The BUG team got plenty of inquiries from the attendees, and it seems like more and more software folks want to be hardware folks these days. That got us thinking of starting our very own meetup very soon, kinda like a BUG User Group (B.U.G. anyone?). Anyway, it was a great time and we hope to have the Java Meetup back again very soon.

Visiting Neighbors is a non-profit organization with the mission of providing older adults mental stimulation, encouraging physical independence, and helping to alleviate loneliness.   Beyond our obvious goal of delivering gifts and chatting, Visiting Neighbors uses our visits to gather information about the state of their members – health, living conditions, etc…  I think this is great, a truly creative and resourceful community collaboration!

We were a bit surprised that half of us weren’t invited inside – the seniors we were paired with just opened the door and took the bag.  Peter and Kevin were stopped at the door, but each were given a banana .   Those of us that did sit and visit awhile came back with neat stories from some great personalities.  Brian and Al met with a feisty lady that lit her cigarette from a candle on her 100th year old birthday cake, Riba and Amie met with a senior determined to get her first computer, and Irvin and I talked with a Holocaust survivor that described for us, among other amazing stories, how the people in her building and neighborhood have changed over the last 60 years.

It’s amazing to talk with someone that has seen and experienced things I’ve only read about in history books, a living witness to the progress we make as humans.  I also enjoyed how all the members we met with were brutally honest – “oh, a crossword book…take this back.  I’ve never done these puzzles and I’m not going to start now”.  If only we all could be so honest.

For those of us invited beyond the threshold, they said they really enjoyed our visit – but I think our days were brightened even more.   Volunteering is such a synergistic activity.  I admit, the concept of interrupting my workday and sitting with an old stranger was not enticing.  I was even nervous.  But it felt great listening to stories that wanted to be told, and I learned lessons about how to appreciate life and the most basic things around me.  I feel like we made the coming days, maybe even weeks, better for some folks in our neighborhood.  I know we’ll be back.

It’s time for a long overdue Open House at Bug Lab’s new SoHo office. Here are three reasons why it’s going to be a great night;

1. We are wrapping up work on our Test Kitchen – a workspace for one and all to collaborate on apps, build hardware, construct projects and share solder. Alicia, the latest Bug full timer, and a NYC Resistor, will be brewing up some wicked Test Kitchen havoc.
2. Of course – it’s demo time. Plan is to have some cool apps using BUGnet-data and something with our upcoming audio and von Hippel modules.
   
3. The ladies and men of Bug Labs recently had a challenge to decorate the respective comfort stations here in the office. See for yourself who did a better job. You can also try your luck and stand under the wall of bikes.

There is lots to do, and we have to fit it all in before the last US of A presidential debate starts. See you soon!

When: Wednesday, October 15th, 6-8pm (get some substance before the last debate)
Where: 598 Broadway, 4th floor (yes, we moved since the last one!!!)
Who: Anyone, all are welcome!

We’ll pick up some beer and snacks, so please let us know if you think you can make it!

We are doing the Century Ride again – Sunday, September 7th at 7:30 am (gasp). Don’t let the name fool you – you can choose your distance and bike at your own pace. The routes were designed with safety and enjoyment in mind. See more about the event and register here.

There is a pile of us from the office that will serve as marshals, “helping” to navigate the course and guide folks to the scenic rest stops with plentiful food (and the 15 mile route finish line). I heard Brian might even ride his square wheel bike for a challenge:)

We are not just in it for the cool Transportation Alternatives T-shirt, to raise environmental consciousness, or to advocate safe and alternative transit methods. Biking through the city is an awesome way to see and enjoy New York. Let us know if you know of any other rides we might like, or if you will be around on the 7th. Care to join us in the beer garden in Queens after the ride?

We did it! We moved to our bigger space in SoHo and are getting settled in. We love the neighborhood – it’s super active, colorful and lots of good eats – Kelly and Ping and Cafe Habana are all right around the corner (not sure if it’s a pro or a con, but Riba saw Lindsay Lohan eating at Habana).

