Public Lab Wiki documentation

(Google Doc link)

All 7 core staff present

Friday, November 18, 2011

Collaborations

• planning for EcoHackNYC part deux, maybe weekend of April 20-21, 2012?
  • Partners: Vizzuality, UNEP bioinformatics. additions: NYU ITP, NatGeo, some part of NASA (Lela Prashad + JD Godcheaux, NiJeL), also AMNH Center for Biodiversity (already working with them)
  • Goal: to bring open source hardware hacking and “going outside” to the really great data viz event from
    • Should this event be a pattern for others? not overly connected to place.
  • November 15. Also -- should connect with CIRES.
  • soliciting comments from all PLOTS folks? Do we have a large data set to present them with? what about a visualization for open hardware development (grids of development paths?)
  • software ideas: auto-sorting MapMill.org, https://github.com/jywarren/clashifier (teaching it to classify, currently doesn’t work, but is architected, can be used to spot oil)
  • if hardware is involved, or if hardware environmental investigators need field time before they come into a hackathon. devices that work, and you can get data, but still need tweaking.
  • additional wacky idea for city-wide, or multi-city atmospheric chemistry and physical sensors “balloons over the city”. Could get funding. inquiries out to NASA, CIRES ** http://www.instructables.com/id/Air-quality-balloons/
• collaboration with Dontflush.me?

Recent & Upcoming events

• thermal camera at Sara’s RISD class this week and next, Q has been developing a thermal flashlight for Roomba platform, NYC Dec 3/4?
• Hydrogen Sulfide test ongoing with film strips!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• Sara and Shannon going out to Colorado in March/April via grant
• Roomba gallery show jeff and RISD students JElkin? made huge progress! still need to complete open source documentation
• Spectrometry workshop by Parts & Crafts Tuesday. ordering parts for 15 spectrometers
• FarmHack New Hampshire - RJ Steinert prob. attending (has ag policy background)
• 19 NOV - Asheville at RiverLink 9 - 11 AM - photo sorting and map building. Hey Adam call Jessica Breen she wants to come. really? how do you know? :D - http://mapmill.org/admin
• Eye on Earth, offered a second slot, Shannon’s name put in, waiting to hear back.
• Austin, UAV concerns?
• Upcoming: Endocrine Disruptors. December and January

Fundraising

• Semi-urgent fundraising PLOTS overview doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wxmu3RFbvM3kkR7OUlHeDpvrNYocMt20ih0mMJYa4JU/edit?hl=en_US
• NSF in progress:
  • ideas for categories of environmental health at home, in the community, for sustainable futures.
  • Which sites will we do research with? dramatically narrowing the idea of what a site is, or chapter: it could be anyone who wants to use the tools and contribute. instead, “we will establish 6 centers that will provide resources to the community.” asking for resources to support existing sites / research communities with materials and equipment. “Service Stations”
• by Matt: environmental taxidermy (ground permeated by arsenic, with thin veneer of “life” spread on top, sites being treated as a visual object). How to work on sites as a full living being? Evil Caneevil is actually from Butte, and that is a model of actually how people relate to hazardous environments, by dirt bike jumping over. at least this is actual relationship to site, verses “dead-zone” parks. Relate formaldehyde, and the roomba platform. Could we produce a campaign object (inflatable rat), or parade float?
  • Next Steps? IdeaLab for PBS blog. Thanks for keeping us weird.
• Kickstarter: standard markups for retail// kickstarter details (video going out monday)
  • needs workshop pictures and video, general input. Adam and Sara voiceover.

Retail

• Shirts, later spectrometers (first couple sold/shipped)
  • need standard markup. 40% markup, 15% for subsidized kits, 15% for R&D, 10% for growth of retail fund.
  • sparkfun elelectronics does 40%
  • what is shrinkage (unsellable hw) for our retail products? don’t know....
  • Donated warehousing by BreadPig Assemblizer
• Storypboards, retail docs: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1MGP0bBiP5GPwG9PzzD9uwOIaf1D4JRtpSwg5Hhqp1ZU/edit?hl=en_US#slide=id.g7232de_0_0
• https://docs.google.com/document/d/17Dlnq5if3Pb8bE6evyzqvQ1EYLmjX_RA8SNYfBqgWX8/edit?hl=en_US
• zazzle printing - stewart, mathew-- probably cost competitive with printing it ourselves.

Public Archive/Publications

• Traditionally peer-reviewed: Special issues of a Journal The Information Society (Sara), coming in over the next 6 months. Journal homepage: http://www.indiana.edu/~tisj/

Web

• Main list site-design topic by RJ - cool!
• Sitemap - of all web apps? - liz and jeff?
  • GM blog, spectral workbench, mapmill, mapknitter, thermal camera thing, PLOTS.org, archive.publiclaboratory.org

Organization

• Health care. Dec 1 maybe, January 1 more likely.
• H2S update
• Montreal/Roomba update

Field work this week

• NYC Saturday 19th small group of interested individuals. also TreeKIT “winter version”