2011-03-27.log

--- Log opened Sun Mar 27 00:00:10 2011
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JayDuggerGood night, everyone.08:59
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kanzureok.. now they want to give $20k for an open source dna synthesizer project14:12
jrayhawkWho does?14:23
kanzureh+ :/14:24
kanzurethey decided not to do the scouter because fenn was too slow or something14:24
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jrayhawkhplus attempting to accomplish something useful seems like something you should encourage15:08
kanzureyeah, i gave them a huge ilst of projects to pick from15:09
kanzurehttp://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers/diytranshuman_projects.v4.html15:09
kanzureuh, http://diyhpl.us/~bryan/papers2/diytranshuman_projects.v4.html15:09
jrayhawkthough, as usual, i suspect you'll be better off working with a non-profit run by people you can actually trust15:09
kanzureyeah.15:09
kanzurei don't really have time for all this bullshit anyway15:09
jrayhawka lot of this would actually be better as an open-source commercial outfit15:10
kanzureyes15:10
kanzurealthough, i'm not sure about upfront development15:11
kanzurei.e. making a platfrom from nothing seems to be something that a non-profit could do15:11
kanzurethen a company to develop it further as a business15:11
kanzurestartups can't really handle the risk of working on a platform that nobody actually wants until it's completed [and even then, they might not want it]15:11
kanzureor how did trolltech do it?15:14
jrayhawktrolltech is not a paragon of anything except obnoxiousness15:14
jrayhawkI assume you'd be working more on the scale of bdale garbee15:15
kanzureof who?15:15
QuantumGtrolltech was aptly named15:15
QuantumGthey made their money by trolling anyone who used their software and had money15:15
jrayhawkhttp://altusmetrum.org/15:15
QuantumG"hey, you have money, you have to pay to use our software" "yeah, ok little fly, here's your few thousand dollars per year to go away"15:16
kanzurehuh.15:16
kanzuredidn't know about them, jrayhawk15:16
kanzurethere's no.. buy button?15:17
jrayhawkI guess they sortof did start off as a nonprofit in the form of PSAS15:17
kanzureoh, that's another site wtf15:17
jrayhawkhttp://auric.gag.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=35&product_id=5615:18
kanzureanyway, my original statement stands15:18
kanzureshow me a company that was founded specifically to build a certain non-existing open source platform, and then did a business model on top of that later on15:18
kanzure(or as they were making it)15:19
jrayhawkI don't see bdale very often, but I can ask keithp if he any thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of doing open source R&D under a non-profit umbrella and selling the resulting product commercially15:19
kanzurewell, "selling the resulting product commercially" is not the only way to do a business of course15:19
kanzureservices/contracting/other-stuff/etc.15:19
jrayhawkAs opposed to developing it commercially as well.15:20
kanzureright15:20
kanzureif you're going to ask for startup monies to "develop a technology, then release it as open source", you'll be laughed at15:20
kanzurefrom a practical point of view, the company has no clue whether or not anyone would actually use their future platform15:21
jrayhawkWell, you don't really need outside funding for some of this stuff15:21
kanzureso investors have a right to laugh like that15:21
kanzurewell we're talking about hardware R&D presumably15:21
kanzureresource requirements are somewhat higher15:21
jrayhawkat least, not for the numbers you're talking about. $2,500 is not hard to come by.15:21
kanzureok sure15:21
kanzurebut that's because i know hackers/developers who are already in progress on a related project15:22
kanzureand because they are undervalue their man-hour dollar value because they are subsidizing their time in exchange for doing open source dev on something they need/want/value, presumably15:22
jrayhawkI guess it'd be best to discuss development model acceptableness with them instead.15:23
jrayhawkmeh.15:23
kanzureoh if you're sending signals that you don't want to talk about this, i haven't picked up on that15:24
kanzuresay you have a giant R&D project.. like a space shuttle15:24
kanzurestarting a company to design and build an open source space shuttle, even15:24
QuantumGand you're not in the US ;)15:24
kanzureand your name is copenhagen suborbitals15:24
QuantumGwell, he says he's gunna put up his designs but he hasn't actually done it yet15:25
QuantumG(as far as I know)15:25
kanzureso say you need 10 people to design build and test it, for 2 years15:26
kanzureyou ask for $4M from an investor15:26
QuantumG$200k per person/year .. but I guess you're gunna burn through materials and facilities too15:27
kanzureright15:27
kanzureso you face a few problems, just like any other company:15:27
