Are you a hackerspace member with an event you’d like to publicize? Send it to johnb@makezine.com or tweet me at @johnbaichtal and I’ll post it. Also feel free to subscribe to my hackerspaces Twitter list. Hackerspace Happenings run weekly(ish) Tuesdays.
Power Racing Series Kick(start)s it Up a Notch
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nicegress/ppprs-the-power-racing-series/widget/video.html
In July 2009, a group of hackerspace members from PS: One in Chicago, IL stumbled across a children’s Power Wheels in a state of disrepair. With a little bit of TLC and a good dose of tinkering, the machine was up and running again in no time, and became the cause for much amusement as we drove it around the block for days, and then weeks. Then we made it faster. Then we made it better. Then we made a few more. Thus, the ‘Pow-Pow’ Power Racing Series was born.
From that fateful day, Power Racing has taken a life of its own. Teams from across the country prep their modified cars for drag races, crazy road courses and menacing endurance runs designed to bring out the engineer in everyone. Teams are restricted to a $500 budget (aside from safety equipment, of course). Vehicles face off in a variety of events, including a drag race, a road course, and a 75 minute endurance race that tests the ability and sanity of the team mechanics. The Power Racing Series has since run a circuit through Maker Faire Detroit and Kansas City Maker Faire and includes teams from Sector 67, CCCKC, and of course, PS: One.
With the popularity of the event only increasing, PPPRS is seeking seed money via Kickstarter to expand their operations. If you dig what they’re doing, definitely consider a donation!
Weaving Station: One — PS1 gets a Loom
Calling out to the Maker community for some creative help here. At Pumping Station: One in Chicago, we acquired a loom a little while ago. So we can now make our own fabric! Very exciting. Except, we can’t seem to integrate it into our larger creative nirvana.
We have a circuit lab, a wood shop, sewing equipment, servers, a laser cutter, a bunch of creative people… here’s the question: if you had all that at your hackerspace, and you got a loom, how would you combine capabilities to make more cool stuff? Because we’re kinda drawing a blank.
CT Hackerspace Open House
CT Hackerspace will be holding an open house at their facility in Watertown, CT.
Experience the Workshop you can’t have in your garage. We’re building a 4,000 square foot facility complete with electronics lab, wood shop, metal shop, lecture room, and more. Come see what we’re building.
Full Day of Lectures, Workshops, Presentations
With SPECIAL GUEST Jason Scott, an American archivist and historian of technology. Heis the creator, owner and maintainer of textfiles.com, a web site which archives files from historic bulletin board systems. He is also the creator of a 2005 documentary film about BBSes, “BBS: TheDocumentary”, and a 2010 documentary film about interactive fiction,”GET LAMP” Jason is currently editing the “Two Hands Project”, a film about the trip and a crew of people willing to bounce around and crash withMakers and their hackerspaces all over the country. Documenting the projects they make, and recording the change inducing social movement that’s spreading across the USA. Maker/Hackerspaces come in all sorts of packages and flavors, each with it’s own quirks. Figure out how they tick, what goes on in them, why they are important for the philosophical and economical reasons. This movie hopes to inspire people to start their own space, or at least build something awesome.
Interested in attending? Check out the event page on Facebook.
Developer Interest Group in L.A.
DIG is a group for developers of all types of stuff. This is a place for people who REALLY MAKE STUFF of a techie or geeky nature to show off what the are working on, meet other people with similar interests and motivations, and see great new, cool stuff by people who really dig what they are doing!
It’s kind of like an open-mike night, but you don’t have to be musician. It’s like a science-fair, but it doesn’t have to be science. It’s the place for YOU to show off your cool projects and labors of love (even if they aren’t done) and get inspiration and feedback from real people!
Bring your programs, art, games you have made (finished or not!), interesting flash experiments, Arduino projects, chipmusic, kinect hacks, steampunk paraphernalia, indie or web comics, home-made animations, independent films, original machinima works, game mods, science fiction or fantasy writings, robots, Lego artworks, laptop symphonies, costumes, props… anything that might be enjoyed by gamers, makers, computer geeks, sci-fi fans, hackers, engineers, chip musicians and synthesists, electronics hobbyists… you get the idea! Because we cover software, comics, games, costumes, etc. we are a bit more inclusive than your average “maker” community!
One thing I want to make clear: this is an event for developers, artists, musicians, writers, designers, engineers, filmmakers, producers, directors, and other creative folk. Gamers bring your levels and mods! Students, bring your class projects! This is *NOT* the event for schmoozing or business opportunities. This is not your Dad’s industry meetup group. It’s about sharing the things we do and the things that we love.
The meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month and you can find out more details at the DIG’s Eventbrite page.
OmniCorpDetroit Workshop Extravaganza
Brace yourself! As we fine folks of OmniCorpDetroit wind down from summer and creep into fall, we’re launching our ultra mega workshop series.
Whether you’re interested in building booming cases of bass for maximum fun on Belle Isle, reaching into a dumpster to create garbage guitars, learning the chemistry of taste, spinning some designs for the AIGA Detroit’s derby car competition, synthesizing some harmonious mini synths or microcontrolling your life with an Arduino … we’ve got you covered and more.
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