Mobile Art and Code Symposium

Over the weekend, a number of us went to the Mobile Art and Code Workshop sponsored by CMU with a lot of help from Hack Pittsburgh. The photo above was taken in the Hack Pittsburgh space where we discovered that we should get together and create a hackerspace starter kit that includes an old oscilloscope containing vacuum tubes and a drill press since both groups seem to have these. We also met some people from a hackerspace in Somerville, MA that has some interest in bio-hacks which involve DNA and not do-it-yourself home surgery. One interesting thing about Hack Pittsburgh is that it requires members to perform services like open hours or bathroom cleaning in order to keep the space more active. People can opt out of the service hours by paying higher dues.

Another thing that I learned about Hack Pittsburgh is that they are putting on a soft-circuit workshop very much like the one that HacDC sponsored a few months ago.

During Saturday’s free lectures, someone asked why women were not as involved in electronics and programming as men are. This discussion was cut short, but it brought to mind the fact that a significant number of women attended the soft-circuit workshop at HacDC.

I did not know what to expect from the conference, but I found the event inspiring. I think that next time I may sign up for a workshop.