The doors open at 1pm Saturday, November 5th and will stay open until we’re too tired to talk (probably around midnight). As we confirm projects, activities and classes we will be updating the 2011 Open House page on our wiki, so keep checking back.
Open House – Nov 5th
Oct 11th, 2011 by aceat64
Software Freedom Day in Dallas
Sep 16th, 2011 by steevithak
This Saturday (Sep 17), Dallas Makerspace is hosting the Dallas portion of the world-wide Software Freedom Day event. Everyone is invited to this event, not just computer geeks! Software Freedom Day celebrates our freedom to do what we want with our software, hardware, and other creative works. Big corporations like Apple, Sony, Oracle are working to hard to take those freedoms away. But we’ll tell you how to fight back and show you companies and organizations working to protect your freedoms!
Hear speakers talk about free software (aka open source software), open hardware like the Arduino, and Create Commons licensed creative works. See demos of the latest GNU/Linux operating systems like Redhat Fedora or Ubuntu. We’ll even help you install a free OS on your computer. We’ll be giving away lots of swag from the Free Software Foundation, RedHat, Canonical, Creative Commons, and Defective by Design (yes, we have the new iBad stickers!) We’ll also have plenty of drinks and snacks. This is also a great chance to get a tour of Dallas Makerspace if you’d like to check out a real hackerspace.
You can find maps, times, and all the other details on our the Dallas Makerspace 2011 Software Freedom Day webpage. See ya Saturday from 1pm to 6pm!
Tags: CC, Creative Commons, Defective by Design, DRM, Free Software Foundation, GNU, GPL, SFD
The Paradis Clock
Sep 9th, 2011 by The Geek Goddess Kilobyte
Meet Doug Paradis.
Recently Doug took on the goal of creating a clock that he could enter into an Instructables contest. For those who don’t know, Instructables is a great DIY website that is free to the public and houses tons of cool project ideas with step by step instructions (hence the great name!) including photographs for added detail to the process. The contest works by people voting up the best project; taking into account the quality of the instructions and the finished product itself. The Dallas Makerspace is really proud to have one of its own members entered into this contest and with such a fine work of craftsmanship.
Doug took some time out for me to answer a few questions I had about the process. At the end of the interview you can find a link to his entry (there are two places to vote!) and I highly recommend that anyone who agrees with me about the beauty of this piece help Doug out and take a moment to vote.
Q: What was your inspiration for the clock?
A: My inspiration for this clock is the Dashtronic watch made by Stauer. I would often see this
watch advertised in the Sky Mall magazine as I travelled. Of all the watches advertised, this was
the only one to tempt me. After some thought, I decided to make a clock based on this watch.
Q: Can you give a brief list of the materials you used to make this?
A: To build the clock I used a standard arts and crafts store quartz movement, inexpensive 5 mm
plywood, glue, and a piece of card stock. I designed the case and clock faces in Inkscape. The
case was cut on the Makerspace’s laser cutter. The design is simple enough that it could be
made with a scroll saw.
A: Instructables is one of the larger venues for makers to display their projects. Its varied and
constantly fresh content is fascinating. The Instructibles format used to document a project could
teach lessons to businesses trying to retain information. Instructibles is also very practical for me.
I do not have a blog. I don’t believe I could post enough fresh content to maintain interest.
Instructibles allows me to share my projects to an already collected community of like
minded people.
Q: Any tips you can impart for aspiring clock makers?
A: The different ways to make a clock are endless. If you have an idea, flesh it out and make it.
Use the people at the space [Dallas Makerspace] as sounding boards. You will get many good suggestions. Remember
the Reasonability triangle. Is it easy? Is it inexpensive? Is it quick?
Q: From your experience making this, how hard would it be for a beginner to construct?
A: This clock is very easy to build. A Makerspace member would need to take the laser cutter class
and use the laser cutter to cut the case pattern. For their own designs, I recommend learning
Inkscape. DPRG [Dallas Personal Robotics Group] has a Inkscape video class on their YouTube channel. If you don’t have access
to a laser cutter, the case pattern can easily be made using a scroll saw and drill.
Q: Where can people vote up this entry on Instructables?
A: I have entered the clock in two Instructables contests. You can help me out by voting for the
clock’s entry. To vote you need to have an Instructibles membership. The memberships are
free. Pro membership is not required. The links to vote are
http://www.instructables.com/contest/clocks/?show=ENTRIES&sort=HITS_TOTAL and
http://www.instructables.com/contest/epilog4/?show=ENTRIES&sort=HITS_TOTAL (you
may need to hit the next button). Unfortunately, the way Instructibles is set up you need
to vote twice.
