[SpaceProgram] Request: accountability frameworks for makerspace governance?

Thu May 26 18:26:12 CEST 2016

In my experience, working for a space agency, people who are
interested in "setting
up a framework in which every iota of effort on funded projects can be
tracked, and every penny of spending can be recorded."  are usually a
massive worthless drain on the project and very interested in inserting
themselves in places they have no earthly business being, just to justify
their continued leeching upon the project.  And, more often then not, they
cost more than they benefit anyone... not just in fiduciary cost, but in
time, complexity, and general nuisance factor introduced into the day to
day operational workflow of the group working on the project.

-Matt

On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 12:13 PM, Michael Turner <
michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:

> Matt, in my experience of hackerspaces, there's lots of bitter argument by
> people who aren't contributing much of anything, much of the time. I tried.
> Eventually, I walked. I contributed time, money, equipment, project ideas
> ... but ultimately, I walked. I felt pretty alienated by know-it-all
> attitudes and a kind of knee-jerk anti-authoritarianism that prefers
> unproductive chaos to reasonable order.
>
> So, again:
>
> I'm interested in setting up a framework in which every iota of effort on
> funded projects can be tracked, and every penny of spending can be
> recorded. I'm interested in this because I'll need donors at some point,
> and donors typically require high transparency -- and results. I'd like to
> hear from makerspace leaders who've been successful at setting up such
> frameworks.
>
>
>
> Regards,
> Michael Turner
> Executive Director
> Project Persephone
> K-1 bldg 3F
> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
> turner at projectpersephone.org
> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>
> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
> together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>
> On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 1:08 AM, Silence Dogood <matt at nycresistor.com>
> wrote:
>
>> In open source, committers walk and everyone else talks... and is
>> promptly ignored.  If you think something can be done better, do it
>> better.  Leadership is an act of demonstrating a better path forward.
>> Decrying folks is not productive.  We know success when we see it,
>> everything else is just more of the same.
>>
>> So, stop bitching, and go make a difference.
>>
>> -Matt
>>
>> On Thu, May 26, 2016 at 12:03 PM, Michael Turner <
>> michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> "You have to admit, Michael, that nearly every email you've sent has
>>> been a slash and burn."
>>>
>>> I'm destructive? What's more destructive: criticism of corruption, or
>>> corruption?
>>>
>>> Regards,
>>> Michael Turner
>>> Executive Director
>>> Project Persephone
>>> K-1 bldg 3F
>>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
>>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
>>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
>>> turner at projectpersephone.org
>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>
>>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
>>> together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>
>>> On Fri, May 27, 2016 at 12:57 AM, David <ainut at hiwaay.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> You have to admit, Michael, that nearly every email you've sent
>>>>
>>>> On 05/18/2016 11:02 AM, cole santos wrote:has been a slash and burn.
>>>>
>>>> David Merchant
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Lol you just don't get it troll
>>>> On May 18, 2016 1:03 AM, "Michael Turner" <
>>>> michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> "Mike no one wanted to work with you because of emails like you just
>>>>> sent."
>>>>>
>>>>> I thought there should be more openness and oversight, and so nobody
>>>>> wanted to work with me? Interesting. I hadn't realized that openness and
>>>>> oversight were such unpopular things when spending taxpayers money. Unless,
>>>>> of course, you're a taxpayer. Are you?
>>>>>
>>>>> "Since I wrote the grant, and got the Corp formed, and followed
>>>>> through until the project start, I think it's ok moraly."
>>>>>
>>>>> I always assumed an education in philosophy would acquaint a person
>>>>> with the difference between morals and ethics. You learn something every
>>>>> day, I guess.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Regards,
>>>>> Michael Turner
>>>>> Executive Director
>>>>> Project Persephone
>>>>> K-1 bldg 3F
>>>>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
>>>>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
>>>>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682 <%2B81%20%2890%29%205203-8682>
>>>>> turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>>
>>>>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward
>>>>> together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 1:48 AM, cole santos <cksantos85 at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Mike no one wanted to work with you because of emails like you just
>>>>>> sent. We are amateurs hacking it. Ps haesh was my project and it was
>>>>>> somewhat a sweetheart deal. I had to choose between a project or a job.
