Makerspaces

Is it a Hackerspace, Makerspace, TechShop, or FabLab?

Is it a Hackerspace, Makerspace, TechShop, or FabLab?

The past decade has seen the sudden, dramatic appearance of community spaces offering public, shared access to high-end manufacturing equipment. These spaces are interchangeably referred to as hackerspaces, makerspaces, TechShops, and FabLabs. This can lead the intended audience to become incredibly confused as to why there might be so many names for a single concept. I’d like to take some time to untangle the mess, explain the concepts behind each title, and talk about why I now make significant distinctions between all of these types of spaces.

Continue Reading Gui Cavalcanti47
The Alternate Makerspace–MAKE:SF

The Alternate Makerspace–MAKE:SF

Among the makerspaces represented in Expo Hall at Maker Faire this weekend is one which offers regular meetings, cheap dues, great venues, and no lease commitments. That’s the formula for MAKE:SF which holds regular meetups at hosting business locations. The cost to join this makerspace is a mere $10/six months and it’s optional. How’s that for a deal?

Continue Reading TravisGood
Ubiquity Robot Team’s “12 Tasks of Hercules”

Ubiquity Robot Team’s “12 Tasks of Hercules”

Got a passion project and want to build a team around it? Start in your makerspace! Dr. David Crawley desperately wanted to hack robots and build a useful platform, not an inexpensive toy that couldn’t do anything or a useful robot that few could afford. He wanted his to be inexpensive and capable. To pull this off he knew he needed passionate contributors with the right technical backgrounds so he joined Hacker Dojo.

Continue Reading TravisGood

Why Educators Love Maker Faire 2013

Teachers love Maker Faire because they see how much it means to engage their students as makers. For Teacher Appreciation Week, we want to salute educators who bring the Maker movement to kids in schools and in after-school programs. We believe making has the power to transform education and develop the potential of every child to create and innovate. Getting making into schools can be difficult so we’re particularly happy to applaud the efforts of pioneering educators who are leading the way. It’s important that these pioneers realize that they’re not alone.

Continue Reading Michelle "Binka" Hlubinka
DIY Space Exploration Takes Flight

DIY Space Exploration Takes Flight

I visited the Citizen Astronaut and Space Hacker Workshop in Silicon Valley this weekend, hosted by Hacker Dojo, to see what’s new and exciting in DIY space stuff. This much is clear after just the first day: If you haven’t explored it before, now is the time to start looking in to sending your experiments into the mesosphere (and beyond).

Continue Reading Sam Freeman