ReMade, a maker culture documentary

Oct 21 2010 Published by Fiacre under Documentary, Hackerspaces, Makers

The Electromagnate team are in the process of making ReMade, a documentary about maker culture and hackerspaces.

We are currently filming a documentary that explores the state and direction of the Maker and Hackerspace movement in America. We’re visiting hackerspaces and makerspaces across the nation in an attempt to show the incredible innovation, creativity, struggles and triumphs that exemplify these spaces. Our goal is to help everyone understand what hackerspaces and makerspaces are doing, how they are doing it and how the Maker Movement is changing the world.

The Electromagnate team are hackerspace memebers themselves and are taking a very interesting approach to the project.

…we are pursuing a D.I.Y. approach to this documentary’s production. We feel the need to build our own camera equipment and make our original designs available to the public.

If you would like to help, visit their Kickstarter page and pledge some cash.

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Building computers, soldering kits

Aug 17 2010 Published by Fiacre under Hackerspaces, Makers

This has been an exciting week so far!

On Wednesday I attended my first class for the Free Geek Toronto computer build program, and as the name suggests, all the classes are free! Free Geek describes the program as follows.

Computer Build

Enjoy learning the entire process of building computers from parts, take the class … and take the 6th computer you build home. Yes, you’ll also be testing computers built by others, to ensure a great out-of-the-box experience for yourself and your neighbours in our community.

This is basically becoming your own technician, for the low, low price of your time and travel, and learning to keep it running safely and securely. At your pace, this program typically takes 60 hours, and is extremely popular with those budding hobbyists and do-it-yourselfers who don’t like to depend on others, empowering themselves along the way.

You can learn more about the Free Geek movement and other cities that have programs here.

Thursday I had the pleasure of attending Mitch Altman’s Learn to solder class at the Site 3 CoLaboratory in Toronto, which attracted a capacity crowd. I met great people, had a lot of fun and started soldering Mitch’s Brain Machine kit. I will post images of the project when it is done.

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Site 3 CoLaboratory opening event

Jul 20 2010 Published by Fiacre under Hackerspaces, Makers, Technology

Site 3

Last weekend I attended the Site 3 coLaboratory opening event in Toronto. The people were great and the space amazing. There was a introduction to Arduino workshop, demos of members projects, including some amazing Steampunk gear, a Ruben’s Tube, and John Conway’s Game of Life. If you would like to see some images, check out my blurry phone shots or Darren White’s far superior camera work. The day closed with a soiree DJ’d by MentalFloss (who gave us a quick overview of the software/hardware!)

It was great to see a hackerspace with a strong focus on uniting art and technology. Judging from the projects they are working on now, I’m sure we will see even more amazing things in the future.

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MiniSoOnCon 2009 and why libraries should embrace maker culture

Oct 05 2009 Published by Fiacre under Conferences, Makers, Present, Technology

On Saturday I had the pleasure of attending MiniSoOnCon, a southern Ontario Hackerspaces/Makers mini-conference, at ThinkHaus, Hamilton, which included presenters from the spaces hacklab.to, KwartzLab, and Diyode . I have been interested in Maker culture and hackerspaces for a while, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to jump in at the deep end.

What is Maker culture? What are hackerspaces? Well…

A hackerspace is a physical location where like-minded people get together in a cooperative environment to pool their knowledge, experience, and physical resources with a goal to bringing into reality the projects about which they’ve been dreaming. The sky is the limit, almost literally: projects range from building hardware to building art, from restoring antique equipment to putting electronic blinking eyes in a crocheted doll. Put simply, members get together at the space to make stuff, to work on personal projects or bigger collaborative ones. (quote from KwartzLab)

I attended the following sessions

  • Richard Degelder: Introduction to OpenStreetMap. A succinct introduction to OpenStreetMap, why we should use it, how to do it and the necessity of adding all the Tim Horton’s locations!
  • Steve Singer: Importing GeoBase data into OpenStreetMap. A very detailed explanation of how to import Canadian government data into OpenStreetMap.
  • Trevyn Watson and James Arlen: Badge Hacking. A little history of hacker con badges and an explanation of how we could hack our own, very cool, MiniSoOnCon badge.
  • Natalie Silvanovich: ZigBee: Fact and Fiction. ZigBee is a low-cost, wireless, networking standard and this was a brief and entertaining overview of the technology.
  • Zach Lanier: Disclosure Samsara. Very interesting discussion of vulnerability disclosure and the need for a facility for encouraging responsibility.
  • Jedediah Smith: Laser Quest. The story of hacklab.to’s acquisition of a Universal Laser Systems ULS-25P laser engraver and how they brought it back to life, including a demonstration of its hidden musical abilities.
  • Adina Bogert-O’Brien and Trevyn Watson: Intro to Kite Aerial Photography. Explained what kinds of kites can be used, how to build a kite, and how to get your camera to take pictures automatically. I also learned what a picavet suspension is. Shots from their first flight are available online.
  • Darin White: Overcoming Internet-Induced Inertia to Making. Darin from KwartzLab gave a presentation that encouraged us not to be intimidated, to learn from our failures, and go and make something. Included hilarious examples of his own failed and almost failed projects. My favorite presentation from the conference.
  • Leigh Honeywell: Holy Crap We Built (Most of) A Makerbot Today. Hacklab.to received their Makerbot, 3D printer the weekend of the conference and put it together (almost!) over the day . It was great to watch the process unfold and the printer slowly take shape, and Leigh gave an enlightening, impromptu presentation on the technology.

Journalism students from Ryerson and UWO where covering the event as part of a project on Maker culture, and you can see video from the day on their site.

So what does this have to do with libraries? I believe public libraries and maker culture are a perfect match, and I take the opportunity to spread the word when I can. The ideas that fuel hackerspaces, such as cooperation, resource and information sharing, self-directed education, and a diversity of views are concepts that are central to our profession’s ethos. And in these economically difficult times, a movement that offers an alternative to consumer culture and a return to DIY independence is timely indeed.

I would strongly suggest that librarians contact their local hackerspace or makerspace. You’ll find we have a lot in common. In the near future I hope to see public libraries with 3D printers, laser engravers, tool lending libraries, and classes like the ones at MiniSoOnCon.

So, why are you still reading this? Get out there and make something.

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