[Noisebridge-discuss] Meeting notes 2011-09-13

[Danny O'Brien]

  Meeting-o-meter:
Expected drama: 85%
Actual productivity: 98%

Some highlights:

We have two new members,  Jorgen and Alex Paul! Hi to you!

There was agreement that we should postponed the proposed banning of Rob 2.0
until his return.

There are two other consensus items up for consideration next week: money
for t-shirts (usually acceptable), and money for an electricity meter, after
a fundraising period.


d.




Meeting Notes 2011 09 13
(Redirected from Last
meeting<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Last_meeting&redirect=no>
)
Contents

   - 1 Agenda <https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Agenda>
      - 1.1 Introduction and
Names<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Introduction_and_Names>
      - 1.2 Short
Announcements<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Short_Announcements>
      - 1.3 New or Stale
Events<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#New_or_Stale_Events>
      - 1.4 Financial
Report<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Financial_Report>
      - 1.5 Membership
Binder<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Membership_Binder>
      - 1.6 Consensus
items<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Consensus_items>
      - 1.7 Discussion
Items<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#Discussion_Items>
      - 1.8 End of
Meeting<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Last_meeting#End_of_Meeting>

 [edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=1>
] Agenda

The 178th Meeting of
Noisebridge<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Category:Meeting_Notes>

Note-taker: User:Malaclyps <https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/User:Malaclyps>

Moderator: User:Leif <https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/User:Leif>
[edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=2>
] Introduction and Names

   - What Noisebridge is
about<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Noisebridge_Vision>:
   "Noisebridge is a 501c3 nonprofit that provides a space for creation,
   collaboration, and learning about technology and creative projects.
   Noisebridge provides space, power tools, and infrastructure to help the
   public learn new skills and create cool things. Noisebridge continues to
   exist through and depends entirely on membership fees and donations. Our
   code of conduct is 'Be excellent to each other'."


   - Round of introductions: What's your name, what do you do, and if you
   are new, how did you hear about Noisebridge? Start with the moderator and go
   left.

Leif is moderating the meeting

Shaun-Simon -- first time at any hackerspace

Michael -- Applied Anthropologist hanging out to SPY ON THE PRIMATES,
overwhelmed by the amount of activity going on

Mike -- a technowanderer

Jesse -- I'm a just into technology, projects apparently working on an
arcade table to play classic arcade games

Elliot -- first time,

Drew -- just turned up this week, developer working on some UNDOUBTEDLY COOL
projects

Danny -- I am taking notes

Wish -- Wish fulfilling tree is what it's short for. It's like bazillions of
years ago, I was applied math/arch/engineering into classical Indian music,
yoga, mathematical kind of science of consciousness raising with combined
with the Gods and Maestros of India. Running for Mayor. Kind of hard word
what with the MAN. Dad was an innovative open heart surgeon, and eccentric
hacking part of my background.

Jorgen -- involved with Tastebridge, not running for mayor.

Evan -- been coming here for the last six months, generally been doing web
dev.

Michel - I come from Paris, first time here. Hi!

Carl -- and I'm watching people mispelling my name.

Rob -- community plumber. Into web dev and STUFF.

Duncan -- is a friend to all

Leanne - jut want to learn how to cook, and hack, etc.

Alex -- herds electrons

Snail -- professional cat herder

Rubin -- I like to keep it



   - A brief primer on consensus
process<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Consensus_Process>:
   We agree and so should you! Only paid-up members can block consensus.

[edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=3>
] Short Announcements

Cool new projects? Something you'd like people to know? Say now, but keep it
short!


 [edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=4>
] New or Stale Events

Is there anything new happening at the space?

Is there anything that has stopped happening at the space?

Anyone interested in restarting the Ruby group?

It was more of a class thing, every Tuesday at 6pm and Robert was holding
it, and he relocated to the downtown library, due to the crowds on Tuesday.
Like to reboot it locally here. Maybe better more as a working group rather
than a class, because everyone here has their own little projects.

According to Steve Dee, hopefully we start a preliminary meeting of deep
hack, spelunking for the 21st century. A great need to rediscover what's
under your fingertips. Understand what underlies all the technology we use.
Project will be to see what's going on in a computer memory, using qemu to
examine and modify its memory while it's running. Talk to Mike or Leif after
the meeting.

Hacker Prom is going to be on October 1st. If you feel like helping, contact
User:Rubin110 <https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/User:Rubin110> . We'll also
have the Arse Electronika conference about technology and porn workshop the
next day. The perfect prom chaser.

Dorkbot <http://dorkbot.org/> would like to host another event here, they
weren't able to pull talkers together for this month. Looks like it'll be
the 3rd week of October on Wednesday. Donations would go to us. Weeeee!

