fizzPOP

fizzPOP’s Cupcake CNC is alive!

Tom — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 10:58:16 +0000

A while ago BCA kindly donated a Cupcake CNC 3D Printer to fizzPOP, after gathering dust for too long, it’s now getting towards some kind of working order.

I replaced the Z axis lead screws to reduce the wobble a bit (there’s still some, nothing is truly straight), tested each axis, the thermistor, heater and extruder drive, once the filament has arrived we can start testing!

Once it works, I want to make this available for use by anyone who wants it, if you’re itching for access to a 3D printer, to offer help or to make suggestions for upgrades you can do so on the wiki page.

Finally, if you’re doing something you think others might be interested in, you could document it with it’s own project page on the wiki.

fizzPOP at Maker Faire UK

Tom — Sat, 06 Apr 2013 14:30:48 +0000

Hey guys,

fizzPOP is going to have a stall at the UK Maker Faire, If you can get to Newcastle on the 27 or 28 of April, come along and see us there.

Better yet, you could get involved! If you’re interested in helping out with the stall, even if you’ve never been to fizzPOP before, get in touch or come along to one of our weekly Wednesday night meetings.

Oh, and don’t forget to follow us on twitter.

fizzPOP t-shirts available now

snim2 — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:14:46 +0000

Dominic with an AWESOME fizzPOP t-shirt

Long-time fizzPOP supporter and all-round good guy Dominic Morrow from Nottinghack (and lately Bristol Hackspace) has created these awesome fizzPOP t-shirts on his vinyl printer. Want one? Of course you do. Sign up here to get yours today.

fizzPOP is moving TONIGHT!

snim2 — Wed, 13 Jun 2012 09:07:44 +0000

At the fizzPOP AGM members gave a mandate to the organisers to speak to Black Country Atelier about using their premises, rather than the Friction Arts venue. I can now tell you that we’ve spoken to both Friction and BCA and from THIS WEEK ONWARDS we’ll be meeting at BCA every Wednesday from 6-9.30. At first, this will be under the same sort of arrangement we had at The Edge — i.e. weekly meetings. BCA have a number of pieces of equipment that members will be interested in using including a laser cutter, and BCA have said they are happy for us to use the equipment WITH proper training, of course, and on a “pay per use” basis. As time moves on and the relationship grows this arrangement may change, but I hope you’ll agree that this is already a really fantastic opportunity for us.

There are just a couple of things to add to the news. Firstly we owe a very big debt of gratitude to Lee, Sandra and Marta at Friction Arts who have hosted us since the start of fizzPOP. Without their support and kindness we wouldn’t be here today, and I hope that’s a relationship that will continue into the future. If you see them around do take the opportunity to say “thank you” in person. Secondly, BCA are taking a big risk letting us loose in their premises, and this is a fantastic opportunity for us to increase our activities and grow the membership and visibility of fizzPOP. If we are really going to make the most of this wonderful opportunity we need as many of you as possible to get engaged. I hope the present arrangement will be more attractive to those people who want fizzPOP to get a bit more hands-on, but if you feel fizzPOP could be doing better, then speak up and get involved — this is your maker-space and no (legal!) offer of help to organise stuff will be turned down!

The address for Wednesdays meet-up is 7 Mary Street. B3 1UD. It’s a little hard to find so do look it up on Google Maps or Open Street Map before you go. The nearest train stop is St Paul’s, or it’s just a 10min walk away from the centre of town. See you there!

3d printing, laser cutting and Arduino workshops in Brum

snim2 — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:15:36 +0000

Black Country Atelier has just launched a new programme of workshops on 3D printing, Laser Cutting, Arduinos and other cool stuff from its base in the Jewellery Quarter. fizzPOP is planning to hang out at BCA’s workshop from this summer so it’ll be a great opportunity for members to access things like 3D printers. To find out more about BCA’s classes or to book, visit their website.

#efdhack2012 26th May 2012

snim2 — Fri, 11 May 2012 08:30:21 +0000

This one’s a little different. Python West Midlands is hosting a hackday to kick off a new open source project for a very interesting little charity called Evidence for Development(EfD). EfD wants to help people make better decisions about aid projects – at local and national level – by putting real data about the real situation in the hands of the people making the decisions.

If you want to know if your aid programme is making a difference to the right people then you need to model the economy of your target village or district, before and after. Makes sense; simple science right? Problem is you can’ afford a bunch of western econometricians crawling all over the place (cost too much, takes too long) and anyway their cash-based economic models don’t work that well in a place where cash is only a small part of the economy (grow your own; harvest wild food; get paid in kind or cash or both for day labour; trade crops, labour or other goods; etc, etc). So EfD developed simple economic models that work in this environment, that can be learned and applied by locally trained people and that, are built to run on laptops. No reliance on big foundations’ data centres.

