[Hacklabs] Fwd: Japan in Crisis: Tokyo Hackerspace is helping out

[psy]

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To all the people on the good planet Earth, the crew of Tokyo
HackerSpace has a message that we would like to send to you:

By now, everyone knows of the crisis in northern Japan. It will still
be a few weeks before life is under control here. We are looking
forward to the day that the power plants are safe and the tremors have
subsided.

Many of our members have been cooped up in our homes waiting out the
storm, but not laying idle.

The Japanese government is doing the best that they can to manage the
crisis and help people who have lost loved ones, homes, utilities and
possessions.

Tokyo HackerSpace has already begun to lay plans for projects which we
feel can help the people of Japan, utilizing the best of our abilities
and resources.

Our first course of action has been to order up the required parts for
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.

We also have on the way several geiger counters and geiger tubes, from
which we will be making community sensors, in order to help to keep
the public in harms way informed on a minute by minute and hour by
hour basis. 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.

Or longer term projects include solar cell phone charging stations,
low energy cooking equipment, internet, wifi, and laptop loans, and
other technical concerns.

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.

Soon we will release a list of critical equipment and supplies which
we may have difficulty sourcing locally. If you have access to
anything on the list, please contact us to make shipping arrangements.
If not, please DO NOT ship us anything not on the list (In some cases,
it may be VERY specific). Items not on our list will only crowd our
space and waste your shipping money and time. If you have something
specific or unique you think we could use, feel free to send us an
email and inquire.

In the meantime, we ask that anyone who can, please donate to only
reputable charities. Or, if you prefer, you may donate directly to us,
and we will utilize it for the above mentioned projects, or give the
money directly to Japanese aid organizations known to be doing good
work in the area.

You can donate via Paypal to theTHSstore at gmail.com

Good night and good luck.

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