Pumping Station: One

VIMBY – Take on the Machine: Episode One

This summer PS:One participated in a secret project. VIMBY contacted us and told us to be prepared to receive an envelope from Mitch Altman one Wednesday with our challenge inside. The above video is the first in a series called Take On The Machine. Each participating space, NYC Resistor, Artisan’s Asylum, The Transistor, and Crash Space and us will have an episode airing with their project featured.

Stay tuned to find out what we did with our VIMBY money.

We have a special event on Tuesday immediately following the normal membership meeting: a book signing. Here’s a note from the author:

Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food…On Tour!

Hi! I’m Jeff Potter, author of Cooking for Geeks (O’Reilly Media, 2010), and I’m doing a “D.I.Y. Book Tour” to talk about my just-released book. I’ll talk about the food science behind what makes things yummy, giving you a quick primer on how to go into the kitchen and have a fun time turning out a good meal.

Depending upon the space, I’ll also bring along some equipment or food that we can experiment with, and give you a chance to play with stuff and pester me with questions.

If you have a copy of the book, bring it! I’ll happily sign it. If you don’t have a copy, buy one of the “Attendee (includes one book)” tickets, and we’ll have a copy for you.

Look forward to seeing you!

Jeff Potter, www.cookingforgeeks.com

Eventbrite link (to purchase a book): http://cookingforgeekschi.eventbrite.com/

Creative Code Workshops

workShop[0] = Processing;

This Saturday is the first in a series of Creative Code Workshops. This hands-on workshop will focus on Processing. Attendees will come away with finished projects and a solid introduction to this open source development framework for visual artists.

Where: Pumping Station: One. 3354 N. Elston, Chicago, IL.
When: Saturday, September 25th, 2010, 4pm.
Cost: FREE
Accessibility: Open to the public

Please bring a laptop to work on. Windows, Mac, and Linux are fine, but you must have an updated version of Java. Be sure to download the Processing IDE beforehand. Otherwise, be prepared to partner with another attendee.

Hope to see you there!

Photo by Anne Petersen

AVAST ME HEARTIES! Belay that talk of a boring Saturday night, the good ship Pumping Station: One is offering fair quarter for jack tars and landlubbers alike on Saturday September 18th. Join us in splicing the mainbrace (a colloquialism for downing some ale) on the eve of International Talk Like a Pirate Day. Down ye some grog and eat ye some grub, come away with proper booty, and party like yer going on the account.

Bring yer own rum, or donate your dubloons. Eye-patches provided, costumes encouraged. Festivities begin at two hours past sundown (9:00 p.m.). Fair winds!

Suggested donation: Members 5$, Non-Members $10.

Examples of pirate styles accepted:

• Sea Pirates
• Space Pirates
• Somalian Pirates
• Sky Pirates
• Media Pirates
• Bus Pirates

ChiOpenSci

ChiOpenSci‘s first meeting will be this Sunday, September 12 at 4pm!

Come and learn how you can be a part of open research and be a citizen scientist.

We’ll be discussing projects, open science tools, and defining goals for ChiOpenSci.

Where: Pumping Station: One 3354 N. Elston Ave

Cost: Free and open to the public

Who: Citizen scientists, professional scientists, enthusiasts, hobbyists, experimentalists, computationalists, theorists – interested in studying natural phenomena and studying problems via the scientific method and sharing their results.

HTML & CSS for Beginners

If you’ve ever wanted to learn how to build web sites for yourself or for businesses, here is your chance. Emphasis is on web standards valid & semantic coding. Bring your laptops! Dreamweaver is recommended, but not required–you can do web design using Notepad or a similar text editor.

This is a four-week series. The classes are designed to be taken consecutively. Class schedule will be as follows:

Sept. 19th – Beginning HTML
Sept. 26th – Beginning CSS
Oct. 3rd – Advanced HTML & CSS
Oct. 10th – Positioning & layout

Where: Pumping Station: One. 3354 N. Elston, Chicago, IL.
When: Sundays, Sept. 19^th thru Oct. 10^th, 3pm-5pm
Cost: FREE
Accessibility: Open to the public

About the presenter

Laurie Eastman has been a professional web designer since 1995 and a graphic designer since 2005. She is Part-Time Faculty at the Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago in the Web Design & Interactive Media department and an Adjunct Instructor in DePaul University’s graduate program of Rhetoric, Writing, and Discourse. Laurie is currently working towards her EdD in Instructional Leadership at Argosy University with a concentration in Education Technology.

