We were featured on Vimby.com… Andrew Watson did a great job shooting it. Here’s the video.
Edit: fixed embed code that Vimby borked. -eagleapex
Hackerspaces in Space
Workshop88 from Chicago sent us this awesome contest information…
Rules
- One team per hackerspace. Any size build team, but only 10 people for the launch and retrieval team.
- Payload must be under 4 pounds.
- Parts cost limit of $250.00. Must show receipts or have other proof of purchase.
- Payload must return with pictures taken from the flight.
- Only one official launch per team allowed. Notice of official launches must be given by 8 a.m., and a judge must be
- present for the launch to count.
- All local laws and ordinances must be followed throughout the entire competition.
- Balloon camera must take pictures of the curvature of the earth.
- The Event Board may judge any other conduct considered outside “the spirit” of the event and disqualify a team
- that does not adhere to it by majority vote.
- Scoring
- Retrieval Time Base: 50 points. 1 point off for every minute past 45 minutes.
- Weight of Payload 5 points added for every 1/2 pound under 4 lb.
- Cost of Setup Base: 50 points. 0.5 points off for every dollar over $150.
- Total Points Retrieval Time Score + Weight Score + Cost Score
Event Board & Judges
- Judges are members of each hackerspace, and will be submitted to the Event Board. They will ensure all rules are followed.
- One person from each hackerspace will be on the Event Board. The Event Board will oversee the event, judge each applicant, and declare winners.
Dates
- Competition starts immediately upon challenges going out.
- Teams will indicate acceptance of challenge by March 1, 2010 (either at workshop88.com/space, or the attached PDF form).
- Launches will be held between June 1, 2010 and August 31, 2010.
- Results of the official launch must be sent in by September 7, 2010.
- Winner will be announced on or before September 30, 2010.
Giant Operation Game == Success
In case you missed it, Hive76 and Make:Philly collaborated to get Project Giant Operation done, and it was an awesome success. Make:Philly and Hive76, great job.
Check out this rad video from Tango Echo:
If you want to see the game in action, you still have a chance to on January 30th. Check out this weekends special event by Body Worlds 2, or Franklin Institute
Open House with Mitch Altman
Open House with Mitch was awesome. We had a fantastic turnout, and a lot fun was had. We look forward to his next visit.
Party Photos
Here are some very pink, and very blurry photos I took at our super rad party (The more beer I had, the blurrier they got I think..)
We hope you see you at the next one.
Hackers In An Organ
Hive76 member and quartermaster Brendan Schrader got his fellow Hive members an awesome field trip last Saturday. A journey into the inside of the Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, the worlds largest working pipe organ. Many thanks to Brendan and Andrew, the Curator’s Assistant for giving us this once in a lifetime experience. It really was amazing.
The Wanamaker Grand Court Organ, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is the largest operational pipe organ in the world, located within a spacious 7-story court at Macys Center City (formerly Wanamaker’s department store). The largest organ is the Boardwalk Hall Auditorium Organ (which is barely functional). The Wanamaker organ is played twice a day, Monday through Saturday, and more frequently during the Christmas season. The organ is also featured at several special concerts held throughout the year, including events featuring the Friends of the Wanamaker Organ Festival Chorus and Brass Ensemble.
We also got a sneak peak behind the scenes of the Macy’s Light Show, which Brendan helped build.
Hive76 Mentioned in WSJ Front Page Article
We like being in the news. We like being in a front page story even more. In this mornings issue, a story by Justin Lahart titled “Tinkering Makes Comeback Amid Crisis” about the DIY/Maker/Hackerspace revolution taking place in our busted economy and my shameless plug of phillys most awesome hangout.
Pick it up on your way today, it’s a good read.
AVR Micro Controller Class Dec. 12th
On 
December 12th FUBAR Labs member Keith Chester will be giving an AVR Mico Controller class. You will receive all the tools and training you need to work directly with micro controllers. No matter the project – from interactive art to physical computing to robotics – the use of micro controllers can vastly expand the power and interactivity of your project.
By mastering the basics of the popular AVR micro controller (which is used in popular platforms such as the open source Arduino platform) you can put a lot of power into your project for less than a few dollars!
The class comes with all the hardware you need to begin developing your own micro controller projects and several sensors, allowing you to make real-world interactive projects immediately after the course is done!
The class will last three hours.
Included in the kit:
- Atmega88
- USBtinyISP (Assembled)
- Power Supply
- Breadboard
- Temperature Sensor
- Piezo
- IR Range Finder
- Tiltball Switch
- LED’s
So, you’ll be going home with roughly $60 in parts.. all yours for the hacking.
Prior knowledge of C programming is encouraged – some programming background required. If you know Java or Wiring (Arduino programming language) then the transition to C should not be too difficult.
A laptop is required to take the course.
(Linux, Windows, and Mac can all be used)
Hive76 gets a Larger Space!
We are proud to announce that we have acquired a new space to be awesome in. It’s just down the hall from where we are were, and 2.5 times the size. We’ve been around for less than a year, and this is a big step forward. Keep an eye out for more details on an Open House event.
Interested in becoming a member? Check out our wiki entry for more details.
Stickers, we haz them!
Our first batch of stickers have arrived. That being said, the first person (non-Hive76 member) to tweet this post, and comment the link to said tweet here will get some stickers for free!
Thanks to Highlander Graphics for the great work!