Book finished

The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov

Interesting, though fairly dry. Not much of a story really, for being in the top 100 list.

Maker Faire Detroit 2011

Very similar to last year but with enough new stuff to be interesting to someone who went last year, and somehow more fun this year. Perhaps I had more fun because the first thing I did when I got there was buy a hat. There was a square mile of leather in the hat tent and the smell was irresistible.

It's always good to have a new hat.
July 31, 2011 - Maker Faire Detroit (19 photos)

3D Printers

Maker Faire primary mission accomplished; yes, I think I do want to build a RepRap printer, no interest at all in a MakerBot after seeing all the various options there. A Prusa Mendel from MakerGear is the one I think; very good parts quality, the best options on everything, very smooth output. Other models like the MakerGear Mosaic or the Huxley are cute, but they're 100% as much work and 90% as much money for 50% the capacity.

However, due to an unexpected multi-thousand-dollar expense in the last couple of weeks, it'll be a few months before I have cash in hand to order one and I refuse to carry a credit card balance anymore, especially for experiments and toys (this is kind of both).
( G+ comments after the cut )

Camera plan shot down

Damn, I had everything together to mount a second, rear-facing helmet cam last night, and my original cam that I've been using for a couple of months just went belly-up. It won't charge its internal battery. Now I guess I need to decide whether I'm going to hotwire it to an external battery or buy a replacement, 720p HD camera. I'm not super upset since the camera that died was < $10.