Tuesday, June 30, 2020

5 Predictions For Wearable Technology: From Fitness Trackers To “Humans 2.0” #WearableWednesday

Forbes has some thoughts on the future of wearables:

Even if, like me, you’ve had a fitness tracker or smartwatch for years, you might still be surprised at how well the wearable technology or “wearables” trend has taken off. What started with Fitbit and the like has now mushroomed into an entire industry of wearables that are designed to help us lead healthier, more efficient lives.

5 Predictions For Wearable Technology: From Fitness Trackers To “Humans 2.0” #WearableWednesday

Forbes has some thoughts on the future of wearables:

Even if, like me, you’ve had a fitness tracker or smartwatch for years, you might still be surprised at how well the wearable technology or “wearables” trend has taken off. What started with Fitbit and the like has now mushroomed into an entire industry of wearables that are designed to help us lead healthier, more efficient lives.

USPS Announces the Hip Hop Stamp for 2020 #ArtTuesday

You can order the Hip Hop stamp from USPS now on their website! This interview with USPS art director Antonio Alcalá comes via PRINT!

On July 1, the United States Postal Service will issue four stamps celebrating Hip Hop culture, born in Black and Latino communities in the Bronx during the early 70s, through break dancing, MCing, DJing and graffiti art (remember when New York City mayors Koch and Giuliani went crazy ridding the city of graffiti and its makers?). The stamps are designed by USPS art director Antonio Alcalá using photos by Cade Martin. Here, veteran postage stamp designer Alcalá, of Studio A, talks about representing four key elements of Hip Hop for First-Class mail.

I was thinking the other day about how radical and controversial Public Enemy and Run-D.M.C. were during the early hip hop days— four decades ago?—when music, graphics and politics mingled with anti-establishment protest and rebellion. Hip Hop has come a long way culturally, politically and commercially as an American urban creation. How were you able to navigate the history of Hip Hop into a stamp series that was consistent with its evolution?
Your question touches on one of the key challenges when making a stamp: how to condense a vast story into a minuscule image that satisfies a broad spectrum of the public. In short, it’s impossible. There will always be someone who takes issue with the way you’ve rendered the subject. I remind myself complaints about the artwork are reminders that people still care about stamps and what they represent. That’s a good thing.

More specifically, it took a fair amount of time and effort to get to a set of hip hop stamp designs that USPS was enthusiastic about issuing.

Hip Hop has a long and rich history, and from the start, I knew I wouldn’t be able to represent its totality in one set of stamps. But because it is such an important part of our nation’s art, and one of our most significant cultural contributions to the world, I knew we needed to at least begin representing it somehow. Hip Hop has four widely recognized key elements, or “pillars”: Rap, DJs, Graffiti, and B-boying (known more broadly as break-dancing). Using contemporary images that quickly and accurately depict the genres eased the burden of having to represent the many histories within the subject.

Read the rest of the interview here and pick up a sheet of your own!

NEW GUIDE: Adafruit 1.3″ Color TFT Bonnet for Raspberry Pi #AdafruitLearningSystem #Blinka @Adafruit

A new guide in the Adafruit Learning System: Adafruit 1.3″ Color TFT Bonnet for Raspberry Pi.

If you’d like a compact color display, with buttons and a joystick – we’ve got what you’re looking for. The Adafruit 1.3″ Color TFT Bonnet for Raspberry Pi is the big sister to our mini PiTFT add-ons. This bonnet has 240×240 color pixels in an IPS TFT display, controlled over SPI. This display is super small, only about 1.3″ diagonal, but since it is an IPS display, it’s very readable with high contrast and visibility.

With the TFT display in the center, we had some space on either side so we added a 5-way joystick and two pushbuttons. Great for when you want to have a control interface for your project. On the bottom we have a Qwiic/STEMMA QT connector for I2C sensors and device so you can plug and play any of our STEMMA QT devices.

See the new guide now…

Teardown & Repair of an Analog Signal Generator #EE

The Signal Path repairs an Agilent E8257D PSG analog signal generator.