kanzure1) you have no sales15:27
kanzure2) no revenue15:27
kanzure3) in this case, there's not really much of a market for space shuttles15:28
kanzureso.. no market15:28
kanzure4) investors can't tank the company and sell the IP to liquidate the 'assets'15:28
QuantumGyou missed something15:29
kanzureso it's perhaps an even larger gamble15:29
kanzurethan the normal gamble you make in dumping shitloads of cash on a startup15:29
kanzureand the payoff seems to be about average? dunno15:29
QuantumGone of the primary things first-round investors look for is what you're going to do that is going to attract the next round investors15:29
kanzurei'm just rambling now; my original point was that it would be interesting to explore charities as the originating developer of giant platforms for tech15:30
kanzureand that there's some benefit to having "lots of tech just laying around that any business can use to make THE FUTURE"15:31
kanzureand that it's more like for open source hardware/R&D to get into business in that sort of way..15:31
kanzurebut i've lost my train of thought and i'm grumpy because i haven't eaten. i'll bbl15:31
AaronBarrhey sounds like you should start a hackerspace ;)16:29
AaronBarrin space :O16:29
kanzurethe membership fees should be ONE MILLION DOLLARS16:35
kanzure(per month)16:35
QuantumGhave I moaned to you about my local hackerspace lately?16:36
kanzurecchs?16:37
QuantumG?16:37
kanzurewrong australia16:37
QuantumGit's the brisbane hackerspace.16:37
QuantumGand while they all seem to be a bunch of nice guys, the space is just that.. space.16:37
QuantumGthere's some benches and some manual/small tools16:38
QuantumGbut nothing that you'd wanna pay $60/month to get access to.16:38
AaronBarrright16:41
AaronBarrwell, there's more to it than that16:41
AaronBarrim not part of the brisbane hackerspace, i started the local hackerspace in orlando, Florida16:41
AaronBarrfor a long while it was just that16:41
kanzurejust to reiterate, i don't think the "membership fees" business model is smart16:42
AaronBarrbut most of the people in florida already had most of these tools just sitting around16:42
kanzureit should be a business that produces something or expands16:42
AaronBarrkanzure: for most hackerspaces, the 'membership fees' is a way to ensure that the members matter to the organization16:42
AaronBarrif it's 100% membership fee supported for critical services like rent, when the members no longer feel the lab is necessary, it dissolves16:42
AaronBarrinstead of living long past it's term and just wasting space like too many huge multinational conglomerate corporations16:43
AaronBarrit doesnt need to expand16:43
AaronBarrthere just need to be more of them16:43
AaronBarrpeople need to learn to incorporate in their own countries and municipalities16:44
AaronBarrwe're not cogs in the machinery, man16:44
kanzureblah blah blah16:44
kanzuremembership fees suck, go to hell16:44
AaronBarri agree that membership fees for tools is a little unreasonable16:44
AaronBarrbut membership fees should be low16:45
AaronBarrlike $2016:45
AaronBarrwhatever people are willing to pay16:45
AaronBarri consider myself mostly socialist and don't see the need for money, but as long as money is going to exist, i want people to have it. so if i expect people are going to have money, i dont feel bad about asking them for $20 a month. and if they can't afford $20/mo, we help them find work to afford $20/mo16:46
kanzureyou're just justifying your business model16:46
AaronBarrwell you haven't entirely justified yours16:47
AaronBarr'businesses should be self sufficient' i believe it was16:47
kanzureto avoid rent seeking?16:47
AaronBarrit takes a lot to get people to feel like something is theirs. people are more likely to throw away something worth a lot of money if they got it for free. if they pay for it, at least they care that much. we want people to feel like the lab is actually theirs, just shared amongst other people16:48
AaronBarrso, giving it away feels wrong16:49
AaronBarrplus you're subservient to whoever is actually paying your rent16:49
AaronBarruniversity, some company, stockholders, clients16:49
kanzureare you tryign to explain why i should like your model16:49
AaronBarryep16:49
kanzureok. it's not working :p16:49
kanzurei was trying to figure out what you're trying to do16:49
kanzureif you want to just have an emo bath of people feeling like stuff is theirs, just go do a social program or something16:50
kanzurehackerspaces aren't just knitting circles- this is machines, and tools16:50
kanzureand building projects together instead of skyping our schematics to each other16:50
AaronBarrQuantumG: the Hackerspace gives you a space and a force for communal buying power. if your space hasn't used that yet to raise funds for cool machinery you wanna get, try a kickstarter :)16:50
