The Ontario Government is ordering all businesses not covered by the updated essential business list to remain closed until at least June 30th, 2020, with the possibility of an extension as the situation evolves. This is to confirm that HackLab.TO remains officially closed until further notice. This means, our public events continue to be suspended, and members should not be entering the space.

We will continue to update you as we receive updates, and we look forward to further growing our online community with all of you via email and other channels until such time as the doors of HackLab.TO are able to be reopened. We encourage you to be supportive and understanding of one another as we continue to get through this novel situation together.

COVID-19 Toronto Public Health Advice: https://www.toronto.ca/home/covid-19/

~From your board @ HackLab.TO

Dear Past, Present, and Future HackLab.TO guests,

Due to the Covid-19 Pandemic effectively immediately until at least April 6th, 2020 Hacklab will suspend public events, including the open house.

This closure comes in recognition of:

• public schools being closed for an extended two weeks in addition to March break
• businesses being encouraged to have employees work remotely
• and social distancing being implemented in shared spaces in the effort to flatten the curve and halt the spread of COVID-19 virus both in our area and the province.

We are sad to close our doors to all of you during this time as the community has always been and will continue to be a key component of the HackLab.TO experience. Open houses usually held on Tuesday night provide an opportunity for us to connect with the local community, invite new members to join, as well as share knowledge and resources in general.

HackLab.TO is an inclusive maker space advocating for all, so please remember that COVID-19 is a virus and as such it is not specific to one race, nationality, or ethnicity.  Treat each other with kindness, care, and compassion in this trying and challenging time.

We hope to see you all soon and are looking forward to getting back to activities as usual.  Until then, please visit our website https://HackLab.TO for up-to-date information, or subscribe to our twitter feed @hacklabto or facebook.com/Hacklab.TO !

~From your local makerspace HackLab.TO

From tiny solar panels that can power your cell phone to systems with a handful of batteries or panels, Alan will walk you through what he’s learned in his solar power tinkering so far. We’ll have a variety of panels, chargers, batteries and connectors on hand so you can see how it all works. Come by our *new* Hacklab at 1677 St Clair West on Wednesday October 23 at 7pm. The workshop is free and open to anyone who’s interested. Tell a friend to bring a friend and we’ll see you soon!

In case you haven’t seen all our recent posts, Hacklab is moving! With moving comes costs, both in time and finances. To help us build our new space to meet the needs of a premier makerspace for our world-class city, our new space is undergoing a massive cleanup as well as some renovations.

Please consider donating to our Indiegogo crowdfunding campaign in order to help us move to our new location on St. Clair West. Or, if donating money isn’t your thing, shoot us a message because we’d love it if you could donate some time and muscles to help us do the heavy lifting or even swinging a hammer in the new space. Or heck, if you can share the link above that would be great, too!

We’d like to take this quick moment to thank everyone, from past and current members to our current open house guests, for joining us in our amazing journey growing from colourful Kensington Market to quirky Parkdale and onward to funky St. Clair West. Open houses are still going on at Hacklab 2.0 every week until further notice and we’d love to have you pop by for our last days in Parkdale.

Check out our awesome crowdfunding video on YouTube and we’ll see you for $5 vegan dinner this Tuesday (served around 7:30pm) at 1266 Queen Street West buzz unit 6!

Celebrate both Hallowe’en and Hacklab’s milestone 10th year in style at our Hack’o’ween Fundraiser! We’ll have DJs and dancing, a raffle with awesome prizes provided by our members including 1-on-1 lessons and mentoring in a wide range of areas, Hacklab t-shirts, collectables and more! Spooky weird science is everywhere!

Hacklab is the longest-running makerspace in Toronto. Started from humble beginnings as a place for techies to build and play with equipment as well as controlling it with software programming in a Kensington bunker, Hacklab has grown to include the DIYBio and chemistry lab, sewing corner, VR lab and more.

Come help us celebrate and raise funds to ensure the doors stay open and we continue to share and help members and non-members alike make their dream projects come to life!

Snacks, non-alcoholic beverages and fluorescent mocktails will be available however this is a BYOB event.

