Patrick Regan presented a talk on Ansible at the Akron Linux Users Group on May 2, 2013.
Here’s a few stills I took:
Patrick Regan presents Ansible at Akron Linux Users Group
John Woodall announces his relocation to Georgia
I’m glad I was present to record Patrick’s talk. I was sad to learn that John Woodall, a long time member of the group has decided to relocate to Georgia for good. Good luck John!
A few hours before the talk, SYN/HAK Champion Chris Egeland mentioned to me how he looked into using Ansible but found it to be somewhat different/difficult compared to other tools out there.
Here’s hoping Patrick’s demonstration of the tool is useful to Chris and others like him that are still thinking about using Ansible to “Orchestrate from above”.
If you’d like to (from time to time) keep up with creator of Ansible, Michael Dehaan, please do so by reading his blog here: http://michaeldehaan.net/
I did read some of Michael’s thoughts after the talk and learned about him forming Ansible Works Inc, a company that assists with everything .. well .. Ansible!
Another resource I found useful was the following chart which compares Ansible with its counterparts in use by system engineers today:
Ansible Efficiency Matrix (Image copyright: Ansible Works Inc.)
Sit back, relax and hear Patrick talk about and demo Ansible to see if it fits your environment!
Here’s a direct link to Patrick’s slides on Google Documents:
I had a lot of respect for the organizers of Ingenuity Fest since I started dating my lovely wife a few years ago. I have some fond memories of spending time at Ingenuity Fest because of the types of activities and artists the festival promotes.
The organizers of the event expressed a desire in 2013 to hold a Mini-Maker Faire in Cleveland, and that allowed me to – for a lack of a better word – get really excited, in fact enough to assist them in any which way I could. Here’s James Krouse the Director of Programming describing the event:
I picked up the phone and spoke with James Krouse briefly a few months before the event. I was glad I called.
Since the time I bought my DSLR camera, I had been video taping artists like Johnny and the Apple Stompers (JATAS), technical talks, SYN/HAK speakers and everything I found interesting and of educational value and through those activities I had come in contact with a lot of cool people doing a lot of cool things. Some of them had to belong at the Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire, this I knew from the get-go.
Matt Beebe and James Krouse
One such talent is Matt Beebe, of King Midget Motors. A musician, as well as a fabricator of a kit car from a bygone era, Matt is a great example of a Maker in North-east Ohio who manages to help his family sustain the business and dream about much greater things in the future.
I was able to network Matt and James. As you will read in a bit, it became one of the most memorable experiences for a lot of attendees, me as well as James included.
Just before the Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire, ALUG had a meeting where my friend Dave Egts mentioned that his daughter Lauren created a simple game using MIT’s Scratch programming language.
As soon as I heard about it, I advised Dave to consider taking Lauren to demo her game along side Cleveland Game Developers at the Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire. As you will read in a bit, it became a memorable moment for Dave’s family.
G and James Krouse
I had bought the Cubelets kit a while back. Since then, I shared the kit at the Akron Digital Group of which I am a member as well. The joy of cubelets is that you don’t need to be a programmer, know electronics or any of that. Cubelets are small blocks that when put together create a robot. The kit I have came with 20 such blocks each with their own personalities. They are magnetically attached, and have one block that powers the entire system. A few blocks have wheels on them and enable the final robot to be able to move.
I spoke with James about me representing Modular Robotics at the Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire, and he was more than happy to arrange a table for this!
During the event:
I started my day by grabbing a quick breakfast at Burger King. Next, was a stop at SYN/HAK to car pool with Trever and Xander so we could reuse our parking voucher at the parking garage. The organizers of the event requested that we do so out of courtesy to other exhibitors. After all parking is a problem in big cities.
We arrived in Cleveland on time, circled around the library a few times till we finally located the garage, parked and saw ourselves into the library. We got a bit late in the process.
Here’s the event’s schedule that day in PNG format:
Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013 Schedule Page One
Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013 Schedule Page Two
Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013 Schedule Page Three
Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013 Schedule Page Four
I knew Cubelets was allocated room on Level 3 of the library, so went straight up there and setup my laptop and monitor and the kit of 20 cubelets for attendees to enjoy. I stayed on floor 3 till noon, and then moved to the lower level (near the King Midget yellow car) as I promised Matt Beebe that I will be video taping his talk; the auditorium I learned was at the same level.
Before Matt’s talk began, I complained to the Audio-Video person in charge about having the ability to video tape all 8 talks that afternoon, but not taping them anyway for the Cleveland Public Library and the public at large. I learned no one requested this valuable service. Next year, I’ll have to convince Ingenuity Cleveland as well as the next host of the event to factor that into their programming.
