Jump to:
- Activities: Selecting Sensors for Wearable Tech
- Long Read: Nesta Digital Makers Report
- Campaign: BBC Make It Digital
- Events: MINECON and International Arduino Day
- Videos: Edward Snowden at FutureFest, Dr Cynthia Breazeal on Robots
- Competition: GameSalad with Amazon Fire TV
Activities
Selecting Sensors for Wearable Tech
Stretch, flex and feel your heart pulsing! No, this isn’t an aerobics class, but a really handy look at the different sensors available when you are making wearable tech and tips on how to use them.
Long Read
Young Digital Makers
The innovation charity Nesta, National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts, has published a report looking at the status of digital making and how young people get creative with technology in the UK. You can download the report on the link below or read our own recent blog post reviewing the Nesta findings.
Campaign
BBC Make It Digital
BBC have launched a new campaign to get young people coding and interacting with technology in new ways. As part of this, they are giving away one million Micro Bit computers to schoolchildren in the UK. You can have a look at all the resources they have collected on a dedicated section of the BBC website. You can also read about Fire Tech Camp working with the BBC at the Big Bang Fair to create wearable tech on our own blog post.
Events
MINECON
It might seem a little bit early to be talking about MINECON, the conference for Minecraft lovers taking place in London this July, but we have good reason. Tickets are being released in two batches on Friday 27th March and Saturday 28th March. The event is suitable for children and teenagers but kids aged 14 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Don’t miss out on your chance to snap one up!
International Arduino Day
It’s time to celebrate computing power, gadget-making and electronics in all its pocket-sized glory. Saturday 28th March 2015 is International Arduino Day, an opportunity to share your projects, attend events and connect to a community of other people who can’t get enough of their microcontrollers. Maker groups and hackspaces across the UK are getting involved, so check out what’s on in your local area! Campers aged 12+ can check out our Arduino camps (Getting Started with Arduino, Level II and as part of our Python Coding with Minecraft Camp) any time: Arduino camp availability.
Videos
Edward Snowdon at FutureFest
Edward Snowdon was a speaker at London’s recent FutureFest, which explored the opportunities and limitations of the digital world that lies ahead of us. Snowdon talked about the potential dangers of a world with increasing surveillance and how we can act to avoid that. This is a video of highlights from Snowdon’s talk (15 minutes), click through on the button below for the full-length interview.
Edward Snowden at FutureFest: Highlights from Nesta UK on Vimeo.
Dr Cynthia Breazeal: The Personal Side of Robots
Speaking at SXSW earlier this month Dr Cynthia Breazeal, the Director of the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, gives us a fascinating insight into research in her field and how robots are becoming more intelligent, social and emotive.
Competition
GameSalad with Amazon Fire TV
GameSalad, the game creation software we use on our Coding Games with Java camp, has teamed up with Amazon Fire TV to celebrate their launch on the platform and offer game designers some great rewards. If you are creating games using GameSalad for Mac then you can be in with a chance of winning. Upload your games onto Amazon Fire TV by 30th March 2015 and you could be randomly selected as a winner – the prize is £1,000. In addition to this, everyone who takes advantage of the new publishing platform will acquire free access (1 month per game) of the GameSalad PRO features.