Nitty Gritty Data:

Saturday October 27th, 2018 9pm – 2am

$20 in advance

Tickets available through Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/hackoween-2018-tickets-50801266957 linked to Facebook event: https://www.facebook.com/events/2143497519015524/

**no ticket refunds 7 days run up to the event

Cryptocurrency Workshop July 13, 2018 7pm

Ever wondered what Bitcoin is, why there’s so much hype around it and why it is worth so much money? In this workshop we will learn what Bitcoin is, what the blockchain technology it’s built upon is, and how it relates to other blockchain technologies such as Ethereum and Hyperledger.

Buy your $5 tickets now on Eventbrite and get the cost back in crypto, provided you download a wallet app to your phone either before or during the presentation! (no refunds after 7 days before the event)

Sign up now and we’ll see you July 13, 2018 at 7pm!

Norm guides this study group for beginners, intermediate, and experienced users. Come and work on your projects, help others out, learn new skills, or just get started with a super basic project. Learn workflows to 3D printers, the laser cutter, and engraver. Exchange ideas, and gain confidence to build your next projects.

Fusion 360 is the first 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE tool of its kind. It connects your entire product development process in a single cloud-based platform that works on both Mac and PC. Beginners can download an educational version from https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-activate-start-up-or-educational-licensing-for-Fusion-360.html

Free workshop, suggested $5 donation to Hacklab.to. Bring snacks, pop for sale $1.

Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/fusion-360-workshop-study-and-mentorship-group-tickets-41858290273

Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/400667247056473/?event_time_id=400667263723138

Large Man Looking At Co-Worker With A Magnifying Glass — Image by © Images.com/Corbis

An introductory seminar on how to protect your privacy online.

Todd, a systems administrator for a security training firm and an advocate for digital privacy, will help you identify some common risks to your basic privacy, walk you through keeping your everyday communications secure, and show you some easy-to-use top-notch tools recommended by experts in the field.

From Facebook to iMessage, we could be exposing private data through the software we use every day and Todd will show you how it happens, and how you can optimize your devices, both laptop and mobile, to protect your privacy through PowerPoint visuals and in-class practical examples.

There will a Q & A after the presentation. Students are encouraged to bring laptops and mobile devices for optimization, however Todd will not be available for tech support of infected devices.

Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/internet-privacy-basics-tickets-43024247683

Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/163341417644579/

It’s everyone’s favourite time again: the first Junk Independence Day of 2018! Coming up on February 18th from 2pm-7pm (or later). Bring your e-waste and dig through other people’s for treasures. On previous Junk Independence Days, people have walked away with an iPod touch, a 1TB hard drive, working classic iMacs, bubblejet printers, a Sony mini-DV camcorder, stereo amps, speakers, a desktop computer and even walk/don’t walk streetlights! Not to be forgotten, there are always lots of little chips and bytes for random hacking, too.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1574038156049596/

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/junk-independence-day-tickets-43005470520

Anything left at the end will be picked up on Monday, 19th of February and responsibly recycled by Revolution Recycling, who has been participating in our Junk Independence Days since the first one. Thanks Revolution!!

Come hang out with some fellow hackers and search for hidden treasures! Tickets are not necessary but Eventbrite is a great way to sign up and get reminders. You can also RSVP via our Facebook event. See you at JID!

[edit: Monday the 19th is a holiday in Ontario so junk will be picked up on Tuesday morning, the 20th.]

Fusion 360 study group – for beginners, intermediate, and experienced users. Come and work on your projects, help others out learn new skills, or just get started with a super basic project. Learn workflows to 3d printers, the laser cutter, and engraver. Exchange ideas, and gain confidence to build your next projects.

Fusion 360TM is the first 3D CAD, CAM, and CAE tool of its kind. It connects your entire product development process in a single cloud-based platform that works on both Mac and PC. Beginners can download an educational version from https://knowledge.autodesk.com/support/fusion-360/learn-explore/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/How-to-activate-start-up-or-educational-licensing-for-Fusion-360.html

Free workshop, suggested $5 donation to Hacklab.to. Bring snacks, pop for sale $1.

Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/fusion-360-workshop-study-and-mentorship-group-tickets-41858290273