Podcasting since 2004; Conversations, conflicts, adventures and monologues from around the world.
One of the world’s largest and most notoriously crazy open air hacker camps is underway here in Germany, and as luck would have it, I’m here too! I am after all, an information-news hacker. This vlog entry contains clips from my first three days here, free of comment, with music by Calexico to tie them all together.
It is quite a site. Could there possibly be any gathering in the world that looks like this place? Glorious lighting that I watched until the sun started to come up, tents and caravans everywhere. Bunkers and hangars, from military installations to centers for hacktivism and fun. While many of us may be lacking sleep for most of these next few days, at the very least we won’t miss many moments of what is such an enjoyable and unforgettable creation.
Many may remember my participation at the Chaos Communications Congress last December, and what a unique and exciting event it was. Well this August I’ll once again be speaking at a CCC event, this time at the world infamous Chaos Communications Camp.
Whereas my previous talk was all about this thing I call podcast journalism and my theories surrounding it; this time it will have less to do with me and more to do with a special group of rebellious communicators. My talk is entitled “Rebellious Communication and the Federal Flood”; focusing on the work of New Orleans based or focused bloggers as watchdogs and reporters in the process of hurricane recovery.
I plan to spread the word about the work of great activists and concerned citizens who are using the internet to expose corruption, scrutinize badly laid plans, and ask the questions the traditional media are not. I’ll surely use some examples from my own experiences and reports from NOLA.
Unfortunately this year, despite being a speaker, neither my transport nor my entrance fee are covered. This means I shall seek the cheapest possible means to get to the former soviet military base and put myself into extreme poverty just to participate. Why? Because this camp is something rare and not to be missed in this life… who knows if Ill ever have another chance.
At least 4,000 people have gathered here in Berlin at what is often referred to as a HACKERS conference. If one walks around and strikes up conversation, many different types of people with assorted interests can be found. Yet this annual event, which is so unique in the world, goes under reported or badly reported by the major media in various countries. This report I recorded throughout the second day of this four day conference. It includes many fun and wise personalities which you may just recognize. Below you’ll find links for many of them. (not all.. Ive got to get some sleep.)
Nicole Simon
Atul Chitnis
Anders Pollas
Rop Gongrijp
Tim Pritlove
They actually didn’t cover the insanity part, but that just comes automatic.
I’ve never seen so many laptops in my life.
As one strolls the outside-conference environment, you may encounter the many different collectives of the Chaos Communication Congress. In this corner, with laptop and internet cable strewn everywhere, it’s the mesh network kids. Over there, below the wikimedia banner, a bunch of people are allegedly working for wikipedia. (maybe they can un-ban me, those bastards) Down the hall, its the Deck phone guys who do cool shit with phones. I can’t even get into the lockpickers, lego-robotics, RFID mapping, and solar robot creating corners. It’s all just too much. I get tired very quickly as the senses are overloaded with this creative energy that bursts from every corner.
If you come to a hacker conference.. one thing not to forget.. which I just happen to have… ethernet cable. Its important. Take that bit of wisdom with you, free-o-charge.
As the evening wound down, after a whole day of god knows what, I found myself in this room, (photo taken yesterday, tonight it was bustling with people), sitting next to Rop who just slammed home a presentation on the Dutch voting computer battle (which I covered in my podcast way back when), drinking ze beers with Catarina.. who taught me all kinds of hacker history and general communication factoids this evening. She also awarded me with a rare PRess Pass… yehaw.
All this is my excuse for not doing a podcast or a vlog tonight. Too much to tell.. too much to do.. and the night is almost over… so I’ll get on it tomorrow, at some point.
I’ve said it alot lately, but this conference is one of those things in life.. not to be missed and not likely to be forgotten.