David Caputo is going to knock your socks off.

I finally made it out to IgniteNYC, I had missed the previous two and was excited to get a taste of this popular NYC tech event. I have to say though that it was a bit of a let down and I was not the only one. After starting extremely late the evening opened with a game show called “Know your Meme: The Game Show! Pwn, Win, or Fail!”. There was a lot of inside jokes flying around that still got a few chuckles despite losing a most of the crowd. I had my own interpreter there to clue me on on the bashing of one of the contestants, Rex Sorgatz, by the opposing team made up of Michelle DeForest (Next New Networks), Bre Pettis (NYC Resistor), Caroline McCarthy (CNET), Irene Polnyi (Internetfamo.us), and Tim Shey (Next New Networks).Team Sorgatz(Bre Pettis, Caroline McCarthy etc.) ended up winning, or should have, it was all very confusing. With a convincing team performance of Souja Boy and Bre Pettis giving the crowd a mouthful as he reenacted Christian Bales rant they quickly established themselves as Experts in “All Things Internets”.

I did not end up staying for the talks because they were running very late but I did enjoy what I saw and I am looking forward to the next one.Here are some photos from the event that I took and some more from Brian Van Nieuwenhoven.

This is a recipe I mentioned a few posts back. The curry powder you use is going to make a big difference in how this dish comes out. There are plenty of recipes out there so you can make your own, you’ll have to play around and see what flavors work best for you.

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs Chicken Breast
• 2/3 Cups of Peanut Oil
• 1 Large Onion
• 1 Cinnamon Stick
• 2-3 Cardamon Seeds or 1/2 tsp. Ground Cardamon
• 1 Tbsp Garlic, Minced
• 2 1/4 Cups of Water
• 1 Cup Yogurt
• 1/2 Cup Heavy Cream
• 2 Tbsp Curry Powder (at least)
• Salt

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pan heat the peanut oil
2. Add all of the onion and cook for 5mins
3. Add the Cinnamon and Cardamon, cook until the onion is browned.
4. After the onion is browned add the garlic, yogurt and 1/4 cup of water and cook for 5 mins
5. Add Chicken and salt to taste and cook uncovered for 20mins
6. add remaining Cup of water
7. Cook for 10mins
8. Add heavy cream, bring to a boil and cook for 2 mins

You can adjust the ingredients to your liking but this is generally what I like to start with. Feel free to spice it up with some hot curry powder as well.

Chicken Curry @ Group Recipes  

 
I recently cobbled together a BEAM style walking robot using the unique staple circuit known as the “bicore” and a single servo. The bicore is a really neat little circuit that powers a whole slew of different bot designs in the BEAM Bestiary. Its funny because I have been tinkering with the Arduino to try and build some simple bots and have realized that it is way more power and a bit unnecessary for what I want to do. The BEAM system caught my eye when I was looking through an old issue of MAKE Magazine because they are simple, cheap and the designs tend to be very clever. They use very simple pieces in interesting ways so that the whole becomes much great than its parts. Though I do not have an advanced understanding of electronics I can understand most of the principles that make up the bicore. There are countless pages detailing different designs but the thing that always impresses me most about the majority of the designs is doing a lot with a little. By building on a simple design people are making really cool robots!I would highly recommend starting out a Solar Roller or Pummer if you are looking for a simple, low cost and fun way to get into Robotics! Click here for a Tutorial on how to make your own!