Hack to the Future 2012

I’ve been to a lot of unconferences in my time, but none with any level of excitement to match Hack To The Future!

The event, created by Alan “@teknoteacher” O’Donohoe, was a massive opening salvo to highlight the recent UK Government announcement that the ICT curriculum is changing from September 2012. Alan successfully brought together children, businesses and enthusiasts to produce 40+ talks and workshops on the day.

Some stand out sessions include

Freakclown’s – Ethical hacking.

Andy Piper – Nanode workshop (Many thanks to Ken Boak for providing 10 free Nanodes!)

Dr Tom Crick – The future of ICT Education.

I loved the mix of workshops and sessions, children loved the hands on experience of using electronics in the lab, I saw many children sitting down and learning to solder with the Fignition team, Julian and Helen did a fantastic job of engaging with the children (and the adults who were fighting to get their hands on the tiny 8-bit computer) and illustrating that electronics can be fun.

Children also enjoyed creating their own hama bead creations, a session lead by a 12 yr old girl. Adults sat side by side with children and learnt how to make various badges and figures (There were quite a few 8-bit and 16-bit game character creations coming out of that workshop.)

The children were given free reign to choose what talks they wanted to see, and used handy mini maps and mini grids to record when and where a talk took place.

On the day, the BBC unveiled a very early pre alpha build of their new coding platform, dubbed the BBC Micro II. This platform allows beginners to learn how to code, and then their source code can be compiled for many different platforms. It’s still early days, but it is a fantastic premise, and one which I will follow with great interest.

Blackpool Linux User Group were there, and interest in Linux was very high, children asked about the different distributions, and tried out the latest on a bank of laptops that they had ready for them to use. One child asked if they could make a CD for them to take away, and the team were more than happy to do that for them, until the asked for a 50 Cent CD. (Surely they meant 50CentOS?)

Microsoft showed off their Gadgeteer platform, it’s very similar to the Arduino platform. The Gadgeteer workshop ran all day, and it was packed! Children had the chance to build and program a digital camera using the platform. I really liked the idea of the Gadgeteer, it was easy to use and develop for. (But don’t worry Arduino is still my first choice for developing hardware.)

At the end of the day, Dr Tom Crick presented the closing keynote, that the purpose of the day was to excite and inspire children and adults to make a difference in the ICT curriculum, highlighting that the event is the start of many similar events around the UK, and indeed the world.

Alan is keen to point out that the event was completely open source, and that other schools around the world are encouraged to use the framework at wiki.hackademy.org.uk and improve upon it. Take the framework into your school or college and shape it into something that delivers the maximum benefit for your children.

This event was fantastic, and I recommend it to children and adults, you can learn so much, just by having fun.

 

Take a look at Hack to the Future’s lanyrd page

Barcamp Blackpool 2011

The third Barcamp Blackpool took place on the 15th October, and I can honestly say that this event gets better every year. A fun, casual and informative event, with a mixed audience from the diverse IT community. As you may know, a barcamp allows anyone to host a talk, on any subject.
There were talks covering Arduino / kinect hacking (including controlling a RC helicopter using hand movements), computing in schools, and the most popular talk, error messages. The error messages talk was a comedy routine that covered error messages from Spectrum to Windows 8. (I didn’t see any Linux errors in there )

A theme present on the day was the state of IT education in the UK, with it being made clear that children are no longer being taught the theory of computing, rather they are taught to use proprietary applications. It is important that children are taught Computer Science, but at the same time we must also show that you can use a computer for more than just programming and spreadsheets.

What was refreshing, was the strong Linux presence, with Blackpool LUG hosting a live demo of Ubuntu 11.10, Linux podcasters Dan Lynch and Pete Cannon (aka Dick Turpin), and a few Ubuntu users hosting presentations. Barcamps are normally populated by Macs, so it’s great to see people using Linux in their workflows.
What I enjoyed most about this event was the diversity, in talks, attendees, and even sponsors. There was a considerable number of people who had never attended a barcamp before, and looking at the hashtag on twitter #bcblackpool they will be going to a lot more in the future.
Barcamp Blackpool is a rare treat, a barcamp that provides interesting talks, and is relaxed and informal to attend. Roll on 2012.

All of my pictures are available from my flickr account

Barcamp Mediacity 2011

A new, and potentially one off Barcamp, hosted in a fantastic new venue? Where do I sign up?
Barcamp Mediacity, five years in the planning, was a fantastic experience. Organised by Ian Forrester (@cubicgarden on Twitter), this event oozed high quality. The venue, kindly provided by the BBC, was fantastic, offering space for groups to work, share ideas, and enjoy a few console games.

