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Annual meeting, Members pot luck and Shop Clean up! March 31st!

February 24th, 2012 by videoman

March 31st we are having our Annual meeting.  What does this mean?  Three seats on our Board of Directors are up for election.  Our Board of Directors are the members we elect to oversee and steer the direction of the organization.   They they hire or elect staff and officers to serve in particular day to day management positions such as President, Wood Shop Manager, and many others.  They also approve major policy changes such as the dues schedule.

Currently most of the Board of Directors also serve as Officers, however this is not a requirement.  A seat on the Board of Directors is a three year commitment.  Officers and staff serve at the direction of the Board of Directors and are responsible for carrying out day to day operations.

If you would like to be submit your name for election to our Board of Directors, please send your name to our secretary (Bob Poate) via email, Secretary[ @ ] tcmaker.org or in person at the Hack Factory.  We will leave the candidacy application open until March 7th, 2012 Midnight CST.

We will also be taking input for the Agenda of the Annual Meeting on March 13th at the Monthly Board Meeting.  Once we have compiled our candidates and agenda at the March 13th board meeting, a formal announcement for the Annual Meeting will be sent out by March 16th 2012.

The same day that we are having our Annual Meeting we will be having the Quarterly Shop Clean-Up just in time  for Minne Faire and an informal general member meeting.

The overall agenda for March 31st is as follows:

  • Shop clean up – 10 am to 3pm
  • Members meeting / potluck – 4pm – 5pm (or sooner if people want)
  • Annual meeting – 5pm – 6pm

The members meetings will be a place for all members to come together and discuss all things Hack Factory related, and a place for members to meet the candidates on the ballot.

Something very important to note: in order to participate in voting, you must have payed your dues for March on or before March 1st.  Per our bylaws, only members in good standing are qualified to vote.  So that means if you submit your member dues after March 1st you will be ineligible to vote on March 31st.  If that is the case, we would still welcome you to come to the potluck and clean up, but you will not be able to vote.

**edited for policy accuracy, pardon the earlier error**

Open Hacke Night 2/22/12

February 23rd, 2012 by themountainfold

Pictures from the 2/22/12 Open Hack Night @ Twin Cities Maker’s Hack Factory.

and a video of Riley’s Latest creation:

Applications Away!

February 20th, 2012 by metis

Well, it’s taken a while but videoman, orion and myself spend a couple of hours tonight correcting typos and printing.   We’ve finally knocked out the full 501(c)3 application, and gotten it shipped off.  Many thanks to all of the folks who have contributed to it, especially Tony and Becca.  We’ll be getting most of it up on the wiki shortly for the general maker community to use for reference.

All in it’s over 75 pages of forms, documents, narrative and bits and pieces and it’s taken a lot of triple checking but we’re happy with what we’ve sent off.  We’re hoping for an answer within a few months, but it’s always a bit of a gamble as to how long it’ll take the IRS to approve or come back with questions.

In other important news, the Annual Members Meeting has gotten scooted to the end of March this year to coincide with the Quarterly Clean-Up, and you must have paid your dues for March on time (before March 1st)  in order to vote.  An announcement and then big formal announcement will be coming out soon.

 

 

 

Open Hack Night On Wednesday

February 19th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Every Wednesday we have an open house @ The Hack Factory, it’s a time for members and new comers alike to socialize and get to know Twin Cities Maker. If you have never been to the Hack Factory before, Wednesday night is the best time to come. There are usually people working on various project, and definitely people willing to help out or give some insight into what you are trying to accomplish with your own projects. It’s a great time, check out some of the pictures to see a bit of what it is like.

The Hack Factory is located at:

3119 E. 26th Street
Minneapolis, MN 55406

Twin Cities Maker a collective of people that together rent The Hack Factory, we all pay dues and luckily it’s just about enough to cover the expenses of our space, we are currently a bit light and are looking for a few new members to get us into the black, and into a place where we can start saving for the next tool, or event budgets. If you are interested in becoming a member it’s easy there are few different ways, and a few different types of memberships, check out the Membership page for more information. Also if this is something that you think is valuable in the community and would like to see it continue, and grow consider giving Twin Cities Maker a donation, we also take equipment donations depending on what you have and what we have.

Monsters are Coming to the Minne-Faire!

February 15th, 2012 by Judeling

The Monsters Under the Bed Art Shanty will be making an appearance at the April 14th Minne-Faire.

This is possibly the last chance to see “Monsters” in the wild.

 

“With their unique spatial and dietary requirements, under-the-bed Monsters rarely get to visit and socialize with other Monsters…until now. Visitors to Monster Under the Bed Shanty can release their inner monsteryness while exploring the size and scope of being human in a unique visual and interactive space. In addition to providing an outlet for Monsters of all shapes, sizes, and artistic inclination, Monsters Under the Bed Shanty provides continuity within the Art Shanty Project; where Tiny Shanty allowed humans to feel huge in a tiny world Monsters Under the Bed Shanty will allow participants to feel tiny under and on a giant a bed.” Monsters Shanty Blog

 

This is a coming home for the Monsters team as much of the construction and preparation took place right here at the Hack Factory.Reading Monsters by Wtarfive, on Flickr

 

It is not too late to include your project in this year’s Minne-Faire.

