Continuing on from the <strong><a href="viewthread.php?tid=25565#pid299573">Decent price on cork rings for RBF?</a></strong>
discussion...
I'm serious about the idea of founding the first chemistry <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hackerspace"
target="_blank">hackerspace</a> <img src="../scipics/_wiki.png">, and am willing to put in the effort to get things rolling. First
things first; how many members do we have in the Twin Cities who would like to be involved? If there are enough of us—and I really hope
their are—I will schedule an in-person meeting where we can discuss the next steps. If you live in the Twin Cities area or are willing to
commute (Wisconsinites welcome) and would like to be involved in this project, post a reply now.
P.S. I'm fervently against the idea of a monthly fee. I will do everything I can to make this free to all. I would like it to be run primarily by
donations.
Related:
<strong><a href="viewthread.php?tid=17714">Chemistry Hackspace: Can it be done?</a></strong>
[abusing moderator priv's to temporarily sticky topic]
[edit] Members I expect to hear from, interested or not:
<strong><a href="member.php?action=viewpro&member=Cheddite%20Cheese">Cheddite Cheese</a></strong>
<strong><a href="member.php?action=viewpro&member=dontasker">dontasker</a></strong>
<strong><a href="member.php?action=viewpro&member=rocketsurgeon">rocketsurgeon</a></strong>
<strong><a href="member.php?action=viewpro&member=sargent1015">sargent1015</a></strong>
[Edited on 13.9.13 by bfesser]watson.fawkes - 13-9-2013 at 07:01
Polverone has implemented a new rule; <strong>"moderators may argue in a thread or moderate it, but not both."</strong>
It seems to be me that promoting a personal agenda by acting in a way only available to moderators violates
the intent of this rule. As well as being one of a type with Napoleon's famous line "I am the state".Metacelsus - 13-9-2013 at 07:25
I certainly support the idea, and would be willing to help found it, but I'm not sure how practical it would be, given expensive startup costs and
environmental regulations.mayko - 13-9-2013 at 08:55
I don't know how much help I would be for geographic reasons, but I have been interested in a chemical hackerspace for some time. I've been somewhat
involved in a couple of hackerspaces, such as the Arkfab project ( http://arkfab.org/ ) and the Carrboro Computer Recyclery. They met with various degrees of disaster, but if you need some pointers on what NOT to
do, I have plenty of tales there.
One thing I have thought about as far as financing the space might be to partner with educational services like schools or tutors, who would find your
infrastructure useful.
[/rquote]It seems to be me that promoting a personal agenda by acting in a way only available to moderators violates the intent of this rule. As
well as being one of a type with Napoleon's famous line "I am the state".
Is there no end to finding reasons to add negative complaints instead of actually enhancing positive aspects to this forum? What bfesser is doing is
perfectly fine in my opinion. As well it adds something positive. If I did not live around a thousand miles away I would even be interested. While I
can say in times past bfesser has irritated the crap out of me in various threads, I am wide enough in my outlook to see He is doing very well and
adding positive attributes to this hobby. In short stop the bitching it is neither needed nor desired. I hope His idea works out well not only for
Him, for all others as well. If I had His power on this board I would change your "International Hazard" to "Captain of Negative Waves".
If I had His power on this board I would change your "International Hazard" to "Captain of Negative Waves".
Only administrators have access to do that—not that I would.
<strong>Cheddite Cheese</strong>, I'll count that as a yea. Come to think of it, I have a package sitting next to my door waiting to ship
to you. I'll throw in a cork ring or two (whatever fits) as my apology for the delay. I'll try to ship tomorrow.IrC - 13-9-2013 at 16:01
In the 70's I went to CB breaks (usually at a Denny's after Jack in the Box declared bio war in 74) and Hamfests. Did those count as 'Hackerspace's'? bfesser - 13-9-2013 at 16:29
Sure. Even if we don't succeed in starting an official 'hackerspace,' it might be nice to meet in person occasionally to share, trade, barter, and
gossip.plante1999 - 13-9-2013 at 16:39
Sad there is not many member in Canada, and even less in Quebec province, I only know one a like 2h drive from my home...bfesser - 13-9-2013 at 16:48
Although I appreciate the sad setiment, <strong>plante1999</strong>, let's try to avoid a flood of 'I wish I were there' posts in this
topic.Variscite - 13-9-2013 at 17:35
I really hope this can work, a chemspace would be so cool. Im not sure if there are any members near me, as I'm still fairly new and not too
acquainted with the community.AndersHoveland - 13-9-2013 at 21:10
With members spread over large geographic distances, it may be challenging.
