News/2011-11-28

From London Hackspace Wiki

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< 7th – 13th July 2011 London Hackspace news
14th July – 28th November 2011
29th November – 5th December 2011 >

General space news

  • We had the AGM in August, in which we approved the new constitution, and later elections for trustees.

Discussions

We've had a few very long discussions about space dynamics and how to keep the place comfortable and usable.






News/communication

Robert moved the wiki to match the distinction between London Hackspace and the new UK Hackspaces organisation, and wikified the existing Hackspace site. Both sites are now also available over https, and can only be edited after registration, but still need people to keep them tidy and organised.

In the wake of the Cleaning Threads, Martind added the Maintenance page, and Amran created the 100 Paper Cuts page to make it easier to track small niggling problems.

We're hoping to make News a weekly thing again, in the hope that this will make it easier for members who don't visit all the time to keep up with progress and changes at space. Please help write the next one!

The door control system is now automatically limited to subscribers, and you can manage your details on the website. If you haven't visited the space lately, please check whether your name is on the list of unidentifiable cards.

Something that comes up commonly on IRC is that the beer tin is a great way to lose money. Unfortunately, we can't enforce payment for beer (that requires a licence), so members should assume that if they leave beer in the fridge they're giving it away. You should still donate for any beers you take from the fridge, but some people do this so irregularly that the best solution is to have a whip-round before a beer run.

Other spaces

Amran's gone off to help start the Amsterdam hackspace, TechInc (Technologia Incognita)

MattVenn joined the guys in Bristol, who seem to be doing pretty well

Samthetechie helped Brighton move to their new space after the Mini Maker Faire (see below)

Errant's trying to help with robots for the CERN MCC

After a previous abortive attempt, Reading Hackspace are trying again. They need all the help they can get - mailing list twitter

Nottinghack have started a "Hack all the Spaces" podcast, and Dom's visiting London this evening - announcement twitter

We've had people mention starting groups in Swindon, Carmarthen and Medway. These are all very small, so if you're in the area, find out what's going on.

Subgroups

These have ballooned, so there's now a dedicated Subgroups page to bring them together.

  • The Nanode project page now has comprehensive guides and a list of users and applications
  • Phil Jones has started a future manufacturing meet-up (3D-printing, CNC, CAD, design)
  • There's a lot of interest in an electronics workshop, but this still hasn't happened yet
  • Sukey (not a space subgroup, but with common members) has spun out its own communications and is planning for the future
  • A meetup to practise BSL was mooted

Equipment

We've had long outages of the webcams, people counter and laser cooling system. In response to this, a list of projects at risk has been started, but we're not sure whether this will work.

  • The laser cutter cooling system has had serious problems [3][4]. Please don't rely on coolbot - use the IR thermometer instead - and always check the logbook beforehand.
    The cutter itself works best at 60% power, and has been aligned by Mars, Asc and Lbdl - these are currently the best people to speak to if you have a problem. The PC was replaced by Sci, but can still be a bit temperamental.
  • Hipster fixed the MakerBot and made various improvements, labelling it the "Hipsterbot". He also got the Stratasys working (at last!), and it will happily print for hours in its alcove. It's of course now known as the Hipstasys.
  • There was a problem with the angle grinder. Since the problem new ones have been donated to the space.
  • The sheet metal press has been broken

New equipment

Past events

  • SamLR organised a trip to RAL
  • We had an open day on 24th July
  • A number of us went to CCC Camp, leaving the remainder to the start of the riots
  • A small band visited the Maunsell Sea Forts at Red Sands
  • There was a Nanode weekend at the C4CC on 6-7th August
  • And a Nanode/Pachube workshop on 1st September
  • Brighton Mini Makerfaire was a huge success
  • Michael Nielsen gave a talk on Open Science
  • Mark Jessop gave a talk on TOPCAT and his high-altitude balloon project while visiting the UK (the flight was a success)
  • We had the Bitcoin weekend on 24-25th September, organised by Martind. Members can also get discounted tickets for the European Bitcoin Conference in Prague.
  • There was a screening of the F1 Monza Grand Prix in the quiet room
  • Meseta gave a UAV workshop [5]

External:

Upcoming events

External

See also Other Events

Projects

Recently added projects:

  • TRTL by Amx109, Jontyw, Hipster: "To produce a low cost kit robot that is simple to build, and easy to use/program via software with the aim of introducing and kids and adults alike to building, making, electronics and software."
  • Network Everything, initiated by eb4890: "A project for a hacker event. Where lots of people make small networked devices of their choosing that are put together in interesting ways at the event"
  • Combination Lock Box A combination Lock Box with user selectable and modifiable combination lock.
  • Nanode Case A 2mm acrylic case cut on a laser cutter for a Nanode
  • BigClock Ex-railway LCD display
  • Jasper worked out how to speak to the HP1650A logic analyser
  • We've still got some Jumbotrons lying about
  • There have been numerous plans for the giant phone display
  • Another offer of a fusion reactor
  • Phil has rebuilt the electronics on a dedicated board for Doorbot.
  • Tom W has automated the creation of Glados greetings.
  • Solexious has taken orders for the Openlasertag dev kits.
  • We finally finished auctioning the servers

SwapShop

Please can members update their items in the SwapShop so that it can become more useful and also please date when you add something.

New items this weekmonth:

  • IBM Thinkpad X31 with about 8 batteries, but a dodgy screen. - Aden
  • Nintendo DS - Aden
  • Sony PSP - Aden
  • Large electronic whiteboard, missing pen/sensor - Artag
  • Seagate Savvio 15k.1 ST973451SS 2.5" SAS HDD - Artag
  • Scroll saw - Artag
  • 200 Nylon spacers 8.2x12x30 - Flux
  • Piles of odds and ends computer-tech wise - JamesHarrison
  • Newbie-friendly computer science books - JamesHarrison
  • Odds and ends of BNC/F-type terminated 75 ohm patch cables and couplers - JamesHarrison
  • Satellite signal strength meter - JamesHarrison
  • Various WRT54s in need of JTAGging to debrick (G, GS variants) - JamesHarrison
  • Loads of spare capacity for web hosting/other internet facing services - Renski

Media

  • The space was featured in an episode of Dragon's Den
  • BBC Click On (Radio 4) did a feature on Hackspaces with interviews of members - listen here

Caffeine News

  • Sci fixed the coffee machine
  • More club mate has arrived
  • We've also started stocking Ubuntu Cola occasionally
  • Watch out for Russ playing with glassware for cold-brewed coffee
  • B3cft made an order of BBotE