Last year EfD, in partnership with Chancellor College of the University of Malawi and The University of Wolverhampton developed a Python/MySQL app to model local economies that is already in use in several countries in Southern Africa.

This year the challenge is bigger – to build software that can model national and international economies. The model exists and works (it has a great track record of predicting famine effects from annual summary surveys of rural economies). But the only current implementations are proprietary, ill-supported and not extensible. Smells like open source spirit.

So for this hackday we’re going to have with us the two developers who led the IHM development last year (from Chancellor College in Zomba, Malawi) and the developers of the modeling methodologies from EfD (from Barnes and Surrey – exotic eh?). We’ll have a pretty completeMySQL database schema to work on and we hope to finish the day with a simple demo scenario that downloads reference data about a geographical area (a livelihood zone) produces a spreadsheet template to capture information about that livelihood zone (what they grow there, what they eat, how they make a living) runs some local completeness reports and uploads the captured data for merging (with other livelihood zone surveys) to allow analysis of a national survey.

I’m not a software developer, can I still contribute?

Yes! Absolutely. There are a number of jobs that can be contributed without writing any code. We would really appreciate the support of contributors who can build a web presence for these projects, write user and developer documentation, help spread the word and any number of jobs! If you’re keen to help out, there will definitely be a place for you.

When:

10:30 onwards, 26th May 2012. Please sign up here.

Where:

Thyme Software, Coventry University Technology Park, Puma Way, Coventry, CV1 2TT [map]

fizzPOP May schedule

snim2 — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 20:02:02 +0000

What / when:

9th May: Lock picking. Hosted by Nigel Tolley of Discrete Security Solutions – learn how to pick locks like MacGyver.

16th May: Maker session. Sarah and Andrew will show us the maze solving mouse program in proce55ing, in preparation for the Micro Mouse competition in Birmingham on June 16th. Details at http://www.bcu.ac.uk/tee/events/techfest/micromouse/home

23rd May: Maker session. Come take stuff to bits, rebuild it, share ideas, join conversations about crazy off the wall ideas and/or hack away at code.

30th May: Show and Tell. See what everyone else is working on and share your own projects. Show and Tells don’t have to be “finished” or complete, just something you’re interested in. See the website for an introduction. These sessions are free and happen at the end of every month, followed by dinner somewhere in central Brum, this month we are trying out the Bay Leaf restaurant, in the Custard Factory.

Where:

The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH. If you get really lost give the fizzPHONE (07754 634993) a call on the night of the maker session.

When:

Wednesdays 6pm-10pm. Please add your name to the wiki if you’re coming. The second Wednesday of each month is Lockpicking Wednesday, the last is Show and Tell. We ask for £5 per person (£3 concessions) as subs for all sessions EXCEPT the Show and Tells at the end of each month, which are free.

Why are we asking for contributions? At the moment we are trying to get fizzPOP up and running after maker sessions were suspended last year. We have two main aims, firstly to have a major recruitment drive for new members, and you’ll see us out and about at different events meeting people and spreading the fizzPOP word. Secondly, we aim to find a permanent space for fizzPOP that we use to store equipment and make available to members 24/7. All these things need money and, much more importantly, your involvement, so please do what you can to make your makerspace work for you.

Other details:

Wifi Internet. Ask any regular fizzPOPer for the key.
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 (ask any regular for menu recommendations!) and there’s a basic kitchen if you want to bring your own food (no microwave).
There is also the option to club together and order pizza – let us know if you can recommend any good nearby pizza places.

See you there!

February 2012 Show and Tell session

snim2 — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 08:00:15 +0000

Along side our regular fizzPOP maker sessions and Lockpicking Wednesdays, we want to create some more opportunities for local makers to collaborate. So, the last maker session of each month is a “Show and Tell” where you can find out what other makers have been working on and talk about your own tinkering. We want these sessions to be relaxed and informal and to encourage members on the mailing list who maybe haven’t been to a fizzPOP event before to come along and get involved. In that spirit, we have a few basic guidelines that will shape these sessions:

We will provide a laptop and projector but show and tells don’t have to have slides or any other formal structure, if you’ve got something you want to talk about just go for it.
Projects don’t have to be “finished” or “good” to talk about, half-started projects or failed attempts at making a difficult idea work are just as interesting as a finished project.
Feedback is mandatory and should always be constructive and encouraging. Not everyone feels comfortable with public speaking, so be nice!

