Campuscon

Event not in TOG.

CampusCon 2012 is the inaugural information security conference hosted by the WIT Hacking Societyand Waterford 2600 members. It will run on Saturday the 21st of January, on the WIT Sports Campus, on the outskirts of Waterford City.

The event will host a number of speakers, covering an array of topics – from web-application security to infosec philosophy. CampusCon will also host a team-based hacking challenge, where everything is to play for and the winners earn bragging rights over their peers. The event will be hotly contested, with teams from various security groups and universities taking part. We will also host a video game challenge. Of course, no conference is complete without a social aspect – so in the tradition of Irish spirit, there will be beers after the event.

Entry to the event is only €5, which covers entry and refreshments. Doors for the event open at 9am, with the first talk at 10am.

One of our members will be giving a talk on Hackerspaces at the event to try and get Ireland’s next hackerspace to be in Waterford.

 

 

Science Week 2011

Let do Science \o/. Science Week takes place from the 13th to the 20th of November. There are hundreds of events all over Ireland promoting science. TOG will be doing its part by running two events for Science week. We will be hosting a night of interesting talks and a kid friendly Science Week workshop.

Science Week Talks

Join us on Friday 18th from 6.30pm for a night of eye opening talks. We will have four-short twenty minute talks that will inspire about the world of science. Talks will start at 7.15pm the space will be open from 6.30pm.

 

Talk 1 Life of the Dead Zoo

The Natural History Museum is where we go to see the birds, beasts and bees in all their stuffed and pickled glory. But what goes on behind the scenes?  What is hidden behind the mysterious ‘Staff only’ doors? This talk will unveil some of  the secret life of the Dead Zoo and the use of  Natural History collections for science and art.

This talk will be given by Rose Farrell.

Talk 2 DIY Fire Tricks at Home

Everyone loves to play with fire. Come along to this talk and you might even get to play with some.
We will go through the top 10 things you can do with simple household materials and a few projects we have been working on in TOG.
We will teach you things things you never knew about fire with a very interactive and entertaining discussion.
You might even have some fun.

This talk will be given by Christian Kortenhorst.

Talk 3 Does space weather mean that it rains even in space? Not really, but…

The Sun is an average star – not too big, not too small – but its proximity to our planet makes it to be the most important star in the universe.  We know that without the Sun we would not exist.  However, it can produce some not-desired effects to our everyday life, and this is why the study of space weather is important for our actual society. This talk will show what we know about the Sun, what space weather is, and how you can help scientists for a better understanding of the Sun.

This talk will be given by Dr. David Perez-Suarez

 Talk 4 Molecular Gastronomy

Every time you step into the kitchen to make food, you’re doing a chemistry experiment.  Whisking air into a foam, applying heat to a steak, mixing cake batter in a particular fashion, there’s a scientific reason for how these things work or can be improved.  With a little understanding of the science behind food, cooking can only get better (and more interesting!).

This talk will be given by Triona O’Connell.

Squishy Circuits Workshop

Snail with LEDs made of conductive doughThere is no better way to get into science than just putting your hands right in, and with squishy circuits you can do just that.

Squishy circuits are a great way to demonstrate electrical circuits to kids (and adults!).  It consists of a conductive dough and an insulating dough that are used in the building of circuits, along with batteries and more usual electrical components like motors and LEDs.

During the workshop, we will see some useful demos you can use to teach with the dough, and have some hands-on fun building circuits. There’ll be demonstrations of how you can use the dough to investigate resistance in a circuit.

And the fun part, building sculptures that incorporate electrics, or building giant squishy circuit boards.  You can bring your imagination and build whatever you fancy.  Tríona will be on hand to offer help or suggestions as needed.

This workshop is free to attend although registration is required, as space is limited. It will last about 1 hour, starting at 3:00pm on Saturday 19th November. You can use the form below to register.

What to bring? Bring a 9V battery. Optionally, if you’re already familiar with Arduinos you can bring your own (this is optional and there’ll be plenty to do without one!).

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Arduino for Coders

Do you want to make things blink? Build interactive art? Construct robots to take over the world? The Arduino is for you. It’s intended for  designers and hobbyists. It is an easy to use device made for real people. The Arduino will open the worldof physical computing to you.

This course starts at the beginning but will move at a fast pace and is designed for programmers. We will cover in detail the electronics  required to get started with Arduino and explore how to read the Arduino code base.

 

This course will cover :

  • Basic electronics  (Ohm Law, Breadboarding skills )
  • Digital Inputs / Output
  • Analog Inputs / Outputs
  • Microcontroller Communication

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Hackerspace @ Electric Picnic

Members from hackerspaces all over Ireland will be forming a temporary
hackerspace at Electric Picnic this year.

We will be in Mindfield area on Saturday and Sunday from 6pm to 8pm. Our home for the weekend will be the incredible inflatable Ignition Stage. We will be running  drop in workshops. Details of the workshops below. Come on by to learn, share, create.

Soldering Workshop

Learn how to solder. Make a pocket LED touch (Might come in handy
finding your tent) or a Flashing LED badge.

Origami Workshop

Origami experts will be on hand to teach you the art of paper folding.
Sit down and let your troubles fold away. Flapping Birds and Paper
flowers are waiting for you to fold them.

Craft Workshop

Do you fancy yourself a bit crafty ? A bunch a friendly crafters will
be ready to help you create your own unique LED bracelet or necklace.

To find us, check out this site map for the Mindfield area.

Pinhole Photography

Question: How do you take a picture using an empty drink can?

Answer: By joining us at TOG for a quick pinhole camera workshop, on Sat 27th August as part of Irish Hackerspaces week.

A pinhole camera is probably the simplest camera you can have. It doesn’t even need a lens. It can be
any made from almost any light-tight box that you can think of, and it
can produce an image on photographic paper or film. We’ve made some
pinhole cameras already for you to use, but if you’re feeling
adventurous, you can always bring your own.

 

There’ll be 2 sessions, one at 11:00 and one at 15:00, with 5 places per session. After loading your
pinhole camera with a piece of photo paper, you can take a picture with
it, then develop it in TOG’s darkroom in about 2 minutes. Have a few
attempts and see how creative you can get.  Cost of this workshop is €12  and all proceeds go to support TOG.

This workshop is part of Irish Hackerspace Week.

Sign up by using the contact form below.

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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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