The Cowtown Computer Congress

Just a quick update regarding the raffle –

Thank you to everyone for your generous support. The raffle was a tremendous success, selling out early! We greatly appreciate the support we received from the community. Your donations will be used to create a thriving hackerspace that will benefit the community for many years to come. Anyone familiar with the space should have already witnessed the positive impact that you have made to the space. We now have chairs and workbenches, and more tools and folding tables are on the way. All of this contributes to the eventual success of the space, and we really need to thank each and every one you, I say this with a sincere heart that I hope YOU win!

So now lets talk about how the raffle will work. By this time EVERYONE who purchased a ticket should have received it. We had a large run on numbers toward the end combined with a mail-server change the process was significantly slowed. Our treasurer is stating that all 200 numbers have been emailed out, so if you dont have yours yet, you need to contact raffle@cowtowncomputercongress.org. (Make sure to include your paypal information)

The number drawing will happen SUNDAY MARCH 1st.  The number will be drawn using random.org‘s “True Random Number Generator”.  From their website:

“RANDOM.ORG offers true random numbers to anyone on the Internet. The randomness comes from atmospheric noise, which for many purposes is better than the pseudo-random number algorithms typically used in computer programs. People use RANDOM.ORG for holding draws, lotteries and sweepstakes, to drive games and gambling sites, for scientific applications and for art and music.”

We will post the results ON THIS WEBSITE sometime after 1pm March 1st.  So keep checking the site to see if you have won the BRAND NEW, ALUMINUM UNIBODY 2.4 GHz MACBOOK.  We will then contact the winner (via email) sometime March 2nd, to congratuate that lucky person and to get shipping information.  Good luck, from everyone at the CCCKC — we hope YOU win.  (yes, I mean YOU, the one reading this right now)

The space is really coming together, and last night looked like I expect many nights will look as we prepare to open the space 24/7 for makers, hackers, and tinkerers to collaborate with one another. It was cool to see some toys, projects and brainstorming already underway at our underground lab.

It was retro-computing night, apparently. This is my Zenith ZWL-184-97 “SuperSport”. It’s rocking an upgraded CPU (8086 with 8087 co-processor) at 8MHz, a 20MB built-in HDD and a 4-greyscale CGA monitor.

Victor tore into his Apple //e. He feared that the drive had been “eating” disks, so he took to it with Everclear. One drop for the read head. One shot for Victor. Two drops for read head. One, Two shots for Victor. No, he didn’t drink it.

The ultimate test: Oregon Trail! Success!

Nekkid Apple pr0n:

Someone put a license plate frame on the plate I donated to the space.

And hevnsnt brought in the LED banner

… then Jestin defaced it…

Billy Crook’s Remote-camera robot was a big hit. The camera mounted on the claw transmits audio and video back to the visor being held in the background.

A Robot’s eye view:

Arduino hacking

An old rack-mount modem bank, repurposed as an LED display project.

This robot is controlled by an R/C car remote and uses normal (albeit slightly modified) R/C servos. It’s designed to fit inside a typical hamster ball and then you can stroll around. The battery pack bracket hangs from a second servo, so steering is handled by changing the center of gravity. Sorry, no camera attached to this one.

Originally posted at HiR Information Report

On Monday, March 2nd beginning at 1830 the CCCKC board of directors will be on hand to meet with current and prospective affiliates.

Who should attend? All current and prospective affiliates of CCCKC

What’s affiliation all about? One of our primary goals as an organization is to support the local user group community. We can do this through cross promotion and the provision of space to work on projects and hold meetings in our 700 square foot classroom space. Affiliates also will have a member placed on the CCCKC Board of Directors so that everyone who utilizes the space has a say in its management.

Why should affiliates come out on this night over the others? This will be a great time to see the facility without all of the other activities which will be going on during the rest of the grand opening. Of course everyone is invited to participate in all of the week’s activities.

If you would like to attend, we recommend that you contact cinus at cowtowncomputercongress dot org in order to ensure that we will have a packet of materials for you to take back to your group.

All next week we will be screening a number of films. The movies will start after the other activities wrap for the evening, and we hope you can hang around to take part.

Monday Night: REVOLUTION OS

Wednesday Night: MAKE: Television

Thursday Night: Urban Explorers: Into the Darkness

Friday Night Double Feature (or Revenge of the Bad ISO): Hackers Are People Too and Graffiti Research Lab: The Complete 1st Season

Note – This is the press release which we issued to a number of media outlets. You can watch the schedule of events become more refined by subscribing to our calendar or checking the events page. – jur1st

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Cowtown Computer Congress Opens Their Underground Lab

February 26th, 2009. Kansas City, MO – The Cowtown Computer Congress (CCCKC) is happy to announce the opening of their Underground Lab to the public with a full week of events Beginning on March 2nd, the grand opening showcase the rich and vibrant community of creative minds in the Kansas City area. CCCKC, the first organization of its kind in the midwest, will serve the community by providing technology classes, donating unique projects to local organizations and technology assistance to those in need.

The week will kick off on Monday, March 2nd with an open house for individuals and organizations who are interested in learning more about the organization and how they can take advantage the Underground Lab for meetings, classes and other activities.

The creative talents of CCCKC members will be showcased on Wednesday March, 4th. The member project showcase will be followed by a screening of Make:TV, a public television series which will be shown for the first time in the Kansas City area that night. If you’re curious about what CCCKC and the maker culture are all about, this is the night to come be inspired. Projects to be showcased range from alternative methods of energy generation to a labyrinth game which is controlled with the balance board from a Nintendo Wii Fit.

Thursday, March 5th is the regular member meeting where members come together to discuss group projects being developed for donation to local organizations and plan future community service projects like our monthly free computer repair opportunities.

Friday evening will feature a slate of speakers covering topics ranging from improving home security and information management to protecting data from theft while using public wireless internet.

On Saturday the public is invited to take part in a range of free workshops on basic electronics and soldering, e-textiles and Nintendo Wii hacking. All day members will be available to assist members of the public choose, install and configure computers using the free and open source Linux operating system.

About The Cowtown Computer Congress

The Cowtown Computer Congress (CCCKC) is a not for profit technology cooperative founded to advance technology of all kinds. They are a member supported organization providing technology classes, workshops and services to the public free of charge. CCCKC brings together some of the finest minds in midwest to collaborate on research and projects for other local groups. Through their affiliate program, CCCKC gives assistance to specialized technology user groups by providing them with a facility to hold meetings and work on projects of their own.

CCCKC’s Underground Lab is located 85 feet below the surface of the earth at 31st Street and Southwest Trafficway in Kansas City, Missouri.

http://www.cowtowncomputercongress.org

Further inquires should be made to:
press at cowtowncomputercongress.org or to
John Benson – President and Co-Founder
816-332-6389

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