Fun with Technology

That's the theme of this year's Trenton Computer Festival on March 29

Author

Dale Dougherty
March 28, 2025

Screenshot from Trenton Computer Festival home page

Table of Contents

Trenton Computer Festival

I’ll be the keynote speaker at the Trenton Computer Festival on Saturday, held at the College of New Jersey. I’ll be speaking at 3:40pm. Billed as “The World’s Longest Running Tech Fair,” the festival’s theme this year is “fun with technology.” Fun is a good ways of looking at what makers do, both in the sense of the fun of making something and also the fun of sharing it with other people.

I will talk about making as an antidote to boredom. There are polls that suggest that more people are bored more than ever, especially students. And this despite nearly everyone having a smartphone that can entertain them, anywhere at any time. In some ways, the hours we spend on our phones and tablets is a kind of denial that we’re bored. We are pre-occupied with our digital devices and somehow we don’t end up feeling very satisfied.

One might say that it’s important to really experience boredom itself, and know that you are bored, if you are to make up your mind to do something and not be bored. The advice I’ll share is that if you are bored — Do something, Do something with others, Do something with others present and preferably with other people who are doing something. Whether you think of yourself as amateur, hobbyist, tinkerer, or entrepreneur, doing something usually leads to your meeting other people who are doing something and that’s how you become part of a community.

If you live in NJ/Philly area, please join me at the Trenton Computer Festival. I’ll also be at the banquet dinner in the event. Thanks to Larry Pearlstein for inviting me and hosting me for the event. Larry is an Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the College of New Jersey.

Philadelphia Maker Faire

The Philadelphia Maker Faire is Sunday, April 6th at the Cherry Street Pier. While I won’t be there myself, please spread the word about the event.

alt.ctrl.GDC

Sam Freeman wrote a report on his visit to “the weird wonderful world of alternative controllers at alt.ctrl.GDC. It’s like a tiny Maker Faire of inventions intended to delight, surprise, and occasionally weird you out.”

Bubble Plane

Bob Knetzger has written the Toy Inventor’s Notebook column for many years for Make:.

Here’s a super simple mini-toy: a plastic bubble tip for a paper airplane. Dip it in bubble solution and give it a toss. It leaves a puff of bubbles as the plane darts away. Reminds me of the miniature plastic prizes that used to be in boxes of Cracker Jack or vending machines: tiny toy, big fun!

Download the .svg vector graphic file to cut the bubble tip on your laser cutter.

Bob Knetzger

You can read the full article online here.

Meetup in NYC Monday March 31

I’ll be in Midtown Manhattan with a free night on Monday March 31. If you’d like to meet up and talk, email me ([email protected]) and I’ll pick out a bar for those who would like to meet.

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