Nerds and Nepal, a mini travelogue of two weekend fairs (blog)

Last weekend was "fair weekend" for us. Saturday we visited the Maker Faire in San Mateo for the first time, and Sunday we dragged the boys to the Himalayan Fair in Berkeley. I would love to live in the neighborhood where the Himalayan Fair took place, but I doubt I'll bother going back to Maker Faire.

Maker Faire
I had high hopes for this after looking at the web site and hearing rave reviews from more than one friend. We expected crowds and were prepared for an all-day affair, but frankly I left feeling that it had all the charm of Comdex with all the discomforts of Disneyland. That is to say, it was devilishly crowded, terribly expensive, and frequently felt as much like an extended sales pitch as a demonstration of wicked coolness.

We started the day arriving at the remote parking lot which had nearly nonexistent signage (which led to many people parking in the wrong lot and getting expensive tickets), then waiting in line 45 minutes for the shuttle bus, which took about 20 minutes to get us to the drop-off point, which was a 10 minute walk from the main gate. All this time, for the price of admission, my expectations were building. This many people must mean it was going to be truly awesome.

The Faire had some pretty awesome things. Watching the Coke & Mentos guys do their fountain was fun, but to see the three minutes of action we listened to a 20 minute lecture we could barely hear, along with 400 of our sweatiest friends. The stage was raised so almost everyone could see, but throughout the day it became apparent that if you really wanted to see a demonstration or show, you had to get there 30 minutes early (or more) and wait. With seating nearly nonexistent throughout the grounds, it gets tough not only on an old guy like me but also on teenagers.

I especially liked the life sized Mousetrap game board. Clever and quirky, and as a feat of raw ridiculousness it really raised the bar to epic heights.

I never did see a 3D printer in action, and the robot competition area was fun but chaotic (it seemed to be a VEX-like competition, but it was unclear where the teams came from). We missed but the flying drones exhibit because we got tired of waiting for it to start, and the main exhibit hall was so crowded between the booths that even if you could get close enough to see an exhibitor's stuff you were constantly jostled and pressed by people trying to get through.

Overall, had we planned it better we may have had a better experience, but for $30 a person for a day pass, and then an overpriced lunch and drinks ($3 for a bottle of water!), I don't see any point in going back next year. Or ever, really.

Waiting in line for the shuttle builds skepticism.

STILL waiting in line for the shuttle.

Go Bears! The Cal version of a solar car.

Life sized Mousetrap. Cool.

More Mousetrap. Still cool.

Exterminate! Exterminate!

Himalayan Fair
The next day was a totally different experience. We found parking in Berkeley relatively easily, walked four blocks through a cute little neighborhood to a lovely, well shaded park, to be greeted by festive music, bright colors, and free admission.

Granted, our expectations were lower than for Maker Faire, but the payoff was far greater. The beautiful day was made more beautiful by the colorful strings of prayer flags and the stream running through the park. The food was very good (though we were hoping for Nepali or Tibetan options to go with the Indian), and the people were terribly friendly. It had an air of community to it. Even in the hot, crowded booths it still seemed happy and pleasant.

The entertainment was hit or miss. One group of drumming guys who I think might have been warming up for their dance demonstration, displayed a charming lack of rhythm. And the guy pouring free tea (for a donation with all funds going to a charity) was unclear on whether he was pouring Chai (as we suspected) or Chia (as his sign said).

Gotta love parking on YOLO street.

Shady goodness, photo taken from where we sat and ate our lunch.

Sam found a cool spot to sit while Mom shopped.

Festive colors!

More festive colors!

Music on the Big Stage.

Sam, caught in a not terribly flattering candid moment, examining the posters of the Himalayan range.

Ethan doing a quick sketch while waiting for the momos to arrive.

