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Welcome to Bloominglabs, Bloomington's very own hackerspace!

Sign up to the announcement list to keep up with our group. Follow us on Twitter @Bloominglabs. Our IRC server is at irc.bloominglabs.org:6667, #hackerspace. We can also be reached via old fashioned email at contact (]at[) bloominglabs dot o r g.

1 Who are we?
2 Current Events
3 What is a hacker space?
4 Membership
5 Meetings
6 Current Projects
7 What needs to be done yet?
8 Nearby Hacker Spaces or initiatives:

Who are we?

Bloominglabs was forged from the Bloomington Hackerspace Initiative and the former IU Robotics Club. We are a bunch of people that want to do interesting things and explore the world and technology around us.

Current Events

February 16 from 6pm to 11:00pm
- Contact Microphone Building Workshop with the DeKalb Hackerspace CMKT4
- CMKT4 will show you how to solder up a piezo-electric pickup and house it sturdily in a recycled bottle-cap housing.
- CMKT4's band will be performing after the workshop
- The workshop is $15 but interested onlookers are welcome for free
- The event will be held at 1021 South Walnut Street behind Russian Recording

January 22 from 11:30am to 3:30pm
- Build Beetlebots with Bloominglabs at the Wonderlab Robotics Program.
- As seen at Make Magazine
  - Instructions at: http://makeprojects.com/Project/Beetlebots/20/1
  - Get your own kit at: http://www.makershed.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=MKSB018

Hardware Hacking Village at http://www.indianalinux.org
- March 25th, 26th, and 27th

4th of July parade float
- Suggestions:
  - Air cannons: http://www.stevespanglerscience.com/experiment/00000076
  - Build some kinda of candy launching device.
  - Build a ride-able beetlebot. Jenett has 2 large DC motors that would easily move a person. Joe suggests we steer by grabbing the antennas.

What is a hacker space?

It's a physical location where people can share resources for their own creative pursuits. It's also a resource where people can come in off the street and advance their own knowledge. In urban locations it can often be hard to find places to weld/build/make noise and keep projects on-going without having to tear down and put-up your work each evening. With a hacker space people can work on their projects and not worry about annoying their neighbors or spouses. The social aspect is also incredibly important component. Having people to bounce ideas off of and discuss your projects with when you get stuck is a great thing.

Membership

We are accepting memberships! Please see the Membership Manual for details.

Meetings

Currently we meet every Wednesday at 6:30pm at The Collaboration Room which is located at 214 North Rogers Street in Bloomington, Indiana. These meetings are open to the public, anyone is welcome to attend. We usually meet for 2-3 hours and have a lot of fun. Having access to tools is only part of the equation, socializing with people and learning from each other is another large benefit from our group. Pretty much whatever people want to work on or learn is fair game. We currently have an electronics and robotics focus but there's also interest in general science and astronomy as well. If it's cool and interesting then we are all interested.