sudo-discuss July 2013

sudo-discuss@sudoroom.org

58 participants
143 discussions

by William Budington

Hey all, I talked to Danny O'Brien (Noisebridge's financial functionary) yesterday about the sudoroom legal status. I know this has been an ongoing discussion so I'm going to summarize the options we've already looked into and present the new information Danny has brought to my attention. *Why do we need a legal status?* Over the past few months we've found various challenges to our normal operations since we don't have a legal status. We aren't able to sign up for services like Stripe without having a federal tax id. In addition, since we are formally under one person's name, he is liable if anything happens at sudoroom. Also, we aren't able to sign up for most banks -- only the Community Bank of the Bay will actually give us a bank account with our status as a DBA. And as we've seen, Community Bank of the Bay is not the most web-savvy organization, and so it's hard for us to actually check our balances. *What we've looked at* Our eventual goal has been to get 501(c)3 status for sudoroom. This is a status that would allow us to accept tax-deductible donations and be incorporated formally as a nonprofit. A lot of Hacker Spaces go this route, and it seems like a reasonable long-term goal. One of the problems we've been warned of is that it takes a long time to actually be granted 501(c)3 status - upwards of 2 years, which can as I understand be expedited to 10 months. Because of this delay, we've looked into some other options -- namely being umbrella'd under another organization's 501(c)3 status. This would involve 10% of our revenue going to said umbrella organization to cover costs of the books. I've been in contact with Danny at Noisebridge and Jenny has been in contact with (Steve?) at the School Factory and discussing if this is a possibility. It is certainly one way to go, but as for Noisebridge they've only umbrella'd Noisetor, and they didn't need a separate account for that. *What I've learned recently* Danny mentioned that his partner is looking into nonprofit status for a new feminist hacker space in SF, and has investigated these options as well as others. In order to have a certain degree of autonomy, it is probably in our interests to actually not go the umbrella route and pursue separate legal status altogether. He also mentioned that there's no reason why we couldn't incorporate as an LLC or other corporate status before pursuing 501c3 status, and that even if it takes a number of years to be granted non-profit status we can transition from an LLC without much of a problem. There's no real disadvantage to having LLC status in the meantime, as I understand it. The main advantage of nonprofit status is tax deduction, but that is usually superseded on most peoples taxes by the standard deduction. The main place where it does make a difference is when employers do matching donations for their employees, then it can make a difference. *The plan* It makes sense to me to pursue the options that would resolve our short-term problems without impeding the path to our long-term goals. It seems to me reasonable as a short-term goal to register as an LLC (Jenny tells me this can be done in an afternoon and with $50 with a drive to Sacramento), and as a longer term goal actually pursuing nonprofit, 501c3 status. *Disclaimer* There may be caveats to this plan and I'm not a lawyer. Bill

12 years, 11 months

Dinooooooo

by rusty lindgren

-- Cheers, Rusty Lindgren **

12 years, 11 months

impressed

by Romy Ilano

Wow! I'm pretty impressed that someone walked the plank and took financial risk to get SudoRoom going. That's a lot of trust ... especially for things as tumultuous and socially wacky as non heirarchical collectives. first penguins, you are honored!

12 years, 11 months

Statistics through Doodles this Saturday at 2 pm

by Thomas Levine

As documented on the wiki, I'm going to teach statistics through doodles. https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Today_I_Learned#July_20:_Statistics_through_doodl… With the help of some doodles on paper (or possibly the floor), I'll will explain the purpose and meaning of various measures of the relationships between different variables (specifically covariance, variance, correlation and least-squares regression). This class assumes literally no knowledge of math, not even basic arithmetic. But I'll try to skip things that people already know as not to bore everyone. For the symbolically inclined, I can relate the doodles to the symbols you might have seen in an introductory statistics course. I've done this a few times, so I have enough of a mental script that I'd like to video it and put it on the website. I'll bring a camera. It would be awesome if someone could bring a tripod or if someone held my camera for part of the session. Or we could make a tripod-alternative out of some wood, a small tripod from the closet and some duct tape. Tom

12 years, 11 months

Trans* Hackathon

by Rabbit

There's a hackathon happening in Oakland to build tools that are helpful to transgender people Apply by August 2 Happens on Sept 13-15 http://transhack.org/ "WHY A HACKATHON FOCUSED ON THE TRANS COMMUNITY? Research shows that transgender people are unemployed at 2x the national rate–4x for transgender people of color; have incomes of less than $10,00 a year; experience homelessness at 2x the rate of non-trans people; and suffer overwhelming discrimination when it comes to accessing adequate healthcare and legal services. This problem not only affects transgender adults but trans and gender nonconforming youth as well. A necessary step in addressing anti-transgender bias is to create technology that socially empowers transgender individuals. Imagine if there existed a mobile phone app that helps individuals find trans friendly doctors or an app that profiles safe space job opportunities for trans people across the country? Trans*H4CK is a space in which to turn these possibilities into reality."

