[hackerspaces] Edinburgh

[Tom Cryer]

Sounds good! Guess I'll see you guys on the 17th then if not before.

Tom

> Date: Fri, 03 Sep 2010 18:09:22 +0100
> From: Nick <oinksocket at letterboxes.org>
> Subject: Re: [hackerspaces] Edinburgh
> To: Hackerspaces General Discussion List
>        <discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org>
> Cc: hacklab at lists.rayofdark.com
> Message-ID: <4C812BC2.9030907 at letterboxes.org>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>
> On 3 September 2010 14:38, Tom Cryer <tomcryer at gmail.com> wrote:
>> Does anyone know of a Hackerspace in Edinburgh, or failing that anywhere in
>> Scotland? The list on hackerspaces.org tells me there's something at The
>> Forest, but there's no details on hackerspaces.org and no mention on their
>> website.
>
> Funny you should ask...
>
> On 03/09/10 15:16, Russ Garrett wrote:
>> The Forest isn't really a hackerspace - it's more of a non-profit
>> community/arts space. Although it's awesome, I don't really understand
>> why it's on hackerspaces.org.
>
> A long time ago there was a thing called "Infoseed" in the dank Forest basement
> which started as an Indymedia / community project about the time of the G8
> conferences.  When the politicos drifted away, it later degenerated into a
> computer hardware junkroom, which eventually got thrown out in a big clean-out.
>
> We at dorkbot alba used to meet Infoseed. When it closed, we moved upstairs, and
> have been there ever since.  Still, a hackerspace it isn't, and we were
> constantly frustrated by the lack of any real facilities to hack on things.
> Frankly we were as puzzled as you to see The Forest listed on hackerspaces.org.
>
>> I'm fairly sure there aren't any proper hackerspaces in Edinburgh, I'm
>> sure I'd know if there were.
>
> Aha. So, there is now, as of last week.  A miscellaneous group of us, including
> many of the regulars from dorkbot alba, finally found a space and enough paying
> members to rent it.  It's in a studio in the Drill Hall, Dalmeny St, off Leith Walk.
>
> This is a very recent development - we've not gotten around to announcing it
> formally, we're still trying to procure furniture, storage and equipment to kit
> it out. We plan an open night on the Friday 17th Sept.  Dorkbot meetings will
> probably move to the "hacklab" (as it's been dubbed) instead of the Forest, if
> the consensus approves.
>
> Our nascent website is here:
>
>  http://edinburghhacklab.com/
>
> We're also on irc.freenode.net #edinhacklab
>
> The wiki there should have most of the info you need to find out more.  If
> you're interested in this sort of thing I suggest also joining the
> dorkbotalba-blabber list (see dorkbot.org), there's a larger community there.
>
> Cheers!
>
> Nick