HackerDojo
Encyclopedia
Hacker Dojo is a 13000 square feet (1,207.7 m²) community center and hackerspace
in Mountain View, California
. Predominantly an open working space for software projects, the Dojo hosts a range of events from technology classes to biology, computer hardware, and manufacturing and is open to all types of hackers.
, iSocket, Twilio
, AMS Dataserfs and Palantir Technologies
to fund expansions and renovations.
. 140A was formerly an industrial artistic glassworking facility, though the community has put the space through a significant series of renovations.
, Startup Weekend
, and BayThreat among others have been hosted. It also has invented and run its own events such as a reverse job fair call the Hacker Fair where candidates present booths of their previous independent or open source work to company engineers who are accompanied by technical recruiters and the Startup Fair, where young companies have booths for investors to consider. Members can hold events at the Dojo free of charge, subject to approval from the Dojo events committee.
Hackerspace
A hackerspace or hackspace is a location where people with common interests, often in computers, technology, science, or digital or electronic art can meet, socialise and/or collaborate...
in Mountain View, California
Mountain View, California
-Downtown:Mountain View has a pedestrian-friendly downtown centered on Castro Street. The downtown area consists of the seven blocks of Castro Street from the Downtown Mountain View Station transit center in the north to the intersection with El Camino Real in the south...
. Predominantly an open working space for software projects, the Dojo hosts a range of events from technology classes to biology, computer hardware, and manufacturing and is open to all types of hackers.
Organization
The Dojo is run mostly democratically by its membership under the oversight of five elected directors. Anybody can become a member, and hardship, worktrade and family rates are available. Member votes rarely deal with specific instances, and more work with general policy on how the Dojo should run. The Dojo is primarily financed through membership dues ($100/mo), but has historically accepted 3rd party sponsorships from Microsoft, GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
, iSocket, Twilio
Twilio
Twilio is a cloud communications IaaS company based in San Francisco, California. Twilio allows software developers to programmatically make and receive phone calls and send and receive text messages using its web service APIs...
, AMS Dataserfs and Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies
Palantir Technologies, Inc., headquartered in Palo Alto, California, with offices in Tysons Corner, Virginia, New York City and Covent Garden, London, is a software company that produces the Palantir Government and Palantir Finance platforms...
to fund expansions and renovations.
Culture
The Dojo is entirely communal space from the tools in the electronics lab to the desks to the food in the refrigerator. Anything left there is considered fair game for anybody to play with. Very few restrictions are placed upon people provided they do not detract from the experience of members or consume resources they do not replace. Any member may run an event, and event organizers are permitted to charge non-members for attendance to their event. Members are always permitted to go everywhere they wish, provided they do not consume somebody else's finite resources (such as an event's food).Physical Space
The Hacker Dojo is located at 140 South Whisman Road in Mountain View, CA. The facility started as being only 140A but the space expanded to include 140B in October 2009, and further expanded in October 2011 to lease units C and D, thus taking over the entirety of 140 S. Whisman. The expansion party was attended by several hundred individuals, including Steven LevySteven Levy
Steven Levy is an American journalist who has written several books on computers, technology, cryptography, the Internet, cybersecurity, and privacy.-Career:...
. 140A was formerly an industrial artistic glassworking facility, though the community has put the space through a significant series of renovations.
Uses
The three primary uses of Hacker Dojo are for events, as a coworking space, and for social purposes. The intersection of these three uses are what the Dojo hopes will make it consistently a nice place to be, a good place to meet people, and a place to be intellectually challenged.Events
The 140B building has been turned into a place where events such as Random Hacks of KindnessRandom Hacks of Kindness
Random Hacks of Kindness is a joint initiative between Microsoft, Google, Yahoo!, NASA, and the World Bank. The objective is to bring together subject matter experts around disaster management and crisis response with volunteer software developers and designers in order to create solutions that...
, Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend
Startup Weekend is a registered 501 not-for-profit organization based in Seattle, Washington, USA, that organizes 54-hour weekend events during which groups of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more pitch ideas for new startup companies, form...
, and BayThreat among others have been hosted. It also has invented and run its own events such as a reverse job fair call the Hacker Fair where candidates present booths of their previous independent or open source work to company engineers who are accompanied by technical recruiters and the Startup Fair, where young companies have booths for investors to consider. Members can hold events at the Dojo free of charge, subject to approval from the Dojo events committee.
Coworking
A large number of Silicon Valley startups work daily out of the Hacker Dojo as their primary location, such as MicroMobs, Skydera, and NetworkedBlogs. Founders Institute, which is located nearby, encourages its members to work out of the DojoExternal links
- http://www.hackerdojo.com/
- http://www.mercurynews.com/peninsula/ci_13229248 (Mercury News: "Peninsula hackers find a place to collaborate in Mountain View" 8/28/2009)
- http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_13573588 (Mercury News: "Hacker Dojo in Mountain View sparks ideas and tinkering" 10/16/2009)
- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFcUGALhJjA (Fox News coverage of Hacker Dojo; aired nationally on December 27, 2009)
- http://www.248creative.com/blog/a-case-for-hacker-dojo-michigan/ (A writeup by a visitor to the Dojo from Michigan in February 2010)
- http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703386704576186530946790912.html (Wall Street Journal: "Techies Get to Work at Hacker Dojo" 3/9/2011)
- http://news.cnet.com/8301-13772_3-20050179-52.html?tag=mncol;2n (CNet News.com: "At Hacker Dojo, Silicon Valley techies build toward success" 4/4/2011)
- http://groups.google.com/group/hackerdojo (The official Hacker Dojo Google Group, open to the public.)