

HN meetup: Waterloo, Ontario - axiom
http://www.meetup.com/hacker-news-meetup/

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Animus7
I'm in whatever the topic is. Completely by accident I'm quitting my (cushy,
working for the Man) job today and moving across the country to be back near
dear old UW.

So it puts a smile on my face to hear that there's still a Hacker scene for me
to come back to :).

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pyre
Since we're talking Waterloo, what are local hackers' opinions on how a
downward slide for RIM will affect the area/scene? I've been wondering this
lately, especially since I've been considering looking for work in the area.

~~~
axiom
It's going to be brutal. I've been telling everyone I know in Waterloo for
years not to buy any real-estate (especially those trendy lofts) because the
prices will crash once RIM falls apart.

On a related note, we're hiring at Top Hat Monocle!
[http://jobs.startupnorth.ca/job/insanely-smart-web-
developer...](http://jobs.startupnorth.ca/job/insanely-smart-web-developer-
waterloo-on-canada-top-hat-monocle-355bb2c903/)

~~~
cgranade
There's a lot more to this town than just RIM. I work, for instance, at the
Institute for Quantum Computing, which is just one of the things that
UWaterloo is pushing forward with. I'll grant you there's probably going to be
some real-estate price crashes, but I don't know if it'll be as bad as all
that.

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mikepurvis
My wife and I will definitely be waiting a few more years before purchasing a
house here.

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jrodgers
Some perspective on the houses... have you noticed how bad 85 is every day?
That is all the RIM employees that live in Milton or further away. Most of
them did not move to town.

Sure RIM laying off all employees would kill Waterloo but they have a lot of
cash in the bank ($8 Billion?) and have been ramping up R&D -- they aren't
going anywhere for a while.

~~~
a3camero
There are a fair number of people that live in Mississauga/Toronto as well.

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fishtastic
Hard to believe there will be an event like this in Waterloo, I am really
interested. Hope you are okay with some newbie uw co-op students.

~~~
cgranade
I'm sure it sounds silly, but I never realized that there were so many other
HN readers from Waterloo, so I can definitely relate to your disbelief. I was
quite surprised to see "Waterloo, Ontario" pop up in Google Reader.

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rcfox
Hm, I'm tempted to go to meet other HNers in the area, but I'm not really
interested in the topic you've chosen...

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axiom
Any suggestions on a better topic? wanna come present something? :)

We just picked it because we have a couple of Djange and App Engine experts
and so it seemed like a good idea.

~~~
nchlswu
Personally, I'm not a very technical person, so I'd probably not attend events
like this. I'd definitely be interested in a general HN meetup, though.

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vicngtor
This is pretty neat...

Wouldn't it be more wonderful if could organize our own hacker dojo (where
people just drop by and discuss what they are working on OR brainstorm about
cool stuff to build).

~~~
malexw
Let me introduce you to our local hackerspace, Kwartzlab:
<http://www.kwartzlab.ca/>

We don't have as many members or as much space as the Mountain View Hacker
Dojo, but we put on a pretty good open house (if I do say so myself) every
Tuesday from 7 to 10!

~~~
a3camero
I didn't know this existed here. Looks awesome!

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jrodgers
Lots of other events in Waterloo too:

<http://watcamp.com/calendar>

...for those unaware of how much more awesome Waterloo has become.

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a3camero
Bridge and Northfield? Far from UW eh.

But very close to work. Didn't know there were tech startups around that area.

~~~
cgranade
Amusingly, though, closer to the David Johnston R&T park if I'm not too much
mistaken.

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artvandelay
I'm not a developer - but if there is interest in a general meetup, I'm in!

~~~
Stormbringer
After attending one of these... _you will be_

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tlear
Very cool will see if I can make a trip from TO

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ramynassar
Sweet!