12 years, 11 months

Meeting Minutes 7/17

by Jenny Ryan

*Check out the Meeting archives here: ** https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Meeting_Minutes*<https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Meeting_Minutes> https://pad.riseup.net/p/sudoroommaintenance July 17 2013 *=Attending= * *Bill, Jordan, Max, Jenny, Marc, Rock, Timon(photos), Anthony R, Benji (stars), Antho (pipes), Tyler(no screen saver). *Question favourite screen saver from history? *=Introductions=* - Brief personal intros (< 20 sec per person) - Icebreaker *=Announcements (Consent Agenda)=* - Every Monday 7pm: LOL / Oakland Makerspace Open Hack Night (1234 23rd Avenue) - Every Thurs. at 7PM: Oakland Wiki meetup! http://www.oaklandwiki.org - ALSO: Take the 2014 Mayor Key Issues Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1cGV6N9pmpmJmHiKS8VmQAGlwJQ4mioShXyyxmrD-Ka… - Every Thurs. at 8:30pm: Mesh Networking meetup: http://sudoroom.org/wiki/Mesh - Next BACH Event: Third Saturdays, next is 7/20, 6pm at Hacker Dojo - http://ba.chgrp.org - Register here: http://bach-roundtable-4.eventbrite.com/ - Talk to Jenny about carpooling! - RADIO!!!! https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Sudo_Radio - sign-ups https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0ApmrUsz7z5DodDVaZnJ4TW1ndC1jd1… - Regular check-in between The Public School and Sudo Room - Thursday evening Supper Club potlucks starting at 6 - POSSE [Potluck Orientation Skill-share Swap-meet Event] this Friday - first in a monthly series, hosted by the Bay Area Community Exchange Timebank - https://sudoroom.org/ai1ec_event/bace-timebank-posse-party/?instance_id=663… - Rusty and Andrew are having a Jurassic Park-themed housewarming party this Friday, party-o-clock (contact Andrew or Rusty for details) - We now have a shared calendar for the common space! http://2141broadway.wordpress.com/calendar/ - Sudo Room Inventory / Cleanup weekend - take the poll to find the best date! http://www.doodle.com/e8vwvvs6e24wkwy4 - Looks like the weekend of the 27th/28th... *=Notes=* - Tax Status and Organizational Structure - Bill spoke with Danny (NB) about 501c3 umbrella-ing and Jenny spoke with James (SchoolFactory)om - Non-profit benefits include matching donations (employees & - Getting an LLC is cheap and easy to do, ~700/year for taxes in California - Liz Henry is doing a lot of research on 501c3 status for the feminist hackerspace starting in SF - http://jeremychenlaw.com/what-is-a-california-benefit-corporation/ *= ACTION ITEMS =* *Old Action Items:* - Add to the Sudo Room Neighborhood Outreach spreadsheet and take on a few to reach out to: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ao_Q7DQvNFT-dEdhZUJaQ3dDY2plMj… - allow comments in tamale secrets file (jordan) *New Action Items:* - 1. Research tax structures [ https://sudoroom.org/wiki/Tax_Structure_Research] 2. [...] 3. Profit! - Shelf by downstairs door *Postponed*: - Add robots.txt for sudo room (open item for anyone to take on) MATT (out of town) - [Postponed until necessary] Eddan - Reference letter from George - Set up date for label-printing organizing of stuff event - Jenny!1 -troy - git-ify & flow-diagram-ify our articles - POSTPONED - Jenny to call bank to find out about online access - Add calendar 2141broadway.wordpress.com to Infobot's screensaver [Max] - Library - until RPS - Catalog - Max - Move more books inside Sudoroom - push Articles to Github - Set up a Google Voice number that transcribes and forwards to an email address, which then forwards to a list of us (Tom) *=Fiscal Solvency=* ''*In this section we review our current financial situation and budget, approve monthly budgets, and discuss any other finance-related issues.*'' Exchequer: Marina Co-Facilitator: - +300 to be deposited from the lockbox - Marina received an email setup thing from the bank, but it didn't work. Bill never got one. Marina will call the bank to GET SOME ANSWERS. ** Pay your dues :)* * Review and consensus process: ** Fiscal Solvency Spreadsheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AlKk2X9KKqlFdFZJUy12x3ZUhDUmx2… ** Rent: $1500; Utilities: $220; Services: $50 **Target membership contribution: $88 per member (based on approx. 30 people) *=Amendments to the Articles of Association=* *=Conflict Resolution=* *=Discussion Spillover=* *=Post-Meeting Groups=* - clean up electronic crap downstairs ------- Jenny http://jennyryan.net http://thepyre.org http://thevirtualcampfire.org http://technomadic.tumblr.com `~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~` "Technology is the campfire around which we tell our stories." -Laurie Anderson "Storytelling reveals meaning without committing the error of defining it." -Hannah Arendt "To define is to kill. To suggest is to create." -Stéphane Mallarmé ~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`~`

