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Noisebridge hacker club (photos)

At the Noisebridge hacker collective in San Francisco's Mission District doers, thinkers, and makers come together in DIY heaven.

James Martin
James Martin is the Managing Editor of Photography at CNET. His photos capture technology's impact on society - from the widening wealth gap in San Francisco, to the European refugee crisis and Rwanda's efforts to improve health care. From the technology pioneers of Google and Facebook, photographing Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, to the most groundbreaking launches at Apple and NASA, his is a dream job for any documentary photography and journalist with a love for technology. Exhibited widely, syndicated and reprinted thousands of times over the years, James follows the people and places behind the technology changing our world, bringing their stories and ideas to life.
James Martin
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Hackers

At the recently formed Noisebridge hacker space in San Francisco's Mission District, deconstructionists of all sorts have come together to form a community space dedicated to experimentation and collaboration, carrying on the Silicon Valley's long history of DIY innovation.

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Beyond hacking

At Noisebridge, the hacker mentality has evolved beyond coding and computer hardware to encompass physics, chemistry, mathematics, photography, security, robotics, art, technology, and even sewing.

At it's core, Noisebridge is about thinking up new ways to rework old ideas and sharing them with the world.

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Jacob Appelbaum

Jacob Appelbaum, Noisebridge's executive director, at their loft in San Francisco's Mission District on November 10.
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Noisebridge kitchen

As things are broken down and rebuilt in newer and better ways, the Noisebridge space is constantly being reworked.

Here, the Noisebridge kitchen is under construction, with a tile design of Noisebridge's logo in the foreground. When complete, the kitchen will feature an induction stovetop, which will have a coil of copper wire placed underneath the cooking pot. An oscillating current is applied to the coil, which produces an oscillating magnetic field, creating heat.

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Noisebridge kitchen

The German caffeinated, carbonated Mate beverage Club-Mate is popular among the hacker community in Europe, and Noisebridge now also keeps their refrigerator stocked full of the underground beverage.
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Member meeting

While anyone can drop by Noisebridge to teach or participate in classes, decisions relating to the community are reached through the consensus of dues-paying members. Here, on November 10, members vote on the induction of new members.
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Mitch Altman

Mitch Altman, hacker and inventor of the TV-B-Gone, a device that secretly turns off any TV, instructs Joshua Stevens and Charlotte Wickham during an electronics class at Noisebridge on November 16.
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Hacking

Classes at Noisebridge are open to anyone and provide a forum for consultation, input, or advice on a project. Here, Charlotte Wickham works on wiring an LED project, while Greggawatt, right, opens up a video game guitar controller to pillage its parts.
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Clubhouse

Noisebridge serves as a sort of clubhouse for the DIY-ers in San Francisco. Some people just hang out and work independently, and some take advantage of the community nature. Upcoming classes at Noisebridge include learning how to program using the Python programming language, German, Linux, and "Playing games with geeks."

Meetings are held at Noisebridge every Tuesday at 8 p.m. at 2169 Mission St., San Francisco. The meetings are for members and non-members alike. Agenda items typically include introductions, what people are working on, and updates on project happenings in the space and upcoming events. Meetings normally end with general socializing and in-depth discussion of any topics brought up earlier.

Everyone is welcome to bring an idea, bring a project, and most of all, bring excellence.

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