Sharing tools and expertise, for technical training and creative collaboration.
I got back from Cairo last Friday. I’m still somewhat exhausted, but definitely glowing from the experience. The main purpose for this trip was to set up a three-day hackerspace at Maker Faire Africa, which was held in Cairo this year. As you can imagine, it was an exciting time to be in Egypt! Lots of high hopes in the wake of the “Freedom Revolution.” Plus, lots of attempts by a still-ruling-military to divide-and-rule.
Where visions of crafting often conjure up images of glue guns, popsicle sticks, fabric and looms, hacking evokes soldering irons, microprocessors, and software. Truth is, there’s a lot of similarities between hacking and crafting, and even more to be gained from a dialogue between both groups of makers. Both hackers and crafters feel the same need to create things and manipulate materials, and have very similar basic requirements: access to equipment, space to work, and a supportive community within which to grow and share projects and ideas.
After every Maker Faire, there’s always a general cry for more, MORE! How do we continue the hands-on, inspired spirit of the Faires beyond the actual events? After this year’s Maker Faire Bay Area, a follow-up Workshop Weekend was held, in various locations around the Bay Area. The idea was to take the enthusiasm of the Faire and port it into a more focused two-day learning event.
Jerry Isdale’s MAKE license plates are the envy of every sentient creature in the Milky Way.
This first global SpaceCamp will bring together people from all over the world (okay, mostly North America until our budget is better) for a focused 2-day event. We will all learn from each other’s victories and mistakes, design new patterns for our space processes, and walk away from the event with deeper ways to interact with each other.
At Washington, DC’s hackerspace, HacDC, a team led by the enigmatic “Doctor” seeks to develop a simple system for quickly deploying an ad-hoc internet in the event of internet outages. With all of the recent disasters (both natural and human) which have severed access to the net when it is most needed, groups all over the world have been developing solutions which allow alternate internets to be brought up quickly and effectively.
This T-shirt can be yours for just $4200!
