Busy hands | Disquiet mind

chebe @ 2017-04-17T12:33:00

2017-04-17T11:35:00Z

Aaaaaaand done! My LJ is wiped down, all images moved. After 13 years, 1 month, 1 day. So please let me know if you stumble across any deadlinks.

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chebe @ 2017-01-18T16:17:00

2017-01-18T16:20:23Z

You may have noticed a lack of updates. That's mainly because finding, and updating, all the image links in my blog takes a very, very long time. Did you realise I've had this blog nearly eight years? I certainly didn't.

In other news, I'm falling down the Quantified Self rabbit hole. I'd like to have a blog to reflect it. So that's another project on the backburner.

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Updates of stuff

2013-03-12T21:26:51Z

Work has been keeping me busy so coherent ... speech stuff ... is little beyond me at the moment. (I'm going to a grammar workshop on Saturday, maybe that will help.) So this will be blessedly brief.

Those are crepe-paper cherry blossoms at the top. I roughly followed this tutorial, only I lack a tree branch.

I've taken to learning how to needle-felt. Here's my first attempt at a rectangle in green wool, and conductive stainless-steel fiber.

I've also been experimenting with fusible fibers (and sheets) together with conductive fibers as well.

In tangential news we got a 3D-printer. I haven't logged much time with it yet but am looking forward to some of the translucent and UV-reactive plastics.

Finally, to conclude, I'm going to be busy this year attending all the things.

April, Saturday 6th. Anime Dublin (facebook twitter) Showing people how to make LED-flowers.

April, Saturday 27th - Sunday 28th. MakerFaire UK (website twitter) Helping out at the TOG hackerspace table.

June, Friday 7th - Sunday 9th. GaelHack (website twitter) Doing... something.

July, Saturday 27th. MiniMakerFaire Dublin (website twitter) Again helping out TOG.

July, Wednesday 31st - August, Sunday 4th. O.H.M. (website twitter) Trying to forget that I dislike camping.

Now to find the energy required to do it all.

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A picture really can say more than a thousand words

2012-12-17T02:04:30Z

I came upon this post just before bed, and now am having trouble getting my ticking brain to sleep. These photos, reportedly the first colour photos ever taken in Ireland, are 99 years old. They represent some of the poorest people and places of that time, some of the furthest from Dublin, and some of those retaining most of the old native Irish way of life. These people were the neighbours of my ancestors; my grandparents' parents. Irish identity is a tricky thing, a nebulous thing. For so long the colonised, the Free State only 89 years old. The records of our recent past burnt in uprisings, the stone monuments of the ancient past strewn about the landscape. And in between only the stories. (This is a good podcast by the way, if you're interested in the old Irish stories.) Then out of the blue (I like to think of the internet as blue) comes these photos.

It struck me, looking at them, how many are doing something, associated with their craft. Which in turn reminds me of the Hands boxset of documentaries from the early 1960's about traditional crafts, with a focus on those dying out due to industrialisation. I come from a people that tell stories and make things. What with the nature of this blog and all, it just kind of resonates. And my, how the world has changed in a hundred years.

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Some days are just sigh

2012-09-05T21:34:50Z

Hello. Well, I was going to tell you about how I'm getting into making bags, show you a nifty little glasses case I made yesterday, and maybe go into some cool Lilypad related stuff. But. My home router decided to bork its own wireless functionality, I wasted an hour trying to fix it, and the helpdesk doesn't open until 9am. Then I thought, isn't technology grand, I'll just connect to the mobile internet through a hotspot on my phone. Yeah, except for some reason all my attempts at uploading photos result in nasty xml-tastic error messages. So I'm throwing in the towel and putting on a few CDs for the rest of the evening. Oh, and things will be back to normal (more regular like) around here shortly, presuming the internet starts working again.

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Well that's cool

2012-04-12T20:39:37Z

A short post, just because I think this is a brilliant idea; a hackerspace, a safe space for women and mothers, and the icing on the cake, child-care! Mothership hackermoms. I look forward to more innovations on the hackerspace model, it promises to be interesting :)

*edit* Forgot to give props to Julie for finding the link.

