This month's SWIG is tomorrow, Wednesday the 25th of April rather than the usual fourth Thursday.

We'd like to pretend that this was because we know that some people can't always make Thursdays, but the reality is that we got confused by something.   This happens frequently, of course, and in this case affected our chosen date.

Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!  We have a great talk from Neil Connolly to look forward to on Project Planning.

Event: SWIG - For all web industry workers in Liverpool and...

Date: Multiple Dates

Location:
Interconnect IT Office
Liverpool Science Park IC2
146 Brownlow Hill
L3 5RF Liverpool
United Kingdom

For more information click here:
SWIG - For all web industry workers in Liverpool

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Via John Mckerrell

Don't forget it's Maker Night tonight, but I thought you might also be interested to hear about GeekUp tomorrow:

GeekUp Liverpool tomorrow (Tuesday 24th) will be a social to celebrate the 5th anniversary of GeekUp Liverpool!

We'll be meeting in the Shipping Forecast after work, aiming to be there by 7pm at the latest. Hope to see you there!
Come along whenever you can,
we'll be there most of the night and plans are afoot to head to China City for some food afterwards.

Let us know you're coming by signing up on lanyrd but feel free to just turn up anyway: http://lanyrd.com/cgmmm

GeekUp Liverpool May will be back to DoES Liverpool for a talk on ClojureScript by Simon Holgate. After that we'll take each month as it comes, if you want to give a talk then get in touch and we'll arrange it, otherwise we'll just head to the pub for a social!

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Date: Wednesday April 4th at 7:30pm

Location: Liverpool Social Centre, Bold St, L1 4HY - Underneath the News From Nowhere bookshop. It's the door just to the right of the shop entrance and there's a buzzer for the basement.
If you have problems finding them please feel free to call Dan and he'll meet you at the door - 07779 165 528

This month our own Bob Ham will be giving a talk and practical demo on IPv6 networking. I don't have full details yet but I did happen across this recent New York times review:

"Bob Ham really demystifies IPv6 in his own inimitable way with this unique one man show. The addition of musical numbers was surprising but welcome and really added to the drama. I don't mind admitting that I shed a tear during the haunting ballad 'The IP Address To My Heart', and how he got those dancing elephants down the stairs I'll never know. Outstanding!".

Ok, joking aside I'm sure it'll be a great night so do come and join us. If you haven't been before don't worry, the group is informal and very friendly. All are welcome, from complete novice to Kernel hacker. We'll no doubt adjourn to a nearby pub after the talk too.

<SIDE NOTE> If you can bring a camera along we'd appreciate it. There's a dearth of photos from LivLUG and we could really use some to promote the group online. So this is a call to arms. Thanks in advance. </SIDE NOTE>

Hope to see many of you there,

Any more questions ask Dan Lynch.

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unknownname.out Download this file

On Wednesday, 7th March 2012, the Liverpool Linux User Group will be meeting.  Sam Tuke of the Free Software Foundation Europe¹ will be giving a talk entitled "Free Software Vs. Open Source: how much  freedom is enough?"  An abstract follows:

 At what point does advocating freedom become tyrannical? Freedom to
 use the license we want, or freedom from certain kinds of
 restrictions? Can't we let the license suit the purpose? As long as
 I'm able to choose what I use, what's the problem? Can't we all just
 get along?

 These questions and more will be addressed in a talk about the
 relationship between the two major traditions: Free Software and
 Open Source. The relevance of the debate to society, the impact on
 developers, and the history of the movement will all be addressed
 during discussion of these difficult subjects.

We will meet at the Liverpool Social Centre² at 7.00pm for a 7.30pm
start.  After the talk, we will venture to Studio 2³ for beverages and
further discussion.

Liverpool Social Centre is next door to the News from Nowhere bookshop
on Bold Street⁴.  To access the centre, press the bell for the
basement on the left of the door and someone will come up and let you in.

