NYC Resistor

Tomorrow, Friday July 30, NYC Resistor [0], a local hacker collective, is graciously hosting a party for DebCamp attendees.

There will be a keg of delicious local beer [1] (for a modest charge of ~$3 per cup), but feel free to bring whatever you want to drink as well. Festivities will begin after 7pm.

NYC Resistor is located in downtown Brooklyn:

87 3rd Avenue
4th floor, above the MakerBot offices

It’s very near the red 2/3 subway lines (the 116th st. stop on the 1 is adjacent to the 116th st. and Broadway entrance to Columbia campus). Feel free to travel [2,3] there on your own, or join a group that will be leaving from the 116th st. and Broadway campus exit at 7pm *sharp*.

See you all there!

[1] http://sixpointcraftales.com/

Brewed only a couple kilometers from NYC Resistor!

[2] http://wiki.debconf.org/wiki/DebConf10/TravelInfo

[3] subway directions

Debian Day is the time when the Debian Developer community opens up to everyone to come and learn and ask questions about Debian and Free Software. There will be talks, demos, hacking, and conversation. Debian Day will take place from 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM on Sunday, August 1, 2010 at Columbia University, New York City, New York.

- you can meet Debian Developers from around the world

- New York City Councilwoman Gale Brewer will be talking about how government can foster freedom in technology

- Free Software Foundation’s (FSF) John Sullivan will talk about the FSF’s campaigns for freedom

- numerous people will talk about supporting Debian and Free Software for friends and family, in design, at large universities, in government and for shy people

- the Debian Project Leader Stefano Zacchiroli and others will talk about how to get involved in Debian and Free Software

Debian Day is part of DebConf, the international Debian Conference. After ten editions in nine different countries spanning four continents, and for the first time in the United States, the Debian project is holding their annual Debian Developer conference, DebConf, at Columbia University in New York City. Debian Day kicks off DebConf, is free of charge, and open for everybody interested in Free Software. During this event, there will be a full day of talks on several subjects such as free software in government, design and free software, free software advocacy as well as string of talks about the Debian project and operating system.

The Debian Project is an association of individuals who have made common cause to create a free and open operating system. This operating system that we have been creating is called Debian GNU/Linux, or simply Debian for short. Every year, DebConf allows new and existing Debian project participants from around the world to assemble, share knowledge and ideas, make collaborative contributions to Debian, build tighter community bonds and improve communication within the project.

We would love to see you join us at Debian Day. Registration is required but is free.

To register, please send an email with intent to attend to: debianday@debconf.org If you are registered for DebConf, you do not need to register for Debian Day.

Date: Sunday August 1st
Time: 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM
Schedule:
http://penta.debconf.org/dc10_schedule/day_2010-08-01.en.html
Place: Davis Auditorium on Columbia University campus
Directions:
http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cssr/davis_directions.html

… and after one small step, two men would stare out across what one of them called “magnificent desolation”. Orbiting overhead another man would keep vigil, as on earth half of a billion people were riveted to television screens receiving broadcasts of events as they unfolded on what had been until that moment a dreamscape. Kings, Tyrants, and Leaders relegated to awestruck spectators. We were there all of us explorers, and to us that grand frontier that has sat elusive in our night sky, forever a source of inspiration and hope, was finally so very close to us. We dared to dream, and we dared to make that dream real.

I hope that I will some day look on as mankind takes it’s first steps onto a planet that is not our own. That would be the greatest.

Some would say it was Engineers, and Scientists that got us to the moon. That’s no more true than saying it was America or John F Kennedy who got us there. So many people have given of themselves down through the centuries, some giving everything. Apollo was everyone’s. This anniversary belongs to all of us. So, enjoy the wonder, the excitement, and the pride all over again. Enjoy it while it lasts, because some day soon we’ll be sitting glued to televisions and lcds as men and women of earth step out onto the vastness of Mars.

PS:

Check it out: here. Not sure who put all the effort into making this, but lord knows it’s amazing. And Hacking the AGC would be a very appropriate way to spend this anniversary at a hackerspace.

If you’ve been playing with the Arduino and want to figure out how to go to the next level, this Sunday’s Beyond Arduino class is for you.  Jarek Lupinski is going to be talking about how to breakboard your own designs using bare microcontrollers, how to program this chips using ICSPs, and how to downsize from the Arduino’s ATMega 328/168 to the less expensive ATtiny 45.

