Kyle Marek-Spartz http://zeckalpha.org Most recent posts at Kyle Marek-Spartz posterous.com Mon, 30 Nov 2009 23:09:12 -0800 Balloon Class makes the MN Daily! http://zeckalpha.org/balloon-class-makes-the-mn-daily http://zeckalpha.org/balloon-class-makes-the-mn-daily
via mndaily.com

Here's our class on the front page of Monday's paper!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Wed, 11 Nov 2009 23:50:21 -0800 Minnesota Creative Labs update... and Google Wave http://zeckalpha.org/minnesota-creative-labs-update-and-google-wav http://zeckalpha.org/minnesota-creative-labs-update-and-google-wav

We had our first official meeting of MCL tonight. We managed to get through most of the forms needed to register, as well as plan out a lot of what needs to be done. We are really making progress for something that did not even exist a week ago.

I received my Google Wave account. I have 14 invites available.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:33:42 -0800 Minnesota Creative Labs and news on the Balloon http://zeckalpha.org/minnesota-creative-labs-and-news-on-the-ballo http://zeckalpha.org/minnesota-creative-labs-and-news-on-the-ballo

I, and a few friends of mine, are working on getting a student group going whose primary goal is to get a hackerspace going. Please track our progress on our wiki.

We have the data from our balloon, and are sifting through it. We should have more documentation soon.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Tue, 03 Nov 2009 21:23:44 -0800 Some photos from launch day http://zeckalpha.org/some-photos-from-launch-day http://zeckalpha.org/some-photos-from-launch-day

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Wed, 28 Oct 2009 21:14:23 -0700 Construction and Painting http://zeckalpha.org/construction-and-painting http://zeckalpha.org/construction-and-painting

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:55:22 -0700 Yellow Cake http://zeckalpha.org/yellow-cake-1 http://zeckalpha.org/yellow-cake-1
via vimeo.com

This is a tish long for casual viewing, but it says a lot about the recent geopolitical/economic situation, as well as explaining "Why They Hate US."

If you have 10 minutes free time please take that time to watch this video.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Tue, 13 Oct 2009 19:44:32 -0700 Team icarus update http://zeckalpha.org/team-icarus-update http://zeckalpha.org/team-icarus-update Today we started construction on the structure. We are using foam-core with a second layer of foam on the inside for shock absorption held together by epoxy, hot glue, and tape.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Mon, 05 Oct 2009 12:10:37 -0700 Concept Design Review http://zeckalpha.org/concept-design-review http://zeckalpha.org/concept-design-review Here is what I believe to be our Concept Design Review presentation for tomorrow. The logo may change. Everything else is pretty much set.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Thu, 01 Oct 2009 19:41:34 -0700 More Progress on Balloon Project http://zeckalpha.org/more-progress-on-balloon-project http://zeckalpha.org/more-progress-on-balloon-project We are gearing up for a presentation next Tuesday. We finished the flight computer and started the weather station.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Thu, 01 Oct 2009 08:42:18 -0700 Errands http://zeckalpha.org/errands-8 http://zeckalpha.org/errands-8

Spanish Class, Hardware Store, Filled Bike Tires, Bank, Post Office, Brunch, Catching up on news, and then off to Jimmy John's for a $1 sub on my way to Psych discussion.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:56:19 -0700 Packages http://zeckalpha.org/packages-5 http://zeckalpha.org/packages-5

I love when packages arrive. I get an email saying, please come and get your package. It makes me feel good about myself. Even when the package isn't stuff for me; For example, my father's birthday present arrived today. I had fun opening up the many layers of packaging and padding... Now I have to figure out how I am going to wrap this flippin' guitar...

