Year: 2011

Season’s Greetings from DoES Liverpool

12th December 2011
  • john
  • Workshop
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"Season’s Greetings from DoES Liverpool"

We thought we should have a little festive gathering for everyone who has been a part of DoES Liverpool over the past 5 months.

This Friday (16th) from 4pm we’ll be having some mulled wine, mince pies and frivolity in DoES Liverpool. We’d love if you could join us, come along and celebrate with everyone!

On Friday evening there is also the Twitter pub crawl. After our mini Christmas party we’ll probably grab some dinner before heading off to the pub, anyone who wants to come along is welcome. Click here for more info on the pub crawl.

Best Wishes,

All at DoES Liverpool

The Birth of the DoES Space

17th October 2011
"The Birth of the DoES Space"

When we first moved into the Gostin Building there was a fair bit of work that needed to be done to the space to make it presentable. Nothing too major, mainly collecting furniture and equipment from a few different sources (some from an office that a few of us had shared before founding DoES, and some that was kindly loaned to us by local tech startup Scraperwiki), plus giving the whole space a lick of paint. It had last been used for some sort of strange art project and there were an assortment of outlines of people and objects drawn on the walls.

Given that we’d be doing some work on it I took the opportunity to play around with some time-lapse photography. During the time we were moving in, and doing the decorating, I stuck an old Canon camera on a tripod in the corner. It was running the CHDK software with a script that took a photo every five minutes. A bit of playing around afterwards with ffmpeg, and Open Shot (for the titles) and we had this little video to show off the transition…

 

Birth of the first DoES Space from Adrian McEwen on Vimeo.

That doesn’t give you a sense of what the space is like now that it’s in use, so I thought I’d include this photo of the main space as it is now, but you should really come down for a visit in person 😉

A Panorama of the DoES Space

Of course, if you’d rather have some music to accompany the video, I can recommend watching it from here…

Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day at DoESLiverpool

28th September 2011
"Celebrating Ada Lovelace Day at DoESLiverpool"

Ada Lovelace Day aims to raise the profile of women in science, technology, engineering and maths by encouraging people around the world to talk about the women whose work they admire. This international day of celebration helps people learn about the achievements of women in STEM, inspiring others and creating new role models for young and old alike.

Taken from About Ada Lovelace Day

To celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, and to celebrate the achievements of women in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and entrepreneurship, we have decided to hold an Open Day for women at DoES Liverpool. On Friday the 7th October, all of the services of DoES Liverpool will be free for use by women. Use a hot desk for the day and have a welcoming place to work with power, wifi and tea & coffee available. If you’re a more crafty type use the facilities of our workshop to work on your projects, getting feedback and help from the other attendees.

DoES Liverpool is successfully bringing together people of various disciplines and allowing great collaboration and sharing of ideas. With this Open Day we hope to bring even more people into the space to enjoy the benefits of co-working.

This offer is open to all women, including existing friends of DoES Liverpool. The day will not count towards your hot desk quota and if you’ve never been before you will still be able to come at a later time and get a free day when you bring cake.

Men are, of course, welcome to come and work from DoES and find out more about what the women of Liverpool are achieving. This will count as a normal day for you so you will need to pay for a hot desk day or bring cake if it’s your first visit.

We’re really hoping that we’ll see some new faces in the space as a result of this so come along and see what we’re about. Ping us on twitter or sign up on lanyard if you think you’ll come, or just turn up on the day.

If you are at DoES for Ada Lovelace Day, you might also be interested in attending:

UK Northwest study group for Stanford University’s free distance learning AI courses

1st September 2011
  • osfameron
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"UK Northwest study group for Stanford University’s free distance learning AI courses"

You might have seen that Stanford Uni will be offering 2 exciting courses Free and Online in Autumn 2011, in “A bold experiment in distributed education”.

 

 

The course content will be delivered by video, and there will be exercises and opportunities for discussion.  There’s no certificate as such (though you get a “statement of accomplishment” if you complete it.)

Remote learning is all very well, but we’d also like to have a local study group.  We’ll set up a monthly meeting at DoES Liverpool, and everyone who’s following along on either course in Northwest UK is welcome! [1]

Though many of us will be studying the AI class, you’re welcome whether you’re doing that or the ML one.

There will be wifi, a projector, coffee (and stronger drinks available by donation for after-study), and we will get hold of the (optional) course books.

If you’re interested in coming, then please:

  1. Register for either course above
  2. join the DoES Liverpool mailing list  and let us know which course(s) you’ve signed up for!

 

We will meet twice a month, on Tuesdays, Sep – Oct, 7-9pm. Please note there are some additions/changes since the original mailing!

  • NOTE CHANGE: the Oct 11th meeting has been moved to 4th + 18th
  • Tues Oct 4th
  • Tues Oct 18th
  • Tues Nov 8th    (1.5 weeks before mid-term exams)
  • Tues Nov 22nd
  • Tues Dec 13th  (a few days before the final exams for the advanced track)
I’ll advertise any changes on the DoES mailing list!

