May is upon us! Let’s start with a big announcement.

FOULAB Does Gamedev v1 - a month-long SMBX level design collab

With support of four generous sponsors, we are launching a month-long platformer game collab fest.

Your goal is simple. Make a level for a classic platformer game, the first work of the famous indie developer Redigit, Super Mario Bros. X.

You can download the game here. (A faithful Linux port with a lesser editor is available here, and a fan-made continuation lives on here )

Why make a level? Well, it has been agreed that for every unique Foulaber that makes a level*, each of the sponsors will pitch in $5 to the lab - a total of $20. Twenty dollars - and your mark on a grand piece of Foulab art. Want to support the space and flex your creative muscles in the meantime? Get making! Don’t want to do that? Get your friends making! We are situated in the ~UUDDLRLRBAStart channel in Mattermost.

(*donation extends up to a maximum of 20 participants involved)

The work will be released as a collab album later in the year.

Sunday Mesh Morning II - Sunday May 5th @ 10:00 - 13:00

kryma and the mesh team are up to their usual again. Join a team of ragtag enthusiasts and make computers talk to each other.

We will install Linux on new routers, and try to get a nice high-speed Foulab node for our local network project KULUPU. Join us?

Intro workshop for FOULAB Does Gamedev v1 - Tuesday May 7th @ 19:30 - 21:00

How do I join Foulab Does Gamedev? Can I make a level, too? What’s a mario?

Let’s answer those questions together - drop by our space with a laptop for a quick run-through of how to install the collab game, how to navigate the gameplay and the editor controls, and even how to make a small level yourself! Any OS welcome.

FOULAB Monthly Meeting - Saturday May 11th @ 15:00 - 17:00

An inside look at FOULAB’s kitchen awaits you at this meeting. Join as as we discuss administrative details and all sorts of nitty-gritty operation that keeps the lab running, and the nights open.

No need to be a member, or even register! Sit in and learn about the lab’s day-to-day - or make your opinions known!

Scrap Sculpture Workshop II - Tuesday May 14th @ 19:00 - 23:00

By popular demand, the sculpture workshop from February returns! stuntman, our local artist and part-time mech, presents another workshop on turning plastic scrap into art. Come and make something beautiful - walk-ins welcome!

Killed by Dice Presents: InSpectres - Sunday May 19th @ 16:00 - 19:00

Killed by Dice and der_moderne_man return with another banger. Have you ever seen Ghostbusters? Up for a light-hearted, hilarious tabletop RPG featuring a squad of paranormal exterminators out on a mission?

Meet up with old friends, connect with new ones. This is the perfect event for someone new to Foulab - or even to Montreal! Tickets are limited - register here if you’d like to attend!

Edited to amend: the correct date is May 19th, not 26th as mistakenly published before.

Wiki Night - Tuesday May 21st @ 20:00 - 20:30

FOULAB’s infrastructure operator and archivist eigma invites you for another wiki night - where we read the articles of the wiki of old, and write new ones as we see fit. Join our thirty-minute flow of information - let’s document the lab!

We’ll also be visiting OSHWA - a summit for open hardware artists and hobbyists taking place this month in Montreal. Swing by our booth!

It’s finally Spring proper! Even though the weather outside might say otherwise. What’s going on at Foulab? Something new, as usual. Come explore this month’s selection of things for a local hacker to do.

Cleaning day + FOULAB Monthly Meeting - Saturday April 6th @ 10:00 - 19:00

The time has come! Let’s get together and give the space a clean so big it lasts a year, if not more. Everyone is welcome to attend - it’s a commonly known fact that doing something good with others energizes like nothing else.

Starting from 3PM, we plan to take a break for a FOULAB meeting. Topics of discussion are logistics - and at last, the unveiling of the grand museum project. Do come by - even if you’re not an active Foulaber!

