We have joined the Irish Men’s Sheds Association. Their mission is to support the development of the burgeoning men’s sheds movement in Ireland. A grassroots organisation, they believe strongly in the autonomy of each individual shed, as they strive for a future in which all men have the opportunity to maintain and improve their well-being on their own terms and within their own communities.
We hope being a part of this association will help us reach a wider community and learn from the many other sheds.
Our very own Jeffrey has headed off on a maker-in residency program to Buinho, a fablab in rural Portugal.
The residency is all about getting immersed in various activities related to social awareness and education, ending with repair café with Christmassy vibes. A cultural exchange with different age-groups, community-based educational activities, visit to local schools, and support of the local repair café. The week culminates with the first ever repair cafe held in Messejana at their annual Christmas festival.
Buinho is a Creative Hub and the first rural Fablab in Portugal. Since 2015, creatives, makers, educators, and researchers unite in Messejana to experiment, prototype and learn. The aim of the association is to be an inspiring place, which fosters creativity, collaboration and innovation at the intersection of arts, technology and society. They offer various educative programs, private accommodation, different studios, and a creative residency program open for artists and makers from all over the world.
This residency is part of an Erasmus+ project, entitled “WeRepair”, coordinated by Buinho Associação and whose partners are Fablab Cuenca (Spain) and Mountain Makers (France).
Our mostly annual Christmas decorations are now all packed up and ready to be posted. They will be hopefully on trees very soon. You can check out more photos of the build in our gallery. If you would like one to do drop by any of our events in December. Design by Jeffrey.
The MK Ireland Discord in collaboration with Tog Hackerspace presents an Irish mechanical keyboard meetup! 4th of December from 3 pm in Tog Hackerspace (D12 CF6V behind Mr Price)
Bring your keyboard(s) along and meet other hobbyists, chat about modding and building keyboards, or if you don’t have a keyboard but are curious about mechanical keyboards, come along and try other people’s keyboards and chat with those in the know.
We’ll have tea and coffee available on site and Tog has an affordable tuck shop with fizzy drinks and snacks.
Please add a donation to your ticket to support this non-profit space. Suggested donation: €10
Be sure to pick up this week’s Women’s Way on the 8th of November. Our own Jeffrey Roe has been interviewed all about repairing. It goes into detail on why we do our repair cafés.
2022 marks 50 years since the release to market of the iconic 555 timer integrated circuit. The little 8-pin device was designed in 1971 by Swiss engineer Hans Camenzind for Signetics. Released in 1972, it became an instant success and has remained in production ever since. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, it was a rite of passage for any new budding electronics enthusiast to build a 555 circuit. The part was a staple of every enthusiast’s parts bin. Every electronics magazine carried 555 circuits and projects. There were even whole books of 555 projects. 50 years on, it is said that the 555 is possibly the most popular IC ever made, with production numbers in the billions. It can be bought for pennies. Among electronics makers, “Could have done it with a 555” is a common wisecrack in response to a fancy micro-controller project 🙂
We couldn’t let 2022 pass without celebrating the 50th birthday of this amazing little IC. Drop into TOG on Saturday 19th November from 3PM and build yourself a 555 circuit on breadboard. If you have no idea how to do this, don’t worry….. we’ll show you how. You can make something flash or buzz. You can even take away a souvenir 555 for free on us. This is a free workshop. Donations in support of TOG will be most welcome.
This event is part of Science Week which runs from the 13th to the 20th of November. Visit http://www.scienceweek.ie/ for more events.