We’ve already met once, on Tues Sep 13th  to look at Linear Algebra, one of the prerequisites, and discuss our approaches.

 

We will do some/all/none of:

  • watch course videos
  • discuss things we’re finding hard
  • work together on exercises
  • use the time as an opportunity to read/study by self
  • present something to group
  • commiserate about how hard it is and how dumb we are

 

If you have any questions, then please shout on the DoES list, or ping @osfameron on twitter!

 

[1]  If Liverpool isn’t convenient for you, then why not join Geekup and talk about forming a group closer to you in the NorthWest.  People have already been discussing the possibility of groups in Manchester and Leeds/Sheffield.

Alternatively, there are online study groups at  http://www.reddit.com/r/aiclass and http://www.reddit.com/r/mlclass

 

As DoES is a co-working space, you are welcome to arrive early (or even during day, to hot-desk) if that is more convenient.  (And remember, first time hotdesking is free if you bring cake!)

Last trains back to Chester / Manchester / Leeds are after 11pm, and Lime Street and Central stations are within 5-10 minutes walk.

DoES Liverpool provides first outpost as Google Developer Outreach looks beyond London

3rd August 2011
  • amcewen
  • Press Releases
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"DoES Liverpool provides first outpost as Google Developer Outreach looks beyond London"

DoES Liverpool are pleased to announce our newest resident – Google.

When Google Developer Relations were looking to reach beyond their established base in London, the DoES space in central Liverpool ticked all the right boxes.  It gives them a base from which to strike out and make visits across the North West, as well as somewhere that people can call in for an “office hour” meeting – where they can find out more about how to use Google’s products and services to help their business.

“We’re looking to go where the developers are”, said Paul Kinlan, Developer Advocate at Google for Chrome and HTML5, “and this will give us the chance to start working more closely with developers and businesses in the North of England.”

Paul will be working from DoES Liverpool for a couple of days each week, and the rest of the time the desk will be available for his colleagues who specialise in other Google products to use for similar purposes.

They’re interested in hearing from any startups, businesses or developers who want to talk about the Google Developer platforms, but they aren’t going to just sit and wait for people to knock on their door.  They’re planning to hold events at the DoES space, and are keen to speak or get involved with other tech events both at DoES and also across the North.

DoES organiser Adrian McEwen said “Although rather different from our usual mix of startups and freelancers, there’s a great fit between Google and DoES Liverpool: we both want to find and help local startups.  It’s a great opportunity for all involved – DoES, Google and the North West.  We’re very excited for what it means for local developers.”

About DoES Liverpool CIC

DoES Liverpool CIC was created to further grow and support the community of people interested and involved in technology that has been building over the past few years in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. It aims to help small businesses and start-ups by creating a space within which they can work, network and build up a business.

DoES Liverpool CIC currently runs a space in Gostins Building on Hanover Street, Liverpool offering affordable co-working desks, workshop and hot desks. It also uses the space to host events such as Maker Night and the Liverpool GeekUp.

For more information about DoES Liverpool CIC visit their website on https://doesliverpool.com/ or email hello@doesliverpool.com

About Google Developer Relations

The Developer Relations organization at Google is focused on driving the success of Google’s developer products and the open web by creating a thriving ecosystem of 3rd party applications and businesses built on them.

We work with technologies such as Chrome, Android, App Engine, Google Maps API, HTML5, and also support our core Google Apps and Ads businesses. For a full list of the products we support, see code.google.com.

We are in Google’s Engineering organization, though we also work closely with Product Management, Marketing, PR, Business Development, and others.

You can get in contact with Paul via his Google Profile page http://plus.ly/paul.kinlan

Workshop Membership at DoES Liverpool

29th July 2011
"Workshop Membership at DoES Liverpool"

In addition to running the free Maker Night at the Art and Design Academy and at our own DoES Space, for anyone wanting to have more frequent access to somewhere they can come and tinker more often we offer a monthly Workshop Membership. This gives you access to benches to work on, our collection of tools such as soldering iron and multi-meters and you also get a storage crate so you don’t have to cart your projects around with you.

Outside of normal working hours we aim to keep the space open until 9pm Tuesday to Thursday, and on Saturdays – but check in advance so we can make sure someone is around.

Monthly Membership is £30 per month.

Members also get discounted hot desking at £6.50 per day.

If you have a permanent desk with DoES Liverpool you get Workshop access and storage included in your desk price.

DoES Liverpool Launch Press Release

27th July 2011
"DoES Liverpool Launch Press Release"

Local Companies Join Forces to Create a New Sort of Workplace

Liverpool entrepreneurs, software developers, artists, and electronics engineers are invited to DoES Liverpool’s new permanent space, to co-work, hot-desk, experiment, and collaborate. There will be a free “taster” day on Friday 22nd July; if you miss that, your first day of hot-desking is free if you bring cake!

