Monthly Archives: March 2012

Wednesday night – Miro !

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I woke up to find Super Tuesday had passed me by. I’d actually forgotten to vote I don’t think I’ve done that many times in my adult life.. it just.. well… happened.  Feeling a little sheepish for not having cast my vote, I sleepily pawed through the internet looking at election results that I cared about.. Amy Lord made it to the select board for Richmond.. I think she;ll do a good job. Hmmm. 2 Humvees purchased for the town of Richmond.. Not so sure about them..  I was glad to hear that our town voted like much of the state to call for a repeal of  the ‘Citizens United’. ruling.  The law that claims that Companies are people too.. I found this blurb on that in CNN moments ago

March 7 – Town meeting voters in Vermont yesterday overwhelmingly approved measures calling for a constitutional amendment to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Citizens United and restore limits on corporate campaign spending.

According to the latest tally, voters in 55 towns passed resolutions to amend the Constitution to ensure that corporations do not have the same First Amendment rights as people.

 

GO Vermont. !. I just love this place.    The best news for me, however, was on a race that I couldn’t have voted in even if I had voted. My ECHO Board colleague and friend Miro Wienberger won a strong victory for the post of Mayor of Burlington !.

The headline made big news that this is the first time a Democrat had been in City Hall in 31 years !. Anywhere else that would be signs of a slide to the left..  Here  if anything, it meant the reverse.It’s all a relative  Burlington has been run (quite well I might add) by the Progressive party since the year I moved here in 1981. Bernie Sanders was our first big time progressive.. and there were many after him. I list myself as an Independent.. but I end up voting Progressive quite often through the years.. and still will. This time, , I’m very happy that Miro won. From my work with him on the board, i know he’s really bright, really engaging, very organized and a really great guy.  I wish him lots of luck. I’m really glad we have a guy who likes science leading our biggest city !  Congrats Miro !

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Tuesday night – totally fab !

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I’m an excitable person..I know.. but I have to say it’s been awhile since i was as excited about a project as I am about the Vermont Fab. The FabLab ,, or I should say Fablabs. will be the first makerspace/hackerspaces in the state of Vermont. If you haven’t heard of a makerspace or hackerspace, just go out and google those words. What you’ll find is pointers to hundreds of do-it-yourself  rapid prototyping facilities that are sprouting up all over the world . The idea is to get sophisticated tooling like 3D printers, 3d scanners, laser cutters, electronic test equipment, vinyl cutters etc.  into the hands of college students, high school students, artists, entrepreneurs, inventors and anyone else who needs them.. or at least wants to try them out.  I’m helping to create two spaces here in Vermont. The first is going to be at UVM in Votey hall. We already have our 3d printer, laser cutter and electronics bench up and running. It’s going to be made available first to the Senior Engineering students for their SEED projects.. and then to the general public by way of Continuing Education programs.   Some of those Continuing Ed classes may actually be paid for by State grants for high tech training for high school students and entrepreneurs.We’re planning a grand opening on May 2nd. More on that as it gets closer. !

The second facility will be at Essex Tech Center and will be available for the Tech Center students and the general public through similar continuing ed programs. That program will be opening for business next fall. Stay tuned for that..

. We’re looking for people interested in contributing money. equipment and expertise. If you have any or all of those.. please  let me know  Come help us make soemthing really cool for Vermont.

 

For news on both facilities  http://vermontfablab.org.. or check out Vermontfablab on Facebook

nite all, nite sam

-me

 

Monday night late – first cut

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Very late as I write.. I worked until about 1:30 am trying to get caught up from my day off on Friday..
I did take a couple of hours off midday to go help inaugurate the new Epilog Mini 60 Watt Co2 laser we just bought for the Vermont FabLab. We’re planning our big opening for May 2nd and we already have our 3D printer, Scanner, laser cutter and electronics station. I’m very excited about it. I wanted to go see the laser first hand. Victor and Jeff had gotten it running.. but we still hadn’t figured out how to mix raster engraving with the actual cutting. Victor and I spent a half an hour fooling around.. (and calling the technician).. and finale got it working !.

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After you figure out the settings.. the thing is a piece of cake to use.. You draw soemthing on the screen and push pring and voila !.. The laser head starts flying around.. and magically your object appears. The laser 10.6 microns.. so it’s well below what our eyes can see.. all you see is a white hot point and a razor thin cut appearing in the work piece. This thing can cut plexiglass, plywood, thin aluminum, cloth, leather.. just about anything that isn’t too flammable or too toxic when burnt (eg polycarbonate aka Lexan) ..

