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Roar Holte

Founder of www.youblob.com, Youblob

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My idea is to create a community for hobby engineers, taken from many different subjects, and make it easier to ask, build relations etc.

My idea with www.youblob.com is to bring hobby engineers easier together, primarily to establish interaction with each other, and help each other become better in what they like to do.
For this I have added functions like Chat / Webinar / Project development / Events / Forum / The Oracle / Blogs and last but not least the Volunteer program.

F.ex. everybody can become Project Lead, or host their own Webinar etc.
You are also able to put up local Events that occur in your city, or that you think others might like to know about.
People tend to spend too much time searching for this information.
One of the future plans is to integrate Learning plans on different subjects to the site.
Everyone can write in their own language if they prefer that. And also recieve help from others writing in a whole different language. Chinese is one of the most used languages in the world, it would be silly not to include that. And the japanese are way ahead when it comes to robot technology.
The asian countries have very good engineers, even though they do not speak English.
Lastly, I have made this a commercial free site, I am so very tired of commercials. And I do not see the value in pushing unwanted information towards the users.
This site is all based on open source.
Many subjects... to many?
3D Printing, Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, CNC, Electronics, Geology, Programming, Robotics, Mechanical, Molding, Welding
No, I do not think it is to many, they are all interacting with each other one way or the other.
As the site becomes more functional and grows in users, I might add even more subjects.
But for now I believe these are the main subjects that needs to be covered.
It would be very exciting to see Biology projects combine with f.ex the 3D printing community.
(This has allready been done by the way, with producing artificial human 3d printed ear)
Or Geology project combining with Robotics.
Creating an unmanned Drone Scanner, which is one of my next projects I am part of :)

Related Talks:
Topics: Community building Education Innovation idea for inventors
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    Roar Holte

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    Aug 18 2012: The discussion seems to have faded away, anyone have something more to say about the subject? :)
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    Roar Holte

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    Aug 10 2012: I just thought of a couple of things.

    Is this project something that is worth putting up for nomination at TED Prize?
    It's not a cure for cancer, only a community builder

    And if I would like to add TED-Education through Youblob, how could that be done, and who should I take contact with?
    If this is of interest to the TED's
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    elizabeth muncey 10+

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    Aug 10 2012: On this thread I wanted to suggest there is an organisation here in the U.K., that supports men in creating using their life times of knowledge in order not to lose that knowledge and craftsmanship. I am interested in social patternts rather than abstract patterns and Maths is definately not my vocabulary. I am trying to support not distract from the focus of the thread. Made a mistake originally in posting too much too soon and in an inappropriate vocabulary. Just wanted to make some poiints about good ideas resonating in society but not in a particular artefact more in thinking processes and behaviours. There does seem to be a crossover in some subjects here in U.K, education system with degrees being B.A. or B.Sc. Am at home recovering from spinal surgery. As much as you may find me overwhelming am suggesting perhaps some cultures are also too overwhelming and miss out on what other cultures have to offer.
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    Jay Kumar Pradhan

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    Aug 10 2012: Excellent idea but why Engineers only include creative people from other ares like creative artists, painters, writers and many other profession that new technology can be created with aesthetic touch.
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      Roar Holte

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      Aug 10 2012: Yes, I agree, artists should not be left out. But for now I need to stay focused and stick with the technology bit.

      I have Air brushed both my A.R Drone and car. And also made several other artifacts, with a norse / viking dragon style touch.

      Artists have the freedom to choose to do whatever.
      Engineers not so much, although I would love to see how an abstract robot would behave, and what it would be used for. Maybe a riot bot hehe :)
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    elizabeth muncey 10+

