The Philly Maker Faire Is Back And Wants Your Hacks

September 12, 2022 by Tom Nardi 4 Comments

After two years of waiting out the COVID-19 pandemic, the Philadelphia Maker Faire is officially back for 2022. The one-day event will take place on Saturday, the 15th of October, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm at the Independence Seaport Museum.

We don’t have a schedule or full list of what will be on display this far out, but given what we saw during our 2019 visit, we’re confident you’ll get your tickets worth. While we keenly felt the loss of the flagship Maker Faires in California and New York, we can take some solace in the fact that their absence has given these smaller Faires a chance to move in and grow in ways that might not have been possible before.

For those looking to take an active role in what’s often been called the “Greatest Show & Tell on Earth”, organizers will be accepting proposals until September 15th for individuals, groups, and companies that want to share their creations with attendees. Participation is free, so long as you aren’t trying to sell anything, and offers a fantastic way to show off those pandemic projects. That said, proposals aren’t limited to just hardware projects — artwork, live performances, and workshops will also be considered. Basically, if it’s something the STEAM crowd would be interested in checking out, consider it fair game.

If you can spare some time after seeing everything that will be on display at the Maker Faire, the Independence Seaport Museum itself sounds like a pretty fascinating place to check out. Beyond the exhibits and collection of maritime artifacts, the Seaport also offers the chance to take tours aboard a pair of unique vessels: the USS Olympia saw service in the Spanish–American and First World Wars, and USS Becuna is one of only eight surviving WWII Balao-class submarines currently available for public viewing.

Planning on attending the 2022 Philadelphia Maker Faire? Maybe even presenting? Let us know in the comments. Who knows, you might just run into a Hackaday writer in the wild and score yourself some coveted Wrencher stickers.

This Week’s Hack Chat Sets The Stage For Supercon

September 2, 2022 by Tom Nardi No comments

While the 2020 and 2021 Remoticons were a blast, we all know that virtual events are no substitute for in-person conferences. Which is why we’re so excited to once again invite the Hackaday community to converge on Pasadena in November for a weekend of talks, workshops, and hardware hacking for our sixth Supercon.

To help get the community prepared for the triumphant return of what we very humbly believe to be the greatest hardware hacking conference the world has ever seen, we invited Majenta Strongheart to this week’s Hack Chat to answer the community’s questions about this hotly anticipated event. There’s an incredible number of moving pieces involved in an event like Supercon, and as Head of Design and Partnerships at our parent company SupplyFrame, she’s integral to putting them all together right up until the doors open on November 4th.

The Chat kicked off with a general confirmation that yes, we did receive your talk and/or workshop proposal. It seems several people didn’t receive the intended confirmation message when they sent their information on, but Majenta assured everyone that all of the completed forms were received correctly and are currently under review. If you put in a proposal, you should be notified in the next few weeks about whether or not it was accepted.

With that out of the way, the next big question was the one that so many of you have been wondering: what does the Hackaday Supercon look like in the era of COVID? The truth is, things are still evolving and it’s hard to be sure of anything with two more months to go. But Majenta did confirm that the decision has been made to limit ticket sales compared to previous years so that attendees have a bit more breathing room — literally and figuratively. In addition many of the planned events will be held outdoors, and the talks will be streamed live for anyone who’d rather not sit in the audience.

Majenta also took this opportunity to let everyone know that the volunteer application form for Supercon will be available very soon, and that as usual, those who are willing to help out will get a free ticket in exchange. Speaking of which, if you’d rather pay the gold price, General Admission tickets for the 2022 Supercon are currently on sale.

As you might imagine, Majenta has been exceptionally busy as of late, so we appreciate her taking the time to sit down with us and Chat. If you couldn’t make this live discussion about Supercon, don’t worry. You can send questions, ideas, or comments, to superconference@hackaday.io and we’ll see what we can do.

The Hack Chat is a weekly online chat session hosted by leading experts from all corners of the hardware hacking universe. It’s a great way for hackers connect in a fun and informal way, but if you can’t make it live, these overview posts as well as the transcripts posted to Hackaday.io make sure you don’t miss out.

Electromagnetic Field Drops 2022 Talk Videos

August 31, 2022 by Jenny List 4 Comments

Earlier this year we made the journey to a field in the West of England for the Electromagnetic Field hacker camp. It was the usual few days of fun in the open air, but due to a few technical difficulties we were unable to point you to any of the talks. We’re happy to note that now the dust has settled they are uploading talks, and there are a decent number up on YouTube with more to come.

Paging through the talks uploaded so far, and there’s plenty to get your teeth into. We’ll start with a couple that should be viewed as a pair, [Robin Wilson] on UK railway signalling, and [Anthony Williams] giving us a crash course in railway safety, and then while we’re on a railway theme continue to [Hugh Wells] on hacking the train ticket system. Those first two amply demonstrate the best in our community, in that here are professionals sharing knowledge with us we’d never hear without working in that field.

Another esoteric talk that’s typical of a hacker camp schedule and which should be of interest to anyone who has wrestled with time synchronization comes from [John Dalziel], who gives us a brief history of time zones and daylight saving time. A talk that had me riveted during a train journey though came from [Cybergibbons], who describes penetration testing at a cruise ship scale.

These are just a few of the ones uploaded thus far, and as this is being written there are more appearing. So keep checking and you’ll see some really good ones. Meanwhile, have a read of our report from the event.

Maiden Kansas City Keyboard Meetup Was A Clacking Good Time

August 30, 2022 by Kristina Panos 10 Comments

Wow! I can’t believe it already came and went — but the first annual (semi-annual?) Kansas City Keyboard Meetup was, in my opinion, a rousing success. And I think organizer and Discord-nominated god among men [Ricardo] agrees with me. (He does; I checked before we left the venue.)