I had an idea for a business model, you set up a lab space and then other members pay you to perform specific experiments and film the results. That
could take advantage of the economics of centralization, and also avoid the need for individuals to own special equipment, or keep a full stock of
chemicals, which can be quite expensive.
It might also be safer, because the individual actually performing the experiments has much more experience. If I wanted to pay you to perform an
experiment, for example, it would likely be much cheaper than having to special order all those specialty chemicals myself.bfesser - 14-9-2013 at 06:11
<strong>AndersHoveland</strong>, you can pay me to do anything you like.
But seriously, this thread is about starting a chemspace in the Twin Cities, MN. If you'd like to discuss the general idea, or lament about
geographic distribution, the other thread (linked in first post) would be more appropriate.dontasker - 14-9-2013 at 19:48
I love the idea. My impulsive shopping technique tends to end up with my owning random bits of equipment that I don't have an immediate use for, but I
don't want to sell it because I will probably need it later. If there was a chemspace, others could at least get some use out of it even if I never
get around to using it myself.
I was looking at the Twin Cities Hackerspace some in the past and have dreamed of joining. The annual fee seems a tad on the high end, but there are
bills that need to be payed. It would be interesting to see if there would be a way to team up with them since there would probably be many
overlapping interests.
Anyone here work with companies that may be willing to fund this at all? I'd think it may be good PR for 3M and similar places. Then again, it may be
a legal nightmare for them should someone use the money to buy concentrated sulfuric acid and spill a beaker of it all over themselves. Smaller
businesses like BME Lab Supply may be better suited for it even if they can't afford to do much. What about local universities and colleges? Maybe the
American Chemical Society?
Would a chemspace be able to set itself up in such a way that it could get a business account with various chem supply houses? That alone could make
the endeavor worth it for many people.
There may be problems with laws, regulations and general public hysteria in having an amateur chemical lab. Also, there would have to be some strict
rules in place to prevent it turning into (or having people think it's turned into) a drug lab or hazardous waste site.
My impulsive shopping technique tends to end up with my owning random bits of equipment that I don't have an immediate use for, but I don't want to
sell it because I will probably need it later. If there was a chemspace, others could at least get some use out of it even if I never get around to
using it myself.
I have the same problem, and was thinking the exact same thing. Similarly, I could lend
books from my personal library.
As for all of the other comments, I think it would be best to discuss all of this in detail, in person. Should I count you in on the first meeting,
then? I'd say we need at least two more interested people.dontasker - 15-9-2013 at 15:21
Although I'm a bit hesitant in some aspects of such a project, this is something that could be absolutely amazing. Even just getting a chance to
network with some local geeks and have a chat would be worth it.
So, yes. Count me in. bfesser - 16-9-2013 at 12:23
I think we need at least one more person at the beginning or this will have no chance at all.WPK0129 - 8-10-2013 at 11:47
I'd be 110% in favor if it weren't an 8-hour plane ride away. If anyone in the northeast wants to do something similar, let me know.bfesser - 22-11-2013 at 08:45
It seems that we're unable to achieve critical mass. Perhaps we'll try again, someday in the future.dontasker - 28-11-2013 at 00:54
Darn.
I was really starting to hope this would take off, but after a couple months of no replies I figured this would be the outcome.bismuthate - 28-11-2013 at 05:14
Maybe we could have something like a SN con every year or few years.