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Mon, 28 Sep 2009 13:13:52 -0700 Weather http://zeckalpha.org/weather-284 http://zeckalpha.org/weather-284

Weather is usually something I ignore, but follow. I like to know what's going to happen, but I trudge through whatever happens. The last two days, however, have been extremely windy. I've not been following it, nor can I easily ignore it when my bike's turning radius is affected so much that the cement pillar moves towards me. I evaded.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Fri, 25 Sep 2009 12:47:43 -0700 Padelford http://zeckalpha.org/padelford http://zeckalpha.org/padelford

Marching band + Boat + Dance = Padelford

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:21:49 -0700 Room Organization http://zeckalpha.org/room-organization http://zeckalpha.org/room-organization Well they took out the extra bunk today, so I finally have been able to put things roughly where they'll be. I raised the bed up a bit, but I haven't arranged for it to be lofted yet.  Much of my stuff fits under there nicely, though. My desk is about the same height as the windowsill so I have an L shaped desk of sorts. Everything either fits in the closets and drawers or on the outside wall so I have a 13' x 6' opening on the floor. (Those distances were measured at the shortest points, but most of it is about that. If measured at the longest it would be about 13' x 6.5'.) The tote for Team icarus' stuff fits nicely under my tote for dirty clothing, and they both fit under the bed perfectly. What my room is missing now is chair space. I have one chair they provided, and that is it. I think on my parents' next trip up they are bringing a folding chair. That would have arms, too, though, and I prefer armless chairs for guitar. I have a few armless chairs at Steve's one of which they might bring up if Steve visits. That would be a month away though, but I can make do until then. I'm just glad to finally get reasonably settled in. Now to put stuff up on the blank walls...

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Tue, 22 Sep 2009 21:11:00 -0700 Spaceflight with Balloons - Team Icarus http://zeckalpha.org/spaceflight-with-balloons-team-icarus http://zeckalpha.org/spaceflight-with-balloons-team-icarus

My Spaceflight with Balloons class is heating up... I built a heater for our payload this evening. He taught us soldering today, so I went first and showed/helped my group how to do it.

The teacher is using Paul Verhage's series from Nuts and Volts as the text book. The craft will have an APRS rig, a siren (so it doesn't land on anyone), 4 payloads each made by a group of 5 students in the class, and a $300 balloon that will expand to 40 feet in diameter before it pops and plummets back to the earth. We are launching the weekend of Halloween, or the weekend after depending on the weather.

We have to include a heater, which I made tonight, a Basic Stamp flight computer which will record data, a HOBO temperature sensor, and a camera which can be either still or video.

What follows is some ideas for our experiments.

Optics Experiments
  •  Human Perception of distance with altitude, which would involve stereo imaging and human testing, post-flight.
  •  Examining Eath's atmosphere as a filter for near-visible wavelengths of light, using camera lenses. (The other teams seem to be doing something along these lines. Perhaps a combination of these two experiments or a specific application of the results of the near-visible light experiment would be a more interesting project. Suggestions?)
Additional Sensor Experiment:
  • Change in Earth's Magnetic Field with Altitude.
    • Requirements: 
      • 3-axis digital compass and an accelerometer for tilt compensation
        • Pros: Cost. Cons: Difficulty to program.
      •  2-axis digital compass with built-in tilt compensation
        • Pros: Ease of programming. Cons: Cost.
    • Either of these would have to integrate with either the BasicStamp, the HOBO, or the Flight Computer/Weather Station. (It is possible to have the accelerometer data recorded via one method and the compass data recorded via another, if the split option is chosen. They would need to be reasonably synchronized, and there would be more difficulty in processing. A plus of splitting would be if one dataset fails, it may be possible to use the other for a different experiment.)
I offered to head up the Magnetic field experiment.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz Tue, 22 Sep 2009 12:07:00 -0700 Gopher Way http://zeckalpha.org/gopher-way http://zeckalpha.org/gopher-way

The Gopher Way is an interesting way to look at the underbelly of the University. Seldom a passerby, but always an interesting room. Stretching all over, a map would be a handy tool. Interestingly enough, I found one, though it was after my return to the light.

Campus Walking Guide

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/193601/Photo_23.jpg http://posterous.com/people/4bmOi9OUbsLD Kyle Marek-Spartz kylemarekspartz Kyle Marek-Spartz