The Austin Maker Faire last weekend definitely lived up to my expectations. I really enjoyed the cars (electric and art), the homemade robots, and of course the life-size mousetrap game. Here’s a shot of the Camera Van art car:

For further photos and coverage of the Austin Maker Faire checkout these links:

• Maker Faire coverage on the Make Blog
• Laughing Squid’s Maker Faire Austin 2007 Flickr Photo Set
• News8Austin Maker Faire coverage

And finally a YouTube video of the Life Size Mousetrap game:

Did you make it to Maker Faire? What was your favorite Maker-made creation?

Thanks to last weekend’s activities I have a backlog of links. Enjoy!

First some Austin news:

• The Austin City Council adopts new energy efficiency requirements for new homes – Statesman: Austin leads way in energy efficiency.
• UT is also working to improve the efficiency and sustainability of their infrastructure. They are apparently improving – Austinist: UT Gets a B- in Sustainability
• In development news: Although many neighborhoods opted to allow VMU development, recently a few neighborhoods opposed the actual projects – Statesman: Neighborhoods oppose three Austin projects that would boost density
• Similarly, the recent development recommendation for the UT Brackenridge tract has met with concern from area residents – Statesman: Concerns aired about UT development recommendations.
• In transit: Mayor Wynn proposes more rail for Central Austin commuters – Austin Business Journal: Expanded Rail System election proposed for next year, and in related commuter rail news – Statesman: First commuter cars arrive in Austin
• Hopefully, all of the above will contribute to making Austin an even better place to live. We’re doing pretty good so far, at least according to Travel & Leisure magazine – Austinist: Pat Yourselves On the Bank, Austinites – You’re Damn Sexy…

And a few general interest links

• Regular readers of this blog know I love architourism, and Frank Lloyd Wright designs. I think I’ve mentioned this site before, but here’s another good description – Statesman: Western Pennsylvania gets third Wright home within 30 miles.
• If you decide to act now to make your home more efficient, you could get some help from Uncle Sam – Inhabitat: Get a tax cut for going green – by Dec 2007
• In mapping news – Google Earth Blog: New Imagery for Google Earth – October 23
• Austin has a lot of condo construction going on right now, but I don’t think we have anything like this – Luxury on Main – Elegant Housing for the World’s Finest Automobiles.
• Finally, if you can’t find that perfect 100 million dollar property in Austin, here’s a nice one in Connecticut – The Real Estate Bloggers: 95 Million Dollar Connecticut Estate For Sale By Liberty Travel Founder

That’s all for now. Have a great week!

It was a busy weekend, but we made it to Barkitecture. I have never seen so many dogs in downtown Austin. From tiny Chihuahuas to giant Great Danes, all sizes (and many breeds) were represented.

Beside the dogs, there were lots of amazing doghouses. Had I a dog, I would definitely have placed a few bids. Here’s an impressive design from Cottam Hargrave.

Click on for a gallery with photos of all entries.
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A quick heads up about two fun events going on in Austin this weekend:

First: Maker Faire!

A two-day, family-friendly event that celebrates arts, crafts, engineering, science projects and the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) mindset. It’s for creative, resourceful folks who like to tinker and love to make things. We call them Makers.

The event is Saturday and Sunday (10/20-21) at the Travis County Fairgrounds. Tickets are $25, I think it will be well worth it. Here are some links with more details:

• Maker Faire website
• Coverage on Wired’s GeekDad Blog
• Austinist: Preview of Maker Faire Bots

You get the idea.

Second: Barkitecture Austin!

If you enjoyed the AIA homes tour, you would probably enjoy Barkitecture:

30 of Austin’s best architects, builders and designers have been chosen to create extraordinary dog houses of varied designs to be auctioned off to benefit local animal rescue, welfare and advocacy groups.100% of all proceeds from this year’s silent auction will directly benefit Animal Trustees of Austin, Lucky Mutts, Austin Dog Rescue and Blue Dog Rescue.

The list of architects promises some pretty interesting dog houses. The event is this Saturday (10/20) from Noon to 5 PM at the 2nd Street District. Check out the Barkitecture Website for a full schedule and further details.

Have a blast!

Public competition is often used as a tool to spur innovation. Recent high-profile examples include the widely publicized Ansari X-Prize and the DARPA Grand Challenge. The technologies developed by each of the teams in these competitions serve to advance the state of the art in the field.

To bring this competition and innovation to the field of high-performance (green), solar-powered homes, the US Department of Energy created the Solar Decathlon. Here’s a description from their website:

The Solar Decathlon joins 20 college and university teams in a competition to design, build, and operate the most attractive and energy-efficient solar-powered house.

The competition is composed of 10 contests, each grading a different aspect of the designs. The 10 contests are: Architecture, Engineering, Market Viability, Communications, Comfort Zone, Appliances, Hot Water, Lighting, Energy Balance, Getting Around. This variety forces the students to make difficult trade-offs when optimizing their designs, and of course to innovate.

For those in the DC area, the Solar Decathlon takes place on the National Mall this week, and the homes are open to the public every day except Wednesday, 10/17. The winner is announced on Friday. Here are a few of the competing designs for 2007:

The University of Colorado has won both of the past two competitions (2002 and 2005). Here is a rendering of their 2007 design:

As we’re in Austin, here is the UT design:

Finally, I’m an Aggie, so here is the Texas A&M Design:

For more details check out the main Solar Decathlon Website and the Inhabitat Coverage. Also, here’s a recent Statesman article about the UT design – UT team ready as solar decathlon opens. Send me an email if you plan to check it out in person.

Here’s hoping for a Texas team to end the Colorado Dynasty.