Sunday, February 21, 2016

Coffee Break #6 - Recap

It was a bright sunny Saturday, but we still had a great turnout for Coffee Break #6 at Cafe Delirium. We had several lively conversations going on at any one time, so I know I missed things. Feel free to let me know if there is anything I should include in the notes. These are the things that I remember:

  • PyBoard - Pat discussed his recent experience with the PyBoard. The PyBoard runs a version of Python called MicroPython. Pat feels that the MicroPython environment provides a rapid prototyping and development environment that rivals the Arduino.
  • Repair Café - Gresham is having its second Repair Café on February 28th at the Gresham Library. They are looking for volunteer fixers who aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and try to save useful things from our landfills.
  • East Metro STEAM Partnership - EAST Knowledge likes to keep tabs on local tech developments. Jim was filling us in about the latest happenings with the EAST Metro STEAM Partnership. They have recently had some successful grant applications which will be used to fill a Director position. I'm not sure where the official website is, but here is option #1 and option #2.
  • Intel Hiring Policies - Apparently Intel has had a long standing policy of not rehiring people after they had been let go for performance reasons. Intel has recently extended this policy to cover people let go during layoffs. There has been some controversy around this.
  • David's 3D Printer - David has been working on upgrading his current 3D printer by printing the necessary parts. It looks like he has been making pretty good progress. (Picture of his bin is not representative of his progress.)
  • Bill's Power Supply - Bill discussed plans he has for creating a modular power supply for his amplifier projects. The idea is to be able to build a single power supply that he can then reuse with different circuits.
  • Andromeda Strain - I don't remember how this came up, but somebody mentioned the movie Andromeda Strain. I haven't seen it (or read the book it is based on), but it sounds interesting (if dark). However, I don't know whether they were referring to the 1971 version (trailer), or the 2008 TV mini-series (trailer). I'm pretty sure one of us suggested that the 1971 one was worth watching.

That's all for now. Thank you to everybody who came out. It was good fun! If you couldn't make it this time, we hope to see you at one of our future meetings.

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Coffee Break #6

Update: A meeting recap.

Come join us for coffee and “tech-talk” at Cafe Delirium! If you are interested in technology but are not yet familiar with our group, the coffee break is a nice opportunity to drop by and introduce yourself. We have the room in the back reserved. We're going to hang out for a couple of hours, so feel free to come by, talk shop, show off what you're working on, ask questions and pick each other's brains. We look forward to seeing you there! All are welcome!

What:Coffee Break
Where:Cafe Delirium
308 N Main Ave, Gresham (map)
When:10:00am - Noon, Saturday, February 20th, 2016
Why:Sharing what we know over good coffee