(TODO update the merging of Django class with Python class)
[edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=5>
] Financial Report

Funds in bank: pretty well, so legend has it.


 [edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=6>
] Membership Binder

   - Read off any names from the binder for the past month. Write a check on
   every open application.


   - Anyone up for joining this week (ie have four checks by their name +
   have two sponsors) should introduce themselves then leave the area in search
   of gifts (traditionally beer and a lime) for the rest of the group. The rest
   of the meeting should consense on whether they may join.


Jorgen was consensed on 2011-09-13 and is now a member! Alex Paul was
consensed on 2011-09-13 and is now a member!
[edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=7>
] Consensus items

Notification of the forthcoming consensus item, proposed by Jake:

To bar Jay from entering the space and participating in the community.

*(See Current Consensus
Items<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Current_Consensus_Items>page.)
*

Rubin felt that it would be appropriate not to kick him while he's down. The
problem may already have solved itself, so we shouldn't pre-emptively make a
rule.

Wish says I just saw him as just as a huge potential problem because he has
some serious emotional issues, and tends to drag people down. It stopped the
whole process of Noisebridge. It seems unlikely that he would be
re-cuperated after a month.

Rubin says he agrees, but we shouldn't do it until after a month. Right now,
we don't have an issue.

Leif feels like talking to him would be the right thing to do.

The consensus is that the consensus be postponed.

It seems like the best moment to put this process through would be after the
suspension, otherwise consensus may be difficult to achieve. (AKA RUBIN
BLOCKS)

---

Getting more t-shirts. $1500 approx is allotted. Request for red shirts for
trek victims, also women's sizes. Also wearable bikesheds and embroided ...
I don't know, Swiss national dress?

(TODO put that in the LOG)

"Shall Noisebridge order and pay $1500 for t-shirts."

---

"Noisebridge shall pay the funds up to $700 measuring device, after a
collection has been made."
[edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=8>
] Discussion Items

Ben K would like to talk about lighting.

I've heard rumors, made measurements, COLLECTED FACTS, while we have the
lights turned on, we are drawing 2.5KW per hour. That's pprox 1/3rd of our
power bill, costs hundreds of dollars a month (our last bill was c. $833).
Also burned out lights that are drawing power.

We don't know what is using all the energy. So phase 1 of Operation
DESTRUCTO-ENERGY is

   - Measuring. Put one measurement device on one of our feeds, already. Ben
   would like to spend NB money on a second device that works on the second
   feed. $700 will meter the whole place.


   - Once we have metering, the SF dept of environment who will come out,
   and audit what we are using for electricity with the hope that they can get
   us funding from PG&E to improve the situation. They have explicitly are NOT
   part of building inspection, they want to reduce our energy usage only. We
   have moderately inefficient lighting, but it can be significantly improved
   for a sum of money -- we have no idea of the costs. But that's the point of
   the inspection. They write down what we have, so that they can prove we
   aren't lying when we ask for the money from PG&E. We have a whole pile of
   spares and a whole pile of dead lights, which Jim and Ben will be fixing
   together before the inspector comes in next week or so (appointment has not
   yet been scheduled).

Wish asked about solar panels. Ben says we would need more money than we
have -- it would take 10-15 years to recoup the costs. We could drop our
powerbill by a third.

We are taking 900Watts on the front panel, and no idea what it is.

We have one two-phase panel, and we have a standard three-phase commercial
panel, one to the kitchen, one to the shop. And then a third one that Rubin
just spotted.

Rubin explains how the two sweatshops were divided, so the electrics are a
mess, and that's why we get two measurements.

It was agreed to fund-raise for the $700, and for a consensus item to be
placed next week to draw the remainder from NB funds.

Danny would like to talk about what happened with Rob 2.0's rack, and
do-but-notify

Pass the donation box for a second projector (for Church)

Rubin says: When we did the revamp of the infrastructure, when the rack was
set up, it was a rat's nest, with cables hanging out. I thought it was a
danger. When I unplugged it, our internet stopped working. Some people
thought that there was a MITM attack. Actually it turned out to be the
closet, so we fixed that.

Last night, we were whittled down a lot of servers. When we first started
NB, we stated that we didn't want the place turning into a hosting facility.
People put in machines, they don't tell anyone, noone leave any notes. It's
a pain. Noisebridge money goes into paying for the power and the internet.

The rack in question was barely holding together, nothing was powering on,
there was a melted laptop. So I decided to move it out to the sidetalk. It
didn't seem to be doing anything useful, and was in the way of the fire
escape. And in the spirit of noisebridge, I felt I was hacking the space, by
removing the rack.

There was a 2U which was missing everything but its motherboard, but wasn't
really assembled together. There was four powerstrips and ethernet tied to
the machine; both were dangerously looped over the rest of the sapce.

