Photo by Nikki Pugh

Where:

The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH [map]. Look for the red signs on the gate, and if you get really lost give the fizzPHONE (07754 634993) a call on the night of the hack session

When:

Wednesday 3rd March 6pm-10pm. Please add your name here if you’re coming. We’re asking for £3 per person as a contribution towards the heating costs.

What:

Get hacking on whatever you want or work with others. Check out the wiki pages or disscussion group to see what people have been working on.

Other details:

• Wifi Internet is available
• There’s no food available at the venue, though it’s near to the city centre and Digbeth. There’s also a chippy just around the corner from the venue and we have access to the oven if you wanna bring your own food.

See you there!

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On Saturday we had Nikki’s workshop to build a Useless Machine.

A suspiciously finger-like prodding device.

Although it is a single-purpose device it still proved quite a challenge for everyone.

On Sunday Mitch Altman and Jimmie Rodgers started off their UK Hack Tour with a workshop in using microcontrollers.

Jimmie and Mitch showing off the TV-B-Gone Pro

What followed was five hours of pure hacking goodness. Nearly 20 people of all ages flocked to The Edge in Digbeth to build lots of weird and wonderful contraptions. Some attendees had never even soldered before, but with Mitch as a guide everyone was soon a comfortably doing it.

The most popular devices on the day were the Mignonette and TV-B-Gone, which you can still purchase for yourself online.

You can read the accounts of other happy hackers here and here

From this weekend a lot of ideas have been bouncing around for future workshops. The planning is well under way for a Theremin day and a blinky light extravaganza, but we’d like to hear your ideas too! If you’d like to offer a workshop, could you make yourself known to us first and then we’ll proceed with the planning stages.

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Booking details are on this post, all skill levels are welcome, full kits and instructions are provided and it’s going to be a great afternoon with a meal out afterwards.

Join us and make some cool stuff! … and if you’d rather just buy cool stuff that’s already been made, you can try some of these:

TripGlasses @ £25 each

Photo by bre pettis

This is not a kit, it is a ready-made version of the Brain Machine (hallucinate beautiful colours and patterns while meditating!)

EU TV-B-Gone @ £15 each

Photo by EricGjerde

This is not a kit, it is the ready-made keychain to turn off TVs in public places (with a stealthy batman-like look)

NA TV-B-Gone Pro SHP @ £30 each

This is not a kit, it is a ready-made version, the size of an mp3 player, that turns off TVs in public from up to 150 metres away! One model for the entire world! Comes with built-in rechargeable batteries and a charger

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Photo by Nikki Pugh

It’s also the second of fizzPOP’s first birthdays on 28th February. The first was on January 26th, which marks the date the mailing list was set up, and today’s marks the date of the first hack session. To celebrate this joyous occasion there’ll be some yummy cake and whatever other delicious treats you want to bring with you (hint hint)!

Where:

The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH [map]. Look for the red signs on the gate, and if you get really lost give the fizzPHONE (07754 634993) a call on the night of the hack session

When:

Wednesday 3rd March 6pm-10pm. Please add your name here if you’re coming. We’re asking for £3 per person as a contribution towards the heating costs.

What:

Get hacking on whatever you want or work with others. Check out the wiki pages or disscussion group to see what people have been working on.

Other details:

• Wifi Internet is available
• There’ll be super awesome birthday cake but otherwise there’s no food available at the venue, though it’s near to the city centre and Digbeth. There’s also a chippy just around the corner but we also have access to the oven if you wanna bring your own food.

See you there!

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Booking details are on this post, all skill levels are welcome, full kits and instructions are provided and it’s going to be a great afternoon with a meal out afterwards.

Join us and make some cool stuff!

Drawdio @£15 each

Fun and annoying noiseamaker that changes noise as you draw on paper.

LEDcube @ £15 each

3×3x3 cube of LEDs with animated sequences.

DC BoArduino kit @ £15 each

Arduino clone kit.

Photo by todbot

FTDI cable @ £15 each

This is not a kit, it is required to communicate with the BoArduino (and many other open-source projects)

Photo by Oskay

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Booking details are on this post, all skill levels are welcome, full kits and instructions are provided and it’s going to be a great afternoon with a meal out afterwards.

