Pumping Station: One

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A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away …

Ok, three years ago in a coffee shop not far from here, Pumping Station: One was just a dream in the heads of a bunch of DIYers who had no idea what they were in for. Come celebrate our 3 year anniversary!

Date: April 14
Time: 7pm – Demos and Reception; 10pm – Circuit bent music
Place: Pumping Station: One, 3354 N. Elston (near Belmont and California)

Come check out the awesome hackerspace we’ve built and some of the cool projects we’ve made there, including:

• Life Size TARDIS
• Actual Time Machine*
• “Fresh Paint” Magnetic Light Board
• High Five Glove
• THUNDER SLINKY!
• Play the Didgeridoo
• LED Cube
• Brain Based Jacob’s Ladder
• DIY Quadrocopter
• Suped-up Power Wheels Racer
• “Counter-Intuitive” an electromechanical machine

Plus, make stuff with our most futuristic tools:

• ShapeOko CNC Mill
• ORD Bot 3D Printer
• Epilog Laser Cutter
• Learn to solder your own blinkie badge!
• Silkscreen your own art poster!

Later in the evening, join the party with live music from circuit benders Tomer Gal and Michael Una and enjoy a slice of midnight birthday cake.

There is a $20 door fee to fund our expansion into a larger location.

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Join us Saturday, Dec. 10th at Pumping Station: One for a gift Hack-a-thon! All are welcome, this is open to the public so invite ALL the people.

Need a really cool, last minute gift? We will be demo-ing and assisting you in creating one, or some of the following items:

Touch Screen Gloves!
- For those of you who like to wear gloves in the winter, but also need to use your touchscreen phone. A simple hack can have your favorite gloves working with your modern technology. Any gloves will do, buy a new pair or hack your current gloves.

Charms and Pendents * +
- Laser cut your favorite geometric shape, or fashion logo, or skeletal system out of wood or colored acrylic for a personalized necklace, charm bracelet, or earrings.

Transformer Jeans
- Jeans that can become boot cut by doing this: http://www.manrepeller.com/2011/11/art-of-slit-pant.html and adding a zipper. For those trendy people in your circle. Bring an old pair of pants to revive.

Fur-covered Earmuffs
- Because those store bought ones are never quite right… repurpose or recycle some of your old/faux fur into ear saving warmth for the impending Chicago winter.

Keyboard Letter Pendents
- For when you want to tell someone they are the “Caps Lock” of your life.

Feather Clutch
- The perfect accessory for your little niece for her next tea party with Prince Bunnykins.

Wood Coasters * +
- Laser etched Aspen looks mighty fine under a tall glass of Nog. Stay classy my friends.

We’re also having blacksmithing demos throughout the day! So stop by and warm up by the forge (Marshmallows optional).

Hacking will take place from 10AM to 6PM on Saturday, December 10th.  Come by and hack up some holiday fun!

* there is a suggested donation for the laser etching.
+ We have some designs available, however if you have a specific image you would like to etch/cut, email it to AdriannaMcKinley@gmail.com with a brief description of what you would like so we can prepare the image to work correctly with our laser. We may also be able to do simple logos day of, but we can’t promise.

Pumping Station: One is now the proud new owner of an 30 Watt Epilog Mini 24 laser cutter!  If you aren’t familiar, a laser cutter can cut detailed parts out of wood, acrylic, and other materials, and it can engrave images onto even more.  We’ve already been busy cutting our logo into everything that isn’t nailed down (and doesn’t contain pvc), but we also have certification process ready for any member who wants to fire the lazzzor themselves.  Ask about it on the mailing list or come to a meeting to see it in action!

* Ok, it’s not exactly white. Wordplay is hard.

PS:One has recently expanded its space and will be moving the workshop into a separate room to accommodate more tools and electronics.   Today, a bunch of people got together to build some new workbenches and move some tools into the new shop.

Here’s a photo of what we have so far:

The three tables were built today.  Two of them are pretty basic, but what’s that wierd stuff on the bottom of that one?

That’s a cockamamie caster system to make this table roll.  The casters are on a hinged board so the legs can still operate as normal when the board flips up, but when the table is lifted the board will flip itself down and those hinged supports above it brace the casters into position, making it a pretty sturdy rolling table.  Nathan Witt got this idea from another hackerspace.  (If anyone knows which one it was I’ll credit them, thanks for the idea!)

