Blog
Category: Staff & Volunteer Share
Do Space News, Staff & Volunteer Share, Tech Tips
Adventures in Laser Cutting: Rotary Tool
November 3rd, 2017 |
I have been at Do Space for close to two years now so I figured it was about time to use the laser cutter rotary tool. The rotary tool is a conical-shaped accessory that goes inside the laser cutter in place of the bed. It allows the user to etch, engrave and mark on a cylindrical surface. Since stemless wine glasses are all the rage I thought it would be fun to try the tool out for holiday...
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Staff & Volunteer Share
Meet Sean-bot
July 18th, 2017 | Robert McCown, Community Technologist
Please meet "Sean-bot."
The self balancing robot uses a similar, though much simpler setup, as our Double Robots. The simplest explanation is that the robot is is programmed to see upright as the zero position and any tilt one way or the other (positive or negative tilt) makes the wheels move to catch up, similar to trying to balance a broom on your hand.
The first version of the robot...
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Attending the KC Maker Faire
June 29th, 2017 | Robert McCown, Community Technologist
I was recently asked about what motivates me. My answer was somewhere along the lines of seeing people making something and sharing how they did it. I’ve seen some interesting, creative, and sometimes innovative projects that folks have thought up, designed or even created here at Do Space. I love hearing a member describe the project their working on, sharing their idea, and even sharing their...
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Jailbreaking Tractors?!
June 12th, 2017 | Brie Alsbury, Community Technologist
Tractors probably wouldn’t make the top five, or even top ten list of things that you might consider hackable, but farmers are increasingly finding themselves in the position of hacking the firmware on their tractors so that they can fix them.
Most new tractors rely heavily on computers to control various aspects of how the tractor will run, similar to the average new car. Thanks to a software...
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Highlights from Apple’s Annual Conference
June 9th, 2017 | Brie Alsbury, Community Technologist
The keynote for WWDC, Apple’s annual developer conference, was recently held in San Jose, California. During the keynote Apple featured major changes coming to their computer lines, iPad Pros, and operating systems.
Some of the highlights included:
Amazon Prime on the Apple TV--out sometime this year.
macOS High Sierra out this fall.Features include:
A faster Safari that’s...
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Creating Stamps for the Summer Passport
May 18th, 2017 | Brian Sarnacki, Community Projects Specialist
This summer, Do Space created its own passport for children to track their activities and potentially win one of three grand prizes! A passport, though, need stamps to mark where it has been. Thankfully, Fruitful Design was working on designing the passport and they made matching stamps.
Once the designs were finished, I could use the laser cutter to create rubber stamps. To...
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Learning the Laser Cutter
March 2nd, 2017 | Ruth Williams, Membership Clerk
As a staff member of Do Space I’m usually trying to find various ways to help patrons on their projects. One subject that many would ask about is how to fix various issues with the laser cutter. Unfortunately, I knew nothing about the laser cutter and could not help anyone with it. I decided to solve this problem by educating myself.
I started this project by going to instructables to learn...
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Tech Bits from Social Media Week Chicago
November 18th, 2016 | Rachel Tepper, Operations Manager
Believe it or not, Social Media Week struggled with a poor wifi connection throughout the conference. It is likely the tremendous strain that professional social media users place on the system with streaming and device count, but that seems ironic nonetheless. Otherwise the conference has been a very informative. Some of the information being shared is more relevant to large agencies, but I have...
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Insights on Social Media Advertising from Social Media Week
November 15th, 2016 | Rachel Tepper, Operations Manager
As part of my responsibilities as Operations Manager at Do Space, I assist with social media management. Though I rely heavily on the assistance of the staff on the floor to bring the best stories and images to me, I schedule and craft our social media and blog strategy. It is one of the aspects of my job that I enjoy the most, but I fell into this social media marketing role. I am not sure that...
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Technology at the NLA 2016 Conference
October 28th, 2016 | Caitlin Lombardo, Community Learning Specialist
The Nebraska Library Association (NLA) held its joint conference with the Nebraska School Library Association this past week. The NLA Conference is a chance for librarians across the state to come together and share ideas about library programs and services, including technology-based programs. Because Do Space is a public space and a technology library, it seems appropriate to share some one the...
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