I'm really happy to see this excellent piece on how the maker movement is offering a new direction for science and technical education. Miles O'Brien does a great job.

“I didn’t know what to expect,” Anita Cockrum said. “We are having a really good time.”

They met a man who is trying to harness energy from the earth so people can “plug in” their homes to the ground. And they spent time talking with another who has created a solar-powered water heater. The Cockrums are going to try to make one of their own.

“There’s a lot of hands-on, practical stuff,” Anita Cockrum said. “A lot of people are willing to share their ideas freely. I like that.”

Nice work by Gareth Branwyn.

This weekend, I'm visiting my father in a nursing home. He may or may not recognize me. What he says comes in sentences that he starts but can't finish. "I really enjoy... I need a ... You'll be a..." And that's better than yesterday when he wasn't saying anything.