FAQ – 2012

What the diddly is going on?

Science Hack Day Dublin is going on. March 3rd-4th 2012 in DCU. Diddly? Really?

Ah yes, a Science Hack Day and how do I buy one? I’ll take three.

It’s a FREE to attend event, you don’t buy one, and it would never fit on your car (even with the back seats down). A Science Hack Day is all-day-all-night event that brings together inquisitive and creative minds to one place, to make wonderful things. Designers, developers, engineers, scientists and all card carrying geeks proudly bring their A-game to the same physical space for a brief but intense period of collaboration, hacking, and building ‘cool stuff’. By collaborating on focused tasks during this short period, small groups of hackers are capable of producing remarkable results. Some Hack Days have a specific focus. There have already been very successful Music Hack Days and Government Hack Days. It’s time for a Hack Day focused on science!

What’s a Hack? Will I get in trouble? Do I need a letter from my parents?

No, a hack is a quick solution to a problem – maybe not the most elegant solution, but often the cleverest. On the web, mashups are a common example of hacking: mixing up data from different sources in new and interesting ways.

Your jib is cutting to my liking, who is this for?

Science Hack Day is for anyone with an interest in bringing science and technology together. If you’re a coder, designer, scientist, hacker or simply an enthusiastic person with good ideas, Science Hack Day is for you.

I’m there! give me the run down daddio?

Hmmm. Here is the schedule. The day with starts with “lightning talks” where people can pitch ideas they would like to work on. After this everyone break into teams (usually of 4-6 people) and starts working on bringing that idea to life. You don’t have to come with a team and it is not unusual for people to float around a few different groups before settling on an idea they like… daddio.

I’m promiscuous, is it o.k if I make blatant passes at the organisers

Get in line.

I get scared at nighttime, will you leave the light on for me?

The event will be in full flow all throughout Saturday night. Will supply the caffeine to make this happen, but if you do want to get a few hours of sneaky sleep in, we will have a quiet sleeping area (bring a sleeping bag). We also understand that some people do have homes to go to, and kidnap is illegal, so you are free to go to them and return in the morning to continue hacking.

Will there be prizes? I collect shiny things

Yes, there are 6 different categories, but bragging rights is the biggest prize of all.

What sort of things get made? I made a 100 piece jigsaw once.

Yes that is very impressive, but maybe you will be more impressed by the cool projects from past international Science Hack Days and list of projects people are interested in doing at the Dublin Science Hackday here. It’s a wiki add your interest in an idea, or better yet add an idea of your own!