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Checking in

2012-04-08T15:35:58Z

Hi! Still really really busy, but that should be easing up a little in the next few weeks. In the meantime if you find yourself missing my ramblings (ha!) I've written a short Intro to IRC and Intro to Mailing Lists for tog. I'm thinking of doing another one on website certs, and email signing/encryption, but I doubt they will be the least bit short.

For instance, tog got itself a cert from cacert.org. It is not one of the Certification Authorities (CAs) trusted by default in many browsers, but is a not-for-profit and popular amongst security/computer folk. In order to use the tog website in https you either have to accept the cert when the browser gives you a warning, or import the Class 3 cert before visiting the page.

Other than that I'm just spamming my twitter with links, and not enjoying my distinct lack of chocolate this day. Okay then, back to assignments! ... *sigh*

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In which irc-speak is used liberally

2012-03-07T11:08:34Z

/me is here. /me is just very very busy. But, just back from Vancouver, Canada. Expect photos. ... Eventually.

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A short aside

2011-12-15T15:11:58Z

Half the screen on my laptop is broken, and at six years of age the insurance has expired. This means a momentous event is about to occur, the New Laptop. And I'm getting all excited. It's coming with Windows 7 (which I haven't tried yet), so I think I'm going to have to dual-boot it with linux. Probably Fedora, but I'll have to try a Live CD first to see if the USB problems I went through are hardware/driver specific. I have an existing Windows XP VM I'll probably set up under linux too. And I'm thinking of setting up a lamp stack on CentOS to play around with WordPress. Which means I might have use of the IE-testing VMs Microsoft made up. Also a full Eclipse set-up for Android development might be fun. Then there's also the software/IDEs for my music player and xBees that are Windows-only. Can I set-up my VMs in a third partition and have them happily accessed from either OS? That'd be neat. And a media partition too, which I could set up with rsync to external backup. Am I going to need software version control, if for nothing else then Arduino code? If so, which one? ... Maybe this is all just overkill. Then again, I am a computer geek ;) Oh the things I'm going to learn!

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Checking in again, but with nowt but words

2011-11-13T23:53:50Z

I attended the Knitting & Stitching Show in the RDS this weekend. Actually, in the very hall I had my first and second year college exams. *shiver* It was my first time going, and I went with a mission. One that I unfortunately failed to complete. See, I went looking for fabric, a kind of fabric that doesn't seem to be available in the retail sewing shops around here. And while there was lots of lovely fabric, it was mostly quilting weight cotton. I saw one or two stands with dressmaking fabrics, but sadly none had what I was looking for.

The rest of the hall was full of knitters, embroiderers, jewellery suppliers, machine retailers, and small designers showcasing. Now and again I'd stumble across a stand a little bit unusual, like Colourcraft. More of a general craft suppliers I was surprised to find that they stocked many items I had failed to locate anywhere within reasonable shipping rates. Things like standalone wax pots (originally made for beauty salons, sold for batiking purposes, but which I intend to use for candlemaking), foil transfers, fusible thread, and even Angelina fibre (what do you mean you've never heard of it? To google with you!). Needless to say, I shall be keeping myself busy for the next while. Which isn't hard, as I've been brimming with ideas lately. But powerful all-consuming ideas that have to be written down right now. Which tends to get in the way of actually doing any of them. But I hope to strike the right balance soon.

I got the 'WordPress 3 Complete' book earlier this week, and devoured it in a couple of evenings. Looking forward to setting up an environment to play around and write some things I've been meaning to get done. Ahh php, it's been a while.

Also, I don't think I've mentioned it here before but I'm starting up a reading group, book club kinda thing, very casual style, at tog. Primarily we'll be reading speculative fiction. Some classic sci-fi and cyberpunk books with a maker/hacker ethos, or that look at consequences of new tech. But it will be up to suggestions and majority vote of the group. First meeting is Friday 25th, and we'll be talking about “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” by Philip K. Dick. It's my second time reading the book, and I still prefer it to 'Blade Runner' :)

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Crockford on Javascript

2011-11-07T18:58:41Z

I'd like to share with you a series of talks by Yahoo architect Douglas Crockford from last year. There are six in all, and you can either download or watch them online. They're not short, ranging between one hour fifteen minutes to two hours long each, but I'm finding them highly enjoyable. Personal highlights are Volume One: The Early Years which takes a tour of computing from punch-cards, through hardware, software, and language evolution, to JavaScript. And Episode IV: The Metamorphosis of Ajax which looks at the development and evolution of the internet, taking in the browser wars, CSS and HTML5. Some of his views are a bit surprising, but that just makes them all the more entertaining!