All in all, I would return to the Himalayan Fair every year but not bother with Maker Faire again. Maybe that's because I would love to relive our wonderful week in Nepal, but I have no desire to pay for a semi-pro version of Comdex.

robot battle - a #VEX ing day (blog with photos)

Last Saturday, I was part of the small team that hosted a robotics tournament featuring at least 300 participants and spectators, 28 teams, three live displays, two playing fields, and a qualifying spot for the World Championships on the line.

Although we had only a vague understanding of the equipment and software before setting up Friday night, it's amazing that we got the tournament underway only one hour delayed. Huge thanks to Dougherty Valley High's team for bringing the second field control unit; without that, we might have ended at 8 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. If we were lucky.

Friday night we set up the two fields and tested out the network, the three projector displays, and the fields. We didn't have all the equipment to actually run a practice match, so we quit setup around 8:30 p.m. and resumed about 6:30 Saturday morning. The kids were a big help setting up the fields, but the rest of it was up to the three adults who were the least clueless about technology... and who were also the least clueless about not volunteering.

The first field went up quickly. Notice it's not wired yet.

It took surprisingly long to figure out where the tables would go to control the flow of the matches.

The second field didn't arrive until 7:30, but it was up in 15 minutes.

The finished field, 

My schematic of the setup. Fields, laptops, projectors all clearly diagrammed.

I'd attended portions of VEX tournaments in the 2011-2012 school year, but I'd never hosted one. It's an enormous task, far more complex than I had imagined. And chaotic. When you have dozens of teams of high school geniuses vying for top honors, you get some questions like, "When will you have the schedule done?" And, "How about now?" And, "What about now?"

Our club would be fielding three different robots, the A, B, and E teams. They set up shop in the location closest to the concession stand, and they spared no effort in making their space comfortable.

The kids brought the sofas from the school library. Guess who had to put them back?

The work pit was also productive, though, with mods going on all day.

Once we got the first competition underway, however, there were very few glitches. The second match was rerun because a bad cable put one team at a disadvantage. Other than that, our fields and network worked pretty reliably all day. But there wasn't a single second I felt relaxed because if anything had gone wrong, I wouldn't have had a @#$!# clue how to fix it.

The first match is underway! And... it all works!

Most impressive to me (besides the fact that we got the equipment to work) was the behavior of the teams. I did not encounter a single student who behaved badly in any way. One team had a complaint about the field not working (we decided it was team error, not field error), but they were courteous and gracious about it despite their disappointment. A couple of adults got a bit feisty from time to time, but for the most part everyone was civil and helpful and quite pleasant.

Even though the competition was cutthroat.

Look at the intensity on Ethan's face as he drives the bot!

Teams paired up in a 2-on-2 competition, red team versus blue team.
The team to score the most beanbags in the goals won the round.

The spirit of competition was trumped only by the spirit of collaboration, with
teams helping other teams overcome technical anomalies throughout the day.

The least likely robot, the E Machine, made it to the quarterfinals on the strength of
great driving and the luck of being paired up with excellent partners in the late matches.

The E Machine tended to get stuck on top of the beanbags and had some trouble
lifting them up to the goals, but in the end it did better than either of the A or B bots.

This competition is a great event, and it makes me sad that it's not more aggressively promoted to the high school community. I get constant emails about fundraisers and events for all kinds of sporting events at the high school, yet only two or three faculty and none of the school administration came to the event (that I was aware of).

We had about 15 or 18 schools represented from all over the region, fielding 28 different robots. Throughout the day we had at least 300 people participating or spectating or working the event. The club president, a senior at the school, did a fantastic job under great stress, as did the parent volunteers and our faculty advisor. The kids in our high school robotics club didn't fare so well in the competition, but in my eyes (and in the comments from everyone I spoke with), they represented well with great sportsmanship, a solid effort, and good hospitality. No awards for Northgate this time, and a thorough trouncing in the quarterfinals. But an event everyone should be very proud of, and which was terrific fun.

If I had to miss coaching my other son's 5-2 soccer victory over one of the best teams in our league, then this is what I would want to be doing instead.

Good job, Northgate Robotics! We'll get 'em next year.