Contact us at fair@tcmaker.or or fill out the form!

Meet The Maker & Learn To Solder 2: Sat., 2-5-2012, 4-6 PM @ Hack Factory

February 10th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak


Michael from Nootropic will be teaching a class on how to solder his Hackvision kits.

Hackvision is a simple, retro gaming platform based on Arduino technology that you can assemble and connect to your TV. You can write your own games and make your own controllers!
Features

If you’ve never soldered before, this is the class for you! This course teaches through-hole (90% of electronic kits) soldering and is recommended for the beginner. This is a hands-on class where the students learn techniques to help them solder through-hole components. Soldering can be daunting for the first solder joint, then the 2nd solder joint is not so bad, and by the time you’ve assembled the Hackvision, you will be quite confident and proficient in basic soldering skills.

Classes take place at The Hack Factory. We provide all the tools, irons, solder, parts, and seats for up to 8 students.

There is a minimum age requirement of 8 years old, but other than that, anyone is encouraged to sign up. We teach people all the time with no previous soldering experience! You do not need to be a member of Twin Cities Maker to attend.

Prerequisites: None! Just bring yourself. The class price includes the cost of the Hackvision kit.

What to bring: TC Maker will provide all the tools, irons and solder.

Proceeds above will go to help keep TC Maker, support the space.

Time and Place: Saturday Feb 25th 4:00pm to 6:00pm with a break for Pizza (it will be extra $$ but, good)

Cost: $30 (This is a great deal, the retail price is $33, and doesn’t come with the hack factory to solder at, and no Michael to be taught by.)

Sign up on Event Brite

Monsters Under the Bed on Boing Boing

February 8th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Maggie Koerth-Baker, of Minneapolis, has an epic post on How to Build an Art Shanty up on Boing Boing. The art shanty featured, Monsters Under The Bed, was built in the the Hack Factory 2 months ago, and spent this last month out on Medicine Lake.

Congrats to the Monsters under the bed, we can’t wait to see what you will come up with in next time.

Not So Mini Minne-Faire @ Hack Factory, Saturday, April 14, 2012

February 5th, 2012 by Judeling

10,000V

 

Our third annual Minne-Faire is on the calendar for Saturday, April 14.

To reflect our explosive growth, this year’s fair will be bigger and better then ever!

Old favorites are returning and new friends coming.

 

 

 

We will have music, food, exhibits, and demonstrations.

 

Schedule for Saturday, April 14IMG_0573

12:00-5:00 PM: Open maker displays and demos

7:00PM: Music performances and socializing

We can use your help building this event.

 

Calling all makers!

It is not to late  if you would like to show at this year’s Minne-Faire. Contact us by sending email to faire@tcmaker.org

 

Twin Cities Maker’s Mill

February 5th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Twin Cities maker just got a Bridgeport mill up and running in the space. If you are inerested in using it, you need to get checked out on it, and then you are ready to start milling.

This machine is seriously awesome, a big thanks to all of those involved in acquiring, retrieving it up to northern Minnesota, and to everyone else who quickly got it up an running in the space.

Here is a short video of the machine, and what one of our members, Andy, has been using it for.

Updated to better quality video

Meet the Maker and Learn to Solder

January 27th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Adam Wolf of Wayne and Layne, and Twin Cities Maker Member will be hosting a class on how to solder one of his popular kits the blinky POV.

If you’ve never soldered before, this is the class for you! This course teaches through-hole (90% of electronic kits) soldering and is recommended for the beginner. This is a hands-on class where the students learn techniques to help them solder through-hole components. Soldering can be daunting for the first solder joint, then the 2nd solder joint is not so bad, and by the time you’ve assembled the blinky grid, you will be quite confident and proficient in basic soldering skills.

Classes take place at The Hack Factory. We provide all the tools, irons, solder, parts, and seats for up to 8 students.

There is a minimum age requirement of 8 years old, but other than that, anyone is encouraged to sign up. We teach people all the time with no previous soldering experience! You do not need to be a member of Twin Cities Maker to attend.

The class is expected to take around 1.5 hour to complete, there is a buffer built in in case we go a bit longer.

Prerequisites: None! Just bring yourself. The class price includes the cost of the blinky POV kit.

What to bring: TC Maker will provide all the tools, irons and solder.

Proceeds above will go to help keep TC Maker, support the space.

Time and Place: Tuesday Feb 7th 7:00pm to 9:00pm at the Hack Factory

Cost: $16 (This is a great deal, the retail price is also $16, but with out the hack factory to solder at, and no Adam to be taught by.)

Sign up on Event Brite

2012 Membership Dues Update

January 27th, 2012 by orion

This is a reminder to everyone that the billing system has been updated to new prices but some automated payments are still at the old price. Please update your paypal subscriptions or bank bill pay to the new fees. For more information the updated dues please read the details HERE.‎

The updated membership options are:

$75 / month – Rockstar member ship you really love us!

