Hackers helping hackers
— July 26th, 2009
This post is not about Arduino (for a change).
Forskningsavdelningen (Swe. “The Research Department”), the hacker collective in Malmö, Sweden participated in the summer festival from the city area of Möllevången (Swe. “the windmill meadow”). This annual festival grows as an alternative to the official events arranged by the council. It is a community–driven activity where the different associations in the area co-create a friendly and open atmosphere. This year, among the traditional concerts, carnival parade and food-stands, the Research Department launched a project to help out other hacker communities in the world.
Press releaseLocal hacker group launches jewellery-making project to support third-world wireless sharing projectThe vibrant Möllevången neighborhood will again be electrified with two intense days of events and happenings. The Research Department will join this effort, hosting open sessions both days.One of these workshops, hosted by Forskningsavdelningen, is about re-using found electronic parts, either building new things, or remaking them into jewellery. Yes, ear-rings and brooches, made out of the innards of home electronics. The maker pays for the materials, and all these proceeds are sent on to a similar group in a developing country.The beneficiary of the donation will be the Jalalabad FabLab in Afghanistan. Visitors get to build and wear cool ear-rings, or a brooch, and at the same time, wireless hackers in Afghanistan get support for their community projects. Currently, the Jalalabad FabLab is engaged in the FabFi project, which creatively and cheaply shares Net connections wirelessly. The FabLab recently built and installed FabFi networks in a school, hospital, university, and a non-governmental organization in Jalalabad.Read moreForskningsavdelningen’s English-language website is http://forskningsavd.se/The website of Jalalabad FabLab in Afghanistan is http://fablab.af/ which lets you find their blog http://blog.fablab.af/ The FabFi project can be found at http://wiki.fablab.af/index.php/Fab-Fi
If you want us to support similar activities around your hood, let us know, there is not much we can do but using our blog to make your voice heard.