You can also see our new shelves behind the tables.  Jen Savage and Tim Winkler donated them and they’ll definitely see plenty of good use here.  Thanks guys!

Photo of one of Anne Petersen's finished items, by Anne Petersen.

Jen’s knitting workshop has been a great success with almost 10 attendees and many people who had never knitted before already finishing multiple projects.  Therefore, Jen is teaming up with Gretchen to run the knitting workshop every Monday.  If you want to learn how to knit and haven’t attended yet, you now have double the opportunities to learn.  Come by any Monday at 7pm and start making something!

One day after a Pumping Station: One meeting, Patrick and I arbitrarily set ourselves to making a light box.  This is what ensued.

The design was completely ad hoc and the workmanship was sub-sub-standard, but it came together exactly as I pictured it.  The biggest problem was that neither of us really knew how to make a light box.  Most importantly we didn’t have poster board to use for the backing or lights to properly light the item.  We just built the box and covered it with some fabric we found in the space, and we positioned the box to use ambient lighting as well as we could.  If someone were to make one of these in more than 15 minutes, those would be the things to change.  That and actually looking at real instructions from people who know what they’re doing.

Happy hacking!

This is just a quick note that the Haskell and Locksport classes taught by Robert Lee will be in recess until January 2011.  Anyone who has been attending should hold off until then.  And if you’ve been wanting to attend but missed the beginning, January would be a great time to join up!

Are you planning to go to the Chicago Nerd Social Club’s Nerd-O-Ween 2.0 party?  Come on over to Pumping Station: One before you get there and carve yourself a Nerd-O-Lantern to get in for free.  We’ll have the pumpkins, knives, lights, and a printer if you want to make a pattern for a precision carved pumpkin.  Or maybe you’ll be a little more ambitious?  Sign up right here and come by on the 29th!

Many members of Pumping Station: One will be attending and helping to produce BARcamp Chicago.  Press release follows.

On August 21-22, Chicago will host its 5th annual BARcamp Conference.  Come to BARcamp Chicago 2010 to learn from and mingle with Chicago’s most talented and innovative computer and technology enthusiasts in an impromptu, informal setting.  BARcamp Chicago is an un-conference, meaning event participants are the people who run the event, give the presentations and host the various activities throughout the weekend.
Here is what they have lined up for you:

• Many talks and demos concerning a wide range of technology topics
• Socialize with Chicago’s top technology enthusiasts
• A drunken panel discussion
• Geeky/technology related movies that run all night
• Free food and drink
• BARcompany – Start a business over the weekend
• Random other activities

Guests from a multitude of backgrounds will be in attendance, including programmers, developers, engineers, tech students, open-source advocates, entrepreneurs and business professionals.  Participants are encouraged to share, learn and break off into smaller focus groups, brainstorm and collaborate on any project or idea.  Professional networking is highly recommended.

Words really cannot describe this event! Take a look at the videos and pictures linked from their website:  http://barcampchicago.com/

BARcompany

Returning to BARcamp this year is BARcompany, which challenges small groups of participants to come up with an idea and create a company around it in about a day’s time. The resulting companies and ideas are presented at the end of the weekend to the conference attendees and to a panel of judges made up of local, influential people in the technology community. The team who organizes the best company has a chance to win prizes which may include server hosting for the developed web application, co-working space and possibly even some start up capital.

More Information

The event is expected to draw several hundred attendees and is free and open to the public.  The majority of talks and activities will be between the hours of 10 AM and 7 PM each day. Complimentary food and beverages will be provided as well as activities on Saturday night through Sunday morning.

This month (tonight!) our guided tour speaker is Erin Robinson of Ivy Games.  If you’re a fan of adventure games and the game industry moves away from your favorite genre, what are you to do?  Erin decided to start making her own.  After a making a few award winning games and giving them away for free, she decided to make games her career and create Puzzle Bots, which was recently named one of the Pax 10.   Puzzle bots was produced through a small studio, which means it was made with a lot less money and a lot more hacker ethic.  Erin will be talking about what inspired her to take this difficult path, the process of making her idea into an actual product, and the awesome along the way.

The doors will open at 7pm, the talk will begin at 8pm. I hope to see you all there!