Blackpool LUG was there, ready and eager to take part in a full day of fantastic talks.

The attendees, and the talks themselves, lent heavily on software development, and general project methodologies. From starting up a business using lean / agile practices to Android and iPhone app development, the technical talks were excellent.

There were some, more interactive talks, a great session where you were encouraged to pick up an instrument, and create music, and an interesting talk about country music.
While there were some Linux powered laptops, it was a generally Mac heavy event. I did see Ubuntu’s unity interface dotted around the screens of a few laptops, but it seems that the Mac still dominates for this particular group.
A welcome addition to the event were the Manchester Girl Geeks in Residence, offering advice, and hosting talks, seeking to interest more women in a heavily male dominated tech industry.

I met up with Alan O’Donohoe AKA @teknoteacher and we discussed RaspberryPi, programming, and ICT education. And from this discussion we hatched an elaborate plan called #codelab.

#codelab was a hoax, but we didn’t tell anyone that it was a hoax, we built up the hype on twitter. Delivered a convincing session, then sat back and watched as the BBC swarmed around Alan, asking for interviews and more details.

And from this hoax, we have a new event, called Hack to the Future where we will be hosting workshops and sessions for 200 children.

Barcamp Mediacity was great, the venue and hospitality were fantastic, and the range of talks provided a real wealth of free information for attendees to tap in to. I hope that it is not a one off, as it provides a lot, but asks for very little .
I would recommend that people try a barcamp near to them. While they are not a true Linux event, you can always host a talk about Linux, and give away a few CDs to interested parties. Barcamps give you the chance to talk about any subject, so go on…find one now.

Oggcamp 11

Oggcamp, the jewel in Linux unconference community, now in it’s thrid year, and growing bigger and better every year.

I am lucky, in that I have been to all of the previous Oggcamps. The first, in 2009 was in Wolverhampton, at the Connaught Hotel. The venue was just right for the number of attendees, lots of space in the main room, and a few smaller rooms where talks could be hosted.

In 2010, the venue changed to the Black-E in Liverpool, a much larger venue, for a much larger crowd.

In 2011, the third Oggcamp was held in Farnham Maltings, Farnham. A large, well layed out venue, with a large hall (seating around four hundred people), exhibition space, and smaller rooms for sessions.

This years Oggcamp was fantastic, creating a large event, filled with lots to see and do, while at the same time providing a personal and comfortable experience for Oggcamp veterans and newbies alike.

(Photo courtesy of Matt Daubney, used under CC-BY-NC-SA)

This year, I was the crew manager, and I was responsible for leading a crew of around 22 volunteers in the general running of the event. The best word I can use to describe how the crew worked was seamless, everyone just slotted into place.

(Photo courtesy of Miia Ranta under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

So dear reader, lets take a look at behind the scenes of Oggcamp

Saturday 13^th August, Premier Inn, Aldershot

• 06:30
  • It’s early…I’m tired, but I am excited to be getting ready for Oggcamp, no breakfast, as they didn’t open until 7:30am #facepalm
• 7:30
  • Tony Hughes, Arran Gallagher and I wait for Mike “Heed” Rimicans to arrive in “The Heed-mobile”
• 07:45
  • Heed arrives…after I ring a back up taxi! We load up the car, and head out to Farnham Maltings
• 08:00 Farnham Maltings, Farnham
  • We arrive at the venue, and unload the gear.
• 08:15
  • I assemble the crew, and start issuing out jobs to people.
    • Those identified as having AV skills meet Alan Bell, our head of AV for the weekend.
    • I have a natter with Alan, to ensure that all of his AV requirements are met, and ask if he needs more crew over the day, to which he says yes, so I gather more crew for him to work with over the weekend.
  • The rest of the crew, and I start shaping the venue to our requirements.
    • Setting up tables for stalls.
    • Banners and Signage.
    • Moving stock to the stalls.
    • Reception desk
    • Campfire Manager terminals
    • Twitterfall
    • Setting up the exhibition space
      • Ensuring exhibitors requirements are met.
      • Checking rooms are fit for purpose, with no health and safety issues present.
      • Ensuring health and safety rules were complied with (Sorry Ken, but Nanodes in the sunshine was a lot better )
• I allocated some of the crew to work in the rooms, on a rotating hourly shift basis, so that they worked for an hour, then had an hour off.
• Other crew members took part in the talks, and helped out where necessary, for example giving crew members on the stalls a break where needed.
• I was conscious that the crew were all volunteers, and as such I wanted them to enjoy Oggcamp, rather than feel as though they had to work the whole weekend, so I ensured that everyone rotated around the venue, and had as much time off as possible.
• 11:00
  • I’m interviewed by Ken Fallon from Hacker Public Radio, about how the crew were organised.
• 12:00
  • Myself and Robin Catling record a quick fullcircle podcast segment about day one of Oggcamp.

