News/2011-03-17

London Hackspace news for 10th - 16th March 2011.

General space news

The space now has almost 250 members and our financial situation continues to improve, however the average subscription level has fallen and we have yet to break even again on monthly outgoings.

Upcoming events

This Friday 18th Chris Mear is running another Git workshop from 19:00 onwards in the quiet room. [1]

The weekly catchup meeting of the biohacking group will take place next Wednesday 23rd, topics include the building of some basic DIYBio infrastructure.

Equipment

Members are reminded about the correct usage of the mill, especially with regard to damaging the vice. There are some updated usage instructions which all users should refer to. [2]

Following a power cut the PSU in Flowers (which controls the door system) failed - it has been replaced with an old Compaq machine for the time being. Plans to replace this with a lower powered solid state system are ongoing. [3]

A pledge has been started for purchasing a plan chest which will be used to store sheet materials. [4]

Just as the etch tank pledge was completed, Artag found one in an auction. This might be significantly cheaper. [5]

The embargo on pledge funding is still in place, members with outstanding pledges are encouraged to fulfil them at their earliest convenience.

Projects

Some of our members have submitted an entry to the Hackerspace Challenge, and are currently awaiting the results. [6]

The server hardware auctions project has just listed the set of external hard drives on eBay, these auctions end on Sunday 20th. [7]

There has been an extensive discussion about the possibility of a reading group. [8]

At the weekend 12th and 13th many members visited Maker Faire UK in Newcastle, where we helped run the hackspace area and various hacking took place. Interesting projects by members included: Kinect-Controlled Tesla Coils.