Busy weekend: Open Shop, Member Orientation, Open Source Class, Circuit Board Class [updated!]
Non-members and members alike have three great excuses to swing by the shop some time this weekend. Bring a friend!
Friday night is a party to celebrate the new membership structure. In addition to new dues options ($39 and $89, with special options for students, crafters and coders), we’ve improved the process so you can do the paperwork, get your orientation, and receive your key in one shot. Plus, Friday means it’s Open Shop so we’ll be teaching tools, hanging out, and working on whatever project you want to bring along! Oh, did I mention the beer, wine, pizza, and snacks? Doors will be open by 7pm…
Saturday evening, we’re hosting an open source software workshop to introduce screen and ssh, two supremely handy tools in the linux admin’s arsenal, which the rest of us can find uses for too. Briefly: SSH is the secure replacement for Telnet plus some sneaky features that’ll help you circumvent restrictive work firewalls and stuff, Screen takes your SSH experience to the next level by adding persistence and multiple windows to name just a couple features. They’re both free, and Saturday’s intro won’t require advanced sysadmin knowledge. Bring a laptop! Talk starts at 7, but doors will be open by 6 or earlier, so come hang out!
Sunday will be an electronics design day, starting with a PCB class at 3pm. You’ll learn how to lay out a circuit board in electronic design software, then how to transfer that layout and chemically etch a board with it. Materials permitting, each student may get their own board to play with, and when the etching is complete, we’ll stuff components into the boards and solder ’em up, leaving you with a completed LED flasher circuit to take home! This is a really simple circuit and no electronics experience is required to attend. If you wish to get in on the hands-on fun, please reserve your seat. This will just be part of a new, regularly scheduled series of electronics classes we will be offering. Keep checking our site for updates on more classes!
Smoke and stuff? I smoked a diode at work and the facilities manager was investigating within minutes. It was quite amusing.
Bob, the goal is to keep the smoke INSIDE the components! If you let it out, they don’t work and, as you discovered, people want to know what happened..