Geek Scrapheap Challenge II

[ewt]

Since the one in December was such a success, it's time for another Geek Scrapheap Challenge.

When: Saturday, 24th March, 13:00-20:00 (1pm-8pm)
Where: The Pembury Tavern, Hackney. They have free wifi, ethernet, excellent beer and food, and plenty of good solid tables for working at. They're also non-smoking, yay, and have no annoying music.

Here's the plan:
Bring computers - alive, dead, or just obsolete. Maybe you pulled it out of a skip. Maybe you haven't used it since you bought your newer, shinier laptop. Bring it. Bring tools. Bring cables. Bring your brain and your ideas, or just willingness help us figure out fiddly things.

You bring stuff, and together we try to make it into something useful. This might be a sparkly new machine for a charity (anyone have any good ones in mind?), it might be a terminal for someone's kitchen, it might be an external hard drive, it might be wall-art with stuff that's too dead to use. We don't know yet, because we don't know what's going to turn up on the day.

Rules:
1) Anything you bring you must be willing to cart away again. Where an item is made of parts contributed by more than one person, those people will be responsible for deciding who keeps it - otherwise it will have to be taken apart again.

2) Don't do anything that will get us in trouble with the landlord. This is my favourite pub and I want to be able to keep going back!

Stuff we'll need:
-spare, known-to-work network cards and cables if applicable
-spare, known-to-work keyboard or two
-ditto monitor (yes, I know they're heavy as all hell, but I don't have room for my very old one along with all the other crap I'm going to be carting around...)
-all sorts of testing and repair equipment
-a few extension leads
-possibly an anglepoise lamp or two


Please respond to this post if you are planning to attend. Feel free to link to this, but make it clear people should drop a line here if they're thinking about coming. (Note: "I'm interested but don't know yet, I'll see how I feel on the day/what else comes up between now and then" is acceptable; saying nothing and then turning up with six desktops at 19.30 less so, and will probably mean you lug around far more computers than you'd like.)

Comments

[kake]

Would it be possible to come along just to see people, and to drink nice beer? (“No, you'd be in the way” is an acceptable answer.)

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

Yes, it's possible and even desirable to come along just to see people and drink nice beer!

This is part of why doing it at the pub is good - there is enough space for computery goings-on AND lots of visiting.

:)

[kake]

Yay! OK, it's in the diary, and I'll come if I can.

[sci.livejournal.com]

I'll be there! I'll be sure to bring anything that doesn't sell on ebay, which could be a lot of RAM and tested-working duel-head graphics cards. Not selling the network cards I have because they're not worth much and they're very usefull, so I can bring some of them too. :)

[pplfichi.livejournal.com]

Interested will probably attend.

Unsure as what what to bring though.

[doseybat.livejournal.com]

I am supposed to be in St Albans for most of the day but might make it for the end bit. Only to provide moral support though..

[hairyears.livejournal.com]

Alas, I shall be in Paris all weekend.

[jaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, interesting. I'm afraid to say I have thrown out some old and unused computer parts, but I still have some spares left. I'll bring along what I can fit in a rucksac. (I guess I have to check my diary, but I don't think I'm doing anything then).