MEET UP,MAKE STUFF

摘要

Nearly 150 hacker spaces have opened in the U.S. in the past three years. Rather than havens of illicit computing, these communal workshops are places for members, in exchange for monthly dues, to get together and share equipment too big and dangerous for a home or garage (oscilloscopes, welding rigs, laser-cutters) and collaborate on projects too audacious to undergo alone (thought-controlled helicopters, helium balloons with autonomous robot pilots). In this way, the movement is a bit of a throwback- the first people to call themselves hackers were members of MIT's Model Railroad Club in the 1950s who were infamous for their manipulation of the school's lock and telephone systems.