Local

Photo by Joost J. Bakker IJmuiden used
under creative commons license

The Region of Waterloo is getting serious about giant hogweed (GHW) this year. Serious enough to hire three summer university students to help curb the growth of this invasive species. I've stumbled across what I believed to be GHW, but I was never sure. Then tonight I had this crazy idea...

With the Region of Waterloo bursting with GPS and camera toting techies, I'm sure we can come up with a way to help the weed inspectors in their battle with this particularly noxious weed. So, here's the plan. If you see what you think might be hogweed in your travels, snap a photo with your phone and send an e-mail to lrs@region.waterloo.on.ca. Add that address to your contact list right now! If you send the photo, it will help with identification. If you add the coordinates, it will help the staff find and destroy the nasty plant.

You could likely use whatever photo and location services you see fit... maybe TweetPhoto or Flickr or whatever works. These social tools will help spread the details about GHW too.

By the way... do not try to handle this weed on your own. Get professional help. You can seriously harm yourself if you get the sap on your skin or in your eyes.

For more details, check out the region's news release.

Update: Here's some great photos of young GHW plants. Very helpful for identifying the weed before it gets taller than you!

Update 2: The government of Ontario released a Giant Hogweed Identification video. It's a good way to see what the plants look like when they're young.

Update 3: Here's a video made by YouTube user WorkSafeBC. It shows what the sap can do to your skin (nasty), how tall the plant can get, and how to safely remove it.

Photo by Robert Couse-Baker used
under creative commons license

I've got this sprout of an idea. Actually, it's becoming a Frankenstein, weed/tree sort of thing (but in a good way) as I graft on ideas while I scavenge the 'net and other people's minds. The seed for the idea started as a vision of a maker/artist supply store and it's been morphing from there.

The idea really took root when I stumbled on The Scrap Exchange, a "nonprofit creative reuse center located in Durham, North Carolina". This is much, much more than retail store for reclaimed industrial discards. They have a gallery for displaying local artists' work and they host community events and workshops. They even do birthday parties and corporate team building, all with a focus on making stuff while diverting waste from the landfill. They accept and actively collect donations of "lean, safe, reusable industrial discards as well as new, finished products that are no longer needed by businesses" to sell in the store. Their artists' marketplace seems like a great showcase and "features products from local artists who are using reclaimed materials in their work."

I'm sure we could make something like this work here in the Region of Waterloo, especially with the movers and shakers over at Kwartzlab gaining steam (and there's DIYode and thinkhaus too) and encouraging the build-it-yourself creative maker attitude. I'm guessing there are piles of would-be-debris that local industries would otherwise send to the landfill… why can't we divert that and put it in the hands of artists, makers, educators and families? I think a store like this would do well and be a great support for our vibrant and growing community of local artists.

I'd like to see something along the lines of The Scrap Exchange, with a possible tech twist. Maybe sell Arduinos ("an open-source electronics prototyping platform based on flexible, easy-to-use hardware and software") and bulk LEDs at cost to encourage projects with a geeky leaning?

So, what do you say? Would you shop at a place like this for your project supplies? Would you hold a eco-conscious maker birthday party for your kids here? Do you or your company have any materials that you would consider donating to the cause? What would make a store like this a great place to shop? Do you want to help out? Have more ideas?

Leave a comment, point your friends here, give it a tweet or a blog post of your own, and help get the discussion going :)

It's that time of year again... time to start work on your entry for the 2009 Gingerbread Contest. For all of the rules and official contact information, check out the Indy blog at:

http://nhindependent.wordpress.com/2009-gingerbread-contest/

This will be our 5th year entering the contest. It's great to work with the family on a project from design to completion, and it's great to see all the creations that other people can come up with.

This year's theme is "Santa's Workshop".

