Museum stays or goes?

Hackerspace
#1

@Team_VCC there’s a few members that want’s to shutdown the museum that we love so much. To remind you this is the corner stone of our committee, what backs our patreon, Grants for small museums and support from select investment fund managers.

if one looks all throughout our corner of talk one can see where all our projects reflect this and support the committee’s mission to provide education on computing both hardware and software.

A vast majority of the machines we could but don’t host are accessible via our BBS.

But @Team_VCC, your apart of this story too. We need your voice heard.

What’s some of the best times you’ve had with the museum? what’s some of the machines you’d like to see in the next six months? Any fun projects you’ve but thanks to the live hardware we’ve had?

Post your comments in the section below… lets get as many of your voices heard before another thing gets taken away from the makerspace.

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#2

What patreon? Also one of the links is broken.

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#3

While I haven’t formally joined VCC (I actually don’t know how to join), I have been to several events like when everyone brought their vintage builds and finds from Computer Reset, and I really appreciate this kind of stuff. With the rapid pace of Computing, many good things get left behind and it would be a shame to lose something like the museum. These old things are instructive and inspiring, and if anything can be done to help make sure they stay I will gladly help.

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#4

@denzuko

Do we have a grant for our museum? Where are the documents for that? Or are you simply pointing out that we can apply for grants for small museums?

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#5

I think our committee area needs to serve a wider audience than it’s currently serving. I think it should be a place where your curiosity can be sparked. Where you can easily get started developing a project with Arduino, Raspberry Pi, or vintage hardware. We should make it as easy as possible for people to come and play in an environment that’s ready to go. I also want a lot of knowledge transfer to happen in our committees area. I’m personally willing to go there after work frequently and offer help in areas of software and hardware I’m familiar with. Engaging curious minds. Minds curious about how to write excellent software of all kinds, how to find vulnerabilities in computer system, how to assemble a computer, how to go from idea to release and beyond. Things like that.

I think it would be wise to invest in more tabletop/desktop space and set up some Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects that are waiting to be built.

I think having more space to work is more important than having a museum.

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#6

Looks like somebody has to be that guy; might as well be me, again.

This grant program appears to have almost the exact same problems as last year’s effort.

The 2020 qualifications (pg 8-9) look no different:

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#7

They called myself back earlier in the year interested in supporting the museum and space. I’ve directed them to the board at that time since I was only acting in accordance of an advisory position under the grant writing workgroup.

What became of that I could not say; however following up for 2020 would still be a good thing to do.

#8

I think it would be wise to invest in more tabletop/desktop space and set up some Arduino and Raspberry Pi projects that are waiting to be built.

There’s no floor space for tables/desks and that’s what the common room and classrooms are for.

As for arduino and raspberry pi projects; that’s what classes are for and we have the dev kits in the committee area available for members to checkout while at the space.

serve a wider audience than it’s currently serving

Thought we were doing too much already? Wasn’t that your campaign earlier in the year? not calling anyone out just saying we already have a decent following and a good working model.

Our audience is Hackers, IT guys, and retro enthusiasts. If one would see a talk about it at Defcon or H.O.P.E.; let alone having it published in 2600 / BinRev / Hacker Public Radio then those are our people.

Only need to finish what has been planned already for the committee area so people have things to walk up and work with. Then engage on our social media channels, classes/events, videos, and tour nights so people actually know they can walk up and use this stuff instead of looking in awe.

think it should be a place where your curiosity can be sparked. Engaging curious minds. Minds curious about how to write excellent software of all kinds, how to find vulnerabilities in computer system, how to assemble a computer, how to go from idea to release and beyond. Things like that.

Agreed. And considering we had three new members trying to get the iMac to work and where delightfully going on about it all that evening plus posting about it to tiktok and trying to get their friends to come down to the space. I’d say we are successful there.

having more space to work

Work on what? These machines are functional interactive systems that anyone can walk up to; turn on and start hacking away or playing with some of the more interesting pieces of software.

How about we have some classes or events other than a single hackathon or paint brush class?

I’m legitimately asking here; what does one propose here which brings a value add to DMS and the committee?

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#9

While I haven’t formally joined VCC (I actually don’t know how to join),

Joining is easy. pop in the discord channel; join us at the events, host a few if your own if one is inclined. Even help write a few articles about a computer / hacker / it / programming subject one has a passion for. Don’t forget to add one’s self to the wiki and @Team_VCC here on discord.

But above all be apart of our community and have fun. We’d love to have you and hear about your experiences and ideas.

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#10
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#11

@ESmith we now have an on going CTO and the board also counts. So all the checkboxes are there for eligibility. The committee/sig running the museum just needs to keep pieces for 120days (two quarters) which we’ve done.

IMHO; we need to get on a call with them and figure the finite details out. I know the funds would help the expansion part and exhibit pieces are already on site or being donated within the quarter.

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#12

We need to do a few things. We need to do them well. They need to serve a wider audience.

We can do a lot of things that are only useful for a few people, we can do a lot of things that are useful for a lot of people, we can do a few things that are useful for a few people, or we can do a few things that are useful for a lot of people. My belief, which has not changed, is that we should take the last approach.

#13

3D Fab is about to move.
What if education lets you build a computer lab with modern computers in there.
You guys have the funds to do it.
Say 6 stations
The small corner of the old front entrance can stay retro / Decorative.

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#14

If we remove the glass cabinet and replace the glass desk with a slightly larger desk, we will have enough space for two desks (total) and two chairs. I’m thinking we can get some better shelving that goes up higher to replace the shelving we currently have that’s only about 3 feet tall. It would probably be wise to use the glass cabinet that currently is used for the museum as storage. The space needs to be used, not just looked at.

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#15

That kind of thing gets me excited. But I also want to do it in a way where it serves a need that isn’t being met by the common area. I think what you’re suggesting is basically a common area on steroids. I think we need to have hardware that is too expensive for people to buy just to dabble. That will justify our existence. That’s what most other committees have. They have equipment that lowers the cost for people who aren’t sling at a large scale and for novices.

What we need to do is make every choice, including the graphics cards, motherboards, cases, etc., with computer geeks in mind. We need to enable people to work on their projects or start new projects. I don’t want it to be just an extension of the common area.

If that happens, I think the best move would be to use the current committee area for storage and marketing. Part of marketing can be displaying our retro computers.

#16

Being in danger of being dissolved is not “a good working model”

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#17

What’s this plan you’ve alluded to? When was it started? How is it progressing? Who does it serve? Makers?

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#18

Unless they didn’t really mean it when it comes to their qualifications, I fail to see how we can begin to clear their hurdles.

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#19

Being in danger of being dissolved is not “a good working model”

sorry that was SDC. @Team_VCC was never in that state. Yes we needed more documentation but never where ever being dissolved.

#20

think we need to have hardware that is too expensive for people to buy just to dabble. That will justify our existence. That’s what most other committees have. They have equipment that lowers the cost for people who aren’t sling at a large scale and for novices.

What we need to do is make every choice, including the graphics cards, motherboards, cases, etc., with computer geeks in mind. We need to enable people to work on their projects or start new projects. I don’t want it to be just an extension of the common area.

If that happens, I think the best move would be to use the curre

What projects? what kind of subjects? What kind of hardware?

These are the things that one should be putting out there not just saying; ‘we need to change things’ a chair should be at every meeting and able to present these things to the committee plus listen to its committee.

We had several people attend the committee meeting because of the retro hardware and even vote to keep it.

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