Old North End Repair Cafe – 20 Nov 2021

May be an image of text that says 'Repair Café Toss it? No way!'

Thanks to everyone who came out to the dance party on Friday night and helped raise a bit of $$ for the Repair Cafe! It was a blast, and we’ll likely do another one at some point.

If you want to swing by while we’re fixing things rather than flailing about wildly with glow-sticks, swing by the next Repair Cafe on Saturday, Nov 20!

https://www.facebook.com/LaboratoryB/posts/4867207663291740

Burlington Hacker Book Club!

We’re excited to add a new event to the Lab’s roster: the BTV Hacker Book Club! The group will be meeting monthly to discuss a book drawn from a list built by Lab members, with members voting on which book from the list to read each month. While Lab members pick the books, all who have read the book are welcome to the discussions, and attendees are welcome to bring munchies and beverages to share.

Our first pick is A Hacker Manifesto by media theorist McKenzie Wark, and we’ll be gathering for the discussion on Thursday, 8/17 at 6pm in the Couch Room. For more details and updates, RSVP to the Facebook event.

We’ll be discussing setting a recurring monthly date at the August meeting, and Lab members are presently voting on the September book pick. Cyberpunk classic Neuromancer by William Gibson currently holds a narrow lead, but there are a few more days for members to weigh in…

Champlain Mini Maker Faire Roundup 2014

The Laboratory B crew had a great time at this year’s two day  Champlain Mini Maker Faire! This year we had additional support from FairPoint Communications to allow us to teach kids & adults how to solder.  We had really impressive students this year, many of whom have seen us before at the previous events.  Many people were coming back for their second or even third time.  Good work everybody and thanks for coming out to see us!  As usual, if you had trouble with your kit or ran out of time please feel free to swing by the Lab, but let us know your coming ([email protected]) Awesome!

Charley helping out as usual!
Charley helping brothers that don’t need much help. Good work guys!

Lab B at Champlain Mini Maker Faire 2014

Laboratory B is all set up and ready to see you at Champlain Mini Maker Faire this weekend!  The event is on Sat. October 4th 10am – 5pm,  and Sun. October 5th 11am-4pm at Shelburne Farms in Shelburne Vermont.

Lab B has been at the Maker Faire since it started 3 years ago, and like last year and the year before, we’ll be teaching kids & adults how to solder! FairPoint Communications made a donation to help provide kits, and we have four kits from SparkFun in the mix this year; Weevil Eye, Big Time Watch, Simon Says & Mr. Roboto.

From our excerpt in the schedule:

“Join the folks at Laboratory B for a self-paced soldering workshop. We bring the soldering irons and the kits, you bring the desire to learn.  We will have kits from SparkFun and all the required supplies and safety gear for you to sit down and learn how to solder, and when you finish you take the kit home!  Have you soldered in the past but are not familiar with some of the newer techniques such as surface-mount soldering?  No problem!  There will be beginner kits, intermediate kits, and advanced level kits to fit all skill levels.”

pre_maker_faire_2014

Warming up the Foundry!

When Laboratory B got started we were excited about the possibility of other hacker/maker/community workshop spaces starting up and sustaining in Vermont. That’s why we created Vermont Hackerspaces Inc as non non-profit designed to help others do great things. The Foundry is a community workshop getting started in the Northeast Kingdom. Building on the grit, and hard work they are going to bring together a community of creators, tinkers, crafter, artist and entrepreneurs. This great community is going to build a great new space for creation and innovation!

On July 7th, Vermont Hackerspaces Inc, agreed to become the Foundry’s fiscal sponsor while they get started. The Foundry is looking to develop it’s own 501(c)3 but it’s a long when from getting going to handling your own books. Check out the website or  Foundry’s facebook page and Foundry Info Pack for more info.

 

 

Events in February with Laboratory B

It’s a new month and that means new events with Laboratory B.

