Hive13

Last week, our local ABC affiliate WCPO Channel 9 stopped by Hive13 to learn what Hackerspaces were all about. If you found us due to the story, welcome! If you haven’t seen it yet…

One thing we want to clear up – despite the lead-in, we’re not trying to be a business incubator, and we’re certainly not trying to become the next Google (though wouldn’t that be nice?).  Hive13 promotes science and technology through education.  We’re a community-focused collective workspace for tinkerers, hackers, makers, and artists. If you’re with an organization and would like to partner with Hive13, shoot me an email!

If you’ve ever thought up a project you’d like to tackle but didn’t have the space or knowledge to follow through, we’re your group. If you’ve got a garage or basement full of tools, a head full of ideas, but can’t find the time or motivation to get things moving, we want to inspire you. If you’ve made a cool gadget or fixed your own stuff and just want someone else to appreciate how awesome that is, we’re on the same page.

You don’t have to be a computer whiz or an engineer. You just need an open, curious mind and a desire to do things. Our meetings on Tuesday nights are open to the public, so please stop by!

If you’ve ever wanted to learn the basics of soldering, now’s your chance.  Hive13 is offering a basic introductory course to teach individuals who have never picked up a soldering iron how to solder, or to get people up to speed who don’t feel like they’re any good at it. This class is focused on basic through-hole soldering, not surface mount.

To that end, we’ll be building a MintyBoost!

What: Introduction to Soldering Class
When: 8pm Tuesday, May 18 2010
Where: 2929 Spring Grove Ave
Cost: $20 per person
Kit: Includes MintyBoost kit, does not include soldering iron, solder, rechargeable batteries, Altoids Tin.

The class will be on Tuesday, May 18th at 8pm after the business meeting, and will last about an hour or two. If the class gets extended due to students having difficulty with their projects, it will continue the following Tuesday at 8pm, after the business meeting.

The cost is $20 per person – this is for the MintyBoost kit.  Please don’t order your own as we will be making a bulk order for the class.  We still have spots available so if you’re interested in attending please stop by Hive13 for the meeting tonight (4/27) to register!

Let’s introduce the Pirate Party in their own words:

The United States Pirate Party is a non-profit Political Action Committee, promoting reform of digital rights management, patent, and copyright laws; we also push for government transparency and the right to privacy. As we are strong proponents of open source software, creative commons, opencourseware, and the free flow of information, we believe there are concerns you have that the Pirate Party would love to hear.” -Bethany Jolly, Records Officer

From their web site:

The US Pirate Party Support Tour is a collection of volunteers that are actively preforming recruitment and support services to the National Pirate Party.  Much of this work is done by traveling around and hitting conventions, conferences, and other social events.  We hope to eventually be able to coordinate the support tours to preform support services for individual candidates and campaigns, wherever they are, in order to bolster local volunteers.  The creation of state level parties, for example, require many thousands of signatures to get ballot access.. not to mention the labor required to actually get some votes.  Dozens of assistants willing to come into a community and help with these kinds of tasks can be all the difference in the world.

Ryan, Bethany, and friends from the Pirate Party will be stopping by Hive13 tonight around 7pm to meet the group, see the space, and talk about issues you believe their PAC can and should address.  You can read more about the Pirate Party movement on their web site, http://pirate-party.us/

The University of Cincinnati Laboratory for Recreational Computing is hosting their quarterly Installfest next Wednesday, 10/14 from Noon til 10pm on campus.  These events are a great time to get introduced to not only Linux and open source software but to your local Linux community members.  You can both get help running Linux or offer your expertise to your peers!  The event is open to both students and the general public.

Check out the details here including confirmation for the exact building & room where the Installfest will be held.