AaronBarrQuantumG: I got to playing with Amazon FPS recently, and I think it'd be great to make a general equipment-buying Kickstarter for hackerspaces16:51
QuantumGwell that's the thing.. I think the membership fees are too high for what they've already got and there's no plans to group buy anything else16:51
AaronBarrkanzure: I think you belittle knitting circles16:51
kanzurei don't want a knitting circle16:51
kanzureis my point16:51
AaronBarrQuantumG: I guess that was our problem at FAMiLab until I started the Laser Cutter kickstarter16:51
QuantumGyes, a knitting circle is basically what it is16:52
kanzurewith $60/mo membership fees ;)16:52
AaronBarrour membership boomed after I dropped the dues to $20 and we got a laser cutter16:52
AaronBarrkanzure: I know that you're comparing hackerspaces to other corporate models, because that's what you're used to16:53
QuantumGyeah.. I try to tell my friends about the hackerspace and they're like "I don't get it"16:53
AaronBarrbut the interesting thing was that most of us who started them hadn't ever thought about incorporating16:53
AaronBarror starting any sort of company16:53
AaronBarror renting business properties16:53
AaronBarrQuantumG: we had some people try to explain to us exactly what you're saying now, the dues are too high, you dont have anything worth coming in for, get some funding for better tools, and maybe ill come in16:54
AaronBarrbut we all work full-time jobs and can't afford to hire anybody with like 10 members at $60/mo when rent is $70016:54
AaronBarrso whos gonna get us the funding?16:55
kanzure"other corporate models" i think you're just not listening to me16:55
AaronBarrkanzure: the membership-driven nonprofit business model has existed for a very long time and has been successful for some businesses16:56
QuantumGthe hackerspace needs to have profit making "drives"16:56
AaronBarrit's not profit16:57
AaronBarrif it's a nonprofit16:57
AaronBarrits just capital16:57
QuantumGfind someone who is willing to pay for labor that the members could provide, and then ask the members to donate their time.. with all resulting funds going to the space16:58
AaronBarrdude16:58
kanzurenon-profit memberships suck- i work for a few 501c3s and it's just awful16:58
AaronBarrif you're paying $60/mo are you going to want to do extra work for some other asshole?16:58
AaronBarrfor free?16:58
QuantumGwho are you referring to as the asshole?16:59
AaronBarrthe client or the hackerspace member organizing the effort16:59
QuantumGwhich?16:59
AaronBarrmembers will see it as either16:59
QuantumGthe client obviously isn't an asshole.. he's willing to pay for amateur work over hiring professionals16:59
AaronBarra hackerspace isn't a labor force17:00
QuantumGthere isn't any identifiable person that is running our hackerspace.. it's a committee17:00
AaronBarri would upset, as a member, if the committee decided i was going to do work for some guy17:00
AaronBarrand when they held sign-ups i wouldnt join17:00
AaronBarrthe work effort17:00
QuantumGit's no different than a knitting circle having a bake sale17:01
AaronBarrour members saw it differently17:01
AaronBarrQuantumG: alls im saying is, you're not even a member, id just suggest telling your local hackerspace flat out that dues are too high and they should get funding for some serious equipment17:02
AaronBarrthere are good sources of funding for nonprofit organizations, especially because its all tax deductable17:03
AaronBarrmoney is kind of free for nonprofits17:03
QuantumGI'm not a member no..17:03
AaronBarractually, looking at their lab, i dont see what you're bitching about17:13
AaronBarrit's a good place to find work, honestly17:14
QuantumGyou talking to me?17:14
AaronBarrand it's a little community you can contribute to17:14
AaronBarryeah17:14
AaronBarrmaybe its just not for you, an17:14
AaronBarrman*17:14
AaronBarridunno17:14
QuantumGwhat are you looking at?17:14
AaronBarrhttp://hsbne.org/17:14
AaronBarrhttp://www.hsbne.org/about/the-space/bigpano_inside_space.jpg?attredirects=017:14
QuantumGso you'd pay $60/month for access to benches and screwdrivers?17:16
AaronBarrmaybe $317:17
AaronBarr$30*17:17
AaronBarrbut we put our lab on our resumes17:17
AaronBarrand the last 3 job offers i got were through my lab17:17
AaronBarri went from $20k/yr to $40k/yr in 201017:17
QuantumGaint nothing like that happening here.. it's not a lab, it's a club house17:18
AaronBarrat $50/mo, that was $600 i spent for a $20,000 raise in pay17:18
AaronBarrcould you do it better?17:19
QuantumGI'm trying to understand how it could be done better... I imagine the probably is that there isn't an avalanche of hardware donations like there has been at other hackerspaces.17:21
QuantumGs/probably/problem/17:22
AaronBarryeah, we had a lot of equipment dropped off at our doorstep17:23
AaronBarrwith no expectations17:23
