I really really need to get caught up to the point where I’m finally writing about the city/country that I’m actually in again. I swear I’m going to get caught up in the next day or so and get back on a frequent posting schedule. So I may give my week in Berlin shorter shrift than it really deserves.
The big thing that I came to Berlin for is C-base. C-base is amazing. It’s basically the hacker mecca. It’s been in its current location since the late 1980s, which in the computer world is practically an eternity. Unlike many of the other hacklabs I’ve visited which are precariously located in squats, or part of some larger social center, C-base is its own entity. Registered as a non-profit corporation, it collects money monthly from some 400-500 dues-paying members.
C-base is tricky to photograph. If I use a flash, it washes out and does a very poor job of conveying the dark, cyberpunk aesthetic of the place, and it’s too dark to really photograph properly without the flash. At least, for my crappy camera. It looks kind of like the inside of a laser-tag arena, only without the smoke machine; and most of the neon blinking things actually do something. There’s strange aliens, and circuit boards all over the walls. Apparently some of the original founders’ mother/mainboards now adorn the “nerd room” in the basement. This room is off-limits to non-members unless escorted by a member. When I emailed, the C-base guys generously found an American ex-pat member to show me around.
C-base has its own founding myth and mythology. The story goes that there’s a crashed space station buried underneath Berlin. The iconic TV tower in the center of Alexanderplatz is the antenna of this station. C-base is part of the station buried underground. The C-base members are the extraterrestrial inhabitants of the station, and every improvement or expansion of C-base is an attempt to reconstruct the station. Accordingly, non-members are “aliens” to the C-base members, hence the “No Alien” signs noting members-only locations. When entering these restricted areas, my guide yells out, “Alien entering” in German.
On Monday when I was there, they were playing with a homebuilt multitouch computer. Microsoft is developing this concept under the “Microsoft Surface” label. If you’ve never seen one of these, this video gives you some idea. The C-base one is homebuilt with about $6,000 worth of hardware. It uses a webcam mounted in the console to spot where your hands are, a high-res projector reflected off a mirror for display, and a Linux-based interface.
There’s also a robotics team at C-base. When I was there, they were working on trying to build a small robot that would balance itself on only one wheel. They had the basic hardware built, but were having trouble getting the software to interface correctly. Another group at c-base, Friefunk.net is working on constructing a free wireless network for all of Berlin. They’ve been coordinating with churches to install hardware in their steeples to provide maximum coverage from high networks. They also have special router firmware that can be installed on normal consumer hardware to allow your home router to become a part of their mesh network and contribute some of your extra bandwidth to the project.
Tuesday night, they had an open stage night, with several different bands jamming and generally rocking out. It was notable for being the only musical event I’ve been at where having a laptop open in front of you was not only socially acceptable but actually made you cooler. Also, during one performance, the singer concluded a song featuring the lyric “yes we can” with a random shout of “Obama!”
On Saturday, I went to an Ubuntu 8.10 release party at c-base. It was surprisngly well-advertised (I saw advertisements announcing it on the U-bahn throughout the week) and consequently well-attended. There were presentations by members of the Ubuntu Berlin development team about some of the new features in this release of Ubuntu. I’ve actually been running the 8.10 beta on an SD card since Florence, so a lot of it wasn’t new to me, but it was still a really cool environment and neat to be able to see some of the actual developers.
Other notable occurances in Berlin: I went to a couchsurfing Halloween party, hung out with a cool Polish econ student, and later to a “secret” Halloween party in the boiler room of an abandoned building on the outskirts of Berlin.
Also, at the hostel I was staying at, a guy gave me a free ukulele because he was tired of carrying it. So now I just need to learn to play the ukulele. I also met a very friendly Iranian guy who drank tea compulsively (~6 cups a day) and kept trying to get me to match him cup-for-cup. He was in Berlin to work and was staying in the hostel while looking for an apartment. He complained bitterly about the awful bureaucracy of the German government, which is probably true, but I was surprised to hear it compared unfavorably to the ponderous religious/governmental hybrid authority that runs Iran.
No Alien (This means you, Homo sapiens sapiens)
Hardware workshop
Ubuntu Release Party
The uke is a ton of fun. I bet you know more about playing it than you think, the intervals are the same as the top four strings of a guitar, but instead of DGBE, it’s GCEA. Try playing a D chord like you would on a guitar. That’s a G on ukulele. Unless it’s a tenor uke, in which case I don’t know what chord it is. The idea is the same, though.
Sounds like they’ve got a real nerd-haven going on there. I can’t imagine anyone I know here giving a damn about a new release of Ubuntu, or even knowing what that is.
Have you got a flickr account or something where you’re keeping your photos online?
Also, I think the reCAPTCHA box down there is asking me to spell a dirty word.
Fifteen hour bus ride = travel fail // Feb 5, 2009 at 4:44 am
[...] and asked to no avail. Strangely enough, I was staying in the same Berlin hostel where I was given the ukulele for free, so there is a certain karmic symmetry to losing it [...]