The instrument does provide an RF output signal. However, there is also a large DC offset voltage present at the output RF port which changes depending the frequency band. The DC voltage is present even when the output RF signal is disabled. Furthermore, the OCXO of the instrument is defective and does not produce a 10MHz output signal.

See more in the video below and on the blog post.

MakeCode Live with John Park – Today 6/30/20 @msmakecode @adafruit @johnedgarpark #makecode

Tune in for MakeCode Live with John Park! Coming up Today at 12pm PT / 3pm ET ! Live text chat on Discord.

Check out the live video on the MakeCode Twitch page!

You can also catch the stream on Adafruit’s Youtube LIVE, Twitch, Periscope (Twitter) and Facebook streams.

Each week, John Park codes a project from scratch, integrating MakeCode concepts and strategies. Thanks to Microsoft MakeCode Online Learning, you can interact via chat in Twitch and Discord, making it an ideal experience for teachers, students, and parents who are new to coding. Catch up on past episodes here!

Expanding on the popular MakeCode Minute series John teaches fundamental MakeCode techniques in the context of real projects, such as hand washing timers, video game controllers, LED animations, music makers, soil sensors, retro games, and more.

Covering MakeCode for Circuit Playground Express, micro:bit, maker boards, and MakeCode Arcade, MakeCode Live with John Park offers a wide variety of platforms for viewers to learn in both the browser-based simulator and on actual hardware. Tune in to the next episode with your kids, parents, or virtual classroom — come on into the chat to participate in the fun! Every Tuesday @ 12pm Pacific / 3pm Eastern.

Jérôme Lagarrigue’s The Fire This Time

In reference to James Baldwin’s 1963’s The Fire Next Time, artist Jérôme Lagarrigue explores racism through art.

via CreativeBoom

On show at Galerie Olivier Waltman in Paris until 11 July, The Fire This Time will be Jérôme’s eighth solo exhibition at the gallery. “With this new body of work, the artist pursues his observation work and analysis of the African-American community’s challenges within the society,” it says.

How I Built a 3-D Model of the Coronavirus for Scientific American #ArtTuesday

It always fascinating to see the artistry that goes into scientific representations. via Scientific American:

Building a 3-D model of a complete virus like SARS-CoV-2 in molecular detail requires a mix of research, hypothesis and artistic license. Some structures are known, others are somewhat known, and others may be completely unknown.

Building a digital clock with older Arduino parts: Time Cuboid #Arduino

chebe found the need for a desk clock and looked to build one from the parts on hand.

I didn’t want to go buying lots of unnecessary things, or wait until my usual suppliers were back in full swing. So I dug around in the piles of boxes that comprise my electronics stash. Back at GaelHack (seven years ago) I started on a clock, but it never left the breadboard. I dusted that off, and found most of what else I needed.

This included:

Arduino Duemilanove 328
LoLshield with blue LEDs
An Arduino Proto Shield with a few parts on it
SparkFun Real Time Clock Module

For the clock face I dug out an Adafruit Perma Proto breadboard PCB, quarter size (Adafruit / Pimoroni), and the 0.56″ 4-Digit 7-Segment Display w/I2C Backpack – Blue (Adafruit / Pimoroni) from seven years ago. Mostly I’m using the Proto board for getting the display at the correct height. I made my own ‘jumper cables’ with solid core wire, to minimise the space needed to fit it all in.

The project was placed in a semi-transparent cube (shown above). Time Cuboid

Hyperallergic and Daniel Alejandro Trejo Talk Art, Pride, Community and More #ArtTuesday

Hyperallergic checked in with Daniel Alejandro Trejo and we’re so glad they did:

Are there ways you think queer artists and art workers could be better supported?

Institutions, like gallery spaces, definitely need to start making a more sincere effort to help out queer artists of color by offering space and programming pertinent to the community. I feel that whenever an institution is organizing a show or workshop with marginalized artists, we are used as tools to convince the general public that the host institution does not lack diversity. Considering our current political climate, I am a bit more skeptical (and have been for many years) of how some institutions operate when the programs are not reflective of the communities they serve. I know of some gallery spaces in predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhoods that rarely (or never) show works by Black and Latinx artists. I also know galleries in immigrant communities that do not offer bilingual programming. What’s keeping these institutions from putting in the work? Why are they excluding members of the community from engaging with art? It’s shameful.

