20141229

Six things I've learned about 3D printing

1. 3D printing saves lots of time (even if printing seems slow)

In those dark days before 3D printing, when I needed a custom set of vise jaws for my milling machine, producing them was a non-trivial process.  Either I needed to keep some blanks on the shelf, or I'd have to make them from scratch.  To do so, I'd have to: Find some material, remove any setups already on the machine, indicate all the straight edges, square up the stock, accurately drill and counterbore the holes, and THEN I can finally worry about producing the functional shape of the jaws.



Today, it's only a little bit of effort with some CAD tools to model up the same set of vise jaws.  The benefits of digital fabrication are manifold: not only do we have the exact shape in an easily duplicated digital format, but we can easily create iterations and derived models, small little tweaks, just as quickly (or all of them as a batch).  You also know that the parts from the 3D printer will come out true, flat, straight, and dimensionally accurate.  What's more, producing said shape no longer requires the devoted attention of an artisan - anyone can produce almost any complex shape, printing overnight and unattended.  That frees up the machine shop (and the machinist) to do what they do best, instead of your best employees toiling away to produce these trivial, but troublesome shapes that we seem to need all the time. 

Added benefit - when relying on digital designs, you never have to backstock parts, you can simply print them as needed, using a Just-In-Time or Kanban system. 
 
2.  Iteration is trivially easy


Using 3D printers in combination with your existing set of tools gives you a higher, augmented level of versatility to solve problems.  I had to mate up a bolt pattern for a motor bracket, but didn't have a quick way to measure the spacing between holes.  Using some clever CAD trickery, I was able to take a picture of the hole pattern and make an estimation of the size, so I could print out a gasket (rather than the whole part).  The first iteration wasn't quite right, it needed some adjustment before printing out the final bracket.  Also note the 3d printed shaft coupler with the square internal broachway, a very challenging shape to produce with otherwise limited tooling.





Utilizing the power of digital fabrication and modern, innovative tools, we can quickly go through several design changes, even over the weekend when most of the manufacturing staff has gone home. 

3. It's an indispensable tool for (Reverse) Engineering

Not quite sure how big your widget needs to be?  Use your printer to find out, before you go through the trouble of making part from metal.  In this case, I had to guess what the size of the T slot nuts needed to be, and I used the 3d printer to double-check my dimensions.  Everything mated up, except the wide part of the base, which was about .010" too tall, due to a troublesome measurement.  After gently lapping the bottom of the nut, it was a perfect fit, which we then used to produce the nut from metal.  Use lessons 1 and 2 to your advantage, while you're at it.  Also notice the orientation of the part - that was crucial in regards to proper dimensioning.  My FDM machine prints with an accuracy of +/- .002" along the X and Y axis, and perfectly accurate along the Z axis, although in .010" or .013" layer thicknesses.  In other words, I had to consider printed part orientation for optimal printer resolution and tolerancing. 




4. The 3D printer industry needs a "killer app"

How do we make 3D printers useful to everyone?

I know how these tools are useful to me, but manufacturing is kind of my bag.  I have 3D CAD skills, machine shop skills, and a workshop that requires said skills from time to time.  I can't begin to tell you how many times producing a little 3D printed trinket has turned a project completely around.  It seems the problem lies in that intimate-enough knowledge of the extensive tool chain can be troublesome: between multiple pieces of software (CAD and Slicers), and multiple pieces of hardware (3D printer and a whole machine shop).  Most of those tools and skills are simply not within reach of most people, especially as a stack.  When I need a quick little doo-dad to hold a switch on a machine, no problem.  Typically, most people using 3D printers are stuck printing Yoda heads downloaded from Thingiverse.



I always like to compare 3D printer technology to how computers must have been in the mid 70s.  You either have these tremendous industrial boxes that only large businesses can afford, or you have these hobbyist toys built at home by geeks, programmed in Assembly language by flipping switches.  However, the gap between the two is rapidly closing, blindly stampeding toward ubiquity.  What was it that brought computers out of the nerd's garages and into the mainstream?  I'd say it was the word processor.  Once the average joe discovered that typing documents electronically was far superior to even the most sophisticated typewriter, there was no more denying the awesome power of the microchip.  In the 30 years since then, computers are so ubiquitous that we're often relying on many different interconnected computers with many millions or billions of transistors, EACH, some of which live in our pocket, so disposable that soon smartphones will be appearing as the prize in our breakfast cereal. 

