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Hackerspaces and the Formal Education System

Most of us at one time or another have been in the formal education system. Do we have a good experience ? Could it be better ? Can hackerspaces solve the problems?

The Dublin Google Technology User Group(GTUG) will be hosting a panel discussion on this very topic. The panel will be made up of members of our hackerspace ,  educators and employers.  It is set to be a lively thought provoking discussion.

Event Details

Date: Tuesday 26th of July.

Time: 6.30 pm

Location: Google HQ, Barrow St., D4

Sign Up: Here

Cost: Free!!

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Electronics bootcamp SPACES open

We’re running our electronics bootcamp again. This event will take place
over 5 weeks on Tuesday evenings at TOG, from 19:00 to 21:30. First
session on Tuesday 9th August.

This is a practical / hands-on introduction to electronics. Its suitable for
beginners, as no previous knowledge is required. If you’re curious about
electronics and don’t know where to start, then this is for you. No
soldering required, as we do everything on prototyping breadboards.
We’ll be building and testing circuits right from the first night. We’ll
be covering DC, AC, analog and digital electronics.

Over the 5 weeks, you’ll have a chance to play with multimeters,
oscilloscopes, signal generators and other electronic test equipment.
There’ll be lots of circuits to build and test along the way.

Cost is €50 for non-members. If you’re interested, you can sign up
below. There are 8 places available.

Booked Out

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21st Synchronous Hackathon

Mame cabinet is working well, got to put in 6 buttons and make up new face plate for it. But had our first few games today and worked quite well.

Controler board for buttons

Wiring up of buttons and controls.

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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.