorrow, I guess)
Posted on March 12th, 2010 • Filed under Uncategorized • No Comments
Every once in a great while, you can actually get too much of a good thing.
We have reached that moment now at crashspace. We’ve been so blessed by great donations of hardware and parts that we’ve got to get up and start doing something with them!
So this weekend, and the second saturday of every month thereafter, we’re having a spare parts party. Come in, bring your unwanted gear, and we’ll sort, spindle, mutilate, and brainstorm how we can best use (and abuse) them and their precious pieces. If you see something you want, members get first dibs, but guests can bring home the bacon for a token donation (to be determined by the member on-hand).
We’ve already got a bunch of stuff to sort and disassemble for parts for storage and use, but I’ve got a sneaking suspicion there are some even cooler bits out there that could use a good home.
I’ll be wielding the pliers and soldering iron in the front room from 10am until midnight, and there will be steady flow of members in and out through the day. So stop by if you’ve got old gear you can’t use anymore, or if you want to pick through our extensive collection of old computers, cables, wires, bits, and pieces.
(also, as staff librarian, I would be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to pimp our fledgling technical library. If you’ve got books to donate, we’re in full-on collections mode. the older and mustier the better!)
PS: We’re well aware of the issues involved in disposing of the complicated and sometimes toxic pieces of industrial whimsy that are our electronic lives. In addition to the swap meet fun and games, we’ll be sorting and prepping unwanted stuff for recycling, reuse, and proper disposal, by material. So if you’ve got stuff you don’t know how to dispose of properly, bring it in, and we’ll take care of e-waste, mixed plastics, chemicals, and strange metals. It’s the responsible thing to do.
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