About atlHack

a short introduction to atlHack...

About: Details

Why

Generally the order goes "who, what, where, when, why", but I think that this one is the most important, so its right up here at the top.  Why we do atlHack is a complicated topic, and it has its own page.  Here's the short version:

Computing isn't a nerd sport anymore.  You probably own an iPod, might check the news on your laptop at the local coffee shop, and own a car with more than twenty computer processors in it (the days of the gear-head are gone - today's car tuner is part computer geek).  Computing is a culture: a culture of artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, industrialists, consumers, scientists, and philosophers.

... and you need to feed that culture.  If you dream of a startup, or art installations, breaking into industry, or just keeping on top of trends, you can't do it alone.  None of us want to lay down in front of anyone to further the cause, but as a group, we're simply more powerful than we are alone.

You're not going to get a job looking at Monster.com.  GeorgiaTech career services can't wait to hook you up with some mundane position that makes them look good (they love big business and name dropping).  Your only hope is to stumble onto something good, and that's what we're here for.  Maybe you know someone who is looking for startup-fodder, maybe I know someone who is looking for you.  The only way you're going to find out is by hanging out with the gang.

Man, this wasn't short either... it gets longer every time I rewrite it.

Who


If you are in the Atlanta area, atlHack is you!
Maybe you aren't in the ATL, but your spirit is here with us.  If so, atlHack is still you!

What

We are computer people, poet hackers of the cyber frontier.
We have a weekly get-together in a local coffee shop, where we code and talk about computers.

Where

We live in Atlanta, GA (airport code ATL), but not everyone is from here - I'm from the New England area (a part of "the northeast").  Some of us have ties to GeorgiaTech, some of us don't.

We currently meet at Octane coffee (www.octanecoffee.com), but its quickly becoming a very popular (meaning crowded) spot.  We may need a new home soon.

When

atlHack.org was started in the Summer of 2005  (registered 6-Jul-2005 02:31:49 UTC)
We have meet-ups every Thursday at 7:30 (or so) at Octane Coffee.

every Tuesday at 9pm (or so) -graham

How

Not really sure what goes in "how"...

The atlHack website is hosted on a pithy linux box on my Speakeasy DSL.  It uses Drupal for content management and Subversion for source control.

We're all geeks with ties to GeorgiaTech.

Macs are nice computers.  At least, I think so... don't ask the other guys.

About: Why

This is probably the most important question in your tour...

Why Did You Start atlHack?
There are a lot of good reasons for starting atlHack, but there are two really big, glaring ones that need to be tackled here:

1. There is no reason for computing to be a solo activity.  People are social; computing should be social.  To this end, we (make sure to shower,) meet up every week to talk to others face to face, drink coffee (Octane is now selling beer as well), and write about what we do.  These are normal, everyday things that are surprisingly uncommon at GeorgiaTech, especially in the CoC.  Come, normalize yourself - you'll be a happier person.
2. Computer Science, especially in the States, has an overwhelming monoculture.  What I mean is, most people could pick a "computer person" out of crowd of people.  Why is this?  Everyone uses computers!  And, why are there so few girls in computing?  I think that the strange culture of computing is holding us all back.  So, I would like to "Open Source" the computing culture of Atlanta - put it all (well, all thats appropriate) on the web, and invite everyone to join in.

Why Did I Not Start atlHack?

Ok, there's two sides to every coin... what will make me not want to continue atlHack?

1. Becoming a free computer repair shop.  I'm sorry if you are having computer problems.  If we're feeling nice, we might show you the Yellow Pages.  You wouldn't expect someone to fix your car for free, please don't ask us to solve your problems.  There are companies like Geek Squad and Retrotechs that can help you out.  Fixing computer problems is work, and work is not exciting.  If there are people who are interested in volunteering, they will let you know.
2. Becoming everyone's soapbox.  Yes, we sometimes talk about religion, politics, and Mac vs Windows vs Linux.  No, I don't want to talk about this every week - that's boring.  You'll notice that I often say atlHack is whatever you want it to be.  Well, its actually going to be whatever *I* want it to be, and a weekly yak fest is not high on my list.  I'm listening for other people's ideas, but I'll put my own goals first.  My goals are to encourage creativity, innovation, productivity, and diversity.  If you are just wasting people's time, we're not interested.

Why Can't You Decide How to Capitalize ATLhack?

Well, it should probably be ATLhack, since ATL is an airport code, and airport codes are uppercase, but I think that it looks a lot nicer in camelCase, and I like things that look nice.  Sometimes I write ATLhack to emphasize where it referrs to, but most of the time I will use atlHack.  If you see atlhack, its probably a domain name or a typo.

How Do You Say "atlHack"?

Think "paddle", without the "p".  Why?  I don't know why, it just sounds better than "A, T, L, hack".