Good morning DMV! Our next Repair Cafe is THIS SATURDAY, Aug 16th! Doors open at 10:30am, and we'd love to see you there!

New to Repair Cafe? Bring a broken item or a question, and let's work together to figure it out. Repairs and consultations are free, and we have snacks to share.

PLEASE NOTE: We CAN do knife sharpening at this event after all. See next post for more details.

You seem to be wondering why Clippy is in my profile picture.

Let me help you with that:
https://youtu.be/2_Dtmpe9qaQ

I made a submission this week to the Treasury of the Australian Government on the right to repair in the age of Tesla https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=5379231 #auslaw #auspol #righttorepair #consumerlaw #competition #IP #product #stewardship #SDGs #cars #Tesla

The Australian Treasurer Hon. Jim Chalmers has been promising to expand the right to repair - it will be interesting to see what emerges in this policy space.

Picture - ‘Tesla Cybertruck with Shattered Windows’, Wikimedia, CC-BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:20191121-tesla-cybertruck-shattered-windows-url.jpg

Dear _ ,

In this present time, maybe I can advocate for the #RightToRepair, & I can encourage the formation of periurban agricultural co-ops, support Indigenous land stewardship, the planting of windbreaks , supply knowledge for the growing of #polycultures , & buy from small farms . I can advocate for shared tools , long crop rotations that include perennial crops , & localized food systems , & resilient, #biodiverse farms & communities . #ClimateAction #Agroecology #Permaculture

Hot take: for critical infra, all firmware running on devices operated by public entities should be compiled and audited by these public entities.

Vendors should be required to supply source code and assist in compilation, flashing and verification; but the operator should have the means to introspect and verify any part of such deliveries independently.

Then this entire mess of a Polish train manufacturer never could have gone off the rails.

Re: https://www.ifixit.com/News/112008/polish-train-maker-is-suing-the-hackers-who-exposed-its-anti-repair-tricks

My Apple Pencil battery died.

Though I COULD use a Dremel tool to saw the entire length of the pencil, solder in a new battery, in practical terms, there's no way to do this without DESTROYING the Apple Pencil.

And with the Apple Pencil Pro, the repair gets even more difficult, nigh on impossible.

Having just replaced the fan in my Framework laptop in about 5 minutes with just a Torx driver, this complete lack of repairability of my Apple gear is hugely frustrating.

Australian Treasurer, the Hon. Jim Chalmers, told the National Press Club: 'We're expanding our Right to Repair reforms' https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/ministers/jim-chalmers-2022/speeches/address-national-press-club-canberra-5 #auslaw #auspol #righttorepair #competition #consumerlaw #IP #SDGs But no detail yet on the policy.

"Fans of an iconic French car gather this week in Slovenia to reclaim a slow, stress-free way of life where repairs are easy and cars are slow."

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250803-citroen-2cv-lovers-gather-in-slovenia-to-take-the-slow-road

As promised, my lists of #RepairCafes, #Mending, and #MakerSpace / #HackerSpace accounts! Suggestions welcome!

Repair Cafes
@zenlan
@suearcher
@restartproject
@repaircafeiow
@repaircafe_boizenburg
@repaircafe_g_zell
@RepairCafeInternational
@repaircaferugby
@RepairCafe_Stevenage

MakerSpace / HackerSpace
@HSB
@lhc
@eugenemakerspace
@DoESLiverpool
@hackhitchin
@tog
@DublinMaker

#Linux expertise
@agenda_du_libre

#Mending / #FiberArts
@Edinburghstreetstitchers
@fiberarts
@knitting
@evansky_arts
@mapa
@FanCityKnits

Deere must face FTC’s right-to-repair lawsuit, judge rules
The tractor giant’s effort to dismiss was denied, clearing the way for a trial expected later this year that would challenge the company’s system for repairs and services. https://www.manufacturingdive.com/news/deere-must-face-ftc-right-to-repair-lawsuit-judge-rules/750781/ #righttorepair #uslaw #uspol #agriculture #farming #tractors

Our software repairer, Steph, has been lured into fixing some scales as we're so busy, and she did a great job!

When are we going to standardise lithium ion battery sizes, like we did with nickel battery sizes, so that instead of having to throw away whole devices when they stop holding charge we can just replace them with another of a standard size?

I think my portable speaker's rechargeable battery is probably not going to last too much longer. I use it every day. But how can it make sense to throw away a whole portable speaker when only the battery is the problem??

"In late May, Apple announced what seemed on its face to be a big, positive development for iPad owners: It was going to begin selling repair parts for iPads to the general public, which is a requirement of a series of new right-to-repair laws. “With today’s announcement, we’re excited to expand our repair services to more customers, enabling them to further extend the life of their products—all without compromising safety, security, or privacy,” Brian Naumann, Apple’s vice president of AppleCare, said in a press release announcing the move.

The announcement was generally covered positively by the press: “Save Money, Make Your iPad Last Longer,” a Forbes headline read, for example. But independent repair professionals who have used the program told 404 Media that the prices Apple is charging for some repair parts are absurdly high, and that this functionally means that the iPad is as unrepairable as it has always been."

https://www.404media.co/apple-is-selling-ipad-repair-parts-for-astronomical-prices/

My impact driver does not need to know which bit I'm using. My car does not need to know if I intend to change lanes. My oven doesn't need to know what I'm cooking.

I want usable, repairable tools, not statistically probable advice or robotic tsk-tsking.

Wife was complaining that the range in the new place was taking way too long to heat up. Did a bit of troubleshooting and replaced the main bake element for ~$60. Fixed!

Dear _ ,

To arrive at your city of the future, we must in this time emerge out from under the planned obsolesence paradigm & legislate the #RighttoRepair. Sharing will be rewarded by institutions & materialism will be stigmatized. Who will open the repair café, the reuse library, the tool co-op? We will compost things more often, upcycle our clothes, & demand that many things be made to last. #RepairCulture #CircularEconomy #ZeroWaste #RegenerativeFuture #NoMoreObsolescence

Well, saving money is a good reason for #NoBuy practices. But even better -- keeping things out of the landfills! This is a trend we ALL need to see more of! For whatever reason one chooses not to buy, I'm glad to see it catching on!

How the '#NoBuy2025' trend could help you get your budget on track this year

Ivana Pino, July 21, 2025

Excerpt: "Many of those who take on the challenge start by creating a list of rules for themselves that align with their lifestyles. This could include hard rules such as 'no new clothes whatsoever' or 'no new technology,' as well as rules that limit the frequency of certain purchases, such as 'yes to takeout once per month' or 'yes to one nail appointment every two weeks.'

"Others have posted online about having a 'low buy' year, which means they’re limiting the amount of purchases they’re making, rather than cutting out non-essential spending altogether."

Source:
https://finance.yahoo.com/personal-finance/banking/article/no-buy-2025-154420096.html?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us

#righttorepair #rechtaufreparatur #RTReparatur @reparatur

---
Kaufen ja, reparieren nein: EU schränkt Displaytausch durch Nutzer*innen ein – #RunderTischReparatur
https://runder-tisch-reparatur.de/kaufen-ja-reparieren-nein-eu-schraenkt-displaytausch-durch-nutzerinnen-ein/