DIY Workshops at Linux Caffe

On Monday January 20th 2009 I've hosted an event called 'DIY Workshop - Building a wind chime from an old computer' at the Linux Caffe.

This evening we built wind chimes from old computer parts. 4 people came for the fun and everybody walked away happy with what they made.

Nervous of not having people show up. Whenever I running a workshop I get that feeling in my stomach when I think that nobody will show up. If nobody does show up, well at least I've got a few hours to do something that I like doing anyways, hacking old computer parts.

There is an archeology of knowledge that happens when taking something apart. Taking apart an old MacIntosh computer we found that it had an IBM hard drive and other sourced chips from various companies we wouldn't have of associated with a Mac. We recalled the various deals Mac had made over the years with companies to produce its parts. It was a rediscovery of the past, and a remembering of how we, the companies around us, and the tools that we've used came to be here.

It was also a chance to talk about other DIY cultures, how Reggie started from the thousands of old oil drums left by the Unites States army in the Caribbean after the second world war. Those drums where cut up, tuned, and used as musical instruments.

Because this evening dealt with sound we were rediscovering sound, always listening to how things clank, what made what sound, banging things together, discovering noise. Everything has its own sound. Yes it is an old computer, but it has a sound to it. I can't describe in technical terms what makes a good sound, but now I can look at a piece of metal and instinctively know what kind of clamor it will make.

It was also good to see people come again, two previous people came from the last workshop. I've always been fascinated by how people count. Public transport agencies count by the trip, and the number of people they claim to service per year is always much bigger then the population that lives near the transit system, by a multiple of 800, so I always have to do mental math to see how many people actually used public transport. I'm not sure if I should count how many people can to the workshops I've hosted altogether, or add how many people can to each workshop by how many I've hosted. Two different possible counts.