A big thank you to Doug for sharing his experiences and knowledge on this project. It certainly spurred a Clock Interest group within the DMS and now we can’t wait to start making out own!
Lock Picking Class
Aug 12th, 2011 by aceat64
You can pick your friends.
You can pick your beer.
But can you pick… a Lock?
Join us on Saturday, August 13th from 5-7pm, as we embark on an ancient mechanical adventure to explore the inner workings of a modern lock, first developed by the Mesopotamians and Egyptians over 4000 years ago. Led by lockpickers Eric Michaud and Jamie Schwettmann, this workshop will cover – soup to nuts – everything you need to know about how common locks work… and how to pick them open.
Whether you’re a complete novice curious to find out what pin-tumbler really means, a homeowner protecting your family’s treasures, or a veteran lockpicker with questions about advanced locks and techniques, this event is for you! With 2 solid hours of history, mechanical diagrams (“lock pr0n”), and hands-on lockpicking instruction… first we’ll open your minds, and then we’ll open some locks!
To properly learn this ancient art, you’ll need the proper tools. By registering for a ticket with a lockpick set this guarantees you a seat at the workshop, and reserves – all for you – a brand-new 10-piece custom lockpick set by Southern Specialties, hand-picked by Eric and Jamie to maximize utility for beginners and locksport enthusiasts alike, and offered for only $30.
If you already have some picks you’re itching to practice with, you can bring them along, and your workshop cost is only $20!
For members of the Dallas Makerspace, admission to the workshop is *FREE*! Donations are requested, but not required, to cover their costs for producing training materials, manually repinning trainer locks, destruction of locks during the workshop, and gas to travel to our space.
* Note: a small number of extra picks may be available for sale at the event, but if you don’t register, they can’t hold any for you! So hurry before they sell out!
See ya there!
P.S. Don’t forget to Like Eric and Jamie on Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/
Tags: class, lockpicking, locks
Jonathan Berg of Paradygm Shyft
Aug 10th, 2011 by steevithak
Photo by Steevithak, CC BY-SA
Our latest visiting hacker is Jonathan Berg (@JonathanBerg)of Paradygm Shyft in Fort Smith, Arkansas. Jonathan dropped by Dallas Makerspace on Thursday, 28 July for our public meeting. After the meeting, he got a full tour of our new space and Doug Emes created a personalized Dallas Makerspace keychain for him on the laser cutter. We also compared notes on the differing interests of hackerspaces in Texas and Arkansas. Members of other hackerspaces, makerspaces, and hacklabs have a standing invitation to come by and visit us when in the Dallas / Fort Worth area.
Tags: Arkansas, hackerspace, Paradygm Shyft
We’ve Moved!
Jul 19th, 2011 by The Geek Goddess Kilobyte
The Dallas Makerspace has officially moved into its new location!
For several months now the DMS has been steadily outgrowing its location and set out to find a more suitable place to house the expanding member and interest base. It was a long process and would not have been possible without the efforts of all members. For weeks DMS members scouted out locations, took tours, debated high and low points for each space, and ultimately settled on 2995 Ladybird Lane, just off Walnut Hill, in Dallas.
Once the location was chosen members tirelessly worked to map out floor plans, space allocation, and remodeling concepts to accommodate its diverse interest groups. From there all that was left was to move! Over the course of a week DMS moved from its home on Audelia to Ladybird Lane. For pictures of the move check out the DMS flickr group HERE.
Meetings are still being held on Thursday evenings at 7pm and the DMS hopes that its new, and easier to find, location will bring out new makers. If you enjoy creating things with your hands, learning new skills, tinkering, or just plain ‘geeking’ out, the Dallas Makerspace is the place to check out!
New Location:
2995 Ladybird Lane (off Monroe and Walnut Hill)
Dallas, TX 75229
You can also read about the DMS at our wiki: Here
or get involved through our forums: HERE
Ubuntu PandaBuilder
Jun 13th, 2011 by Flynn
The DMS has quite a few awesome members, all of them working on amazing individual and group projects. But a little while ago we gained a new member named David Mandalla, and David just so happens to work for Canonical, better known as those awesome folks that make the Ubuntu Linux Distro! Not only does he work for Canonical, but he works on their ARM development team. He mentioned that he had a big project he was working on and many of us, myself included were pretty stoked to see what he had going on.
It seems that Canonical had a problem to solve. They wanted to build Ubuntu and its entire software repository for ARM. The only problem was time. Sure they could cross-compile everything but that could take a seriously long time. What they needed was a native build solution, a device that they could build everything on in a reasonable amount of time and ensuring relative security to all packages. What they came up with is pretty excellent.