It's difficult to predict how 3D printing technology will change our lives in the coming years and decades, but it almost goes without saying that this is only the beginning.  3D printing has been around for roughly 30 years now, and it took about that long for the microchip to become a mainstay in everyone's home. 

5. 3D printed guns are NOT the "killer app"

In fact, they outright stink.



People have been engineering firearms for hundreds of years, and many competent people have lost life and limb in that pursuit.  We've all seen enough Elmer Fudd cartoons to know what happens to malfunctioning firearms.  Also a few things worthy of note:

3D printed firearms are generally a novel legal situation, lacking any real legal precedent.  I'd hate to be the guy who goes through the wringer while the lawmakers use my case as a guinea pig to develop case law. 

As far as the BATF is concerned, the distinction between a pistol / rifle barrel and a short-barreled shotgun (read: VERY BAD) is rifling, or lack thereof.  Have you looked down your 3d printed barrel to see any discernible rifling?  These machines are good, but not THAT good. 

Do yourself a favor: save yourself the time, the trouble, and the plastic, and avoid this one.

6. Let it go (figuratively speaking)

In the old days of making a part, I would have spent many hours of my dedicated focus and attention to producing a specific shape.  What would stink is that after all that time, the part doesn't fit, or the new guy on first shift breaks it, or the designer changes it enough to warrant making a new one.  We've all been there, and it's a very frustrating position to be in.  All that effort, down the tubes.  Kinda makes you want to scream, sometimes.






When you make parts on the 3d printer, and the new guy immediately drops it on the floor, don't get mad, don't take it personally.  Take a deep breath, take a moment to consider your predicament, then calmly hit the start button on your printer one more time. 

All you have to do at this point is wait for the next print to finish. 

20141204

Sparklecon 2.0 - Site is live and Call for Papers

The Sparklecon 2.0 site is now up and the call-for-papers and speakers is open.

http://www.sparklecon.org


Where: 23b Shop, 418 E. Commonwealth #1, Fullerton CA 92832
When: January 23-25th
What: A 3-day security conference with a local flavor. There will be embedded electronics, physical security and the usual wireless, mobile and network stuff.

How to sign up:
If you are interested in speaking or volunteering, please e-mail us at: 23bshop @ 23b.org.

Twitter: #Sparklecon23b

Hope to see y'all there!

Arclight

20141203

Sparklecon 2.0 - January 23-25th

Today we are announcing a call for talks and papers for Sparklecon 2.0. This will be the second iteration of the successful "hit-and-run" format hacker conference we pulled off last year.

It will be running on a Friday-Monday schedule. There will be food and entertainment Friday and Saturday nights, contests and a full schedule of 10-minute lightning talks, alternating with 30-60 minute hands-on sessions and presentations.

We're also looking for entertainment on Saturday night. We will have a stage available and can work with you on getting set up.

Please e-mail 23bshop@23b.org  if you are interested in presenting. There will be open slots reserved for walk-ups, but it would be great to get you on the schedule ASAP.

Also of note, Milton Security has generously offered a sponsorship to help offset the cost of this evenbt. Thanks Milton!

More to come...

Arclight

20141130

3D printed lock picks

Dano was messing around the shop the other day, and came up with a really interesting concept.  He took the end of a zip tie (the part that isn't serrated), and trimmed the profile to be the shape of a lock pick.



Sure enough, it worked, but not terribly well.  I could only get a few uses out of it before the zip tie became too floppy.  The shape is easy to make, yet difficult to reproduce exactly. 

I encounter the same challenge when making metal picks.  They're easy enough to form quickly by hand, but they're impossible to duplicate precisely. When the performance of the pick is so dependent on the exact shape of the pick, consistency is king.  Also, the TSA sometimes has difficulty with metal picks in my luggage, perhaps plastic picks can solve that. 

After a few days of simmering on those thoughts, something dawned on me.  "Hey, those fancy 3d printers, I bet those could produce some awesome lock picks!"

Creating the shape was no problem, due to a quick Google search and a really neat, obscure Autotrace tool in [redacted modeling software]. 




Although Autotrace wasn't flawless, the resulting sketch was easy enough to modify to get any sharp, unusual edges out of the model.  After a quick extrusion and some geometry modification, here's the resulting 3D model


Dimensioning the part is critical, and ironically, my fancy Dimension 3D printer simply wasn't up to the task.  Southord's picks are .023" thick, which is smack dab in between the layer thickness available for the Dimension printer (with layer thicknesses of .010 or .013 and dimensional accuracy of +/- .002", typically).  Two little filaments of extruded plastic didn't seem like it would be enough for producing a pick of any significant structure, which is why I chose to make these parts on the Objet 30 Pro, with a .001" layer thickness and 600 DPI resolution (!)