>>>>>> Since I wrote the grant, and got the Corp formed, and followed through
>>>>>> until the project start, I think it's ok moraly. The other projects were
>>>>>> all random submissions. The principal aka jerry got overwhelmed and didn't
>>>>>> even really want the job. I kinda forced it on him as I had a full time
>>>>>> job. Reality is not nearly as sensational as u wish.
>>>>>> On May 16, 2016 9:07 PM, "Michael Turner" <
>>>>>> michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> First things first:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm interested in setting up a framework in which every iota of
>>>>>>> effort on funded projects can be tracked, and every penny of spending can
>>>>>>> be recorded. I'm interested in this because I'll need donors at some point,
>>>>>>> and donors typically require high transparency -- and results. I'd like to
>>>>>>> hear from makerspace leaders who've been successful at setting up such
>>>>>>> frameworks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Now, about the "drama":
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 2:51 AM, gmc < <gmc at hackerspaces.org>
>>>>>>> gmc at hackerspaces.org> wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Yay, drama. It's what hackers are best at! Bye bye mailing list.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Clearly, some disillusionment and malaise has set in.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hackerspaces.org? No blog update since just about two years ago.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Interesting critique there, though:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> https://flux.hackerspaces.org/2014/01/19/diversity-and-the-hacker-scene/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Drama will never go away permanently. Sometimes the only way to
>>>>>>> quell drama is with rules.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> If you're going to have rules, you can try counting on ideas like
>>>>>>> legitimizing all decisions through the rule of relying on consensus (it
>>>>>>> always breaks down). Or on rules set by some "benevolent oligarchy" (the
>>>>>>> "oligarchs" often get tired of arbitration and moderation, and go missing.)
>>>>>>> There are a variety of other dodges of the basic responsibility of
>>>>>>> collective governance, which is tedious and stressful compared to making
>>>>>>> things.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> In the case of SpaceGAMBIT, the dodge took the form of locating all
>>>>>>> authority over spending that $500,000 in a tiny handful of people who
>>>>>>> operated in a pretty opaque fashion. In at least one case, the opacity was
>>>>>>> defended by a SpaceGAMBIT principal in terms of DARPA's tight regulations
>>>>>>> about the release of information. When I asked for chapter and verse of
>>>>>>> those regulations, there was no answer. Wait: you're saying you got money
>>>>>>> from a government agency that doesn't tell taxpayers the basis on which it
>>>>>>> allows awarded organizations to release information about how taxpayer
>>>>>>> money is being spent? Interesting.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Given the nature of the political differences over taking money from
>>>>>>> DARPA, I can see a reason for not identifying winning teams when the awards
>>>>>>> went out. It might have been defensible as a way to protect the awarded
>>>>>>> teams from harassment by those who were most loudly opposed to that money,
>>>>>>> and to what any hackerspace group taking that money symbolized to them.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The problem was: opacity could enable sweetheart deals. Waste. Lax
>>>>>>> controls.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> And what do we have at the end?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Examples:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> $20,000 for an open source satellite mission design project that
>>>>>>> apparently never checked anything into a repo.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The HAESH project, which, by some odd coincidence, was based in
>>>>>>> Hawaii. (And apparently on Maui.)That was statistically unlikely,
>>>>>>> especially when you consider that the main SpaceGAMBIT executive exulted at
>>>>>>> one point about how great it was to work internationally, not just in
>>>>>>> America, and not just in his tiny home region of -- you guessed it --
>>>>>>> Hawaii. Maui, in fact.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> How about the thousands of dollars for the open source Make-a-Space
>>>>>>> Kit? It had a laudable goal.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "The goal of this project is to complete the content--finalize the
>>>>>>> entire kit-- and then create a turn-key online template which a new or
>>>>>>> existing space can use to instantiate the online project management, assign
>>>>>>> specific tasks to board members, track accountability, and effectively
>>>>>>> communicate about the status of the activities as the space is launched and
>>>>>>> formed."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Where is it? Dead links on the SpaceGAMBIT site. Try to get
>>>>>>> something back from the Wayback Machine? Unsuccessful.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> How about that Asteroid Badge?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>   https://github.com/CuriosityHacked/Learning/wiki/SpaceAsteroids
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> There's something in there that looks like a rough draft of