Sunday Mesh Morning - Sunday April 7th @ 09:00 - 12:00

A brief, low-key event with FOULAB’s mesh networking enthusiasts hosted by kryma. Come play with OpenWRT hardware and learn about Montreal’s WiFi mesh projects - from Reseau Libre to KULUPU to our little in-house Bobcat chatbot.

Wiki Night - Thursday April 11th @ 19:00 - 20:30

Ever wondered what the lab was originally built around? Ever wanted to go for a dive deep into the space’s history?

FOULAB’s infrastructure specialist eigma shows and tells about the layers of the newly reconstructed FOULAB wiki. Come join - both readers and writers welcome.

Killed by Dice Presents: Mothership Returns - Sunday April 21st @ 16:00 - 19:00

Our tabletop friends at Killed by Dice, led by der_moderne_man, bring you another fantastic roleplay event. This time, we’re returning to the cold space and dark halls of Mothership - a terrifying science fiction RPG that will see you battling horrors among the unblinking stars. As usual, please register on Eventbrite if you’d like to join - spots are limited!

FOULAB Project Night - Thursday April 25th @ 19:30 - 21:30

It’s the event everyone’s been waiting for! A chance to show off your coolest and most ingenious projects of the month, or to admire the ones brought by others. Join a celebration of the hacker spirit, hosted by none other than Mr. X of Foulab himself - the executive member idefix. Bring your own project if you want to show it. Don’t have one? You’re welcome to come look, too.

A special mention also goes out to our friends at OSHWA - a summit for open hardware artists and hobbyists taking place just next month in Montreal. Come give them a visit - the lineup features plenty of clever hardware hacks that are sure to be a delight.

Hi, all.

The more involved of you may remember that insuring the lab, and keeping it insured, is no easy task. This time, to keep rates manageable, our partner organization has required us to re-evaluate our public image. From now on, we have been asked to refrain from using a certain term that describes illegal cybersecurity bypassing. This term is banned from our Mattermost starting now; we are working on updating the site content.

The rest of the Fablab experience is not expected to change much. It’s still a makerspace, so you’ll be able to build projects, hang out, and socialize with your peers just like before.

Have a nice spring, everyone!

Spring has sprung! Some of these events you’ve heard of before, some more we’ve got just now. Perfect time to drop by the lab for some hacking.

KDE 6th Megarelease Launch Party - Friday March 8th @ 18:00-22:00

Have you heard? A new major release of KDE Plasma is coming out! Swing by for an extra open night in its honour - we will discuss new features, demo some KDE apps, and try to get as many people as we can onto the Path of the Gear.

Pizza? We got that.

Customizability? We got that.

Join our cool technomancer cult software community.

FOULAB Monthly Meeting - Saturday March 16th @ 15:00 - 17:00

Another monthly organizational meeting comes. Points of discussion - moving forward, financial transparency, the new dead drop. More, if you want - come talk lab with everybody!

These meetings are open to everyone.

Introduction to Mastodon and the Fediverse - Sunday March 17th @ 12:30 - 14:00

Lately, there has been increasing interest in alternatives to corporate social media. Mastodon and a wide variety of other apps that make up the “Fediverse” are the forefront of these alternatives. Come and learn about what the Fediverse is, how to use Mastodon, and why it matters.

If you’ve been curious about Mastodon, or maybe set up an account but felt a bit lost, then this is the workshop for you! Our resident Fediverse expert n00q will cover the basics, the background, some (light) theory, and demonstrations of how to get started and navigate Mastodon. Bring your questions! More experienced Fedi folks are also welcome.

This workshop will be presented in English mais l’animateur parle aussi Français.

Killed by Dice Presents: Data Dive, Cyberpunk Role-playing with The Pool - Sunday March 17th @ 16:00 - 19:00

A double feature! Killed by Dice is bringing you another thrilling roleplay experience, headed by the local RPG artisan der_moderne_man. Beginners are welcome - register on Eventbrite to join a badass Sunday gang of cyborgs and punks.