757 Labs A Hackerspace in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

20Oct/120

Maker Faire Norfolk on Saturday, October 20, 2012

Posted by markg

Join us at the Norfolk mini-Maker Faire today (Saturday, October 20, 2012) from 10 AM to 5 PM. This is a free event (though parking is not free), showcasing local artists, entrepreneurs, hackers, makers, and other creative types. Check-out some neat projects, and network with some smart people.

See the website http://www.makerfairenorfolk.com/ for more info.

Norfolk Mini Maker Faire logo

Filed under: Events, Meetups No Comments
8Jun/120

Cookout / Potluck Saturday, June 9, 11am-4pm

Posted by markg

Grillin' at 757 Labs

Have you wanted to check out the lab but haven't been able to stop by during our Open Hack Nights? Or are you wanting to join as a member, but want to get to know us first?

Then come to our cookout / potluck this Saturday at 757 Labs in downtown Norfolk! Sat. June 9, 2012 from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST. This event is being jointly held with our friends at HR Geeks.

- Expect to do at least one of the following: Chip in $5 or more for food, bring or make something for a potluck, or share in the labor (set up, working the grill, and clean up).

- Don't expect any alcohol or recreational drugs, nor parking in the lot behind the lab. Instead, use free on-street or paid city garage parking.

- Bring cameras and camcorders. Maybe we can do a group picture.

- This cook out will be open to anyone who is willing to chip in or help out, including family & non-lab-member friends, so spread the word!

See you there,
- Mark G.

6Apr/121

Our Second 3D Printer Enthusiasts Meeting, April 7th, 2012

Posted by Beau

Hello 757 Labs friends,

There has been a good influx of interest in 3D printers and related technologies in the past few months along with more members purchasing kits (RepRap variations, Makerbots, and talks of a couple PrintrBots in the area). So lets get together and share what we have and work on the ones that need some help or time to get up and running.

Date: April 07 , 2012
Time: 12:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Location: 233 W. Bute St. Norfolk, VA 23510 in the 757Labs Front Conference Area

3D Print of a Penny Bottle Opener

If you have an interest or want to see some 3D printers up close come on by. If you have a kit or a completed printer, bring it with you and let's share and contribute together!

NOTE: This event is open to the public, so come on out and join us!

23Feb/123

3D Printer Enthusiasts Meeting 2/25/2012

Posted by Beau

Hello there fellow 757 Labs friends,

There has been a good influx of interest in 3D Printers and related technologies in the past few months as well as more members purchasing kits (at least 4 reprap variations and 3 5 more Makerbots that I know of in the area). So lets get together and share what we have and work on the ones that need some help or time to get up and running.

Date: February 25, 2012
Time: 12:00 - 3:00 PM EST
Location: 233 W. Bute St. Norfolk, VA 23510 in the 757Labs Front Conference Area

3D Print of a Penny Bottle Opener

If you have an interest or want to see some 3D printers up close come on by and if you have a kit or a completed printer, bring it with you and lets share and contribute together!

NOTE: This event is open to the public, so come on out and join us!

If you are planning to come, please respond or comment so that we can be sure to order the right amount of food for those attending.

5Feb/121

Microcontroller Monday 2/6/2012 with TJ

Posted by Beau

Quick announcement for those interested in microcontrollers:

In addition to our regularly scheduled Microcontroller Monday hack sessions at the lab we are pleased to announce that the first Monday of each month, starting in February (2/6/2012), we will be upping our game and having a more formal presentation session.

The February 2012 session will be all about the different microcontrollers that are available today, what they are and an overview on what they can do and how you (yes you) can get started using them. Whether you are a novice or a seasoned veteran there will be something for everyone during this session presented by the lab's own TJ.

Steve, Ethan and TJ checking out a project during a recent MM event

The sessions starts at 7:00pm EST on 2/6/2012 and is open to the public. If you have been interested this is your chance to participate.

24Oct/110

Microcontroller Mondays – Tonight – 7pm till 11pm

Posted by telmnstr

Heads up that tonight is the 3rd edition of the weekly Micro-controller Mondays at 757 Labs.

7PM until 11PM.

Bring your project, idea or come to learn!

AVR, Arduino, TI MSP, HC11, PIC, Xilinx, Altera, whatever!