This what David refers to as the Panda Builder. An ARM based 4U server comprised of 20 PandaBoards controlled by another Master board that will be used to compile all 20,000+ packages for Canonical. This is really a very slick build, it’s well laid out for optimal air flow, it’s modular design makes it easy to service and it’s not overly complex which provides very few points of failure. Now, let’s get into some spec porn shall we?
Here’s a basic list of the components in the chassis.
(21) PandaBoards
(20) 300 GB SATAII USB Hard Drives
(1) 200A 5V PSU
(1) 100A 12V PSU
(24) Serial Controlled Relays – Mounted on PCBs in arrays of 8
(21) Female CAT5 Ethernet Jacks – Not mounted in picture
In brief the PandaBoards each have an OMAP4430 app processor, 1GB of low-power DDR2 RAM, SD/MMC slot, and HDMI 1.3 connector, 3.5” audio out, 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth 2.1, 1 mini USB port, 2 USB 2.0 ports, Onboard 10/100 Ethernet and JTAG headers. All for about $174. Because of how inexpensive these boards were, David was able to build this setup for relatively cheap. So if you’re like me, you probably want to know how it works.
I won’t pretend to be an expert as I have a very indirect knowledge of the server but from talking to David here is the gist that I got. When a ‘customer’ requests time on the server to build and test a package a call is sent to the controller board which then queries for another board not in current use, when it finds one it trips that boards respective relay to reboot it, then issues a command to format its hard drive. Once that is complete the board is rebooted again and the controller PXE’s a pristine image of the build environment to the board in question.
This is crucial as it helps ensure the security of the packages being built on the server. Once the environment is booted and ready to go, the controller board hands off the environment to the ‘customer’. Pretty impressive no?
If you liked reading this and want to see more please check out David’s build log at http://dmtechtalk.wordpress.com/
Tags: electronics, hack, linux, Ubuntu
Hatch Fill – 3D Shapes With A 2D Laser Cutter
May 26th, 2011 by aceat64
If you are familiar with using a CNC laser cutter, you know that typically you have two modes: vector and raster. Which basically means cut and engrave. What if you wanted to create an area that was sunken but not cut all the way through? Dallas Makerspace member Haley Moore (toenolla) wrote up a short blog post about a trick that allows you to cut IN 3D.
While this won’t turn your laser cutter into a 3D printer, it is a neat hack that allows you to do more with a CNC laser.
The New Face of DMS
Apr 28th, 2011 by The Geek Goddess Kilobyte
L to R: Peter Smith, Nicole Greeley, Leland Flynn, Glenn Pipe, Andrew LeCody
Photograph by Steve Rainwater
The Dallas Makerspace welcomed its new board members last Thursday. Voting was held over a two day period and marked the first official Board of Directors for the Makerspace. The board appointed Andrew LeCody as President, Peter Smith as Secretary, and unanimously voted John Haskins in as the Interim Treasurer.
Currently the board is working on solidifying the Makerspace’s non-profit status, including bylaws and standing rules, as well as heading up the hunt for a new location to house the growing group. The board is eager to see DMS expand and flourish, growing more into its status as a makerspace. This would mean a more focused push for bigger and better tools, a clear and concise plan of action for allocation of space, and stronger promotion. You can find out more about the members by clicking on their names to visit their wiki page where they divulge their interests, current projects, and link to their individual websites.
For The Love Of Medium Format
Feb 23rd, 2011 by The Geek Goddess Kilobyte
*Photograph by Steve Rainwater
Members of the Dallas Makerspace celebrated 127 Day by taking out their medium format cameras and capturing the world around them. Held on several days throughout the year-December 7th, January 27th and again on July 12 (for those who write their dates flipped)-127 Day is a world wide event that spotlights the 127 film size. Smaller than its brother 120, but larger than 35mm, 127 film was first produced in 1898 on through the late 1920′s. Though not mass produced anymore, photographers can still purchase this film online, typically in black and white only. In 2006 a Canadian company began cutting down bulk rolls of Kodak and Agfa film to fit the format. Rollei also began producing their own line of the film in 2009.*
The Dallas Makerspace members who participated in the January event spent the day shooting a roll that they later developed onsite at the space’s fully functioning darkroom. Their galleries can be located through the following links:
For up and coming photography events check out the DMS Event Calendar. The next major photography event to be held at the space is the gallery showing for Kyle Cassidy’s Leaving Dakota tour on March 11th at 7 pm.
*This information taken from 127 Film Wiki
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