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Hackers on the House Hunt

For about a month and a half a handful of Cyber-Enthusiasts spent a remarkable amount of time towards a common project: "SYN2cat"
6 weeks ago it was only in the initiators minds, building a Hackerspace. But since then the dream became more of a reality with the first Brochures, Flyers and Posters leaving the press as we type.

The initiators like to call themselves "Hackers", David Raison (Student at the University in Innsbruck) and Steve Clement (IT-Entrepreneur in Bertrange) want to bridge the gap between the Virtual and Physical world by creating a Space where creative minds from all kinds of backgrounds can come together and work together on various projects.

The word is out, Hackers, and with that an explanation is needed. Commonly misunderstood, a Hacker is generally NOT a mischief explains the passionate Triathlete Clement. To clarify the meaning we have to go back to the US, specifically the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where they coined the word for people that wonder how things work and whether the coffe machine can be used as a Musical instrument (yes it can) and eventually how to improve certain weaknesses in either software designs or any other topics by tackling the problems and not letting go until a solution and evidently innovation is achieved. "Should you be such a person that wonders how stuff works and always wanted to get involved with creative minds is definetly a Hacker and we urge her to pay us a visit!", adds the usually Politics studying Raison.

The Hackerspace should amongst others unite Artists, IT-Guys and Scientists, who then can Create and innovate on new and exciting Projects, Organize Workshops, hold Talks, attend the Talks of others or Just have fun in the Chill out area. In the Hackerspace the Social contact should be primordial and share common knowledge. "We know, that a Hackerspace can provide a cultural and technical surrounding unseen so far in the greater region in and around Luxembourg", states Raison.

A little over 20 people are already actively supporting the movement, many of them spawned from the newly founded Luxembourgian version of the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) a famous German based IT-Security movement, the Chaos Computer Club Luxembourg (C3L). "We were astonished and happy that already a group of IT enthusiasts found together and we instantly molded our thoughts and efforts together.", completes David Raison. We joined the C3L, who later will take over the Management of the Hackerspace on an administrative level.

Across the borders there are already quite a few successful Hackerspaces with exactly the same motives. The front runner being the "Metalab" in Vienna, which Raison visited in April, and the "C-Base" in Berlin are global references among movement. As we speak other Metropoles are acquiring Hackerspaces too, like in Leipzig, Paris or Munich.

For common understanding the current team has created a Brochure that accurately explains what they are about. We posted the first copies to a few key people but anyone interested can request his copy over the Cyberspace. Currently in other News the Hackers look the the adequate ?physical? "Space" and embrace any help they can get. "Around 100-200 m², Sanitary installments would be handy, and a Kitchenette, in which joint cooking sessions could take place, would be top of the pops", informs Clement. Centrally located and well connected to public transport are indispensable. www.hackerspace.lu