Shortly afterward, Great Grandpa Beebe played some music on the in-house piano. Check it out here:
Finally time came for Matt Beebe to deliver his talk:
After the talk there was a brief Q&A as well:
Here’s a few photos of his car, which I learned the organizers insisted be displayed at the lower level. A mystery remains still as to how they managed to get inside the library! When you meet James next, that could be a great topic of discussion!
King Midget Motors Car
King Midget Motors Car
King Midget Motors Car
King Midget Motors Car
King Midget Motors Car
After Matt’s talk, I spent my time explaining attendees about Cubelets as well as SYN/HAK. It was particularly delightful to see the faces of children light up when they saw me describe which blocks when put together form a lighthouse; or which blocks when put together become a robot that chases your hand. I had read earlier some comments from CEO of Modular Robotics – Eric Schweikardt that during a similar Maker Faire from 2011, he couldn’t help but notice that the kids would get so excited about Cubelets that they would actually start moving the table towards the exhibitors! Well folks, I can now tell you first hand that is what I experienced too!
Xander from SYN/HAK shows Cubelets at Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013
Trever from SYN/HAK peeks at a 3D Printer (Image Credit: Frank Lanza Photography)
Later in the afternoon, I got to meet with other exhibitors and network.
Margarita with her OSLOOM
OSLOOM at the Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013
Sudhir demonstrates aquaponics at Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013
Sudhir demonstrates aquaponics at Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013
I didn’t know where Lauren was demo-ing her game, but wanted to video tape her demo as well. Here she is describing her game to the camera:
Right across from Lauren, my friend Jarryd was sharing a game he re-created. I learned that this was the very first video game ever created, many years before Pong got famous. See Jarryd describe the nostalgia first hand:
Here’s what Tennis for Two, his replica’s photo:
First video game ever – Tennis for Two replica by Jarryd Huntley
The event was over slightly before 6pm. We packed our stuff and were on the way home back to Akron.
I’d like to publicly thank all the sponsors below for their support which made Cleveland Mini-Maker Faire 2013 a success!:
Cleveland Public Library
MAKE Magazine
Scene Magazine
NESCO Resources
element14
The George Gund Foundation
Cleveland Foundation
Ohio Arts Council
Art Works
All the makers and exhibitors at the event
All the staff members handling the 3D Printers at the Cleveland Public Library
After the event:
I don’t know why, but my voice took a beating. I had a very good time at the event, and am excited to help James with more activities next year. Its been a satisfying experience sharing my Cubelets Kit with the attendees and educating them about robot construction, as well as talk to attendees about hackerspaces and their place in society. Hopefully in coming months, SYN/HAK will organize a similar event in Akron area too!
In the meantime, relive the event by watching a video I wish I had taped.
davelhs03 on youtube does justice to covering the event’s highlights:
On my trips to the Akron library with my family, I encountered a few training sessions of the Akron Power Squadron designed to train the uninitiated in operating a water vessel.
Through them I found out about the event at which they were planning to host on 3/31 where a design engineer was about to speak about his company and a sail boat he designed himself. The sail boat he designed won accolades in 2012.
Tom McNeill, Design Engineer for Tartan and C&C yachts, and Lead Designer for the new C&C 101, will speak at Akron Sail and Power Squadron’s dinner meeting on April 4, 2013.
The C&C 101 sailboat was judged “Domestic Boat of the Year” and “Best Performance Cruiser, 30 to 39 Feet” by the Editors of Cruising World Magazine. “The C&C 101 is a true dual-purpose boat that will excel as a club racer and an inshore cruiser,” said Boat of the Year director and Cruising World senior editor Herb McCormick.
The C&C 101 is built in Fairport Harbor, Ohio by Tartan-C&C Yachts and is now racking up awards both for design and on the racing circuit. Born and raised in the Cleveland area, McNeill has deep roots in the Cleveland and Lake Erie sailing community. Attendees will learn how his design along with advanced materials and manufacturing systems came together to yield this exciting new sailboat.
The dinner is at Prime 93 Restaurant, 4315 Manchester Road, Akron, OH 44319. A cash bar begins at 6:00PM, with dinner served at 7:15PM. Entrée choices are Lemon Herb Chicken, Swiss Steak, Lasagna and Eggplant Parmesan over Linguine. Meat dishes include red skin potatoes and all entrées include salad, sourdough rolls, coffee, tea or soda and cake for dessert. Cost, including tax and gratuity is $20.50. Reservations must be made by March 31, 2013. No walk-ins, please
I’ve grown up in urban settings all my life, so was particularly interested in attending this meetup, so dialed the speaker and was happy to find that he permitted me to video tape his session at the Akron Power Squadron.
In the videos below, hear Tom describe his journey and learn a few things about his company. If you aren’t a sailor yet, watching the videos would at the very least convince you to take Tom up on the offer of getting a free tour of his facility in Fairport Harbor.