My package arrived in the mail Saturday afternoon, and with a singleminded focus, I dove straight into the play locks.  Within a few moments, the good ol' Defiant lock gave up the ghost, and my compounded excitement manifested in screaming "Got it!" at the top of my lungs.




Of course, these picks were far from perfect.  Scaling was a bit of a problem, as only about half of the picks were appropriately sized to fit the locks on hand.  One neat thing about designing these digitally, is that making scaled copies is a piece of cake.  I also successfully broke two picks within 15 minutes, far from ideal. 



This exercise may seem reminiscent of trying to kill a mosquito with a cannon.  Why would I use such an expensive technology to produce a simple plastic shape?  Consider this, once I have the precise digital shape tuned, and I'm able to produce perfect copies time after time, then perfect lock picks are nearly trivial (after a little research, of course)



The next step is to try a few iterations of these picks, perhaps including some new designs, to get a kit of a dozen or so nice picks of different sizes and shapes.  Once we have that, then making an injection mold shouldn't be much more difficult.  Then we should be able to produce many perfect copies at a trivial cost.



Stay tuned for part 2!

20141105

Singing CNC mill is fully operational

now with limit switches!  after years of passive work and weeks of rather intense hair-pulling, the machine is now bootstrapped into a functional state. 


 http://youtu.be/ZX0ewZqCctA

also, gauging interest for a CNC milling class.  CNC class would NOT be for tourists.  plan on spending two days on the Tree mill for foundational work, before.  if you're interested, hit me up. 

20141024

23b and MAG Labs at the Inland Empire Mini Maker Faire

http://www.qgits.org/innovate/23b-mag-lab-members-inland-empire-mini-maker-faire/

Nice little video interview with Machinist, and Trent from MagLabs, along with a writeup on 23b Shop and MagLabs at the IE Mini Maker Faire.
(Thanks to Matt for the coverage!)


Probably want to turn the audio down just a hair, it sounds like they were recording next to the Magical Steam-Powered Noisemaker and Tin Stamper Machine Hobbyists' tent, which I regret missing since it sounds like their Enraged Octopus 1000 tin sheet mangling machine was working overtime.



20141003

Boo-boo in the machine shop

Finding these surprises around the shop makes me sad.  This was one of my most useful tools.



If you EVER need help with the machine shop, please don't hesitate to ask me.  I am more than happy to help.  It's easier for me to go out of my way and show you proper technique than to replace broken tools like this. 

That's also why I keep the nice insert tooling in a special place. 

In fact, I'll make you guys a deal.  If you ever want to know anything about machine shop, I will be happy to teach you, personally, one on one, if you're willing to make a deal with me: teach me something in return. 

I don't care if you only have underwater basket weaving to show me, i'd be happy to learn new things if I can teach you new things in exchange. 

Here's an example of stellar worksmanship.  Grace is cranking handles like a pro on our new Tree Mill.  


20140903

STARE NOT INTO THE BARBECUE lest it stare back into you

Thanks Chosen1 for the excellent and very shiny 
new propane grill you have given to 23b Shop.

The shop is well pleased with it, for behold! 
it shines like a mighty obsidian wonder of grilling majesty.

Plus, it has a burner on the side for pan-like objects!


So, everyone please feel free to bring grillables to the potluck,
to welcome the barbecue grill to its new place at the shop.
 (Update: Grilled items succeeded well at feeding potluck visitors!)



Comments from shop list members follow:

-

Does it need souls to feed its searing obsidian stare?

(Yes, occasional offerings of propane are welcome. 
We are using a big 5 gallon tank; it costs about $20 to fill it up. 
I think it can use little cans with an adapter as well, which we do not have.)

-

Oooo... Nice.  Consider SYN Shop jealous of the grilling awesomeness.  We may
have to do something about that....like get our own grill.

(Highly recommended. This will obviously increase the goodness of all foodish events, 
and will even create events where there were none before!)


Chosen1: 
I wept because you saw no BBQ message,
until I met a man who had not yet subscribed
to our 23b Shop mailing list.
http://tinyurl.com/23bmail/ shall set you free! 

