Lots happening here. QCtech.org has bylaws and officers (yours truly as secretary), the google fiber promotion continues, we have a physical location for a hackerspace and more interested persons at Hamilton Tech. Had a chance to see some old friends for games and impromptu lockpicking session in Chicago last weekend. I also managed to make it to Pumping Station One to look around and talk to one of the founders. The weekend before was spent at a research meeting in Champaign, plus more meetings with friends, professors, etc. All of this stuff needs to get written down at some point for reference.
Don't forget to drop by the hackerspace Friday for more demolition, and Saturday for Build Day 2.0!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Happy Geek
QC2600 was a great success. Five people showed up for lock picking practice and discussion. Servers, rockets, and milling machines also made appearance in conversation. But the big news of the night: Hackerspace plans are in the works. If you're the Quad City Hackie Shack, please find us at qctech.org, we want to hear from/join/assimilate* you.
So, what's a hackerspace and why should you care? A hackerspace is like a YMCA for your brain. It's a never-ending science fair, crossed with a renaissance fair, crossed with a machine shop, crossed with an art studio. A place to put your crazy ideas into tangible form. A public place. A club.
Interested? Hit us up at http://qctech.org, and let's make stuff!
*We're not cyborgs. Honest.
So, what's a hackerspace and why should you care? A hackerspace is like a YMCA for your brain. It's a never-ending science fair, crossed with a renaissance fair, crossed with a machine shop, crossed with an art studio. A place to put your crazy ideas into tangible form. A public place. A club.
Interested? Hit us up at http://qctech.org, and let's make stuff!
*We're not cyborgs. Honest.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
March events
Quad Cities 2600 meeting this Friday, March 5. 5-8pm, Cool Beanz Coffee House.
Hack Day 2.0 will be happening March 20, 9am-midnight, at 1207 95th Avenue West Rock Island. Show up at both, bring your friends, projects & cool ideas.
Hack Day 2.0 will be happening March 20, 9am-midnight, at 1207 95th Avenue West Rock Island. Show up at both, bring your friends, projects & cool ideas.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Hack Day Roundup
Hack Day was a success, thanks to all of you who were there.
Eight people showed up to work on a 3D printer following this design, lockpicking, new board games, various server builds, chemistry, and more. Most important, we made social connections to cross-pollinate ideas and get inspired for more projects yet. Want to host one, or just work on cool projects? Leave a comment, and help us have more of these.
Advocacy: Go visit the Quad Cities Tech Consortium and help us bring Google Fiber to Davenport!
Eight people showed up to work on a 3D printer following this design, lockpicking, new board games, various server builds, chemistry, and more. Most important, we made social connections to cross-pollinate ideas and get inspired for more projects yet. Want to host one, or just work on cool projects? Leave a comment, and help us have more of these.
Advocacy: Go visit the Quad Cities Tech Consortium and help us bring Google Fiber to Davenport!
Monday, February 15, 2010
Hack Day Open House
This Saturday, I'm opening up my house for a day of making stuff.
Justification: It's cold out, and there's a limit to the mess they'll let you make in a coffee shop.
Details:
1207 95th Avenue West Rock Island IL 61201
Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 9 am - 7pm (times approximate, show up for any part)
Free parking in the street. I'll have snacks/drinks out all day. Residential internet access available wired and wireless. Several old workstations with WinXP/Debian and dev tools, some exotic hardware including SUN, SGI, Alpha Hand tools, Dremel, soldering iron, lock picks, some high voltage gear, other miscellany available for use.
Bring:
your selves, interested friends and family
your projects, technology, questions, interests, skills, etc.
Some specifics:
I'm looking for more junk printers, servos, stepper motors, and related for 3D printer work.
You'll likely want your laptop/phone
Food and drink, if you wish.
Got a project in mind? I'll post any ideas I'm sent here to help gauge interests.
Got a question/request about the setup? I'll try to accommodate.
Justification: It's cold out, and there's a limit to the mess they'll let you make in a coffee shop.
Details:
1207 95th Avenue West Rock Island IL 61201
Saturday, February 20, 2010 from 9 am - 7pm (times approximate, show up for any part)
Free parking in the street. I'll have snacks/drinks out all day. Residential internet access available wired and wireless. Several old workstations with WinXP/Debian and dev tools, some exotic hardware including SUN, SGI, Alpha Hand tools, Dremel, soldering iron, lock picks, some high voltage gear, other miscellany available for use.
Bring:
your selves, interested friends and family
your projects, technology, questions, interests, skills, etc.
Some specifics:
I'm looking for more junk printers, servos, stepper motors, and related for 3D printer work.
You'll likely want your laptop/phone
Food and drink, if you wish.
Got a project in mind? I'll post any ideas I'm sent here to help gauge interests.
Got a question/request about the setup? I'll try to accommodate.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Game Controllers as 3D Input Device
This is a cheap hack, but may be useful to you. I use 3D CAD programs frequently. Navigating three dimensions with a 2D interface (mouse) is annoying. The UI in Pro/E, for example, requires either clicking different modes to pan/zoom/rotate, or holding various key+mouse click combos. The interface is improved by something like these.
You can achieve much the same effect, however, with any USB game controller with two analog thumbsticks. I used a knockoff Xbox controller and joy2key to map the controller inputs. I've set left analog stick to rotate, right stick to pan, triggers to zoom. Now I can perform fly-throughs in one motion.
You can achieve much the same effect, however, with any USB game controller with two analog thumbsticks. I used a knockoff Xbox controller and joy2key to map the controller inputs. I've set left analog stick to rotate, right stick to pan, triggers to zoom. Now I can perform fly-throughs in one motion.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
February 2600
QC 2600 will meet February 5, 2010 from 5 to 8pm @ Cool Beanz Coffee House.
Come out as you can, meet technology enthusiasts for open discussion. Bring your projects, laptops, toys, and what-have-you. Free wifi, plus we'll have our own LAN setup for demos.
Potential topics:
3D printers, SSL, GSM, rainbow tables, Ham radio,
High voltage, tesla coils,
setting up a programming environment,
building your own home gateway/firewall/NAS, etc
hackerspaces, and why you should want one
I'll have a metasploit setup to test
whatever you show up wanting to talk about!
Map here.
Come out as you can, meet technology enthusiasts for open discussion. Bring your projects, laptops, toys, and what-have-you. Free wifi, plus we'll have our own LAN setup for demos.
Potential topics:
3D printers, SSL, GSM, rainbow tables, Ham radio,
High voltage, tesla coils,
setting up a programming environment,
building your own home gateway/firewall/NAS, etc
hackerspaces, and why you should want one
I'll have a metasploit setup to test
whatever you show up wanting to talk about!
Map here.
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