Nerd Stalker

Interview with CEO of TechShop , Mark Hatch at this years Maker Faire in San Mateo. From the TechShop site, "TechShop is a membership-based workshop that provides members with access to tools and equipment, instruction, and a community of creative and supportive people so they can build the things they have always wanted to make. You can think of TechShop like a fitness club, but with tools and equipment instead of exercise equipment. It is sort of like a Kinko's for makers, or a Xerox PARC for the rest of us. TechShop is designed for everyone, regardless of their skill level. TechShop is perfect for inventors, makers, hackers, tinkerers, artists, roboteers, families, entrepreneurs, youth groups, FIRST robotic teams, arts and crafts enthusiasts, and anyone else who wants to be able to make things that they dream up but don't have the tools, space or skills. TechShop provides you with access to a wide variety of machinery and tools including milling machines and ...

We interview John Schimmel at Maker Faire in San Mateo, CA. John is adjunct professor at the Interactive Telecommunications Program at NYU and teacher of Developing Assistive Technology. RAMPS is a wheelchair DJ interface - the left wheel fades between tracks while the right wheel scratches the music. Users bring their existing wheelchair skills to the show, RAMPS detects the speed and direction of each wheel. The wheelchair becomes an interface to music, games and new computer interactions. From John's Blog , " The idea for Ramps came from an 18 year old boy with cerebral palsy who called himself E-Money (spelled E$). He is part of the hip-hop culture, rapping with the other boys or to the nurses as they went to therapy. The boys had amazing wheelchair skills, swarming through the hallways in packs without incident. I wanted to develop something that could use the existing wheelchair skills. I developed Ramps with several classmates at the Interactive Telecommunications Progr...

(2 mins) While at the ever amazing Maker Faire I stumbled an as of yet to be launched startup called Rentalic. Rentalic enables online person-to-person renting between friends, family and neighbors. The company is currently developing an online rental platform that will support a marketplace where Owners can post items for rent and Borrowers can search items to rent. By offering a wide assortment of products and services that are conveniently located and cost effective, Rentalic claims it can provide a high value service to local communities.