Seats still open for GET LAMP documentary showing this Saturday!

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Quick note: FAMilab has reached their laser-cutter goal, thanks to all who contributed! Project is still open for a little while if you wanna push ’em beyond 101%.

Fans of text adventures, newbies and addicts, it’s time! In conjunction with HacDC, we’ll be showing GET LAMP: The Text Adventure Documentary this Saturday. Doors at 2:30, movie at 3. Afterward, we’ll have a video chat with producer Jason Scott, and then a workshop on creating your own interactive fiction, hosted by Matt Arnold. Seats are still available, reserve yours now!

Background: Text adventure games (aka interactive fiction) are like a “choose your own adventure” book on steroids. They’re some of the oldest computer games, and they’re a great way for fledgling game designers to write a story without spending forever on graphics and physics. This means YOU! If you’re participating in the workshop, please bring a laptop.

What makes this movie extra-special is that it’s Creative Commons licensed. Like open-source software, this means that anyone can change it, use parts of it, remix it, et cetera. There are some basic conditions, such as your changed version must be similarly licensed. This model allows producers (working in any copyrightable medium) to deliberately encourage creative reuse of their content, rather than locking it up forever in traditional copyright. Obviously, it’s something hackerspaces are interested in!

Pay it forward: Help another space buy a laser cutter?

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When i3Detroit reached out for help with our moving expenses, our friends and family, readers and strangers, came through for us in a big way. The new space is awesome, and we couldn’t have done it without you.

Now, a Florida hackerspace is raising money to purchase a laser cutter.Ā  I have a hunch we can push them over the tipping point…

ATTN DIYers: Maker Mixer happens this Saturday, 2pm-6pm.

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It’s almost upon us! Here’s what you need to know:

Everyone’s invited. Originally conceived to connect busy Maker Faire exhibitors who didn’t get a chance to talk during the event itself, i3Detroit’s first Maker Mixer is open to anyone with a passion for DIY and a desire to meet more of their peers. Do you know of an individual or group who should be part of it? Please invite them!

There will be snacks. Also fire and burgers, probably. Feel free to BYO, as well! The party is free but donations help us defray costs and are always graciously accepted.

Parking will fill up. You might have to go down the block a bit to find a spot.

We don’t have a big sign. Haven’t tackled that issue with the city yet. So study the map before heading out, and note that Wordsworth doesn’t cross through the train tracks — you’ll probably come down Wanda from 9 mile. We’ll have balloons on the corner to guide you in.

There are more events around the corner. If you can’t make this one, consider the DIY Filmmaker Meetup on the 9th, the Get Lamp documentary screening on the 11th, or the Needlecraft Gathering on the 14th.

Hacker Business Series: Non-Profit Basics

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Here at i3 Detroit, we’re knee-deep in the process of applying for our federal 501(c)(3) tax exempt status. In other words, we’re working on making our non-profit status official, with all the benefits that entails. We’ve learned a lot so far, and thought it might be helpful to other hackerspaces that are thinking about going the non-profit route. And so we proudly present the first installment in our new Hacker Business Series, Non-Profit Basics. Read more

Lathe, Rinse, Repeat

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i3 saw its latest addition to the tool shop Tuesday night with the addition of a massive Bridgeport mill as well as a honking 14×40 Acer 1440G lathe.Ā  While both were pre-loved, with the lathe needing a great deal of “rinsing” before use, they are both in excellent condition and will make for a wonderful expansion of our machining capabilities. The lathe also had the added bonus of coming with a good deal of tooling, finally making viable my plan of creating a 4 foot candle holder. While I don’t currently have a problem holding 4 foot candles, or any 4 foot candles at all for that matter, I’ll be the only one prepared the next time a giant birthday cake shows up!

Meanwhile, as the literally tons of tools were being “gently” maneuvered into place, many of our other members were engaged in some decidedly less brute force pursuits, participating in the evening’s papercraft meetup. Rather than one of our usual classes with an instructor leading the group, this was run much more as an open forum, with several people taking the reigns and teaching the rest of the group various crafts from origami to paper star beads. The meetup also served to improve the aesthetic qualities of the space by hanging origami cranes and other creations from the floor of the loft area.

For more pictures of Tuesday’s fun, check out the Flickr stream from the event. Also, keep a lookout for other upcoming events such as our inter-hackerspace viewing party for “GET LAMP” on Sept 11th, as well as this weekend’s opportunity to live out your “White and Nerdy” fantasies by mowing someone else’s front lawn with the mowergang!

Also this weekend: