Have you heard of HackerSpaces? They are a new breed of community space popping up in warehouses across the country. Like the name suggests, these spaces are outfitted with all the tech tools and machinery a budding hacker or craftsman could dream of — 3D printers, wood routers, laser engravers, etc. If you ever wish you could go back to shop class to use that router or welding torch again, these spaces may be for you.
Hacker spaces are often non-profit businesses fueled by a passionate community of people interested in teaching their crafts and collaborating on new innovations. With several significant spaces throughout the country offering everything from wood routing to robotics, they are home to not just the computer hacker, but also the IKEA hacker. Some of these hacker spaces have even served as the founding grounds for things like Pinterest and Makerbot.
If you have a desire to develop a hobby or skill, or are looking to collaborate on a large scale project with like-minded individuals, then a hacker space in your area may be able to help.
Joining them often only requires very reasonable monthly dues of $30–50 to offset the costs of running these large square-foot facilities. You can find one in your area by checking out hackerspaces.org or by doing a google search for hackerspace and your city or state.
Some spaces of note include:
• Artisan's Asylum in Somerville, MA
• NYC Resistor in Brooklyn, NY
• Hacker Dojo in Mountain View, CA
• Noisebridge in San Francisco, CA
For more information you can also check out this article from Lifehacker, or this feature in Engadget's digital publication Distro.
(Images: 1. Tim Borrego 2. Aaron Falk)
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i wish there was something similar in my area..
The Techshop is in multiple cities! San Francisco, Detroit, and a couple others!
Techshop.ws
I find it really irresponsible to have named these spaces "hackerspaces," but whatever, I guess the lexicon is changing in certain circles.
"With several significant spaces throughout the country offering everything from wood routing to robotics, they are home to not just the computer hacker, but also the IKEA hacker."
I can promise you, Mr. Perez, that you do not need to be a "computer hacker" to be interested or have skills in robotics, computer programming, or website development. It's a very ignorant assumption.
@JESS13 - What's funny is that your connotation was negative, like you associated "computer hacker" with a negative thing. Computer hacking has many roots in both good and bad intent, but the overriding theme was always investigation and discovery. It's simplistic to say computer hacking or hackers is "bad" or "good" because the intent lies with the heart of the person doing it. I would not be quick to associate it with something bad.
Excuse you PI, I never made a negative connotation. That assumption came directly from you.
The author's (and many non-technical people) sentence was either poorly written or uninformed. It's a pet peeve of mine when non-technical people make the assumption that anyone who can write code is a computer hacker.
Oh what skilz could be used in something like this! Wish there was one close to where I live. The idea of working with others to develop, create, and teach would be great.
Geesh. Tough crowd. Moving on.
Some libraries have them too:
http://www.npr.org/2011/12/10/143401182/libraries-make-room-for-high-tech-hackerspaces
Anyone going to the DNC in Charlotte, NC (or visiting Charlotte for any reason) should check out the HackerSpace here! http://www.hackerspacecharlotte.org/ Global-HackerSpace-award-winning, Guinness-Record Holding awesome group of people!
air force bases used to have "hobby shops" where you could use the tools and the space for woodworking, framing, automotive work, etc. i remember my dad frequenting the hobby shop. i've often thought it would be a great community resource, and a terrific business endeavor (if i could figure out the economics of it).
Oh, I only wish there was something like this in my area!
@jess13 maybe you should clarify what you mean before attacking someone else. What exactly is "irresponsible" about calling them hackerspaces?
Wow!!! I had no idea there was such a thing but if there were one close to me, I would be a different person.
The term 'Hacking' used to be exactly what hackerspaces are about. A great example is that Steve Jobs, and Steve Wozniak were both involved with a club that did hacking, which for them resulted in making the very hacked together looking Apple 1.
Also, it is worth mentioning that there are loads of Hackspaces (slightly different spelling) over here in the UK, for your UK readers. Big ones include, London Hackspace, Build Brighton, Hacman (Manchester Hackspace), Leeds Hackspace, Bristol Hackspace, Northackton (Northampton Hackspace) and Nottinghack (Nottingham Hackspace)
Finally, to all the people who wish they had a hackerspace near them, these spaces didn't just appear, they are normally created by a small team of people, so do ask around, and see if anyone near you wants to help you set one up!
1000% Yes! I love my hackerspace (Quelab in Albuquerque). I go to all the big events, and I'll be spending a lot more time there working on upholstery and furniture projects, since they have all the space and tools I need. I love that we're not just a place to make things, but also really involved in education and the community. If you have a local hackerspace, you should definitely consider joining.
We are starting a new hackerspace in dallas-fort worth in the midcities area. come check us out at hackerspace and www.dfwmakersclub.org and facebook.com/dfwmakersclub.