rippowamlabs

Dan Sherman and I cleared the first hurdle of Project X last week. We uploaded a program from our Arduino microcontroller board to an ATTiny85 chip. I had never done this before so I had to sort out my avrdude files on my Ubuntu machine. But, after that, it was off to the races. This will be the brains of our new project. BTW, just want to let everyone know what a really smart guy Dan Sherman is … and really cool too!!! You’ll be seeing his face around the space, so walk up and say hi!!!

We actually accomplished a lot at tonight’s Intro to WordPress class. Both students are now able to use the WordPress tool to achieve their Web visions.
But something happened during class that was unexpected. We broke out the lockpicking tools and started busting some locks. Here are Megan and Carolyn showing off their new skills …
You can’t tell how some nights will work out …

In honor of the recent Bike-To-Work Week, RipLabs will be awarding a free bike to  the first  person who signs up for a 6-month membership.

This is a quality hybrid bike that has been recently tuned. The gears shift like a dream and the brakes are tight!

The membership entitles you to unlimited classes at our facility, a deal on all geek supplies we order and you get to play with all our cool toys!

Please e-mail us to find out more. But don’t wait, this bike is sure to go fast!!!

 

We’d like to thank Carrie Chiapetta and the Stamford Public School System for holding such an awesome event on Saturday. For the first time, we got front and center with all the science enthusiasta in the Stamford area … and we got to know what they’re interested in learning about.

Our fine crew put in a long day and I want to thank Chandni, Corey, Shavi and Rennie for all their help! Here they are in action … There was quite literally a line forming to take a turn in riding our robot. We thought that was a big deal – until some guys from NYC Chapter of the Open Organization of Lockpickers showed up. As usual, a crowd formed around their table – even the cops.

We want to thank Rick Francher (see below), Nite Owl and the rest of the gang for letting so many people in on their interesting world. It turns out that they actually know a direct descendent of of the owners of the Yale & Towne lock factory ( one of Stamford’s major employers for a century). Apparently, he’s actually a lockpicker of some repute!

Rick is so generous with his time. He gave this one guy an in-depth tutorial that lasted like 20 minutes!

We can’t wait for next year!!!!

Here’s a video they posted on Fbook

https://www.facebook.com/201557736716911/videos/vb.201557736716911/368054923400524/?type=2&theater

 

 

We want to thank everyone for attending the Bike to Work Meetup last night. Ken Tashoff from Danny’s Cycles is one HELL OF A GUY and he spearheaded a strategic assault on all the reasons you supposedly can’t ride your bike to work. Ken was the brainchild behind the Web resource we created for bikers in the Stamford area (http://rippowamlabs.org/bike_to_work_stamford/) and I had a great time working with him on it. Here he is in front of the group! (Sorry about getting you mid-blink but this is the best picture I had of you. You rock, dude!!!)

We had quite a crew attending the Meetup and it was great to have so many interesting, funny and cool people in our space.

Kudos to Emily Provonsha from the Stamford Downtown Special Services District and People Friendly Stamford who pulled the entire Bike to Work Week together. She’s been really busy and she must be really tired right now. But you should know your efforts were well worth it!! Here’s Emily riding our robot …

This is the first dog that has ever visited our space. He is owned by Jenna and Ryan!!  Thanks for coming by!!We’re already talking about making improvements to the site … and how to get the word out. So stay tuned !!!

 

 

 

We had the awesome pleasure of attending the Stamford Ignite talks on Wednesday! It’s a great group run by Meg Dalton and company that informs, inspires and provides a pleasant dose of culture to the great City of Stamford.

There were many cool talks, including the one given by Jennifer Kruzansky about the importance of growing your own food . And then  there was the one about how the Bridgeport Bike Co-Op began, as a side result of Jacob Robinson’s personal journey.  And Neil Wynne’s talk on security when using e-mail and social media …. And the one from Katherine Pappas about the importance of creativity!!

We are truly blessed to have this in our city and taking part in it was truly a pleasure. I don’t get to do a whole lot of public speaking, so I was real nervous! But, with Chandni’s help, I was able to pull it off!

There’s one thing everyone can be sure of … We will return to the next Stamford Ignite!!!!

 

 

The Downtown Special Services District has installed one of those cool new bike hitches on a parking meter right across the street from RipLabs.  See below …

So, along with the many traffic signs and trees in the lower Summer corridor, you can also lock one of your bikes to this!  Thanks DSSD!!!! The timing couldn’t be better for Bike to Work Week 5/11-5/15!!!!

Stamford STEMfest is a celebration of science, technology, engineering and math put on by the Stamford public schools. It will be held in Mill River Park on May 16 (May 17 raindate) from 10 am to 4 pm.

RipLabs is stoked to take part in this and we will have a few tables at the event, where we will be displaying some of our projects and giving classes and demonstrations in lockpicking and robotics.

Join the FUN!!! Don’t miss out!!!

Visit http://www.stamfordpublicschools.org/district/math/pages/stamford-stemfest for more info.

Rippowam Labs is proud to take part in Bike to Work Week 2015! As part of this effort, we will be co-hosting an event with Ken Tashoff from Danny’s Cycles.  Together, we’ll break down the barriers that keep you from biking to work. We’ll show you all the tricks that bike commuters have used to make this do-able  (e.g., packing clothes/lunch; dealing with the rain; where to shower) . We’ll also be unveiling a Web site that will help you  find others who already are – or who want to – commute by bike to Stamford.

Check out our new server! It’s a BEAST!  Three 4GHz drives, 8GB RAM and 6 fans!!!

This is Greg configuring the box … This guy is a stud!!