People

Band Bio: Ghost Ghost is an indie rock / freak-folk ensemble from Brooklyn, NY led by long-time friends and singer/songwriters Kevin Peckham and Karl Ward.  Peckham hails from rural New Hampshire and is an obsessive post modernist, with a master’s degree (on Kurt Vonnegut) to prove it.  Ward is a native Texan who studied poetry and computer music at Columbia College, where he happened to attend the very first Dorkbot.  Though initially formed as a rock band in 2008, the band has fused its rock and folk music into a more ambitious/deranged performance ensemble–coincident with the addition of live video artist Tim Bartlett, live painter Charlie Kemmerer, and multi-instrumentalist Mark Christensen.  The simplest possible comparison might be “Neil Young backed by Fleet Foxes inside an Aphex Twin music video.”  Ghost Ghost first received national attention in 2010 with No Clothes on Ragged Island, a freak-folk concept album about the life of 20th century poet Edna St. Vincent Millay, a lyrical tour de force written in one day and recorded in one week.  The group strives to use and misuse technology to capture and rewrite the otherwise transient present.

URL: ghostghost.net

Bio: We are a magazine and lab dedicated to the development and sharing of open science project.

Project Description: We have a few projects ranging from a quarterly print magazine to a prototype EEG machine.

URL: http://citizensciencequarterly.com/

Personal Bio: 3Xfx designs and manufactures cutting edge boutique effects pedals, right here in Austin, TX.

Project Description: 3Xfx will demonstrate the process of designing new effects. There will be finished pedals to tweak and try, so get ready to make some noise!

URL: 3xfx.com

Personal Bio: Bob Comer is a Professor of Computer Science at Austin Community College, and teaches programming and an occasional robotics class. He has been building robots as a hobby for years.

Project Description: We will be presenting several robots that are used for student projects at ACC. This will include a Gears SMP robot set up for surveillance.

URL: http://www.austincc.edu/comer/sxsw2011/

Need project description.

Personal Bio: Gray is a software engineer currently seeking employment in the Austin area. He is an active member of The Robot Group and an electronic hobbyist.

Project Description: The project being presented is “Can I build an electronic game system in two weeks of spare time”. I wanted to spoof a Tron-like theme where two players compete with disk like controllers that have LED lights and sound. I figure it can be fairly simple since in a presentation crowd environment it only has to entertain for a minute or two before the person moves on and someone else walks up to the game. I wanted to utilize an Arduino code system since I keep hearing about how quick it is to get developing in and I figured this crowd would relate well to an Arduino software base.

URL: http://www.robotgroup.org/

Personal Bio: A software developer by day and a self-taught electronics tinkerer and crafter by night, Sharon believes everyone deserves to know how to solder and how to sew.

Project Description: Sharon will bring Arduino-powered housewares and Halloween costumes, ready to share code, components, and construction.

URL: http://www.girlwritescode.com/

Personal Bio (Eric): Eric Blount is representing the ATX Hackerspace, an open community of hackers, artists, and open source/hardware enthusiasts who like to create, share, learn, and collaborate. They help spread knowledge to the larger community, especially in the areas of technology, DIY, security, and privacy. They also provide a space for creating, collaborations, workshops, and classes. More information available at www.atxhackerspace.org.

Personal Bio (Steve): Steve (Egesté) Regester is an early member of the ATX Hackerspace and a hackerspace evangelist. Having roots in software, he was not introduced to hardware and electronics engineering until he joined the group. He has since moved his coding into the physical realm with projects like the autonomous robot car challenge, MindFlex EEG hacking, and automated food dispenser for small pets.”

Project Description: Soldering is a very basic skill with great implications. A skilled solderer can accomplish a variety of things ranging from basic electronics, to jewelry repair. Have a good understanding of soldering can help you greatly reduce costs associated with basic household repairs and common problems. Stop on by, talk to some hackers, learn a new skill!

URL: www.atxhackerspace.org

Personal Bio: Carlos Santiago, Owner of Electronics Is Fun

Project Description: Electronics Is Fun will help you learn and enjoy the fascinating world of electronics. We specialize in electronics tutorials with a focus on Arduino open source hardware and software as learning tools. We will be demonstrating object avoidance and line following using the Arduino compatible PenguinoBot, a programmable robot kit. PenguinoBot kits and Arduino products will be available for purchase.

URL: electronicsisfun.com