Tiree Tech Wave
It happened the weekend just gone (Thurs 22nd to Mon 26th march) and was an...interesting experience. To give you an idea how nerdy it was, let me show you this photo:
Yes, there really were that many Macbooks/Macs in one location.
Anyway, a TTW features a load of people with imaginations, skills and ideas coming together and sharing those things to make and plan things.
I didn't feel like much use, but I might have been. I repaired the gloves of Nick, the cycling programmer, discussed his power distribution box that he'd made and even got ideas for bike lights that I may well put into action, especially as I'm getting my Dad's bike come April and will probably need some lights for it once Summer is past (passed?)
I managed to repair the zip on a bum-bag, this made Alan of Tiree a very happy bunny indeed!
Also there were two Slovenians (think I spelled that right) who are currently studying at Lancaster University with Alan as their supervisor. They are keen water sporters and were even mad enough to go paddling in the ocean in just their briefs! They spent most of the TTW arguing with a Kinect and some other thing on their Mac's
There were two Steve's, one (nicknamed hairy Steve) is a designer and did infact design the bollards on Tiree's traffic calming islands (yes, I know that whole idea sounds silly). He was interested in the Arduino board and designing a system for automated medication delivery that double-checked the inputter's calculations to avoid overdoses. The second Steve (nicknamed, unoriginally, bald Steve or non-hairy Steve) was working on mind control *insert Twilight Zone theme here*. He had taken a Star Wars mind training toy and connected it to a...tone maker, if you let yourself relax, it made a low tone, the more tense or active your thoughts, the higher the tone, once that was working we all had a go, poor Nick achieved a very high tone when Alan just suggested pinching him.
The atmosphere was great, friendly folks, similar senses of humour, having a laugh and an invent.
There was also a guest visit from a lady called Jonnet(hope I got that right!)about mending. She is a self-proclaimed "mending activist" and has made a vow to never buy any more clothes, or material for such, for the rest of her life. She did a short presentation and Jo and I both shared a look and a laugh when it was mentioned that about half of the clothes in UK wardrobes have never been worn, not in our wardrobe! After the presentation people shared skills and repairs, I patched some holey trousers and sorted a zip on a coat pocket.
Overall, a fun event. The Cobbled Cow at the Rural centre were excellent hosts and laid out the most delicious buffets, they also do a "deluxe" hot choclate that is heavenly and well worth visiting just for that.
Anyway, I shall leave you with a couple more photos...
A common sight during TTW, two people talking code and a third looking bemused.
This was the lovely buffet set up by the Slovenians (I'd rather call them that than try to spell their names). In the pan was a combination of onions, eggs and tasty meats.
Also in the above two photos is proof that Alan (he of the hair) can infact be photographed without blur. Usually he can only be photo'd with blur, maybe it's just our camera is quick enough ;)
There'll be another post by me soon, I have a video of lambs to share. Until then, TTFN.
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