maker movement  & makerspace

#1503 - Gaming the System

http://bsideoftheticket.ca/victorias-maker-community/ 
Makerspace and the Makehouse is part of a growing global community of “makers” — people who take a do-it-yourself approach to construction and design projects.

Some people create their own tools, others build robots from scratch, while others like Jenny Ambrose and her Makehouse community create the unique designs that become the high fashion of tomorrow.

The key to the Maker movement is pooling resources together in a common space. That way everyone gets access to cool technologies, tools and ideas to make things happen.

Dan Gunn Discusses the Maker Movement For the B-Side

Famous Rapper, Big Ron Crowley, loves to:
Make it
Break it
and Take it apart.
The main reason is that he then loves to check out the pieces and put things back together through innovative and creative practices which he refers to as tinkering.  Big Ron has been known as the "Tinker Bell of the Hip Hop Industry" and clearly shows why on this delightful track.  Lifelong Learning is fun!

Big Ron - Unmake It - Break It - Take It Apart

Video games like Call of Duty and Grand Theft Auto 5 have made headlines in the last few years thanks to record breaking sales. Those sales exist because video games are hugely popular. About 185 million people in the United States play video games.

It’s no secret that people of all background play video games, its hard to tell that from the lack of diversity among playable characters.

According to a study published in the journal “New Media and Society” in 2009, only 3% of all video games characters can be identified as Latino. And of that 3%, only 5% are characters you can use to play.

As we continue our series on Diversity in Geekdom, Latino USA producer Daisy Rosario speaks with three people who love video games but would like to see things change.

Mary Lordes is a writer at Upright Citizens Brigade and former co-host of the video game podcast Unlimited Lives. David Brothers is a former journalist who works at Image Comics. Vander Caballero is the Creative Director of Minorty Media.

Diversity in Geekdom: Video Games

After last month’s tragic and unpredictable shooting of two NYPD officers, already high tensions between the NYPD and Mayor Bill de Blasio turned a strange corner. The NYPD effectively shut down a massive portion of their policing: arrests plummeted by two-thirds while traffic and parking violations dropped by 90%.

The shutdown, informally orchestrated by the city’s largest police union, the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association, asked officers only to make arrests “unless absolutely necessary,” possibly in protest, possibly as result of a fatigued force coming off the heels of protestors’ agitation. Yet despite concerns that a slowdown of policing might lead to a crime spree, instead life carried on as normal.

The work stoppage ended mid-January and arrests rates “are going back to what we would describe as normal levels,” according to Police Commissioner Bill Bratton. Throughout it all, the important question was raised: If police were only making “necessary” arrests during the work stoppage, what kinds of arrests were they making before—and what kinds of arrests will they make now?

One of the journalists asking those questions was Matt Ford, national editor at The Atlantic. Host Maria Hinojosa sat down with him to figure out what the purpose of the work stoppage was, whether it succeeded, and how it might affect future policing.

Then, producer Michael Simon Johnson took to the streets of New York City to talk to residents about their thoughts on the work stoppage, whether they felt a difference in their neighborhood and what their hopes are for community-police relations.

 

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

The Irony of the NYPD’s Work Slowdown

Actress Gina Rodriguez stole the show at last weekend’s Golden Globe Awards with a surprise win in the category of  Best Actress in a Comedy for her role in “Jane The Virgin.” Her tearful speech got social media talking… and the Latino USA newsroom crying. The next day, Latino USA producer Daisy Rosario got in the studio with Maria Hinojosa to talk about what this win means for Latinos in show business.

 

Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images

Gina Rodriguez’ Amazing Golden Globes Speech

We examine diversity in gaming, the way the NYPD may have played themselves by slowing quality of life arrests, and learn about a community garden that sneaks in a little computer programming.

In 2004, a public high school robotics team in Arizona beat the odds by beating M.I.T in a competition. The team members were undocumented and had little resources. Their story inspired a book, a documentary, and now a feature film produced by and starring George Lopez. The movie is called Spare Parts and is out in theaters now. Over a decade after their unexpected win, two of the original members of the team, Cristian Arcega and Lorenzo Santillan, look back at their experience.

 

Photo above of 2004 Robotics Team members Cristian Arcega, Oscar Vazquez, Luis Aranda, and Lorenzo Santillan with Carl Hayden teacher Fredi Lajvardi

(C) 2013 Richard Schultz. Courtesy of 50 Eggs

Making the Most of Spare Parts

Reporter Erika Beras takes us to a community garden in Pennsylvania which has married two unlikely activities: gardening and computer programming. Kids and instructors work together to grow fruits and vegetables, and use the computers they program to measure weather and soil conditions, teaching coding along the way. They’ve even learned how to make fruit more musical. Erika Beras reports.


Garden + Arduino (little computer) = Gardweeno

There are an estimated two thousand maker spaces around the world.  Also called hackerspaces or co-working spaces, these enclaves of equipment and creative people are part of a changing way of working.  HPR’s Noe Tanigawa reports.

Unleash Your Inner Maker

Latino USA is the foremost Latino voice in public media and the longest running Latino-focused program on radio. As the most consistent voice reporting on Latino news and culture since 1992, Futuro Media Group’s Latino USA (LUSA) brings depth of experience, on-the-ground connections and knowledge of current and emerging issues impacting Latinos and other people of color to every broadcast. Reporting stories about diversity, culture, civic dialogue and how people live (and struggle) with difference in community is the bedrock of Latino USA.

Garden + Arduino (little computer) = Gardweeno

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