Lego Mindstorm EV3 Available September 1
We finally, finally have a date. The retail version of the EV3 will ship on September 1 for a price of $349, but if you shop around online, you may be able to pre-order sometime this month.
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Author: Marziah Karch
Marziah Karch lives in Portland, Oregon and is the author of multiple books and magazine articles. Bylines include Lifewire, Rodale's Organic Life, Tech Republic, WIRED, and GlitterSquid Marziah is currently a doctoral candidate researching the information behavior of independent game designers.
June Steampunk Block of the Month: Octopus
I wanted this thing to be a mix of Victorian biology sketch and something that Lovecraft would suggest might be waiting to devour your soul…
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Sometimes It's Not the Legos
My son and I built our first Lego kit together. We’ve got tons of Lego bricks around the house. At one point, I even bought them off of eBay by the pound. My daughter and I assemble them together all the time, but adding my son to the activity was more accommodation than it was true participation. Until now.
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Review: Fujitsu Scansnap iX500
If you find yourself in the need for a high speed scanner, the ScanSnap iX500 is a very solid if slightly expensive choice.
Continue ReadingDon't Miss Maker Faire Kansas City
Kansas City is actually a pretty cool place to be a maker. It’s one of a few locations of the larger “featured” Maker Faires. The other locations are Detroit, Newcastle (UK), Rome, and Tokyo. It’s still about one tenth the size of the World Maker Faire in New York, but over 10,000 attendees is still not bad. If you’re in the midwest, it’s worth the drive.
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Motherboards and Daughtercards: Build a Computer With Your Kid
So when our ancient PC stopped working this winter, I knew that I wasn’t going to build another computer. She was.
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My Daughter the Mermaid
Last summer, my then ten-year-old daughter made a mermaid tail. She’s got a bit of an obsession with mermaids.
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May Block of the Month: A Steampunk Raygun
May is almost over, but not without a May block of the month! This month has a crazy ray weapon.
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Chemistry and Cupcakes
Baking can teach you a lot of things. Following directions, measuring, fractions, and even chemistry.
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How to Make Your Own Steampunk Goggles
Want to turn a cheap pair of welding goggles into a pair of steampunk goggles? It’s the must-have steampunk accessory. Like a little black dress, only awesomer.
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ThinkGeek Is Cooler Than Jayne’s Hat
We all like Jayne’s Hat and will miss it on Etsy but, hey, this officially licensed product is a good thing!
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April Block of the Month: Airship
It’s time for April’s block of the month in our steampunk quilt. This month we’re sailing on an airship. No worries about physics or how much weight must be at the bottom of that massive thing. I’m sure there’s a gear-driven anti-grav device powering the ship behind the scenes. And flapping those wing-fins for no […]
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Vaccines Still Don’t Cause Autism
Another study shows there is no link between autism and childhood vaccines.
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Give Kids Arduino Adventures
Arduino Adventures: Escape from Gemini Station is a great introduction to Arduino robotics projects for kids (and adults who want an easy starting point.) The book was written by James Floyd Kelly and Harold Timmis and published by Apress.
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No Starch Press Manga Guides Make Science Fun
Have you ever read a textbook cover to cover? I’m in grad school. I’ve had to do it more than once. It usually requires massive amounts of caffeine and re-reading a lot of pages. Well, there’s some good news. No Starch Press has The Manga Guide series on textbook topics, such as statistics, electricity, and molecular biology. The manga books are written by Japanese subject matter experts. They have been translated to English and (thankfully) rearranged to read from left to right.
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March Steampunk Block of the Month
The March steampunk block of the month is here! This month’s block is a corset, a staple of female steampunk costumes.
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Magisto Might Really Be the Instagram of Video
Instagram is Instagram because it’s simple, slightly cheesy, and easy to share. Magisto is pretty much that – only with video.
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Review: Python for Kids
Python for Kids is a book from No Starch Press that aims to teach kids ages 10 and up and their parents about the Python programming language. I happen to have an 11 year old daughter for convenient review purposes, so we’ve been working through the book together.
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Does Your Fridge Make Soda? Samsung’s RF31FMESBSR Does.
I have enough Android tablets in my house that I could probably glue them to every appliance I own. I’m also a seltzer addict. Those two sentences are why I thought the refrigerator that Samsung didn’t announce at CES was far more impressive than the one it did. This one makes soda.
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February Block of the Month Quilt: Steampunk Goggles
It’s time for February’s block of the month in our GeekMom steampunk-themed quilt. t’s never too late to get started, and it’s never too late to get caught up. This month, the pattern is a steampunk staple – the hat with goggles. Whether you’re using them to go racing in experimental vehicles or weld together mad science inventions, you really can never have enough goggles.
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ChargeCard Puts Your Charge Cable in Your Wallet
This foldable, tiny cable may be just the right solution to portable power needs for your iPod or iPhone.
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CES: The Future So Far
CES is one of my favorite conferences to attend, because it offers a small glimpse into the future. Sometimes it’s an alternate future where crazy and impractical products are funded and introduced, but it’s a great way to see trends.
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New Lego EV3 Mindstorms Hands On
Get hands-on with the new Lego EV3.
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Introducing GeekMom’s Block of the Month Quilt!
Introducing the first ever GeekMom quilt-along. This will be a block of the month style steampunk quilt, and even beginners can get in on the action.
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Making the Unreal Real: An Interview With Kij Johnson
Remember how I said that Lawrence, Kansas is a secret hub of science fiction and fantasy awesome? Meet Kij Johnson, KU’s new fantasy professor, an award-winning writer of fantastic things, and one of the people that makes the city such a great place for geeks. She’ll be at Oxford this January for the inaugural Pembroke Lecture in Fantasy Literature. Recently, I sat down with her to chat about her work, her books, grad school, and life in general.
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Warning: Downton Abbey Christmas Special Is Spoilerific
Hey, Americans. Don’t watch the Downton Abbey Christmas Special until late February, even if it’s available for streaming early.
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Fairy Tales from Philip Pullman
A new book of fairy tales by Philip Pullman? Yes, please. Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm: A New English Version is an amazing book, but in surprising ways. It’s a standard retelling of fairy tales, but with the context and commentary to make an excellent read.
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Review: Snip, Burn, Solder, Shred: Seriously Geeky Stuff to Make with Your Kids
If you want to spend 2013 with practical hands-on learning experiences, this is is a treasure trove of ideas. Better yet, they’re all cheap ideas that you can do without buying a gigantic robotics kit or huge machinery, and there’s enough room to build on the ideas for new inspiration.
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The Indiana Jones Mail Mystery Solved
Remember that mystery package addressed to Indiana Jones that landed at the University of Chicago? Well the mystery has been solved. The solution is almost as awesome as the package. Ready for this?
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Indiana Jones, You’ve Got Mail!
The University of Chicago office of admissions got what may be one of the most awesome prank packages, ever, and they’re enlisting the help of the Internets to find the sender. That, or they’re part of the prank and are enlisting us for free advertising. Either way, it’s pure awesome, and I’m in.
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