OldNews
Social #1: Saturday October 5th
Come for a hike via corn maze in Douglas at Northwoods Orchard.
Saturday October 5th
1 pm
$5/person for the adult corn maze. $3/kid for the kid corn maze. Other activities and items for sale, see their website if you're interested in apples, gourds, pumpkins, etc.
Unfortunately this is a weather dependent activity and even if the rain has cleared off, if there's too much mud it won't be a lot of fun.
I'll assess the rain, and if necessary call the farm after they open at 10 am to assess the mud level in the maze. If there's a cancellation, I'll send it out by email by noon (preferably by 11 am, toddler permitting) on Saturday.
We had to cancel due to muddy conditions. 1 pm game afternoon at Tina's, for anyone interested.
Social: Saturday September 21st
11 am, Oronoco Park.
Rockets, water bottle rockets, Lumi, and a picnic!
There are enough 2L bottles already for the water bottle rockets. Bring your own rocket+engines for working with our Launchmaster Kevin Arhelger. We have enough Lumi to make 4 red and 16 orange "prints", you need to do homework (prepare a negative/stencil) and bring a light colored shirt and a dark colored bag. Bring a potluck dish to pass, a serving utensil, and your own beverage; Tina will provide the plates, forks, and napkins.
| Name | # of self/family/friends | Participating in rockets | Participating in Lumi | Picnic |
| Everyone | x | A rocket, engines, and recovery wadding | A negative: stencil or foil/transparancy | a dish to pass, a serving utensil, your own beverage |
| Tina | 3 | No - kite? | No | Mac&Cheese? Plates, forks, napkins |
| Your name here | x | x | x | x |
Lunch: Thursday September 19th
11:30 am, Apache Mall food court, near B&N.
Technical Meeting: Thursday September 12th
Chris Henderson on oVirt.
oVirt, the first truly open and comprehensive data center virtualization management initiative, provides a venue for user and developer cooperation. The heart of the project is the open source code of oVirt, and the community is governed openly, modeled after the Apache Foundation, Eclipse, LVM, and many other well functioning Linux communities.
oVirt manages virtual machines, storage and virtualized networks. oVirt is a virtualization platform with an easy-to-use web interface. oVirt is powered by the Open Source you know - KVM on Linux.
This presentation will demonstrate setting up an oVirt environment and give you a taste of some of the features available.
Here are his slides.
When: Thursday September 12th - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: RCTC Heintz Center Room HA107
Social: Friday August 16th
Jameco electronic components build night and blog writing. Instructables will be sending us electronics to play with. In exchange, we have to write up 3 Instructables posts about things we did with them.
• Standard Timer Single 8-Pin 555 Chip (10)
• Resistor Assortment, 540 pieces (1)
• Breadboard 3.25x2.125 (4)
• Battery Snap, 6 inch (4)
• Battery, Super Alkaline, 9V (4)
• Grab Bag of Electronics Components (1)
• LED Grab Bag - assorted colors and shapes (2)
How it works:
1. Have the Build Night: At the event build projects using parts from the Jameco electronics kit.
2. Post 3 Instructables: post 3 Instructables using the electronics from the kit. You are not limited to just these components, but projects must include parts from the kit. Projects can be as simple or advanced as you like. Anyone from your space is welcome to post an Instructable that counts towards the 3. These Instructables must include a link back to Jameco’s website. (Not posting these Instructables may affect K-LUG/PCIG chances to participate in future build nights).
3. Brownie Points (not required): after the build night post a forum topic on Instructables about your event. Include pictures, stories, etc... Here are two examples from the May build night Instructables ran (we didn't participate): Noisebridge and Makers Local 256. They may even feature our photo on their homepage.
Your pre-preparation homework: Brainstorm something to do with it.
We're meeting at the Toymakers hacker/maker space again.
547 Northern Heights Dr NE
Rochester MN 55906
6-9 pm
For anyone who hasn't been there yet, their house is on the north side of the road up a steep and twisted driveway; park on the road with a parking brake. Walk up the driveway, up the steps, and ring the doorbell. into the open garage door, and into the house without needing to ring the doorbell.