Details and registration at http://beyondarduino.eventbrite.com/

Travis Goodspeed and others designed a very, very sweet little MSP430-based badge for this year’s HOPE. It allows the OpenAMD project to keep track of where you are and what you’re doing by broadcasting a unique ID. However, we’ve discovered that there are some people, like Travis himself, who aren’t nearly as ubiquitous as they should be. Wouldn’t it be nice if you could help out by being Travis, too? Well, now you can! Opendopple is a cute little modification to the stock firmware that allows you to clone others. Just trigger the rightmost general I/O pin, and it will clone the ID and sequence number of the next packet it can find. Resetting your badge will restore your original ID.

You can find the source here. Read the readme, and have fun!

http://puredata.info/community/NYCPatchingCircle

We are reviving the New York City Patching Circle and making it a monthly thing! Every third Sunday of the month, we’ll be meeting at NYC Resistor. Last month we worked on Gem and laid plans for an object based on Mac OS X’s IOSurface to allow different programs like Pd/Gem, Quartz Composer, etc. to share textures in the GPU.

We spend enough time alone staring at our computers; we are proposing to work together. So often issues that arise when working can be solved with a quick two minute discussion that would take hours to solve alone. We have Dorkbot to see people’s work, we have Share where anyone can play, we have workshops and universities to learn from. This is a meeting where we all can come to work.

This is an informal gathering of patching and patchers (Pd, Max/MSP/Jitter, and even vvvv, Eyesweb, Labview, etc.). Beginners and Experienced welcome. Open to everyone, students, the public, etc. Work on school projects, personal projects, ask for help, help others, or just patch quietly to yourself, in a room full of other people patching patches and helping other people patch.

Time/Date

Every third Sunday of the month, so this Sunday, July 18th!
noon-6pm

Directions

NYC Resistor

87 3rd Avenue, (between Bergen and Dean), 4th Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11217
Tel. +1.347.850.4872 or +1.347.586.9270

2/3/4/5/B/D/Q/N/R to Atlantic/Pacific
LIRR to Atlantic Terminal
F/G to Bergen

An open hardware definition has been mulling around in a few emails ever since the Opening Hardware Workshop, put on by Ayah Bdeir. Tonight, a draft of the definition was released as well as an announcement for an Open Hardware Summit to discuss everything about Open Hardware.

The Open Hardware Summit is currently looking for speakers and sponsors. And there are lots more ways to get involved of course. You can also give  your feedback on v0.3 of the Open Source Hardware Definition here: http://freedomdefined.org/OSHW

Come to Resistor on Saturday to learn about Ableton Live, one of the most versatile DAWs for composition, production and live performance.  The class will provide you with all the knowledge necessary to start making music with Ableton Live.

We’ll go over the interface, MIDI and Ableton’s native synths, recording live audio, sampling, optimizing CPU performance, tempo manipulation, using Ableton’s effects and AU/VST plug-ins, and more.  We’ll also discuss basics of sound design, and useful methods for arranging and performing music in Ableton.  Finally, we’ll discuss ways to sync Live with external programs.  We’ll make our own tracks, jam, and discuss different approaches to composition, production and live performance.

Bring your laptops, load up the trial version, and come on down!

Hope to see you there!  2-4 PM, this Saturday.

Our first of the Luna Lazzzor Talk Series, Jon Santiago will tell us about his experiences with Sustainable South Bronx, and their mobile FabLab.

When: Monday, July 12th at 8:00PM
Where: NYC Resistor
Admission is free.

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What better way to spend a hot, humid Sunday Brooklyn afternoon than checking out Buzz-A-Rama, a 1960′s era slot car parlor in Kensington? Inside this unassuming storefront are 4 or 5 large twisting tracks, where children and adults race cars about 3 inches wide by 6 inches long, much larger than the matchbox-sized slot cars I played with as a kid. Amateurs like us use slow cars rented from Buzz. The pros, however, bring their own custom lightning-fast cars and controllers, and they are quite serious about them.

The car chassis are cut from lightweight aluminum composite using electrical discharge machining. Motivation is provided by high-performance brushless DC motors. Wheels and tires are made of special sticky, heat-resistant rubber, with a set of chemicals and rituals for cleaning and warm-up before a big race.

The lightweight plastic body can be either an aerodynamic wedge shape that directs airflow up, forcing the rear wheels down for better traction, or a more traditional scale model of a production muscle car. Super-cool retro body styles are available as well.

The controllers are also semi-custom built, and are adjustable by the operator to conform to his or her desired level of aggression in acceleration and braking.
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