makebright | making stuff in waterloo

Hub Haps #001-bucket list

Posted on August 21, 2014 by dw

Yesterday at the Communitech Hub, out on Francis Street, Iain Klugman and John Baker, CEOs of Communitech and Desire2Learn respectively, got doused by this eager crew. Of course the good cause was the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. With all the stills/video of the people on the receiving end of this icy payload, I thought I’d mix it up and show the bucket bearers.

This is a good example of the serendipitous fun that happens at the Hub. Since I’m now camped out here most days, I’m kicking off a Hub Haps series of short posts with a single photo and some context. Much like my 1shot series.

No buckets or CEOs were harmed in the making of this photo.

Posted in photography | Tagged Communitech, HubHaps, Kitchener | 2 Comments

1shot #184-we are all visitors

Posted on August 19, 2014 by dw

Caught these humpback flukes off Victoria harbour in British Columbia three weeks ago.

It made me think that on a long enough timeline, we are all visitors. It reinforced the necessity of seizing the day and humbled me.

Posted in photography | Tagged 1shot, BC, water | Comments Off

1shot #183-chess giant

Posted on August 18, 2014 by dw

Found this endgame in progress out front of Kitchener City Hall a couple of weeks back.

There was such a great triangle structure in this composition that I had to shoot it. The distortion of scale with the serendipitous grid in the background made me smile. My son Calder taught me chess and in our case he is the giant.

This is Kitchener.

Posted in photography | Tagged 1shot, games, Kitchener | Comments Off

1shot #182-everything is a mystery

Posted on August 11, 2014 by dw

I was meeting with Bre Crossman from the Kitchener BIA at the Yeti Café in DTK last week and saw interesting silhouettes appear in the Market underground. I love to find extremes of light, with a nod to artist Caravaggio and cross-centuries shout to director Michael Mann, both of whom use this chiaroscuro to great effect in their work.

From Eby Street, this is Kitchener.

Posted in photography | Tagged 1shot, Kitchener | Comments Off

1shot #181-Four on 305

Posted on August 10, 2014 by dw

Wandering into DTK for a late lunch on Thursday, I caught these window washers on the side of 305 King. It struck me as a more pragmatic edition of my BANDALOOP shoot at CITS last year. When I squint my eyes, I imagine these guys in a swashbuckling battle with their mirror reflections.

Earlier that morning, Meg Leslie and I met up with Craig Beattie at 305 to talk about potential spaces for the next Flirting with the Arts (thanks Craig!) Meg asked if I would do a photography workshop, so I’m looking at contributing a smartphone macro photography class. I’m looking for a line on the plastic lenses found in disposable cameras so any help appreciated. A cursory search of dealextreme and aliexpress only turned up $2+ lenses which I’ve not tried and which seem like overkill. Looking forward to sharing some photo fun.

Posted in photography | Tagged 1shot, King Street, window | Comments Off

1shot #180-STOP, i love you!

Posted on August 8, 2014 by dw

Word on the street. Roy Street at Queen. This is Kitchener.

Posted in photography | Tagged 1shot, graffiti, Kitchener, tags | Comments Off

Big balloon build at kwartzlab

Posted on August 7, 2014 by dw

You know what makers do when they have a major life shift? That’s right: they keep on making.

The same day I turned in my BlackBerry badge last week, kwartzlab artist in residence Drew Ripley was running a group build to make a giant balloon submarine. When I say that out loud it still makes me smile. I joined in, armed with my camera and my own best makerly daughter Arden to learn about balloon art construction and hang out with really cool people. Check out Drew’s writeup on the kwartzlab blog.

Click through for an unreasonable number of pics…

Continue reading →

Posted in event | Tagged balloons, kwartzlab | Comments Off

Parting really is sweet sorrow

Posted on August 4, 2014 by dw

Shakespeare had it right, though I’m no Juliet. Last week, after twelve years of interesting projects, roles, and adventures, BlackBerry and I amicably parted ways. I started in 2002 in the midst of a hiring freeze and was tasked to sort out the external web sites and web apps. A year later I took an opportunity to join the JavaDevApps group doing handheld (as we say) software dev and specifically tending Profiles, Alarm, LED, and a lot of media stuff. After a couple of years I got an opportunity to join the Security Research Group (hackers on the payroll!) That kicked off nine years in product security roles ranging from researcher to product manager to team manager. I went to BlackBerry looking for challenge, growth, and learning. I got all that and a lot more.

Continue reading →

Posted in personal | Tagged BlackBerry | 1 Comment

Maker Club–extending innate makerliness

Posted on July 14, 2014 by dw

This is Charlie. He is 6 years old. With a little help from his Aunt Dinah combined with gear/know-how/meetup from Maker Club, Charlie is learning how to solder. It is the most fundamental skill required to jump off into the very interesting domain of electronics. Mastering the skill helpfully starts to demystify all the electronic bits of our world from garage door openers to microwaves to smartphones. It also equips him to repair, repurpose, and invent.

There is a notion that all children are naturally artists and it is only through negative feedback or maybe a lack of support that this awesome predisposition is squashed. “What is it?” “Why did you make that?” “What is it good for?” “You did it wrong.” The same dynamic certainly applies to young makers. Happily, there are some super-committed people in the make-o-sphere like Cam Turner and Tanya Morose, running their monthly Maker Club for kids in THEMUSEUM. They’re teaching a variety of makerly skills through hands-on projects. I caught up with them on the 2nd Wednesday of the month last week to check it out.

The TL;DR: Maker Club needs knowledgeable helpers, workshop leaders, tools, and a whack of kids who are eager to learn and do.

Click through for the long form.

Continue reading →

Posted in the make-o-sphere | Tagged Kitchener, Maker Club, THEMUSEUM | 3 Comments

1shot #179-u mad bro?

Posted on July 12, 2014 by dw

I was biking down to DTK last week and caught this angry tag on Linden Avenue in the Innovation District. Having spent a few days in May out in San Francisco, I’ve seen much louder and more graphic displeasure than this directed toward Google. Maybe this is the more polite Canadian version. Maybe it’s an isolated beef about the parking situation around The Tannery. In my community/cultural travels across Waterloo Region, Google is… conspicuously absent.

Anyone seen other anti-Goog signs? Can any Googlers tell me where Google engages in our local ecosystem? I’m curious.

Posted in photography | Tagged 1shot, Kitchener, sign | Comments Off