[SGVHAK] Recap Jul 19th meeting

[Tux Lab]

I'm fairly close to Dave's place and also fairly close to the El Monte
bus station.   There are express buses that goes from the Downtown
area into the El Monte bus station via the 10 freeway ex- public
carpool now private express toll lane.     If anyone who uses public
transportation and wants to attend meetings at Dave's place, I am
willing to pick them up at the El Monte bus station on my way over to
Dave's place and drop them off either at the El Monte bus station or
the Metro Gold line Madre station.

John

On Fri, Jul 19, 2013 at 3:31 PM, John Kim <thinkndev at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri 19 Jul 2013 12:39:07 AM PDT, Lan Dang wrote:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> First of all, James is in the midst of converting the SGVHAK website,
>> so don't be alarmed if it looks really different. We are trying to
>> simplify things so it is obvious when and where the meetings are. I
>> got enough questions about it that I guess it's better to have
>> forthcoming dates on the website rather than rely purely on email.
>>
>> The next meeting is Sat, July 27th, at Hastings Branch Library from
>> 2-6pm. Come at any time. I think there will be an Internet-in-a-Box
>> hackathon on this day, but I am not sure when that will start.
>>
>> The meeting after that is Thu, August 1st, at Dave's place again. He
>> will be building a computer from component parts. He needs a little
>> help to install Linux on it so it can serve as a headless fileserver
>> and postgresql server. I think Mic is doing a lockpicking session--he
>> called it steelbolt hacking.
>>
>> I have really been enjoying the meetings at Dave's workshop because we
>> have more freedom to work on stuff and he's got cool things. I
>> especially appreciate all the shop talk because I don't have much of
>> an electronics background. And conversations involving the different
>> things one could do with a hard disk platter? Pure nerd fun. Come out
>> and join us if you have the time.
>>
>> Today, Dave did a demo showing the programming a PIC processor using a
>> hockey puck programmer over USB.
>>
>> Mic let me practice soldering on his project, which was a defusable
>> clock kit from nootropicdesign.com. I'm more confident about my
>> soldering abilities now.
>>
>> James was working on the website, converting it to Pelican and
>> changing it to a few standalone pages. I am not sure when it will go live.
>>
>> Steven worked on his Raspberry Pi, which had a wireless dongle...and
>> somehow, that was an irresistible invitation for Michael to attempt to
>> hack his system. I don't know exactly what they were doing, but I hear
>> it will culminate in a joint talk at the August SGVLUG meeting.
>>
>> Ginko and Scoops came later. Ginko talked about a place called The Shed (
>> http://www.lalomadevelopment.com/events/shed-open-house) which is an
>> emerging space for the sustainable development community. She also
>> invited us to her Repair Cafe event on August 17th. Scoops will post
>> more info later.
>>
>> Ginko was working on a pretty house number plaque which was made with
>> mosaic tile on a sealed wood board. It is so nice to watch creative
>> people at work.
>>
>> John gave us some status on his 3D Delta printer project which is
>> based on a design by his friend, who is hoping to start a Kickstarter
>> fundraiser. I suggested asking his friend to demo his printer at one
>> of our HAK meetings.
>>
>> We had a group dinner together at Carmine's where we continued the fun
>> conversations. We got a nice big table in the corner, so we were able
>> to talk to each other easily with not too much noise.
>>
>> Lan
>>
>
> Hi all,
>
> Man, I'm missing out on a lot.
>
> I only wish that the Thursday meetings are somewhere closer to Los Angeles,
> like Hastings Library.  It would be easier on me, since I don't have a car
> and rely solely on public transportation to get there. Public transportation
> to David's place takes a huge chunk of my day.  Just something to think
> about.
>
> I hope I can come next Saturday; the hackathon sounds like a lot of fun.
>
> --
> John Kim
> Ubuntu User #35405
> thinkndev at gmail.com
>
>