Christmas at TOG: cookies and crochet

Beautiful garlands of floppies — Deck the halls with boughs of floppies, fa la la la la la la la la la

As we’re well into December by now, we can talk about the C word all we want! As is tradition by now, the final craftnight of the year will be a sugar-fuelled glitterfest where we try to finish Christmas gifts while raising our blood glucose levels. By the time your insulin sorts that mess out, the crochet class on Saturday 14th will let you return to the scene of the sugarcrime and see what you recall.

Sugar craftnight kicks off from about 6:30pm in TOG on Tuesday December 10th. All are welcome, and all sorts of tasty treats are welcome too! There’ll be hot chocolate to wash down the Christmas cookies, and I’ll have some spare felt and sparkles for anyone who’d rather build decorations than destroy their pancreas (of course you can do both). Coordination of baking will happen through the craft mailing list (anyone can join the list and get regular reminders of craftnights during the year). As with all craftnights, you can just pop down on the night. Our first craftnight of 2014 will be on January 7th.

Beautiful baubles to hang on your Christmas tree (or to give to someone to hang on their tree)

There will be a crochet bauble workshop run on the afternoon of Saturday December 14th from 2:30pm till about 4:30pm. Participants don’t need any prior experience at crochet, and will still make a pretty netted bauble for the tree. The class will cost €7 including materials (or €2 for members for the materials). Sign-up form for the class after the break.

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14/11/2013

Mozilla Ireland Event

Tog is proud to be hosting Mozilla Ireland’s first public event this month! Mark your calendars for Friday, November 22nd, from 7pm until around 9:30pm.

This event will give insight into Mozilla, the Irish community, Firefox in Irish and Firefox OS, and how to get involved. There will be a few presentations and Q&A. This event is free and open to all, and we’re looking forward to seeing you there!

14/10/201321/10/2013

Workshop: LilyPad Sensors

E-textiles, electro-craft, wearable electronics; it’s about taking technology and transforming it around your body, creating symbiosis. Helping technology meld seemlessly into the very fabric of our lives.

Whether you’re looking to augment the human condition or you’re more interested in the romantic ethereal glow of twinkly lights, you have to start somewhere.

Content;
This second workshop is for people who have used the LilyPad or Arduino before. Focusing on input we’ll look at using light and temperature sensors, and accelerometers. We’ll also look at multiplexing, both input and output, and making your own interfaces to connect regular electrical components to your LilyPad circuit.
The only thing you’ll need to bring with you is a laptop with USB port, everything else is provided. (If you want to bring your own LilyPad components that’s great, just let us know when you’re booking and we’ll make sure you have everything you’ll need.)

Important: please bring your own laptop with USB port. Closer to the event you will receive instructions on how to install the programming environment.

Optional materials; Any LilyPad board (preferably the Protosnap), with any sensor you’d like to use.
If you want to play with the LilyPad before buying, Protosnap boards can be provided for the duration of the workshop, but you’ll probably have to work in groups of at least two people.

When: ~~Thursday, October 24th. From 7pm until 10pm.~~ Cancelled

Where: TOG.

Cost: €10 for non-members, €5 for members. (All proceeds go to support TOG.)

Please register through the contact form below the cut.

This workshop has been cancelled. Check back for the rescheduled date.

09/10/201311/10/2013

Security Saturday

a one day security event, Saturday 16th November. Tickets Available Now.

Security Saturday is a one-day event where security experts and hobbyists get together to teach, learn and discuss a myriad of topics related to security. From picking locks to hacking wireless routers and getting started hacking RFID tags.

Anyone interested in security as a hobby or professional should get something out of it.

The only prerequisite is a laptop and an open mind. All talks and workshops will assume no prior knowledge and will start with first principles.

All tickets come with a Starter Kit to get you started hacking, picking and more. Early bird tickets will get a special bonus of an Arduino compatible *electronic door opener, and are in very limited supply, so act fast!

Starter Kit

*5 piece lock pick set
Tog T-Shirt
DVD of learning materials

Schedule

Welcome

Introduce speakers, event schedule etc. (presentation)
Distribute Starter Kits

Lock Picking

Introduction to physical security (presentation)
Lock Picking workshop

Wireless Hacking

Introduction to wireless security (presentation)
Wireless hacking workshop

Electronic Access control and RFID

Magnetic Swipe Card principles and security (presentation)
Radio Frequency (RFID) access control and payment systems (presentation)

Tickets are in limited supply, you can reserve yours at SecuritySaturday.com

* All tools and information provided are for educational purposes only.

01/10/201301/10/2013

3D Printer Reprep Code Improvement

On Saturday 5th of October from 2pm-6pm TOG is holding a 3D Printer Arduino code improvement day.

3D printers are all the rage at the moment. However they are not without their faults and some of the budget, hobbiest models could do with an improvement or two.

The aim of the afternoon will be to improve the Reprap code to add extra features.
The stand alone reprap uses an Arduino based stand controller to print without needing a computer connected.

A second project would be to add bluetooth wireless operation.

The controller being used is:
http://reprap.org/wiki/RUMBA

The display is:

http://reprap.org/wiki/RepRapDiscount_Smart_Controller

and the code is:
https://github.com/ErikZalm/Marlin/tags

http://reprap.org/

Whoever works on the project will be given access to a working Reprap with all the hardware for testing the setup. There may be a budget for the time involved if working on the code after the first day. The main plan for the day is to specify what changes need to be made.

No need to book, just show up. Anyone with an interest in 3D printing is welcome. While the event is free we will be asking for donations to cover the hosting costs.

24/09/201313/02/2014

Workshop: Intro to LilyPad

Whether you’re looking to augment the human condition or you’re more interested in the romantic ethereal glow of twinkly lights, you have to start somewhere.

LilyPad is a microcontroller system, a wearable version of the Arduino microcontroller (and equally as Open Source), with many accessory boards of sensors and actuators. It is designed to facilitate the development of wearables and e-textiles.

Using it is equal parts hardware, software, and craft. All the information you need to get started with it is available online. But sometimes you’d like a kick in the right direction, so we’re holding a series of LilyPad workshops, every two weeks, to do just that. You can sign up for just one, or all of the workshops. Whatever interests you.

Content;
The first workshop is for complete beginners; an introduction to the LilyPad system, from what the different parts of the board do, to some basic coding, getting data in, and turning on/off some lights. The only thing you’ll need to bring with you is a laptop with USB port, everything else is provided. (If you want to bring your own LilyPad components that’s great, just let us know when you’re booking and we’ll make sure you have everything you’ll need.)

Important: please bring your own laptop with USB port. Closer to the event you will receive instructions on how to install the programming environment.

Optional materials; Any LilyPad board (preferably the Protosnap), with light sensor, switches, and LEDs.
If you want to play with the LilyPad before buying, Protosnap boards can be provided for the duration of the workshop, but you’ll probably have to work in groups of at least two people.

When: Thursday, October 10th. From 7pm until 10pm.

Where: TOG.

Cost: €10 for non-members, €5 for members. (All proceeds go to support TOG.)

~~Please register through the contact form below the cut.~~