About the Lair
About The Squirrel's Lair
What is the Squirrel's Lair?
The Squirrel's Lair is a team who enjoy making peoples' lives easier by providing services to help solve their problems.
Really? What kinds of problems?
That's a great question. Do you have an idea that you're having trouble turning into a real thing? Do you have a problem that you've thrown time, frustration, and money at but haven't been able to solve? We may be able to help.
That's not particularly helpful. Can you give me some examples?
Many of our projects are accessible from the home page of this wiki. We have done work in the following areas:
- Interactive displays for museums, education, business, and home
- Sports clubs
- Escape rooms
- Using the MediaWiki platform to manage data for any size organization, and on internal or external networks
- Fabrication services for single items or in quantity
- Equipment to assist medical research
- Logo and sign design
- 3-D printing in plastic and metal
- Vinyl cutting
- Cutting and engraving of most materials, including glass and many metals
- Electronic signage using addressable LED arrays or LCD/OLED displays
- Automation, monitoring, specialty lighting
- Process documentation and technical writing
- Repair or replacement of hard-to-find parts
- Last-ditch repair attempts
- Equipment refurbishment
What don't you do?
Well, there's the stuff that's outright illegal - we don't do that. Safety is important, too: we don't do anything that is safety critical, or that is actually intended to harm people or animals. We consider requests on a case-by-case basis and will decline any that we feel we can't do safely, or anything we don't have the expertise or tools to do properly.
Who is the Squirrel's Lair?
The Squirrel's Lair is:
Tina
Tina is the heart and soul of the Squirrel's Lair. She's the kind of person who will spend two days crawling over, under, around, and through old equipment because it looks cool and she's pretty sure she can get it going again. She has her Master's degree in Mechatronics and is usually the first person people in her neighbourhood go to if they have an electronic, computer, or mechanical problem, or if they have an old tool that needs fixing. Or some welding done. Or something braced. Tina is also an active member in the WikiMedia community and has given presentations at international WM conferences.
Tawny
Tawny is the Lair's resident dog. She can follow several commands, always looks cute, and rarely gets into trouble. She is very good at manipulating humans and guilting them into giving her treats, and may or may not be a better welder than Hal.
Hal
Hal is the brain of the Squirrel's Lair. He is an engineering technologist with an uncommon fondness for datasheets and research. An avid electronics hobbyist since age five, he has since branched out into microcontrollers, robotics, and automation. Hal also enjoys 3-D design and printing, welding, electromechanical systems, and has recently taken up photogrammetry. He doesn't at all resent being listed after the dog.