Projects

Application Wiki

A wiki that lets users author code not just layout - see http://appwiki.com . One of the frustrations with Ruby on Rails is that it enshrines a priesthood of the developer. Developers develop "for" users. Projects like HacketyHack do attempt to democratize programming but not on the web; which is now the defacto environment. Why doesn't somebody make a self-programming environment on the web that is social and that allows everybody's software projects to play together? Letting anybody script and letting anybody customize the look and feel of their own areas - and or recycle and reuse and scavenge anybody else's work? It seems the obvious direction; especially with the huge amount of noise and excitement over the concept of the 'wiki'. If grooming our digital gardens is what we do best - then why not push away from solutions like Ruby On Rails and actually empower users to fully participate at all levels of composition; from html, to css to javascript to actual core logic? SecondLife moves in this direction and even MySpace allows some degree of customization - yet the mantra we still see from popular frameworks is locked in a kind of medieval monastery paradigm of the knowledge keepers protecting the knowledge from the populace. AppWiki hopes to invert that model and turn the web into a programmable wiki.

ArtMeetGeek

Games for girls and boys (and other genders) that we want to put up at http://artmeetgeek.org . The idea is that you do little projects - draw something, do challenges, write stories; show off your mad skillz. Cupids matchmake you to others that you should hang out with; and you report back on how it goes. The best cupids can rise to the top and be sought out as match-makers.

blakepaged

paigeblaked

CMS for Makerlab.org

We need to get a cms behind the makerlab site so Paige can add content easily- Also we need to find a way to create a simple project gallery so Paige can add images to that as well.
Anyone that can help- please do!

customized hardware

A service for hacking laptops, cellphones and all digital devices into more analog, physically interactive experiential devices with personality. We take old devices and custom fabrication projects.

EcoSim

Tools to computationally simulate whole watersheds and economies to visualize outcomes of changes to law and land use policy.

Everyone Needs Memory Palaces

Cursory Outline: As we move more and more of our devices, memories, images, toys and histories online what becomes of this content? Where is it stored? On servers with companies like Flickr? On private servers far away? How do these external storage devices not end up being the same as basements filled with boxes? What about cataloging long term? Finding things? Retrieving them? Safety and security long term? Second life offers people a way to create spaces and houses that are more long term than their physical counterparts (well theoretically) particularly if you are someone who has "lost" things in the real world you will be concerned about losing things and loss in general so digital storage can be a kind of security blanket, a private hidey-hole for all of your things. Or if you are a packrat you can collect infinitely not constrained by physical limitations. But how do we then get through all of this stuff? Memory Palaces. Use the simulating capabilities to store "things" (data/histories/devices/ANYTHING) in your digital home. The architecting of this would be similar to the Little Cities Project that I did with RED76 insofar as you can construct your dream home and then place it anywhere you want.

Image Wiki

Visual search for cell phones. A means for finding information about things in the real world by taking a picture of them with your camera phone. Using physical hyperlinks to connect to the digital shadows for things, images, video and text. See http://imagewiki.org as shown at http://wherecamp.org in 2008.

LifetimeObjects

We live in a world of digital objects that exist over time. But these objects exist in disjoint data repositories and the manual labor required to manage them is unduly high. As well in general, the dimension of time is somewhat ignored by most applications. Emails sent out are not clearly visible as waiting for responses. Things have no beginning nor end, dependencies are not clearly shown. The implications of something such as a recurring bill do not affect a bottom line in a clear way. It is non trivial to report small transactions such as filling up the car with gas, or meeting a new client, or thinking of a new idea, to a centralized knowledge management store.

MakerLab

MakerLab is a project to help foster a Portland Oregon centric Incubator for Software Developers - following the Hollywood or Studio Model of teams forming on project specific basis and then dispersing to reform again. There's an emphasis on mobile development, post-web development, small applications, sweet spot problems, systemic issues, avoiding silo's and the like. These are practices that come out of the decades of experience that the core members have had in doing software ranging from video games to web apps to mobile apps.

muxtape for iphone

The new digital mixtape service muxtape needs an iphone version.

I want to listen to the radio on my iphone but i cant. furthermore i want to listen to other peoples mixtapes on my iphone and i cant. if we make a muxtape for the iphone then we can.

ON Gallery

ON Gallery is an art gallery in the Everett Station Lofts. Ben Foote and a small team of compadres is curating and exhibiting interactive art in all shapes and sizes. The gallery opens new shows on First Thursdays. Makerlab holds meetings here sometimes.

PlaceLogger

A small place sharing application for Matthew Stadler in Ruby On Rails currently mounted at http://placelogger.makerlab.org - will move to its own site - relies on the SpinnyGlobe.

QRCodeLove

A free community QRCode generator at http://qrcodelove.com . QRCodes are digital images like bar-codes that you can point your camera at and that can return an link to anything.

RealTimeBroker

Local services discovery tool for citizens using agent based matching.

SpinnyGlobe

See http://spinnyglobe.googlecode.com. Spinny Globes have always fascinated. They provide a sense of closure and a visceral feel that has a kinesthetic aesthetic. Here we are putting together a variety of small spinny globes for various platforms. This work was in large part paid for by http://meedan.net but the core is open source. We renamed it from http://meadanglobe.googlecode.com when the organization name shifted and when other organizations wanted to also use it.

Whereis Exhibit at Disjecta

We exhibited at Disjecta in Portland Oregon. A series of prints from the whereis phone hacking piece where we tracked our group's daily activities using a geolocation tracking device in everyones cellphones.

Whereis Iphone App

For the last three weeks we have been working on a public facing version of the Whereis Project to add to the itunes store.
Nick is pretty much done rev'ing the code and Paige is doing the UI stuff. Go Makerlab peeps!

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