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    Aug 10 2012: It is an inevitable by product of an economic model that says consume and that says what you are on the outside is more important than what you are and what you might become on the inside. Smartphones are only as good as their power supply. Ever let one run out of charge, a hugely frustrating wait whilst it powers up again. Also very concerned about information based educational processes. The creative ideas tend to come from knowledge based reflection first and knowledge tends to come from lived experience. So from one wierdo to another, I am very interested in the idea of patterns in nature. I believe logic and the binary system of numbers we use is restrictive, I want to throw in a tertiary pattern of numbers known as Fibonacci's golden thread 0, 1, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3. The first tertiary pattern anyone notices is our planet, the earth moon and the star we call the sun. Galileo put them in an order that suggests we revolve round a star not that Earth is the centre of the universe. Perhaps you could ask the astronomers about Fibonacci in space. Bet the astonomers are thrilled with the new discovery about looking at accelerated particles in space to understand the nature of the fabric of the universe. Would love to hear what you find out. By the way my Maths language is really limited so would appreciate if you could find words rather than Maths formulae unless they are patterns or colours.
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      Fritzie Reisner 100+

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      Aug 10 2012: Elizabeth, I am a little confused as to how the subject of number systems connects to Roar's exciting creative project (Roar, excuse my veering off your subject here, please), but as I have noticed from several other threads your interest in fibonacci numbers, what is it that you seek in response? Binary numbers have their important purpose in computing. Most of the number systems we use in day to day measurement are not binary (or base 2) but often base ten. Fibonacci numbers are well known and align with many aspects of natural organization, such as the structure of pinecones and pineapples and so forth and is a favorite subject of inquiry in grade school classrooms in the United States, precisely because people young and old are naturally "wired" to be interested in patterns. The Fibonacci sequence begins with two 1s as what is called its seed and one gets every subsequent number in the Fibonacci sequence by adding the previous two, so the sequence is 1,1,2,3,5,8,13, 21...I mention this only if you were not aware that there is no accident in the pattern but a specific generating rule.
      Also the nature of the generating rule- that a term is the sum of the previous two, is exactly the sort of relationship pne might expect to be common in nature. What in the way of response are you seeking?
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        Roar Holte

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        Aug 10 2012: Maybe a piratesong, Hey ho! And around and around we go...
        My best answer to Mr. Fibonacci (0.o)/
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    James Zhang 30+

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    Aug 9 2012: The social aspects of your idea are indeed pretty interesting, which I'm not sure anyone's done it before (though Google+ may support this quite well).

    There is, however, a very good platform for Q&A called StackExchange: http://stackexchange.com/

    It's heavily programmer or computer-heavy in terms of its community. Check out StackOverflow for a good idea of how it work: http://stackoverflow.com/
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      Roar Holte

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      Aug 10 2012: Good morning.
      I am a big Drupal fan, so I have checked stackexchange before :)
      Without Drupal, I would not have been able to put this up.

      However I would like it to be more than just Q&A, and there should be no limits to the users in regards to how many points they have, and what they are able to do through the site. The Points bar I have added is only to reflect the users contribution. Everyone loves acknowledgment for their work :)

      Through Stackexchange and Stackoverflow, I do not see how someone can teach or host sessions with different users.

      Google+ have the group chat, and categorizing of people. But the threshold for a "new" hobby engineer to get in and start using it as a tool, is too high. Since there is a a bit too many of manual handling before you can start using it actively. And lastly I think many people don't know the possibility actually exists for the normal guy in the street.

      Not many know of my site either... hehe
      I have talked with a few of the engineers out there, (www.jeremyblum.com / www.robot-kits.org etc) they all tend to have their own website to be able to profile themselves better, and the biggest barrier is to get users, as they tend to stick with what they are already familiar with.
      And since youblob.com is "just another site" it does not seem that interesting. I think I need to create an introduction movie to explain the capabilities on my site. As it is perhaps difficult to get the grasp when just browsing through.
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        James Zhang 30+

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        Aug 10 2012: Yeah, so I think, you should make the site/community as approachable as possible for newbies, while also having a community of experts. StackOverflow may not be exactly the most approachable when you start asking questions for first-timers. There's a ton of conventional practices and other practices that they require from the user.

        Also, I think having those features like "Chat / Webinar / Project development / Events / Forum / The Oracle / Blogs" is great, but you should also consider the use of existing resources and platforms too. It would save a lot of time and effort, why reinvent the wheel, you know?