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A little indulgence if you will...

2011-11-02T21:07:55Z

I'm going to ask you for a little indulgence here as I talk about something quite outside my normal topics; make-up. It's okay if you tune out now, don't worry, this is most likely a one-time thing.

( Shall we adjorn to the powder-room? )

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Another Halloween come and gone

2011-11-01T10:24:35Z

Hello again my fellow dreamers, and assorted other readers. It's been a busy month. Enjoyable, but tiring. And now it's over, and in this country at least, Winter has begun.

Halloween was yesterday, but the season began last Friday. I went to a friend's party, and brought cupcakes. What's so scary about cupcakes? Well, you should take a look at Lily Vanilli's 'A Zombie Ate My Cupcake' book. Gruesomely delicious.

I made the graveyard cupcakes, and the red velvet cupcakes which use two bottles of food colouring for a batch of twelve and are possibly more fun to make than eat. It does require two sets of beaters, but quickly begins to look like blood, and be warned it will stain everything! I did find her icings way too rich for my stomach so I've swapped them out for a cocoa-icing that I really like, but the gingerbread is her recipe, and was also a big hit.

Saturday and Sunday then were Gaelcon, and I had more fun than I'd expected. I am not a gamer, but there was still plenty of shiny to grab my attention. I picked up a couple more pieces from Ula (you have to check out her Cthulhus and steampunk-cufflinks), discovered that there was a second version of Deathnote (?!!), and picked up Arkham Horror and Chez Goth (my first games ever).

Then yesterday, Monday, was a Bank Holiday, so I sat home and watched way too many movies. Halloween is still the best holiday all year.

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Post Octocon thoughts

2011-10-16T21:00:28Z

This year was Octocons 21st. But it's the first that I have actually managed to attend. It's a Sci-Fi, Fantasy, and Horror convention (with a great representation from the comics world) and I had a really good time. There was a wide range of things that I wanted to attend, even allowing for the inevitable problem of sometimes wanting to be in two places at once. (Why was there another panel on at the same time as the awards ceremony? That was just cruel. ... Can anyone tell me who won?*) And although I did actually run a workshop, for most of the time I got to sit back and enjoy as a regular attendee.

Something that was pointed out to me, was the almost complete lack of any actual science-fiction. I happily lapped up all the horror talks, was glad to see diverse topics like YA fiction, the issue of ebooks and piracy, and the rather meta panel on whether female-focused panels at cons are actually helping. But where was the sci-fi? I suspect this problem is far more wide-spread as I look around local and virtual bookshelves and see endless heaps of paranormal romance, but no new sci-fi. Where is it?

Also, this was a con at which the majority of the panelists were authors. Published, successful authors in a range of fiction, talking about what makes a gripping story, what makes a good character, what elements can be included and what pushes the suspension of belief too far. Yet none of the people I know who aspire to be published authors were there. Not one. Why?

Nonetheless, I had a great time. The staff and organisers were helpful, the event was well run, very organised, and only the last couple of time-slots on the last day ran over (because they wanted to squeeze in a couple of extra shorts, and some people have run-away, if entertaining, mouths). Speaking of which, I feel the film shorts (entrants for the Golden Blaster award), the Vault of Terror (commentated sections of a really bad film), and the Fandom Challenge (university challenge style quiz) were refreshing changes of pace that added to the roundness of the whole event. I made it all the way from Opening Ceremony to Closing Ceremony and am currently very tired, but in a happy way. I'm left with a head swimming with ideas, book recommendations, and a renewed interest in the entire range of speculative fiction. I'm even already looking forward to next year. Yep, definitely a good time.

*Oh twitter, you do fill in all the gaps: Blasters and script award winners.

