Hi everyone, ceres-c here, the newly elected president of MuHack. I’m here to give a brief overview of the current state of the space and what we have in store for the future.
This post is essentially going to be a human-parsable version of the minutes from the last general assembly.
State of the Space
First things first: this year we celebrated our 10th anniversary, rejoice! The party was a blast, filled with nostalgia too: old faces showed up, and we revisited a decade of hacking through old photos.
Thing is, in 10 years we never learned how to properly manage our space. We still have a lot of stuff that we don’t use, and don’t have a proper inventory of what we have. That will be fixed.
We’ve started by cleaning up the space, and we’ve made some good progress in throwing away all the useless stuff/junk we had lying around. There are still some things to give away, so don’t be shy and ask if you need a magnetic door lock, some bug spray or bubble liquid (why do we even have these?). They will be thrown away pretty soon if no one claims them.
Some space has been freed up, and we were able to fit our new toys in the “main” cabinet. We now have a hot plate, an infrared camera and an ultrasound cleaner that will be helpful when fixing electronics.
Future
We have a lot of ideas for the future, and we’re going to need your help to make them happen. Here’s a brief list of what we’re planning to do:
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Electronic parts inventory: We will finally keep track of what we have, and what we need. Up to this point, we relied on our memory, which frankly failed us more often than not.
Hence, we’re going to use PartsBox which I (ceres-c) have been using for a while at home, and I’m very happy with. It’s free for individuals, but we were gifted a free organization account by the kind folks at PartsBox. Thanks a lot Jan, you’ll be single-handedly holding back a fair amount of our chaos.
The inventory will be available online (read-only), and you’ll be able to see what the space has in stock at any time. There will be a computer in the space near the parts cabinet, so you can check/modify the inventory on the spot. Everything will be barcoded, and people are already making fun of me for how excited I am about this. More details in the next weeks.
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Soldering bench: Our soldering bench already got a big upgrade and now is in a much better shape. We still need a better hot air station, but that’s coming soon enough. The microscope will also be installed on a VESA arm, so it can be moved around easily. However, it is definitely usable as it is now.
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Server: We’re finally going to get the server we’ve been talking about for a year up and running. It is kinda old, but still rather beefy machine that will be used for various purposes, including hosting our own wiki. Maybe it’s also time for a mailing list? (old timers will get this)
We need some SSDs to put in it, so this is a bit expensive: it will have to wait until next year when subscriptions will come in.
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Wiki: We’re going to set up a wiki for the space, where we’ll keep track of all the projects we’re working on, how to use our tools (think 3d printer configs), and all the knowledge we’re gathering. This will be a great resource for new members, and for old members that forget things alike (like me). It will be a MediaWiki instance, since everyone is familiar with the interface.
Please fill the wiki with info about your projects once it’s up. Just use it, please.
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Tindie: It might be a good idea to open a Tindie store for the space, to sell stuff made by our members ([1], [2]) and gadgets/shirts made for the space. We’ll see how it goes, and feel free to hit us up if you have a hardware project you’d like to share.
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Bank account: The future is coming to MuHack: we’ll be able to accept wire transfers and pay for stuff online. It’s almost like we’re adults now! This will definitely make our (board) life easier.
Upcoming events
We’re in the process of asking the University for funds to organize this year’s MuHackademy and, hopefully, a new edition of the Build-n-Smash. No dates yet, but we’ll keep you posted.
More events are likely to happen, and we’re always open to new ideas. If you have something in mind, don’t be shy and tell us about it.
Conclusion
We have a lot of stuff planned for the near future, and we’re going to need the help of all of you to make it happen. Let’s make this hackerspace amazing together!
Federico / ceres-c, out.