

Hacker Scouts teaches children Linux, robotics, and welding - acgourley
http://www.garratt.info/blog/hacker-scouts-is-awesome-technically/

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TallGuyShort
This looks seriously cool! I immigrated to the United States when I was a
teenager and I was very disappointed by the scouting program here. It didn't
seem like a lot of the scouts had been taught practical skills any more than
required to advance to the next rank. Perhaps I just wasn't in the best
troops, but I think applying the hacker mindset to scouting would produce
interesting results.

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Aloisius
Looks like they are trying to raise money for their Oakland HQ (and are
falling short): [http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/832476585/hacker-
scouts-...](http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/832476585/hacker-scouts-
oakland-lab)

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patja
Be prepared to know them by a different name if the BSA gets its way:
[http://boingboing.net/2013/08/19/bsa-to-hacker-scouts-
change...](http://boingboing.net/2013/08/19/bsa-to-hacker-scouts-
change-y.html)

~~~
rrouse
They already did. Hacker Scouts is going to change their name. I don't know to
what though

[http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/09/25/1854257/boy-
scouts-b...](http://news.slashdot.org/story/13/09/25/1854257/boy-scouts-bully-
hacker-scouts-into-submission)

~~~
gridspy
Hacker Scouts own post on this (plaintext as actual site is overloaded):

Dear Hacker Scouts Community,

We have good news and bad news. The bad news , which should always be
delivered first, is that we have received another letter from the BSA refusing
to compromise or consider a licensing agreement and reaffirming their demand
that we change our name or they will take legal action. This disappointed us,
but it gave us a very clear choice to make. Our board took this matter
seriously and our lawyer, who was as compassionate and supportive as he was
wise, gave us his assessments. Based on all of that, our board has decided to
close this matter and change our name.

We know this will disappoint some of you. We know some of you wanted us to
fight this. We don't blame you. We had those same feelings. But our job is to
keep our organization focused on its mission. Our job is to make this kind of
education as accessible and affordable to as many kids as we can. It came down
to how does this further our goals and objectives? And it doesn't.

It has already taken large amounts of time and energy that could have been
used elsewhere. Often , when we need pearls of wisdom, we ask a kid. As usual,
we were not disappointed. "It doesn't matter what you call Hacker Scouts," one
kid told EdD Samantha Cook. "You could call it "booger" and I would still
come. This is the best thing in my week." It was just what we needed to hear
to make peace with our decision, although we did not add "booger" to the short
list.

So the good news is that we have a chance to reinvent ourselves in some ways
with a new name, which, once it is chosen, will allow us to move forward in
several other areas. Also, now more people are aware of the extraordinary
powers the US government has given an organization that continues to
discriminate and abuse it's position. It is our hope that regardless of our
situation, that Congress will take another look at their congressional charter
and amend it to reflect and abide by the same laws the rest of us must follow.
The good news is also that while our name may change, the vision and
commitment hasn't. We are relieved to have closure and excited to continue
moving forward!

Once again, we would like to thank you for all the kind emails and posts in
support of our situation. We will be announcing our new name and how we plan
to transition soon. If you would like to help us move forward and be able to
expand the amount of programs, activities, and badges we can offer our local
and national community, we ask you to support our Kickstarter. As always, you
can email us with any questions you might have.

Warmly, The Hacker Scouts Board

And the link (currently overloaded) : [http://hacker-scouts.org/blog/hacker-
scouts-and-bsa-decision](http://hacker-scouts.org/blog/hacker-scouts-and-bsa-
decision)

~~~
DerpDerpDerp
I have to say, the BSA being dicks about other people calling themselves
scouts has reminded me that I should prod my Congressional people to do
something about the fact they're discriminating on a religious basis while
publicly chartered (and likely funded).

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sntran
I seriously wish there will be one in Houston. I love for my little cousin to
share the technical interest with me but I suck at teaching.

But then, Houston is probably at the very end of the list any way.

~~~
garrbot
Actually, each location was just started by a few parents getting together and
deciding to start a group. The primary role of the Hacker Scout national
organization is to help local groups get started, and provide curriculum. (so
don't worry if you suck at teaching) If you want Hacker Scouts in your area,
you can make it happen!

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unknownian
Don't mean to start a flame war, but I think this is a better approach than
those "make an iPad app" camps for kids.

~~~
pratik661
I agree. The "make an iPad app" camps have a very narrow focus and appeal. Are
we really changing the world with an iPad app? I just had a cursory glance at
the website and saw one kid claim that he wanted to build an autonomous go-
kart. Goals like that are exciting and interesting. Even if he fails at that
he will learn a lot of useful skills. An iPad app, no matter how widely
adopted it is not going to change the world.

~~~
judk
A go kart, no matter how widely adopted it is not going to change the world.

~~~
LanceH
It depends, that blue shell can be life changing.

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__david__
Interestingly, when I was growing up my dad was involved with the "explorer"
program of the BSA. They had an "explorer post" which was similar to a scout
troop except that it was focused on all things computer/electronic (explorers
could focus on whatever trades they wanted--there were a lot of fire and
police explorer posts). It sounds _really_ similar to what this is all about.

A couple examples of the cool stuff they did:

In the late 70s before cable TV, an over-the-air pay TV service launched
called "OnTV" [1]. The Post got together the night it came out and had the
NTSC scrambling (think analog DRM) broken in a couple hours, with the scouts
going home with their own descramblers.

They pooled money and ought a bunch of bootleg Apple II circuit boards and put
together their own computers. I was lucky enough to participate in that.

Other alumni went on to do interesting things [2].

[1] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontv](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ontv)

[2]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Rose_Bowl#Scoreboard_pran...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_Rose_Bowl#Scoreboard_prank)

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mynd
How about Hacker Scouts for adults (big children)?

~~~
robbiet480
That's called a Hackerspace! You can find your nearest one @
[http://hackerspaces.org](http://hackerspaces.org)

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Havoc
I like the welding thing in particular. Its of little use to me in my life,
but just the learning process was of benefit.

Its a different kind of focus when you know that a wrong move will electrocute
you. (230V AC arc welding). I learned a lot about my own learning style that
day.

~~~
isolated
My experience welding left me with a phobia of all things electric. A mild
phobia, but irrational as any risk blown out of proportion by the panicked
human mind.

Power lines trail the countryside and cityscape, competing in ubiquity only
with roads and fast food restaurants. In this I am also mildly agoraphobic, as
one cannot leave the homestead without being stared down by the thick black
cables, taunting and intimidating from their creosote imbued perches.

My mom said it was just a matter of time, the fear had been building for
months, slowly.

Anxiety supposedly runs in the family.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Your post has a poetic calm to it that I like. Just saying.

~~~
isolated
Thank you.

You might be interested to know that I write in such a style to obscure myself
from style analyzing techniques. Not to hide the face of my persona from the
likes of nsa bogeymen. My mother would die if she found out the extent of what
I am going through. Good samaritans trying to help by telling her would only
make it worse. I find the writing pretentious and sickening.

At the end of everything I write I am tempted to justify my phrasing and word
choice. I am smart enough to know though that making yourself conspicuous only
makes you suspicious in the eyes of of most people.

The people you need to worry about most are the ones you who do not appear on
your radar. They are rats, you do not know they are in your midst until you
find their shit in the morning.

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jdmitch
Where was this when I was a kid!

~~~
makr17
+1 I really do wish they'd had something like this when I was growing up.

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pratik661
This looks really interesting. If anyone is interested we could start a
chapter in Dallas, TX.