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I've been busy, but not very productive. And I'm okay with that. Honest. Totally okay.

2011-09-19T19:52:53Z

Woah. Don't you hate it when time gets away from you, for weeks on end? After last you heard from me I was at Electric Picnic (running electro-craft workshops with the amazing Cat and tog), after which I found myself in Rome (for what I thought was a holiday but featured more walking than I'd anticipated). I attended my first Freshmeat training session (and then my second just yesterday *ouch*), and have come down with a head-cold/sinus-infection which I am attacking with a vast quantity of medicines. I had been holding off on posting here until I got some photos to add, but I kept forgetting to copy the Rome photos from J and the tog websites are in the process of moving hosts, so alas I have no pictures. (Maybe that's a good thing, I was indoctrinated at a young age in the ways of my parents holiday slides... carousel after carousel of slides...)

But, I figured I've been silent too long, so you get some waffle instead. At the moment I'm reading two books that I'm enjoying immensely.

( Books )

In other news, my Colette patterns; Jasmine and Clover have arrived, and so enthused me that I think I've gotten the sewing bug back! But first things first; have to finish that Crepe! I've decided (inspired by the aforementioned two books) that I'm going to go with the last set of darts I'd tried (removing them didn't work out as well as I'd hoped) even though everything in all the sewing books say that darts shouldn't extend above the apex. It simply comes down to the fact that that's the shaping my body needs, so that's what I'm going to do. No more mock-ups, next stop, cutting the real fabric!

[Next steps: (1) Underlining & cutting out fabric, (2) Stabilising neck and arms, (3) Final pre-sew checklist. Check have enough underlining fabric is prewashed, and have fusible interfacing.]

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waves

2011-08-22T17:34:00Z

Em. Hi! So I haven't been around much, and I am terribly sorry, I just lacked the time and energy to make anything new, or write anything up (still have some three or four old projects to mention). But, I'm back now. And with news!

This week is Irish Hackerspaces Week. Check out the list and pop over if something catches your eye. I'll be at the Craft Night tomorrow (Tuesday) working on some project ideas.

September 3rd and 4th a bunch of us from tog will be running drop-in workshops at Electric Picnic! For those not in the know, it's a large outdoor music festival with a strong cultural focus and many non-music activities. We will be running soldering, origami, and electro-craft (yep, that one is me) workshops. Still sorting out the finer details, will let you know when I do.

October 15th and 16th I will hopefully be at Octocon, which is a sci-fi, fantasy, and horror convention! Running more electro-craft workshops, but I reckon this one could be more fun and I am on the look out for sufficiently sci-fi-themed project ideas.

On a more personal note, I've been getting back to skating, and have signed up for roller derby freshmeat training with the DRG. I just hope I don't break anything!

So yeah. Busy, but so much fun :) And simply because it seems all the cool kids have them, I'm getting moo mini-cards printed up; very nice, and good value little cards. I'll be back with the regular project updates soon. Thank you for sticking around.

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I know I left my brain around here somewhere

2011-07-10T18:47:55Z

Hey you lot... still reading? I'm honoured. Sorry it's been so quiet around here. I've been busy with my college project, part of which is keeping a blog. Turns out three blogs is one too many for me. I've also started back to work, so my time is really in short supply. Whenever I do get a few minutes I've found myself reading Sandman and Transmetropolitan (both for the first time). I do have a few little projects done that I haven't posted about yet, I hope to get around to writing them up soonish. In the meantime, have you read those comics? I think they're really good. Do you have any others you'd recommend?

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Looking for something a little different?

2011-04-10T17:56:46Z

It seems to me that we often have a problem simply finding out about the cool things happening in our own backyard. I would like to open up a call to all in Ireland, Dublin especially, to come and tell me about the great alternative (recurring) things that happen here. Not just for the people who live here, but also as a resource for people who might only be visiting for a short time and are looking for something a bit more adventurous than a good pint and decent meal. Let me know your ideas and suggestions in the comments below!

But please note; these are not endorsements, nor a guarantee of greatness.

Arts and Crafts:
Dr Sketchys. Life-drawing sessions, with alternative models, and a burlesque flair, set to a typically excellent custom soundtrack. Fun, games, and plenty of other entertainment thrown in for good measure too!

