Maker Faire 2013

Never go to Maker Faire at noon.

Trust me.

This year, we helped out at the annual church cleanup before heading to the fairgrounds.  And although helping out wasn't a mistake, going to the fair right after certainly was.  We should have waited til 2 or so.

There was no parking.  We always park in the surrounding neighborhood so we don't have to pay the ridiculous $20 parking fee, and by noon there was nothing left.  We walked many blocks.

Also, all the halls were so jam packed, you couldn't really see anything up close! It was a constant herd-like moving stream. I was not happy.

I was also not happy because my sister wasn't able to come with us this year.  I found a good home for her ticket, but still! It's tradition and we always have a lot of fun.

So since I'm sounding not so happy at this point - here's the bad:

Why does having a 3D printer automatically get you a booth?  At this point they're old hat - anyone can get one for $2k or less. There were SO many booths with 3D printers. Why not showcase more variety?  I think what threw me over was Yelp having a booth. With a 3D printer of course, because apparently that's all you need to get in?

This one, at least, was printing action figures..

Overall, the vibe I got in the main electronics hall was more corporate and less "see what I made" which is disheartening.  Next year we might try one of the other conventions going on that weekend instead, though thinking about that makes me sad too!

And the good:

They expanded the grounds (albeit by taking up the parking lot).  There was more room for things this year, which was nice.

More room for things like giant daleks!

The sewing section also seemed larger, though Sak was too annoyed by the crowds to want to stay in the tent for long.

Bring in a piece of clothing, then take a different piece and modify into something trendy! Looked like fun!

I really enjoyed the drone attack game demo.  They'd give one kid a visor that showed only what the hovering drone could see via cameras, and have her direct the plane to "tag" one of the other children running around the area.  Very military, but showing how it works is pretty cool. Plus those model drones looked like so much fun to control, I want one!

Drone with a go-pro?

And some more random pics from the Faire:

This was awesome - you burn wood for camp cooking or whatever, and it creates electricity to power your usb devices! How does it not overheat the circuits though? Maybe there's a cooler?

I want to make one of these, so cool with the glowy light!

Delorean. Hovercraft. Enough said!!

Singing fish/lobster car. @_@

Tesla coils shocking people in an cage! I know it's safe, but still, I wouldn't want to be in there!

This was nice, the diet coke and mentos guys gave away their half-empty coke bottles to kids after the show!  Not bad considering a lemonade was like...$4. Crazy fair prices.

Pretty lantern.  I wonder if I could make a smaller one with the silhouette?

Lego theater. I like the little "neon" lights!

The lego train is cool and all, but there's nothing quite the same as a real steam-powered model.

Lots and lots and lots of masking tape.

And of course, Artoo an his buddy Darth Artoo.

We stayed til about 6, after eating delicious paella and listening to a band whose microphones were powered by people riding bikes.

It was a good faire, but we need to never come at peak hours again!