User:Leo

Please help quickie-authorize me on tools I really need and know how to use/own

I'd love to get quickie-authorized (10-20 minutes) on tools I have used elsewhere but not here, and for which I'm waiting to use for active projects:

• Laser Cutter - I might finish my own before getting authorized on the epilog! Haha.
• Vinyl Cutter
• Shopbot/CNC
• Large Format Printer
• Sewing Machine/Embroidery

I am always interested in helping with your ___ project, especially if you'll teach me what you're doing! I also am always willing to talk about anything. I don't take things personally, where possible. I prefer nonconfrontational directness for problem-solving. If we work together, there is nothing we can't do.

No hard feelings about the painting/mural WIP/RIP, guys; to me, the point of art is to stimulate thought, curiosity, discussion and debate, and while the result wasn't quite what I was going for, it achieved its purpose, and I can always paint more stuff. I'd love to turn this into a positive, let's paint and make art together, future-friends!

Active Projects - open to edits by all. lots to add

I'll list all active and dormant projects here. If you want to help me with a project, or have done something similar, I'd love your help! Stick your name in here. You can also just come and watch me work and I'll teach you what I'm doing as I work. I'll do my best to list amazon prices for stuff for reference.

Internet&Coding Stuff

• Develop my websites www.LifeOpenSourced.com, www.PleaseDontVoteTrump.com, www.fsocietynow.com and www.StopZika.today

Legal Stuff

Tech Stuff

• Learning to play with arduinos, I have a mega2560 ($20), five arduino pro minis (5/$15), a 37 sensor kit ($15), and a bag of tons of LEDs and lightstrips

*Hacking my Leos_Loaner_Laser ($355.99 + $5.49 S&H) - to start, I want to remove the bottom and take it outside with my gas generator to carve on walls and rocks and trees, and I want to build a different/better cooling system once I learn more about the existing setup. It was purchased for hacking. It will probably be a permanent loan or eventual donation once I settle in more. I'm happy to authorize anyone to use it, just email me.

Furniture stuff

• Working on learning any kinds of furniture building, and building quickie furniture in the meantime to practice.

Car Stuff

• Removing the full center console from my car (done) and rebuilding it with either molded polycarbonate or kevlar/carbonfiber
• Installing several cameras and wiring in my car with several amazon 7" LCDs ($20) (done) and installing front/rear sonar sensors
• Pulling apart and splitting apart my working car radio (done) and then rebuilding it (done, but it doesn't work right, help)

Activism

• Environmental Issues
• Antiracism work - I want to help others first and then throw my own events which I'd video and post
• Libertarianism (FWIW I don't support either H or T, though I'll choose the lesser of two ___'s in November)
• Healthcare spending, safety and opiate-problems
• LGBTQ issues (FWIW I'm straight)

Future projects

• Building a mobile outdoor shaded air-conditioned workspace that doesn't leak too much air with a separate ventilated "pod" for dremel/welding/paintdrying etc
• Expanding my trunk and/or adding external storage (I own a welder fwiw)
• replacing brakes and rotors for all 4 wheels (I have the parts and a jack, no jack stands though)
• large scale sculptures and chandeliers

Skills and authorizations - I'm happy to teach anything I know, open to edits by all

Metalshop drill, Johnson - thanks Dean 9/14!!! ([1]) Woodshop - all but lathe and ___ (the thing that isn't the jointer or the planer but is similar, it's on the tip of my tongue) - thanks Jason 9/12!!!

Boring About Me Stuff

Hi! I was born in Boston, grew up outside DC and was forced to go to private parochial school until high school when I transferred to public school and went to Montgomery Blair in Silver Spring, a science/math/engineering magnet school. In high school I focused on engineering/breadboards (we had an awful CNC I never used, sadly; US first robotics; I built a sonar hat prototype for the blind back in 1999), photography/photoshop, graphics (illustrator, macromedia flash and macromedia shockwave and macromedia dreamweaver 1999-2003; flash actually was lite and didn't suck donkey you-know-whats back then; 3dsmax, blender and maya) and programming (lisp, pascal, c, cpp, open gl, java, javascript). I went to Brandeis for computer science then switched to environmental law with women's studies and art minors. I went to Tufts School of Medicine for a M.Sc. in biomedical science, did some research at NIH and Harvard to improve my resume and went to Albany Medical College for MD. Wasn't for me. I'm technically on sabbatical between third and fourth year, and might finish some day. I've also been teaching and private-tutoring for Kaplan for some time now, all the way from teaching 5 year olds the alphabet, reading and math to SAT to AP tests to college classes (mostly writing, all maths and all sciences) and the MCAT/LSAT/GMAT/GRE. I joined mensa and 999 for kicks but didn't keep up with either very much, aside from a few cool friendships. I'm the permanent minister of existentialism for the micronation of Ladonia since its founding in 1996 (though I don't keep up much lately since membership has ballooned from 15 friends who know each other intimately and built everything together from the ground up to 400 people who don't know each other. Some pun/reference intended)

I've always enjoyed recycling, art, learning new techniques and tools every day, teaching and charity/giving things away. I love www.couchsurfing.com and www.freecycle.com and find the movements inspiring. The world is an awesome place - there are tons of super cool people out there! Back when I was 16 I made a B&W/color palm pilot user interface skin and a small game for PC's and gave the full versions away free as "donate-ware", give what you want if you can, and made thousands. I'm trying the same concept with my life now. I'm going to teach, volunteer, make art (hopefully large scale recycled and lasercut and LED-lit/solar metalworks on schools and in parks etc) and give everything away free, produce tons of content, and live cheaply paying my own expenses with occasional sold art; I'm going to solicit donations to support my artwork and charity but never my own expenses.

Why Chicago? My dad's from Lincolnwood, my great aunt Skokie/Elgin, my aunt/uncle/cousins are in Oak Park and one of my best friends lives in Chicago too, plus I have a few other friends in town. My dad went to Michigan and to University of Chicago Med, and my sister went to Northwestern undergrad (and Brooklyn law, she works for a nonprofit defending people from immigration/ICE). I've always wanted to live here, so I went for it! I drove from Albany NY to Niagra Falls to Chicago the fifth of September. I'm planning to do art pieces and photographing/videographing and writing and teaching and creating as I travel the majority of North America I have never been to, so Chicago is a great place to base myself out of for a while at least!

Check me out in-person or by email (my name at my main website), or visit www.LifeOpenSourced.com