The Folly Gallery...
...up the stairs...
to Tech 2
The 'wall mounted' PC
Energy workshop
...getting techical
CLTC in use, Tech 2...
...and at an evening event.
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The CLTC on tour at Tech 2
At The Folly Gallery, Lancaster and Grizedale Centre,
The Lake District
'Tech 2' is a touring
event. It brings together technical experts, media activists and artists to develop
projects over a number of days. This year, Tech 2 has been primarily based at the
Folly Gallery in Lancaster.
But for its last week it moved to
Grizedale Forest in
the Lake District to experiment with wireless networks and Linux systems.
During the first two weeks the focus was on reconditioning computers, and
installing them with Linux, to procduce a publicly-accessible media space. This
project was run with the Sheffield-based
Redundant Technology Initiative —
who have been undertaking the reconditioning of computers for community purposes
for some years. Also attending were Access
to Recycled Technology (A2RT – or the "lowtech brummies"), a
new Birmingham-based group with similar objectives to the Redundant Technology
Initiative.
The CLTC joined Tech 2 for the last 10 days, from August 31st. As well as
providing a 'hands-on' experience of using Linux – both as a desktop
system for office-based use and as a network of machine for networked use –
the CLTC provided an opportunity for participants to experiment with their use
of Linux systems.
The first three days were a workshop on renewable energy – given by
renewable energy expert Hugh
Piggot. As well as looking at larger scale systems for powering homes, the
workshop also considered powering computer equipment – such as laptop
computers, and small 'consume nodes' to maintain wireless networks.
As part of the renewable energy workshop a design was produced for a
regulator to power a
laptop computer from a 24 volt power supply. This design will be bench tested
for safety and reliability soon, and the final design posted here for others to
use. It will also mean that the Community–Linux Training Centre will not
only be able to work beyond the limit of phone lines, but also beyond the limits
of the mains power supply.
Next the project move to Grizedale Centre in the Lake District – taking
over one of the class rooms off of the central green. There we set up the CLTC
for the public to use, and to learn about Linux. The other part of the project
involved the setting up of a wireless network to cover the site – the aim
of which was to see if such a network would be useful to the artists working
at Grizedale Centre.
We also erected a wind turbine – with the help of
Ecosystem to
experiment with powering nodes on the wireless network. This is covered in detail
on a separate page.
For more detailed stories and documentation about the Tech 2 event see the
Tech 2 Documentation
site.
Related pages:
External Links:
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Grizedale Centre
'The Woodcutter'
CLTC at Grizedale
Tech 2's wind turbine
Wireless workshop
Walking in the woods
Wireless live video!
Getting to grips with Linux
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