First of all, the attendance was off the charts, perhaps thanks in part to our announcement last week. We aim to get you the news sooner next time, in case you want to come in from surrounding states and municipalities. RSVPs sat around 20-something, and then shot up to 60 or so in the days leading up. Fortunately, there were enough tiny sandwiches, granola bars, and s t i c k e r s to go around. I already put mine on my keebin’ toolbox.

The Hive Was Buzzing

The event took place at Hive Co-Working thanks to [Nick], and overall, the space turned out to be a good layout. We were set up right inside the windows looking out to the street, and I like to think that we drew in a few passers-by, though I am probably more than a little bit biased. I wondered aloud on the way home how a sandwich board out on the sidewalk would have affected the influx of randos.

My husband pointed out that even though we were all the way downtown, this is Kansas City and not New York City, and most of the keyboard enthusiasts about town were already accounted for. Hmpf. I still say we should try a sandwich board next time. We could go meta and mention the tiny sandwiches inside. Don’t worry — there was plenty of sanitizer and napkins to go around, plus a box of gloves.

Continue reading “Maiden Kansas City Keyboard Meetup Was A Clacking Good Time” →

2022 Hackaday Supercon: Call For Proposals Extended

August 23, 2022 by Elliot Williams 5 Comments

Good news, procrastinators and those of you who simply have not yet worked up the nerve to submit! The 2022 Hackaday Supercon Call for Proposals has been extended one more week. You’ve been waiting until the last minute? Well, it’s now one minute past the last minute, but we’ve got your back. You have until Thurs, Sep. 1 to get your talk or workshop proposal in. (We’re not extending it twice!)

Everyone has a good story to share. Whether it’s a tale of software or hardware, or that tricky “firmware” that falls somewhere in the middle, we have a crowd who would love to hear it. You almost never leave a project as the same person who entered it, and you should tell us your story. We have two talk tracks, one for shorter talks and demos of around 20 minutes, and one for epic sagas of 45 minutes or so. Whether you’re a first-time presenter or a seasoned pro, we’d like to hear about your hacks.

To sweeten the pot, all presenters get in free. So what are you waiting for? Send in your ideas now – you’ve got a couple months to get the slides into shape.

2022 Hackaday Supercon Tickets On Sale Now

August 15, 2022 by Elliot Williams 15 Comments

Did I tell you about the time that [Spetku] turned the schwag bottle into a Jacob’s Ladder?

Supercon Tickets go on sale right now! And the true-believer tickets usually sell out fast, so if you’re as excited about the thought of a real-life Supercon as we are, get yours now for a healthy discount.

We might be biased, but Supercon is our favorite conference of the year. Smaller than most and hardware-focused, you really can’t beat the signal/noise ratio of the crowd in attendance and the talks on the stage. People bring their projects, their great ideas, and their big dreams with them. And we have a cool badge to boot. It’s Hackaday, but in real life. And you should join us!

The conference starts on Friday Nov. 4th with registration, a mellow afternoon of badge-hacking, and a party to kick things off right. Saturday and Sunday are the main show, with a hacker village in the alley, workshops aplenty, and of course all of the talks. It’s only a weekend, but it’s one you’ll keep going back to in your mind for the whole year.

The Nitty Gritty Details

One hundred (100) True-believer Tickets are on sale now for $128 apiece, or until Aug. 29th. We call them True-believer Tickets because we haven’t even finished the call for proposals yet, much less selected the talks, but trust us, it’s going to be a good slate. (In past years, the True-believer tickets have sold out in as little as a day, so don’t sleep on this!) After that, regular admission is $256.

Of course, there’s always a back door if you want to sneak in for free. In our opinion, the coolest way to attend a conference is to give a talk, and you’ll get a complimentary ticket to boot! And even if you don’t get selected, we’ll give everyone who submits a serious talk proposal a ticket at the discounted price, so don’t hesitate. Volunteers also get in free, and we’ll be putting out the call on Aug 29th.

No matter how you get yourself a ticket, get one, and get to Supercon. We’re excited to see you in person again!

What Goes Into A Hacker Camp

August 10, 2022 by Jenny List 10 Comments

Long-time readers of Hackaday will know that we attend quite a few events, including summer hacker camps. Here in Europe this year there are two large events, the British Electromagnetic Field, and the Dutch MCH, or May Contain Hackers. These events are put together by volunteers from within the community, and as part of the MCH setup I noticed they needed drivers for their off-site logistics. I have a licence to drive medium-sized trucks in Europe so it seemed like a perfect fit. I traveled early on the first set-up day to the Dutch city of Utrecht, and found myself behind the wheel of a large Volkswagen box van. My brief career as a trucker had begun!

An Empty Field Of Dreams

A field with a few tents and a blue sky — The tents stand in isolation at the end of day one.

The Netherlands is a relatively small country and the MCH site at Zeewolde is roughly in its centre, so while the traffic could be heavy the distances weren’t large by American or even British standards. There were however a wide variety of loads waiting for me and my fellow driver, and a few obstacles such as the hottest days of the year and angry Dutch farmers blockading the roads. If you’re interested in the logistics behind a large hacker camp then our journeys provided an insight that maybe wandering around the field doesn’t quite deliver.

Arriving on site on the first day gives a perspective on how much of the infrastructure comes from specialist contractors and thus isn’t delivered by the hackers. Articulated trucks from the marquee company were disgorging the main tents, with their crews expertly assembling them in record time. The toilets and showers were arriving as self-contained hook lift container units, and yet more contractors were delivering fencing or tables and chairs. I can add the power infrastructure to this list, but due I’m told to delays at another event this wasn’t on site on the first day. Continue reading “What Goes Into A Hacker Camp” →