Book night 2010

A night dedicated to the love of books, right in the heart of Amsterdam

23 Apr 2010

After the success of Boekennacht (Book Night) 2009 - held as part of the Amsterdam World Book Capital celebrations - there will be a second night dedicated to our love of books, right in the heart of Amsterdam. Cosy up to a host of authors, poets, musicians and actors in the cafés and bookstores around the Spui, or get your cultural kicks outdoors at the main stage and the enormous book market. The night will be opened by current and past Dutch poet laureates Ramsey Nasr and Gerrit Komrij and there's a packed program of readings and presentations throughout the evening.

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Randy Sarafan - source

Randy Sarafan

Randy Sarafan (author of 62 Projects to Make with a Dead Computer) will talk about electronics reuse, Instructables, DIY and geek chic on Friday 23 April in Amsterdam. He will appear at Spui25 from 16:00 to 18:00. At 20:00, he will give a recycling workshop and book signing at the American Book Center. Randy also writes entertainingly mischievous letters to celebrities, organizations and unknown people who have rubbed him up the wrong way. He has promised to read some of these to us on Boekennacht.. Admission for both events is free, but registration is required for the talk at Spui 25. Please sign up at mastersofamateurism@premsela.org, providing your full name. Registration is not necessary for the workshop and book signing in the evening.

Computer hacking takes on a whole new meaning when you're going at it with a hacksaw and screwdriver. This is the most wildly inventive, eco-friendly craft book on repurposing everyday objects since Generation T. Except in this case the raw material isn't a T-shirt, but the stuff we all have lying around and have no idea what to do with, or even how to get rid of properly—your old cell phone, a broken printer, mysterious thatches of cables and wires, and of course, those dead PCs and laptops. Here are 62 ingenious projects that are irresistibly geek-chic, including An iMac Terrarium. A laptop Digital Photo Frame. The impressively green Scanner Compost Bin. Plus a power strip Bird Feeder, Walkman Soap Dish, My First Squiggle Bot, Qwerty Hair Tie and a Flat-screen Ant Farm.

Randy is a regular contributor to the fabulous instructables.com website, owner of an endlessly entertaining website and an active tweeter (deadcompbook): To accurately document and share his life as it happens (as people do on Twitter), Randy Sarafan has modified his office chair to automatically send a tweet whenever the individual in the chair passes wind.