Hackers are playing an active role in boosting recovery efforts in Japan following the magnitude-9 quake and tsunami there last month.
Despite its negative connotations in popular media, the term "hacker" covers a wide variety of oftentimes helpful and useful activities —particularly in reference to hobbyists and inventors who build custom equipment to suit their needs.
Groups like Tokyo Hackerspace are using such skills to help with relief efforts in Japan, including setting up a network of radiation monitors around the Fukushima power plant.
"The idea basically came from feeling helpless," said "Akiba," a hacker with Tokyo Hackerspace who helped head the project, in an article posted in PC World magazine.
Networked Geiger counters
According to PC World, the project started as an alternative to the government's efforts to collect and distribute radiation information.
With no Geiger counters immediately available in the first week after the quake, the group made an online call for —and quickly acquired— the needed gadgets.
The next step was to convert the Geiger counters' analog output into digital data that could be uploaded on the Internet.
"I wanted to put the other geiger counter up publicly and as quickly as possible to share the data with others in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the geiger counters are completely analog and there was no way to pull data from it. So, being the nerd that I am, I proceeded to hack it into what I wanted. These are the project details of the process of converting a cold-war era, analog geiger counter into a device that can digitally send data to Pachube, a public sensor feed aggregator," Akiba said in a blog post.
Solar lanterns
Tokyo HackerSpace also said that it has started to lay down plans for other projects, including 150 solar-powered LED lanterns.
"We will be assembling them here and shipping them up (or delivering by hand) to aid organizations. These lanterns provide just enough light so that people can feel safe at night without power, find their way in the dark, and maintain the sense of community. They charge during the day via the sun, and will help to light the way for 8 hours each night," it said.
It is also working on several Geiger counters and Geiger tubes, from which it will make community sensors to help keep the public in harm's way informed every minute or every hour.
"While the initial exposure has been low, our concern is the long term effects, food and water supply, and ground soil conditions over the next several months," it said.
Longer-term projects include solar cell-phone charging stations, low energy cooking equipment, internet, wifi, and laptop loans, and other technical concerns.
Calling all hackers
Tokyo HackerSpace called on fellow hacker communities around the world to pitch in the effort.
"We are calling upon Hacker Spaces all over the world, and friends of Hacker Spaces, and friends of friends of Hacker Spaces, to help out," it said.
The group said it plans to release soon a list of critical equipment and supplies that it may have difficulty sourcing locally.
Despite its negative connotations in popular media, the term "hacker" covers a wide variety of oftentimes helpful and useful activities —particularly in reference to hobbyists and inventors who build custom equipment to suit their needs.
Groups like Tokyo Hackerspace are using such skills to help with relief efforts in Japan, including setting up a network of radiation monitors around the Fukushima power plant.
"The idea basically came from feeling helpless," said "Akiba," a hacker with Tokyo Hackerspace who helped head the project, in an article posted in PC World magazine.
Networked Geiger counters
According to PC World, the project started as an alternative to the government's efforts to collect and distribute radiation information.
With no Geiger counters immediately available in the first week after the quake, the group made an online call for —and quickly acquired— the needed gadgets.
The next step was to convert the Geiger counters' analog output into digital data that could be uploaded on the Internet.
"I wanted to put the other geiger counter up publicly and as quickly as possible to share the data with others in Tokyo. Unfortunately, the geiger counters are completely analog and there was no way to pull data from it. So, being the nerd that I am, I proceeded to hack it into what I wanted. These are the project details of the process of converting a cold-war era, analog geiger counter into a device that can digitally send data to Pachube, a public sensor feed aggregator," Akiba said in a blog post.
Solar lanterns
Tokyo HackerSpace also said that it has started to lay down plans for other projects, including 150 solar-powered LED lanterns.
"We will be assembling them here and shipping them up (or delivering by hand) to aid organizations. These lanterns provide just enough light so that people can feel safe at night without power, find their way in the dark, and maintain the sense of community. They charge during the day via the sun, and will help to light the way for 8 hours each night," it said.
It is also working on several Geiger counters and Geiger tubes, from which it will make community sensors to help keep the public in harm's way informed every minute or every hour.
"While the initial exposure has been low, our concern is the long term effects, food and water supply, and ground soil conditions over the next several months," it said.
Longer-term projects include solar cell-phone charging stations, low energy cooking equipment, internet, wifi, and laptop loans, and other technical concerns.
Calling all hackers
Tokyo HackerSpace called on fellow hacker communities around the world to pitch in the effort.
"We are calling upon Hacker Spaces all over the world, and friends of Hacker Spaces, and friends of friends of Hacker Spaces, to help out," it said.
The group said it plans to release soon a list of critical equipment and supplies that it may have difficulty sourcing locally.