This promises to be another fascinating talk :-)

¹ http://uk.fsfe.org/
² http://www.liverpoolsocialcentre.org/
³ http://www.parrstreet.co.uk/STUDIO2/Home.htm
⁴ http://www.openstreetmap.org/?lat=53.402426&lon=-2.976481&zoom=18

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As usual DoES Liverpool will be running Maker Night tomorrow at the LJMU Art and Design Academy.  So come along to work on your own projects, or just to see what is going on in general be it playing with digital fabrication, hacking electronics, construction art exhibits and just general creative geekery.

We'll be running the usual introduction sessions and hands on guidance for first timers who want to try their hands at the Arduino kit (please bring a laptop if you can).  

We will be there from 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start, finishing around 9:00pm before we move onto a local pub to wrap up the night. 

Directions and more info on http://makernight.com 

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Manchester Digital calls for entries for digital excellence by 5 March  

The Big Chip Awards for companies excelling in the use of digital technology are back – and once again are extending their range right across the North of England.

Awards organiser Manchester Digital is inviting companies from all sectors across the North to submit their entries for the 2012 awards. 

As with the 2011 awards, which attracted entries from across the North, this year’s awards are open to entries in all categories from any company, organisation or initiative in the North of England – anywhere from Derby to the Scottish border.

The call for entries is to digital companies and creative agencies and any organisation or business which has undertaken digital initiatives in the past year – everything from a company website to digital marketing to an iPhone app

This year, entries will also be accepted for projects underway for more than a year but which have achieved important milestones in the past year, thus opening up the awards to ventures that take longer to show their best results.

A new category is Best Use of Gaming – which acknowledges the growing importance of games and gaming techniques in digital work.

This year the awards are partnering with publishing group Trinity Mirror’s titles, the Daily Post, the Manchester Evening News and the Newcastle Journal.

A Trinity Mirror spokesperson said: "We are delighted to be the media partner for the Big Chip Awards. The digital and creative sector is of huge importance to the regional economy and these awards are a great chance for firms to spread the message about their products, services and achievements."

Following their most successful year yet in 2011, which attracted record entries, 2012’s awards ceremony looks to be the biggest and best to date. Categories will be judged by a panel of leading industry figures chaired by former New Media Age Editor in Chief Michael Nutley.

Entries are submitted online at www.bigchipawards.com.  The first two entries are free. Subsequent entries cost £85. The closing date for entries is 5 March 2012.

The Big Chip Awards will be announced at a luxurious awards dinner on Thursday 5 July 2012 at the Palace Hotel, Manchester. The awards’ progress can be followed on Twitter @BigChip2012 and with hashtag #BigChip2012.

Organised by trade association Manchester Digital, with support from regional bodies such as Liverpool Vision and Codeworks in the North East, the awards are open to any organisation based in the North that has designed or commissioned any digital projects in the past year.  This can include website, DVD, animation, wireless, and SMS projects.

Chair of Manchester Digital, Shaun Fensom, said: "2012 will see the Big Chips continue to extend their reach right across the North. Despite tough economic conditions, it’s very exciting to be ushering in the 14th Big Chip Awards – digital excellence has never been so important both to the health of our economy, and increasingly also in everyone’s daily lives.

"The move in 2011 of five BBC departments into MediaCityUK, including Future Media and Technology demonstrates the growing importance of the North to national and international digital sector and provides a host of commercial opportunities for Northern companies.

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The Scouse WordPress Interest Group is holding an evening of learning and networking at Leaf on Bold . Tuesday 24th January @ 6.30pm

Speakers:

• Dan Donald Reactive web design - designing for context
• Jake Smith WordPress in the wild - megadrive.me
• Lydia Bates Writing for the web
• Chris Hough Creating a theme options panel

Q&A session

Get the answers to any burning questions you have about web design and WordPress.

Tickets

• £5
• £4 for students

This is the first time they've tried to run SWIG as a larger event so head along and have a great time. 

More details : > here 

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A 3-time speaker at the Thinking Digital Conference & co-host for the new Sky 1 HD programme 'Gadget Geeks'.

Tom Scott at TEDxLiverpool - Remember the answer is 31. 