All you other people who also aren't on the mailing list, 
and are reading this on the web, what are you waiting for? 
 
Unsubscribe from a spam email or two, and get on our list. 
You'll be glad you did it back in August, when the BBQ was the new hot thing.


20140427

Helping Hackers Hack Better

Work put me on a detour for first thing on Monday up in Sacramento.  That means I got to spend a random weekend visiting Noisebridge in San Francisco. 

The last time I was here (which was also the first time), I felt a familiar sense of awe, not unlike the first time I set foot at 23b.  The vibe is indescribably unique, I like the way they hack, mostly.  The one thing that gets to me more than Hacker Stackers, or an overwhelming need for consensus, was that their machine shop was looking sad for lack of love and attention.  I decided I should change that. Since this is a "Do-ocracy", I guess the job is left up to me.

A pile of 3D printers in various states of entropy at Noisebridge
The CNC mill at Noisebridge is strikingly similar to the one we have at 23b.  Both are the MaxNC model.  However, this one seems to retain the original closed-loop control, which keeps track of the position of the stepper motor's rotation.  This is to accommodate for step loss which could occur while heavily loading the spindle.  Also, it seems like the hackers here have figured out how to interface LinuxCNC with the mill, sorting out the dreaded config file to twiddle the pins on a parallel port straight into the CNC control.  An impressive feat, except, they didn't get it quite right.


Noisebridge.  See any disparity between backplot and actual cut?

23b

Without knowing, I'd guess some VERY intelligent programmers figured out the interface between machine and computer.  I couldn't reverse-engineer the pinout on the magic "black box" on my own, so I ended up tearing it off completely and replacing with a set of Gecko Drives.  What Noisebridge missed was something very elementary to a machinist, but maybe not so much for a programmer - the X and Y axis were flipped.


Hold your right hand out like this.  Your fingers point toward the + direction in each axis.  Z is usually parallel with the spindle

When I set up the machine, I expected the cutter to start nearest to the front left hand corner, which was set as my G54 origin.  But, when the mill began by traveling to the opposite side of the workpiece, I panicked and hit the emergency stop button.  "What the hell!?", I cuss as I try to sort out what's wrong.  The code checked out and backplotted fine.  Ah, I know, I've seen this before.  The world is reversed!  After a quick googling, flipping a signed digit in the config file made the control behave as expected.  CNC machines are only trustworthy when they go where you tell them to.  Otherwise, they may try to drill a hole in the table at 10,000 miles an hour.  Okay, hyperbole a little bit, but CNCs are fantastically dumb machines.  They'll happily destroy themselves, if you let them (or tell them to!)

Once all that axial confusion was straightened out, the machine happily repeated cuts for the rest of the day.  Still, the machine was VERY slow.  Since this is a tiny, bantamweight duty machine, we could never expect a whole lot in the way of high feed rates, but the 6 inches per minute that this machine was running at was excruciatingly slow.  Not entirely sure of the upper limit of the speed on this machine, I seem to remember reading somewhere that these controls barfed when they were pushed beyond 20 IPM.  Digging back in the config file, I found a MAX_VELOCITY variable that needed a  tweak.  Now set at 15 IPM (a 250% increase) max travel rate, I doubt this machine could get into a whole lot of trouble before it had a chance to prevent CNC seppuku.   


After a few confidence-inspiring test cuts, eventually the kinks got works out of the code and the machine.  Gibs were tightened, syntax was changed, and ways lubed.  The machine is now working more properly than it ever has .

traced in Solidworks, plotted in CAMWorks

 
inspired by a sticker on a nearby laptop

While this is all a bunch of fun (and also a big component of my day job), why would I spend my weekend at Noisebridge fussing around with an esoteric piece of equipment?  It's because I live for the love of hacking.  For the adventure, for the skills, for the lulz.  Also, after reading Ivan Illich's Deschooling Society recently, a point has stuck with me: I feel compelled to contribute back to the society which created me. 

Spending time at 23b and other spaces has given me a chance to shine among brilliant peers and mentors; I stand on the shoulders of giants and all the work they've done before me.  Most of these hackers, for some reason, rarely dabble in the physical realm, or if they do, it's not to the level of sophistication required to get these finicky CNC machines running under optimal conditions (does that explain the pile of non-functioning 3d printers?).  Not everyone has the technical background to get these disparate hardware, software, and artistic systems integrated well enough to do what is commanded of them, but once in a while, putting a few heads together yields impressive results.  Two half wits make a whole wit. 


