Fixing TOG’s drill batteries

batteriesTOG’s drill batteries were on their last legs. We were barely getting a few minutes of use after a charge. Time for some new batteries. Two new batteries were almost the price of a new drill, so we looked at buying a brand new drill. There was nothing wrong with the old drill …. just that the batteries were bad.

After a bit of searching on the ‘net, a set of 12 new cells was on its way to TOG for just €15. The battery pack was opened up and the old cells removed. The new cells were fitted with the same layout. Lots of pics here. After reassembly, the battery charged fine and the drill is back in action. Just need to do the second battery now.

 

Inspirefest 2015 – Family Fringe

Inspirefest is a two day technology conference taking place on 18th-19th of June in the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. The conference has a strong focus on STEM and diversity. To go along with the conference, there is a host of fringe events taking place in Merrion Square. We are proud to be taking part in the Family Fringe event on 20th of June.

We have joined forces with Intel and Girls Hack Ireland to create Stop the Lights workshop. The workshop will give insights into the basics of using the Intel Galileo, an Arduino-compatible designed right here in Ireland. Participant’s will get their hands on LED’s, buttons and buzzers, to create a traffic light animation.

The workshop is open to all aged between 15 and 17 and is most suitable for participants who have some prior coding experience. Participants are not required to bring their own laptop or materials

  • Date: Saturday June 20th
  • Time: 10am
  • Location: Merrion Square, Dublin 2
  • Duration: 3 hours
  • Places available: 20.
  • Tickets: Free, but prebook.

Apart from our workshop we are also teaming up with Dublin Maker to give people a little taster session ahead of their July event. Dublin Maker is a family friendly showcase of invention, creativity and resourcefulness, and a celebration of the maker movement. The taster session will also feature the Year of Light makers

We will be showing off projects created by our members. They will include the Egg Bot – draw your own images onto eggs, Skull Radio – listen to music without using your ears, Buzzer Game – classic game of keeping a steady hand and Constellation Quilt – stars, electronics both met on a quilt. 

The UN has declared 2015 the International Year of Light to highlight the central role of light has in the modern world from science and technology to nature and culture. The Year of Light makers will demonstrate how light is used in our everyday lives though lots of hands on experiments from making UV bracelets, lenses out of Jelly and LED badges. There will also be some optical illusions to show the different ways in which light works.

 

Gardenhacking Growdown Bloomfringe Blaster

Its all GROW at tog as we build our planters, hotboxes, temperature sensors, irrigation systems and many more weird and wonderful devices!

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All are welcome to pop by – bring something you want to work on or take some of our available material.

A mix of techie wizkids and greenfingered Gods will be making all day in a fun & friendly environment — free to all, drop by any time, from about 10am till 10pm 🙂

 

If its super nice we’ll turn on the BBQ, fire up the pizza oven to finish off the evening.

See you there!

 

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Wireless Hacking Workshop – Saturday 27th June 2015 @ 12:30pm

IT Security<<SOLD OUT>> Contact me below to express interest in next one. If can run another during the summer if I get interest.

On Saturday 27th June at 12:30pm our very own jester`, Martin Mitchell or @jayester depending on the circles you run in, will be teaching a Wireless Hacking Workshop.

Wireless networks are everywhere. They have been available to many of us for well over 10 years, and it is something most of us rely on daily. Majority of us have a wireless network in our house, and connect to it regularly with our laptop, phone, games console, media player and now even televisions.

In this practical, hands on workshop I will be stepping you through the different wireless network security modes of 802.11 (WiFi), and demonstrating practical attacks against them. This workshop is not intended to teach you to perform malicious tasks on wireless networks, but it is to show you how easy it is, and how dangerous someone can be knowing even the most basic a few commands. This knowledge can also be used to audit wireless networks. This workshop will to make you more aware of the dangers of using a wireless networks with bad or no security enabled. Continue reading “Wireless Hacking Workshop – Saturday 27th June 2015 @ 12:30pm”

Evening Talk: Secure Yourself Online – Thursday 21st May 2015 @ 7pm

insecure_passwordOn Thursday 21st at 7pm our very own jester`, Martin Mitchell or @jayester depending on the circles you run in, will be speaking about some best practices of securing yourself on-line :

Whether you are a creator or user of on-line content, knowing how to secure yourself on-line is important. In a world that is becoming more and more digital, we are ever growing our digital footprint. During the talk we will go through a top 10 best security practices, and maybe a few more too boot. It will relevant to you whether your on a laptop, or smart device, getting on-line for work or personal. You only need to be compromised once for an nefarious individual to make for life awkward. Their intention may be for fun or profit, but I will give you the information to protect yourself on-line.

I shall cover a lot but it will touch on passwords, email, encryption, tracking and wireless just to name a few. Aimed at everyone from general viewers of cat videos, those of you that have compromised, to those that would like to become a little bit more paranoid on-line.

Please use the sign up form below. This is do I can track how many to expect on the night. Information submitted though the form will only be used for tracking attendance and a reminder email will be sent a few days before the event.

See you on the 21st.

Continue reading “Evening Talk: Secure Yourself Online – Thursday 21st May 2015 @ 7pm”

Linux Jam in TOG

tuxWe’re having a Linux Jam in TOG on Saturday 16th May. Whether you’re a complete beginner and haven’t even opened the box of your shiny new board, or you want to explore Linux on your laptop, or you’re an experienced user who wants to hack a set top box, you’ll fit in.

This isn’t a class or instruction. It will be a relaxed informal atmosphere with other like-minded people. So the idea is to bring your Pi, Galileo, Laptop, Linux device etc. and play/use/hack. Bring tutorials, web links, instructions…. anything you like. Whoever you are from complete beginner to advanced….just work on whatever you want to do, and hopefully get some “bounce” off other people doing similar things. Several TOG members will be around too.

We’re asking for a small donation to attend the Jam. All proceeds go to keeping a roof over TOG’s head and are much appreciated. The space will be open from 10:30 with a nominal finish time of 19:00, but the open social is on that day, so the space will be open much later than this. You can sign up for the Linux Jam here.

Coincidentally, 16th May is the same day as our regular open social.  Our open social is a great way to see the space, hang out, meet other members & visitors. There’ll be all the usual madness of an open social. Weather permitting, there’ll be pizza. There may also be beer samples, courtesy of Capital Brewers at TOG. You might even get to pick some locks if our friendly lock pickers will show you some tricks. The space stays open until the last member is left…. usually the small hours of Sunday morning. The open social is free to attend.