Over Memorial Day weekend, I attended the annual LayerOne security conference in Monrovia. Participants were able to solder badges with the aid of microscopes provided in the Hardware Hacking Village. I had a great time surface-mount soldering my badge:
Here is the badge mid-process:
I also got to help launch the CUBEX-1 (similar to its predecessor, the HABEX, the High Altitude Balloon Experiment). Here is a video of the launch:
The CUBEX-1 is a computer carried by a high-altitude balloon. The camera was able to take some pretty cool photos of Earth and its atmosphere. We lost contact with CUBEX-1 a little past Catalina Island. The creator of CUBEX-1 was happy with the results of the experiment.