Irish Knitting and other crafts. There is a lot going on in this sphere that I can't keep track, but this website goes a really good job of it.

Craft in Ireland. 2011 is the Year of Craft. Check out this website for workshops and talks the country over.

Spaces:
Makerspaces, or hackerspaces. Community based and driven spaces where people deconstruct and improve anything that takes their fancy. Technology, computers, crafts, art, music, even meditation, are fair game. With many events, talks, workshops, or simply open evenings to drop by and check it out, I may be biased, but I think you'll enjoy it.

TOG, the Dublin space.

091 labs, the Galway space.

miLK labs, the Limerick space.

The Knitting Club, the Clare space (with surprisingly little knitting).

There are other spaces starting (or setting up websites) all the time, so check out hackerspaces.org for more details.

Exchange Dublin. I'm not sure how to describe the Exchange, it's like the above spaces, but more professionally organised and run. It's a venue provided for use of the local community. They host showcases, talks, a Stitch&Bitch group, and anything anyone wants to run. Bonus, you can always just drop in for a cup of tea.

The Science Gallery. They hold interactive exhibits based on different scientific topics, which are always fascinating, as well as really big talks, often with really big speakers. They also play host to great groups and events like the Irish Robotics Club, Ignite Dublin, and TEDxDublin!

Entertainment and Relaxation:
Tea Garden. Not your typical cuppa, and defintely no coffee. Try exotic types and blends of tea as you hang out and relax.

Fibbers. A kind of hard-rock/metal place with live bands and DJs. Actually two venues now, 'old' Fibbers with multiple floors and a dancefloor, and 'new' Fibbers on the quays that I affectionately refer to as an 'old metallers' pub. It would be fair to say that it doesn't have the best of reputations, but personally I usually have a good time, and they've fixed the plumbing!

Dominion. A kind of goth/industrial club night, usually every Saturday. It has been known to move venues, but is currently back in it's original home, just around the corner from Fibbers. Smoke-machines, light shows, regularly rotating DJs, it's a good night if it's your thing.

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Brief musings

2011-03-31T21:43:33Z

I passed my driving test recently. The world of driving alone is a strange one. It's much quieter for one. So I've started playing my music, loudly. But, then I realised I had to get a charger for my music player. I managed to get one, for about €20, that is completely modular. It's kinda awesome. You've the bit that fits in the lighter slot, and ends in a female USB port. Then on a doubly retractable cable is the male USB port on one end, and a different male port on the other. This last one connects into eight different connectors! More than even I need. I lost the charger for my phone a while back, now I have a connector so I can charge the phone in the car, or from a laptop! It also came with a micro USB (which I couldn't find anywhere else), that I can use to charge the Fabrickit rechargeable coin-cell battery, that for some reason is micro USB from SparkFun, but shown as mini USB on the FabricKit site. Such a cheap, cheerful, and ultimately helpful little device, that only crossed my path because I passed my driving test. It's a funny old world.

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Good things

2011-03-19T23:14:37Z

Limor "Ladyada" Fried; of ladyada.net, on the cover of WIRED magazine. Limor's general awesomeness being recognised shows that things are changing, and all you have to do is tirelessly pursue your interests, and be brilliant. Makezine article.

Leigh Honeywell; co-founder and president HackLab.to; gives a keynote talk on hackerspaces at SCALE. Uploaded here. Leigh's keynote is full of enthusiasm, and I'm struck by how easy it seems to get involved with projects at hacklab.to. She acknowledges that not everyone will fit your group, that having other spaces and groups is a good thing; increasing the chance of there being a place for everyone. And of the good things that can happen when you're open to greater diversity.

Mitch Altman; co-founder of Noisebridge (man has his own wikipedia page) gave a talk on hackerspaces at MakerFaire UK.

It started with Mitch's talk. He does this really awesome thing; at the end of the talk he offered keys to Noisebridge. A symbol of the openness of the space. (It is an actual key, that works, but there is another door on the space that is locked when no-one else is there, and rightfully so.) He talked about diversity, and being welcoming, and open. There's that word again.