Design electronics like it is the 1970’s at CERN

Linac3 was built in 1994 and generates almost all ions used in the CERN accelerator complex. Despite the construction date in mid 90’s, some electronic modules controlling the radio-frequency fields in the accelerating cavities date back to the 1970’s. It is pretty much all good-old analog stuff.

The first stage of the renovation process is cleaning (of old stuff). It is always a bit emotional to cut cables and remove fully functional equipment. You destroy work of your predecessors, whom you value a lot, but also reach the point of no return, when you have to deliver a new, fully operational system in due time. And this is what triggered creation of this post.

I found a digital module, which was put into operation back in 1977. This is the year I was born, so I wanted to keep this NIM module for nostalgic reasons. After opening the cover, I found very nice printed board with all the signatures of hand design. I immediately recognised the templates for power rails at the bottom side, and then the traces were hand drawn by a special pen and set of curved rulers to both sides. Those are TTL circuits which were introduced by TI only few years earlier (end of 60’s).

The article then explores how the engineers designed the circuitry and laid it out on PC boards.

See the full article and pictures here.

Milton Glaser, Co-founder of New York Magazine and Creator of ‘I❤NY,’ Dies at 91

via New York Magazine

If they’re talented and they’re lucky, designer-artist-creators get to lob an icon out into the larger culture — Leo Fender’s Stratocaster guitar, say, or Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster. If they’re great, maybe they create two. Milton Glaser, though, operated on another plane — he just kept hitting the bull’s-eye, again and again, throughout his seven decades as an illustrator, graphic designer, art director, and visual philosopher and paterfamilias. He loved New York City, and celebrated it in multiple ways: with a magazine, with posters, and (most visibly of all) with the three-letters-and-a-red-heart slogan he created. Almost incidentally, he also changed the way you eat.

DigitalFruit- AK☉KA

DigitalFruit is an interview series from Adafruit showcasing some of our favorite digital fine artists from around the world. As we begin this new decade with its rapidly changing landscape, we must envision our path through a different lens. Over the next few weeks we’ll feature many innovative perspectives and techniques that will inspire our maker community to construct a bold creative frontier. The only way is forward.

1. Where are you based?

AK☉KA is an internet-based project. Currently, AK☉KA himself is staying at home due to the situation with COVID-19.

I have lived in a few countries and traveled around the world. In the last 5 years, I have worked on a few projects: images, board games, games apps and writing a book.

I believe that the world is changing and soon there will be no need for big offices. COVID-19 has shown us that there will be a significant change in the structure of places were people live and work.

2. Tell us about your background?

AK☉KA’s background is a life long story. As I remember myself, I was always trying to create and draw images. I studied and worked in different places, all of the time, working with people. About 25 years ago, I became a fan of fractal/generative/digital art. Since then, this art has become my hobby.

3. What inspires your work?

FAMILY, LOVE, LIFE, JOY.

4. What are you currently working on?

Currently, I am learning how to create images on the smartphone using different apps.

5. Describe your process and what tools you like to use.

How to describe the process of tree or a flower is growing? It is so simple and so complicated at the same moment. I just can’t stop creating images. I like to try new tools all of the time.

6. What does your workplace or studio look like? Do you work in silence or listen to music while you work?

My work space is everywhere- home, bed, park, cafe, airport, airplane, beach…. With music and without… The environment, sounds, smells, mood- everything affects the creation of the image. There are no constant attributes. I like to discover new things-

BUT with absolutely NO alcohol, drugs or any other stimulators. The strongest stimulator for me is tea.

7. How has technology shaped your creative vision?

It is great that I am living in such an interesting period, were so many new technologies are discovered.

When I was a kid/teenager there were NO computers. It was a pencil-paper age for me. I liked it, but all my dreams came true only when computers appeared.

8. Any tips for someone interested in getting started in the digital art form? Where do you see generative and digital art heading in the future?