September 1, 2009 marks the first official day for members to work in the region's very own "hackerspace". Last night, makers of all stripes were voted in as members by the board of KWartzLab (a not for profit, incorporation) in a ceremonial handing out of the keys. I can't wait to see what projects come out of this place. To say the folks there are creative would be an understatement :)

To think this whole thing got rolling when I asked for a blog post to go out on the Makezine blog is a bit humbling. I'm not a paying member of the group myself at this time, but I support them 100%. I'm so glad that there were enough ambitious and enthusiastic people to get things rolling, and I appreciate that these folks were encouraged by my enthusiasm, and that they didn't listen to me the times when I went "off my rocker".

Update... a blog post on the topic with photo's is over on DW's blog at KWartzlab.ca.

Bre Pettis has a mission. Awhile back he tweeted:

"My mission in life is to develop infrastructure to support people who want to make things and meet people who make things and make things."

I've been thinking about Bre's mission for a week or so, wondering what my mission in life is... and especially how it relates to supporting people who want to make things.

Reading the Make: Magazine blog for over a year and following Bre with his posts there and his more recent development of Makerbot Industries had me all juiced up and interested in how hackerspaces (NYC Resistor in this case) can spur on great ideas and technological creativity. I've made my attempts to get hackerspace setup in our area. At this point though, a number of competent people have taken that ball and are now running with it where I have fallen behind... and that's OK. I think I need to get my maker groove on before I can play an active part in a hackerspace just yet.

The Make: KW maker group is a more likely target for my "supporting maker energies" these days. From what I've seen so far, we've got a large group of extremely talented makers in our region, and I think having meetups and events where makers can mingle is a good thing. Who knows what inspired collaborations might be spawned across the table? Who knows what problems can be solved when people bring in their half-finished projects for a demo? Who knows what we will learn from each other when workshops are held and skills are shared? Who knows?

I love meeting makers and hearing their stories. I love seeing connections made and projects take form. I would love to see the maker movement spread across our region and make a difference in our communities. So for now my mission... well maybe not my life mission but more of a life resolution at this point, is to support the maker movement in the Region of Waterloo in any form I can figure out.

Are you a maker? If you are interested, check out the Make: KW website where you can blog about your projects and sign up to the mailing lists of your choice. Or you can send ideas my way and we'll see if we can make things happen.

I'm happy to report that the wheels are turning to bring a hackerspace to the Kitchener Waterloo area. A small (and growing) group of people have been meeting regularly to dig into the details of what it takes to set up a shared workspace. A survey was worked up and set loose. Results have been tabulated and are being poured over to see what people in the area would like to see in a space.

Here's the plan so far... if you want to see a hackerspace happen, put your money where you mouth is. The group has settled on accepting down payments that show your commitment to the space (if you're interested, let me know or contact someone you know that's been attending the administrivia meetings). The first deposit has already been made (Yay!). Several people are starting to look into spaces, and once a suitable space is found and there's enough cash collected for first and last month's rent, the space will be ready to inhabit.

Oh ya... and there's still the issue of naming. Once a name is settled on, the group will move forward with some form of incorporation. This can/will happen in tandem with collecting deposits and researching spaces.

Congrats to everyone that has been working hard on making this a reality.

Update 2009/08/05: Yeah! Things have come along even more. The group is now incorporated as KWartzLab Society Inc. No space for the group has been found yet, but I doubt it will be too long :)

Awhile back I wondered which should come first, a hackerspace or a maker group. I took a guess and figured a hackerspace could come first and I asked for a blog mention on the Make: Magazine blog.

That got a big response. The first meeting brought in a lot of people. The second meeting was smaller and got me to thinking... maybe a maker group is the way to start. The third meeting brought in a good number of people and I realized that there's room for both at the same time. The group is gelling to include a smaller set of people dedicated to getting the hackerspace running, and a larger group getting to know each other and starting to help each other with the projects they're already working on outside of the space.

There's a lot to be said for the social geek, and hopefully the forming maker group will meet their needs. Watch for more details:

http://makekw.org/

... where we'll start to consolidate the information about both of these efforts real soon now.

