Hive76 and Make:Philly need your help! The Franklin Institute has requested a giant game of operation for the upcoming Bodyworlds exhibit. The project has to be up and running by November 20, so the next few weekends will be crucial work time to get it done. If you want to help out, contact Far McKon at www.hive76.com, or check out the group's wiki page here: http://wiki.hive76.org/Project_Giant_Operation.

We will be running another DIY Microcontroller/ Arduino class on Novemeber 14th. The workshop has proven so successful that we are doing it again!

This class is different than your run-of-the-mill Arduino class (is there such a thing??)-- we will start by building are own Arduino boards from scratch! If you want to know how something works; build it yourself.

This class has now run several times at the Hacktory with a 100% success rate. No soldering. No electronics degree needed. No exploding brains, but it's come pretty close with the amount of information we stuff into one class. Find it here: http://thehacktory.org/classes/arduino-beginner-microcontroller-amp-elec...

Check out the kinetic sculptures, exploded views of machines we use every day, and over two dozen rare machines from the institute's collection.

More machines please!

Members of the Hacktory manned a table Sunday at this years Swap-O-Rama-Rama as part of Design Philadelphia 2009 festivities. With a table full of old computer and electronics parts we helped SORR attendees create some awesome jewelry and accessories and spurred their interest in combining technology with fashion.

Welcome to any SORR attendees who visited our table and are visiting our site. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter and e-mail rss feed to keep updated on the latest classes and events.

Philly's up-and-coming membership-based “gym for innovators,” Next Fab Studio, is holding a logo design contest.

The best design could win $1000 cash, an NFS membership, and additional graphic design work.

Get your graphic juices flowing here

Here's your chance to make your art and electronics do cool stuff!

The rundown:

- No prior knowledge of electronics or programming is necessary
- All materials will be provided to you as a kit
- You will learn how to program the popular open source physical computing platform called Arduino (www.arduino.cc).
- You will need to bring a laptop

The class costs a total of $185: for the full 6 hours of instruction and workshop time. Class cost include your own microcontroller platform, programming cable, breadboard, and parts to keep. The class will take place at NTR (www.ntronline.org) in Center City Philadelphia on 10/03/2009 from 10:00AM to 4:00PM.

There are a few more spots, so reserve yours today!