RaumZeitLabor is a

hackerspace A hackerspace (also referred to as a hacklab, hackspace, or makerspace) is a community-operated, often "not for profit" ( 501(c)(3) in the United States), workspace where people with common interests, such as computers, machining, technology, ...

operated by

non-profit association A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

RaumZeitLabor e. V. in the city of

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

The association

RaumZeitLabor is operated by non-profit association RaumZeitLabor e. V. and is mainly financed by about 100 members and donations. Membership is not required to take part in the, for the most part, free workshops and meetings. The purpose of the association is the creation of an environment for

youth work Youth work is community support activity aimed at older children and adolescents. Depending upon the culture and the community, different services and institutions may exist for this purpose. In the United Kingdom youth work is the process of cre ...

, adult education, modern

information privacy Information privacy is the relationship between the collection and dissemination of data, technology, the public expectation of privacy, contextual information norms, and the legal and political issues surrounding them. It is also known as data ...

and socializing between communities.

The hackerspace

RaumZeitLabor is located on the former site of

ABB ABB Ltd. is a Swedish- Swiss multinational corporation headquartered in Zürich, Switzerland. The company was formed in 1988 when Sweden's Allmänna Svenska Elektriska Aktiebolaget (ASEA) and Switzerland's Brown, Boveri & Cie merged to crea ...

in Mannheim-Käfertal. The hackerspace itself consists of two rooms (110m² and 60m²). In the bigger room there is a second floor above the ground. Part of the rooms are a kitchen, areas for

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

etching Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other types ...

for producing

printed circuit boards A printed circuit board (PCB; also printed wiring board or PWB) is a medium used in electrical and electronic engineering to connect electronic components to one another in a controlled manner. It takes the form of a laminated sandwich struc ...

and a workshop.

Equipment

RaumZeitLabor contains different kinds of equipment to help members fulfilling their projects and offering services. Part of the equipment, amongst other things: * a

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

(40

watt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

carbon dioxide Carbon dioxide ( chemical formula ) is a chemical compound made up of molecules that each have one carbon atom covalently double bonded to two oxygen atoms. It is found in the gas state at room temperature. In the air, carbon dioxide is trans ...

) * several

oscilloscopes An oscilloscope (informally a scope) is a type of electronic test instrument that graphically displays varying electrical voltages as a two-dimensional plot of one or more signals as a function of time. The main purposes are to display repetiti ...

3D printer 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

* equipment for

soldering Soldering (; ) is a process in which two or more items are joined by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Unlike welding, soldering does not involv ...

* equipment for etching * storage for electronics parts * a transfer press * computer-operated sewing machine

Nationwide awareness

RaumZeitLabor is known in the European hackerspace culture for participating in several events and initiating the Large Hackerspace Convention (LHC), a conference for interexchange between hackerspaces. The hackerspace is also known for its transparency concerning information and everyday life. In the founding phase the creation of an internal-only mailing list was denied. Via the software Infoscreen the hackerspace publishes several information concerning the association, for example the bank balance. According to this approach, non-members are always welcome. RaumZeitLabor organizes the international Trollcon, a conference about the social phenomenon of

trolling In slang, a troll is a person who posts or makes inflammatory, insincere, digressive, extraneous, or off-topic messages online (such as in social media, a newsgroup, a forum, a chat room, a online video game), or in real life, with the i ...

. Trollcon 2012 had about 100 attendees, also members of the press. Amongst the speakers were for example lawyer Udo Vetter and media artist Dragan Espenschied. As part of the event, member of

Pirate Party Germany The Pirate Party Germany (german: Piratenpartei Deutschland), commonly known as Pirates (), is a political party in Germany founded in September 2006 at c-base. It states general agreement with the Swedish Piratpartiet as a party of the informa ...

in the

Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin The Abgeordnetenhaus of Berlin (House of Deputies) () is the state parliament (''Landtag'') of Berlin, Germany according to the city-state's constitution. In 1993 the parliament moved from Rathaus Schöneberg to its present house on Niederkirchne ...

, Christopher Lauer, received the prize "Troll of the Year". The association organizes and publishes speeches weekly, for example about

particle accelerator A particle accelerator is a machine that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles to very high speeds and energies, and to contain them in well-defined beams. Large accelerators are used for fundamental research in particle ...

LHC at CERN. Because members of the hackerspace are actively participating in hacker events like

Chaos Communication Congress The Chaos Communication Congress is an annual conference organized by the Chaos Computer Club. The congress features a variety of lectures and workshops on technical and political issues related to security, cryptography, privacy and online ...

, SIGINT or FrOsCon, the RaumZeitLabor meanwhile has an outstanding perception in the German and European hacker subculture. Numerous press articles concerning the 29th Chaos Communication Congress are mentioning the RaumZeitLabor as representative of the German hacker subculture.Welt Hacker Kongress entdeckt Kant im Chaos
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References

External links