When discussing generative art and digital art, we are talking about fractal art, FRACTALS!

What are fractals? They are complex features that are not described by classical geometry. Complex mathematical formulas are used to describe them.

Why are they interesting? Because such an arrangement has almost everything to do with what is natural and social. In nature, you will hardly find any cubes, pyramids or cones, with rare exceptions. Everything created by nature/God is much more complicated. There are many fractals, they are very different, but all complex. They are trees, plants, the starry sky, clouds, landscapes, riverbeds, road networks, coastlines, urban structures, neural networks, structures, crystals, and musical and pictorial works. It is difficult to say what it is not a fractal.

Fractals are fascinatingly beautiful. The flame of fire, waves, the flow of the river, waterfalls, sparks, the starry sky, flowers, plants, clouds- it is impossible to come off. I just want to absorb this beauty as long as possible! Fractals are the world around us. Fractals are the beauty of the world, complex beauty.

Art is an excellent example of how to study fractals. Works of art are all fractal, one way or another. There is an opinion that the more fractal a work is, the greater impression it can make on a person. Classical music is more fractal than pop music. Gothic architecture is more fractal than social housing developments. The paintings of renaissance masters are more fractal than pictures from popular magazines. Any masterpiece of spiritual or fictional literature is more fractal than any chatting in social networks.

There is also a mental fractal- the most sinuous, the most complex in the world – human thinking. Now we can schematically imagine how a personality is formed.

The thinking of a small child is very primitive- it is not yet fractal, it is like a blank sheet of paper. What if we begin to influence him/her with pop music, social housing, pictures from magazines and simple texts. Or what happens if we introduce the child to classical music, views of the famous cathedrals of Paris, London, Prague, the masterpieces of spiritual or fictional literature… Do you feel the difference? Imagine the results of this influence.

It is never too late to develop your own thinking, consciousness.

The choice is yours, how you will affect your thinking, your brain and your consciousness.

If you want your own complex beautiful thinking and consciousness to grow, you will need to consume fractals- then you can create fractals.

Fred «AK☉KA»

Links:

http://www.instagram.com/akoka.art

https://www.akokagames.com

https://ilmazu.com/?page_id=25642

DigitaFruit is curated by Adafruit lead photographer- Andrew Tingle

https://www.instagram.com/andrew_tingle

https://www.andrewtingle.com

Design electronics like it is the 1970’s at CERN

The first stage of the renovation process is cleaning (of old stuff). It is always a bit emotional to cut cables and remove fully functional equipment. You destroy work of your predecessors, whom you value a lot, but also reach the point of no return, when you have to deliver a new, fully operational system in due time. And this is what triggered creation of this post.

I found a digital module, which was put into operation back in 1977. This is the year I was born, so I wanted to keep this NIM module for nostalgic reasons. After opening the cover, I found very nice printed board with all the signatures of hand design. I immediately recognised the templates for power rails at the bottom side, and then the traces were hand drawn by a special pen and set of curved rulers to both sides. Those are TTL circuits which were introduced by TI only few years earlier (end of 60’s).

The article then explores how the engineers designed the circuitry and laid it out on PC boards.

See the full article and pictures here.

Monday, June 29, 2020

Social Media Giants Support Racial Justice. Their Products Undermine It.

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Important piece from The New York Times that looks at the complexities and paradoxes of large social media companies supporting recent anti-racist movements.

Several weeks ago, as protests erupted across the nation in response to the police killing of George Floyd, Mark Zuckerberg wrote a long and heartfelt post on his Facebook page, denouncing racial bias and proclaiming that “black lives matter.” Mr. Zuckerberg, Facebook’s chief executive, also announced that the company would donate $10 million to racial justice organizations.

A similar show of support unfolded at Twitter, where the company changed its official Twitter bio to a Black Lives Matter tribute, and Jack Dorsey, the chief executive, pledged $3 million to an anti-racism organization started by Colin Kaepernick, the former N.F.L. quarterback.

YouTube joined the protests, too. Susan Wojcicki, its chief executive, wrote in a blog post that “we believe Black lives matter and we all need to do more to dismantle systemic racism.” YouTube also announced it would start a $100 million fund for black creators.