QuantumGalso, there's virtually no discussion in the group on how to increase membership.. or why members should even care about increasing membership17:23
AaronBarrhow many members are there?17:24
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QuantumGI think there's mid 20s.. I've never seen more than 12 at a time17:24
AaronBarrit gets cozy around 2017:27
AaronBarryou can finally pay the bills17:27
QuantumGyeah, they make rent and electricity ok17:28
AaronBarrmaybe its time for another space ;)17:28
QuantumGI think it's time to make a purchase that will attract more members17:28
AaronBarrdo you have any particular items in mind17:29
QuantumGsure :)   a metal lathe or mill17:29
AaronBarri see they have a drill press17:30
AaronBarrwe have a few really great members at familab that helped us grow a reasonable set of tools17:30
QuantumGI've seen one guy use it once... give up, use a hand drill17:30
QuantumGit's in the corner, gathering dust17:30
AaronBarroh17:30
AaronBarrdrill presses are pretty cheap17:30
AaronBarr$7017:30
QuantumGyeah I know17:31
AaronBarrwe have a rule at familab that people can bring in their tools17:31
AaronBarrwe accept no responsibility if they break17:31
QuantumGthat's all people do at this hackerspace17:31
AaronBarrbut our membership is respectable enough that they stay in working order17:31
AaronBarrbring in their own tools?17:31
QuantumGthey bring in their tools, do their own job, and take them away again17:31
AaronBarroh17:31
QuantumGit's just a space to them.17:31
AaronBarrwell, yeah17:32
AaronBarrat one level it's just a space17:32
AaronBarr$60/mo for a workspace is actually cheap17:32
AaronBarrindustrial space is like $500/mo minumum17:32
QuantumGindeed, it's cheaper than a storage shed.17:32
AaronBarryeah17:32
AaronBarrnothing wrong with that17:32
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AaronBarrsome people in our neck of the woods have really big machines they just need someplace to house17:33
QuantumGI think one or two members actually joined with the idea that they could shove their shit in a corner and no-one would mind17:33
AaronBarrso we let them keep them in our storage unit ;)17:33
AaronBarrwhat kind of shit17:33
QuantumGjunk.. stuff that isn't of use to anyone.. although one guy said he's going to bring in a bunch of tools and store em there and we're all like "yes, yes do that" .. not sure if he's done it yet :)17:34
AaronBarrthats a great idea17:35
AaronBarrits hard to get used to17:35
AaronBarrbut honestly17:35
AaronBarrif you arent making a lot of money off membership dues17:35
AaronBarrthe only place new tools are gonna come from are members17:35
AaronBarrso we had to get used to the idea of buying $50 in tools like every week17:35
AaronBarri'll tell ya17:36
AaronBarrmy girlfriend was very glad to see some of my own stash go ;)17:36
QuantumGyeah, I intend to buy a $500 water pump at the middle/end of the year.. I expect I'll be saying "I will donate this to the space so long as it doesn't leave the space"17:37
AaronBarrwhat do you use a $500 water pump for?!17:37
QuantumGpressure testing17:37
AaronBarri dont know anything about water pumps. that sounds cool.17:38
QuantumGit's a hand pump.. you put a garden hose on one side and the tank you wanna test on the other side17:38
QuantumGpump until you get the desired pressure (or until the tank bursts)17:39
AaronBarrneat17:40
AaronBarrmaybe you could convince them to start a lower cost membership17:40
QuantumGof course, the big problem with that idea is that the hackerspace doesn't have water :)17:40
AaronBarroh17:40
AaronBarrright17:40
AaronBarryeah17:44
AaronBarrgetting hackerspaces to move is pretty hard17:44
AaronBarrwe need to move17:44
AaronBarrbut man, its hard17:44
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jrayhawkhackerspaces should really decide beforehand whether to be based on a market economy or a gift economy and stick to it19:18
QuantumGhow do you base 'em on a market economy?19:24
kanzurefor aaron later; another model is the almighty incubator19:25
* kanzure needs to work on the copy/text for hoppersdk.com19:29
paskyjrayhawk: gift economy is awesome for the community, but then awesome members of the community think it would be great to do these awesome things for a living19:39
QuantumGsometimes I'm sure I'm not talking to another human when I talk to my cow-orkers19:55
QuantumGthey seem to have to trouble modelling what the other person knows.19:56
QuantumGme: what did you see?19:56
QuantumGthem: I saw the class had its flags.19:56
QuantumGme: what flags?19:56
QuantumGthem: the flags its supposed to have.19:56
QuantumGme: what ARE they?19:57
QuantumGthem: what they're supposed to be.19:57
QuantumGme: what do you think they're supposed to be?19:57
QuantumGthem: 519:57
QuantumGme: they're supposed to be 6.19:57
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--- Log closed Mon Mar 28 00:00:10 2011

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