Packaging for Linux, Diversity Talk, & More!

Coming up we have a workshop on packaging Linux applications, and talks on Diversity in Tech and 3D printing prosthetics.

Upcoming Events

Our events run at 7pm and run on our Discord or via Zoom. For events running on Zoom you can join with the button below.

Packaging your application for Linux Workshop

Tomorrow, on the 23rd of February at 7pm on Discord we have a workshop on packaging applications for distribution on Linux.

Applications are great, but they are not much use if you can't install them. On Linux applications are distributed as packages to allow for easy installation and updates, but a little bit of work is required of the developer to get their application into these forms.

In this workshop, you will learn about packaging your programs for release on Linux using both flatpak for cross distribution support and the Arch User Repository (AUR) for easy release on Arch Linux.

Diversity Vs. Inclusion in the Tech Industry - A talk by Dwayne Codling

On the 2nd of March at 7pm on Zoom we have a talk from Dwayne Codling on Diversity Vs. Inclusion in the Tech Industry.

The talk will focus on the generational wealth gap and how this facilitates a difference in circumstances between different races. Highlighting why the status quo is detrimental to the future of the industry, and why this has to change. How can we do better? What are the steps to address this, and get everyone buying into resolving this problem?

Dwayne is a Pod Lead and Front-end developer at JH. He’s a former lecturer and enjoys helping people out and seeing them progress to their full potential. Dwayne’s a family man and believes that life is all about balance, and that family is the most important thing. He is always learning - learning is part of the journey, and Dwayne is always seeking to find new answers.

The Basics of a Modular Bot in Python using Discord.py

On the 3rd of March at 7pm on Discord we have a workshop on making modular python discord bots run by our Vice President, Alexi.

More details about this workshop will come in future newsletters, so make sure to keep an eye out.

3D printed Bionic Hand a little IOT and a Xamarin Mobile App - A talk by Clifford Agius

On Tuesday the 16th of March on Zoom we have a talk from Clifford Agius on how technology can be used to make prosthetics both far better and far cheaper.

Meet Kayden, a local 15yr old young man and close family friend, who was born with no left forearm and hand. The National Health Service (NHS) is an amazing service in the UK, however their prosthetic provision is both basic and expensive (to the NHS). Surely with modern technology we can not only improve the lives of young people like Kayden but also demonstrate how we can do it more cost effectively than current options. This talk details how I set about building on the wonderful work of the OpenBionics team to provide Kayden with an alternative to the NHS prosthesis. We'll discuss:

• How 3D printing of parts for the hand can be much more effective (cost and function) than fibre glass moulds
• Using home 3D printing we can create a viable articulated hand
• Using off the shelf commodity IoT boards from Adafruit can be used to program the hand (and how this is more viable than alternative approaches) but more recently in the project moving to the new WildernessLabs F7 board so that the whole project in DotNet.
• Creating a Xamarin application to connect via Bluetooth and provide customisation and control options for the hand and the challenges of UI design for those with accessibility issues.
• How this option can reduce the costs from £000's to several hundred £s and is being done as an Open Source project which will hopefully lead to designs and kits being available for others around the world to build their own.
• Attendees will learn about and see demos of:
• The 3D printed hand and related components
• Programming of the IoT board and sensors (In DotNet and C#)
• Creation of the Xamarin application to customise the hand.
• Bluetooth connection options.

Clifford Agius is a freelance developer that just so happens to fly a Boeing 787 around the world.

Every Friday at 7pm we have our Cyber Security Workshops over on Zoom.

During this week's workshop you will have another opportunity to practice going through the process of gaining full control over a vulnerable server hosted on the tryhackme platform. Come along to learn some new valuable skills whilst also gaining an insight into how you can make your own projects more secure. No previous experience of programming or cyber security is required. It would be helpful however if you could install Kali Linux on a virtual machine before the workshop, if you have any problems doing this you could drop a message in the cyber security channel on the HackSoc discord or I can try and help during the workshop. A good tutorial for installing the virtual machine is here.

So whether you are a seasoned hacker, or just interested, be sure to come along.

Opportunities

Give a Lighting Talk

Got a topic you know a bit about and want to share? This term we will be running some lightning talks, either in a lighting talk night or as a extra thing during our other events. A lighting talk is a short (three to five minute) talk giving a quick dive into a specific topic.

If you want to give a talk open a ticket on the discord server, or drop us an email to [email protected]

Join our Discord

The HackSoc Discord is the place to be this year. It is where you can chat about tech, or anything else, as well as where you can find out the latest information about our upcoming events.