• 12:30

• I assemble a crack team of soft drink smugglers, and using the trolley from the venue (sorry venue) we head over to the O’Reilly offices to liberate some soft drinks.

(Photo courtesy of Miia Ranta under the Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic (CC BY-SA 2.0)

• 13:00
  • Geeknic is go..go..go……A park full of highly caffeinated geeks is a good thing.
• 14:00
  • Back to work for the team.

• Live Show
  • All the crew work together to ensure that the venue is cleared, secure, and all of the attendees are in the main hall for the live show.

• End of the day
  • Check all the rooms are secure, our merchandise is locked away in the venue, everyone knows what time to report the next day (well apart from one person I missed, who unfortunately turned up 2 hours early, sorry mate).
• 17:00
  • Now back to the hotel to get ready for a few beers in Farnham.

• 18:00 to unknown
  • Hello my name is beer, I like Les.
  • @bobobex got smashed, daughter dismayed.
  • Fire performers.
  • Slow bar staff.
  • Great music.
  • Not enough drinking time.

Sunday 14^th August

• 07:30
  • You know the drill…
• 08:00
  • Breakfast, in a word, shocking!
  • I believe I ordered my bacon cooked!
• 09:30
  • Arran, Tony, Kevan, Frances and Les pile into Tony’s car and head to the venue.
• 10:00
  • We arrive and start yesterday’s process again. But this time I make sure that the crew who worked in the rooms the day previous, were not working in the rooms on Sunday.
  • Ensuring that there are enough crew to man the stalls, man the rooms, cameras, av suite, help exhibitors, take breaks you name it.
• 11:45
  • Ambjörn, who shall now forever more be known as Gaius Baltar (the resemblance is uncanny) needs his presentation printing out, cue Les liaising with venue staff to make that happen.

• 14:00
  • __Freakyclown__ has a problem with Campfire Manager, so I call upon Mark to help him out.
• 15:00
  • The first “live in front of a studio audience” edition of The Dick Turpin Roadshow. With special guests Mr & Mrs Corenominal
    • Now this was a challenge! We had to swap rooms with another speaker (Thanks Big Ron from Wolves LUG).
    • Update Campfire Manager (Thanks Mark) to reflect the new room.
    • Beg, borrow, cadge and steal enough equipment to record the show and play jingles / show image on screen.
    • Ask Dan Lynch to use the mixing desk, and record the show through that (on his Zoom H4, with my Zoom H2 as a backup on the stage)

• Raffle
  • Just like the live show, check all the rooms are clear, and that everyone is in the main room for the raffle.
• End of event
  • I place Tony “Hard Sell” Hughes on the merchandise stall, and he does me proud, I thought thumb screws were illegal, but he applied them with scary efficiency.
  • Pack up, tidy up, and ensure that everyone is out, and that all of our equipment is too.
  • Hand back the keys to the venue staff.
  • Get taxi back to hotel.
• 18:30 till far too late
  • Food, drinks, friends.

Monday 15^th August

• 02:55
  • Fire alarm goes off, I wake up instantly, room mate is unaware of any alarm, even after I tell him to get the f”(% up
• 07:30
  • I am very tired, so I make a coffee, and try not to wake my room mate, then head outside for some fresh air. Where I am pounced upon by HPR roving podcaster Ken Fallon, so with a cup of coffee in hand we record a podcast on a picnic bench, in the playground of the pub next door.
  • I then join Phil, Becky and Emma for breakfast, where we look back to the weekend that was with melancholy, happy to have been part of it all, but completely shattered.
• 12:00
• On train, back up’ north!

Oggcamp was amazing, the presenters put on a great show, the speakers were exceptional, but I think the biggest thanks should go to the crew, they volunteered their time, they worked tirelessly, and knew exactly what to do!

So to all the crew I say, thanks!

Roll on Oggcamp 2012

 

Les

 

Oh and just in case you missed it, popey just loves chicken

It’s all happening!

It’s been a mad few weeks, so lets try and recap.

Geekup Blackpool

Blackpool finally has a geek social event.

I’ve wanted to setup an event like this for a while, but I’ve not had the time. So it came as quite a shock when the plan fell into place without any major hitches.