Our first real test was to make a plastic SamStone.. of course..

Here’s what it looks like while etching.. not much to see. but you get an idea of the speed. The cutting is lighting fast at this thickness..

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We are VERY excited abot the new FabLab.. once again. if you’re intetested in learnign more about using the fablab resources, please let me know and check out VermontFablab.org.

OK.. It’s now past 1:30 and time to sleep
nite all, nite sam

-me

ps. Our great freind Debra is a fantastic cook. She’s started a business around baking Scottish shortbread cookies. She’s having a free tasting event tomorrow at Natural Provisions Market. You should check it out if you can. .. We’ve been here samplers these past months , and you’ve *never* had cookies like this.. My fave is the Scottish S’more.. two shortbreads sandwiching home made dulce de leche dipped in chocolate. Really good and interesting stuff. Please come check it out .. and support Deb. !!!!

Sunday – March forth

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Today is March forth ,  It’s not just a date, it’s an imperative ! .. I think it’s the only day of the year that’s a command all on it’s own.. It’s the kind of thing General Patton or Napoleon might have said to his troops to spur them on to battle..

I see it’s aptly listed in google as *Do Something Day !”..  an imperative I have to admit I completely ignored.. I did absolutely nothing today..

OK.. I did do one thing: I tried finding  texts with the words “march forth” in it.. and I found several  interesting ones..

The first is a poem

A Curse For Kings

by Vachel Lindsay  – American Poet (1879—1931)

A curse upon each king who leads his state,
No matter what his plea, to this foul game,
And may it end his wicked dynasty,
And may he die in exile and black shame.

If there is vengeance in the Heaven of Heavens,
What punishment could Heaven devise for these
Who fill the rivers of the world with dead,
And turn their murderers loose on all the seas!

Put back the clock of time a thousand years,
And make our Europe, once the world’s proud Queen,
A shrieking strumpet, furious fratricide,
Eater of entrails, wallowing obscene

In pits where millions foam and rave and bark,
Mad dogs and idiots, thrice drunk with strife;
While Science towers above;—a witch, red-winged:
Science we looked to for the light of life.

Curse me the men who make and sell iron ships,
Who walk the floor in thought, that they may find
Each powder prompt, each steel with fearful edge,
Each deadliest device against mankind.

Curse me the sleek lords with their plumes and spurs,
May Heaven give their land to peasant spades,
Give them the brand of Cain, for their pride’s sake,
And felon’s stripes for medals and for braids.

Curse me the fiddling, twiddling diplomats,
Haggling here, plotting and hatching there,
Who make the kind world but their game of cards,
Till millions die at turning of a hair.

What punishment will Heaven devise for these
Who win by others’ sweat and hardihood,
Who make men into stinking vultures’ meat,
Saying to evil still “Be thou my good”?

Ah, he who starts a million souls toward death
Should burn in utmost hell a million years!
—Mothers of men go on the destined wrack
To give them life, with anguish and with tears:—

Are all those childbed sorrows sneered away?
Yea, fools laugh at the humble christenings,
And cradle-joys are mocked of the fat lords:
These mothers’ sons made dead men for the Kings!

All in the name of this or that grim flag,
No angel-flags in all the rag-array—
Banners the demons love, and all Hell sings
And plays wild harps.  Those flags march forth to-day!
The second is s in the Book of Morman : Helaman 1:19

19 But it came to pass that Coriantumr did march forth at the head of his numerous host, and came upon the inhabitants of the city, and their march was with such exceedingly great speed that there was no time for the Nephites to gather together their armies.

I even found it in the Holy Quran in Sura 9: Repentance

O ye who believe, what ailed you when ye were told to march forth in God’s way, that ye sank down heavily upon the earth? Were ye content with the life of this world instead of the next? \But the provision of this world’s life is but a little to the next. 39 Unless ye march forth He will punish you with grievous woe, and will put in. your stead a people other than you! Ye cannot hurt Him at all, for God is mighty over all!

So… folks.. there’s still a few hours in this day of doing..
don’t sit there any longer.. MARCH FORTH !!!!!!
 nite all, nite sam
-me