Join us and make some cool stuff!

Brain Machine @ £15 each

Hallucinate beautiful colours and patterns while you drift off into fabulous meditation

Photo by Collin Mel

MintyBoost kit @ £15 each

With 2 AA batteries you can charge anything with a USB charging input (such as an iPhone)

Photo by estimmel

TV-B-Gone kit @ £15 each

Turn off TVs in public places from up to 50 metres away! See it take on Las Vegas…

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Booking details are on this post, all skill levels are welcome, full kits and instructions are provided and it’s going to be a great afternoon with a meal out afterwards.

Join us and make some cool stuff!

MiniPOV3 kit @ £15 each

MiniPOV3. Photo by dav

Display messages of your choice through the air you wave this through

Mignonette Game kit @ £30 each

Photo by Rain Rabbit

A way fun, way low-resolution hand-held computer console that you can use to create your own games

Trippy RGB Waves kit @ £5 each

Waves of colours follow your hand as you wave it over these

USBtinyISP kit @ £15 each

Photo by Ladyada

A programmer for AVR microcontrollers

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Brain Machine!!! from bre pettis on Flickr

The redux:

When: Sunday 7th of March, 2-7pm, then out for a meal afterwards.
Where: The Edge, Cheapside, Birmingham.
Cost: There’ll be a cost £3 to cover the venue hire, then you pay for whatever kits you use (in the region of £5-£20, depending on the project). Instruction is free!
Number of places: 20 for the workshop, all are welcome to join us for the social and meal afterwards.
Suitable for: All skill levels. Complete beginners welcome – we’ll teach you how to solder etc
Booking: Sign up at http://microcontrollers.eventbrite.com/, but check you have read the relevant information first.

Detailed information:

Mitch, Jimmie and Ken will be in Newcastle to set up the Hardware Hacking Area for Maker Faire in mid-March and are taking the opportunity to visit loads of UK hackerspaces whilst they’re over here.

They’ll be bringing different kits with them, of the likes of TV-B-Gone, Brain Machine, Open Heart and the Atari Punk Console. Also expect bugs!

We’ll blog more information about these in the lead-up to the workshop, to help you decide what you want to make…

Choose something to make and, during an informal workshop session (about 4 hours) Mitch, Jimmie and others will help you to build it and get it working. It doesn’t matter if you haven’t soldered before – we can teach you!

If you do have a soldering iron, however, it would be really useful if you could bring it along because we only have a limited number at fizzPOP.

We’re keen to accommodate children who want to get involved, please get in touch with us if you’d like to bring a young’ un along and we’ll sort out something appropriate.

'showing toys' from opacity on Flickr

The after party:

After the making has wound down, we’ll be hanging out for a bit to give people a chance to chat. All are welcome: feel free to join us, even if you didn’t take part in the workshop itself.

After that we’ll be going somewhere for a meal. Shortlist at the moment is currently Cafe Soya in the city centre or Diwan Balti in Moseley/Balsall heath

Booking:

We have a signing-up page over at http://microcontrollers.eventbrite.com/. Please use this to register for the workshops. Pay on the day when you get to the workshop. Please do let us know if you are unable to attend after having booked a place: that way we can make sure someone else can use your place.

No need to register if you’re just joining us for the chat and/or meal: you can just meet us at The Edge between 6 and 7pm. It would, however, be really useful to let us know if you intend to join us for the meal, so we can warn the restaurant of numbers.

Location and contact information:

The workshop will held at The Edge (the Friction Arts studio space) at 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH [google map]. The Edge is near the junction with Lombard Street at the back of a small yard set back off the road a bit, opposite the white hoardings for the construction site on the other side of the road. Look for the iron gates with an A4 fizzPOP sign on…

It’s about a 15 minute walk from the railways stations in the city centre and several bus routes have stops on the nearby Deritend road.

If you get lost, give us a call on the fizzPHONE: 07754 634993 and we’ll guide you in. (The phone will only be switched on just before the workshop.)

That’s it! If you have any queries, please contact us or leave a comment below.

