• BrickPicker: The End of Life is the Start of Profits) – “Missing out on a great LEGO set is a gut-wrenching feeling that happens all too often for the casual LEGO investor. The two-year rule is nothing more than a vague LEGO barometer for when a set might go EOL. As with almost every rule there are exceptions…in this case many exceptions!
• Adafruit Industries: OLED LEGO Train Schedule – “I started thinking about various ways Adafruit electronics and LEGO bricks could be combined. I’ve always thought it would be cool to have a minifig scale video display instead of a sticker or printed brick. So, I decided to give my minifigs a dynamic train schedule.“
• Core Developers Team: UPCORE G1 Bluetooth Receiver for Power Functions System – “PCORE G1 has 9 connectors to control your brick creations and models. 3 connectors are fully proportional, you can regulate your supply motors M-motors, XL-motors, LEDs and other appliances in the range 0-100%. 5 connectors is non proportional, these connectors can control their creations as well as with non proportional control Power Functions.“
• LPE Power: Pneumatic SYS Inline 3 Cylinder Engine – “The LPEpower team is most proud to present you this new inline 3 power plant, we consider it to be an epitome of efficiency. Compared to its predecesor it is more powerful, smaller and lighter. “
• Robot²: Segway with Robot Driver – “This project is based on my universal balancing robot code. These small balancing robots are fun, but I wanted to make something that more closely resembles a real Segway.“
• Big Ben Bricks – “Big Ben Bricks manufactures and sells train wheels specifically designed to build trains with LEGO. Five Train wheels are currently available in 8 colors. “
• YouTube: Akiyuky – “Lego Great Ball Contraption (GBC) in my house. my own 17 modules“

I have moved from last year’s calendar format to a more convenient and easier to generate agenda format. Click on the movie name to view the IMDB entry or the venue name to learn more about the schedule.

Some movies are free, others require a modest payment or a donation to a specified charity. Most of the venues are family-friendly, but the Red Hook Brewery seems to attract a fairly young and very energetic crowd, so be prepared.

So, grab a folding chair, a blanket or two, and some snacks and get out of your cave. The summer is here and it is time to have some fun.

• Blogging up a storm on The AWS Blog.
• Taping episodes of my video podcast, The AWS Report:
  • Episode 1 – Rob Frederick of Gripwire.
  • Episode 2 – Saad Ladki of the AWS Elastic Beanstalk team.
• Getting back into Lego, for the second or third time.
• Taking one class per quarter at the UW’s MCDM program. I’m now taking my sixth class; just three more to go.
• Cooking pizza in our wood-fired oven.
• Assisting my children with their own college work and graduate school applications.

I have a ridiculously long TODO list, and plenty of things to write about. Stay tuned!