Mike Ritland

Like, I don't know what I was thinking, but yeah, that was 30% of my luggage when I moved out, stayed out as cash for a bit. Got some random odd jobs doing like audio QA testing and stuff like that just to make it. And eventually got into the game industry doing sysadmin, IT, help desk stuff. And it just kind of grew from there.

Like, I don't know what I was thinking, but yeah, that was 30% of my luggage when I moved out, stayed out as cash for a bit. Got some random odd jobs doing like audio QA testing and stuff like that just to make it. And eventually got into the game industry doing sysadmin, IT, help desk stuff. And it just kind of grew from there.

And yeah, I stayed there for like, I don't know, 15 years in the game industry. But on the side, being in San Francisco gave me a lot of unique perspectives. So first of all, Stuart Brand is kind of the guy that was running the show over at Long Now. Stuart Brand is one of the original people on the hippie bus with Timothy Leary and all this other stuff.

And yeah, I stayed there for like, I don't know, 15 years in the game industry. But on the side, being in San Francisco gave me a lot of unique perspectives. So first of all, Stuart Brand is kind of the guy that was running the show over at Long Now. Stuart Brand is one of the original people on the hippie bus with Timothy Leary and all this other stuff.

And yeah, I stayed there for like, I don't know, 15 years in the game industry. But on the side, being in San Francisco gave me a lot of unique perspectives. So first of all, Stuart Brand is kind of the guy that was running the show over at Long Now. Stuart Brand is one of the original people on the hippie bus with Timothy Leary and all this other stuff.

They're going around the country doing the acid tests and stuff like that. But lots of just divergent thinking coming from that. And that was interesting just to kind of see. I didn't get that in Wisconsin. This is also kind of where the PC revolution came from, that type of right? We're just diversion thinking, what can we do? What mischief can be made? All this stuff.

They're going around the country doing the acid tests and stuff like that. But lots of just divergent thinking coming from that. And that was interesting just to kind of see. I didn't get that in Wisconsin. This is also kind of where the PC revolution came from, that type of right? We're just diversion thinking, what can we do? What mischief can be made? All this stuff.

They're going around the country doing the acid tests and stuff like that. But lots of just divergent thinking coming from that. And that was interesting just to kind of see. I didn't get that in Wisconsin. This is also kind of where the PC revolution came from, that type of right? We're just diversion thinking, what can we do? What mischief can be made? All this stuff.

The maker space, Maker Faire was out there as well. So this is just, this is more like hands-on hardware hacking, not like security hacking, just like hobbyist hacking, like 3D printers. Let's just build some stuff. The kind of stuff you'd find at Burning Man, right? Like the art, where you start mixing all these things together. That opened my eyes to just like different focuses and aesthetics.

The maker space, Maker Faire was out there as well. So this is just, this is more like hands-on hardware hacking, not like security hacking, just like hobbyist hacking, like 3D printers. Let's just build some stuff. The kind of stuff you'd find at Burning Man, right? Like the art, where you start mixing all these things together. That opened my eyes to just like different focuses and aesthetics.

The maker space, Maker Faire was out there as well. So this is just, this is more like hands-on hardware hacking, not like security hacking, just like hobbyist hacking, like 3D printers. Let's just build some stuff. The kind of stuff you'd find at Burning Man, right? Like the art, where you start mixing all these things together. That opened my eyes to just like different focuses and aesthetics.

There's a really good point to kind of deviate here, something called beam bots. Actually, I'm going to pull up this laptop here to show you a picture because it makes way more sense when you see it.

There's a really good point to kind of deviate here, something called beam bots. Actually, I'm going to pull up this laptop here to show you a picture because it makes way more sense when you see it.

There's a really good point to kind of deviate here, something called beam bots. Actually, I'm going to pull up this laptop here to show you a picture because it makes way more sense when you see it.

Yes, you're like, what? So, BeamBots, B-E-A-M. Biology, electronics, aesthetics, mechanics. It's just a kind of a design philosophy around building little robots. So, I just kind of had to show it because, I don't know, you're probably picking up a bit of an insect vibe from this, I would assume, right? Yeah. It does a couple of things. First of all, there's no PCB on here.

Yes, you're like, what? So, BeamBots, B-E-A-M. Biology, electronics, aesthetics, mechanics. It's just a kind of a design philosophy around building little robots. So, I just kind of had to show it because, I don't know, you're probably picking up a bit of an insect vibe from this, I would assume, right? Yeah. It does a couple of things. First of all, there's no PCB on here.

Yes, you're like, what? So, BeamBots, B-E-A-M. Biology, electronics, aesthetics, mechanics. It's just a kind of a design philosophy around building little robots. So, I just kind of had to show it because, I don't know, you're probably picking up a bit of an insect vibe from this, I would assume, right? Yeah. It does a couple of things. First of all, there's no PCB on here.

It's just freeform soldering. And all of these components, there's nothing extra for the aesthetics. It's all functional. So on the back, you've got a solar panel soaking up energy. This thorax here, that's holding the charge from it. And then these, this is really cool.

It's just freeform soldering. And all of these components, there's nothing extra for the aesthetics. It's all functional. So on the back, you've got a solar panel soaking up energy. This thorax here, that's holding the charge from it. And then these, this is really cool.

It's just freeform soldering. And all of these components, there's nothing extra for the aesthetics. It's all functional. So on the back, you've got a solar panel soaking up energy. This thorax here, that's holding the charge from it. And then these, this is really cool.