NYC Resistor

When you plug in, or join the wireless network at NYC Resistor, you are joining a very special network. We’re one of the first networks to join with Agora Link. The North American arm of a global Research network that is linking hackerspace’s internal networks together into one awesome collaborative mesh. We’re tied in with the ChaosVPN in Germany, and as of this past weekend we have 50 registered ( not necessarily active yet ) end points. Anyways, if you are interested in this sort of thing, you can read more about that here:

• Agora Link Homepage
• ChaosVPN Wiki
• Periodically updated network map

What does this get us? What’s the payoff? Well, we’re just starting to get to work on demonstrating that. First up on deck is a plan to host an international CTF competition using hackerspaces and other labs as the meeting points for teams. So look forward to more details on that in the near future. But, it won’t stop there. We’ve got a bunch of really great ideas that should be popping up over the next year.

I considered not writing this. I also considered posting a book review of one of the many books of Howard Ziinn’s that I’ve read. But ultimately, I think it’s right to call this guy a world class hacker of history. With his most famous work, A People’s History of the United States, he presented one of the most compelling alternative viewpoints on US history ever produced. His impact on high school and college students throughout the united states has been indelible. And, his passing earlier this week has left me truly saddened. And here’s why…
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First some credits on the video:

Alicia Gibbs: Camera Woman
Adam Mayer: Sound and Special Effects Engineer
Raphael Abrams: Hacker 2
Charles Pax: Hacker 1
Matt Joyce: Himself

Special thanks to Nick Farr, and NYCResistor for their continued support

www.hackersonaplane.info
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Canuck Hackers Hacking Aboot

You may remember Canadia as the red terror of the north. Whose imperialistic aspirations once lead them to invade the United States without any evidence or accusation of wrong doing. But today, I’m going to write not about the unbridled threat to our freedoms that these loyalists bring to the table… but about the awesome hack space that’s starting to really get rolling in Toronto. hacklab.to is housed in the kensington area of toronto above a bar. Seth Hardy and Leigh Honeywell have been working tirelessly for months to see this place get off the ground and from the looks of it they are very nearly close to success. I’m looking forward to seeing and hearing more from these guys. Especially if they start stock piling on siege weapons and molson ice for an impending invasion of the colonies.

Read more about them at their site: http://hacklab.to/

24th Chaos Communication Congress
December 27th to 30th, 2007
bcc Berliner Congress Center, Berlin, Germany

24C3 Link

I like Tetris; who doesn’t? The rules are simple, and it’s a good test of strategy and speed without eye hurting graphics. I’ve played it on a few Nintendo handhelds, my PC, and on Sony’s gaming consoles. The people over at MIKONTALOLIGHTS in Finland developed a platform to play it on a building by using the windows as light pixels and a cell phone as the controller. Check out the video (hosted on CollegeHumor):

It’s similar to a project from Blinkenlights and the CCC based in Germany. Their project also used a mobile phone to control lights (windows) on a building, except they were playing pong and uh, MIKONTALOLIGHTS used color. The Blinkenlights and CCC projects are still cool as they’ve done a lot of animated graphics on the side of a building. Check out their gallery if you haven’t already.