Email at info@pumpingstationone.org for more info.

Creative Code Workshops

workShop[0] = Processing;

Over the past several decades of advancement in computer technology, a fledgling movement of computational and digital media art has emerged. Initially the province of a handful techno-savvy pioneers, today there is a wide range of tools and resources available to artists and designers, drastically lowering the barrier of entry for anyone interested in computer art. This series of Creative Code Workshops explores the sometimes-nebulous territory of Code-As-Art, bringing creatives and technologists together to make interesting, complex work.

In our first workshop, we will explore Processing, an open-source programming language and framework developed for the visual arts community. Originally created to teach computer programming fundamentals within a visual context, it has grown into a robust yet flexible platform serving both artists and pedagogues. Its open-source license has led to a vibrant developer community that has contributed to its extension into other regions of computational media, including computer vision, audio processing, networking, data visualization, and tactile media. This hands-on workshop will help both artists looking to get their hands dirty with computer programming and programmers looking to explore their creative side.

Where: Pumping Station: One. 3354 N. Elston, Chicago, IL.
When: Saturday, September 25th, 2010, 4pm.
Cost: FREE
Accessibility: Open to the public

About the presenter

James Patrick Gordon is an emerging digital media artist based in Chicago. His work covers a range of topics in digital and computational media, including responsive environments, augmented reality performance, virtual worlds, interactive narrative, sacred computing, the cultural and social ramifications of information networking, and the convergence of art and social justice.
You can find him on the web at: www.thaumatropia.net, or email him at: james.patrick.gordon@gmail.com

About Pumping Station: One

Pumping Station: One is Chicago’s premiere hackerspace and community workshop. Its mission is to foster a collaborative environment wherein people can explore and create intersections between technology, science, art, and culture. Hackers, makers, artists, developers, scientists, and craftsmen come together in a collaborative environment that explores the intersections between technology, art, and culture.
More info can be found at: www.pumpingstationone.org, or email them at: info@pumpingstationone.org

A small group from Geeks Without Borders will be visiting us on Friday, September 17th!

Who are Geeks Without Borders? From their wiki:

Geeks Without Borders (GWOB.org) is an international coalition of passionate problem solvers working together to assist people whose survival is threatened by lack of access to technology or communications due to violence, neglect, or catastrophe.

How do we do this? There are three main components:

Digital Mountaintop (DMT)

The Digital Mountaintop is a free, open communications hub, accessible via voice, text (SMS), plain old telephone (POTS), Skype (SIP), Google Voice, Twitter, Facebook, Email, Instant Messaging (IM)…and as many other networks we can connect to. In crisis situations, neighbors can ask for help simply by sending sending a message to the DMT, as long as they (or someone they know) can connect via any of the messaging or real-time communication methods it supports.

Cloud Collective (CC)

Geeks are naturally passionate problem solvers. The Cloud Collective is crowd-sourced problem solving in the cloud. Geeks and other technology-friendly people actively listen to the DMT via existing social networks like Twitter and Facebook. This is already happening, as we’ve learned through amazing stories about Geeks all over the world donating time, expertise, project management skills and resources during 9-11 in 2001, the Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004, Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and Hatian earthquake in 2010. The CC is not meant to replace first-responders or boots on the ground, rather, it’s designed to empower them. It’s neighbors helping neighbors.

Water in the Well (WW)

In situations where human lives are threatened, there is no way to accurately predict the needs of a community in distress. A solution could be something as simple as being able to receive a wireless text message that indicates whether or not a well 5 miles away has water in it. WW allows for the easy creation and deployment of applications that sit on top of the DMT; applications custom built by members of the CC and rapidly deployed in response to requests shouted from the DMT.

A small group from Geeks Without Borders is currently traveling across the continent, speaking at hackerspaces and makerspaces to spread awareness of their missions and goals.

The official launch of Geeks Without Borders will take place on 10.10.10 (42 in binary!), so come see the talk on Friday, September 17th and learn how you can use your inner geek to save the world!

For more information on Geeks Without Borders, their hackerspace/makerspace tour, and their mission, visit their website!