[Noisebridge-discuss] Tired of Noisebridge BS, As of Late

[miloh]

On Wed, Feb 15, 2012 at 11:06 AM, Jonathan Lassoff <jof at thejof.com> wrote:
> So, I'm not sure if this came from "Hacker Alley being hacked", but I
> was at Noisebridge the other night and found some of my belongings in
> this big wooden crate by the e-waste area... getting ready to be
> thrown out.
>
> This was especially lame, as they were clearly labeled with my name
> (photo attached).
>
>
>
> It's becoming increasingly clear to me that Noisebridge has jumped the
> shark somewhat. The people I find myself most running into there are
> not into technology, hacking, or really Noisebridge. I've found them
> to be mostly belligerent, uninterested in rational conversations, and
> seemingly trying to push various political agendas.
>
> I'm getting tired of seeing the Hackerspace that I worked so hard to
> help build, fall apart, both socially and physically.
> Like a radically-inclusive cell membrane in heavily-salinated water,
> new influences are rushing in from all directions and we're beginning
> to pop. The organelles that were keeping the cell working are being
> pushed out, and I feel like we're falling apart.
>
> I'm tired of fighting entropy all the time, just to keep the status quo.
> I miss the Noisebridge I came to know and love.
>
> The people and the technology are still out there -- we may be moving
> apart, but I suspect we'll reform as the right conditions form.
>
> Cheers

Thanks for the wakeup call jof,

Last night, I also found something with my name on it in the elevator
room. Moved it back to the hacker shelves area.  I get really pissed
off about this sort of thing, because it's happened before, and
because when it happens we lose the trust of valuable members. I can't
stand to see more folks get their trust in the noisebridge community
abused.  It makes me very ambivalent about the space.

Does anyone else want to make like an amoeba and split? I feel like it
sometimes. Last night I think I made up my mind. I came into
noisebridge on Tuesday evening, apprehensive and on guard after a
pretty tough circuit hacking Monday. I started to feel better as
people showed up to check out ZiP.  By the end of the night I was
thrilled to meet some awesome new folks, attend a meeting with more
stacks than a wafflehouse, announce the ZiP zine release, play with
jake's hacky geiger counter made from soviet era surplus GM tubes*,
and even to EXCHANGE PGP KEYS!

I think I'll stick it out, pitch in and be a tough little Golgi
apparatus. For awhile longer.

Don't let that fool you though. I want to love reoganization of the
shelves but I dont. I do enjoy changes such as the visibility towards
the fire escape, new fab area, laserengraver placement, and long table
and EElab setup. But when I see all the work that went into the
original build out that got wasted, I get very upset.

For instance, the outlets and electrical along the south wall are now
obstructed and largely useless, shelves are not in a good final
configuration yet they are overflowing with personal effects, and some
crappy guard posts of particularly crappy design are nailed into the
floor. Everyone's stuff on the user/member shelves is a grand mess.
Many bins I bought for new members and hackshelf orga are missing or
in pieces. The network drops near horsy that I and others put together
for the plotters were tossed aside and the plotters are currently
relegated to an unusable area by the kitchen.  The craft and sewing
area is smaller in its current form and the cutting tables need access
from all sides to be useful.

While I realize facilities and maintenance will be an eternal concern
at noisebridge, I don't think an average user should devote more than
10-20% of their available time on those issues.  The rest of time
should be freed up for the grand hacks.

I came back from 45 days in Germany* wanting to see some grand
noisebridge projects get realized, and to see some new
inter-hackerspace projects get initiated this year. It's time to
multi-thread the big long term projects and dreams into my time at
noisebridge,  K GUISE? Anyone else with me?

As for the my ongoing tithe of 20%+ noisetime, here's my chosen
contribution to fixing the shelf kerfuffle:

I'm going back to reboot the member shelves audit, and to get in touch
with everyone who has shelf space for an inventory and detailed
descriptions of anything missing.  Of course this project is one of
the things that Al was working on and sadly met resistance for trying.

 On that note, I must say I salute all the disenchanted, disappointed
and disavowed noisebridgers that gave their effort and time to the
space, only to see it continue in purgatory.  I'm aiming for a better
place able to host some exciting projects in the coming year.

-rma

*Did anyone hear that I was in Germany for 45 days?

I just got back!*

If you are reading this now, congrats rebel, you just broke my
grammatical 20goto10 loop. :-)