Helen Ahpornsiri combines illustrations with pressed flowers and leaves #ArtTuesday

Helen collects the raw material for her work from her own garden! Via Thisiscollossal

England-based artist Helen Ahpornsiri (previously) presses delicate flowers and plants into wondrous artworks that depict the colorful diversity of the natural world. By foraging botanics from her garden, Ahpornsiri pieces the dried natural matter together in a manner that’s similar to constructing a jigsaw puzzle. “I prefer to use fern and common wildflower species as I like the idea of giving something unassuming, or thought of as a weed, a new narrative—and they are relatively easy to grow!” she says. “The marine algae I use is foraged from beaches on the south coast of England. I search for loose pieces of marine algae along strandlines and in rockpools, especially after stormy seas, to avoid being disruptive to the surrounding ecosystem.”

Learn more!

MakeCode Live with John Park – Tuesday 6/30/20 @msmakecode @adafruit @johnedgarpark #makecode

Tune in for MakeCode Live with John Park! Coming up on Tuesday at 12pm PT / 3pm ET ! Live text chat on Discord.

Check out the live video on the MakeCode Twitch page!

You can also catch the stream on Adafruit’s Youtube LIVE, Twitch, Periscope (Twitter) and Facebook streams.

Corporate America’s New Push to Give You Election Day Off by @samstein @thedailybeast

Adafruit 2019 4224
Corporate America’s New Push to Give You Election Day Off –

“There is this endless hunger for CEOs to show that they go above and beyond in support of their people,” said Corley Kenna, a spokeswoman for Patagonia.

…

It’s not just major companies making the commitment. In 2018, Adafruit Industries, an open-source hardware company based in New York City, began giving its 100 employees Election Day as a paid holiday…

The Last Of Us 2 Guitar Covers | Songs You Can Play In The Last Of Us 2 #MusicMonday

Love it or hate it you can’t deny the amount of care and detail they put into this game.

Via VG247 on YouTube:

In The Last Of Us 2, when you play as Ellie you can play guitar. Obviously, we had to play some (short) covers of some recognisable songs. You can find the track listing below to see just some songs you can play in The Last Of Us 2, and see if any are your favourites.

See more!

95 Year Old Karaoke Inventor’s Machine Still Rocks #MusicMonday

Karaoke has been one of Japan’s most enduring and successful exports. But where did Karaoke begin? As it turns out, Karoke was invented by Shigeichi Negishi in 1967. Negishi is 95 and his invention, the Sparko Box, is still running. Here’s more from Kotaku:

One day in 1967, Negishi kept singing as he walked into the offices of Nichiden Kogyo, his electronics-assembly firm, which built 8-track tape decks for other companies in the suburbs of Tokyo. His head engineer gently ribbed the boss for his crooning. And that, says Negishi, is when inspiration struck…. [Later] the engineer had wired a microphone amp and a mixing circuit to a surplus 8-track deck. Negishi turned it on and slotted in an instrumental tape of “Mujō No Yume” (“The Heartless Dream”), an old favorite from the thirties. His voice came through the speakers along with the music—the first karaoke song ever sung. “It works! That’s all I was thinking. Most of all, it was fun. I knew right away I’d discovered something new.” He told his engineer to build a case for it, wiring in a coin timer they had lying around for good measure. He instantly grasped that this was something he could potentially sell.

See and learn more!

FDA Permits Prescription-Only Game-Based EndeavorRx

The FDA recently permitted marketing of the game based digital theraputic device EndeavorRx:

The device is intended for use as part of a therapeutic program that may include clinician-directed therapy, medication, and/or educational programs, which further address symptoms of the disorder.

The MakeCode monthly newsletter – sign up now! #MakeCode #Adafruit @MSMakeCode @Adafruit

The monthly newsletter for all the happenings in Microsoft MakeCode!

Adafruit has a great monthly newsletter devoted to all things relating to Microsoft MakeCode! Full of information for Makers, educators, enthusiasts and gamers.

The site is separate from adafruit.com, no login needed, subscribe and leave with zero hassle and zero spam. Your e-mail will NOT be used for any other purpose!

YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TOO

If you have interesting things for the newsletter, you can contribute! See the latest draft at https://github.com/adafruit/makecode-newsletter/tree/master/_drafts and open an “Issue” or edit & create a Pull Request and Adafruit will know to check your contribution.

Finally, we’ve set up an email for for comments or contributions at makecode@adafruit.com.

We look forward sharing this new adventure with the community!

How $150,000 Hyperrealistic Murals Come To Life

If you’ve ever lived or spent time in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, you’ve probably had the pleasure of seeing one of these murals mid-creation. Cool video from Art Insider.

Colossal Media in Brooklyn, New York, paints photo-realistic advertisements on the walls of New York City. The company’s worked with Coca-Cola, Nike, and Google to revive the old-school-ad art form.

How to Look After Your Vinyl Records #MusicMonday

As it turns out, well-taken care of vinyl records can last a lifetime. But the very thing that makes folks love the sound tone and feel of vinyl is what makes them difficult to take care of well. How do you to it? Here are some tips from Your Sound Matters:

If you’re on a budget, you can get great results with hand cleaning methods. Place your record on a soft, lint-free surface and apply a record cleaning solution. Tap water should be avoided as it can contain mineral deposits and/or limescale that can damage your record. I personally use GrooveWasher record cleaning solution, which is specially developed to effectively clean vinyl records and not leave any residue. You can purchase the handy kit version (as pictured below), which includes the beautiful walnut cleaning pad and display block, or instead opt for their cost-effective starter kits. (The core cleaning solution is the same in both).

Learn more!

In Self-Portraits, 27 Black Photographers Reflect Themselves and America

21selfportrait scruggs superJumbo

Beautiful photo series from The New York Times Culture Desk.

A quiet moment on a sofa, isolated from the world with little sense of control. A visit to a once-abandoned black cemetery to unearth the past. A gentle haircut from Dad, when beauty in other people is hard to find. A show of armor to awaken the warrior within.

Self-portraits by photographers can reveal not only who they are but also the world they are seeing. In a special project by the Culture desk that appears online today, 27 black photographers offer images that give readers a view of America through the way these artists are framing themselves in this moment.

Where Electronic Dance Music Came From, Where It’s Come To #MusicMonday

The threads of music and technology that came together into EDM were gathered in great part by gay black men. If you don’t know the names, you can find them really easily. Nowadays when most folks think of EDM they tend to think about anything but ostracized queer black kids in 1975. But that’s the secret origin. What was the path from then till now? Here’s more from Billboard:

Frederick Dunson was 17 when he first rode a rickety freight elevator to the sprawling industrial space where music history was being made. When the doors opened, the desolate Chicago neighborhood below fell away. The lights were dim and pulsing. The crowd was art-student chic. The music was the style that would come to be known as house. The men playing it were, like Dunson and many other attendees that night, young, black and gay.

It was 1975, and the club at 555 W. Adams St. and local venues like it were sonic and social revelations. By year’s end, the venue had moved to a members-only space nearby that was officially named US Studio, but was called “The Warehouse” by attendees. Revelers shortened that name to “house” to describe the music DJs like Frankie Knuckles — who would come to be known as the godfather of the genre — played there, grafting gospel and soul vocals over kick drums made with the era’s emerging drum machine technology and played at 120-130 beats per minute. With a thrilling soundtrack, the gay men populating the dancefloor could freely express themselves.

Learn more!

The Precarious Future of the Performing Arts

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As NYC begins slowly and cautiously re-opening, more and more questions arise about what that will look like, including how cultural institutions will adapt, or how they won’t, and what will fall to the wayside. If you’re a supporter of performing arts in NYC and other major cities in the US, check out this recent piece from Vulture.

“I’ve never dealt with such a fluid and changeable situation,” says New York Philharmonic president Deborah Borda. “We don’t know whether our music director will be allowed back into the country, whether artists will be able to come from Europe or Asia, or whether there will be testing for the audience. What about testing orchestra members every single day? There are literally hundreds of questions.” And no easy answers. “For the performing arts, the idea of a V-shaped recovery is not possible,” the Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, says. “It’s going to be slow.”

