Friday Q&A: Far McKon of hacker space Hive76

Far McKon, seated right, helped create hacker space Hive76, which recently moved into new, larger digs | Photo: Technically Philly

After moving into a new, larger studio down the hall from its original location in the Poplar neighborhood, DIY hacker space Hive 76 is celebrating.

“We had a good year. We were nonexistant to a big space and now we have a huge crew of people,” organizer and “instigator” Far McKon tells Technically Philly.

Founded in March, McKon says that Hive developed organically to 12 full-time members, slowly building with the space’s weekly free-to-all open house, to find itself in its new 40-foot by 30-foot space that is three or four times the size of its previous location.

The group’s weekly events and occasional classes—like Jack Zylkin’s upcoming Guitar Effects 101 class—compliment its normally laid back atmosphere, witnessed first hand by Technically Philly recently.

We had a chance to sit down with McKon to talk about what the hacker space movement is all about, the group’s innovative MakerBot platform and Hive’s falling out with the Hacktory, after the jump.

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Shop Talk: Community leader focuses on Cadence Rowing performance wristwatch business

The Vo3 is Cadence Rowing's flagship stroke rate watch, the first in an expanding series.

In 2002, Vanja Buvac choose a path that would affect the next seven years of his life.

To create a product he had envisioned as an amateur rower in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he would have to become an engineer to design it or a patent attorney to protect it.

Buvac wanted to make it easier for rowers to track performance and saw an opportunity to create a portable device that could record stroke rate, unlike traditional in-cockpit stroke counters. He had a simple solution—incorporate the technology into a wristwatch. Rowers could wear it as a status symbol or strap the timepiece directly onto an oar.

“I thought, ‘do I hire an engineer to help me concoct this thing, or a patent attorney to help me patent it,” the tall, thin entrepreneur says, seated on a couch in his East Arch Street office, overlooking a spacial view of Center City. “I looked at the price of both. Engineers I could get for $40 an hour, patent attorneys were $300. So I said ‘alright, I better learn patent law instead of engineering,’ he says, laughing.

Cadence Rowing was born.

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Event Highlights for September 7-13, 2009

Fall weather is in full force and Philly’s tech events are starting to light up the calendar like summer fireflies.

This week has a handful of events that sound right down our alley, and we have a feeling you won’t have trouble finding one that interests you—or at least awakens the good person within.

Drew Olanoff’s tongue-in-cheek, not-sure-if-we-should-laugh-about-cancer fundraiser Blame Drew’s Cancer has made us re-think charity. It’s not about guilt anymore! It’s about Doing The Right Thing. Join Drew along with organizations like Open Chefame, Two Guys On Beer, IndyHall, LiveStrong, Taco Bell and more than a dozen musical performers on Wednesday for the Blame-A-Thon. The 24-hour fundraiser will happen throughout Philly and should be a blast, while simultaneously scaring the pants off that jerk called Cancer.

Also on Wednesday, don’t miss Creative Connects hosted by the BOSS Group, a mixer of local media professionals and Web developers. We’ll be darned if we said we don’t love the idea of those two getting together. Fall in love please, it’s a match made in heaven.

This Weekend, join Hacktory heads and analog and early digital computer enthusiasts at the Vintage Computer Festival in Jerz, a two-day event devoted to all things pre-Pentium. We recommend buying up some old tape drives and 2400 baud modems and trying to hack NORAD Wargames-style. The government will never expect an attack from a brute force app made in QBASIC.

Also on Saturday, join fellow Twitter folk at the Philadelphia Twestival. Hosted by Lucky Strike Bowling, this is the only chance you’ll have to play a game with fellow followers that isn’t hosted by Facebook. Damn if we don’t love us some Mafia Wars, but you’re gonna look great in those bowling shoes, we promise.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more.

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Events highlights for the week of July 6 – July 12, 2009

Oh jeez, it’s Monday already.

All in favor of giving the city that can claim to be the birthplace of this nation an extra day off for Independence Day say “aye.”

Great. Now that we gave ourselves an extra day for the weekend, you’ll be delighted to know that this week’s calendar features BBQs, hacking and happy hours galore.

Refresh Philly is taking a short break from trying to solve our city government’s technology problems to get together for a happy hour at Triumph. Come for the fellowship, stay to measure the huge brewing equipment to see if you can fit it in your basement.

The happy hours continue on Wednesday with Center City district’s Sips event. PANMA and various marketing groups will be on hand to help you join the association that is right for you on what is the self-proclaimed “happiest happy hour.”