The first meeting was on the 25th July at Gillespies pub, and you can read more here

I’ve also been in a meeting with Fiona Dransfield from Blackpool Council, about the councils involvement with social / creative and technical events in Blackpool (such as Barcamp Blackpool Blackpool Social Media Surgery, and Geekup)

Blackpool Social Media Surgery

Duncan and Cath held the second Blackpool Social Media Surgery, I came along to help as a surgeon.

Myself and @surlydev showed Mike from Blackpool Advocacy (@blackpooladvo) how to use Twitter effectively for their organisation. Including how to use Dropbox to share private and public files with employees and service users.

Blackpool LUG

We’ve created an Android app a banner, played with Arduinos, you name it, this group has done it!

Oggcamp

It’s only two weeks to Oggcamp

I’ll be there in my capacity as Crew Manager, spending some lovely time down south, and chatting with some old friends.

 

OK Computer February 2011, Madlab, Manchester.

OK Computer was a new type of Free Software event, in that it truly tailored to the requirements of a new user.
Created and hosted by Anna Morris, from Manchester Free Software and the Girly Geeks team, it was a light hearted and insightful introduction into a world that so many people take for granted.

The Freedom, in Free Software, does anyone know what it truly means? Was the uptake in Linux and Free Software due to ethical choices about freedom? I hope so, and those that attended the event were treated to a day of learning all about those freedoms.

Blackpool LUG attended, there in an audience, and support capacity.

The day started with an informal introduction to Software Freedom, what it was, how it started and how you could contribute.

Next up was a live demo, on how to install Ubuntu. Luckily we had been gifted a number of PCs that we were able to give away to the attendees. So we had Ubuntu pre-installed on most of them, and taught people how to use Ubuntu and Free Software.

After a coffee break, with some lovely cakes, there was a talk hosted by Charlie Owen, a whistlestop tour of Ubuntu, all the apps you need, and how to get the best from Ubuntu, even yours truly was put on the spot to deliver a quick tour of Kompozer

After the talks, the day was more hands on, with people networking and getting to grips with Ubuntu.

I really enjoyed this event, it showed that Free Software isn’t just beards and penguins, but people and passions.

There will be a follow up to OK Computer, a 1.x event that will be there to offer support to the attendees from the last event, and there will be a new event this autumn, OK Computer 2, so watch this space.

You can find more pictures here

R3play November 5th 2010 Norbreck Castle, Blackpool

Retro gaming has seen a resurgence in recent years. What with Xbox Live, PSN and Wii, offering downloadable games at little cost.
But there are some, myself included, who still love to play old games consoles, and at R3PLAY their dreams came true.

There were hundreds of different ways to play retro games on the day.
Imported Japanese cabinets lined the hall as you entered, retro consoles lined in great rows, everything free to play, and there were even some obscure kit that never made it to the UK. Pinball machines harked back to days when flashing lights and loud music ruled the arcades.

I was truly amazed at how much choice there was. Megadrive, SNES, PC Engine, Amigas (My personal favourites), NES, Atari Lynx, Commodore machines everywhere (including my first computer, a Commodore 16).

I met up with Heed, and we scoured the event, looking for games from our youth. Instantly I found THE game of my youth, Star Wars. When I was about six years old, this game was my life, I was a rebel pilot, and Vader was going down!

Not only were there retro games, but there were some new games too. Halo Reach LAN parties, Street Fighter IV contests, Goldeneye for the Wii (I still prefer the N64 version LOL).

There was a massive stall by a company called Console Passion, there stall had loads of consles, games and odditities to excite the retro gamer, in fact I was sorely tempted to buy from them, until I saw the Retro GT stall, I had to buy a Street Fighter Dragon Punch T-Shirt, and a Doom, red key card wallet

The day was great, I’ll be there again this year, taking half of Blackpool LUG with me.

Take a look at the rest of my pictures here

I’ve been gone for far too long…forgive me

Well it’s been a busy 8 months, so lets recap!

• The entire ground floor of my house was taken apart and rebuilt!
• That was four months of my life that I won’t get back.
• I’ve attended numerous events
• Software Freedom Day 2010 – Showcasing the best that Free Software has to offer.
• R3PLAY – A retro games expo, excellent day out!
• Okay Computer – A beginners guide to Ubuntu and Free Software

• I organised a follow up event to 2010′s UCubed
• UCubed 2011 was a massive success, and you can read more here
• Pictures are here
• And you can listen to me talk about it here Fullcircle Side Pod Ep8

What have I achieved since we last spoke?