Crypto-Party LogoLaboratory B  is currently working to organize a crypto party right in Burlington. This party will be your chance to learn about cryptography, information security and operational security. How to reduce some of the harmed caused by mass surveillance too. Learn about TOR, PGP/GPG, Pseudo-anonymity, TAILS and other super geeky privacy topics.

We are still organizing a location and time but stay tuned because it is coming soon!

Events:

2/7/2014: 2600 Meeting
Laboratory B is the primary supporter of the local 2600 meeting  if you are interested in hacking and security related events in Vermont, check out the 2600 meeting held the first Friday of every month at 5 o’clock at the Food Court at Burlington Town Square Mall.

2/10/2014: What the Hack? How hackathons & makerspaces are sparking innovation in Vermont
In the past few years we’ve seen hackathons and makerspaces spread across the state as creative ways to solve community problems and catalyze collaborations across sectors. Join Burlington NetSquared and leaders of these hackathons and makerspaces for an evening of learning, idea generation and reflection on how we can foster lasting multi-sectoral collaborations–and innovations– through these kinds of events.
If you’ve participated in one of these events, come share your experiences! And if you want to get involved in one of the upcoming hacks or new makerspaces, here’s your chance to ask questions.

Panelists include:
Bradley Holt, Code for BTV
Rebecca Roose, HackVT and My Web Grocer
Jesse Krembs, Laboratory B
Nate Herzog, StoryHack

Meetup info here

2/12/2014, 7-9pm: Crypto-Currency Night.
A semi-regular gathering of Burlington crypto-currency enthusiasts (Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, etc.). Feel free to brings thoughts, schemes, snacks and/or beverages to share… RSVP on Facebook

2/18/2014, 7-9 PM: Learn to solder with us at the Lab.
We’ll teach you the basics of through hole soldering with kits from Sparkfun!.   If you interested in learning to solder microelectronics please RSVP us at [email protected] 

2/26/2014, 7-9 PM: Lock Sport Wednesday:
Generally speaking on the last Wednesday of the month we sponsor Lock Sport Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm. This event is a place for folks who are interested in physical security and locksports to get together. We adhere to the idea of better security through education, and we also follow the law in this matter.  Learning how locks works and don’t work is not a crime.

 

January 28th: Satoshi Square

dogecoinTo follow up on the great gathering of crypto-currency enthusiasts at the Lab that was recently featured in Seven Days, the Lab will host a “Satoshi Square” this coming Tuesday, January 28th from 7-9pm. The goal is to bring together the community of Bitcoin/ Litecoin/ Dogecoin/ Coinye devotees to get to know each other, truck and barter, and discuss the latest news and opportunities that the emergence of crypto-currencies present for Burlington.

Feel free to bring a beverage and/or snack to share, share the Facebook event with any friends who might be interested, and vintage 2011 Bitcoin t-shirts will be for sale with all proceeds benefiting the Lab!

Finally, the Lab now accepts Bitcoin donations! 1E8Pr5CY5Me74UeYhsfXfoTrwYm4Qnqz7Y

January Events

It’s cold outside and the weather is frightful. But the Lab is warm, snug and dry so it’s a good place to hangout this time of year!

2600 Meeting January 3rd 5-8 at the Burlington Town Square Mall, we’ve moved location and we’re going old school!
The Generator is  holding “Build a Makerspace Party” January 4th from 10am to 5pm at the Memorial Auditorium’s Annex!
We’ve adjust our open drop in  hours to 7-9PM EST on Thursdays

Look for more events coming soon!

Bitcoinage Discussion!

Laboratory B hosted a bit of coin meetup last week and the local alt weekly (more like just awesome weekly) did a write up about it!

In Vermont, Users of “Cryptocurrency” Bitcoin Are Few But Committed

 Last week, in a small, subterranean workspace near downtown Burlington, a group of tech-savvy Vermonters held an open forum on a topic that’s attracted a great deal of attention lately: Bitcoin. Early adopters of the “cryptocurrency” believe it has the potential to upend the entire global economy…..
Also Laboratory B has some cool “I use bitcoin” t-shirts if you need one.