$55 / month – Regular membership

$30 / month for students or unemployed

Links to update your paypal subscription can be found at our membership page.

 

1/25/12 Open Hack Night and Handmade Music Minneapolis Pictures

January 26th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak


A collection of some of the happenings of the Open Hack at 1/25/12 @ the Hack Factory in Minneapolis. Every Wednesday is open to the public, 7 – ~11pm. Bring project to show, work on your projects, talk about robots or moon shovels…

And pictures from the latest Handmade Music: Minneapolis Introduction to Pure Data

CNC 3D Carving test – Skateboard Mold

January 22nd, 2012 by otto_pjm

Carving a skateboard mold prototype in foam. The mold itself will be made of laminated lumber to support the pressing process. This test was to determine what bit and step over (the overlap of each pass of the bit) would achieve sufficient detail, and not require too much finish sanding. The process and pattern for finishing is like an ink jet printer, but it cuts each pixel in 3D.

It may not be readily apparent in the photos of the carving, but the board has pretty complex compound curves. I’ll include a shot of the model which illustrates this better after the break.This is a shot of the roughing pass being completed. The test chunk is about a 1/3 of the skateboard’s total length, and the foam was a bit undersized so the board is a bit wider than what the foam could capture.

(more…)

Hackerspace Passports!

January 17th, 2012 by videoman

Ever gone to another state?  Most of us have, and when we do, we will make sure to visit another hacker space.  Now you can track where you’ve been with a Hackerspace Passport!

Send me a note if you want one, $2 each and I’ve ordered 15 in total.

Minnesota 2020: Inside The Maker Movement

January 13th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Part I and II are now up from Minnesota 2020.

Links to the full articles here and here.

Art Shanties On Medicine Lake, Plymouth, Minnesota

January 13th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak


The monsters under the bed shanty That has been coming together at the Hack Factory is in the process of putting it’s self together, check out the progress at their blog.

Open January 14 – February 5, 2012
10am – 5pm weekends (plus MLK Day, Jan 16th)
On Medicine Lake, Plymouth, Minnesota

Some things to remember:
Wear boots and long johns!
It can often be slushy and wet on the ice, and the Shanties are a little bit of a walk from shore so please wear appropriate footwear! You will be much more comfortable.
Also remember that any wind at all has nothing to slow it down on a frozen expanse of ice so it is often colder on Medicine Lake than it is in other parts of town. Dress warmer than you think you might have to, layering is best!

Art Shanty Projects is a four-week exhibition that is part sculpture park, part artist residency and part social experiment, inspired by traditional ice fishing houses that dot the state’s lakes in winter. It is an artist driven temporary community exploring the ways in which the relatively unregulated public space of the frozen lake can be used as a new and challenging artistic environment to expand notions of what art can be.

Photo by Felix Strates

1/11/12 Open Hack Night in Retrospect

January 12th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Pictures from 1/11/12 Open Hack Night, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, Earth.

Between now and next Open Hack Night
Jan 12th DC612 has a meeting
Jan 14 Welding Class – Fun With Metal
Jan 14 Art Shanty open to to public on Medicine Lake.
Jan 16 PyStar Hack Night (EHack Night)
Jan 17 Monthly CAD meeting

Boing Boing Gweek Podcast 34

January 11th, 2012 by videoman

The Hack Factory was recently mentioned in Boing Boing’s Gweek podcast.

Handmade Music: Minneapolis Pure Data Workshop

January 9th, 2012 by Paul Sobczak

Handmade Music: Minneapolis Pure Data Workshop


Pd (aka Pure Data) wikipedia is a real-time graphical programming environment for audio, video, and graphical processing. It is the third major branch of the family of patcher programming languages known as Max (Max/FTS, ISPW Max, Max/MSP, jMax, etc.) originally developed by Miller Puckette and company at IRCAM. The core of Pd is written and maintained by Miller Puckette and includes the work of many developers, making the whole package very much a community effort.

Download Pure Data for free and bring your computer.

Free, open to the public, bring your computer
January 21st• 7pm – 9pm
Hack Factory
3119 East 26th Street

PyStar Presents “Code Night @ Hack Factory”

January 9th, 2012 by videoman

This upcoming Monday Jan 16th PyStar is going to have a code hacking night at the Hack Factory.  Register to join! (free event)

“PyStar and the Python MN User Group (PyMNtos) present an evening of coding at the Hack Factory! All programming languages and experience levels are welcome!

* Improve your favorite open source project!

* Start learning a new language or tool you’ve been meaning to learn.

* Work on your own projects or work through tutorials (with help).

* Help someone learn or work through their coder’s-block

Bring your questions, insights, excitement and hack on code (and maybe on the HF ice shanty!) in good, relaxing company. If you are new(ish) to programming and/or Python or JavaScript specifically, there will be folks specifically there to provide some guidance to learners.

This event strives to create a safer space for learning and growing coding skills. Please be respectful of the diverse background and experiences of attendees. We especially welcome PyStar attendees and female self-identified folks to join us.”

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