First Meeting of Fall 2011!

Hey all! I hope everyone had a lovely and productive summer. Our first event of the year is tonight! We will be screening the smash-hit Hollywood classic, Hackers at 9:30 in King 106, Oberlin College. Come see some sweet hax0rs smash some computer systems, trash some cybervillains, and zip around in gnarly 90s gear and roller skates! We will also be talking more about the goals of OHack before the movie starts and get a general sense of membership interest.

Our first official meeting for OHack will be this coming Tuesday, October 11 at 9 pm in a room in Wilder. Stay posted for exact location. Come with ideas for projects and directions you would like to see OHack go in. Even if you feel like you are lacking computer expertise, you are still very welcome at OHack---we aren't just about computers and programming, we're about creative collaboration, after all. We will also be building a new OHack website, which will host a wiki that will have pages for individual projects that memers will be working on. Please let us know if you have any interest in helping to develop this!

See you soon!

(trailer) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pP6iTjhlOvs

Python Tonight

Don't forget - we're hanging out and talking about Python programming tonight! If you have a laptop, bring it. We only have one Linux machine available right now.

Here are some excellent free Python resources you can find online:

For beginners

Never programmed before? No worries - Python is a popular first language.

Think Python: How to Think Like a Computer Scientist

This book covers the fundamentals of Python. If you've never programmed before, start here!

Invent Your Own Computer Games with Python

Learning programming is much more interesting if the "motivating problems" aren't just "Hello, World!' and interest rate calculators. This book starts out with simple text-based games like Hangman and progresses to talking about AI and Othello and graphical games using the Pygame framework.

For intermediate/advanced programmers

If you already know some Python, or know another programming language, you may find these resources useful.

Dive into Python

Although the examples can be somewhat intimidating at first, this is a great book that covers the core elements of Python.

Building Skills in Python

I've found this book to be a very useful reference. Covers everything (more than DIP). 

The Python Challenge

A web-based scavenger hunt, where each clue can only be solved with some (Python) code. Although the website looks painfully late-90's, the puzzles are fun and get hard fast.

Project Euler

Math problems that can only be solved by programming. Fun!

April Events!

On Tuesday, April the 19th from 7-9, Luke Lovett will teach a beginner's workshop on MaxMSP, a popular music software.

On Tuesday, April the 19th from 10-11, Louisa Berger and Luke Lovett will host "Snake Charmers: Learning Python." Come if you're interested in learning Python.

On Thursday, April the 21st from 8-10, Garrett Robinson, Louisa Berger, and Luke Lovett will teach a beginner's workshop for building websites. We will discuss the preliminaries (domain names, hosting) and begin talking about basic HTML/CSS. If you know anybody who wants to make a website for themselves, their work, or their organization, tell them to come!

FURTHERMORE, we want your input! One event we want to host is "5 minutes of fame," ideally a bi-weekly event for people to present works-in-progress, concepts that need collaborators, or just something really cool that you know about! Powerpoint presentations, musical performances, or any other medium you choose could be a possibility (we have a whiteboard and markers if you just want to kick it old-school). Inspired by http://5mof.net/

Other ideas: Python, Ruby, web frameworks, electronics, lock-picking, projecting a live conversation feed on the side of Mudd, running our own web server...

Desktop Background

Here's a big copy of the OHack logo, suitable for setting as your desktop background:

Let's see this on every computer in Oberlin! First Mudd, then... maybe the Science Center! King? Dorms have computer labs sometimes, right?

HACK THE CAMPUS

How to Write a Program

Louisa Berger and Ike McCreery are teaching an introductory workshop, How to Write a Program, tonight from 8 to 9 p.m. in the upstairs OCCS lab.  We'll be tackling the 3n+1 problem collaboratively.  It's a workshop aimed at CS150 students who would like to get a better sense for how to tackle a programming assignment.  Hopefully we will all leave with a better sense of the method behind the madness of programming.

OHack is OPen

When?

Monday:    4-6  (Louisa)

Tuesday:   8-10 (Luke)

Wednesday: 8-10 (Ike)

Thursday:  8-10 (Garrett)

Sunday:    8-10 (All)

  

Where?

The new OHack space is in the basement floor of Harkness Co-op. The door is to the right of the main door to the co-op, down some stairs behind a bike rack.

What?

Bring laptops, projects, ideas or just your homework.

OHack Events This Week!

Attention all hackers:

This week, we're trying to start up some new workshops, hopefully to be continuing regularly the same day/time each week. We hope that you can attend all of them that sound interesting to you. Here's the lineup:

Wednesday, November 3 (tomorrow!):
Web Design with Python - King 221 @ 7:00 pm
Discuss/learn/talk about web design and working with Python/Django to create powerful, interactive web sites and applications. Bring your laptop, if you have one!
Ask at the main desk or look for signs to find out the exact location.

Thursday, November 4:
Sound Hacking - Wilder TBA @ 7:00 pm
Discuss/learn/talk about sound, how we like it, how we hate it, and how we would like to destroy it.
Same deal... we're not sure where this will be exactly, but it should be easy to find out.