Lunch FIELD TRIP: Thursday August 15th
11:30 am. We'll try again (July failed the weather litmus test) - Thursdays on 1st, we'll take over a picnic table on the east end of Historic 3rd Street SW (that one way street on the north side of the Tap House and Billotti's). If you're new and won't recognize the group, this might not be a good first event for you, as we may be hard to spot.
In case of bad weather, you can still converge on the Apache Mall food court near B&N.
Technical Meeting: Thursday August 8th
Kevin A will present on DEF CON.
DEF CON is one of the oldest continuous running hacker conventions around, and also one of the largest. Kevin has attended several times and just got back from this year, he's eager to share his experiences. At his presentation, he will talk about the conference, and computer security in general. This year was especially interesting because the NSA, CIA, FBI, and AirForce, all major supporters of DEF CON, have been banned. Questions will be welcome, come prepared.
6 pm, RCTC Heintz Center's HA107.
Lunch NOT A FIELD TRIP: Thursday July 18th
Note second change in location
11:30 am. Thursdays on 1st, we'll take over a picnic table on the east end of Historic 3rd Street SW (that one way street on the north side of the Tap House and Billotti's). If you're new and won't recognize the group, this might not be a good first event for you, as we may be hard to spot.
In case of bad weather, you can still converge on the Apache Mall food court near B&N.
Courtesy of the forecasted heat indexes, we're back at the Apache Mall food court near B&N, at the usual 11:30 am. We'll try again in August.
Social: Friday July 12th
Sugru build night and Instructables writing. Instructables.com sent us several mini packs of Sugru Sugru self-setting rubber. Our challenge is to play with, create something and write up 4 sets of instructions, Instructables, about the things we did.
Your pre-preparation homework: Brainstorm something more unique than smartphone bumpers and handle (bike, garden tools, etc etc) grips. If you have some Playdough bring it along and we can experiment before using the somewhat pricey real Sugru. Here are some ideas other people had and have already done/written up.
We're meeting at the Toymakers hacker/maker space again.
547 Northern Heights Dr NE
Rochester MN 55906
6-9 pm
For anyone who hasn't been there yet, their house is on the north side of the road up a steep and twisted driveway; park on the road with a parking brake. Walk up the driveway, up the steps, and ring the doorbell. into the open garage door, and into the house without needing to ring the doorbell.
Technical Meeting: Thursday July 11th
Matt Bruzek attended the Bay Area Maker Faire, and will tell us about his experience. Anyone who attends the June KC Maker Faire is welcome to chime in too during discussion.
--
The Maker Faire ( http://makerfaire.com/ ) is billed as the "greatest show and tell on earth!". I will share our experience from our trip to the 2013 Bay Area Maker Faire. Try to describe the event, and suggest what to do if attend a Maker Faire in the near future.
--
When: Thursday July 11th - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: RCTC Heintz Center, in or near Room HA107
Lunch FIELD TRIP: Thursday June 27th
Note nonstandard date and location.
11:30 am, RochesterFest. Meet on the north side of the food area, we'll try to take over a picnic table or two. If you won't recognize the group, this might not be a good first event for you, as we'll probably be hard to spot.
Haven't been to the RochesterFest food vendors area before? They close down Civic Center Drive SE/3rd Ave SE between the library and the civic center. Got a favorite "fair food" that you'd like to make sure you can find? Here's a list of the vendors, what they sell, and coupons.
In case of bad weather, you can still converge on the Apache Mall food court near B&N.
Social: Saturday June 22nd
We're stealing RochesterFest ideas, and finally going to see Cascade Meadows environmental learning center in NW Rochester. There's a 10-2 event about pollinators (bees, butterflies, etc).
When: Noon
Where: Cascade Meadow Wetlands & Environmental Science Center, 2900 19th St NW Rochester MN 55901
We'll meet outside the main doors in nice weather, or just inside them in less plesant weather.
Here is the description offered on their website:
Cascade Meadow is fluttering with excitement to observe National Pollinator Week with a celebration of Bees, Butterflies, Bats, and Birds and their wondrous work as pollinators! We invite you to buzz over to a Pollination Celebration at Cascade Meadow.
