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TL;DR - Sign up here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/7404548203  Do it now, because ticket sales end on the 27th!

LVL1 is proud to host a Raspberry Pi Bootcamp on July 31st, at 6:30pm.  This workshop will go through the basics of hooking up a Raspberry Pi and getting it up and running, using the wonderful Adafruit Raspberry Pi Starter Pack.  Pick your ticket, with or without Pi, and come to LVL1 on July 31st.  You need only bring your laptop!  We'll go through the basics of hooking up the Raspberry Pi, loading an image onto the SD card, booting the Pi for the first time, and getting it blinking.  If you're curious about this exciting physical computing platform, this is a great excuse to pick it up!

What timing, also!  LVL1 is on the proposed route of the Raspberry Pi Foundation's American Pi Roadshow. Tentatively, they'll be stopping by on August 9th! This will be a great kick in the pants for your latest embedded project, which you can then show off to all the Pi fanatics in the Louisville area!

Seating is limited to 15, and ticket sales will end on the 27th so we have enough time to buy the kits.  Tell all your fiends, and get ready for a slice of Pi! The evenbrite link is here:  http://www.eventbrite.com/event/7404548203

LVL1 501(c)3 HeaderAs many of you are no doubt aware, after almost two years of paperwork, negotiating, and discussions with the IRS, LVL1 is now a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Organization!  This means LVL1 can now accept tax-deductible donations of money and physical items!

This has been an absolutely huge undertaking, from Joe P., filling out our first application, to Chris C. and Mark E. fighting for us every step and speed bump in the road, to Tim M. putting together a donation form and incorporating the responsibility of keeping 501(c)3 records into the office of the treasurer. Everyone in the LVL1 community owes these fine folks (and many more!) their due.

This goal comes with its fair share of responsibility, though.  Each and every one of us in the LVL1 community are responsible for maintaining the requirements of the 501(c)3 code.  We've put together a short page here with some rough guidelines: http://wiki.lvl1.org/501c3  As always, if you have any questions concerning our 501(c)3 status, please feel free to email directors@lvl1.org.  The long and short is this: follow the guidelines on the wiki, fill out the appropriate paperwork, mark items donated with a 501(c)3 receipt as 501(c)3 donations, and DO NOT remove 501(c)3 donated items from LVL1.  These items are now LVL1 property!

Again, HUGE thanks to everyone involved in making this happen over the years.  Let's use this to our advantage, spacers! I'm looking at you, folks who have an employer match on 501(c)3 donations!

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This weekend, we were lucky enough to have Sonny Mounicou come up from Memphis to teach a workshop on building a Prusa i2 3D printer.  10 people were in attendance, and everyone walked out with a working 3D printer!

DSC_0551.JPGThe workshop was a grueling 24 hours, running from 8am to Midnight on day one, and 8am to 4pm the next day.  By the end of the workshop, though, everyone was slinging plastic!  Aaron was talented enough to be printing cubed gears after a mere 14 hours!

A big thanks to Jon from SeeMeCNC, who came in to help out with the workshop.  He also managed to sell a couple of printers while he was at the space! And an absolutely huge thanks to Gerrit, who kept us all fed throughout the event.  May no build-off ever go without catering.

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Jon from SeeMeCNC (And his huge printer)
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Gerrit, Keeping us all alive

Scroll past the break for more pictures of the event, but I'll wrap it up here by saying that the build was a great event.  10 people in the LVL1 community got to build 3D printers, 2 more people bought 3D printers during the event, and our expertise for printers is growing.  This event even motivated some to start a Louisville-Area Thrug (3D Printer User Group).  If you're interested in 3D printer, join the conversation here: https://groups.google.com/forum/?fromgroups#!forum/kyin3dprinters

Until then, we'll be hacking away at our printers.  For those who missed out, don't despair: Sonny let us know that any time we can get 8-10 people together for a build, he'll make the drive!

More pictures below the break.

...continue reading "LVL1 Prusa Build Recap"

Team Sign ups here: http://lvl1makefoodnotwar2012.eventbrite.com/

It's time for another 24 hour hackathon!

This October, from Saturday the 20th to Sunday the 21st, pit your building skills against 9 other teams attempting to assemble the finest food-flinging machines in the world!

Your challenge is to build a machine in 24 hours (or less) that can fling the tastiest foodstuff the longest distance with the most style.  Teams can bring in any supplies they want (up to $150 worth-- We will be asking for receipts at the door!), but you can't put anything together until the start of the competition.  From then on out, it's a free-for-all to build your contraption using the supplies you've brought in alongside the supplies at the LVL1 hackerspace.

As with last time, buy only one ticket per team!  One ticket gets your entire team in the door! Try to think of a team name before you show up!

At the end of the competition, teams will judge eachother in the following categories:

  • Taste: How delicious is it, after being flung?
  • Distance: How far did you fling it?
  • Ingenuity: How well-built was your flinger? How crazy?
  • Appearance: Is your food recognizable on the other end?
Scores in each category will be averaged, and the top three teams will receive their assorted glory.

The rules:

  • $150 budget, not counting parts from the boneyard at LVL1
  • Must be built in 24 hours (nothing preassembled!)
  • Team size is unlimited (in either direction), but 3-6 is recommended
If you have any questions, feel free to email me at BradLuyster@gmail.com