An Interview with Ben Krasnow - Sprauncy Saccadic Spintherism

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Welcome to Ben Krasnow! (Also seen as bkraz333 on YouTube)

• • We decided we had to have Ben on the show once we saw his crazy LED in a contact lens video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHECpEhJdB8

• • Ben started as a researcher/technician with a TMS lab, which led him to starting his own business, Mag Design and Engineering.
  • That also led him to experiment with Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation for a YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUW7dQ92yDU

• • This is just a single pulse, the commercial/research ones do a pulse train at roughly 30 Hz.
  • Ben also has built a DIY Scanning Electron Microscope, with an oscilloscope used as a display:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdjYVF4a6iU

• • But now, Ben is getting out of the magnetics business and into the tinkering business.
  • And once Ben is done for the day, he kicks back and either has a glass of argonated beer or a skewer of meat cooked on thermite.
  • Google Patents is a great source of ideas of things to try in the shop.
  • Apple was recently in the news for patenting fuel cell technology, a possible hint towards their future (or not, often patents are published to throw people off).
  • Ben tells us about all the gear in his shop. Perhaps Dave's new shop (below) could use some metal working equipment?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9ZTjwRCO8g

• • The education system is broken. Ben believes that its far too academically focused and not practical enough.
  • Perhaps there should be a "tinkering" degree? Travis Goodspeed is getting a PhD at Penn in Reverse Engineering, which he did on the Girltech IM me.
  • Stanford is re-upping their free participation online courses (similar to their recent AI class), now offering CS 101, Machine Learning, Game Theory, Natural Language Processing, Probabilistic Graphical Models, Software Engineering for Software as a Service, Human-Computer Interfaces and more.
  • MIT is continuing their classes as well, now also offering a certificate of completion, perhaps the first step towards educational reform.
  • Hackerspaces are another possible avenue for educational reform. Ben lives near Noisebridge but hasn't had the time to attend regularly.
  • Ben prefers mechanical equipment and has other machines he wants before a 3D printer, which he demonstrates for elementary schoolers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDRh3X4zprg

• Dave is getting a MakerBot soon! Awesome!
• Other chemistry-type videos on YouTube are great (though they get tagged as "dangerous" because it's associated with bomb/meth making). Ben likes NerdRage's Youtube channel.
• And at the end of the day, all of the electronics and chemistry videos are out-watched by his own cake-making videos!

 

It was great getting to talk to Ben, even though Dave had some technical difficulties. We can’t wait to see what he’s cooking up next!