What the Hack !!!
p2pnet.net News Feature:- “There are hundreds of tents on the hot and soggy campground, but this isn’t your ordinary summertime outing, considering that it includes workshops with such titles as ‘Politics of Psychedelic Research’ or ‘Fun and Mayhem with RFID’.”
It’s the staging of this year’s three-day ‘What The Hack’ convention, a self-styled computer-security conference dealing such issues as digital passports, biometrics and cryptography,” continues the Associated Press.
Held every four years in The Netherlands, it draws an “international array of experts and geeks” with about 3,000 at yesterday’s opening and, “Even the local police officers assigned to monitor ‘What the Hack’ are being included in the event,” says AP.
“Officers are holding daily workshops to educate the public about how they go about securing events like these.”
Some lectures and workshops “might reinforce the convention’s shady reputation, such as the talk about mayhem with RFID, which stands for radio frequency identification tags,” says the story, but, “other seminars appeared wholesome enough, such as the workshop on how to make homes more energy efficient or how activists can lobby governments more effectively”.
However, “in line with its anarchic reputation, organizers have made a parody of their own security arrangements, asking attendees to screen their own belongings at an unmanned baggage scanner,” says AP. “Rubber gloves for a ‘do-it-yourself body cavity search’ are provided free of charge.
“Klaartje Bruyn, for example, is a sign-maker by day, but came to What the Hack for social, rather than professional reasons. Electronically arranging meetings with friends both real and virtual from the comfort of her hammock, she lauded how the festival could bring together so many far-flung yet like-minded people.
” ‘It’s like a blind date with 3,000 people,’ she said.”
AND IT AIN’T QUITE OVER YET : ) !!!!
If you’re in The Netherlands, or if you have easy access to it, there’s a lot going on. And naturally, there’s a Wikipedia page which’ll tell you everything you need to know.
For example, there’s the The Megabit Friday Night Dance Party.
And there’s Eric Blossom on “Can software radio help us build our own passive radar systems?”
If you’re at the Hack and feel like putting digits to keyboard, we’d be glad to publish the results. Just contact jon[at]p2pnet.net
The pic on the left is by Filipe, and there’s a ton more at the Wikipedia site.
Something you think we should know? tips[at]p2pnet.net
See:-
Associated Press – Geeks Meet at ‘What the Hack’ Conference, July 28, 2005
Wikipedia page – Welcome to What The Hack!
July 29th, 2005 at 8:00 pm
I’m going to have to split some hairs here. The “Wikipedia” links given don’t point to the encyclopedia, but to What The Hack’s own wiki.
The difference is this: “Wiki” is a general name for a type of web site where the content is contributed by the visitors. There are thousands of the things, some intended to cover all aspects of a movie series or TV show, others to go in detail about a particular hobby, etc. The Wikipedia
is by far the largest of all wikis, but just that one site among them all.
I’ll grant you that the Wikipedia and What The Hack’s wiki look much the same. They’re both based on the same kind of programs.
July 29th, 2005 at 8:45 pm
You’re right. I was trying to give them both a plug, but I should have made the difference clear.
Cheers!
July 30th, 2005 at 7:10 pm
too bad wbai didnt allow the live ‘off the hook’ broadcast.