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<DIV>We’ve had the FBI at our space, homeland security and the weapons of mass
destruction department.</DIV>
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<DIV>It was no big deal, really..</DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=matt@nycresistor.com
href="mailto:matt@nycresistor.com">Matt Joyce</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Tuesday, December 06, 2011 9:21 AM</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org
href="mailto:discuss@lists.hackerspaces.org">Hackerspaces General Discussion
List</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [hackerspaces] DARPA Sponsored Hacker Space
Assessment</DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline; FONT-FAMILY: 'Calibri'; COLOR: #000000; FONT-SIZE: small; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; TEXT-DECORATION: none">I
figure that DARPA would be no different than any other person. Most spaces
are open. They have open houses and open events and they would likely be
invited in the same as anyone else. That's kind of the point of the more
public spaces. I doubt even the private ones would care that much about
who attends their open events.<BR><BR>So I do not see how many would have a real
moral quandary here. If the space is open, it's open to DARPA
visiting. Also, It's good PR. DARPA isn't the fire inspector or the
FBI... they are not going to come arrest you. But, reaching out to an
entity like DARPA and being open about who you are and what you do demonstrates
that you "have nothing to hide". And while we all value privacy on an
individual scale, and I am a proponent of that... Letting someone like
DARPA know you exist and being friendly with them may be useful down the line
when the Byron Sonne of your hacker space ends up being arrested for possession
of instruments of DIY hobbies.<BR><BR>I get it that some of you guys are super
paranoid. And I am aware that sometimes courting attention is not
wise. DARPA isn't going to care if you have an unmarked bottle of ferric
chloride sitting next to a bottle of whiskey. Or an open flame in the
center of your floor that you are driving RC cars through.<BR><BR>But, down the
line if some sort of PR disaster befalls you because of someone who would care
about these things... It might be nice to be able to say "we not only have
not been involved with anything nefarious we've been open about everything we
do. Even DARPA has been invited in and shown what's up."<BR><BR>More to
the point... DARPA has a lot of capacity for making recommendations for
education entities. In fact NSF partners heavily with DARPA. DARPA
also does a good deal to ensure that the next generation is as smart as can
be... it's in their interest to do so. If hackerspace design patterns make
people smarter... they will want to try to make that approach ( pedagogy ) more
available. In short they may end up being a huge fan.<BR><BR>Law of
unintended consequences swings both ways.<BR><BR>-Matt<BR><BR>
<DIV class=gmail_quote>On Tue, Dec 6, 2011 at 7:44 AM, Jesse Krembs <SPAN
dir=ltr><<A
href="mailto:jessekrembs@gmail.com">jessekrembs@gmail.com</A>></SPAN>
wrote:<BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; PADDING-LEFT: 1ex"
class=gmail_quote>Dear All<BR><BR>In light of the recent discussion ("will the
fruits of our labors be<BR>used for, good or for evil?") I figure it would be
time to ask a<BR>question I have been pondering for some time.<BR><BR>Would
the hacker space that you are a member of participate in a<BR>assessment of
your hacker space if it was sponsored by DARPA?<BR><BR>Additional information
to consider:<BR>DARPA would be the sole receiver of this the information
collected<BR>during the assessment. It would not be shared with the general
public<BR>or the participating hacker spaces.<BR>The assessment would be of an
open nature. With all the information<BR>provided by the hacker space being
assessed as they feel fit.<BR>The requested information would be broad (state
of financing, number<BR>of members, project, interests, tools, aspirations,
history, etc) but<BR>not particularly specific.<BR>For example:<BR>How many
members and what the sociological breakdown is.<BR><BR>There would of course
be some very specific questions but not<BR>particularly intrusive I think.
Name, address, contact info.<BR><BR>The idea is that the assessment would be
in person by the DARPA<BR>sponsored individual, with the assessor taking
pictures of the space,<BR>making floor plan maps, inventory of major equipment
(we have a<BR>lathe!). I think this is a good opportunity as well to provide
a<BR>narrative history of the space and other relevant topics.<BR><BR>Feel
free to answer me on or off list. I'm not interested in launching<BR>a big
discussion football BTW, just trying to get a sense of what the<BR>community
at large thinks. The work/life change required to perform<BR>this work is
quite massive and figuring out some fact before hand<BR>would be
key.<BR><BR>Thank you.<BR><FONT color=#888888><BR>--<BR>Jesse
Krembs<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>Discuss mailing
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href="http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss"
target=_blank>http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss</A><BR></FONT></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR>
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