Inventory Management Playground workshop

This workshop, by Kralj Karlo, will teach you how to use this particular inventory management system - especially suited for hackerspaces, but also good for all. Tutorials will be provided in the inventory management system that will guide you on modeling your stuff in the system. The system doesn't really require computers, but they will be used here, given this year's constraints.

You will learn about the implied political agenda that was discovered as this system was developed and used. In short: many people outsource the cataloging of items to retailers, and this creates a need for disposable products that can be shipped very quickly. If we would all catalog our things, we might consume less.

Kralj Karlo is a clarinet player from Yugoslavia. He enjoys painting, visiting hackerspaces, and studying foreign languages.

This workshop has two sessions:

2020-07-25, 18:00–19:00

2020-08-01, 18:00–19:00

Abstract

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If you run a hackerspace, you have stuff. If you instead embrace consumerism, you too have stuff. Even vagabonding hacker-slackers living out of backpacks have stuff.

In this workshop you will catalog stuff. The original plan was that we would catalog and share whatever stuff you happen to bring to HOPE. But now that HOPE is online, you can catalog all the stuff that you have wherever you are!

Prepare a few items that you want to organize, prepare a few items that you want to give away, and think of something that you want but don't have. You will enter the items into a catalog and optionally share the catalog with others.

Once people have shared their catalogs, you may search other catalogs for the things that you want but don't have.

We will teach the use of a particular inventory management system. It is possible to use this system without a computer, or with a computer but without specialized software. We also do have a special software for this system, called sticker.

You will learn how to catalog with and without the sticker software, but we will focus on the sticker software. You don't need to install sticker, as you can access it over SSH from a server throughout HOPE.

At the scheduled workshop times, I will provide tutorials in the Inventory management system and guide you in on modeling your stuff in the system.

Desired prerequisite skills or knowledge (if any) for attendees

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Alternative activities are available for people of varied skill and knowledge.

If you have no special skills and no access to a computer, you can catalog your own items by the basic sticker method, just without the sticker software.

If you can write text on a computer and search it (for example, in a text editor or word processor), this is enough to produce a useful catalog for yourself.

You will be able to use the sticker software directly if you can install it on your own computer. It is written in Tcl with the SQLite3 library.

If you are familiar with SSH, you will be able to log in to the server and use the inventory management software from the server, without installing sticker on your own computer.

You are also welcome to join the teleconferencing sessions just to watch other people catalog their things.

What supplies should attendees have in advance of the workshop?

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No supplies are necessary, even if you wish to organize your things. By design, sticker does not require any special equipment.

Can you sell the materials, or provide a detailed list for participants to buy everything?

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If you wish to catalog your things, it may be helpful to have sequentially numbered stickers, one sticker per thing. However, you don't strictly need stickers. For example, the following would work as well.

• Masking tape and a marker
• Clear tape and paper
• Plain paper, without adhesives
• A permanent marker

I am happy to mail stickers to attendees within the United States. I will not charge for this. This service will be available from the announcement of the workshop (before HOPE) until the final day of HOPE. If you would me to mail stickers, email Kralj Karlo (karlo@fastmail.com), saying where to mail the stickers and how many to send.

Total cost for materials

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In case you purchase stickers in advance of the workshop, I recommend cheap stickers, as I prefer stickers with bad adhesive that is thus easy to remove. The cheapest price I have found is half a cent per sticker.

Anything that attendees need to prepare or download beforehand?

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Think of at least one thing that you want to catalog.

Consider whether you want to share any parts of your catalog with others. This is especially appropriate for hackerspaces with extra equipment that they may consider lending or gifting to other hackerspaces.

How many people may participate?

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I place no limit on how many people may participate.