>>>>>>> Make-a-Space Kit, but certainly nothing that looks "finalized."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Thousands of dollars spent on those two projects. And this is all
>>>>>>> there is to show for it?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It's what happens when there's no openness or accountability, and
>>>>>>> when money can be spent without significant oversight by a small group of
>>>>>>> people.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> So, to repeat my request:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I'm interested in setting up a framework in which every iota of
>>>>>>> effort on funded projects can be tracked, and every penny of spending can
>>>>>>> be recorded. I'm interested in this because I'll need donors at some point,
>>>>>>> and donors typically require high transparency -- and results. I'd like to
>>>>>>> hear from makerspace leaders who've been successful at setting up such
>>>>>>> frameworks.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>> Michael Turner
>>>>>>> Executive Director
>>>>>>> Project Persephone
>>>>>>> K-1 bldg 3F
>>>>>>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>>>>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>>>>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1140>
>>>>>>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1158>
>>>>>>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682 <%2B81%20%2890%29%205203-8682>
>>>>>>> turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>>>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking
>>>>>>> outward together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> On 16 May 2016 18:26:04 CEST, Michael Turner <
>>>>>>>> <michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com>michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com>
>>>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> On Tue, May 17, 2016 at 12:55 AM, cole santos <
>>>>>>>>> <cksantos85 at gmail.com>cksantos85 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> Actually we took the DarPA money and the project was a great
>>>>>>>>>> success. <http://Www.spacegambit.Com>Www.spacegambit.Com
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> A great success for some people, I suppose.  In a certain sense.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> I pick a project at random.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> <http://www.spacegambit.org/satstatsim/>
>>>>>>>>> http://www.spacegambit.org/satstatsim/
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Funding: $20,000
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> SpaceGAMBIT claim: only open source projects will be funded.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Reality: well, ta! ke a look.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>    <http://satstatsim.blogspot.jp/>http://satstatsim.blogspot.jp/
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Excuse: "schedules slip". OK, but you can't check in any code,
>>>>>>>>> anywhere?
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>   <https://code.google.com/archive/p/satstatsim/source>
>>>>>>>>> https://code.google.com/archive/p/satstatsim/source
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> At least, that's the only repo I could find.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> There's nothing in it.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> It was largely because of my concerns about openness, clear
>>>>>>>>> communication, democratic process, and leadership accountability that I
>>>>>>>>> decided to have nothing further to do with SpaceGAMBIT. This was after
>>>>>>>>> feeling enthusiastic about it and even defending it against what I thought
>>>>>>>>> was unfair criticism.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Really, I'd prefer to have been wrong in my suspicions.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Regards,
>>>>>>>>> Michael Turner
>>>>>>>>> Executive Director
>>>>>>>>> Project Persephone
>>>>>>>>> K-1 bldg 3F
>>>>>>>>> 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>>>>>>> Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>>>>>>> Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1140>
>>>>>>>>> Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158 <%2B81%20%283%29%206890-1158>
>>>>>>>>> Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682 <%2B81%20%2890%29%205203-8682>
>>>>>>>>> <turner at projectpersephone.org>turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>>>>>>> <http://www.projectpersephone.org/>
>>>>>>>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking
>>>>>>>>> outward together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> On Monday, May 16, 2016, Michael P Weber II <
>>>>>>>>>> <michaelweberii at gmail.com>michaelweberii at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 3:05 AM, Michael Turner
>>>>>>>>>>> <michael.eugene.turner at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>>>>>> > Whether intentional or not, the choice of watercress could be
>>>>>>>>>>> very
>>>>>>>>>>> > space-relevant.
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > (1) Biosphere II saw the direct participation of the late Roy
>>>>>>>>>>> Walford, MD, a
>>>>>>>>>>> > pioneer self-experimenter in CRON (calorie restriction with
>>>>>>>>>>> optimal
>>>>>>>>>>> > nutrition) as a strategy for life extension. This research
>>>>>>>>>>> interested the
>>>>>>>>>>> > Biosphere II organizers because, in feeding long-duration
>>>>>>>>>>> space mission
>>>>>>>>>>> > participants, fewer calories eaten means, to a good first
>>>>>>>>>>> approximation,
>>>>>>>>>>> > less mass for the ecological life support system, leading to
>>>>>>>>>>> lower mission
>>>>>>>>>>> > cost, etc.
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > (2) Research into how CRON appears to increase lifespans (in
>>>>>>>>>>> part by
>>>>>>>>>>> > reducing cancer risk -- a big issue in space travel because of
>>>>>>>>>>> space
>>>>>>>>>>> > radiation) reveals that it's more about protein restriction
>>>>>>>>>>> than about
>>>>>>>>>>> > calorie restriction per se.
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > (3) Further research has suggested that it's specifically
>>>>>>>>>>> reduction of
>>>>>>>>>>> > methionine intake that is the main driver of life extension in
>>>>>>>>>>> CRON (hence,
>>>>>>>>>>> > presumably, lower cancer risk);
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > (4) High-glycine diets sop up excess methionine. (To be sure:
>>>>>>>>>>> methionine is
>>>>>>>>>>> > an essential amino acid; glycine is not. But it seems that
>>>>>>>>>>> with methionine,
>>>>>>>>>>> > you can get too much of a good thing.)
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > (5) Watercress is very high in glycine, quite low in
>>>>>>>>>>> methionine. Watercress
>>>>>>>>>>> > might be ideal for offsetting the cancer risks from space
>>>>>>>>>>> radiation in
>>>>>>>>>>> > long-duration space missions.
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > I think a good next step in such work would be to try to
>>>>>>>>>>> optimize watercress
>>>>>>>>>>> > production in an aeroponic rather than a hydroponic style.
>>>>>>>>>>> Hydroponics is
>>>>>>>>>>> > great, highly productive, but ... water is heavy. Aeroponics
>>>>>>>>>>> can give you
>>>>>>>>>>> > much of the benefit of hydroponics but with a fraction of the
>>>>>>>>>>> equipment
>>>>>>>>>>> > mass. Aeroponics should be more adaptable to low-g and
>>>>>>>>>>> microgravity
>>>>>>>>>>> > environments since it's not gravity-dependent -- it's
>>>>>>>>>>> basically just the
>>>>>>>>>>> > deposition of nutrient-enriched mist droplets on plant roots.
>>>>>>>>>>> Aeroponics may
>>>>>>>>>>> > have gotten its start from NASA funding.
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > Regards,
>>>>>>>>>>> > Michael Turner
>>>>>>>>>>> > Executive Director
>>>>>>>>>>> > Project Persephone
>>>>>>>>>>> > K-1 bldg 3F
>>>>>>>>>>> > 7-2-6 Nishishinjuku
>>>>>>>>>>> > Shinjuku-ku Tokyo 160-0023
>>>>>>>>>>> > Tel: +81 (3) 6890-1140
>>>>>>>>>>> > Fax: +81 (3) 6890-1158
>>>>>>>>>>> > Mobile: +81 (90) 5203-8682
>>>>>>>>>>> > turner at projectpersephone.org
>>>>>>>>>>> > <http://www.projectpersephone.org/>
>>>>>>>>>>> http://www.projectpersephone.org/
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > "Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking
>>>>>>>>>>> outward
>>>>>>>>>>> > together in the same direction." -- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
>>>>>>>>>>> >
>>>>>>>>>>> > On Mon, May 16, 2016 at 4:35 PM, Michael Turner
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Michael,
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>> Are you going to take over the list then?
>>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>>> SpaceProgram mailing list
>>>>>>>>>>> SpaceProgram at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>>>>>>>>> <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/spaceprogram>
>>>>>>>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/spaceprogram
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>>>>>> SpaceProgram mailing list
>>>>>>>>>> <SpaceProgram at lists.hackerspaces.org>
>>>>>>>>>> SpaceProgram at lists.hackerspaces.org
>>>>>>>>>> <http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/spaceprogram>
>>>>>>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/spaceprogram
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> ------------------------------
>>>>>>>>>
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>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> _______________________________________________ SpaceProgram
>>>>>>> mailing list SpaceProgram at lists.hackerspaces.org
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>>>>>>
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>>>>>
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