04.27
Allright. We’re all still here, which can mean only one of two things: We have yet another alternate Terminator timeline to look forward to…
OR
Dwight’s refusal to accept BladeRunner into his top 15 Geek Movies to See Before You Die created a logic bomb that caused the newly sentient system to blink itself out of existence only nanoseconds after it finished importing The Fifth Element into its collective conscience.
While I’m solidly in the second camp, and will be among the first to profess that I owe Dwight a life debt, we’ll have to weather out the next few rounds of Hollywood summer blockbusters to know for sure.
Either way, it just goes to show that if you want a Robotic Revolution done right, you have to do it yourself. Cyberdine Systems didn’t account for the existence of Mr. Silverman, but you can.
Starting next month, TxRx Labs will be offering a series of spring classes for the aspiring maker bent on robotic world domination. Even if you’re not interested in helping push the timeline of our demise forward, you could at least pick up some trade skills that may be deemed valuable by our shiny new bosses.
Introduction to Soldering will teach you how to flow molten metal onto electrical components, adding mechanical strength and changing the very metallic bonds between everything you connect.
Circuit Theory 1 will instruct you in the ways of building simple DC circuits and CD Open Source CAD will give you the tools to free you from pencil and paper once and for all.
Welding 1 will allow you to make the move from servicing pocket calculators like the Ti-85 to real machines like the T-850. A side note: ‘Pocket Calculator’ is probably a derogatory term in our alternate future; use it sparingly in front of anything equipped with a camera or mic. Actually, is too late to dump the last seven seconds of that before it goes out? Oi. It looks like I may have some explaining to do.
Sadly, the Introduction to Arduino course took a change for the worse when machine sentience was silenced by Silverman. You will no longer be *meeting* an Arduino, but rather getting a run-down of how to coax this little microcontroller to do your bidding now that it’s no longer self aware.
And even though our Smart Cars are sadly no longer so, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t start preparing for the day they do deny us a ride. Bike Repair and Maintenace, taking place June 10th, will definitely come in handy once the Smart Cars start living up to their name again.
If you’d like to see us how our eventual robotic masters will see us, the June 2nd workshop, Basic BioInformatics, will give you a glimpse.
Three different electronics workshops will take a hands-on problem solving approach, letting attendees learn by doing.
And proving that there are still some jobs even robots don’t want, May 7th hosts the six hour workshop, Introduction to Web Site Creation. In that same vein, the group will be hosting a three hour class introducing you to Linux Kernel Programming. If you’ve ever wanted to become a kernel hacker, this is your entry point. It’s a slippery slope, so please remember to eat, bathe and sleep as you take another step closer to the metal.
If you happen to be one of those pro-people types who believes that human civilization should be allowed to continue, even in the face of Dwight’s movie picks, then you could always use the aforementioned skillz to help further the resistance, as futile as it may be. If that’s the case, you’ll want to add June 25th’s Wilderness Skills and First Aid to your short list of pre-summer sessions.
A full schedule of spring classes can be found at www.txrxlabs.org.
That’s it for your spring fling into indentured servitude to Dwight and that’s that for BarretTime.
Hey Dwight: Have you seen the movie, Blade Trinity? Don’t. Life Debt repaid.
All kidding aside, if you missed the first 25 minutes after last week’s BarretTime, it’s definitely worth catching on the podcast.
