Maker Camp on YouTube

Here is our little segment from Maker Camp today:

Had a couple of glitches, but everything turned out ok. I really rushed out a super rough demo of drawing. I'm a really loose and lazy artist, but even this was a bit too loose for my taste.... But got it out quickly an idea of a character, which was the point of the demo :)

MAKE also posted a 3D color print of Jet Vac compared to production toy:

http://blog.makezine.com/2012/08/23/skylanders-monsters-swoop-into-maker-camp/

And lastly, to see the speed drawing of original skylanders, check it out here: http://crabfuartworks.blogspot.com/2011/10/skylanders-speed-drawing.html

Exploratorium Webcast: Toys

Thanks to everyone who came out to the Open Make show this weekend at the Exploratorium! And if you missed it, here is the webcast, where I talked about my steam and electric robots hobby, and Skylanders toys for work. My son wanted to be up there with me. Somebody needed a nap! So instead of being a distraction, I just brought him to the stage. He was totally happy just being up there with me, I guess he didn't get my stage fright genes! Anyway, enjoy the webcast, I was the second speaker, about 16 minutes in, but I strongly recommend watching the whole thing from start to end. Update, the Exploratorium had just uploaded video of my section only, shown below. However, I'd still recommend to check out the entire webcast!

Not only was it an honor to be part of Open Make and the Exploratorium, but it was great to meet the amazing toy makers.

Also, some of my steam powered and electric robots, are on display in the tinkering studio for the next couple of weeks: Steam powered R2, Steam Walker, Steam Centipede, Steam Turtle, couple of the Swashbots, and the Putterbot:

On Modern Marvels

Modern Marvels - Super Steam

For those of you interested in seeing me make a fool out of myself on tv... I'll be on Modern Marvels tonight on the History Channel! This was filmed almost 2 years ago, but finally getting aired. I don't remember much of what I said or did, but I do remember that one of the machines had boiler issues and would not run well. So hopefully they cut that part out :) The episode is called "Super Steam"

Super Steam

Premiere Date: 05/27/2010

It's full steam ahead when we drop in at Jay Leno's garage as Jay fires up two of his classic steam cars and takes viewers for a couple of rides. Jay also shows off his 11-ton steam engine built in 1860, back when pigs had to be slaughtered to keep it lubricated. In northern Nevada, fire up a coal burning boiler and get a 100-year-old steam locomotive chugging across the rugged landscape. In New Orleans, board an authentic paddlewheel steamboat. Trek to the Southern California desert where geothermal steam rushes up from the ground and drives electricity producing turbines, powering over 300,000 homes. In New York City, find out why manmade steam surges into some of the world's most famous skyscrapers. Steam clean some very dirty machines, and do a little laundry, too. And ride a steam-driven carousel and play with some strange, steam-powered robots that are part of a movement called--what else--"steampunk."

Art + Science Now

Just got this book "Art + Science Now", my Steam walker got a thumbnail appearance!

Art + Science Now; How scientific and technological innovation are becoming key to a 21st-century aesthetics. By Stephen Wilson

Magazine Coverage

Here are the magazine / newspaper coverage of my tinkerings over the past few years. I've been meaning to gather up the printed coverage for a while now, and finally got around to doing so today. I also wanted to wait until all of them were out of print before showing them. It's quite impressive when you put them all in one place, but they happened slowly over time. I'm very honored to have been in some of my personal favorite printed magazines, even ended up on a cover! It's all still very surreal to me.

Click on the picture to see the magazines