Exhibitors from across Minnesota will help you discover the plants and animals that sweeten the world through pollination! The celebration will be fun for the whole family with lots of children’s activities hosted by Minnesota Master Naturalists.
Refreshments celebrating pollinators and their marvelous products will be available for purchase, but bring a water bottle to enjoy RPU’s award-winning drinking water. Admission is free and the Pollination Celebration is a Rochesterfest event! Be sure to carpool for better parking!
Technical Meeting: Thursday June 13th
Dennis DeLorme took a computer museum tour in California, and is willing to tell us about it. His main topic will be the Babbage difference engine. He'll also talk about connecting your LCD to ____. Remember the 2005 LCD presentation and project? Yep, that one.
When: Thursday April 11th - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: RCTC Heintz Center Room HA107
If this presentation runs short and weather permits, we'll go play some disc golf afterwards.
Here are Dennis' slides on the LCD portion.
Social: Thursday May 23rd
As of 5/13, there were still no disc golf holes out at RCTC, and I'm not thrilled about bringing toddlers to East Park for several reasons. So we're going to go to Stewartville, and play disc golf at Bear Cave Park. We typically have a few spare discs to share among those attending, but if you plan on attending and need to borrow it's best if you can give us a heads up. Otherwise you can throw your own non-golf disc, a ball, or a shoe.
Disc golf
Thursday May 23rd
6:30 pm, with 5:30 pm dinner at Wendy's south by Kohl's
Bear Cave Park, Stewartville
Lunch: Thursday May 16th
11:30 am, Apache Mall food court, near B&N.
Technical Meeting: Thursday, May 9th - FIRST Robotics Competition Demo at Byron High School
The Byron High School FIRST Robotics Competition team, just back from the Minnesota 10000 Lakes Regional, will fill us in on their experience in this exciting celebration of science, engineering and technology.
We will meet in the Byron High School Commons / Dining Hall at 6:30PM
Agenda:
5 min Overview of FRC and Byron Robotics
5 min Technical stuff on Bot
5 min Lessons Learned
5 min Mentor-ship Opportunities
20-40 min Ultimate Ascent game
There will be a "driver station" and arena mock up setup.
That will allow a few of us to try our luck at scoring within the standard 2 minute period.
The team only has two batteries so will probably run on last about 20 minutes or so.
Address:
1887 2nd Ave NW, Byron, MN 55920
Enter through doors by the flagpole. Note there is a choir concert at 7pm in the Auditorium
K-Lug and the Red Bull Creation 2013 Contest
Recently several K-Lug and PCIG members entered a Maker Contest called Red Bull Creation 2013. We were given an Arduino Shield (called the TurBULL Encabulator and 5 Meters of RGB LED light strips and 1 Meter of addressable RGB LED light strips. We bought 4 more addressable light strips and went to work...creating an invention of Peter Shabinos ...a touch sensitive Rock Climbing Wall called the WALL-O-TRON. Here is our video entry: http://youtu.be/9SB-FD13yPs
More details on the project can be found here: http://k-lug.org/RedBullCreation2013#Red_Bull_Creation_2013_-_K-LUG_Participation
Non-workday social: Wednesday April 24th
Civic responsibility opportunity, participate in the Litter Bit Better campaign, geocache, and hang out with some K-LUGgers and geocachers.
5:30 pm, Quarry Hill
Lunch: Thursday April 18th
11:30 am, Apache Mall food court, near B&N.
Show off and Networking event: Saturday and Sunday, April 13-14th
K-Lug will have a booth at the Minne-Maker Faire, partially to demo our Deconstruction 2013 projects but mostly to network, see other team projects and have some fun. Open to the public, Cost is $8, online, and $10 at the door. Children under 15 free ...stop by and say hi!
Saturday, April 13, 2013 at 11:00 AM - 5pm Sunday, April 14, 2013 11am - 5:00 PM (CDT)
The Hack Factory (http://www.tcmaker.org/blog/hack-factory/)
3119 E 26th St Minneapolis, MN 55406
More details and pre-order tix http://minnefaire.org/
Talk to Tim or to Matt Bruzek if you want to try to arrange anything as a group (carpooling, dinner, after-hours activities, etc). We plan to bike the greenway and visit axe-man
Social: Friday April 12th
2-5 pm: Rocket show, as part of the 67th Annual Convention of the North Central Region of the Astronomical League . The map and directions to the launch site can be found here.