Since the beginning of 2011, a disparate group of coders, artists, designers and engineers has met up monthly to collaborate, learn about, and experiment with physical computing, laser-cutting and how to make things. These Maker Nights, run by DoES Liverpool in conjunction with the LJMU Art & Design Academy, are a way to bring together the community of makers from Liverpool and the surrounding area.

Building on the success of Maker Nights, DoES Liverpool has now put into action the longer-term plan: to open a space where making can go on all the time, rather than just once a month.

The DoES Space is a mixture of office and 21st-century workshop – the people there are as likely to be soldering the electronics for an Internet-connected bubble machine or prototyping product cases on the 3D printer, as they are to be sitting at a desk tapping away on a laptop.

This blend of interests and activities is a key part of the DoES ethos – “we want it to be a melting pot for business and creativity in Liverpool,” says Adrian McEwen, one of the organisers. He’s moved his Internet of Things startup to the space, where it rubs shoulders with an iPhone developer, a provider of attention management systems and web developers.

They’ve all taken desks in the Hanover Street space and they are inviting others to join them. The space is split into two open plan areas, plus a freely bookable private meeting room. The remaining desks are available either to rent by the month, or just for the day: perfect for freelancers looking for somewhere to escape to from the dining room table for a change. For anyone wanting to see what it’s like working in a co-working space, they’ll even give you a free day’s trial as long as you bring cake for everyone to share.

One corner of the larger open-plan area is given over to the messier, workshop activities. It’s here that you’ll find the 3D printer (which was assembled by the attendees of Maker Nights) and a desktop CNC mill donated by another member of the Maker Night community. “DoES encourages people to experiment, and to learn new things”, says John McKerrell, the resident iPhone developer, “whether it’s finding out how to solder, or sharing tips on what accounts package to use, the chances are someone else in the space will be able to help”.

The DoES Space is open now, and will hold a free “taster” day on Friday 22nd July. The next Maker Night will also be held at the space on the evening of Wednesday 27th July from 6:45pm. For more details visit https://doesliverpool.com or email hello@doesliverpool.com

About DoES Liverpool CIC

DoES Liverpool CIC was created to further grow and support the community of people interested and involved in technology that has been building over the past few years in Liverpool and the surrounding areas. It aims to help small businesses and start-ups by creating a space within which they can work, network and build up a business.

DoES Liverpool CIC currently runs a space in Gostins Building on Hanover Street, Liverpool offering affordable co-working desks, workshop and hot desks. It also uses the space to host events such as Maker Night and the Liverpool GeekUp.

For more information about DoES Liverpool CIC visit their website on
https://doesliverpool.com/ or email hello@doesliverpool.com

About Maker Night

Maker Night is a regular meeting organised by DoES Liverpool CIC in partnership with LJMU Art and Design Academy to provide a space for people to learn, experiment and work on projects related to Physical computing, Laser cutting, Arduino, Electronics and 3D printing.

They are informal, friendly events – sometimes one of the members will give a talk on a topic, or lead a workshop on how to build something in particular – but mostly it’s about building cool stuff and sharing expertise and enthusiasm. Everyone is welcome, of any ability level, for more information visit http://makernight.co.uk/ or join the mailing list http://groups.google.com/group/does-liverpool

Introducing Hot Desks At DoES Liverpool

17th July 2011
"Introducing Hot Desks At DoES Liverpool"

If taking on a full time desk at a co-working space doesn’t suit your needs, then DoES Liverpool offer a pay-as-you go Hot Desk service allowing you to book a single day in the Liverpool DoES Space to take advantage of the wi-fi and meeting room facilities if required. We have space in both the main room and a quieter office.

Individuals can book a Hot Desk for just £8 per day, or people with Workshop Access Membership can get a day at a hot desk for just £6.50.

If you’re unsure how hot desking will suit you, as a special offer we will give you your first day’s hot desk for free with just one catch: You need to bring in some cake to share on the day. Or if you are passing by and just want to pop your head in to say hello and see what we have going on and where we all work, feel free.

Introducing Co-Working at DoES Liverpool

17th July 2011
"Introducing Co-Working at DoES Liverpool"

The DoES Liverpool Co-Working office offers a shared space where freelancer workers and micro-SMEs can find a desk to work from and a community of individuals in similar situations to take away the isolation of working from home or to offer a more professional location then working from a coffee shop.

If you take a desk at DoES you get somewhere to call your own, no need to carry everything around with you in your bag. You’ll get a set of drawers and can leave things on your desk without worrying about passers-by. You also get access to the Workshop facilities and use of the Meeting Room all included in the price, and how much is it? Just £150 a month for all of this.

The DoES Space is centrally located in Liverpool City center inside the Gostins Building on Hanover Street and offers free wi-fi.

 

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