Open Shop Friday: We’re waiting for you…

Are you dipping your toes in the DIY world for the first time? Come to Open Shop and hang out with some experienced hackers and makers! Bring a project to work on, if you’d like.

Are you an expert who’s reached the limit of what your garage / basement / whatever can handle? Come to Open Shop and check out the capabilities we’ve amassed.

Non-members are explicitly welcome at i3 Detroit any time our Twitter feed says so, but since that switch is flipped any time someone’s around, it can be hard to predict. Open Shop Friday is our regular open-door event, when anyone’s welcome to visit, work, learn, and if it seems like a good idea, join as a member.

(CC-licensed photo at left by James Bastow on Flickr.)

Arduino Meetup: 7:30pm March 8

Is it the second Thursday of the month? Then it’s time for i3 Detroit’s Arduino Meetup!

Whether you’re a total newbie or an accomplished Arduino user (or even a fan of a competing platform), you’re welcome at this monthly event. There may be show-and-tell, there may be projects to work on, there may just be a lot of hanging out. It’s anyone’s guess, so just show up!

(Note: This was originally on the calendar for 7:00 but as you can see in the calendar sidebar, it’s been adjusted to 7:30! Good chance someone will be around if you arrive early, though.)

Open Shop Friday

It’s only 148 days until Maker Faire Detroit! Are you ready?

Open Shop Friday at i3 Detroit is a perfect time to make progress on your project, meet other area hackers and makers, and enjoy our fantastically repaired furnace. (Thanks Eric!) Maker Faire isn’t the only event coming up, of course, glance at the calendar! Notacon is right around the corner, Penguicon after that, Maker Faires happening all over the place… get busy!

Open Shop Friday: Tool of the week: Vinyl Cutter

Looking for an excuse to visit the space? As if Open Shop Friday weren’t enough already, come this week (2/24) and get a quickie demo on how to use the vinyl cutter!

Of all the machines in the space, this is one of the easiest to learn, cheapest to run, and most addictive to use. Start with vector art, and within minutes, you’ll be sticking it on your friend’s car. With their permission, of course…

Like every Open Shop Friday, first-timer visitors are explicitly welcome. Just show up, 6pm or later, and figure out the doorbell.

Notacon CFP closes 2/10, early reg still open

It is April 12, 2012, the first day of Notacon. You are in the hallway 
outside the main presenation room. Through the open door east, you can 
see an enthusiastic presenter gesturing at her slides, and about two 
dozen people sitting in chairs. On the hallway wall is a printed 
schedule. West is another presentation room. South is the lockpicking 
area. The hallway continues north.

> LOOK AT SCHEDULE

The schedule reads "NOTACON 9 ROOM 1 FRIDAY 
3pm Milkymist: video synthesizers at the cutting edge of open source hardware 
4pm Reverse-engineering for fun and profit 
5pm Game Maker: Crash course in video game programming 
6pm Creating parsers using standard UNIX tools 
..."

> GO NORTH

You are in the hallway outside the hardware hacking area. To the east, 
attendees and off-duty conference staff are crouched over soldering 
irons, modifying the circuitry on their conference badges. One appears 
to have been converted into a small vehicle, scooting around the table. 
Someone hollers "It works! It's transmitting my callsign!" To the west 
is the pool. To the north, a "PIXELJAM" sign adorns a closed door with 
music thumping behind it. The hallway continues south.

> INVENTORY

Between your pockets and your backpack, you have: 
A Notacon 9 conference badge circuit board with nothing soldered to it. 
Your cellphone. (2003 called, they want their Nokia back.) 
A half-empty bottle of Bawls energy drink. 
A printed conference program, folded open to the puzzles section. 
A cheap set of lockpicks. 
A menu from the sushi joint across the street. 
Two 4GB USB flash drives. 
A towel with "Hilton" embroidered in the corner.

Man, what a weird dream! Good thing it isn’t actually April yet, because the discounted pre-registration happens much earlier. Notacon, the longest-running (and coolest) tech/art/hack conference in the midwest, has just extended that discounted reg period, and for anyone whose ambition extends to submitting a presentation, good news! The Call for Proposals closes on February 10, there’s still time to sneak one in…