Defending the Electronic Frontier

I am extremely behind the times on this, but I hope all of my Bay Area readers spent some time at the Steampunk Salon at the Maker Faire earlier this month. One of the things on display there was this painting by artist Suzanne Rachel Forbes.

Suzanne is selling prints of the painting as a fundraiser for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which you do support, don't you?

The painting is full of objects and symbols of the computer era -- an incredible amount of detail and thought:

She is defending early implements of the computer revolution, Jacquard punch cards and IBM cards, a CDV of Ada Byron, and Charles Babbage’s Difference Engine No. 2. An apple core represents Turing, eaten up by the intolerance of his era.

Also prominently displayed are some wonderful modern creations- The Steampunk Laptop by Datamancer and the Steampunk Flatpanel and Keyboard by Jake Von Slatt- who were kind enough to allow me use their work in the painting. The packet-sniffing rat under the desk is a nod to the EFF’s most recent victory; the EFF logo appears among the luggage stickers on the trunk.

I'm not quite sure how effective an antique Chinese crossbow is at defense in the virtual world, but I like the style.

Salvo Salvage

Reader Liz recently sent me these great salvage finds from a UK salvage operation called SalvoWEB. Her best find? The interior fittings of a Welsh Victorian Chemist Shop. (It would make a lovely kitchen, if you have a spare £10,000.)


The wall mounted fuel dispenser would make interesting wall art -- I wonder if it could be detoxified enough to safely dispense imbibables?



They have lots of other fine things -- mahogany bars, glass bottle collections -- so take a look around. I also noticed they're hosting a Salvage Fair June 27th at Knebworth, Hertfordshire, which would be worth a trip if you're anywhere in the vicinity. (And grace us with a report, please...)

Harmonie intérieure

French company Harmonie intérieure creates vinyl stickers and mounted pictures that are creative and romantic. The Time Passing collection has some that I thought would appeal to steampunks.

For the steampunk engineer, an early suspension bridge:


For the explorer:


This one is reminiscent of Verne's Mysterious Island:

Builder's Studio

Pete is a prolific artisan, with an Etsy shop under the name of Builder's Studio that's chock full of science fiction objects created mostly in wood. There's lots to love -- darling robotic wedding cake toppers, ray guns, full size canes, etc.

My favorites were the orreys


or the small dangles. (I like the idea of using these for the end of a hanging ceiling fan chain or as a lamp finial).
We'll also keep an eye on Pete's shop as the holidays roll around -- he makes Christmas ornaments, too!

Bas Relief Clockwork Tile

Photo-Form LLC will take a picture of anything and turn it into a tile. This is one of their examples.

Neat!

The Treasure Trove at RadioGuy

Radio-guy Steve Erenberg is the real thing. Before I even knew what steampunk was, I had stumbled across his website and spent hours pouring over his wild and wonderful collection. Although I mentioned him recently in the post on scissor lamps, I thought he and his collection deserved a post all to themselves.

What does this collection entail? "Oddball and scary scientific stuff, globes, industrial masks and helmets, motors, contraptions, classroom demonstration models, tools, nautical, medical, lighting, early advertising, electrostatic devices, telephones, telegraphs, planeteria, patent and design models, steam engines, microscopes, salesman samples, anatomical, x-ray tubes, artist mannequins, microphones, and early radio equipment." Whew -- a little bit of everything, all of it different and wonderful.

Here's three of my favorites, but you should definitely visit his entire site and waste an enjoyable hour of your day exploring it.

A static electricity generator (could it be from the 1700s, as the filename implies?)
A granite and brass reostat.

And a microscope lamp:



Housewise, most of these are great collections, accessories, etc., if you could find similar things through eBay or antiques dealers. The lighting section, however, is full of great ideas for functional antique industrial lights for your home.

p.s. The masks and mortician models in the museum section are not to be missed if you have a taste for the slightly macabre.

More of the Edison Bar

Coilhouse and LAist both have new photo sets of the Edison bar, and a show called Lucent Dossier. These show a lot more detail than previous shots of the bar.

I wish I could have been there, it looks like a lovely time.

Previous Edison Bar Posts:
Edison Bar Analyzed
Interview with Andrew Meieran of the Edison Bar