You may think, "So what? G code is difficult to generate anyway!"  Yes and no.  While the method I was generating G code was from a fancy (read: expensive) software suite, it looks like LinuxCNC offers a few options to generate toolpath from a greyscale image, or from a DWG file, and a few other format types.  While there's a little bit of nuance in the code that's missing from this whole exposition, the thought is generally this: the softer the material, the easier it is to machine.  Wood machines fine under many sub-optimal conditions.  If I didn't have the spindle speed set just right, or the feed incorrect, in many materials that would break tools and scrap parts.  Here, all we wanted to do is make a silly engraving of Nyancat in wood.  There's nothing technical or tightly toleranced here where we'd have to invoke the CNC gods to get the tools to perform crazy magic.  Keep it simple, stupid.

While this little CNC isn't great for building your next AR lower receiver, it would be perfectly suited for milling circuit boards, or a custom license plate frame for grandma.  These machines are essentially useless without proper instruction, which could be a challenge at Noisebridge.  The high level required to operate the CNC keeps it more in the arcane knowledge realm.  But, now that some of the hardware and software bugs have been worked out, the machine is a little more accessible.  Baby Steps.

It's difficult to send a n00b to a CNC mill and say, "Okay, time to make good parts!".  If G-code is unintelligible to you as a programming language, then you better get help from someone before you go running a CNC.  It's not difficult at all to understand g code, especially for such a simple machine like the MaxNC.  It's simply 3d connect the dots (think LOGO, from Mr. Wizard, remember???), with about a dozen extra commands operating the spindle and other things.

In fact, 3d printers speak a dialect of G code that's not much different from CNC mills.  Perhaps the CNC mill was neglected for much of the same reasons that the 3d printers remain in disrepair - too many levels of nuanced information to synthesize in order to get the machine to cooperate using limited human resources. 


What CAN be done, though, is for me to provide more thorough documentation of setup and operation of this milling machine with my newfound knowledge, which is in the process of being updated on the Noisebridge wiki page.  That might help a few people become self-sustaining.  However, after a few successful machine shop classes at HeatSync Labs, as well as a few sessions at 23b Shop, I think it's safe to say the way to get the shop to a lower state of entropy is to bootstrap the community into activity.  Teach them just enough to be self-sufficient.  There's a few things about machining that cannot be replaced by anything except for sheer experience, but with focused training, it would be interesting to see the way the Noisebridge community could come together and solve their own problems, figure things out in their own way. 



That's a part of the hacker ethic, right? 


20140416

Circuit Bending and Pot Luck!

When:  Saturday, April 19th, 5:00pm
Where: 23b Shop, 418 E. Commonwealth, Unit 1, Fullerton CA 92832

What: Monthly Pot Luck. Bring something delicious to share. If you are lacking creativity, downtown Fullerton has a plethora of restaurants.

The theme this month is "Circuit Bending." Details are below.

Via Danozano:
Circuit bending is happening this Saturday for sure, so go to the swap meet, or garage sale, or garage, or Filipino 98+ cents store, or dumpster, bring some electrical or electronic toys or objects that can stand to be improved, and we'll void some warranties.

Reed Ghazala has a great site which is loaded with some basic ideas and theory about how some things work: 
http://www.anti-theory.com/soundart/circuitbend/

and here is his book:
http://www.amazon.com/Circuit-Bending-Build-Alien-Instruments-ExtremeTech/dp/0764588877/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1397593266&sr=1-1&keywords=circuit+bending

There's a lot of info on the web about bending, but we can jump right in with no prior knowledge and do fun stuff, in many cases.

It's hit or miss, we'll talk about that... we'll talk about how to make a circuit do interesting things, how to find new jobs for old gear, and I will have several very wise and sharp electronics people breathing moist vapors down my neck whilst I flout the very foundational rules of electronics and electrical engineering before your eyes!

We will also probably talk about making little battery-powered amps like that mint box thing, input and output caps, diodes, ckt protection, resistor code, and lots of core foundational electronics stuff, so you can feel good about that. This is probably not an accredited class suitable for transfer to higher learning institutes. but you'll still know more than they do.

A few points:
- If you want to make things that make noises, maybe start with some noisy things?

- We won't be modifying anything with wall power, we are working on devices with batteries only.  So if someone brings a pack of AA or AAA batteries, that's a good plan to make friends.

