The Maker Faire Bay Area is this weekend (May 19 & 20th) at the San Mateo County Event Center.
I’ll be in the Maker Shed selling Geiger Counter kits. I’ll be doing a demo on Saturday at 6PM in the Shed and will also be giving a presentation about finding radioactivity in everyday objects on the Make: Demo stage in Expo Hall on Sunday at 2PM.
Stop by and say hello!
This week only, $99.95 gets you a Geiger Counter kit with sensitive SBM-20 Geiger tube and a clear acrylic case.
Thanks to everyone who has been taking advantage of the reduced pricing on Geiger Counter kits this week, there are just a handful left in stock.
If you’ve been holding out on placing an order, now might be a good time. There’s a fair chance that I’ll run out of kits before I close the online store at midnight tomorrow (CDT).
PS: There are still some HV Rescue Shields in stock as well.
Update: I have been asked if I am closing up shop permanently – hopefully not! I plan to reopen the online store after I move to Seattle, but my new day job might slow down the process a bit. I’ll post updates as I get settled.
The Austin Mini Maker Faire is this weekend!
This is the first Make: sponsored event we’ve had since the “big” Faire in 2008. It’s being held at the Pine Street Station in East Austin (5th and Waller).
I’ll be there checking out all of the cool exhibits, including the soldering workshops being run by my friends at the ATX Hackerspace.
Click the poster below for more information, or visit austinmakerfaire.com.
See you there!
This week only, Geiger Counter kits are on sale!
For a limited time, $99.95 gets you a Geiger Counter Kit and a stylish clear acrylic case.
Also, my online store will be closing this weekend (May 12th) and will reopen after I unpack in Seattle next month.
Yes, the things you have heard are true. After four glorious years of freelancing and working on fun open source hardware projects, I am going full-time again.
In June, I will be joining the hardware team at Valve.
Yes, Jeri works there. No, she is not my boss (or anyone else’s, more on that later).
On my last visit to Valve, I got a copy of the brand new Handbook for New Employees. This handbook outlines what it’s like to work at Valve.
If you read the handbook, you will discover that working at Valve is quite a bit different than working at other software or hardware companies.
Perhaps most significantly, Valve is a completely flat organization – there are no managers. (And by flat I don’t mean simple, or boring, because it is certainly neither of these things.)
No one, not even Gabe, can tell you what to do or what projects to work on.
So how does anything get done? Simple:
Interested in working at Valve? The handbook also talks a bit about the sorts of things that Valve looks for in the hiring process. I found this diagram particularly interesting:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mightyohm/7096956887/in/set-72157629497191122/
Valve looks for people who are experts in their field but also generalists. (Jack of all trades, master of one?) This applies across all disciplines.
(Does this sound like you? If you are interested in working on hardware in an amazing work environment, surrounded by other super-talented people, I highly recommend that you contact Valve.)
The handbook contains lots of other good information for new and prospective employees. Unfortunately, it’s not available for download (yet), so you’ll have to come visit and beg for/borrow/steal a copy. (In the mean time, there are a few more scans here.)
As for me, I need to start packing. Wish me luck.
Update: LambdaGeneration just posted a link to the complete handbook.