标签: maker

It has been said that humanity can be divided into two basic personality types --  the Apollonian, whose existential statement is “I think, therefore I am” and the Dionysian, who says “I feel, therefore I am.” This, of course, is simplistic – there are many other types. One that I identify with is the Hephaestian, whose statement is: “I make, therefore I am.”   Hephaestians are the makers, those who ask, “How can you solve a problem if you don't have one?” We take delight in the process of conceptualization continually tied to realization. We are continuously drawn to the realization of physical structures, or of non-physical structures that have a life in the physical universe more than in the abstract intellect.   We do not claim ancestry of the natural philosophers and scientists, who for millennia could not answer the question, “what will come of this?” Our lineage is from the engineers who, always working with imperfect tools and inadequate mathematics, managed to build the infrastructure to make possible the civilization of the moment.       It has only been in the last century or so that two groups have come together, conflated in the popular mind. As part of growing up in this cultural phenomenon many Hephaestians have followed the lead of Apollonians and disparaged sport, which they see as concerned only with the life of the body, unlike our presumed cultivation of the life of the mind. In my elite high school, populated with high-functioning nerds, the athletes held a low social rank.   I maintained this viewpoint until only a few decades ago, when I came to the realization that I had been engaged in sport all along! The parallels were complete – both the jocks and I lived for the exercise and expansion of personal or team capability and the experience and display of virtuosity. Reward was almost completely internal – one could accept the plaudits of others but this could never overshadow the knowledge of obstacles not yet overcome.   Last year I lectured in Russia and heard a presentation by a Russian sociologist who had studied the culture of the Hephestians in the Soviet Union where entire “academic cities” were built to nurture them. These young elite programmers and engineers, as it turned out, were enthusiastic physical sportsmen, confirming the thesis that I was explaining in my lectures – that the phenomenon of hacking was in fact another manifestation of sport.   Why does one go through years of development, consisting mostly of failure, pursuing the elusive goal of performance beyond one's personal best, when it would mostly be misunderstood by those who had never been there, and when the reward would be only the opportunity to try again to do better? Material reward is tied to such success only loosely -- both types of athletes must adapt their economic life to this pursuit of virtuosity.   We do it because we love to, and we do not yet have an answer to the question of the source of this love. Everywhere on Earth people pursue this same quest, one that will never end, and find fulfillment in the process. This is a mystery.   Go to the Maker Faire and you will see not only the high-tech gizmos that young technologists are developing. Look further into the corners of the exhibition halls and you will find table after table of crafters working in fabric, string, plastic, cardboard and wood. They have always been there, a majority being women. Walk among them, handle their products, and talk with them – and see the world being continuously reborn.   Our mystery is confronted every day in this way not in cloisters but on kitchen tables and basement workbenches by people everywhere continuing to rise to the challenges they pose themselves. For this reason I cannot despair of humanity regardless of the negative evidence. It cannot be stopped.   Lee Felsenstein is an electrical engineer who lives in Palo Alto, Calif.

Wikipedia provides an enlightening tidbit in an entry on hackers : "Today, mainstream (mediums) usage of "hacker" might mostly refer to computer criminals, erroneously noted continuously by the experts during the history, due to the mass media usage of the word since the 1980s and the continuous negligence/incompetence to these days." In the olden days "hacker" conjured up the image of the bad guy, the generally not-very-competent script kiddie who took a malicious delight in breaking into computer systems. There was no positive spin on hackers; clever, perhaps, but not all that bright, they were perceived by grownups as little more than computer vandals. Today, many use "hacker" in a positive light, as a smart white hat who probes computer vulnerabilities. There has also been the rise of the "maker" movement, a much-celebrated effort to create stuff, often electronic stuff, outside of the normal confines of disciplined electronics labs. As one suspicious of marketing malarkey I cringe at this rebranding of experimenters into a not-so-new category of hobbyists. In my mind, hackers do software, poorly. Makers make stuff, often poorly as well. To me, these notions imply a person with but a facile understanding of the world of electronics or computers. The idea of a maker, an experimenter, one who plays with electronics is old and admirable. Many of us grew up as kids fiddling with transistors, tubes, and ICs. Building stuff is as old as humanity, and that tactile interaction with components, circuits, and theory gained from such building things is much more visceral than a class on electromagnetics. I wish more young folks had a passion for making things. What seems to be missing from the maker/hacker movement is a path to professionalism. That's not to say every experimenter needs to become an engineer. Rather, the emphasis seems to be on making something work, rather than constantly upgrading one's skills. To make is a great thing, but to make well is much more difficult. As one friend says about firmware, it's easy to get to 90%. The last 10% is really hard. Ham radio has always had a maker-style zeitgeist. Hams often build their own equipment, sometimes on the cheap, often with innovative ideas. But hams have a culture of increasing rigor. One gets a Novice licence, then, through study, progresses to General and maybe eventually to Amateur Extra. It's fun to see someone dress up an Arduino as a fashion accessory. It's admirable when that person's code gets critiqued, then rewritten to comply with the tenets of structured programming. Anyone can toss in a 1K resistor to bias a transistor, but my hat is off to one who asks "why" and then learns about h fe . The word "hacker" still gives me shivers, and that's probably due to being an old fart encumbered with too much history to easily adapt to what seems a new meaning of the term. "Maker," as used so widely today, is something I strongly support, no matter what the individual's goals may be. The outcome could be an artist having a great afternoon dabbling with blinking LEDs or someone trying to hone his or her skills on the path to a professional career in the field. My fear is a sense of conflation in the popular press of the pro and the pro-wannabe. We all start in the latter category, but advance to the former by adopting a discipline of learning. My hope is the Maker movement can serve as a gateway drug into real engineering. My fear is that some easy successes will convince Makers they are ready to build a heart-lung machine. It has been said that an engineer is someone who makes something for a dime what any fool can make for a dollar. But unlike what the fool produces, that dime-priced device will also work over temperature and with unexpected inputs.