About TEDx, x=independently organize event 

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self- organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. 

At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. 

The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* 

What would you like us to write about? Let us know.

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Recorded at TEXx Liverpool on 8th July 2009 at John Moores University.

Alexandra is an industrial and interaction designer. She attended the Interaction Design Institute Ivrea where she met the other founders of Tinker.it!. She has been involved in projects for clients such as Nokia, Motorola, Droog design, Thinglink, Jaiku, Blast Radius, fo.am and Blyk bringing creative and strategic leadership to multi-disciplinary teams. She is an active speaker on the next generation of technology-aided product design and heads Tinker.it!'s operations from London.

About TEDx, x=independently organize event 

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self- organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. 

At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x=independently organized TED event. 

The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* 

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Adrian asks this provocative question at Barcamp Liverpool

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Fans of Harry Potter might be pleased to learn that the Weasley family’s magic clock may soon be on the market. 

Designer John McKerrell is developing the WhereDial at his desk at DoES Liverpool, the communal workshop space he has helped to run since July.

McKerrell’s gadget uses information sent from iPhones and other GPS-ready mobile devices to follow members of a family or other group from home, to the commute, to work and to, of course, mortal peril.

Like many of the projects fostered by DoES, the WhereDial is a hybrid of art and technology.

Working on this principle, DoES has been running ‘Maker Nights’ in partnership with the Liverpool John Moores University’s (LJMU) Open Labs programme since January.

These informal sessions let artists, software designers and electrical engineers meet and exchange creative and entrepreneurial ideas.

“The artists have great ideas and need ways to achieve them with technology, while what the tech people do with it is very discreet,” said Paul Freeman, another DoES founder member.

“We want to marry the technology aspect with the artistic aspect to make really advanced, great-looking things.”

For LJMU’s Andrew Goodwin, the Maker Nights are a way of raising Liverpool’s prospects as a digital and creative hub.

“It’s got great potential,” he said.

“There’s a lot of very good companies – a lot of the time it’s just about bringing those people together.”

Not all the projects support by DoES are quite so whimsical as the WhereDial.

Paul Kinlan, a ‘developer evangelist’ for Google, has made DoES Liverpool the centre of his mission to equip small businesses with free web hosting and e-mail, operating from its premises in the Gostins Building, Hanover Street.

The bargain-basement rates for the rooms on the building’s fourth floor (which is otherwise empty) were welcoming to the DoES crew.

Costs for developers range from a permanent desk at £150 a month, to ‘hot desking’ with wi-fi and mains electricity for £8 per day.

But DoES’s six founders members supervise the space on a voluntary basis.

In the words of John McKerrell: “DoES Liverpool is trying to help people make their hobbies into businesses.”

You can find out more about the WhereDial from it's very own blog at http://blog.mapme.at/wheredial/

Author: Jack from Nerve

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Ross Dalziel discusses Open Souce City at Barcamp Liverpool 

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Chris Hough discusses Wordpress plugins at Barcamp LIverpool 

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Ok so it's not Liverpool but we can't be short sighted - booking is open so get booking as I hear the tickets are going fast

• 
  
• 12:00 - Registration opens (coffee/tea/biscuits on arrival)
• 13:00 - TEDxManchester Begins
• 14:45 - Coffee & Cake Break
• 15:15 - The Journey Continues
• 17:00 - Post TEDx Drinks & Snacks

More details: http://www.TEDxManchester.com

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DoES Liverpool will be running Maker Night at the Art and Design Academy as always on the 2nd Wednesday of the Month so  come along to work on your own projects, or just to see what is going on in general be it playing with digital fabrication, hacking electronics, construction art exhibits and just general creative geekery.

They'll be running the usual introduction sessions and hands on guidance for first timers wanting to try their hands at the Arduino kit (Please bring a laptop if you can)

Time is arrive from 6:30pm for a 7:00pm start, finishing at 9:00pm to move onto a local pub to wrap up the night. Directions and more info on http://makernight.com

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