Overhanging Desk Work Light

The SheekGeek office doesn’t have very good lighting and because of this, working on things at my work desk is always tough.  I’ve tried a lot of different solutions to this problem such as the lighted helping hands set-up, sitting a small fluorescent light on top of my parts organizer, and even hanging the lamp from a couple of the bins on the top row of the parts organizer.  None of these provided a good solution.  The fluorescent lamp was rather blinding, and with every solution, my hands cast shadows on what I’m working on.  This lead me to finally come up with a great working solution to my problem that casts no shadows.

A couple of years ago when I wrote for Hackaday I did an article about the Hacker’s Soldering Station. Since then, that station became too bulky and impractical for my office.  I needed something that was easier to move, or possibly break down to take up less space.  I looked around at what I had on hand and slapped together this quick fix that is the perfect solution for my needs.

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Create an Instrument – Easier than Lemon Pie

After baking a cheesecake, my husband cut off the top to the lemon juice container.  It turns out that the resulting plastic container creates the perfect jug-like instrument.  Because it is plastic you can easily squeeze the “lemon” to create different sounds.  Just like a real jug instrument, you can also add water to make different notes.  I wonder if you can add holes to create a ocarina-like instrument?  Perhaps that will be another post…

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Rocketry Of Central Carolinas – Rocket Launch Awesomeness

The nose cone is saved!

The Rocketry of Central Carolina (ROCC) hosts rocket launches using their rocket pad for rockets from 1/4 A motor size all the way up to gigantic K size motors.   Adam and I have gone several times just to watch the launches, and a few times Adam has launched his own rockets.  I much prefer this to the times he used the car battery to launch a few homemade rockets at our home.  Watching rocket launches is free and a small donation is recommended if you use the ROCC launchpad.  See some of our ROCC adventures after the jump.

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NC Maker Faire – A Teacher’s Perspective

Scrap Exchange

Now that some time has passed, I am able to reflect thoughtfully and professionally over the Maker Faire that was held in Durham on Sunday, April 25th.

From a teacher’s perspective, four makers in particular presented things I just “need” to have in my classroom.  This is my wish list:

  • Classroom Visits for “Scrap” from the ScrapExchange
  • Leatherbound Books
  • ShopBot Tyro
  • DIY Multi-Touch Screen

Find reasons and more information about each of my choices after the jump.

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My Review of Viovio

An example of a page spreadThis summer I had an AMAZING wedding that happened very much in part because of my dad – who also happens to be my source of inspiration for this post.  Of course I wanted to thank my dad in a special way, so I decided to create a personalized scrapbook, cataloging all of his visits and of course, my wedding.  This post will serve to overview my experience with viovio, from uploading my book, placing my order, to receiving my order and beyond…

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