A Wikipedia entry offers this enlightening tidbit in an article on hackers : "Today, mainstream (mediums) usage of "hacker" might mostly refer to computer criminals, erroneously noted continuously by the experts during the history, due to the mass media usage of the word since the 1980s and the continuous negligence/incompetence to these days." In the olden days "hacker" conjured up the image of the bad guy, the generally not-very-competent script kiddie who took a malicious delight in breaking into computer systems. There was no positive spin on hackers; clever, perhaps, but not all that bright, they were perceived by grownups as little more than computer vandals. Today, many use "hacker" in a positive light, as a smart white hat who probes computer vulnerabilities. There has also been the rise of the "maker" movement, a much-celebrated effort to create stuff, often electronic stuff, outside of the normal confines of disciplined electronics labs. As one suspicious of marketing malarkey I cringe at this rebranding of experimenters into a not-so-new category of hobbyists. In my mind, hackers do software, poorly. Makers make stuff, often poorly as well. To me, these notions imply a person with but a facile understanding of the world of electronics or computers. The idea of a maker, an experimenter, one who plays with electronics is old and admirable. Many of us grew up as kids fiddling with transistors, tubes, and ICs. Building stuff is as old as humanity, and that tactile interaction with components, circuits, and theory gained from such building things is much more visceral than a class on electromagnetics. I wish more young folks had a passion for making things. What seems to be missing from the maker/hacker movement is a path to professionalism. That's not to say every experimenter needs to become an engineer. Rather, the emphasis seems to be on making something work, rather than constantly upgrading one's skills. To make is a great thing, but to make well is much more difficult. As one friend says about firmware, it's easy to get to 90%. The last 10% is really hard. Ham radio has always had a maker-style zeitgeist. Hams often build their own equipment, sometimes on the cheap, often with innovative ideas. But hams have a culture of increasing rigor. One gets a Novice licence, then, through study, progresses to General and maybe eventually to Amateur Extra. It's fun to see someone dress up an Arduino as a fashion accessory. It's admirable when that person's code gets critiqued, then rewritten to comply with the tenets of structured programming. Anyone can toss in a 1K resistor to bias a transistor, but my hat is off to one who asks "why" and then learns about h fe . The word "hacker" still gives me shivers, and that's probably due to being an old fart encumbered with too much history to easily adapt to what seems a new meaning of the term. "Maker," as used so widely today, is something I strongly support, no matter what the individual's goals may be. The outcome could be an artist having a great afternoon dabbling with blinking LEDs or someone trying to hone his or her skills on the path to a professional career in the field. My fear is a sense of conflation in the popular press of the pro and the pro-wannabe. We all start in the latter category, but advance to the former by adopting a discipline of learning. My hope is the Maker movement can serve as a gateway drug into real engineering. My fear is that some easy successes will convince Makers they are ready to build a heart-lung machine. It has been said that an engineer is someone who makes something for a dime what any fool can make for a dollar. But unlike what the fool produces, that dime-priced device will also work over temperature and with unexpected inputs.  

