[Noisebridge-discuss] Noisebridge Access : What is our policy? What should it be?

[jim]

I'll bite: my replies in line below 

On Thu, 2013-01-17 at 13:15 -0600, Martin Bogomolni wrote:
> This thread was "A test of Excellence", responses inline. 
JS: and with respect to culture, yes? 

> 
> On Thu, Jan 17, 2013 at 12:28 PM, jim <jim at systemateka.com> wrote:
> 
> >     I like that the space is open to everyone. I like
> > that the people are willing to accept anyone.
> >
> >     To some degree, theft can be addressed by not having
> > desirable and easily stealable equipment.
> 
> This _utterly_ defeats the purpose of Noisebridge as a hackerspace.
JS: well, I don't think "utterly". Note "to some degree" and other 
qualifications below. 

> 
> If we can't have good tools, equipment, computers, and things around..
> what's the point?
JS: we can have good tools.... bolt them down or store them 
in lockboxes or have big ones hard to steal or exotic ones 
that are not attractive to thieves.... 
> 

> > Lean toward
> > hand tools rather than motor-driven hand tools.
> 
> Sure, lets go back to the stone age.  I'll go get some rocks, and tie
> them to some sticks.
JS: come on! non-powered hand tools still have a place 
in our world. They're light and sometimes more easy to 
use than heavier motorized tools with power cords. 
JS: brings up the battery aspect--probably good to 
eschew battery-powered tools--batteries get lost or 
repurposed. 

> 
> Seriously, Jim, Noisebridge is a place where people use advanced
> tools, and things like mutimeters, digital signal generators, sewing
> machines, laptop computers, 3D printers.
JS: cheap multimeters work for me in nearly all cases; they 
seem to work for beginners and for most other electronic 
projects. When do you need accurate RMS readings? Once in 
a while? bring your own and keep it safe. 
    Digital signal generators strike me as not attractive 
to thieves. For me, any cheap analog signal generator works 
good enough for what I'm doing. 
    Sewing machines are clunky, specialized, and heavy. 
I doubt anyone will see profit in stealing one. 
    Laptop computers are quite stealable. To provide 
computers for general use, better to bolt a little tower 
to a table and take our chances with a cheap display and 
mouse and keyboard. Watch your own laptop carefully. 
    I doubt any thief will bother to take a 3-D printer--
too bulky, too few people to sell it to. 
    Many people and projects that I've seen have not needed 
sophisticated equipment. 
> 
> >     Think of the space as a bus station.
> 
> Not just "no" ...  My response to this is "not while I breathe." 
> 
> If we wanted to have NoiseBridge be like a bus station, we would have
> set it up in a park somewhere, or use places like community centers
> and have a 'virtual' hackerspace where we just bring our expertise to
> meetups
> 
> The thing is, we're not a bus station.  We're a workshop, a
> collaborative classroom space, and we want to have a safe, secure, and
> friendly environment where people can work on projects, hack on
> things, and learn.
JS: sorry you don't like the simile, but it seems a 
practical mindset. Until we've solved the problem of 
bad behavior, theft, and other cultural problems, it 
will be helpful that people think of Noisebridge as 
a place where there may be thieves and drunks and 
dopers occasionally roaming the space. 
    That said, I agree with your workshop description 
exactly; I want that too. How to get it? A practical 
compromise is along the lines of what I've suggested: 
make relatively safe, useful, and inexpensive tools 
readily available; provide dangerous, expensive, and 
training-needed tools in a locked or otherwise 
protected place; keep an eye out for people who are 
ignorant, disruptive, or with other bad behaviors 
(shooting up in the bathrooms, stealing stuff). 

    I'm suggesting ideas that address the current 
state of the place. Any ideas that might improve 
the state of the place are very welcome. 


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