News, new members, equipment donations and so on

[Martin McGrath]

Happy new year everyone!

There are a few points to pick up on, so please read all of this and
let me know (either on list or directly) if you have any questions.

Firstly, new members:

Lisa Burton - "Hi there, I'm Lisa (hi!) and I'm quite keen to join the
Electron Club. I like to code and I like to play with electronics. I'd
like a cool space with like minded to people to work on my personal
projects and maybe even collaborate with others. Looking forward to
hearing back! Any questions, let me know. :] Thanks, Lisa"

Neil Alexander - "I'm Neil, I work at HPE in Erskine and I have an
active interest in most things technological, although computer
networking in particular."

Tara Pattenden - "Hi I've recently moved to Glasgow. I make wearable
synthesizers experimenting with lunetta circuits and soft circuitry. I
reguarly give workshops and perform and make sound machines to sell.
Really interested to meet up with other electronics makers and other
makers. I'm also interested in loads of other tech :D Tara"

Steven Grist - "Interested in electronics....light sequencers years
ago, had to a lot of soldering, running a mobile disco 30 years or
more ago. Things have got smaller! Have a Samsung S3 phone which gave
up two years ago and it is the switch I think...my hands are pretty
bad at fixing things although I have browsed the various help videos.
I have a Maplin Rasberry kit but I have not got around to using it
yet... I did some coding and computer programming in 1991. My father
was Senior System analyst for Scotland at the National Savings Bank in
Pollok, so it runs in the blood. There is a Python Programme on the
phone and a guide book, so am looking into that. I used to go to the
Third Eye Centre in the 70's and a cycle group in the mid 90's met in
the CCA once a month. It has changed a lot since then for the good :)
I want to fix the S3 and try out other ideas with like minded people I
Guess"

Welcome aboard, there are a bunch of links for you at the bottom of
this email. Please read on.

2016 saw the 10th anniversary of the Electron club. Here is a little
reminder of some things:

The space is given to us free by the CCA, who also provide electricity
and internet access at no charge. We are unique in this, no other
cultural tenant receives this.

We have no leaders, the community is supposed to drive the space and
as a collective maintain the space. Bob, Kenny and myself are the main
points of contact for the CCA should they need to speak to someone,
and otherwise act as caretakers. Our website and mailing lists are
kindly hosted by ScotLUG, all of the equipment we have available in
the space has been donated and maintained by our members.

The longevity of the space to a certain degree is in the hands of it's
members. To align with changes the CCA have to make to their working
practises we have to support them better in terms of the information
we make available about who we are and what we do. These are metrics
they are being means tested on in order to receive some of the grants
they do, which in turns allows them to operate.

The front page of the website now lists all events occurring within
the next 30 days, also available via rss feed.

As you can see some of them don't really explain what's going on at
all. In the interests of the continued existence of the electron club
and in actually letting other members know what's going on, if you use
the space please create a group and add a link it (or external
website) when making bookings:

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=info

If you have existing bookings please review and improve any listings
you have. Focus on clarity, the booking should make it clear to anyone
what is going on. Explain or avoid acronyms. Remember that this serves
multiple purposes, the CCA need to know what's going on, and ideally
we should be encouraging participation as much as possible.

Donations

Recently we have had some interesting donations. Firstly someone
contacted us via the website offering some test equipment, stepper
motors and some other bits and bobs, thanks again to Kenny C for
collecting this and doping it off, and Kenny D for going through it
all. In addition a friend of mine has donated the shell of a small CNC
machine. I'm donating an arduino mega, ramps board and stepper
drivers, Kenny D likely has a power supply we could use. We're aiming
to crowd source the few remaining parts and then hold an event to
build a CNC machine. A project page has been created. Updates to the
will be posted on list as well as on the site, proposed dates for the
build will operate in the same manner as other Electron Social get
togethers, various dates are proposed, people can register their
interest and a suitable date is chosen which suits everyone best.

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=projects:welcome

At present we have one computer in the room. We've had a donation of
two better specification machines, to replace the ageing system we
currently have. Many people have their own laptop they can bring to
the room, however it's important that we have something available for
those who don't.

Finally on donations, please do not leave donations in the room,
contact us first on info at electronclub.org or via the contact form:

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=contact

This prevents any confusion over ownership, or the collection of items
that will simply never be used.

Use of the room

If the room is untidy when you arrive please contact us (as described
above) to let us know. Please clean up after yourselves, especially at
this time of year with the weather being the way it is. If you take
something form a shelf please try and put it back in the same place.
It's difficult to be able to tell people what equipment they can use
when it keeps moving rather than being available in the same place.

As the CCA provide our Internet access, please don't stream
video/audio for entertainment purposes. It's fine to stream media if
your meeting requires it, otherwise please respect the resources we're
provided with.

Upgrades and bugs

Thanks to Kenny C and Kenny D for upgrading the server our mailing
list, website and other tools run from. As always with such things
there may be unexpected problems with parts of the infrastructure we
use. If you see something which no longer works the way you expect
please contact info at electronclub.org with details. Please try to be
specific, explain what isn't working, what you expect to happen and
how it fails. Any error messages or specific dates/times when problems
occurred are very useful as it saves a lot of time when investigating
such matters. Bob has provided a good article to read as a primer for
asking questions the smart way, which is linked to on our info page:

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=info

An issue was reported with the calendar system. This could not be
replicated on demand. Tweaks to the configuration have been made,
people reporting the problem have been informed. If this is still
occurring then we need to be informed.

Finally the website

The website is a wiki, and a lot of the content is specific to
individual groups. Essentially groups should take ownership of this
content and maintain it properly. We regularly get asked questions
about individual groups and have no information to pass on to people.
In the past this has included questions from CCA staff.

Work has been done to improve the functionality and some of the
content, but ownership and participation of others is required.

Please let me know if you have any questions about any of this, either
on list or directly by email to info at electronclub.org

Links:

Questions & Answers, guides and general Electron club information:

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=info

How to use the Calendar to book the room:

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=howto:calendar

Events:

http://electronclub.org/doku.php?id=events

Thanks

Martin