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Come to fizzPOP, become Borg. Photo by Nikki Pugh

Where:

The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH [map]. Look for the red sign on the gate, and if you get really lost give the fizzPHONE (07754 634993) a call on the night of the hack session

When:

Wednesday 17th February 6pm-10pm. Please add your name here if you’re coming. We’re asking for £3 per person as a contribution towards the heating costs.

What:

Get hacking on whatever you want or work with others. Check out the wiki pages or disscussion group to see what people have been working on.

Other details:

• Wifi Internet is available
• There’s no food available at the venue, though it’s near to the city centre and Digbeth. There’s also a chippy just around the corner but we also have access to the oven if you wanna bring your own food.

See you there!

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As seen on The Interwebs! Now you too can build your very own Useless Machine!

The redux:

When: Saturday 6th of March, 1-6pm
Where: The Edge
Cost: £35
Number of places: 10
Facilitated by: Nikki Pugh
Suitable for: All skill levels – complete beginners welcome
Booking link: http://nikkipugh.eventwax.com/fizzpop-useless-machine-workshop/register (Please read the booking information first and note ticketing closes on the 26th of February.)

Useless from nikkipugh on Vimeo.

Detailed information:

This workshop will guide you through constructing your own Useless Machine – a device whose sole function is to switch itself off every time you switch it on. (We’ll be using the modified servo method from this instructable.)

Because we are fizzPOP and we’re into collaborative learning, we will not provide you with an expert relaying instructions to you from the front of the room.

We will provide you with:

• A convivial environment for making stuff and learning new skills
• A support team of 9 other people who are in the same boat as you
• A guide to help you tackle the tricky bits
• All the materials you need
• Use of tools
• Tea/coffee and biscuits
• Some pizza at tea time (please let us know in advance if you have any particular allergies or dietary requirements!).

The afternoon will run on a system where small groups move between different workstations, helping each other as they go and also passing knowledge and skills onto those that follow. Written/drawn instructions will be provided for each task and I will act as a guide moving between workstations to check understanding and help with the more difficult bits.

No prior knowledge is assumed, but you will be working with craft knives, saws, drills, soldering irons and hot glue guns, so we assume you are at least skilled enough to not be a danger to yourself and others…! (Please talk to us first if you’d like to bring a child with you.)

Feel free to bring extra materials and tools if you want to customise the design, but bear in mind that the motor is not hugely powerful and any additions to the arm must be quite light and move freely across the lid’s lower surface. You can, however, increase the oomph in your uselessness by using more batteries. (We’ll be supplying you with 2 AA batteries, to upgrade just buy a few more and get yourself a 3 x AA or 4 x AA battery holder with a PP3-type connection.)

Location and contact information:

The workshop will held at The Edge (the Friction Arts studio space) at 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH [google map]. The Edge is near the junction with Lombard Street at the back of a small yard set back off the road a bit, opposite the white hoardings for the construction site on the other side of the road. Look for the iron gates with an A4 fizzPOP sign on…

It’s about a 15 minute walk from the railways stations in the city centre and several bus routes have stops on the nearby Deritend road.

If you get lost, give us a call on the fizzPHONE: 07754 634993 and we’ll guide you in. (The phone will only be switched on just before the workshop.)

The pub afterwards:

We’ll probably go to either The Spotted Dog or The Anchor for a drink down the pub after the workshop.

Booking:

To book your place on the workshop, please follow the booking link to the EventWax page.

You don’t need to fill in all the boxes – just the mandatory ones and please let us know about any special dietary requirements. If you’re unfamiliar with the area it might also be good to give us a contact phone number so we can try calling you if you don’t appear…

Payment is online by PayPal, although you don’t need to have a PayPal account – you can pay by card.

Ticketing closes on 26th of February so that we have time to get materials delivered etc.

Waiting list:

We have a limited amount of space and tools. If you miss out on getting a place on this particular workshop then please let us know by getting a waiting list ticket.We’ll work down this list in chronological order to fill any spaces that might become available. Also, if there’s enough interest, we can maybe run a morning session too, or schedule another workshop on a different day…

That’s it! If you have any queries, please contact us or leave a comment below.

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