[ELECTRON] fablabs and wotnot

[Roy Mohan Shearer]

Sorry for the delay in responding to this chaps.
I'd just like to second what Simon said : At this stage Glasgow
Fablabs is a google group connecting people who are interested in
implementing such a thing in the city. I haven't had much time
recently to spend on it, but am really looking forward to the open day
event to find out what peoples' ambitions are and what they can bring
to the project. I feel like its something a lot of Electron Club
members would be interested in.
If you are, do join the group here to keep updated on news/discussion:

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/glasgowfablabs

In other news, I'm sorry to say my band Inspector Tapehead can no
longer play at the open day but I will be there eagerly, hopefully
with one of our tapehead inspector devices.

Further to the discussion on politics and the Electron Club:
personally, I am not very interested in the political world, but do
feel that both technology and politics have social implications and
for that reason are impossible to separate. There is a similar anxiety
in the concept of Fablabs that in having an open workshop people could
make things that others might disapprove of (the charter
[http://fab.cba.mit.edu/about/charter/] draws the line at things that
hurt anyone). For me, this freedom is essential for the diversity of
the practical ideas being explored (which could have numerous
applications) and for people to feel empowered rather than constricted
by technology.

best wishes all,

Roy Mohan Shearer
(post-)Industrial Designer

____________________________________________________
Zero-waste Design,
Southside Studios, 17 Westmoreland St., Glasgow, G42 8LL
+44 (0)141 2211926
www.zero-waste.co.uk
___________________________________________________
www.zero-waste.co.uk/thesound | www.dbasscollective.co.uk




2009/5/15 Simon Yuill <simon at lipparosa.org>:
> Hi,
>
> Just to clarify things a bit, I should make it clear that there are
> currently no plans for the Electron Club itself to be made into a
> FabLab. We really don't have the space or infrastructure to support a
> large scale fabrication workshop. The aim of the FabLabs Glasgow project
> is to bring together people who might be interested in helping set such
> a place up. It would need quite substantial funding and would definitely
> require a very different form of health and safety provision from what
> we currently have at the Electron Club.
>
> The Electron Club are supporting this project by making the space
> available for that group to have meetings and by hosting the FabLab
> forum as part of the Open Day, where people can learn more about what
> this might entail and what its purpose could be. Roy Shearer has
> initiated this project,and he and Andy McDonald have some really
> exciting and interesting ideas about this which are well worth a listen.
>
>
> Secondly, the Electron Club is not publicly funded. We are run 100
> percent as an unfunded voluntary body, whenever costs have arisen (as
> with the recycling of monitors or the current broadband plans) we have
> sought to cover this primarily from our own resources.
>
> Thirdly, as a voluntary run group what we do is totally dependent on
> what people contribute. If people feel there should be more activities
> of any particular sort the best thing to do is organise something. Book
> the room, send out an email and invite people along. It could not be
> simpler.
>
> Lastly, I would look forward to more discussion about what the Electron
> Club could be, should be or currently is, such discussion is most useful
> when based on actual concrete facts about what is actually going on. The
> best way to get an idea of this is to meet other people and have a chat.
>
>
> Oh, one last thing, I was going to make rhubarb crumble for the Open
> Day, unless anyone has objections to that .....
>
>
> best wishes
> Si
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