Show and Tell sessions are a little different to the usual meeting, to encourage new members. Firstly, we start at 7.30 rather than 6 as several people can’t get out of work that early. Also, we’ll try to keep these sessions free to attend. We do have rent and other costs to cover, so we can only keep up free meetings if the other sessions are well enough attended to cover costs. So, we’re hoping to keep these show and tells free, but we won’t necessarily be able to guarantee that forever. Lastly, when presentations are over, we’ll decamp to a local restaurant (usually Cafe Soya) and finish the evening there.

If you want to give a show and tell, please sign up on the wiki here and if you need anything other than a laptop and a projector please let us know and we’ll sort that out for you.

Where:

The Edge, 79-81 Cheapside, Deritend, Birmingham, B12 0QH [map] [Street View]. 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 29th February 7.30pm-10pm. Please add your name here if you would like to give a show and tell. Regulars should note that we’re starting a little later than usual, to give folks a chance to get in from work.

What:

Come and find out what other makers have been working on, or give a short talk about your own project and have a drink or meal with us afterwards. Check out the wiki page for the current list of talks.

Other details:

Wifi Internet is available, ask any fizzPOP regular for the key.

We look forward to seeing you!

Launch48 back in Birmingham this March

snim2 — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:37:13 +0000

From the events that fizzPOP members may be interested in department…

Launch48 is coming to Birmingham for the second time from 16^th – 18^th March 2012, with the aim of encouraging the city’s entrepreneurial minds to start new web or mobile ventures over an intense and unique weekend.

By encouraging entrepreneurs with no or little experience to attend the event with diverse skills such as business, finance, management, software development, and design, Launch48 creates a unique environment for starting new businesses.

Coupled with mentors who have run successful companies or have relevant skills to the web and mobile industries, such as PayPal, and a mature agenda, Launch48 has experienced great success over the past year with at least 2 businesses going on to generate revenue.

Mentors at this year’s Birmingham event include angel investor Mark Hales, Birmingham Young Professional of the Year (Entrepreneur) Nick Holzherr, and Sell My Mobile founder Keir McConomy.

The event empowers attendees with entrepreneurial skills, shatters preconceptions about what is achievable in a short period of time, introduces like-minded people to one another, and offers people the ability to learn skills. Participants leave the event having formed strong relationships having participated in creating a new business idea.

Unlike hack days or developer orientated events that have become popular over the past few years, Launch48 fosters a strong mentality to build something sustainable and desirable. A follow-up event held 6 weeks after the weekend event helps to keep teams working on their ideas after the event as well as on-going support from the mentors.

Cecilia, Director of Fashiny.com (a business that was founded at a Launch 48 event and then went on to participate in Birmingham’s Oxygen Accelerator programme), has said of the event:

“Go to Launch48, speak to as many people as possible, work like crazy, speak to mentors, get their feedback, we still keep in touch with some of our mentors, it was a great way to learn. Make the most of it and you can sleep when you are dead”

Launch 48 Birmingham will be held at Birmingham Science Park Aston, whose tech startup incubator Entrepreneurs for the Future (e4f) has supported the launch of over 50 businesses over the past two years.

Simon Jenner, Head of Incubation at Birmingham Science Park Aston, said: “Birmingham has a wealth of digital talent and creativity and we’re delighted to welcome Launch 48 again to be part of this. The event will offer the opportunity for people with an interest in the digital arena to engage, learn and meet new people”.

Tickets are available from £29.95 and more information is available at http://birmingham.launch48.com.

About Launch48

Set up by Ian Broom and Adil Mohammed in 2009, Launch48 is a web development event that gives attendees the opportunity to develop cutting edge business ideas in a supportive and educational environment.

Since 2009 Launch48 held events in London, Edinburgh, Birmingham and internationally in Romania, Moldova, and Australia. Launch48 has other UK events planned for the UK including London in February, Birmingham in March, and Newcastle in April 2012.

For more information, please contact Ian Broom on 07979 871416 or ian@launch48.com

Hack all the spaces!

snim2 — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 07:30:34 +0000

If you’ve been hibernating through the winter you won’t have heard that our good friends Kate and Dom over at the Nottinghack makerspace have started an excellent podcast called Hack All the Spaces! which, among many other wonderful things, will keep you in touch with goings on at the various maker spaces around the UK. You can follow Kate and Dom over on the Hack All the Spaces website, sign up to their RSS feed, subscribe to them on iTunes, Like them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter.