[hackerspaces] Space management apps - what we have, what we need?

Tue Sep 2 23:36:17 CEST 2014

As a reminder, we have a well-tested door control board that is based
on Arduino and Raspberry Pi that we are shipping.

http://accxproducts.com/wiki/index.php?title=Open_Access_4.0

You can buy it here:

http://www.wallofsheep.com/collections/accx-products

We went with Wiegand and RS485 interfaces for the readers, so that the
hardware is not married to a particular type of access card or token.
Like the Kwartzlab system, interface to an RPi is via serial UART.
The stock firmware does stand-alone and logging/remote control, and
there is a basic web UI written in Python.

I'm thinking it would be nice to nail down a door-control API, or
implement the the PSIA released:

On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 2:19 PM, Amran <amx109 at gmail.com> wrote:
> that certainly sounds like a brief attempt at ranged voting
>
> i know the london hackspace uses http://www.openstv.org/ for their
> director elections.
>
> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 10:06 PM, Paul Brown <paul90brown at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I'm not sure what voting method we use for elections, but I can describe it.
>> Voting is open for a week and everyone gets 5 votes. There are no repeated
>> votes allowed and you don't rank the priority of your vote. The 5 people
>> with the most votes win (if you want to call being a director of a
>> hackerspace winning).
>>
>>
>> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 3:51 PM, Amran <amx109 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> nice list! what voting method do you use? first past the post? or
>>> something in the 'ranged voting' category?
>>>
>>> On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 8:59 PM, Paul Brown <paul90brown at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Here's what Dallas Makerspace is using:
>>> >
>>> > Calendar: https://github.com/pawl/CalendarAdmin + Google Calendar +
>>> > Eventbrite (for ticketed events) + Meetup.com
>>> > Voting: https://github.com/Dallas-Makerspace/Voting (only used for
>>> > elections)
>>> > Access control:
>>> > https://github.com/pawl/Chinese-RFID-Access-Control-Library
>>> > + https://github.com/pawl/MakerManager
>>> > Accounting: Quickbooks
>>> > Mailing List: Google Groups
>>> > User accounts: OpenLDAP
>>> > Wiki: MediaWiki
>>> > To-do List: trello.com
>>> > Billing/Payment Processing: http://www.whmcs.com/ (mostly because it
>>> > allows
>>> > tracking existing paypal recurring payments, it also has "hooks" that
>>> > can be
>>> > used to automatically deactivate RFID badges if they don't pay)
>>> > Inventory (not used as much as we'd like):
>>> > https://github.com/Dallas-Makerspace/Inventory /
>>> > https://github.com/Dallas-Makerspace/DMSSimpleInventory
>>> >
>>> > Our needs? Our new calendar management app needs more features, like
>>> > adding
>>> > new events to eventbrite and meetup.com automatically (to reach a wider
>>> > audience): https://github.com/pawl/CalendarAdmin
>>> >
>>> > I also have some some access control systems I can give away if someone
>>> > wants to help tackle some of the TODOs on this project:
>>> > https://github.com/pawl/Chinese-RFID-Access-Control-Library
>>> >
>>> > The relevant running a hackerspace post:
>>> >
>>> > http://runningahackerspace.tumblr.com/post/57715747994/implementing-a-process-that-works-well-for-another
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > On Tue, Sep 2, 2014 at 2:12 PM, Shirley Hicks
>>> > <shirley at velochicdesign.com>
>>> > wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Ed, there are a few people at our space who'd be interested in this
>>> >> discussion as we're looking at developing a system including Seltzer
>>> >> for our
>>> >> own use. We're currently gearing up using paper, spreadsheets, lots of
>>> >> forms
>>> >> and GNUCash.
>>> >>
>>> >> By chance have you talked to the Space Federation (umbrella
>>> >> organization
>>> >> in which not a few makers spaces are taking part) folks out of
>>> >> Milwaukee?
>>> >> (http://schoolfactory.org/spacefed) I think that they're thinking the
>>> >> same
>>> >> thing long term.
>>> >>
>>> >> -- Shirley Hicks
>>> >> Red Mountain Makers
>>> >> Birmingham, AL
>>> >>
>>> >> On Sep 2, 2014, at 10:01 AM, Edward L Platt <ed at elplatt.com> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Hi All,
>>> >>
>>> >> There are a good number of hackerspace management apps out there
>>> >> (including Seltzer, which I maintain). Different ones are good for
>>> >> different
>>> >> things, and it seems like there's not one that works well for everyone.
>>> >> Seltzer is at a point where it's useful, but I'm not sure whether it
>>> >> makes
>>> >> more sense to continue adding features, move to another project, or
>>> >> start a
>>> >> new one.
>>> >>
>>> >> My goal is to see more collaboration between spaces on building a
>>> >> smaller
>>> >> number of more mature tools. If you're interested in helping to make
>>> >> this
>>> >> happen, mail me off list and I'll include you in the discussion.
>>> >>
>>> >> -Ed
>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >> Edward L. Platt
>>> >> http://elplatt.com
>>> >> http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
>>> >> http://i3detroit.com
>>> >> @elplatt
>>> >>
>>> >> This electronic mail message was sent from my desktop personal
>>> >> computer.
>>> >> Please forgive any long-winded, overly-prosaic ramblings.
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>>> >>
>>> >>
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>>> >
>>> >
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