Daniel James

Team Culturing Information

WHO are you?

• Name - Daniel James
• Location (city, country) - Stratford
• Contact Information (email, skype, phone) - danthesane (at) gmail (dot) com
• Picture - http://i.imgur.com/SgDSO.jpg
• Introductory Video -
• Resume/CV -

WHY are you motivated to support/develop this work?

• Do you endorse open source culture?

Like many, I believe the free sharing of ideas and technologies will lead us further down the path of advancement as a society and as a species. Further, I think that if we are to move past our current economic situation, we have to build a critical mass of awareness regarding possible alternatives - many of which, like OSE, are just coming into practicality.

• Why are you interested in collaborating with us?

The work of Open Source Ecology and the GVCS runs parallel to my own natural lines of thinking from an engineering standpoint. I want to help abolish the power that centralized industry and manufactured scarcity holds over the masses, in a way that will render it obsolete forever.

• How do you think that the GVCS can address pressing world issues?

I think that the GVCS's impact will be manifold, and not necessarily immediately obvious - Of course it will provide us with the ability to bootstrap technology in bare, remote places, which is laudable. But it also attacks that rarely-tackled problem of advancing the first world's relationship with its technology as well. The decentralization of industry is the natural next step in our engineering evolution, but it's a step that our industrial complex is not taking easily. Instead it continues to perpetuate itself at the expense of the people and planet that it purports to serve.

The GVCS carries the inherent potential to cause factories to slowly be abandoned, being replaced NOT by the starvation and death that our society associates with loss of employment, but with healthy communities fully able to produce whatever they need for themselves. With the GVCS's focus on eco-friendly techniques & technologies, fewer and fewer poisons will be released onto the earth.

• What should happen so that you become more involved with the project?

I'm working on a business venture that if successful will help fund the creation of some GVCS machines and a trip to Factor e Farm.

• What is missing in the project?

The only thing I see missing is technology to produce silicon, ICs & related components, as well as the utter failure to address the issue of textiles.

• What are your suggestions for improvement of the project?

I believe that the 50 GVCS machines are an excellent foundation, but that there will need to be an entire surrounding cloud of open source machines to make full use of them... Machines like looms, chemical synthesizers, magnetizers, biofuel reactors, steel cable braiders, etc.

I think the 50 GVCS machines should be completed first, of course, but I'm wondering if the scope of these surrounding technologies isn't so large that it should be given its own project title.

WHAT are your skills?

• List all of your skills in these areas: Communications - Organizational - Computer Support - Finances - Design - Natural Building - Electronics - Automation - Metallurgy - Engineering - Fabrication - Agriculture - Energy - Architecture - Video/Graphics/Art - PR/Marketing - Education - Construction - Industry - CNC - Chemistry - Product Design - Other

Computer Support - Experience in web development, general Windows maintenance, and a lifetime enthusiasm for PCs. No stranger to research.

Electronics - Basic soldering skills, hobbyist level electronics experience. Have worked with Arduinos previously.

Natural Building - I have a longtime interest in natural building, including underground wooden homes, Earthships, earthbag construction, etc, and would be willing to contribute labor to natural building projects.

Fabrication - I have hobbyist level fabrication experience on an 7x12 mini lathe that I own, as well as minimal experience casting aluminum from a homemade blast furnace. I can turn out an accurate part, given time.

• How have you already contributed to the project?

So far I've just been poking about the wiki, making minor spelling & grammar improvements. I'm currently scouring a volume on manufacturing processes for pertinent information I can add to the wiki regarding current metalworking methods as well as those not yet covered, such as broaching.

HOW can you help?

• How are you interested in contributing to the work of GVCS development?

As well as spreading the word about OSE everywhere I go, I will contribute promising information on the wiki. Once I have finances better in place, I will be interested in replicating machinery (in Connecticut) and seeing what I can do to help down at Factor E Farm.

• Can you volunteer to work with us, and if so, how many hours per week?

If I can afford it, I would be willing to work full time on OSE projects and contributions.

• Are you interested in working with us for pay? If so, what services can you offer, and what is your hourly or per-project rate?

I would be interested, I can perform basic lathe work as well as metal casting and some welding. Really though, my skills are at apprentice level at BEST and I would need a good amount of "work-in" time to get to any sort of production level. As such I couldn't say more than $10/hr.

• Are you interested in a Dedicated Project Visit?

I would be interested, pending a visit to the community, and dependent of course on finances.

• Are you interested in purchasing equipment from us to help bootstrap development?

• Are you interested in bidding for consulting/design/prototyping work?

• Are you a True Fan? If not, why not?

No, although if I had more than $3 in my bank account this week, I would be.

• Would you like to see yourself working with us on a full-time basis?

The idea is attractive.

• Are you interested in being part of the world's first, open source, resilient community? The GVCS is the preparatory step for the OSE Village Experiment – a 2 year, immersion experiment (2013-2014) for testing whether a real, thriving, modern-day prototype community of 200 people can be built on 200 acres using local resources and open access to information? We are looking for approximately 200 people to fill a diverse array of roles, according to the Social Contract that is being developed. This may be the boldest social experiment on earth - a pioneering community whose goal is to extend the index of possibilities regarding harmonious existence of humans, ecology, and technology.

I would be interested in the idea, but would have to decide based on the reality.