#mitch altman

[b3aches]

What is a hacker? with Mitch Altman

[noisebridge]

Mitch's Eastern European & Belgium Tour of Hackerspaces

After my Midwest Workshop Tour of Hackerspaces <http://blog.noisebridge.net/2010/08/04/mitchs-midwest-workshop-tour-of-hackerspaces/> I had 8 days at home to prepare for me next Workshop Tour, this time visiting Eastern Europe and Belgium, where there are lots of new hackerspaces!

My trip to Europe was paid for by BruCON <http://2010.brucon.org/index.php/Main_Page>, and annual hacker conference in Brussels, Belgium, which is branching out this year from security to other diverse hacking activities. I’ll be giving a talk there on how to bring your project from idea to reality, and how to make a living on your project. I’ll also be setting up a Hardware Hacking Area, teaching people to solder and to make cool things with micrcocontrollers.

While in Belgium, I’ll also be visiting three hackerspaces in the area, giving workshops and talks.

VoidWarranties <http://we.voidwarranties.be> — Antwerp, Belgium HSB <http://hackerspace.be/Mitch_Altman_Electronics_Workshop> — Brussels, Belgium whitespace <http://0x20.be/Main_Page> — Gent, Belgium

And while I’m out here in Europe, Hacktivity <http://hacktivity.hu/portal/en>, an annual Eastern European hacker conference paid for my trip to and from Eastern Europe, where I’ll be setting up a Hardware Hacking Area.

While in Eastern Europe, I thought I’d put out the word and see if any of the brand new hackerspaces would like me to give workshops at their spaces. The response was very enthusiastic, and I set up a tour of four hackerspaces!

progressbar <http://www.progressbar.sk/> — Bratislava, Slovakia brmlab <http://brmlab.cz/event/mitchaltmanworkshop> — Prague, Czech Republic H.A.C.K. <http://hspbp.org/tiki-index.php> and Kitchen BudaPest <http://www.kitchenbudapest.hu/en> Harkopen <http://harkopen.com/news/workshop-mitch-altman> — Bucharest, Romania

Everywhere I go, hackers are graciously putting me up in their homes. I feel really grateful to be part of such a warm, welcoming, community of hackers.

As with my other tours, the workshops on this tour give anyone and everyone the opportunity to learn to solder by making any number of kits that me and Jimmie Rodgers and Ladyada and others have created to teach people to make cool things with microcontrollers — kits that are designed so that everyone, regardless of age or skill level, can complete successfully and take home with them. It is very similar to what I do when I’m home (and what Miloh does all the other times) at Circuit Hacking Mondays at Noisebridge . The workshops also help build publicity for the hackerspaces that host the workshops by attracting people to the space, and showing everyone how cool it is to have a hackerspace in their home town.

Sharing experiences about our hackerspaces is also a big part of how hackerspaces around the world help and support each other, and I’ll be sharing all I can about Noisebridge and how we got going and make things work out.

Other than reimbursement for air fare from the hacker conferences, I am doing this Workshop Tour without charge, and only ask to be reimbursed for any parts used ($10 to $30, depending on the kit). I do this ’cause I love it!

I am looking forward to meeting more of the coolest, intelligent, thoughtful, friendly, creative people in the world — hackerspace people!

Here is my schedule:

11-Sept: leave San Francisco 12-Sept: dinner with whitespace hackerspace — Gent, Belgium 14-Sept: progressbar hackerspace workshop and talk — Bratislava, Slovakit 16-Sept: brmlab hackerspace workshop and talk — Prague, Czech Republic 17-Sept: Hacktivity conference dinner — Budapest, Hungary 18-Sept: Hacktivity workshop 18-Sept: Hacktivity party 19-Sept: Hacktivity workshop 20-Sept: Kitchen BudaPest and H.A.C.K. visit — Budapest, Hungary 21-Sept: Harkopen hackerspace workshop — Bucharest, Romania 23-Sept: VoidWarranties hackerspace workshop — Antwerp, Belgium 24-Sept: BruCON conference talk and workshop — Brussels, Belgium 25-Sept: BruCOB conference workshop 26-Sept: HSB hackerspace workshop — Brussels, Belgium 27-Sept: whitespace hackerspace talk — Gent, Belgium 29-Sept: fly back home to San Francisco

After this tour, I’ll be home in San Francisco for the entire month of October!

— Mitch.

[themediashow]

[martinsiwy-blog]

Martin Siwy of ThermaSol® Presented with Two Prestigious Awards at DPHA Annual Conference

Siwy Recognized For Achievement and Unsurpassed Dedication to Plumbing Industry at Key Show

San Jose, Calif. – Martin Siwy, Western Regional Sales Manager for ThermaSol®, was honored with the Manufacturing Professional of the Year and Distinguished Service Awards at the Decorative Plumbing and Hardware Association’s (DPHA) annual conference Oct. 14-16, 2011. The ceremony generated public recognition of outstanding products, individuals and performance and acts as an extension of the decorative plumbing and hardware channel. The awards program aims to recognize distinguished individuals, corporate performance and unprecedented innovation within the decorative plumbing and hardware industry. The Manufacturing Professional of the Year award is bestowed to a decorative plumbing and hardware (DPH) manufacturer member who has made outstanding contributions to advance the DPH profession. Judging criteria for this award includes degree of involvement in DPHA activities, personal achievements in the industry, pursuit of personal improvement and education, job performance and accomplishments, involvement in and support of other DPH-related organizations, and finally public recognition for a deed or accomplishment which may or may not pertain to the DPH industry but reflects favorably on the individual as a DPHA member. The Distinguished Service Award recipient was selected by DPHA’s 2011 President, Steven Weinberg, and was awarded to Siwy for volunteering his time and resources to achieve the association’s goals. Siwy also proved to be an invaluable supporter of the association during the president’s term. Martin Siwy (right) accepting his award with Mitch Altman (left), CEO of ThermaSol® “I am truly honored to be the recipient of not only one, but two distinguished awards from DPHA,” said Siwy. “ThermaSol’s dedication to innovation and customer service makes it easy to support and align ourselves with DPHA’s industry commitments. Our unrelenting pledge to steam shower innovation has kept ThermaSol at the forefront of the industry and we are honored to have been recognized by such a force.” ThermaSol exhibited at the DPHA show with tremendous success as a myriad of attendees took the opportunity to relax at the “Letting Off Steam" lounge designed by Susan Bacchi and Napoleon at Home Interior Design. Complete with plush seating, fresh fruit, chromotherapy, custom artwork and soothing music, the booth brought the ThermaSol experience to guests. The show was an opportunity for ThermaSol to showcase their modern style controls as well as their Bluetooth® Zone that allowed guests to sync up their music players to the Serenity Light & Music system and help create the booth’s ambiance.