Here are the videos I took of the event for all attendees that weren’t able to make it:
Mike started by describing Discriminated Unions by explaining the syntax for the type which looks like this:
type<type-name> =
| <case1-name> [of <data-type>]
| <case2-name> [of <data-type>]
Next followed a demo where he described a type Shape, which had a union of Square, Rectangle and Circle. Then a function was written that would allow us to calculate the various shape’s area.
Mike threw in a trick question too: “Why is there a period in front of integers in Rectangle(5., 3.)”
I’ll leave it up to the viewers to find out why..
Mike then:
explained the two types of Algebraic types: Product types and Sum Types.
compared how this feature compares with object orientation
explained idea of polymorphism in this context, as well as the open-closed principle
Comparative programming with C# followed right afterwards, demonstrating how more functionality can be added to either implementations
Showed the group an example from F# Deep Dives which succinctly implemented a Markdown Document
Showed the group an example from F# for fun and profit that validated an email address
I am very glad I attended as I met Ed from Rockwell Automation and the group chose to write some software to parse its huge amounts of plain text data!
As I receive Mike’s slides he used, I will update my post here.
Here are a few important links that were mentioned in the talk:
It was great to see a wide range of age groups at SYN/HAK. What made me smile was the pet feeder Doug brought from home that he talks about in the videos below. He was able to design the pet feeder himself!
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Crowd assembles before the talk.
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
A few members of SYN/HAK chat about the 3D Printers capabilities.
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Juggler Ted brought along his Rubiks puzzle to wondering how he can improve its design.
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Low Cost 3D Printing – Doug Costlow
Some already printed 3D objects that Doug and Lily brought to demonstrate a 3D Printer’s capability.
Many thanks to Doug and Lily to present on this topic and generate awareness.
Personally, I believe the skills required to run a 3D Printer will enable a lot of people to earn their livelihood.
At this time like SYN/HAK Champion Trever mentions in beginning of Part 1, SYN/HAK is organizing a fundraiser for about $800 to acquire a 3D Printer. This will enable SYN/HAK to provide this wonderful instrument to the community.
If you’ve watched the videos below, please consider making a contribution electronically on the website synhak.org or in person at 21 W North St Akron Ohio.
Enjoy the videos below to learn more about 3D Printing.
I parked my car and started walking towards the main entrance of DeVry University.
I started a conversation with someone who looked like a student walking to the university.
“Are you here for the Cleveland WPF User Group”, I said.
I received a nod of the head, and a casual request to peek at a water bottle that read “Microsoft MVP”.
I smiled, and remembered.. Sarah is the MVP, and by extension tonight’s speaker!
That’s how I met Sarah, the presenter at Cleveland WPF User Group for the very first time. She was kind enough to permit me to blog about the recent developments at Microsoft that she covered.
Before the talk started, Eric Wise introduced Software Craftsmanship Guild, a new company that he recently launched in the North-East Ohio region. It aims to provide new job applicants the requisite skills to be adept at their work and at the same time allow enterprises to participate in his hiring network.
Check out a video of him introducing the new startup here:
Sam Nasr, friend, and organizer of the Cleveland WPF User Group and Cleveland .Net SIG, announced that we will be meeting at DeVry University from now on, and then introduced Sarah:
Next, Sarah demo’d a cool new website from Microsoft that allows the end user that has a touch enabled device to make music on the fly, all of this via Internet Explorer only:
Rest of the event I post below for those who weren’t able to make it and wish to learn about the newer technologies. As time permits, I will be editing this post to include hyperlinks, links to presentations etc. so that me or anyone at the event or anyone that missed the event can quickly reference the information:
After the talk we went to Mavis Winkles.. had a great chat with everyone!
I met Ken a few years ago at the Akron Digital Group. I still kick myself in the back for not video taping the talk he delivered in which he describes how to use free and paid design tools to begin designing custom printed circuit boards.
When I heard he was delivering another talk, it was time for me to get ready to video tape the event.
Ken was kind enough to share his presentation he used from the talk. I thought it best to link it below so that the viewers can follow the video along:
If you couldn’t make this past event don’t sweat it! We are rocking Meetups every ~30 days so there’s always next month which leads to my next point… April 9 is “International IoT Day”. I think we should do something to rep CLE and let everyone know we’re hip to the tech scene. If anyone has some cool ideas or wants to take the lead on a personal project feel free to respond or post in the message boards. Here’s the website with more information about the specific day: http://iotevents.org/…
Also, if you’d like to see a few pictures from the event, they are below:
NB: This post on my blog is a public tip of the hat to my current colleague Richard Broida, for all the work he does in educating people on things he is passionate about.
CODEMASH
I met Richard Broida at Codemash this year for the very first time. During our chat, we discussed how at Bennett Adelson he was thinking of re-organizing the F# Special Interest Group (SIG) that used to meet regularly before.