It turns out I'm not the right person to point out where things could be better, what doesn't work, or to debate on the direction of things. So I'm just going to leave it here; Openness. We need more of it.

*edit* And here's one fantastic way we can start: http://www.jpichon.net/blog/2011/03/dexy-documentation-workshop-tog/

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My version of a sticky note on the fridge

2011-03-09T14:00:51Z

Just a quick note to let you know I'm still around, just swamped by college work.

One thing I'd like to recommend to all sewists is PatternReview.com. You have to create an account to read reviews that are older than 6 months, but it's worth it. The problems I've been having with New Look #6464 and Kwik Sew #2100 are shared by others on the site. If I'd read up before I would probably have saved myself some heartache. (Not all my problems mind, but general ones certainly.) Plus, with an account you get to keep a 'pattern stash', an online record of all the patterns you have. Guaranteed to be helpful in the future.

Otherwise I'm off to MakerFaire UK this weekend! I am quite excited, expect general squeeing, and maybe something nearly coherent enough to be a report some time after I return. Okay, back to work!

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Where I've been, and Crepe musings

2011-02-11T01:12:57Z

You may have noticed a certain lack of posting around here lately. I have no excuses, last week I used the remainder of my free time to meet up with assorted friends.

Then, on Saturday morning, I slipped, wet runners on painted concrete stairs. I fell, feet first, only about three/four steps, and I'm extremely lucky that I was wearing my backpack properly; it acted as a buffer, protecting my back from the steps, and actually keeping my upper body upright. But, it had the side-effect of channelling the entire force right down my back, to the ass that I landed on. Again, luckily, I'm well padded in that area, so no major damage was done. But consider this; the force was such that when my coat caught against my ribcage the button ripped out and went flying across the stairwell. This isn't to gain sympathy, it's by way of trying to explain how badly I bruised my tail-bone. I can stand fine, I can lay on my side dandy. I cannot sit. Not without pain, and great pain if I shift in just the wrong way.

Which means any activity that involves sitting has been shunned. Which, sadly, is most crafting, especially use of the sewing machine. Then, college started back. The days are long, the workload intense. And all that sitting is so enjoyable! I'm sorry to say large crafting projects will have to take a back-seat for now.

Speaking of which; I haven't forgotten about the Crepe, as much as you'd hoped I had. But limited as I have been, I've had to resort to research. *gasp*

Just what is the bodice supposed to look like anyway?! Unlike the other Colette patterns there aren't any pictures of the Crepe in their Gallery. So I resorted to going back through the blog. It's a pleasant read if you find yourself with time that needs filling. And I came across the post about the Crepe, with nice large images. Is it just me, or does that second picture, the close up of the bodice, have the very same dimpled darts I was complaining about?

Unconvinced that they should be this way I found pictures of a vintage dress with very similar dart arrangement. This bodice seems slightly more fitted, and lacks the dart dimples. But the waist darts don't extend as high as mine either. A quandary! Could it be that the pattern is actually drafted to be not only a bit baggy (understandable in a wrap), but also to have those unflattering darts? And, steady yourselves, was it intentional?

Dear readers (seriously, still reading?), I don't know what to do. If the pattern is drafted that way I'll have to alter the side-seams to take out some of the extra fabric, but that could have undesirable consequences. I have to say, I prefer the flatter, more fitted vintage bodice. Which do you prefer?

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Hiatus

2011-01-14T16:07:28Z

I have exams next week, so I won't be posting until next weekend at the earliest. If you do see me posting, please give out to me and tell me to go back to studying. See you on the other side.

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Music + Science

2010-05-26T21:53:42Z

I own a red t-shirt, it says: "Music + Science = Sexy". And I couldn't agree more. So in that vein, I give you: Geek Pop's Essential Collection for Nerds 2010. Oh yes.

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chebe @ 2010-03-19T12:38:00

2010-03-19T12:44:01Z

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson (poet).

“There is really nothing you have to accomplish in this lifetime, nothing – really.” - Thomas Leonard (often called the father of Coaching).

From a WITI article, here.

In other news, I have no internet at home, all week. The local phone exchange is having problems. Excuse the absence. And hope I haven't lost my mind by the time I return.

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