Notices by GeekMomProjects (geekmomprojects@mastodon.social)

In-depth article about the best competitive Scrabble player of all time. Nigel Richards spent six weeks memorizing the French dictionary to win the French tournament, despite not actually speaking French. He's currently trying to repeat the feat in Spanish.
https://defector.com/scrabbles-best-player-knows-no-limits

Getting a little artistic in my photoshoot for an upcoming Make Magazine article. I call it "(Not So) Still Life With Orbs"

DIY lightsaber definitely enhanced my enjoyment of John Williams night at the Hollywood Bowl tonight!

I finally got around to assembling a plastic storage cabinet and privacy tent (to block UV radiation) in the backyard to house the resin printer I bought many months ago but have been afraid to use without good ventilation. I'm focusing on projects to avoid thinking about the current news cycle, so I may be getting more done than usual over the next few weeks...

Had some custom temporary tattoos made to hand out at #Teardown. 😁

Having fun with the hat press. Just made this as a birthday gift for my husband, who has a gardening hobby/addiction.

I love this image of my son photographing the Aurora Borealis from the airplane window as we fly home from Illinois. Ironically, I tried to see the Northern Lights in Iceland last year, spending two very cold nights in a freezing field without success. Plane viewing is definitely the way to go.

@smellsofbikes yes, fair. My mistake was testing it before the competition.

Sadly, I wasn't able to fix all of the flaws (a tendency to explode being the primary one) in my robot, "Footloose", so we won't be competing. However, I'm here at UIUC to cheer on my son Justin and my bouncing 1-lb grand-bot, "Singularity," (pictures below) as well as his team's 30 lb bot "Collosal Avian." The tournament is livestreamed ("Live" link at the "Robobrawl UIUC" YouTube channel) if you want to check it out.

My article about building your own soft companion bot is now out in @makemagazine Vol 88. I'm especially proud to be published along with some of the absolutely coolest makers I know. @charlyn has a uniquely gorgeous pixel clock on the cover, @LaserMistress built a clever and disruptive portable graffiti projector, and @Leeborg has an amazing functional scaled-up Ouija board. I'm in great company!

Re-designed my edge-lit seven-segment digit to take advantage of the super skinny (2.7mm wide) LED strip I found. When I feel up to tackling the project, I'm going to create a thinner version of my edge-lit digital clock (https://www.geekmomprojects.com/edge-lit-seven-segment-display/)

From now on, I am calling my dietary preferences "flight training."

I've become obsessed with this cleverly designed articulated mannekin build (https://www.printables.com/model/622290-dummy-13-beta-on-runners-easier-to-print) and am printing a cohort to use as place card holders for Thanksgiving.

At #supercon I was checking continuity while soldering, but couldn't hear the beeps well. @maketvee found it quite amusing that I held the multimeter to my ear with my shoulder. His image and captions *are* pretty funny, but he may also have inadvertently launched my new career as an LED hotline operator!

The recent flurry of sewing projects has come full circle. It started with a crossbody bag that looked like an addressable LED (https://mastodon.social/@geekmomprojects/110929578697233525)
Today I sewed a zippered tote bag (no electronics, but still cute) that looks like a standard LED. I think it's all out of my system now. Maybe.
#sewingproject #sewing #makersgonnamake

A friend was trying to track down a stranger she briefly interacted with. She decided to look for the stranger on Venmo to see if their transactions were public. Not only were those transactions public, but my friend was able to deduce that the stranger has been attending, and has been treasurer for Narcotics Anonymous meetings for a period of time and even the meeting location based on notes in the transaction listings. It's crazy that this information can be so easy to find!

After several failed attempts using a complicated technique, I successfully sewed a simple pattern to make a SMD resistor phone case. I forget to fully include the seam allowance in the size computation, so it just barely fits my phone. It makes a nice set along with my PTH resistor glasses case!
#sewing #sewingproject

I made a (well-coordinated) LED tote and crossbody bag using the technique of 3D printing translucent tiles onto tulle and inserting them through corresponding holes in the bags' front panels. I sewed long zippers in the lining of both bags to make it easy to access the interior, and attached a flexible LED string behind the tiles with hot glue. A #Pixelblaze controller inside each bag makes it easy to run synchronized patterns. I'll be writing up a "how to" guide on them for @makemagazine.

New, spiky orb!!! Original version shown on the right.