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Selfficiency, at tog

The engine of the car that Adam is converting to electric
The Fiat Punto Engine, in the Beginning

Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of the great things your fellow space-members are up to. One of our members, Adam Sheridan, solved that problem by getting interviewed on Midlands radio last week (listen here).

His site, Selfficiency, is a mixture of brief articles on eco-technology and self-sufficiency, and some great in-depth projects. He makes paper logs, has a recipe for bio-diesel, and is working on converting two cars; a Fiat Punto and a Nissan Serena, to electric. He provides very detailed videos that show you all the steps, even the important ones that normally get cut out in “here’s one I made earlier” style. The whole site is living and breathing, and updated regularly, but if that’s not enough you can also get your Twitter fix.

The fuel tank removed from the car, laying on the ground
The Fuel Tank after Adam removed it

As part of two very interesting weeks coming up soon, Science and Innovation Weeks, Adam will be giving a talk at TOG on producing your own bio-diesel. For more details on that, and the many other events, stay tuned!

Speaking of TOG, Adam managed to bring up Irish hackerspaces, in his interview, talking about the advantages of having a diverse community around you who can often help whenever you get stuck. Overall a glowing endorsement, thanks Adam! We look forward to seeing how your projects grow!

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Synchronous Hackathon 12: Hallowe’en

Hey all, just a few pieces of information first.
– Our esteemed Membership Secretary Jeffrey will be very busy over the next while, so he’s divided up some responsibilities among other members. This does unfortunately mean that you’re stuck with me as acting Blog Queen (… no-one ever gets that joke *sigh*).
– To that end, I thought it’d be nice to have a page here on the website that gathered together feeds from blogs with connections/similarities to tog. If you’d like to take part please send us a link to your blog for consideration (I say consideration, because if your blog is about economics and politics, while I’m sure it’s very insightful, it won’t be of much interest to most of the tog-sphere).
– Next, we now have a boards.ie forum! Go visit it, it’s kinda quiet at the moment. (Also, boards.ie made it onto the XKCD online communities map, which is just all kinds of awesome. Bottom-left of the Forums close-up: http://xkcd.com/802/.) You’ll find a running thread there with details of events on each week.

Which brings me to the real reason for this post! It’s October, Hallowe’en is fast approaching, and we’ve a Synchronous Hackathon this weekend! Of course, you don’t have to do Hallowe’en themed projects, but I encourage you to have a little fun and try out animatronic ghosts and Arduino pumpkins! Need EL wire for a costume idea? We’re just the people to see about that. Also, it’s the 12th event, next month is the 1-year anniversary! Time to start thinking up something big! So come, hack, create, have fun in the company of fellow hackers!

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Science and Innovation

The upcoming Science Week and Innovation Dublin Festival represent a fantastic opportunity and an interesting challenge for TOG. With the week and festival running from the 7th-14th November and 10th-21st November respectively. We have an opportunity to run over two weeks of events. The challenge is what to fill the two weeks with.

So we’re looking for your suggestions and ideas for events, activities and projects. Think big!

Our space offers a lot of scope with a class room, large common room, workshop, kitchen and other workrooms. We’ve got equipment like hand/power tools, a CNC router, 3D printer, oscilloscopes, spectrum analyzer, sewing machines, science, computer and networking hardware, etc. The ability and time to get materials or extra equipment. Add working on activities over multiple days and the skills of TOG members and the wider public. I think we can come up with something interesting.

Post your suggestions as a comment below.

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Dublin 8 is Great!

Last Saturday, four TOG members participated in Dublin 8 is Great!‘s Pop Up Party by running tables on creating electronic bracelets and basic soldering.

The party was organised by local teens with support from mentors, volunteers, and staff from The Computer Clubhouse, to thank the local kids for helping during the Big Clean earlier in the day. Even though the weather was wet they all seemed to have had a great time and even accidentally met President Mary McAleese.

From the Clubhouse website:

The Computer Clubhouse provides a creative and safe after-school learning environment for young people from under-served communities in the south west inner city area of Dublin.

It’s almost a hackerspace for kids. We were very impressed with everybody involved and we hope to be able to participate and collaborate on events in the future.

Cheryl also provides lots more information on her blog. We took some photos after the kids went home for the evening because we were too busy to get any earlier.
Cheryl and Meg working on some homework.

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Oops, Craftings

Hey all, sorry this is late, things have been way too busy around here. First off, thanks to those people who came to the Crochet Workshop. We hope you enjoyed it. It turned out to be more frustrating than I thought. Now I understand what my mother meant when she said she didn’t have the patience for it! Still, I’m very impressed with what can be made with a length of string and one needle with a hook in it!

Secondly, Craft Night on Tuesday, 21st September is still on. From about 7pm until we all leave for last buses. Bring anything you want to work on, and just hang out with other crafters. Although I suspect there will be a few others finishing off their crochet with me 🙂 As usual, please use the form below to book a place.

Thirdly, this will be the last Tuesday Craft Night that I, and a few others, will be able to attend. (Don’t worry, Meg will keep them ticking along. Although, if you’re a member I’m sure she’d appreciate some help.) This saddens me, so I’m trying to find another day to have another Craft Night/Day on. Restrictions due to availability of free space, and available members really cuts down the options: Friday, Saturday, Sunday. Please, if are interested in coming on one of these days, let us know which you’d prefer, what times, and how often you’d be able to make it (e.g. every week, every two weeks, once a month, etc). Through the form below, or in email to crafty[at]tog.ie
Continue reading “Oops, Craftings”

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What’s that you say, Crafting? Oh, okay!

Tuesday, 7th September, from 7pm until about last buses. In TOG (behind the dodgy looking black gate, there’s an intercom button you can press for admittance). Limited to 12 people. Bring any form of craft you want (and can carry) to work on. We have a sewing machine on the premises (in another room, can be a bit lonely all by yourself), but you should bring whatever thread you need as our selection is poor. Otherwise, we have tea, and usually coffee. It’s a fun night, always a bunch of new people around, and some very talented craftspeople (as well as newbies like me). Send us a note through the Contact Form below if you would like to come along.

Speaking of events, have you seen our first workshop? Crochet Workshop – Stars and Spheres, it’s got pretty pictures. We’re just about full. But because of the way we’re booking places not all are taken yet, but some people do already have dibs on them. If you’re interested you can still contact us about it and we’ll put you on the wait-list. Also, we welcome any suggestions you have for future workshops (whether you’re offering to run them, or there’s something you’d really like to learn about).

*EDIT* Still a couple of places left! Let us know if you want to pop along tomorrow!

Continue reading “What’s that you say, Crafting? Oh, okay!”