757 Labs

Open Lab, Fri Sept 3rd after 9:15pm

telmnstr — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 23:24:24 +0000

Just a heads up, lab will be open (assuming it doesn't flood too bad) Friday September 3rd after 9:15pm. This is after the 2600 meeting that takes place in Virginia Beach.

Ground Control to Major Tom

jfranklin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:48:12 +0000

On or about 16:30 on the 29th day of August, 2010 757 Labs successfully recovered the high altitude balloon that we launched for the Hackerspaces in Space contest.

The balloon was launched from 'Middle of Nowhere' Suffolk, VA and recovered the balloon in 'Where the Hell Are We', NC. According to the raw data I have, launch took place at about 10:55, hit a peak altitude of 103,258ft at about 13:04 and last received location at and altitude of 3,244ft at about 13:32. After that it was searching the ground and listening for chirps and data bursts.

As I type this the recovery team is on their way back with the payload and the pictures we all can't wait to see.

Update:

We just got a picture from the recovery team which shows the curve of the Earth and the black of space... and part of the payload container.

Open hack night Friday night (Aug 27th), 8pm till…

telmnstr — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:05:44 +0000

I think I've got the energy to be at the lab and handle an open hack night from 8pm till whenever. So doors will be open! Maybe we will play a documentary or two, and mentally prepare for the high altitude balloon launch going down on Saturday. See you there!

Samsung Syncmaster 203B fix

telmnstr — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:03:00 +0000

Another dead LCD graciously donated by Mark G, and fixed!

Symptoms: Powers on for a brief second then goes off again. Will not power on.

Fix: A few 820uf caps are bad (normal bad caps issue) as well as possibly a 330uf. Couldn't find them locally, replaced 820uf caps with 1000uf, and replaced the 330uf with one of similar value. Seems to work fine. YMMV.

This is now the labs nicest LCD monitor!

Shopbot Camp @ Hines Design Labs

telmnstr — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:08:19 +0000

Heads up! There is something exciting coming up locally for those interested in CNC routing! Shopbot and Hines Design Labs are throwing an all day event. Presentations, demos, and some food. It will be on September 11th.

For more information check out the facebook event page. Want to see something cool Angus made with his? Puzzle piece parquet floor! Floor info here.

See you all at the event!

“Get Lamp” Screening, C64 and more

Toxicboy — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:31:44 +0000

If you missed the "Get Lamp" Screening on Friday, you missed a good time.

The labs got in full swing around 9:30 and saw a lot of general conversation and general hacking.

Harold continues to push the 757 Labs in Space project forward, and Friday saw a lot of soldering, testing and the intermittent sounds of the life-support like de-soldering machine.

Vex brought in Commodore 64 with a couple of floppy drives which worked like a champ after he discovered a decidedly non-enduser mod to enabling them. We had a random assortment of software, including one title which you would have had to be a REALLY desperate man to ever play. Are those Mom jeans?

We had a few new people around which is always good to see and remember anyone is welcome to come and hang out.

Of course we screened the documentary Get Lamp: The Text Adventure Documentary which was a pretty interesting look into the early life of INFOCOM and the world of Interactive fiction.

Look for some pictures soon.

757.rb Ruby Group on Wed: Using ActiveMerchant for Fun and Profit

telmnstr — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:37:47 +0000

Just a heads up that the 757.rb Ruby group is meeting on Wednesday, Aug 11th at 6PM with a presentation "Using ActiveMerchant for Fun and Profit" presented by Nathaniel Talbott.

To RSVP and for more information, visit the 757.rb meetup group page here:
http://www.meetup.com/ruby-130/calendar/13268733/

Freeplay a success

telmnstr — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 20:30:16 +0000

The Freeplay event this weekend was a success. The arcade games at the lab that made it to the event were played non-stop, and came back mostly the same. The consoles and vintage computers were also a big hit.

A number of new events and good meetups are coming up in August. The hackerspaces in space balloon launch is coming up as well. More details on that once they solidify.

Will post some freeplay photos in Flickr soon.

Poll Results 757 Labs Network Naming Scheme Results

Toxicboy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 18:24:58 +0000

757 Labs Network Naming Scheme Results

The results are in and it looks like "Astronomy" won out with "Hackers and Scientists" coming in close behind.

Here are the results.

Time to start getting the machines organized!

Open hack night, Friday Jul 30th, 8pm till midnight+

telmnstr — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 06:00:40 +0000

Just a heads up, the lab is open for a general open hack night on Friday. Everyone is welcome to visit. We will probably be working on a project or two, and people are welcome to bring their own projects to work on, or ideas to discuss. Software, hardware, whatever. It's been a while since we've held a general hack night, and hopefully we can move back to doing it twice a month or more.