21Oct/110

Hack the Whole Weekend

Posted by markg

Friday, Oct. 21: Open Hack Night
Saturday, Oct. 22: LAN party
Sunday, Oct. 23: Comic & Cartoon Creators
Monday, Oct. 24: Microcontroller Monday

Ready to get your geek on for a whole weekend? Come out to the lab and join in an event! Or join all the events!

We begin Friday with our monthly open house, or "Open Hack Night". This is a great opportunity to see the lab for the first time and take a tour. It's a very casual atmosphere where you can shoulder-surf members actively working on projects or just chill and discuss ideas. Sometimes there is a loosely-coordinated dinner/drinks outing to somewhere along nearby Granby Street. A few people might even start setting up for the next day's gaming event, which is...

Saturday is the LAN party, which usually begins around 1 PM, but may have even began the night before. BYOC (bring your own computer) and try to do all your downloading and patching at home before joining in on the festivities. Team Fortress 2 is the most popular game, especially since it's free, though other games are certainly welcome -- Diablo, Minecraft, Quake, you name it.

Feeling creative? 3 PM Sunday is the 757 Comic and Cartoon Creators meeting. Bring something to draw with.

And just when you think the weekend is over, it's Microcontroller Monday! Beginning at 7 PM, discussions will focus on everything microcontroller-related; from hardware to software. Beginners and advanced users are both welcome.

12Sep/110

“It’s not all about hardware!”

Posted by telmnstr

Some comments have been heard recently suggesting that the lab is only interested in building physical things or working on electronics and hardware. This simply isn't the case. We would love to see more software development projects at the lab. There are already a few smaller projects taking place. It only takes groups of like minded individuals to get together and work on things. There is already an Android development group that meets at least once a month which needs some love. Python and Ruby groups meet at the lab once a month as well. We are also open to doing something like SuperHappyDevHouse or a Dev Day! There is a consistent flow of people who develop software and are interested in branching out to new things popping up at the lab randomly.

How do you get things started? It's simple! Post on the public mailing list! It's the best way to find people interested in working on similar things. If you aren't on the mailing list, take a look at the sign up page!

Filed under: Meetups No Comments
29Jun/113

Weekend Recap (June 24-26), MADexpo

Posted by telmnstr

Over the weekend there was a good amount of activity at the lab.

From what I remember:

Fri : Ken stopped by and demoed his bar code scanner, which is capable of scanning the Virginia drivers licenses. My social security number is embedded on the back of my license, who would have known.

Other: Vex continued work on his custom tube guitar amplifier. It's looking sweet.

Steve helped with the assembly of the base frame for the new CNC router. Yes, we've been down this road before. This is going to be the one though! Not too big, not too small Just right. And made of aluminum extrusions and such.

Some new donations and new faces around the lab! Thanks to Mark G we might be on our way to getting the middle projection screen in use. A project to motorize it is on the mind. Also Justin gave us use of his Roku box, which is going to be integrated with the AMX automation system. The open development platform of this device is interesting.

Monday brought forth another busy night. Between Android developers meeting, ROV interest (and talk of 3d printing propellers), laser scanning an object using the MakerBot laser scanning software, there was no time to slow down!

Thursday and Friday we will have a table at the MADexpo in Hampton.

Saturday we will be at Art|Everywhere with the Rock Band Drum Circle and Laser Pong projects.

CNC:
IMG_6513

Vex's Guitar Amp Custom Speaker Cab:
IMG_6507

Roku driving projector on middle screen (stability undetermined):

IMG_6497

Note: Ethan did a bunch of research into some of the dead flat panel TVs at the lab and posted some stuff on the wiki. More information forthcoming, but problems have definitely been identified.

Filed under: Meetups, Projects 3 Comments
11Jun/110

Non-Lab Meetup and Event Calendars

Posted by skhisma

We've had a calendar of lab-related events and meetups running for ages now (it's right over there -->) but figured it would be a good idea to put together another calendar for local events not hosted at the lab. So we're sharing a second Google calendar with anything we can think of locally that might be of interest to our members and the local hacker and maker communities.

Thanks to HR Geeks for having a great list of local meetup groups to get us started. If you run a local event that's not listed here please contact us (757labs@gmail.com) and we'll get it added.