Cancelled due to bad weather forecasts.
Technical Meeting: Thursday April 11th
Jim Walts, retired IBMer is about to launch a new web based business called QPonCompass.com This business includes a website, database, an iphone and Win/7 based app (in fact he's looking for help porting his app to Android and wondered if anyone on this email list is interested in taking that on?) The meeting will be this Thursday:
What: April K-lug/PCIG meeting QPonCompass.com - Jim Walts
When: Thursday April 11th - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: RCTC Heintz Center Room HA107
More details about QPonCompass.com:
We are technology lovers who saw a better way to share/deliver/distribute coupons. We recognized the dependence and love people have with their mobile devices, and how integrated into their lives these devices have become.
Qpon Compass was created to provide shoppers with deals in the new venue they live in. The speed and movement of information makes paper coupons obsolete and bothersome. We created a program that makes it easy to publish, learn about, purchase, and redeem deals for both the shopper and the business owner.
After spending time working for "mammoth technology companies", Jim and Kevin applied their skills and experience to the challenges of small business owners. Jim is passionate about making new technologies fun and practical; Kevin is a penny-pincher who strives to simplify daily tasks.
Qpon Compass was born!
Always forward-thinking, we are already looking at how we can make Qpon Compass better!
Social: Sunday March 24th
Potato cannon courtesy of Dennis DeLorme, and Rube Goldberg device construction with whatever you bring. Please sign up with what you are bringing so we can brainstorm some in advance, as Tina doesn't have a well stocked workshop to be raiding. http://k-lug.org/SocialMeeting
1 pm, Tina's house (address and directions via the email list)
Lunch: Thursday March 21st
11:30 am, Apache Mall food court, near B&N.
Technical Meeting: FIELD TRIP, Thursday March 14th
How to solder. Kits will have been available for pre-order at the February technical meeting, or bring your own current project. If you own your own soldering iron and are willing to bring it to share, that's great please do so. Also needed for loan for the evening are folding chairs and tables.
Pre-orderable kits:
1) http://www.parallax.com/tabid/768/ProductID/832/Default.aspx for $7, a colored lights robot badge.
2) http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2131207_-1 for $8, a two option decision maker.
3) http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2136999_-1 for $11, Simon Says.
We're meeting at the Toymakers hacker/maker space again. http://tymkrs.com/rabbithole/
547 Northern Heights Dr NE
Rochester MN 55906
6-9 pm
For anyone who didn't go there in January, their house is on the north side of the road up a steep and twisted driveway; park on the road with a parking brake. Walk up the driveway, up the steps, and ring the doorbell. into the open garage door, and into the house without needing to ring the doorbell.
Also, PCIG elections.
K-Lug and the Deconstruction and Minne-Faire
Recently K-Lug and PCIG members met at The Rabbit Hole Maker space to participate in the Deconstruction 2013. We has had a booth at the Minne-Faire where we demonstrated our projects. I'm leaving a link here for people to find more info about our projects: http://thedeconstruction.org/team/rabbit-hole/ http://k-lug.org/Main_Page/Deconstruction2013
Technical Meeting: Thursday February 21st
Dean Johnson, on "How I Work". Slides are here or here.
As regularly scheduled, this would fall on Valentine's Day. So as to not get anyone in trouble with their significant other, or to cause decreased attendance for our speaker, we've pushed this one back a week. Yes, you now can see your favorite geeks twice in one day if you also attend lunch.
Other agenda topics:
-Our delayed K-LUG officer elections (president, vice president, treasurer) and PCIG nominations.
-"How to solder" group kit orders, for March hands-on technical meeting. Please bring cash in exact change!
1) http://www.parallax.com/tabid/768/ProductID/832/Default.aspx for $7, a colored lights robot badge.
2) http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2131207_-1 for $8, a two option decision maker.
3) http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/Product_10001_10001_2136999_-1 for $11, Simon Says.
-What else?