Update: The Make: KW group never amounted to much. Most of the folks interested in making (at least the ones I've met) were very keen on the hackerspace, and that's a good thing. The makekw.org site has been turned off. Check out http://kwartzlab.ca/ for what's going on there.

The first meeting of people interested in a hackerspace (or makerspace depending) was a great success. More than 25 people attended and there was lots to say, even if we had trouble hearing ourselves over the music and other people talking at Williams. Next meeting needs to be in a quieter place ;)

We've got some action items down for moving forward, and I'm really pleased. Yay!

A hackerspace? What's that you ask? The name might bring up notions of illegal activities or other unpleasantries to some, but that's not what is meant. The Hackerspaces.org website defines a hackerspaces as:

... community-operated physical places, where people can meet and work on their projects.

Eric Michaud, who is working hard to make the Chicago based hackerspace "Pumping Station: One" a reality describes a hackerspace as a "YMCA for geeks and artists". In the "What is a hackerspace?" post on their blog, the description is further refined as follows:

A hackerspace is an interdisciplinary community for learning, teaching, and creating. Instead of starting with a defined range of projects or programming, a hackerspace is driven by its members. It is a place where members have the infrastructure and resources to work on projects that interest them. Hackerspaces promote people to be hackers in the broadest sense: to learn all they can about the fields that interest them, explore their bounds, and create new and interesting ways to apply that knowledge.

The people in a hackerspace also share their knowledge with others who share their interests, through classes, working groups, or day-to-day discussion while working on projects. That is where the fascinating educational potential of the hackerspace lies: there is no finite list of the skills that can be taught and exchanged. People share what they know with members and the community at large, and it results in more people having the knowledge to make something new and tangible out of their ideas and interests.

There are spaces like this opening up all over the United States and here in Canada too, fueled (no doubt) by MAKE: magazine and a renewed do-it-yourself spirit. As far as I know however, there's nothing in our area (for me, "our area" means Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge and Guelph, smaller towns like New Hamburg, Baden, Elmira, and Ayr as well as all the rural areas inbetween). The closest that I've come across is the Studio 490 in Guelph (who are looking for someone else to work in their studio).

I'm not only envisioning a shared space where geeks and artists alike would be able to work on their own projects in a shared space (loaded with tools). I'm also seeing a community where people would teach each other, experiment, stretch their boundaries, collaborate on great works of art, and be encouraged to take the results of their work back out to the communities where they live.

Such a space could attract and bring together people interested in computers, electronics, woodworking, metalwork, clay, glass, cooking and crafts of all kinds.

I'm thinking that the space should be setup as a non-profit with due-paying members given full access to the facility at any time. There's lots of information available from established hackerspaces on how to run such a space. Hacklab.to has a page on working through setting up a Canadian non-profit. I'm willing to work through the business and legal stuff.

Now, if you've made it through the post so far, I'd like to ask you this...

Are you interested?

I've found a few people that were interested in a local maker group (Doug, John, Ken... you know who you are), but what I'm asking now is going to take a little more effort. The plus side is, that effort will result in a great place to build that project of your dreams.

Leave a comment here or send me a note at onecog2many@gmail.com, and spread the word (blog it, tweet it, e-mail it, Facebook it, whatever). The more people that are involved the better.

2009/03/17 Update: I've updated some wiki pages (setup by William Spaetzel, thanks!) where I'll document information about the setup effort. The wiki is a great format since other people can contribute there as well.

2009/07/16 Update: A lot has happened since this was first posted. A bunch really smart people have got together under the banner of KWartzLab. They're in full membership drive now, have looked at several spaces, and are on their way to incorporating.

Cross-posted story from WWBA

For the third time in less than a year, residents of New Hamburg have been hit by serious flooding of the Nith River. Similar to the flooding in April 2008, the water reached a Level 2 status according to the Grand River Conservation Authority... luckily not as serious as the levels reached in December 2008.

For some short videos and photos, check out this set on Flickr:

Nith River Flood in New Hamburg - Feb 2009