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\\\lll(ltt1l(MI(UNl(Llf ' Wednesday X‘plrlllik‘t $5 ANN - J (A ‘ xi” - g - f ~ Hacking ut a at' B c KwartzLab brings local hackers and tinkerers together to explore new ideas Bi on“. Mu DUN/k“) up}. barker spate and List' int its tools ‘ffifil‘fih‘sll’jflfl W 7 . . a" l ' ‘ and materials H 7 7 fl . fl " l hese are people who hau- he next Blackberry might not '_‘ been working iii their baseitteiits I be distosereii III a lab ill the ' I Without the hem-tit (it lt'('(ll)d( k. ‘ Unisersityol’haterlini. k.. ’ af- x' White said lhe next lamrtdis may not be 1 5; [he RIM employee already has tinkeiing at the .\iceler.itot (Zentre. . "" ‘ a; 7 a iew of pieces lying around the instead. the region's next great . a $3; ‘ sen-f) A” " ‘f workâ€"inâ€"progress hatker spat e. intimation might come from a 3" 2; Qt . j which tttetnbers are currently tenâ€" most unliker plate ‘ a dingy ’ ‘ “é --. .’ ‘ 5" ovating. basement. must‘v garage or an ‘ 2 . .. ’ v’ ,_ ‘ His most prominent work is a abandoned tat tors in downtown v" 3 set of electronic eyes made out of lsllL‘llt‘llt‘r of}. “a... > ’ ,. two old laptops. llte eyes in the [hats what the founders of g: LP, â€"â€" -- ' "31-2 _ ~ ' ,, f ‘ electronic piece of art have builtâ€" Pusan/lab. Vs’aterloo Region's first ~ "' .- flflisfi ' in sensors so the) open Wilt-ll hacker space. are hoping for l'he s“?- . _ a& t ._ someone walks by group. called ls'nart/lab, is a col- : . his“. " ‘ "This [c something [ would Iection oi tinkerers from Waterloo _~.‘i g ' “ $5 . - ntake at my house biit mm 1 can and Kitt hetier who don't have r "15. Hanna-w bring it iii and show people and much more iii common other __ say. you know. ‘look what l madef" than the tact they've been tearing ‘ ' White said. apart technological devices and ‘ “7,1 gs-~ .»'-i V ‘ ‘ ’ “f He hopes to be showing a lot turning them into something new _ _ .- ..“~' _f - " > " more people what he and his lot-years. is. f“ 9-7" friends have tnade. (in Oct. 1, “Most of this has been done in if”? A - Kwartzl ab will hold an open basements across the region." said gri'i fl.- ' . house in the evening. Darin White. a \\"illt'rl()0 resident " $239 -' l , “This isn't really about taking and a founding member of Kwart- - things out into the community." ilab. White said. But now they‘re getting togethâ€" Darin White shows off one of his "good hacks" at the KwartZLab headquarters in Kitchener. The Waterloo resiâ€" "We want people to come in er and collaborating on new ideas dent is one of the founding members of the group. and interact With us and see what and projects. W" “(WU ”W0 we have here." After meeting for months at ing back to its original ideals. togetherflhe lntemet ofcourse. quartz batteries. which are found The Kwarulabhers are busily coffee shops and unused classâ€" “When it was originally used, a All the members were called in many electronics,“ he said. preparing for their open house. rooms at UW. the group has leased good back was a just a way to do together after reading a blog post. After the name was decided, painting and fixing up the dilapi- out a permanent home â€" inside describe a clever way to do some- Anyone interested in forming a the search was on for some per- dated facility: the former Boehmer Box Factory thing,” said Eric Gerlach, president Waterloo hacker space was to manent space. They're looking for new mem~ itt downtown Kitchener. ofthe organization. meet at William's Coffee Pub on In the meantime, they held sol- bers and hoping to become an It’s” the region's first hacker And it's not just computer geeks UniversityAvenue. it read, dering classes in White's garage institution in the region. space, which is a growing concept who are members, either. The In early April, Erlacher made and tried to make their presence White has already gone to city around the world. denizens of Kwanzlab have a vari» his way down to William's expectâ€" known. council and introduced the group The idea ofa hacker space is to ety of talents â€" from costume ing to find a few like minded indi~ "We just couldn't wait," White and they're hoping Kwartzl.ab's create a place where like minded design and art to music, and yes, viduals. said. profile keeps growing. indivtduals can come to work on computers. Instead, he found 40. Their first major event was a But even if it doesn't produce their craft One of the goals is collabora- Erlacher was elected president DIY and Dis afternoon at the the next BlackBerry, joining the And these aren't the hackers tion. of the group and after a lengthy Waterloo public square. group has already been worth it, you see in movies, cracking gov- “My girlfriend is a member and deliberation. they decided on the “People who aren't even mem- White said. eminent databases and stealing her expertise is in costumes," name. bers were bringing out their projâ€" “it’s good for networking and data. Erlacher said. “We talked for a long time ects and looking for help." White meeting people." he said. “We‘re benevolent hackers." “l'm more of a software design about whether to have the word said. “It sort of makes you interact White said. guy, so how do our interests really hacker in the e. but we settled “We want to do more stuff like and talk to people and the results "We use a different definition of mesh? Animatronics." in on Kwanzlgqnbecause it can be that." havejust been great." hack. It‘s about repurposing some Other members of KwartzLab read as K-W Arts lab,"White said, Ofthe original 40. 26 are paying For more information about thing and turning into something are Dis. lT employees and stu- And it has a double meaning, members of Kwanzlab. Members Kwartzlab’s open house or to find else." dents. Erlacher said. pay a $100 introductory fee and a membership application. visit Kwanzlab wants to bring hack- How did this diverse group get “Plus it plays with the idea of $50 a month for access to the wwwkwarztlabca. 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