One of the real pleasures of living in Brooklyn is the amount of interesting stuff to do on any given day. For as much as there is going on in Manhattan, to find the interesting, new, weird stuff, you have to cross the river.
Here are three upcoming tech-related classes where you can leave with something you didn’t have any idea how to make when you entered.

Blinky Umbrellas

blink blink blink. sign up for our LED umbrella class! https://t.co/A79HDxqaK7

— NYCResistor (@nycresistor) May 23, 2016

Stand out from the sleepy crowd on a rainy day with a blinky umbrella from the tech folks of NYC Resistor. Next Sunday, June 5, they’re holding a blinky umbrella workshop from 1-4 p.m. in their Downtown Brooklyn HQ. The umbrellas are normal umbrellas, but participants will learn to retrofit them with programmable, waterproof LED strips and rechargeable batteries. Participants will learn to solder, too.
“Draw your own patterns and animations using a windows or mac laptop, using free software,” writes NYC Resistor. “Take advantage of the digital LED strips, and design colorful effects to match your outfit and mood!”
Tickets are a steep $135, but you do get a sick umbrella and some new skills. Buy tickets here.

Tasty Sauerkraut

Everything is coming up gut microbes when it comes to health and biology today, and Brooklyn’s community lab space Genspace remains ahead of the curve. Find out how to harness the power of bacteria to preserve and add flavor to food.
“Sauerkraut is full of beneficial probiotics to keep your microbiome healthy,” Genspace writes. “In this course, we will cover the basic science behind making sauerkraut, why it’s good for you, and we’ll teach you how to make it yourself. If you are interested in Old World food preservation, gut health, or fermentation in general, this is the class for you!”
The class is this Saturday, May 28, in Downtown Brooklyn and the cost is $40. Get tickets here.

Media MVPs

The Made in NY Media Center is a publicly funded incubator for innovative projects related to media of all kinds. It hosts startups and documentarians and journalists in a coworking space and has a full calendar of talks and workshops. With its large network, the Made in NY Media Center is a good place to go if you have an idea you don’t know how to execute yet.
“If you are interested in journalism, virtual reality, gaming, content creation, or anything related to media, don’t miss this one-weekend workshop to create your minimum viable product,” the center says. “Collaborate with designers, developers and business experts, learn from mentors who are innovating in the media landscape, and pitch your product to leaders in the industry.”
Tickets are $75 and the program runs the full weekend of June 10-12. Sign up here.