• Completed an NVQ (or ITQ as they are called now) Level 3 in IT.
• Completed a course on working in schools as a creative practitioner, this was via Curious Minds
• Started writing articles for Linux Format magazine.
• I will soon be a commissioned writer for the magazine.
• Organised and project managed UCubed 2011…oh I’ve said that already.
• Done abit of adhoc podcasting.
• Full Circle Podcast Episode 17: Why Would They Do That?
• Full Circle Side-Pod Episode Eight: Hardware, Software and Knitting
• Linux Outlaws 202 – A Note from the Future (Interview Special)

What’s happening next?

• I’ll be going to Open Tech on May 21st, and I will be interviewing some of the speakers, I’ll post the audio when I get back.
• Dan Lynch has offered me the position of Lt at the this years Oggcamp 11 my main duty will be to look after the team of volunteers who will be manning the event. I jumped at the chance, as Oggcamp is such an awesome event.

Well thats all for now…better make MrsP’s dinner.

Les

How Why DIY 22nd August 2010

How Why DIY was an event to bring together people from different walks of life, and to share information and educate one another.
Neil Morrin, from Defnetmedia.com, invited the Ubuntu Gurus (Rob McLellan and myself) from Blackpool LUG to run an installfest at his event.
So how could we say no! Neil also set us a challenge, based on his experience at Oggcamp, where Aijaz and I installed Xubuntu on his 10yr old Compaq laptop . This time we had 13 donated PCs to install Ubuntu on to.

The machines were in good condition and were from the P4 era, so well equipped to run Ubuntu.
We set about trying a live CD in a machine. It booted perfectly, so I set about installing Ubuntu on that machine, by rebooting the machine, and changing the Ubuntu CD boot options to create an OEM install. An OEM install allowed me to mass install Ubuntu on machines, without setting up a user account. All the user would have to do is, when they first use Ubuntu, is double click an icon on the desktop, and when the PC is rebooted, it will ask you to set up a user account, exactly like it would during a standard install.

One lady, who came to the event was enthralled with Ubuntu and the PCs on display. We found out that she had recently moved to Liverpool and was recovering from an illness. Her laptop was broken beyond repair. So we had a word with Neil, and he kindly donated a PC to her. I also gave her a 30 minute lesson on Ubuntu, and how to accomplish the main tasks (how to get on the internet, play mp3s and DVD etc.) She was really happy that we were able to provide her with this, as it meant that she could communicate with her family and friends.
We also provided a PC and lesson to a gentleman who was in a similar need. It was great that we were able to do this, and it really makes these events worthwhile.

The O2 Joggler was there and was the star of the show. Warren (http://twitter.com/warrenmakin) was enthralled by the device, and I hope that he managed to get one. Jogglers are really great, and running Ubuntu on them is a joy, I use mine at the event to play a video of Ubuntu features and adverts, and to demonstrate Ubuntu on different machines.

The day was really good and it was great to help so many people, we hope to run another event in April 2011, so watch this space for more details.

My thanks to Neil Morrin for organising the event and Rob McLellan for being a big help on the day.
My photos from the day can be found here

UCubed 28th August 2010

U Cubed was an excellent event, hosted in Madlab Manchester, which is a great venue to host an event. On the day there were lots of people meeting and talking about Ubuntu and Debian based distributions, and there were many talks on the day, ranging from advocating free / open source software, Debian / Ubuntu packaging skills, and the most popular talk, restoring an old arcade machine using Debian and MAME.

The roots of the event came from the Ubuntu Global Jam which is held every six months, and from an episode of the Ubuntu UK podcast where they interviewed Jo Shields, an Ubuntu and Debian developer. We thought that the link between Debian and Ubuntu should be publicised more, as without Debian, Ubuntu would not exist.

So our event aimed to raise awareness of the link between Debian and Ubuntu and allowed people to work together and learn from each other. There were many workshops, talks and groups all hacking together to make the Debian/Ubuntu world a better place.

The infamous Joggler from Barcamp Blackpool, running Ubuntu adverts was there, along with an internet cafe, which we set up using old pcs and a few Ubuntu 10.04 live CDs (Thanks Canonical )

The organisers (of which I am one) aim is to hold an event every six months, and to build on the popularity of the first event and provide attendees with a fantastic experience. If anyone has any suggestions or would like to help us, then please send me a tweet, I am @biglesp on Twitter / Identi.ca.

It is well known that London is the heart of Ubuntu related events, but who says that we can’t put the North of England on the map as an alternative venue to host Ubuntu / Debian events

If there aren’t any events near you, then start your own, link a few Linux User Groups together and send out a few emails. We did and look what happened.

Pictures of the event can be found here www.tinyurl.com/ucubedphotos