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.
As you can read below, I chose to blog from my mobile that I was on my way to Brussels. I very self-absorbed thing to do, admittedly.. then again so is blogging so ha.
But talk about practical; just as I’m crossing the NL-BE invisible border, Tim calls and says — I just read that you’re on the train to Brussels.. well Im about to get on the train from Berlin.. TO BRUSSELS. Et voila.. here I sit at some kind of tech conference for open source people.. Tim sits to my right chatting away about the Chaos Communications Camp to inquiring minds this summer.
My point is. Voila the power of blogging and new tech/communication devices. It may be quite simple and very first-world centric, but it is a great thing when you can write something and minutes later on one side of the world your mom knows where you are and on the other, a friend realizes he’s going to be in the same city as you for the weekend.
Or maybe you find none of this special. FINE. I give you a photo instead.
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