Sunday, June 28, 2020

The Precarious Future of the Performing Arts

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“I’ve never dealt with such a fluid and changeable situation,” says New York Philharmonic president Deborah Borda. “We don’t know whether our music director will be allowed back into the country, whether artists will be able to come from Europe or Asia, or whether there will be testing for the audience. What about testing orchestra members every single day? There are literally hundreds of questions.” And no easy answers. “For the performing arts, the idea of a V-shaped recovery is not possible,” the Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, says. “It’s going to be slow.”

Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: International Women in Engineering Day, Removing Racism from Thingiverse, No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window, & more!

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ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

We’ve got so much happening here at Adafruit that it’s not always easy to keep up! Don’t fret, we’ve got you covered. Each week we’ll be posting a handy round-up of what we’ve been up to, ranging from learn guides to blog articles, videos, and more.

BLOG

Every June 23 we highlight women in engineering who have made an impact. In hopes to share some inspiration and help get #INWED19 trending we flooded the Adafruit blog with #ShapeTheWorld posts! Read more.

More BLOG:

LEARN

No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window

More LEARN

Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!

Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: International Women in Engineering Day, Removing Racism from Thingiverse, No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window, & more!

INewImage 21 1 1

ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

BLOG

More BLOG:

LEARN

No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window

More LEARN

Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!

Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: International Women in Engineering Day, Removing Racism from Thingiverse, No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window, & more!

INewImage 21 1 1

ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

BLOG

More BLOG:

LEARN

No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window

More LEARN

Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!

Adafruit Weekly Editorial Round-Up: International Women in Engineering Day, Removing Racism from Thingiverse, No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window, & more!

INewImage 21 1 1

ADAFRUIT WEEKLY EDITORIAL ROUND-UP

BLOG

More BLOG:

LEARN

No-Sew Cotton Face Mask with a Window

More LEARN

Browse all that’s new in the Adafruit Learning System here!

Martina of Nerdforge does a Bob Ross painting on the side of their van @TheNerdforge

Martina and Hansi of Nerdforge have been outfitting a camper van. In this video, Martina follows a Bob Ross tutorial to paint a scene on the side of the van. Happy little trees!

2020 virtual Design Student Showcase

A positive result of physical distancing is the increase in virtual events that are accessible by everyone. Core77 has a guide to the final projects for design students at a bunch of different schools. Its fun to click around and see the ingenuity, creativity and inspiration of a new generation!

An online celebration to help students gain exposure for their work and make connections with movers and shakers of the design world for feedback and inspiration.

See them all!

Lux & Josie Talk Tech #SocialDistancing

We received this blog tip from a member of our community! Thanks for sending this in Elizabeth!

You can send any blogtips to support@adafruit.com. Please send with links to the project if you have them along with pictures.

This is a little video describing how my daughter and niece
designed and printed t-shirts that encourage people to keep the appropriate
social distance.

See more!

Afrofuturism #SciFiSunday

If you saw the MCU’s Black Panther movie, you’ve already had some contact with afrofuturism. Coined by Mark Dery in his essay “Black to the Future,” Afrofuturism has become “a cultural catchphrase to describe the world of tomorrow today in music, art, theater, politics and academics.” But what does it mean? How to its practitioners artiulate afrofuturism? And what are some ways a complete beginner can get into afrofuturist works? Yet depending on whom you talk too, the definition of Afrofuturism often differs from person to person. Here’s more from Michael A. Gonzales in Essence Magazine:

“Afrofuturism bridges so many aspects of our culture, from African mythology, art and hip-hop to politics, comic books and science,” [Ytasha L. Womack] says. “The name serves as an anchor from which we can build ideas and expanding our minds.”

Artist John Jennings, who supplied Afrofuturism’s stunning cover, met Womack through a mutual friend and bonded over shared ideas of aesthetic. “Afrofuturism is not just science fiction based, but also about imagining different spaces of creative thought that doesn’t put you identity in a box,” says Jennings.

Learn more!

Afrofuturist science fiction novels