“制汇节是一个世界的盛事。在亚洲，有深圳迷你制汇节和台湾迷你制汇节。在美国，2013年港湾地区制汇节刚刚在5月圆满举办。来自世界各地的maker展示了他们伟大的作品并分享了他们的智慧。我们相信香港也有很多maker，第二届香港迷你制汇节正在开始报名。去年，我们第一届香港迷你制汇节圆满成功。今年我们期待更多的当地和海外的maker。如果你想看很cool的玩意，那么请不要错过。 让我们做一些东西并向世界展示。 时间：2013.08.17（周六） 时间：上午10点–下午6点 地址：香港理工大学设计学院，N区，N112-N116房间 费用：maker和参观者都免费（参观者：点击这里做免费的登记）“   先展示一下2012年的作品： Keith Yung -  TK05双子座机器人 蜘蛛机器人SF01L Keith是一个DIY机器人maker，特别擅长类人机器人。他设计了自己的机器人套件，Robot TK05 Gemini Spider Robot SF01L。这个套件正在出售，并且他总是有热情回答与机器人开发的相关问题。   Mike Li  -  DIY Packbot M-Proxy Mike一直致力于it行业多年。2005年,当他认为机器人将成为未来的技术,他开始玩机器人。最初,他玩Lego Mindstorm,这是机器人开发的教学套件。后来,他发现很难扩展Lego RCX功能。他开始学习带 BASIC Stamp的微处理器。Mike也是第一届香港迷你制汇节的组织者。 Andy Kong –  制作小玩意很有趣, 各种各样的机器人和3D的小玩意 Andy认为机器人是各种不同技术的集合。现在他任然在学习。他的第一个机器人在1998年制作。这是他的第二次年度项目在UBC -消防机器人。 然后,他开始建造的战斗机器人(Botbash.com,亚利桑那州),迷宫机器人(西雅图机器人)、自动化、两足机器人(日本)。他的专职工作是给不同的公司做研发。从激光以太网、无线的东西,智能天线、FPGA、并行处理、大型LED屏幕的成像处理。现在,他正在进入3 d绘图,让它变成真实的对象。Andy也是第一届香港制汇节的组织者。   Victor Lee -  FM 电子管 Victor在香港已经有30年的资深经验。他感兴趣的是系统软件开发和黑客,也是微控制器编程的专家。最近对老式电子–FM电子管，数码和变频调速的时钟很感兴趣。   更多内容 感谢阅读！ 更多与我们交流： WIZnet企业邮箱 wiznetbj@wiznet.co.kr

“制汇节是一个世界的盛事。在亚洲，有 深圳迷你制汇节 和 台湾迷你制汇节 。在美国， 2013年港湾地区制汇节 刚刚在5月圆满举办。来自世界各地的maker展示了他们伟大的作品并分享了他们的智慧。我们相信香港也有很多maker，第二届香港迷你制汇节正在开始报名。去年，我们 第一届香港迷你制汇节 圆满成功。今年我们期待更多的当地和海外的maker。如果你想看很cool的玩意，那么请不要错过。 让我们做一些东西并向世界展示。 时间：2013.08.17（周六） 时间：上午10点–下午6点 地址：香港理工大学设计学院，N区，N112-N116房间 费用：maker和参观者都免费（参观者： 点击这里做免费的登记 ）“   先展示一下2012年的作品： Keith Yung -   TK05双子座机器人 蜘蛛机器人SF01L Keith是一个DIY机器人maker，特别擅长类人机器人。他设计了自己的机器人套件，Robot TK05 Gemini Spider Robot SF01L。这个套件正在出售，并且他总是有热情回答与机器人开发的相关问题。   Mike Li  -   DIY Packbot M-Proxy Mike一直致力于it行业多年。2005年,当他认为机器人将成为未来的技术,他开始玩机器人。最初,他玩Lego Mindstorm,这是机器人开发的教学套件。后来,他发现很难扩展Lego RCX功能。他开始学习带 BASIC Stamp的微处理器。Mike也是第一届香港迷你制汇节的组织者。 Andy Kong –  制作小玩意很有趣, 各种各样的机器人和3D的小玩意 Andy认为机器人是各种不同技术的集合。现在他任然在学习。他的第一个机器人在1998年制作。这是他的第二次年度项目在UBC -消防机器人。 然后,他开始建造的战斗机器人(Botbash.com,亚利桑那州),迷宫机器人(西雅图机器人)、自动化、两足机器人(日本)。他的专职工作是给不同的公司做研发。从激光以太网、无线的东西,智能天线、FPGA、并行处理、大型LED屏幕的成像处理。现在,他正在进入3 d绘图,让它变成真实的对象。Andy也是第一届香港制汇节的组织者。   Victor Lee -   FM 电子管 Victor在香港已经有30年的资深经验。他感兴趣的是系统软件开发和黑客,也是微控制器编程的专家。最近对老式电子–FM电子管，数码和变频调速的时钟很感兴趣。   更多内容 感谢阅读！ 更多与我们交流： WIZnet企业邮箱 wiznetbj@wiznet.co.kr