You will have to finish working on your time machine by Thursday as Philly Startup Leaders host a BBQ (previous coverage here) at the same time the Philly Cocoa Heads hold their monthly meetup.

And on Saturday, cap it all off with relaxing stroll through The Hacktory at the group’s Open Hack event.

All events listed on the event calendar are free to attend. Be sure to check our complete calendar for more information, or follow us past the jump.
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The Hacktory receives $10,000 grant for long-term planning

Photo courtesy of The Hacktory.

The Hacktory has received a $10,000 grant from the Philadelphia branch of national financial and advisory service Nonprofit Finance Fund.

The money will be used to hire a consultant to help define a long-term sustainability plan to further the Fairmount-based group’s mission of promoting the use of technology in arts, Hacktory organizer Vanja Buvac told Technically Philly.

Since the grant was signed three weeks ago, Philly’s techno-hackers have been communicating with core community members and performing outreach for input on how the organization should grow, he says.

“What we’re hearing overwhelmingly is that the Hacktory empowers artists to embrace technology. Also, it empowers technologists to cross that boundary into art,” Buvac says.

“That’s what the people involved in the Hacktory are really passionate about.”

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Events highlights for the week of March 30 – April 5, 2009

Entrepreneurs are holding the biggest event on our events calendar this week. Join the city’s diverse range of entrepreneurs Thursday night—including more than 40 that have signed up to talk or show off their products—for an evening of thought-provoking business innovation with the Philly Startup Leaders at their Entrepreneur Expo. You’re guaranteed to set that brainstorming into overdrive, and who knows, you might meet the investor that will change your life.

The rest of the week, Bloblive is back and more “open” and “mic”-y than ever. SEO Grail will see what they can do to help get your Web site to the top of Google, but don’t expect miracles, people. Last, the Hacktory’s Open Hack! is back after complications last month.

Events listed in our highlights are free to attend. Please check our Events calendar for more information and read more after the jump.

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IgnitePhilly organizers ask community to suggest presentations for third event

Have five minutes to spare on Saturday, May 2?

Consider stopping by Johnny Brenda’s in Fishtown that evening to catch just one presentation at the next planned IgnitePhilly speaking event. Or take those minutes and give a presentation of your own. The third in a series of Ignites was officially announced yesterday in a blog post written by Geoff DiMasi of P’unk Ave, who says that organizers are currently accepting recommendations from the community for potential speakers, 15 in all, before the May event.

“Are you working on a rad project, have something interesting to say or know someone that is?,” he asks in the post. “We are looking for inspiring speakers that are doing cool things in Philadelphia.”

Ignite gives presenters a chance to fire off the details of their ideas or projects in five minutes or less with 20 backing slides. No sales pitches or shameless self-promotion accepted. Still confused? Just watch the video presentations from the first and the second Ignites. It’ll take much less than five minutes to realize the potential to learn, share knowledge, and grab one of JB’s frosty, craft-brewed beers while you’re at it. Beer may seem like a side note, but its an integral point of contrast to the university lecture setting that the organizers are trying to steer clear of.

We called DiMasi to glean some additional details and found out why he thinks Ignite is 2009’s answer to Fugazi, after the jump:

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Get your pinball tilt on with Make:Philly this Sunday

Over the past month, the crew at Make:Philly has been hacking together three pinball machine carcasses into a single playable arcade monstrosity. This weekend, it hopes to finish the project.

Unlike normal Make:Philly meetings, the entire duration of Sunday’s meet-up is devoted to making that pinball machine sing. The crew spent Valentine’s Day building parts (Ed. note: We apologize on behalf of M:P to significant others everywhere), so bring your polish and your quarters.

All skill levels are welcome at this event, whether you’re a wizard or you’ve got Xbox thumbs. We have our fingers crossed for a hacked skee-ball alley, next. We’ll skip the Jersey shore this summer if it happens. Staycation with Make:Philly and the Hacktory!

Make:Philly @ The Hacktory
1524 Brandywine St., Philadelphia
Sunday, Feb. 22, 2 p.m.
Please note that location and time has changed from regularly scheduled meetings.

Photo Credit: Aaron Weber

Art mash-ups with The Hacktory and NEXUS/foundation gallery

On Thursday, NEXUS/foundation for today’s art will partner with The Hacktory to unveil “Unintended Uses,” an exhibition showcasing more than a dozen artists’ art/tech mash-ups. It wasn’t easy. The artists set to hacking, sawing, wrecking, and Frankensteining video games, electronics, kinetics, musical instruments, motion sensors, paintings, computers, circuitry and public spaces.

Our witty, nearly non-sensical preview of the show, along with the where and when’s, after the jump.

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