We had about 6 or 7 people for the initial Make:Princeton meeting tonight.

After introductions as we looked over Make magazine swag free to take and ate some cookie, we got to share our projects.

One fellow showed a high voltage circuitry he was working on for a TIG welding apparatus. The idea was to enhance an inexpensive TIG welder by adding a high voltage circuit that would ionise the air between the electrode and the material to be welded. You can see the circuitry in the second photo on the right.

I showed the Tikitag RFID experimentation kit I had recent;y purchased. I've only had a few days to tinker with it.

Nick Johnson, the fellow who's getting the Make:Princeton group going, showed his alarm clock with a clever snooze alarm that requires you to correctly answer maths questions before going silent. (The insides are shown in the bottom photograph.) Several of us noted the resemblance to the "Google Mail Googles" concept that uses maths tests to check the user's mental state before allowing emails to be sent out.

A couple of people who did not have projects to show, told about the projects they had at home. One fellow is working on what I'd call an aesthetic version of a USB thumbdrive RAID. Another showed photos of a MAME based home video game arcade system with a nicely done cabinet and a touchscreen music jukebox/light show wall hanging device.

Lots of good brainstorming followed the presentation of each project.

Although the intial show & tell consisted of electronic tech projects, we hope to see folks with other types of creative interests, such as graphic arts, crafts, and such. We can learn much from each other.

It looks like the Make:Princeton group will meet every other Wednesday in East Pyne Hall, Room 039. Check the Make:Princeton news group for more information.

Jonathan "J.D." Abolins

UPDATE (18 Oct 2008): The Make:Princeton blog has more info and photos from the meeting.