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About Galactic Studios Print E-mail
Written by Bob Alexander   
Tuesday, 17 November 2009 00:00

In 1974, I bought a Super-8 movie camera. My family and I made live-action movies (spoofs of TV shows and some original stories), several stop-motion animations (Little Green Junkman, Time Trek, Diplomacy, and The First Men in the Moon), and documented family vacations. Lacking modesty, I credited the movies to Galactic Studios. The logo consisted of a photo of the Whirlpool Galaxy with the words "Galactic Studios" taped to it.

In 2001, I was cleaning out a bookcase and came across the Super-8 films. After getting them transferred to DVD, I decided to revisit my old hobby using new technology. I began work on a computer animated re-make of Little Green Junkman, the story of a Martian child taking out the trash, which turns out to be a NASA probe (the original film used the Viking, the re-make used the Mars Polar Lander). After 25 years, Galactic Studios was back in business.

Also in my youth, I built electronic kits. I assembled a Heathkit clock and a Heathkit H9 terminal to use with my SouthWest Technical Products 6809 computer. Nostalgic for the smell of melting solder, I recently started dabbling in electronics again.

I need containers for my electronics projects, so I have ventured into woodworking. The more I build with wood, the more certain I am that I should not quit my day job.

Finally, any untalented hack can take pictures with a camera. I'm proud to say I qualify.

In short, I've embarked on several projects that attempt to coax some form of artistic expression from my technically-inclined brain. The results are presented here for your perusal.

 
Links Print E-mail
Written by Bob Alexander   
Friday, 11 December 2009 22:11

Bird house cam links:


Here's the article on Make Magazine's blog that first introduced me to the idea of putting a webcam in a bird house.

Make's blog also has an article about putting a webcam on a bird feeder. There's even a video!

Bird Directory's web cam page gathers links to other bird-related web cams.

 

Other links:

If you're even remotely interested in Star Trek, you should check out the stunningly good fan-made episodes at New Voyages. For a smaller investment of your time, see these stunningly funny Star Trek inspirational posters.

Microscopy can be fun. I bought a beginner's microscope from Edmund Scientific, but the microscope hobbyists on Usenet laughed at me. Unable to bear their ridicule, I bought a higher quality used Leitz microscope from Nightingale. When my daughter's class was learning about bacteria, I sent both my scopes in. The reports back were that the kids could see a lot more with the Leitz than with the Edmund Scientific, or even with the microscopes the person running the lesson (not their regular teacher) brought in.

As you may have gathered, I like reading Make Magazine's blog. They have a related site where people post instructions on how to make and do all sorts of fascinating things. Make also showed me (speaking of microscopes) how to preserve a snowflake, which I did and it really works.

Along the same lines, I enjoy Hack-A-Day.

Spark Fun is a store that sells interesting stuff for electronics hobbyists, and they have a blog that's updated once every few days with new gadgets.

Engadget keeps me up-to-date on new electronics products that are angling for my money.

 

 


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