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Slashdot Visits Metrix Create:Space in Seattle (Video)
Metrix Create:Space is full of people busily making electronic gadgets. And shot glasses. And everything in between. Some of them saw the street-level sign and stopped in out of curiosity, while others are long-time createspace scenesters. It doesn't matter which you are, says Metrix founder Matt Westervelt. Come in and make something. Need new skills? They have workshops. And lots of great tools.
Metrix Createspace is just one example of a hackerspace. There are lots more all across the world. To see if there is one in your area, check the hackerspaces.org list. I've been a member at both noisebridge (in San Francisco) and hacklab.to (in Toronto), and it's been a wonderful experience.
augment your senses: http://sensebridge.net/
Metrix is okay. I've been by a few times but it doesn't really meet any of my needs. It's a great place for people to go work on projects who don't have any means to work on them at home, but if you have a workbench or workshop in a room or basement at home you'll probably never feel a need to go unless you want something laser cut or printed. I'd go for the social aspect of working on a project surrounded by other hackers, but a lot of my projects involve soldering and that's only allowed in the cloistered-off soldering room, or require equipment that Metrix just doesn't have and so I don't feel like carting my stuff down there to work.
I'd go more, and pay a $10-20 fee each visit, to get access to some more hardware though. I really would like to be able to use an LCR analyzer (that can actually apply decent DC bias), variety of stable test oscillators for generating AF and AM RF, a sweep generator/marker that runs at 455KHz, 4.3 and 10.7MHz, and a VHF FM signal generator, and a nice scope like a Tek with a DM44 or something else that does automatic measurements. Stuff I can't afford, do actually need for my projects, and have to do a lot of wonky workarounds to make do without.
I'd go slightly more if they let me solder in the main room where everyone is.
If only there was some sort of worldwide network of computers full of information. And if some organization would regularly read all that information into their own computers, and then index it, and give us some sort of simple UI where someone could type something like "hackerspace cleveland" and get a list of all the hackerspaces in Cleveland. Or maybe just one of the computers in that big worldwide network could have a name like "hackerspaces.org", and someone could connect to that machine via some protocol designed to carry hypertext, and find documents about hackerspaces in each city.
That would be great.
Too bad there is nothing like that.
I'm very proud of my local hackerspace, 757 Labs. They always have classes and projects going on, and they've done some pretty cool things.
757 Labs on Hackerspace
I was 22, poor and had no job but my local hackerpace let me come in and practice welding and machining. I'm a frequent visitor now and I'm so thankful for the hackerspaces around me. In my opinion hackerspaces are needed for individuals to pursue ideas without having to spend thousands of dollars to gain access to basic fabrication equipment.