The DigiBarn Computer Museum seeks to capture personal stories and track technological evolution through a large collection of vintage computer systems, manuals, videos, interviews, and other fossil relics of the “Cambrian explosion” of personal computing that ignited in 1975. When we get visitors who “burst into tears” upon seeing certain systems which may have defined their lives and careers, our cameras roll to capture the inevitable stories. Thus the interconnected redwood rooms of the museum constitute a kind of “memory palace” for the nerd-inclined and help us piece together the amazing story of the invention of personal computing and Cyberspace. It is my fantasy to one day “get professional help” (ie: a foundation grant or other philanthropic support) and really have the resources to fully document the people and their inventions, and thereby capture the true essence of this time in history.
Monthly Archives: July 2008
Mindsensors, a 3rd party line of Mindstorms-compatible sensors and accessories
Some interesting sensors from this company.
In particular, the Port Splitter for NXT allows you to split a port into 3, and connect up to 3 devices. It can be used for a sensor as well as motor port.
Fractal Science Kit
http://www.fractalsciencekit.com/
The Fractal Science Kit is a program to explore a mathematical object called a fractal. The term fractal was coined by Benoit Mandelbrot in 1975 in his book Fractals: Form, Chance, and Dimension. In 1979, while studying the Julia set, Mandelbrot discovered what is now called the Mandelbrot set and inspired a generation of mathematicians and computer programmers in the study of fractals and fractal geometry.
It does cost $49.95 but it looks good!
New Datalogging NXT-G Block
http://nxtasy.org/2008/06/16/new-datalogging-nxt-g-block/
A simple to use data logging block. It was difficult to do data logging with the current NXT-G blocks. This is very helpful.
Ideas for Teaching Computer Technology to Kids 