Jorgen said when Rob came in he asked about his servers. Rubin said that
they really didn't seem working like servers.

We re-iterated the rule that everything that is deposited in the space is a
donation, and membership shelves have no guarantee.

Duncan points out having a name and number on an item *can* help stop it
from being re-purposed.

Mike talked about how Rob had messed with public resources, like the
computer he used. A lot of the pictures of the build out were deleted, and
Linux installed. He destroyed three really good scooters.

Mike screamed at him last night because he depended on that computer.

Rob 1.0 had to rush , but can relate to some of Rob's behaviours, because
I'm a minor version of him. But I think are some good underlying qualities,
and he has potential to be more valuable asset as a lot of people do.
Despite all of the negativity, I think there is their potential.

Rachel Hospodar said she was there last night to meet Rob 2.0 -- the people
were Rachel, Mitch, Miloh, Jake, Leila, Mike. He seemed like he wanted to be
here, but he had a hard time accepting that he had to change. It's not clear
which way he has to go.

Winn: here is another sort of really faulty psychological person. He's had a
hard life. He can win you over. He can be disruptive. Everyplace I go, I can
tell where he's been.

Rubin felt it was inappropriate to talk about Rob 2.0 without him being here
to defend himself.

Danny felt that a warning was more appropriate than throwing things out.

Rachel Hospodar says that throwing stuff out like this without warning, is
an asshole move.

Evan says we have a reasonable expectation that the rack was not being used,
and ignored for a good period of time, and yes, it should be thrown out. A
post to the main mailing list about that, though, would be useful.

Last night at 3AM, Rachel says we had a giant argument with Rob 2.0. We
tried to convince him not to be an asshole. And then Rob's response was to
explain the reasoning behind that behaviour. I don't care the reason behind
it, I just care that he was an asshole, says Rachel, and now I feel I'm
having the same experience with you, Rubin.

It was harder to pursuade him to change his behaviour, because we had to
explain why Rubin is an asshole too, and why that's sometimes okay.

Someone says they hate Rubin. Someone says they love Rubin.

Wish was a newcomer, and was made to feel not welcome, and then left, and
then came back. There have been territorial games, where if I fell asleep,
people say they were going to put stuff out on the street. You can take it a
step further with bullshit. It can go with people who have been longer, and
play it as a negative aspect. You dont' want a whole lot of game-playing.
Being excellent isn't quoting being excellent. Let's just try to be
excellent. We shouldn't have insider intrigues.

Duncan can see both sides of it. Rachel made a good summation: one thing I
will point out, a discussion with Danny, when I first got here, I was rather
feral. The music went up, and I thought it was an excellent thing to pull
the wire out, and I sort of modelled that on behaviour that I'd seen in the
space. One thing to do: it might be mindful, with a broad spectrum of
backgrounds, our behaviour will be modelled. It might be one thing to throw
away a rack. Someone might do the same with a makerbot. While there's no
hard and fast boundary, giving some error or doubt would be useful.

Someone notes that Rob 2.0 did leave the space voluntarily. He should get
credit for that.

Jorgen believes he may have ADD. He'll take the scooter, and be five minutes
in the workshop, he'll take out eight screws, and then he'll wander off onto
the computer. The thing that bothered me was the constant usage of community
computers.

One of the problems with Rob, is that he was sleeping here. Kayla says she
has keys for a place for him to sleep.

If you see Rob taking things apart, ask him if he is going to put things
back together.

Duncan says part of the issue is that he's got a rough history as a
blackhat.

Rubin: nothing wrong with being a blackhat.

Duncan: but I think he wants to change, and all of this didn't help.

Someone: As a fellow person with ADHD, part of it is you don't consider the
consequences of your actions. Executive functions aren't the greatest. You
just have to form habits by restructuring things. Pretty much I think the
best solution just to reiterate to Rob, to not do certain things, if you see
him doing them.

Jorgen says he responds well with a good sense of humor.

Everyone agreed Jorgen is a good point person to have as the contact person.


We agreed to let Rob 2.0 help himself to the racks in the back classroom.
[edit<https://www.noisebridge.net/index.php?title=Meeting_Notes_2011_09_13&action=edit&section=9>
] End of Meeting

   - PGP Key Signing <https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/PGP> could happen
   now, check the list <https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/PGP> to see who
   wants in on the action.
   - Put back the membership binder in the black desk.
   - Save the meeting notes to the wiki.
   - Send a copy of the meeting notes to the discussion list.
   - Copy the Meeting Notes
Template<https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Meeting_Notes_Template>for
next week's agenda and update the main wiki page's link to it.
   - Enjoy a cocktail with your fellow hacker or robot.
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