When: Thursday February 21st - 6:00 pm - 7:30 pm
Where: RCTC Heintz Center Room HA107
Lunch: Thursday February 21st
11:30 am, Apache Mall food court, near B&N.
Unofficial social: Thursday February 14th
Who needs hearts when you can eat BRAINS! Zombie-themed game night at Tina's. Family and friends are welcome. It'd be nice if you could bring a drink or snack to share, or some folding chairs.
6 pm
Social: Saturday February 2nd, 1 pm
Let's piggyback on Winterfest.
http://www.rochestermn.gov/departments/park/activities/winter/WinterFest/WinterFest_Calendar.asp
I've tried to pick something cheap or free for the official social, but I'll also cite one activity that may be of interest for group members that has a higher entry fee if anyone wants an unofficial social (sorry, my family won't be making that one).
What: Horse drawn sleigh rides and bonfire, hot cocoa and cookies, plus free museum day at the History Center Museum.
Where: The History Center of Olmsted County, 1195 West Circle Drive SW
When: Saturday February 2nd, 1 pm
Cost: free will donation, which goes to Rochester Special Olympics.
Unofficial: Thursday February 7th, Bacon Fest! $20. http://baconfestrochester.wordpress.com/
Event runs 5-9 pm, I'll set a K-LUG meeting time of 6 pm. You'll have to look for someone else to gather around though, my family won't be attending this one.
Canadian Honker Event Center at the Ramada Hotel, 1517 16th St SW
At the door: CASH ONLY
Alternate method of payment: Tickets can also be purchased online by making a $25 donation to the Sunset Terrace Playground project. The deadline is Wednesday, February 6th at midnight. Tickets purchased online can be picked up at the event.
Social: Saturday, January 19th
The following schedule is tentative, because the official movie schedule is released on Wednesday or Thursday in a week for that weekend. That's not a lot of notice for planning a group event. But I've been informed by someone who movie-goes more than my ~1x/year that schedules don't tend to vary *too* much from week to week, so we'll use the current info to plan around.
Saturday January 19th
1 pm - lunch at Kingdom Buffet
3:20 pm - The Hobbit (2D) at Cinemagic
Not the fastest route, but the most straight forward, if you're unfamiliar with either location: http://goo.gl/maps/jnGFw
Details:
Lunch at Kingdom Buffet, followed by a movie. Feature movie is The Hobbit (2D), but there are several others starting in that same general timeframe if you'd rather attend something else. Alternatively, you can do just lunch or just the movie. We'll meet for lunch at 1 pm, 1639 N Broadway. The Hobbit is at 3:20 at Cinemagic (2171 Superior Drive N.W., by the old Westfire). If Chinese isn't your favorite, please don't be intimidated; Kingdom Buffet does have several buffet items that are more Midwestern acceptable (bbq ribs, teriyaki chicken shishkabobs, salad bar with jello, pudding, hard boiled eggs and fruit, ice cream, etc), it's our preferred spot to feed our toddler when we're out and need to put food in front of her immediately but don't want fast food.
Other movies being shown at approximately the same timeframe at Cinemagic:
3:00 - Parental Guidance (PG)
3:25 - A Haunted House (R)
3:40 - Zero Dark Thirty (R)
3:50 - Les Miserables (PG-13)
(unfortunately this is a much shorter list than it had been last weekend, we lost ~1/2 the options)
Both Mayo and Think Bank have discounted movie ticket rates, but I think those are only valid on non-matinee priced movies.
Lunch: Thursday January 17th
11:30 am, Apache Mall food court, near B&N.
Technical Meeting: FIELD TRIP, FRIDAY, January 11th, 2013
We're checking out a local hacker/maker space. 6 pm, we'll be tagging along to their standard monthly meeting. Their website: http://tymkrs.com/rabbithole/
547 Northern Heights Dr NE
Rochester MN 55906
If it's easy for you, throw in a folding chair. We'll provide the leftover pop from the December party, and some treats as usual. They've said if you have a project to work on, you should bring it with you.
Because of the rescheduling and the field trip, we'll put off officer elections until February.
Older News
OLD SITE
Content from our old website can be accessed here.