When I was in second or third grade my dad built me a pretty cool fort. It consisted of two 4×8 rooms with walls made out of particle board and floors covered with giant rubber mats (old printing blankets from my dad’s work). It had an Army cot for sleeping and a long piece of PVC pipe that ran from the back window out into the creek that my friends and I could pee in. (When mom found out about the PVC pipe she made us get rid of it.)

It’s easy to forget the details of a place like that, but you never forget the feelings associated with it. I miss those feelings.

A Hackerspace, as defined by Wikipedia, is “a real (as opposed to virtual) place where people with common interests, usually in science, technology, or digital or electronic art can meet, socialise and collaborate. A hackerspace can be viewed as an open community lab, workbench, machine shop, workshop and/or studio where people of diverse backgrounds can come together to share resources and knowledge to build/make things.”

The original hackerspace (as far as I am concerned) is the now infamous L0pht. According to legend, the L0pht was originally formed back in the early 1990s when one of the group’s members (Brian Oblivion) was forced to relocate his extra computer equipment. “[He] had so many computers in the bathroom that his wife couldn’t use it anymore.” (Link) The L0pht originally referred to their organization as a “hacker think tank,” which is, to me, the point of a Hackerspace.

The Wikipedia entry on Hackerspaces lists around a dozen examples. The vast majority of these are warehouses that have been converted into places where people can work on projects, play games, or just hang out.

I want one.

I recently found a usable space within 10 miles of my house. It’s right at 2,000 square feet, and with utilities (meaning electricity and Internet) would run me around $1,000/month. Now all I need to get it off the ground are 9 other people who are willing to kick in $100/month for their share of the space (or 4 people willing to kick in $200 …) Oh, and a cool name. Every hackerspace has a cool name. I was thinking Pee Wee’s Playhouse, but the domain is already taken. :/

In my mind I see weekly meetings and weekend bashes/build parties. I see an entertainment area, with music and big video screens. I see a classroom area and a computer lab where people could learn and experiment and do all kinds of crazy things. I see late night gaming tournaments. I see open houses where my friends and I could show off our creations. I see lots and lots of shelves, full of old hardware and nuts and bolts and cool things with wires sticking out of them. I see killer robots. I don’t even know how to make a killer robot, but if I’m paying for this much real estate, I guess it’s time to learn.

Really what I need is someone to talk me out of this stupid idea.

More information: Hackerspaces.org