These are just some of the things that are starting up at OHack. If you have any ideas for workshops you'd like to see (especially ones that you'd like to run yourself!), reply to this email and let us know! This is a collaborative effort, after all.

In addition, the OHack room in Wilder (room 328, for those interested) is currently a mess. It's filled with all kinds of fantastic junk, including old computers, monitors, phone cables, copies of Windows 95..... yeah. It's actually quite magnificent to behold. You should behold it. If you're interested in seeing this treasure cove, then you should participate in the OHACK SPACE DEFRAGMENTATION PARTY on Saturday at 2:00!

More emails will come when more things happen. Until then, happy hacking!

Project Discussion - Saturday 10/9 in Wilder 211

Hello fellow hackers. We apologize for the delay - we are currently working hard on securing a space for OHack, and have been writing proposals and attending meetings all week.

In the meantime, we want to have a forum for interested people to

discuss project ideas!

We will be in Wilder 211 tomorrow afternoon from 1:30-3:00, working on our own projects and sharing ideas with anybody who wants to come.

So take your half-finished code, your glitchy rewired children's toy, your sketchpad, your weird daydreams... and bring them to Wilder tomorrow. We're hoping to start developing a schedule of workshops and a few long-term collaborative projects to focus on ASAP.



We also have a temporary space in Wilder which is full of old computer equipment left by the now-defunct Computer Recycling Co-op. It is currently too small and full of stuff to have meetings in, but we want to change that! So -

Sunday afternoon!

Image via Wikipedia

Cleaning party!

Want an old Mac to mess around with? If you can carry it away, it's yours!

Food (for thoughts)

 What is Hacker?
anthropology lessons
The Jargon File
more Magic
soup

Excursion/Excitement, yeah?

Hey guys, check out this hackerspace in Cleveland... field trip anyone? Also look through to get ideas for workshops we could have, resources we could get, anything else cool you want to incorporate into our space!

http://www.makersalliance.org/

Minutes (from General Interest meeting)

Circuits! Building instruments. Circuit bending. Microcontrollers - robot overlords? AI, learning machines. Animate, animals. Animus. Human-computer interface; wiimote hacks, mini-projects. Project on th side of mudd - installation, interactive. Hacks around campus. Productivity/efficiency/customizing your system. Tips n tricks. Home automation - “Smart House.” Bike generators - ObieGame FTW. Elaborate pranks, carried off without a hitch. Core wars; competitions. Analytical engines, but also it’s a mill. Apocalypse preparation. Abacus 065 - Environmental Abacus. Public, participatory hacks -- no more paper posters?? Learn about operating systems. www.google.com. Linux, alternative OSes, make-yer-own-distro. Distributed computing - clusters. Reed - Smart Couch? Textiles, LED clothing, sonar clothing (RAD). Why doesn’t Oberlin have more awesome shit happening??? Collaboration and multi-disciplinary, cross-pollinating communities... Max/MSP Workshop. Unified, artistic collaborative statement. Also cheap toys/gadgets. Taking the remote apart and putting it back together. Forming a library, compiling resources. Games.

Thanks to everyone who came to the meeting, and don't worry if you didn't make it! Many great ideas were shared, and the enthusiasm in the room was undeniable. We will be having another meeting and our first workshop soon - check back at this space, or get on our mailing list, for updates.

Our General Interest Meeting

will be held in Wilder 101 at 7:00pm tomorrow, Tuesday the 21st! Please spread the word, and invite any of your friends who might be interested! We will show you some cool hacks, debate the meaning of the word, and then discuss plans for the future.

A reminder e-mail will be sent to everybody on the mailing list tomorrow. If you would like to be on the mailing list, e-mail us at oberlinhacks (at) gmail (dot) com.

"The system is able to compile as-is, and has been known to work."

Although this still feels painfully accurate sometimes, almost twenty years later, Linux remains one of the all-time greatest hacks ever perpetrated. It's pretty cool to see it in its embryonic state, preserved for digital eternity on a Usenet archive.

http://groups.google.com/group/comp.os.minix/msg/2194d253268b0a1b?pli=1

"This is a program for hackers by a hacker."

General Interest Meeting - Wilder TBA

OHack will be having a general interest meeting this Tuesday, September 21st, @ 7:00pm in Wilder - room TBA.

Check back here for updates, or e-mail us and ask to be reminded about the meeting.

Questions? Ideas? E-mail: oberlinhacks at gmail dot com

First!

OHack is a cooperative space for computer and technology related projects at Oberlin College in Oberlin, OH. We hope to encourage and provide resources for multidisciplinary projects related to software development, hardware hacking, new media, and more! We are also planning on hosting a series of informal workshops on a wide variety of computer-related concepts. Everything from installing and using Linux to learning about web design, languages like Python and Ruby, and more. OHack is inspired by collective spaces like Noisebridge in San Francisco, the Chaos Computer Club in Germany, and many more around the world.

We are currently working on a proposal and securing a dedicated space for our operation. Subscribe to keep updated on what we're up to, and we hope to have a lot more to write about in this space soon!