[Noisebridge-discuss] Advisory about recent thefts at Noisebridge.

Ryan Rawson ryanobjc at gmail.com
Mon Jul 11 00:22:44 UTC 2011


I really like this solution, since I don't think we want noisebridge
turning in to a crack den, or theft prone area, making the oh-so
praised "non-NT" nerds afraid and driving them out.

So, is noisebridge a hackspace, or a soup kitchen? It can't be both,
since the hackers will flee after their laptops and cell phones are
stolen for the Nth time.

-ryan

On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 5:20 PM, Jonathan Lassoff <jof at thejof.com> wrote:
> On Sun, Jul 10, 2011 at 4:22 PM, Casey Callendrello <c1 at caseyc.net> wrote:
>> As word of Noisebridge spreads ever-wider, it becomes more difficult to
>> balance the ideal of radical inclusion with the fact that not everyone
>> understands and respects our community.
>>
>> To bring this to real-life, the collective action has equated "radical
>> inclusion" with "we open the gate for everyone who buzzes in."
>>
>> Noisebridge, which has lots of desirable targets for theft, relies on a
>> security system consisting almost solely of human scrutiny of everyone
>> who uses the gate buzzer. This is a security system that does not scale.
>> I've been in the place on a Wednesday evening, and it seemed that the
>> buzzer rang 20 times an hour. Compounding the problem:
>>     * many welcomed and accepted people rely on the buzzer as their
>> only means of access
>>     * Therefore, 99% of buzzer ringers are "false positives" - people
>> who require absolutely no scrutiny
>>     * Not everyone is comfortable with confronting possible Bad People
>>
>> What if buzzing-in is strongly discouraged or even disallowed?  We'd
>> need a way for welcomed people to demonstrate that they are a part of
>> the Noisebridge Community. There are some technical solutions to this
>> problem (more suggestions welcome!):
>>
>> * Disable or delay buzzer from 10p - 10a
>>     * Make buzzer sound 1-5 min after button is pressed.
>> * Weekly rotating access code; install number pad on the gate
>>     ** code can be distributed widely; email bot sends to mailing list,
>> visitors may subscribe at will
>> * VOIP dial-in number, maybe require the same code to be entered
>> * must buzz correct morse code sequence
>> * gate has SMS shortcode, text to open using Twilio
>>
>> In short, if we make it trivially easy to participate in the community
>> and disable the buzzer, that may take much of the load off of the human
>> scaling system.
>
> I really love the idea that if you're technically skilled and want to
> sort of "hack your way" in, by all means you should find a way in.
>
> I'm guessing most of the people that have come in and caused a
> nuisance have no idea what SSH or scripts are. I feel like by making
> documented, but technical, instructions on how to get in -- we could
> make a fun puzzle to welcome visiting (computer-inclined) hackers. It
> could also act as a bit of an initial filter to select for the "hacker
> mentality".
>
> </two cents>
>
> --j
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