Weekend Open House – Sunday June 11, 2-6PM

Hacklab’s Open Houses follow what is know as the The_Tuesday_Pattern. That means there are folks that Tuesday never works out for them. To help close that gap, Hacklab members are coming together and reviving our occasional open house events on weekends.

Please join us!

HackLab.TO is happy to be among the 150 sites for this years Doors Open Toronto!
Come visit our uniquely adorned space filled with members’ projects ranging from art to electronic exhibits and design projects.

Saturday May 27th, 10am – 5pm
Sunday May 28th, 10am – 5pm

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!

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

IMG_3743 by W1N9Zr0

Every last Saturday of the month, from around 3 pm until whenever people leave, the lab opens up our front door to members of the public. We’re specifically excited about folks who want to show off projects they have made or are working on, want to ask for help with making something awesome, or want to help out on other folks’ projects. Bringing a laptop along to just chill out with other geeks is also welcome.

There’s no minimum skill level required to participate, and we do our best to be a respectful, friendly environment for everyone. Regretfully we are not wheelchair accessible – there are steps leading up to the floor the lab is on. As a heads-up to folks with sensory processing issues, the Tuesdays can get quite busy and noisy. 3-5pm tends to be the busiest time, but in our new larger space there are usually places you can get away from it.

Members of the media are also welcome, but in the interest of member privacy, we have cute little press passes hanging by the door and require that permission is sought before taking photos with people in them.

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.]

The Repair Cafe for a second time has come and gone.
And with that the Repair cafe moves along to another community to aid where the can to repair wayward electronics. In the mean time here is some photos from today’s Repair Cafe.

Hacklab is excited to host Repair Café Toronto this February!

This is a mini-Repair Café for small appliances, electronics and clothing only.

When: Saturday, February 3, 2018 – 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Where: HackLab.TO, 1266 Queen Street West, 2nd Floor (buzz Unit #12)
Cost: Free (Donations are welcome!)
Note: Visitor registration ends at 3:00 p.m.

Visit Repair Café’s website to learn more about how we can help each other extend the life of our belongings.
http://repaircafetoronto.ca/