We were essentially exchanging thoughts on meetups in general, me educating him about hackerspaces and him letting me know about how he has been practicing functional programming on the Microsoft stack. It was a great time at the conference for the both of us.
BENNETT ADELSON RE-ORGANIZES F# SIG
About that re-organizing the F# SIG, well, that actually happened!
On 2/21/2013, I had a scheduling conflict and was not able to attend. However, I was enthused enough to request another colleague Andrew to video tape the first ever F# talk using his laptop’s camera that you can check out below.
<Insert video link when its available (turns out youtube doesn’t like WMV files that much, trying to find out why…>
ASYNCHRONOUS PROGRAMMING PRESENTATION AT THE BENNETT ADELSON .NET SIG
I learned via Bennett Adelson’s event page (insert link here) that he was going to deliver another talk on Asynchronous Programming with C#, VB.net and F#.
Well folks, this time I strived to video tape the whole event. There were some complexities involved. I forgot my 32GB Memory Stick. I only had 16GB, and I borrowed Nilesh’s 8GB Memory stick to record the rest, but it still wasn’t enough, so I cracked open my Samsung Galaxy SIII and taped the remainder of the session there.
So, in the spirit of sharing what I have with others, I wanted to share these videos so that they can be of some use.
I know in practice a lot of enterprises currently aren’t using functional programming languages, and I was really surprised by the turn out – that assurance enough for me that there is a lot of interest in the programming community about asynchronous programming as well as curiosities about functional programming as well.
Here are all the videos I shot in the order in which they were taped that night:
Some things I remembered from the event:
We chose the room in basement of Park Center II because they had wireless. Well, the Access Point wasn’t available for Richard mid-talk and I’d like to thank my colleague Jim Raden for helping Richard out by using the open source tool Wireshark and figure out the correct networking settings. This allowed the web specific demos that Richard had planned to work properly.
I’d like to thank the attendees (including one of my managers at Sherwin – Brian Sill) to attend the meetup. The feedback I received from the group was outstandingly excellent!
I’d like to thank my colleagues Andrew, Bryan and their team for setting up the event so fantastically.
If you’d like to keep up with Richard’s journey from this point on, please navigate the links below to learn more:
It’s a Monday, and I learned via Trello that their sysadmins were hard at work giving their servers some TLC as is evidenced by their awesome status page:
I left work, and after stopping at Highland Square for dinner at Chipotle, I stopped by at Tiny Circuits to meet with owner Ken Burns and learned about the extension of their office space, and discussed how I can help the company locally.
Jeff was busy working on a camera assisted styrofoam airplane that I was mighty impressed to see in person! Sadly I didn’t snap a picture
DIYDRONES
EVENT38
JEFF NIELSON
After visiting Tiny Circuits, I arrived (a bit late, sadly) at Jeff Nielson’s talk at SYN/HAK about book scanning.
It was really amazing to see the handcrafted Book Scanner that Jeff built by himself, after taking some inspiration from diybookscanner.org
Book scanning, I learned during the talk, is the process of converting a physical book that has no digital counterpart, into digital media like images or pdf or word files using a wooden frame and a camera to take pictures.
Jeff went through the entire process of building the book scanner, then introduced the attendees to some of the software involved for using the artifacts from a book scanner.. namely images.
Jeff shared a grid (which I will be uploading here later ; attached) that makes it easy for one to understand which software to choose from.
Jeff Nielsen – Popular OCR Software Tools
He later demonstrated a live book scanning session which included scanning the book Good Night Arizona into images using the cameras, that were operated by a switch. The switch would enable two cameras to take a photo of each respective page at the same time. Also, after the images were stored on the memory stick, Jeff was able to take the photos to his computer and was able to demonstrate some of the softwares like Bulk Rename, ABBYY etc.
By this time Jeff had earned rock star status in my mind.. I got motivated enough to take a photo with him, so I could remember what a great time it was to see so many different ideas combine to enable one to scan things that don’t exist in the digital domain.
Jeff and G
I HAD A DREAM
I used to dream about scanning books in India when I used to visit my Mom’s hometown of Rampur.
See, they have a world class library called the Raza library that has great manuscripts from 1700-1900. I used to think during my visits that I’d like to work at that library, translating all the literary works from that time to English.
After hearing Jeff’s passionate talk on the matter.. I might just have to build a book scanner and act on it sooner than later!
Here’s me publicly thanking everyone for a great night!
ps: Another title for this post could be “A tale of two Jeff’s”
This is excellent work and really exciting stuff. Did you have a chance to upload that software selection grid? I’m really interested in seeing how it came out!
gsvolt and 
Reblogged this on Sergey Tihon's Blog.