The vending machine now provides some more feedback after money is put in.
Source code associated with my contribution is here. I haven't documented
the other components of the vending machine.
https://thomaslevine.com/scm/sudo-vending
Based on the implementation details, it appears to me that
the bill acceptor is in fact plugged into one board (Arduino Leonardo)
that is connected by serial to another board (Raspberry Pi). Why is
the former board used at all? That is, why is the bill acceptor not
plugged directly into the latter board?
Greetings Sudo et al, I'm so sorry but I have to bring to your attention a
recent, very unfortunate, inappropriate, and violent encounter a friend of
mine, Deon Saunders, had with a guy named "Rob", who I don't think I know
personally, although I'm sure he's well known around Omni in general. I
don't believe he's a sudo member specifically, but I believe this incident
sort of came into Sudo territory when Marc became involved; I also really
respect and love what Sudo room provides to the community, and I know that
Sudo is a powerful force within the Omni; as such, I'm writing to you all
now because I believe this issue definitely needs to be dealt with, and not
ignored or brushed aside.
Basically, Deon is friends with Phat Beets and Food First, and has been
frequenting the Omni in order to do work and access the community resources
that are available. To my understanding, he often works in the Sudo room
space. Although this should not need to be said, I can personally vouch for
Deon as an upstanding and generous member of the Oakland community.
Deon was having trouble accessing the space the other day and rung the Omni
doorbell several times, at which point guy named Rob opened the door and
started cursing at him and being very aggressive. After Deon was able to
enter Omni, Rob then started following him around and harassing him, acting
like a cop. Although this is egregious in and of itself, and a terrible
counter-representation of the Omni's values, this all came to a head when
Rob accused Deon of not being "an actual, normal, human being". Whether or
not this was intentional, it evoked longstanding racist attitudes that
black folks have been subjected to, suggesting that Deon was less-than, or
sub-human. Deon was so offended that he promptly left the Omni and has not
been back since.
Besides this very loaded and hateful comment, this general kind of
treatment and attitude, overall, is the EXACT opposite of the way black
folks should be treated when interfacing with the Omni. Rob's actions are
not okay, at all, and I strongly feel that a serious accountability process
should be implemented for this incident. This is not a small matter. I've
spoken with Deon, and he has agreed to participate.
I've also heard that this type of incident has happened before at the Omni,
specifically involving Rob. Correct me if I'm wrong, but apparently, the
attitude that was expressed to Deon was that Rob is one of the main people
that operates (i.e. helps to reproduce and sustain,) the Omni, and as such,
people basically go along with what he says and does. If this is in fact
the case, then an accountability process is even more imperative. In no way
should labor, and by proxy, "power" derived from labor, enable a person to
act with racism against members of the Oakland community. I think it's in
the best interest of the Omni to address this issue immediately, for Deon,
for the Omni, and for the Omni's relationship with the greater community of
Oakland.
I believe Marc was present for part of this incident as well, and although
I know, Marc is so busy doing vital work for Sudo and Omni, it might
behoove him to also participate in this process, as a witness.
I am writing this email not because I am trying to "cancel" or ruin anyone,
but because I care about Deon, The Omni, Sudo, and the Oakland community at
large. This issue seems indicative of larger problems, and if addressed
with love and respect and accountability, could seriously benefit all
parties listed above, and improve the Omni and it's relationship with
Oakland.
I'm not sure where to take it from here, as I am personally extremely busy
with other community-based activities in Oakland right now, but a
mediator/facilitator should be sought out, ideally a black person, but at
the very least, a non-black poc, and probably someone that isn't personally
involved in the day-to-day operations at Omni, sudo etc. If i am able, I
could possibly be this mediator, but I hope other options are sought out
first, because a.) I'm a non-black, mixed race poc, and b.) I have very
little capacity at the moment.
But please keep me in the loop regarding an accountability process for Rob,
and I'll do whatever I can to help move this along and reach a fair and
just conclusion.
Sorry to bring such difficult news to you all, but I could not stay silent.