In the office, work is under way for our Test Kitchen – an in-house lab for getting dirty with electronics and trying out apps. More importantly, at least for the purposes of this post, we have added desks and want to fill them.

We are actively interviewing for folks that can write linux device drivers, help with marketing and outreach (like our .edu program), or help write technical documentation. You can see more details for each of these jobs at www.buglabs.net/jobs.

We are also keeping our eyes open for a controller, biz dev, and ops person with loads of experience with start-ups, CE, light manufacturing, the works.

If this is you, or someone you know, let me know at matthew[at]buglabs.net

Hope you can make it!  We’re still at 915 Broadway (between 20th and 21st) on the 11th floor, at the end of the hall in Suite 1109.

This also means that we have to do another Open House soon.  For the next event, what do you think? Should we throw in an SDK installfest, BUGapp coding session, hardware demo and spec talk, or something else?  Let us know and stay tuned to bugblogger.com for details on our next get-together.

Thanks again, and hope to see you again soon!

You asked us about the hardware, you wanted to check out the office, you think BUG is the tool to solve your problem, you are a DIYer hacker and want to know more about what makes the BUG tick, you want to talk about your dream application, you are an entrepreneur and/or and artist with a great idea, or maybe you want to work with the Bug Labs team…. whatever the reason may be, we hope to see you.

You can find us at 915 Broadway (between 20th and 21st) on the 11th floor, at the end of the hall in Suite 1109.  If you can’t make it this time, don’t fret and stay tuned – we’ll do it again before too long.

I saw that distributing gifts is much more difficult than reaching in a pile of donated gifts and passing them out.  Each gift is sorted by gender and age and matched to the profile of clients – so each family gets a bag of appropriate gifts for their family.  In addition, to donating, sorting, distributing, etc…. the YCP must record the price of each of these gifts for IRS purposes (yuck).

The Bug Lab’s group, armed with laptops, was very welcome and deemed perfect for the job.   A group of us, for the day, only made a tiny dent in what needs to get done in the next couple months – but it was a fun time.  It was great to see all the gifts waiting to go out to eager little kids – and to be part of it even in a small way.

Thinking of our group here at Bug Labs …. the avid cyclists in our office all took interest in volunteering their time to serve as guides for the Transportation Alternatives bike ride – which involved waking up at the crack of dawn on a Saturday.   More recently, Heather, Bug Labs’ Queen of QA, signed on to be a buddy to an elderly New Yorker as part of the Caring Community program.   I think we are all passionate and giving, but it’s easy to see that if you want to volunteer and get involved – it’s personal.

As we plan our next Volunteer Meetup, I’m thinking about how we can create meaning for the entire  group.  How can you create involvement, or better yet, continued interest?   I mean, there are 275 people that went out of their way to join the Meetup, but don’t seem to be active.

Allison Fine, in her book Momentum, takes a good deal of time to explain the parallels of community involvement and open source programming.   I thought this ironic as Bug Labs is all about open source, and I had never related it to volunteering, or giving back to the community.  How naive!  That’s what open source is.  In the open source software community, people contribute their ideas and they can participate how they want to.  Power flows from people who self-organize.  While this may seem chaotic, when it is managed well (like all good open source projects) a diffuse network of builders all interested in creating a better whole, make amazing progress.  The Meetup forum itself, is a great example of open source collaboration.  It provides an organized format for people to create and contribute based on the very topics that are of interest to them.

Perhaps applying this philosophy down one more level, into our own Volunteer Meetup group, has some value?   Maybe we could facilitate the posting of causes, as well as make it easier for those wanting to give their time and expertise.  This could allow people to be active in just the way they want.   Have you volunteered and enjoyed it?  What made it a good or bad experience?  Would you participate more if it was more related to a specific cause or if it was easier?  What makes it easier for you?