The steam mechanics, oilpunks, contraptors, neo-Victorians cosplayers, retro-futurists, post-apocalyptic Playa pirates, New Dandies, and electric cowboys were all out in force at this year's Bay Area Maker Faire. There was the Victorian castle on wheels, the steam-powered runabout, the steam-effects scooter, the fire-spewing bar with vaudeville side-stage, the radio-tubed Theremin, and the outdoor Victorian sitting room with a disgorged cabinet of wonders of brassy computer mods, rayguns, clockwork guitars, and a light-spewing violin covering several tables. There were also at least three airship crews.

One of the coolest things about all this is that many of these artisans were already great virtual friends, even collaborators, but had never actually met in person. Seen above is a drawing, by the amazing Suzanne Forbes, of the inimitable Jake von Slatt (left) and Datamancer (right). This is the first time these two well-known steampunk makers had met in meatspace. Here they're seen building a special Maker Faire Contraptors' Lounge keyboard (which we'll likely give away here on the blog at some point). More of Suzanne's drawings from the Lounge can be seen after the jump.

Sitting in the Lounge: Crewmembers of the HMS Chronabelle, Magpie of Steampunk Magazine. In the background (left) Captain Robert of Abney Park and Jake von Slatt, (center) MAKE photographer Sam Murphy and me (the bald dude -- and I swear I'm NOT picking my nose), (right) David S. Dowling (black vest). Seen on the table is Molly Freidrich's Sinister Device and one of her rayguns.

One of the tables in the Lounge, this one mainly featuring work by Jake von Slatt, including his clockwork guitar, his copper-plated etched mint tins, his telegraph sounders, and a phone project he's currently working on. Also seen is the forthcoming Steampunk Anthology edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer and a portfolio of Molly Freidrich's work.

Tom Sepe's steam-assisted motorbike.

Jake von Slatt: You've just been "steampunked" (by Meredith Scheff).

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In honor of Robot Day on Make: Blog, I've posted my "Rules for Roboticists" from my 2004 book Absolute Beginner's Guide to Building. It's a playful list of operating principles, rules of thumb, and words o' wisdom about bot building. The piece is accompanied by robot scientist "trading cards" illustrated by Mark Frauenfelder for the book.

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Check out these incredibly cool solarrollers posted to the MAKE Flickr Pool. This one's built in an old wireless phone chassis. Love the use of gears as wheels.

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Robert Bruce Thompson, author of books on everything from PC Hardware to Astronomy, is working on a new book for Make: the Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments. So, we've got chemistry on our mind here, which led Dale Dougherty, the Publisher of Make, to ask Robert:

I read a story last week about the alarmingly high levels of mercury found in fish in the top sushi places in Manhattan. Ever since, I've been wondering is it possible/feasible/reasonable to test for mercury in fish -- a DIY mercury test kit. I doubt you could do this in restaurant so let's presume that this is a test kit for store-bought fish.

The answer for mercury is a bit complex:

The problems are that mercury is toxic at unbelievably low levels and that it is a cumulative poison, which is to say it isn't excreted. Accordingly, the allowable levels are set so low that there's no chance they could be detected by any wet chemistry test with a sample of any reasonable size. I was pretty sure of my facts, but just to be certain I ran them past organic chemist Dr. Paul Jones. His response was, "Maybe you could use a wet chemistry test if you had an entire 500-pound tuna for your sample, but otherwise you'd have to use instrumental tests." Organic chemist Dr. Mary Chervenak points out the Reinsch Test for mercury (which also produces a positive for several other heavy metals). You dissolve the sample in dilute HCl and put a copper strip in the solution. Any mercury present plates out on the copper as a silvery mirror. The trouble is, if enough mercury is present to produce a visible mirror with the Reinsch test, that sample has enough mercury in it to poison everyone in a radius of several blocks.

Robert's got more details over at his daynotes journal, and a couple of other tests have come to our attention since Dale's original question. Dale sent a link to a Heavy Metals Test (Robert posted his thoughts on this test in his journal as well), and Popular Science just posted a link to a portable blood test for heavy metals. Have any of you come across some interesting tests for poisons in your body, food, or environment? What results have you had?

From The Maker Store: Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments by Robert Bruce Thompson Price: $34.99 Pre-order/Buy: Maker store - Link. For students, DIY hobbyists, and science buffs, who can no longer get real chemistry sets, this one-of-a-kind guide explains how to set up and use a home chemistry lab, with step-by-step instructions for conducting experiments in basic chemistry. Learn how to smelt copper, purify alcohol, synthesize rayon, test for drugs and poisons, and much more. The book includes lessons on how to equip your home chemistry lab, master laboratory skills, and work safely in your lab, along with 17 hands-on chapters that include multiple laboratory sessions.

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On January 16, 2008, the first joint event of Dorkbot DC and the newly formed Make: DC was held at the Marian Koshland Science Museum. The evening was a smashing success, with some 65 people showing up! We built Arduino-controlled LED Cubes, inspired by the Make: Weekend Projects Podcast on building a "Pocket LED Cube."

One bit of added excitement to our evening was the ever-present fear that we might set off the fire alarm system which would have killed power to the *entire* building. We were told about the room's overly-sensitive alarm system -- blinking its status-light taunts right above our heads and over one of our work tables -- just as dozens of adorable Dorks were pouring into the place, 600-degree firesticks in hand. We nervously moved some tables and scrounged up a bladed fan to push fumes around. As probably 20 irons fired up and that heady, fluxy aroma of solder filled the air, we held our collective breath. I (only half-jokingly) told folks with cameras to have them at the ready so that, when the power went out, as the building filed out into the cold, dark streets, we could at least blog the whole sordid business ("DC Dorks Darken City Block"). Miraculously, no buildings were harmed in the making of our little LED cubes and a great time was had by all (at least as far as I could smell... er tell).

Dorkbot DC has been holding meetings in the Metro area since June 2006. Make: DC is one of a growing number of groups sprouting up in various US cities, started by fans of MAKE who want to get together to build projects inspired by the magazine. So far, there are Make: City groups in Philly, NYC, SF, and now DC. These groups are unofficial, but Maker Media has been kindly supportive of their efforts. For this first Make: DC meeting, The Maker Store generously helped subsidize the cost of the Arduino microcontrollers. A million thanks to Dan, Rob, Sherry, and everybody at Maker Media and at the store.

The next meeting of Dorkbot DC will be Feb 26, at GWU. Check our website for details as they happen. The next Make: DC is not scheduled yet. Adam Koeppel and Nick Farr, co-creators of Make: DC, have put up a website (still being constructed) and will announce the next meeting date and details there.

[Few more pics of the evening after the jump...]

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My Make: Books co-conspirator Brian Jepson has posted a quick n' dirty way of building a 64-node LED matrix (green and red, natch) of holiday lights, driven by a Max 7219 chip and controlled by an Arduino cloneboard. Not too shabby. The resulting LED "net" will only cover a small tree. For a larger tree, you'd have to do a much more ambitious build and cascade Max chips, but it seems to be time-consuming than anything else. Being the geek that he is, Brian also got the thing talking to his mobile phone over Bluetooth, which he promises more info on soon.

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