Sounds like a cool event.  And I'm glad the concept of do-it-yourself
technology is getting so popular that PBS is able to fund a "Make" TV
Show.

But I'm wondering if this "Make" thing is starting to get too big, and
in so doing, is starting to lose its purpose.

First, I'd love to make it to SMM on Saturday to see these "Make"
experts display their stuff.  But I can't really justify the $60 for 4
hours of entertainment that this would give my wife and 3 kids -- $47
for tickets, $10 for parking, and some change for snacks.  "Make" is
supposed to be about doing free stuff yourself.  Something about
paying $60 to watch someone else do it seems to be a little misguided.

Then, there's the TV show.  I'm glad it's popular.  But if the point
of Make is to do stuff yourself, what's the point of watching someone
else do stuff from your couch?

I wish there was more opportunities to get involved in real,
community-based, Make stuff in the Twin Cities.  That is what the
original Make concept was based on.  Leonardo's Basement is in that
vein, but even they are a little expensive for a family on a budget.
There is a Free Geek group trying to get started in the Twin Cities --
I wish they could find a good location so they could get off the
ground.

I wish the SMM Make exibit well, and hope there will be more.  But I
think I'll be spending my Saturday afternoon playing around with old
toilet paper tubes, 2 x 4 blocks and some rubber bands with my 3 boys.
 That is real Make stuff and a lot of fun.  And it won't cost us $60.
I just wish there were more opportunities do that with others in the
Twin Cities.

Curtis


On Wed, Mar 11, 2009 at 8:18 PM, Jack Ungerleider <jack at jacku.com> wrote:
> I do work for the Science Museum, as a volunteer, and I'll encourage
> people to go as well. If I didn't have a Linux meeting to run Saturday
> morning I'd probably be working the event.
>
> If you go, have fun.
>
> Jack
>
>> Not exactly a Linux Topic, but I thought you other hackers would enjoy
>> this.
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> MAKE: Day
>>
>> Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
>> at the Science Museum of Minnesota
>>
>> Celebrate the ingenuity and inventiveness in our community. Make:
>> television, Geek Squad® and the Science Museum of Minnesota join forces
>> to create a new event giving local engineers, artists, tinkerers, and
>> inventors the opportunity to showcase their Do-It-Yourself creations to
>> museum visitors.
>>
>> This family-friendly event features arts, electronics, musical
>> performances, green technology, and crafting. Create glowing shadows
>> using flashes of light, meet the inventor of Rollerblades and Kong Pong,
>> listen to the mad scientists of industrial percussion, Savage Aural
>> Hotbed, and much more!
>>
>> Festivities will take place throughout the museum's exhibit galleries.
>> The event is included in the regular admission price.
>>
>> http://www.smm.org/makeday/
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>> NOTE: I don't work for Science Museum, or MAKE or anyone like that.
>> Just thought some of you other hacker out there would be interested in
>> this.
>>
>> ==>brian.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
>> tclug-list at mn-linux.org
>> http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list
>>
>
>
> --
> Jack Ungerleider
> jack at jacku.com
> http://www.jacku.com
>
> _______________________________________________
> TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota
> tclug-list at mn-linux.org
> http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list
>