Our summer gatherings at hacker camps are fleeting and ephemeral, anticipated for months but over far too quickly. Afterwards we have only our memories, and perhaps the occasional Hackaday write-up. We think BornHack 2020 in Denmark was the only hacker camp that wasn’t forced to go online-only by the pandemic last year, and now as far as we know it has also become the only one ever that has left its mark for the wider world by being captured for posterity by Google Earth.
Visible in the forest is the sparsely populated and socially distanced main field of what was a considerably smaller camp than normal, as well as in separate clearings the speakers tent and the loud field. Perhaps it doesn’t help as much in explaining to outsiders what a hacker camp is as might a picture of one of the larger ones, but it does at least serve as a visible reminder that we weren’t quite snuffed out last year.
It’s a moment of nostalgia to see BornHack 2020 on Google Maps for those of us who were there, but perhaps the point of all this is to take a moment to consider the likely prospects for similar events in 2021 given the pandemic. Both the British EMF Camp and American Toorcamp had to cancel their events last year and should return in 2022, there’s no word as yet about 2021 from the Serbian BalCCon or the Italian IHC, our latest update on Luxembourg’s HaxoGreen is that it’s still slated to go ahead with its move to 2021, and currently both BornHack and the Dutch MCH are expecting to run as normal this summer.
In the grip of a savage third wave of the pandemic where this is being written, it’s by no means a foregone conclusion that 2020’s cancellations may not repeat themselves. International borders remain difficult to cross without exacting quarantine requirements. If you make it to a camp this year you may be one of the lucky few, and in the increasingly likely event that we don’t, we’ll be suitably envious. Don’t loose hope, we shall all meet again… eventually.
If you fancy a closer look at BornHack 2020, have a read of our write-up.
IDK if they still do them but for over 15 years I’ve wanted to attend a CCC camp. It always seemed to be so fun when I would read about them afterwards.
It is fun and they still do them, next CCC will probably be 2023 (every 4th year) but this year we hope for MCH.
I can see my tent from here!
Same here :)
MCH: prepare your vaccination passport :-)
That’s nothing… I can even see your tent from *here*!
And mine, too. 😄
Flemming: That’s nothing… I can even see your tent from *here*!
And mine, too. 😄
Sadly I couldn’t find myself. I was probably in a hammock somewhere.
If you can see my tent, I’ll be upset!
It is in its carrying case, hanging in my garage!
B^)
So much for being able to code without Google!
You cannot escape 1984.
Hardly the first, though arguably it doesn’t count when you’re leaving little spots in the camera sensor
https://hackaday.com/2012/08/16/toorcamp-hackerbot-labs-giant-faa-approved-laser/
i’m waitinf for first offgrid , and offnet camp
LORA + digital transmision of mastodon, meybe wideo
I had a similar idea for 12V.be, and off-grid camp. The problem is to avoid 4G covered areas.
Best memories of an off-grid camp was Estives Numeriques back in 2010 in the french Mercantour mountains.
ToorCamp 2014 was captured on Google maps years ago.
Unfortunately its since been updated with newer imagery.
Didn’t / doesn’t google maps have the option of showing older images? Or was that google earth?
Pretty sure I’ve seen such a function.
I also remember that feature but can no longer find that option :(
Just checked in Google Earth Pro (desktop application) and the function is there.
> We think BornHack 2020 in Denmark was the only hacker camp that wasn’t forced to go online-only by the pandemic last year
is not correct, camp++ was also a physical event.
It wasn’t the only hacker camp “that wasn’t forced to go online-only by the pandemic last year” — Camp++ 0x7e4 happened as planned as an IRL event from 20 till 23 August 2020 in Komárom, Hungary with around 50 hackers from at least 3 countries: https://camp.hsbp.org/2020/pp7e4
VCFMW Had to go online only awks well
pandemic is BS … time will tell
They were not the first — Toorcamp 2012 was captured via Google Sat – Upper NW US near Neah Bay on Hobuck Beach. And the laser rocked.