- We have tools

- We have components, (which we might maybe ask you to consider donating something if you want an expensive thing, or the last one), several soldering stations, and a variety of materials, but if you want something special please do bring it (and a spare if you have one to spare.)
- Doll parts make great knobs for electronics, especially arms and heads, but don't let me fence you in here... go nuts, we have hot glue.

- Newer electronics, and those with very few internal components (like just a chip blob plus a couple resistors) may be very hard to bend.  Old analog stuff is super easy to work with, but harder to find.  Shop wisely and inexpensively with this in mind.

20140310

Fix-it night: This Wednesday, 3/12/14 at 7:00pm

Where: 23b Shop, 418 E. Commonwealth #1, Fullerton CA 92832

When: Wednesday, 3/12/14 at 7:00pm

What:  Bring your broken TV, musical instrument, whatever. We will be helping folks learn to troubleshoot common problems with consumer electronics and learn how to use test equipment. We will also have the welding room available if anyone has something needing more stone-age repairs.

Hope to see y'all there!
Arclight

20140123

Sparklecon - Update and schedule

Here is a quick update on this Saturday's Sparklecon festivities (Saturday, 1/25/2014)

10:00am - 12:00 - General shop cleaning and setup. If you show up before noon, we will hand you a mop or send you to the store or something.
12:00 noon - Things officially get started.

12:00-6:00pm - Open Mic for talks and workshops

I'll be doing a DIY tear-down and repair workshop where we try to fix a 50" flat-panel TV. Feel free to bring other dead electronics if you are so inclined.
We have some malware and defense talks also scheduled to appear, and more hardware stuff as well. If you have a topic, we have a projector and table space to present it.

3:00pm - I will start the BBQ. A limited amount of burgers and veggie options will be provided. Feel free to bring your favorite meat to throw on.

6:00pm - 8:00pm - The "Hacker's Cup" home-brew contest is happening. Bring your favorite home-brew and try to win the cup. Bring enough to share.

8:00pm - LATE - Entertainment featuring special Chip Tunes live performance. Bask in all that 8-bit, square-wave glory

Also, just announced: We'll be having a SOLDERING CONTEST to raise money for Nullspace Labs. In case you haven't been to NSL, they are our sister hacker space in downtown L.A. Their landlord just told everyone in their building they have 30 days to move, so they need to raise some funds. Shit is more difficult and expensive around L.A. than it was 5 years ago, when grimy, run-down buildings in the hacker district were plentiful and inexpensive.
Here is a link to their IndiGoGo campaign:
http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/save-nullspace-labs

I'm suggesting a minimum $10 donation to enter the soldering contest. We will provide materials. Bring your favorite iron or solder if you like, but not necessary. You can get in on this any time on Saturday, until midnight. There will be a special prize for the WINNAH.
Finally, I want to emphasize that this is a free event. If you can help out with plastic cups/plates, food, etc that would be lovely but no requirements on y'all.

20140122

SPARKLECON




SPARKLECON

SAT 1/25/14 
NOON to LATE
at 23b SHOP


DRINK!
LISTEN!
EVENTS!
BEER!
 MUSIC! 

THE EVENT YOU CANNOT AFFORD
TO MISS

sparklecon23b.wordpress.com












Sparklecon is sparkly! Come enjoy extra sparkles at all times. Saturday 1/25/2014 










  
Sparkly mini-talks (signups on site), sparkly clown bike rodeo. Sparkly killamajigs. Sparkly flash drive with sparkly rootkit. Sparkly power outlet, sparkly pickle firejets. Sparkly 3D printer, sparkly fistfighting, sparkly hamburger (kawaii!) Sparkly jet engine, sparkly wild animal, sparkly cassette tape. Sparkly too many exclamation marks! Sparkly beer brewing!!!1!!! Sparkly non- orientable surfaces. (For rills.) Sparkly bronies. Sparkly pdf files, with sparkly exploit payloads all in a row! Put sparkles on a hobo, just don't get caught! Shoot glitter in your eyes and ears with an air hose. All at Sparklecon! 

TL;DR: Sparklecon is a one day party at 23bshop in Fullerton, California. Show up after noon, not before, unless you like to scrub and clean and set up. We will have beer (and a brewing contest), a few talks, and whatever funny mischief you bring. It’s free to come listen to talks, and we are asking for donations if you choose to drink. So gird your loins and mark your calendars for Saturday, January 25th, 2014.