With love and Solidarity,
Scott
I said "your 'community' space," but honestly, I still want this to be my
space, too. I hardly ever make a fuss about any of this stuff because it's
all so futile, you know? but in this case, I really want to make my point
clear: I think we should rescind our action against Rannette. I think
she's been treated unfairly. Even if she is "aggressive" towards you or
your compatriots, I don't think we need white dudes policing our space of
black women's bodies. Matt, you claim to have acted in another's interest
and you offer an injured third party -- let them speak for themselves,
because I don't think it's your place right now. If there was a violent
incident that threatened our space, let's hear it from a witness or an
involved party. "Something Happened" is not good enough. Otherwise "but
above all the Omni
Commons must maintain a safe, welcoming environment" seems to fly directly
in the face of the lived experience of too many black people.
if you had more than 15 github followers last april you
can get $1300 in bitcoin by running these commands:
https://www.namebase.io/airdrop
you may not feel like $1300 is very much, but if that's the case then just give
it to sudoroom :)
something that's more interesting than that is the blinded signing (sort of)
that they're doing using your ssh key (which is how they limit the money to
people whose keys they scraped a year ago) is VERY applicable to Secure Polling
System's need for blinded signing (although they're doing it to RSA keys)
https://help.namebase.io/article/4vchu01mec-handshake-airdrop-101#why_does_…
anyway, everyone who can should do this, and everyone should give money to
sudoroom, and everyone should help develop secure polling system.
-jake
Dear Sudo Room,
Here's your invoice! We appreciate your prompt payment.
Thank you for stewarding the commons.
Love and solidarity,
Omni Commons
------------------------ Pledge Summary --------------------------
Invoice # : 2071
Invoice Date: 06/01/2020
Due Date: 06/25/2020
Terms: Net 25
Amount Due: $6,000.00
The complete version has been provided as an attachment to this email.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello all,
I hope everyone is well. I wanted to remind all collectives that if yall
have an event, even if it is virtual, we want to encourage sharing it via
the Omni's calendar. You can send the event info to
commons(a)lists.omnicommons.org.
En Solidaridad,
Roberto
Hello fellow omninoms, how is everyone doing? We hope all of you are well
and taking care of yourselves and your community during this covid-19
pandemic.
What an intense couple of weeks we have lived, right? Full of
uncertainties, but also full of hope. A lot has happened in the past
several weeks, it feels like we are the center of a fast moving current,
acting and reacting to the rapidly evolving threat we and our communities
face. After all, covid-19 has done an excellent job at amplifying the ills
of the capitalist system making its deadly presence ever more cruel within
our most vulnerable communities. But at the Omni, we are lucky to be part
of a community of caring, committed and skillful folks who are doing the
groundwork to support and build efforts to aid those in need. There is a
lot that has happened, direct actions, mutual aid efforts, mask making,
food distribution, and more!
In the spirit of community building and mutual-care, the communications
working group is dusting off the printing press and bringing back Omni’s
newsletter to share with each other all of the work we are doing, the
feelings we are feeling, and maybe a collective vision for a better future.
We are hoping to have the newsletter out by the end of the month, which is
in about two weeks. Like newsletters of the past we want to feature the
work of each collective. So we are asking each collective to submit 1-4
paragraphs providing an update of the work ya’ll are doing collectively or
maybe feature the work of an individual member. Below are some suggestions
of questions or topics you can touch on:
-
Updates from your collective
-
How is your collective responding to the covid-19 pandemic.
-
Reflections about the covid-19 pandemic.
-
What kind of world do yall imagine post covid-19?
-
Share anything that your collective needs help with, or needs.
-
Anything you want to share….poetry, paintings, photographs, recipes,
anything.
Additionally, we will be featuring upcoming events, meetings, or ongoing
efforts from collectives, so please send those our way as well.
*Please send your content to the communications working group email at
comms(a)lists.omnicommons.org <comms(a)lists.omnicommons.org>, by Tuesday April
28th. *
Like all the other working groups at the Omni, the communications working
group needs more participation. If you are interested in joining please
sign up to the communication working group email list at
https://omnicommons.org/lists/listinfo/comms.
Thank you.
With love and solidarity,
The Communications Working Group
