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Dublin Synchronous Hackathon

As you may or may not know there is a Hackaton [1] this weekend starting on Saturday the 16th in Tog

Some projects we will be working on:

  1. Solar Heater [3] finishing off the insalation and hopefully mounting it on the roof.
  2. Mame cabinet buttons arriving tomorrow so should be done by Sunday
  3. Diy t-shirt printer all depending on parts arriving in time! if not lots else to do [4]

If anyone is around this weekend come along and give a hand or bring a project and work on it. Starts on Saturday around 12ish and goes on till when ever people get tired on Sunday.

Some other projects that people are working on, photo development lab, mobile applications, crafts check out website for more projects.

Anyone else have any projects you are working on and want to get involved in.

[1] http://hackerspaces.org/wiki/Synchronous_Hackathon/2011-07-16
[3] http://www.tog.ie/2011/07/solar-heater-update/
[4] http://hackaday.com/2010/06/06/how-to-diydtg/

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Origami workshop update

Last Friday’s origami workshop saw a great turn-out, with people of varied skill levels: most had done only a little origami before if any, some were more experienced and had the books to prove it, and a couple could fold origami behind their back! Very handy to sit besides one such person when struggling with a tiny inside reverse fold.

Many thanks to teacher Jamie O’Leary for sharing his time and origami insights with us!
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Solar heater update

Following the social on 2nd July, we now have enough cans to fill our
solar heater. We cut the top and bottom from each can. A regular can opener
removes the top very neatly. We remove the bottoms with a hole saw.

We built the frame from a sheet of plywood, and laid some 25mm
polystyrene sheets into the frame as insulation. We now arrange the cans
in parallel columns and paint them black to absorb the sun better. The
top and bottom of each “can column” is arranged into a common manifold. We
glaze the completed unit with glass or plastic.

We blow air from our building in the bottom and take warmed air out the
top back to the building. We use a small electric fan to do this.

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Learning about electronics with squishy circuits

On Saturday afternoon, we held a very successful workshop on Squishy Circuits, a great tool to introduce children to electrical circuits.

We started the afternoon by learning how to make both conductive dough and insulating dough, and after a cool demonstration on using an Arduino together with a buzzer to test the dough resistance, we started making our own squishy circuits and other wonderful (sometimes!) creations using the 2 types of dough, LEDs and 9V batteries. Click on “continue reading” below to see a few pictures from the event!

Everyone had fun no matter their age, and I’d like to thank again all our awesome attendees, as well as our very cool teacher Tríona.

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Open Social with Tunes

 

This weekends Open Social will have a bit of a twist. There will be some live music to go along with the usually good mix of food, drinks and chat.

The social will kick off at 7pm this Saturday the 2nd of July until late. Feel  free to bring your own beer and food along.  It’s a great chance to visit the space and see what we are all about.This event is free and open to the public.

Dan a member of Tog will be giving an update on the great work being done at  Cloughjordan, a new eco village, located in Tipperary.

Cloughjordan is a new concept in living. With Fibre Optic Internet to
every home, communal heating system, low energy concept housing, and a hackers dream, a fab-lab with laser cutter and a shop bot robotic machine. The fab-lab is still in construction with the foundations laid. Dan visited the village as part of the food festival and will explain how the village works and how they need help from hackers to get the best of technology to drive the economy.

After the talk we will have a set from Ewan from Boy Scout Audio http://boyscoutaudio.com/.  Restricted to a mere 16 notes per pattern and 16 patterns per track, he squeezes the last drops of musical juice from a Nintendo DS, battering the synthesised daylights out of the bare-bones Korg DS-10 software that is the sole sound of his music. Csixtyforce and Zyme from Gamepak have also been added to the line up. Bring on the chip tunes.

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Origami workshop

Curious about origami, whether you’ve never tried it before or are interested in learning new tricks and folds? Sign up for our hands-on origami workshop on Friday, July 8th, taught by Jamie O’Leary! We will start by learning how to do simple folds and shapes for beginners, then move on to more advanced stuff for people with previous knowledge (or innate talent!). Paper will be provided, books will be available, and advice freely handed. Everyone is welcome!

When? Friday, July 8th, from 7pm to 9pm
Cost: Free, and open to all — though please do register in advance, as space is limited (registration form below the picture)

The workshop is full! You can still sign up to be added to the waiting list, we’ll notify you if a space frees up. This also lets us know if there is interest in organising another similar event!

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