The Dublin Hackerspace
It has been a while since we gave an update on our fitout works on Tog 4. Below are the highlights.
We have put down a wooden floor in our electronics room and common room. The flooring came from Tog 2 and Tog 3. it has been a big cost saving to be able to reuse the flooring.
Our machine room is made up of a cement plinth but it has lots of high points and holes. We have done our best to give it a rough levelling. Below is a video of Gary mixing up some self-levelling screed.
This summer I had the privilege to visit a Hackerspace in Nantes, France.
Nantes is the 6th Largest city in France, with a metro population of around 1 million (Dublin clocks in at about 1.5 million for reference).
Pingbase is located in an urban residential neighbourhood, about 4km from the very centre of the city.
They share a large civic building with other associations in that neighbourhood.
Even though I phoned out of the blue, our very gracious hosts Sophie and Gregoire were able to meet us with less than 1 hour’s notice and gave us a comprehensive guided tour!
On the surface, the space offers similar amenities to Tog, but it’s roots and organisational structure are quite different.
Sophie and Gregiore explained that Pingbase is majority publicly funded, at 80%.
It was founded in 2004 with the values of:
– Social Solidarity
– Sharing
– Experimentation & Innovation
– General Civic Interest
This manifests itself in talks, training (including safety training for equipment), repair cafes, research and tool sharing schemes, all pro-actively promoted within the local community.
Pingbase offers a makerspace with the usual tools, like laser cutters etc… , a library, classrooms and social areas. If I had to guess I would say it is about the same size as Tog 3.0.
Pingbase has 9 paid staff, incorporating two “Community Employment Schemes” (as we would call them in Ireland). They have a significant employee presence to deal with community outreach.
Membership ranges from EUR90 per year for the un-waged, to EUR270 per year for an Enterprise membership. Note again that the majority of their costs are covered from public funding sources.
Visit https://www.pingbase.net/ for more details!
Association Ping, 38 Rue du Breil, 44100 Nantes, France.
Unfortunately, the Chaos Communication Congress has not gone ahead this year in Germany due to the pandemic. The Remote Chaos Experience (rC3) has returned to bring us all together online to learn, share and communicate. From the 27th of December until the 30th of December a host of talks, workshops, meetups will all be hosted with people all around the world.
To check out the timetable or learn more visit https://rc3.world/2021/fahrplan
We are involved in an assembly during rC3. An assembly is an area or group of people who come together around a topic, geolocation or organization. We will be taking part in the Irish Embassy. This is a place for people with a connection to Ireland can hang out during rC3. Some of us are from Irish Hackerspaces, we like to collab on projects and LEDs, Green of course. We like three-pin plugs too. You can also join our discord to chat with us during the event.
Join us for a special Christmas themed online craft night. We will be chatting and crafting and having a bit of festive fun. Show us some festive crafts you are working on or get some ideas for those last-minute Christmas gifts.
We will be on Discord on Sunday 19th of December from 6 pm.
To join the discord, follow this invite link: https://discord.gg/QAqQ55d
TOG’s Craft Night is an opportunity to sew, knit or draw with a group of crafters. Bring a project or learn a new skill. All welcome
Join our meetup page to hear about all our events. https://www.meetup.com/Tog-Dublin-Hackerspace/
After the fabulous success of season one of the BIg Life Fix, it returns for another season. If you turn the clock to 2020, we were treated to six inspiring and heartwarming episodes of designers, engineers and makers creating inventions that transformed people’s lives.
We were very proud to be the home base of the show for season one and to have two of our own members take part. You can read about it here on our blog.
The show is now back for another season. Kite Entertainment are looking to hear from people facing challenges as a result of a disability or chronic illness, whose lives could potentially be made easier with a tailor-made invention. Get in touch via email at biglifefix@kiteentertainment.com in November or December.
Continue reading “Big Life Fix seeks participants for new series of the TV Show”
We are please to open our doors and welcome visitors to TOG4. Our first event will be the return of our ever popular Lockpicking night. We will be taking things slowly and numbers slow keeping in line with the current Covid regulations. All visitors must book into to the event via our Meetup page. Please do not show up if you do not have a place booked.
We understand lots of you want to see the new space and get back into making. Check out our Youtube channel to see our progress. Bear with us as we open and bring back more and more of the events you all love. We are open to new members, please get in touch if interested.