12 years, 11 months

Sudoroom Street camera

by William Budington

Context: This comes in the wake of George wanting to clear out the iMac in the entrance, saying it looks unprofessional and is in the way. I figured the unused workstation tower (thin) is somewhat more out of the way, and installed software on it to stream the street. Thanks to Jenny for helping me do documentation, which I hate doing. ------------------------------------- The downstairs thin tower is now streaming video of the street. You can find out its IP address by listening via the audio out of the machine. Every 60 seconds it transmits its IP address via text-to-speech! Right now, that address is 192.168.1.159. If you go to 192.168.1.159:8080 from within the space on your web browser, and click Stream, you can now see the street Additionally, this is accessible via VLC, at the network url: http://192.168.1.159:8080/?action=stream *Specifications:* *MJPG_Streamer *Random headless tower *Random webcam found in the space *Next Steps:* *Set up recording on one of the local servers in the space *Most likely software candidate for recording is ZoneMinder, which can define a remote source for recording.

12 years, 11 months

trying to troubleshoot door, but need a multimeter and don't know how to fix our battery-less one

by Max Klein

read on if you have a multimeter to lend, or want to understand the door more: ==so-far== a wire came off the rpi gpio pinout. i looked in the code and realized that it is supposed to go to GPIO11, reattached it but still wasn't working, even though confrimed opendoor.py was being called then i shorted past the relay that gpio11 goes to and the door buzzed. we dont have a multimeter so i can confirm if gpio11 is going high, or the relay is burned out. can you help please?

12 years, 11 months

Fwd: I School Announces Master of Information and Data Science

by Troy Massey

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: AnnaLee Saxenian <news(a)ischool.berkeley.edu> Date: Wed, Jul 17, 2013 at 10:58 AM Subject: I School Announces Master of Information and Data Science To: ecoeconomist11(a)gmail.com Email not displaying correctly? View webpage<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=G190DvpYR9pDeeRiZ9nQmA> [image: Berkeley School of Information] [image: datascience@berkeley] *UC Berkeley School of Information launches Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) degree* Dear Alumni and Friends of the I School, I am thrilled to share the news that the School of Information is launching a Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS) degree with the first cohort of students starting in January 2014. This will be the country’s first fully online Master of Information and Data Science (MIDS)<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=jgDIsKHXfN45z35djKXw-Q>program. The I School faculty developed this new degree in response to the rapidly growing need for well-trained professionals who can organize, analyze, and interpret the deluge of often messy and unorganized data now available from the web, sensor networks, mobile devices, and elsewhere — often referred to as “big data.” The MIDS is a rigorous 27-unit graduate degree aimed at the working professional. It will combine live, face-to-face classes with interactive, online course work that can be accessed from anywhere. While the coursework will be entirely online, all students will also participate in a one-week immersion in Berkeley that allows them to meet one another and the faculty as well as to interact with leading data science professionals from the San Francisco Bay Area. The program will provide hands-on experience with the diverse tools and methods for exploring and finding patterns in complicated, real-world data, and for communicating the findings with decision makers. Just like all other degree programs at the School of Information, I School faculty will teach in the program alongside experienced professionals. If you would like to learn more about the Master of Information and Data Science program, please visit us online<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=oaY1Pim2okA1ZkYYkX_2HA>to request more information or call 855.678.MIDS. Sincerely, Anno Saxenian Dean, UC Berkeley School of Information *UC Berkeley School of Information<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=5tAeN199Vl1I-GveQsmzCg> * - 102 South Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-4600 *Master of Information and Data Science<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=Hhgws-DROnfU-aET1JrxBQ> * Find us on Facebook <http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=Zb3xjRPkRqofAEv6tq4_Dw>| Follow us on Twitter <http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=vzV7g6WeKj5r0uAM2uAPVA> Update email preferences<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=WGmWlXzJFPF74jKd2YS_GQ>| Tell a friend <http://my.berkeley.edu/site/R?i=GWGrS6IX0zsFbVoZLY3Dwg> | Unsubscribe<http://my.berkeley.edu/site/CO?i=33FMk2X-F1MxgO4HXCJVSucvrDGr6KDZ&cid=1383> Sincerely, Troy Massey 510.383.6117 LIBRARIAN www.SUDOroom.org 2141 Broadway Oakland Ca, 94612 PRINT ROOM COORDINATOR Bay Area Alternative Press 1847 Alcatraz Berkeley Ca, 94703 COMMUNICATIONS COORDINATOR www.CommunityDemocracyProject.org "You are the source of freedom. The price of freedom is awareness and action."

12 years, 11 months

Obtainium Cup?

by J.C.

Anyone been to or checking this out... Welcome to the 2nd Annual Obtainium Cup Contraptor’s Rally July 21, 2013, 3pm-9pm Come one, come all! Bring your strange and wonderful vehicles to the former Mare Island Naval Shipyard for adventure! http://www.obtainiumworks.net/obtainium-cup/ -- ThanX, ;+) https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Fort

12 years, 11 months

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sudo-discuss July 2013