HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF • Hacker News Board

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#151

Post by archagon » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 2:43 AM UTC

phinkle wrote: post #112

I really hope that some day there is an all female or at least half female hacker house. I really like the idea of a hacker house and love being around smart tech people but some guys don't know how to act around women (I'm sorry but there are guys like that out there and many of them are hackers). It is even worse if you are one of the only single woman in a close community. I've heard from male friends that live in…

As a guy, I'd love to live in a 50:50 gender ratio house with smart, creative folks. Had that experience in college living in the student cooperatives; was a great time, with lots of creative energy and many lifelong friendships formed. Would be great to do it again as an adult. Living together in a cozy house with 10-40 other people sure beats lounging around in a dank apartment by your lonesome self.

I agree that the gender split is very important, as it fundamentally changes the feel of the environment. I wouldn't want to live in a house with mostly guys, I don't think.

It makes me happy that the other replies point to these kinds of houses existing, but I kind of feel like I'm not "hacker" enough to look for a place like this yet. (Only one tiny project finished & for sale, no startups or anything to my name. Also, I'm hella lazy with my projects! Not sure how much this matters to these hackerhouses, but, well, they have "hacker" in the name, so...)

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#152

Post by natural219 » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 2:44 AM UTC

phinkle wrote: post #141

natural219 wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My experience has actually been the opposite! Most hacker houses I've lived in have been run by women and seem especially friendly and welcoming to women residents.

That's really awesome! Maybe I am looking at the wrong hacker houses. Which ones did you stay in?

I don't want to give away all my secret spaces :). Feel free to email me (email's in profile).

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#153

Post by jsprogrammer » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 2:46 AM UTC

phinkle wrote: post #112

I really hope that some day there is an all female or at least half female hacker house. I really like the idea of a hacker house and love being around smart tech people but some guys don't know how to act around women (I'm sorry but there are guys like that out there and many of them are hackers). It is even worse if you are one of the only single woman in a close community. I've heard from male friends that live in…

>some guys don't know how to act around women (I'm sorry but there are guys like that out there and many of them are hackers)

How is a guy supposed to act around women? And why would they need to act differently around women than around men?

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#154

Post by bittercynic » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 2:48 AM UTC

jsprogrammer wrote: post #153

phinkle wrote: post #112

I really hope that some day there is an all female or at least half female hacker house. I really like the idea of a hacker house and love being around smart tech people but some guys don't know how to act around women (I'm sorry but there are guys like that out there and many of them are hackers). It is even worse if you are one of the only single woman in a close community. I've heard from male friends that live in…

>some guys don't know how to act around women (I'm sorry but there are guys like that out there and many of them are hackers) How is a guy supposed to act around women? And why would they need to act differently around women than around men?

In many cases the problem is that the guy acts _too_ differently towards women than men.

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#155

Post by hagan_das » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 3:45 AM UTC

gtirloni wrote: post #110

I wouldn't be comfortable staying in a house with strangers when I'm already stressed out for being away from home and worrying about days full of difficult interviews. I think the social pressure would crush me and I'd rather stay in a hotel and take time to recharge. It looks like a nice idea for extroverts though.

I had the same reaction. If I'm going to be in interviews (however informal) all day for multiple days I'd need to lock myself away in the evening to recharge. I get the impression dinner, drinks, hanging out in the evening would be a part of this as well.

Interesting idea otherwise. Never been to San Francisco/SV and would love to get a taste of what the environment is like there. Maybe an AirBnB for a few days in a hacker house?

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#156

Post by sethrin » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 5:01 AM UTC

indlebe wrote: post #146

lohengramm wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that people will look down on my comment without arguing just because of political correctness, but if women expect to have the same rights and duties of men, then they should get used to be treated the same way. This might not be the case, but your comment make it look like you think that women should be treated some way differently because of no obvious reason.

>get used to being treated the same way. Can you elaborate on this? IMHO women should be treated equally when it makes moral sense. I.e. women's bathrooms need to be larger because of the various things they need to do in there, not just societal norm things but things like changing tampons, pads. The menstrual cycle also affects productivity and is essentially a reoccurring medical issue that needs regular treatment…

Why do separate bathrooms need to be a thing? Many/most homes don't bother.

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#157

Post by aswanson » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 5:45 AM UTC

The culture of SV is so much better now than when it was dominated by old-school stodgy hardware companies. Its so much more open-minded and pay-it-forward oriented with initiatives like this. Long live this spirit of innovation.

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#158

Post by rattray » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 5:46 AM UTC

mgraczyk wrote: post #149

phinkle wrote: post #112

I really hope that some day there is an all female or at least half female hacker house. I really like the idea of a hacker house and love being around smart tech people but some guys don't know how to act around women (I'm sorry but there are guys like that out there and many of them are hackers). It is even worse if you are one of the only single woman in a close community. I've heard from male friends that live in…

I've been living in a hacker house in Palo Alto for ~5 months now. There has been at least one female resident the entire time I've been there. None have ever complained about the messiness or behavior of the male inhabitants. On the contrary, we all get along well and if anything the woman have been more tolerant than average of others' messes and disorganization (probably just a coincidence). In talking with my roo…

Your anecdote is helpful, but it's worth keeping in mind that just because "None has ever complained" doesn't mean that they didn't experience problems. Hopefully, they didn't; but they may have, and simply felt uncomfortable bringing them up.

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#159

Post by nnd » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 6:08 AM UTC

joeyspn wrote: post #116

This should be done in a bigger way, with founders and startuppers offering their couch like people do in www.couchsurfing.com... It would be more than awesome

There used to be Startup Stay [] Not sure what happened to it.

http://venturebeat.com/2012/08/09/startup-stay-lets-you-cras...

Re: HackerSurfing: Free Housing and Food for Engineers Visiting SF

#160

Post by lohengramm » Thu, Jan 29, 2015, 6:27 AM UTC

indlebe wrote: post #146

lohengramm wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I know that people will look down on my comment without arguing just because of political correctness, but if women expect to have the same rights and duties of men, then they should get used to be treated the same way. This might not be the case, but your comment make it look like you think that women should be treated some way differently because of no obvious reason.

>get used to being treated the same way. Can you elaborate on this? IMHO women should be treated equally when it makes moral sense. I.e. women's bathrooms need to be larger because of the various things they need to do in there, not just societal norm things but things like changing tampons, pads. The menstrual cycle also affects productivity and is essentially a reoccurring medical issue that needs regular treatment…

I believe that we could also write papers about how average the woman reacts to men that don't fit societal stereotypes. This is not a women's issue at all and I don't see the relevance of it in this discussion.

The whole point is the original claim that men don't know how to act around women, as if there was some special way of dealing with women that makes them inherently different from men in a way that could go against the expectations of modern gender equality politics.