        There's another open-source site that's pretty cool to check out called Processing: http://processing.org/. Processing itself is a simple "java" language made for the sole purpose of creating easy animations and stuff. I've made some pretty cool stuff myself using this :)
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    elizabeth muncey 10+

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    Aug 9 2012: Here in U.K., there is a brilliant project for older men who feel left out of modern society called 'Men In Sheds'. It is an adaptation of an idea from Australia. It is being administered by a charity called Age Concern here in the U.K. It is a place where men can get together, out of the house and away from the Mrs or significant other and just make things using their technical and engineering skills and the lifetimes of knowledge they have together as a group. It is aimed at men age 60 plus i.e those who have 'retired'but still have plenty of ideas and the knowledge to follow through to a finished artefact or process. There is a huge knowledge pool out there but the skills and craftsmanship are being lost because it is said to be more cost efficient to mass produce. Lots of potential given sufficient focus. Just an idea to add to the mix.
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      Roar Holte

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      Aug 10 2012: Yes, I totally agree. Lost knowledge is not good. The world has become a funny place. Kids tend to punch on their smartphones instead of talking to their grandparents. And it has become more important to be socially accepted, and not standing out and be "the weirdo".

      I love being the weirdo hehe. I will ask my dad if he knows of any of this, he has been chairman in the local astronomy club and might know someone that knows someone. As he is retired also.
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    Fritzie Reisner 100+

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    Aug 9 2012: You might want to take a look at the existing large online Maker communities, so you can decide whether to distinguish your idea in some way from what has been around and evolving already. Dale Dougherty, the founder of Make Magazine has a TED talk you might enjoy, which I notice is not on your list of related talks! If you do a search for Make Magazine, I think you will find links to associated forums for hobbyists.
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      Roar Holte

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      Aug 9 2012: Thank you, I saw the video MAKE have at TED and checked out their website. It is good to see projects like that. What I am trying however is to combine all of these different sites to one place, so you would need less time searching the web for the info you need, or the people you need (who are willing to contribute) to see your projects through.

      I have put up this site in my spare time between my ordinary work and diaper changes. And I would only like it to be a tool the users can use, not a competition against the "big" guys with the cash. I would loose that battle for sure hehe.

      What I am truly hoping for is that communities like Make / NASA education / LEGO etc. would use this site to post in their events. So that we are able to combine all of this to one place. Because now, the internet has to much wide spread information. And you spend to much time searching for the info you acquire.

      My site differs in the categories that you have tools like project development integrated, and a volunteer program where you can set yourself up in projects that you are interested in, know a lot about, or projects you would like to learn more about.

      It is intended for schools, institutions, work groups, as well as single users.

      Everything in America is large, in Norway we keep things small, simple and functional :D
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        Fritzie Reisner 100+

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        Aug 9 2012: Do you have the makerspaces and hackerspaces in Norway where people come together at one location to use equipment, share knowledge, and help each other on their projects? These little communities scattered about are another nice addition to the DIY space.
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          Roar Holte

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          Aug 9 2012: Currently we do not. Perhaps there are some in Oslo, our capital. But not to my knowledge, that is why we need to rely a lot on information and communities from the web. Watching youtube videos, and reading up on different forums.

          I have not heard of any Norwegian school either, that has taken use of a 3d printer yet :o
          Hopefully this will be changed in the future.

          I have made contact with Innovation Norway (Innovasjon Norge), asking for some funding for my project, so I can hire a programmer to implement more tools for the users.
          I have also been in contact with LEGO regarding their Learning software, and Clotho in regards to acquire software for Biology tool to enable free of use.
          (They told me their next version would be web based :)
          I will also add CNC cutting web based tool, so you can put in your data, and start cutting
          And so forth...

          Being currently the only person in the project makes it very dynamic. But also easy to go astray, that's why I wanted to air my thoughts in here. And get some feedback, either praised or criticized. Good either way :)
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        Fritzie Reisner 100+

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        Aug 9 2012: It sounds exciting. I will look in on your site now and then to see your progress. I suggest you also find a group of web-based entrepreneurs with whom to share thoughts and issues. There are so many now.
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