Hacker cartoonist Ed Piskor has created custom QSL cards for The Next HOPE. The weekend of July 16-18, if we establish radio contact with you, from HOPE, you will be getting one of these in the mail.

Read the full story and see the art development process here: http://www.wizzywigcomics.com/?p=162

With The Next HOPE less than a week away, it’s great to look back at The Last HOPE and the data that was collected during it. This article will explore what was released to the public and some of the cool data mining that is possible with this data.

Getting the data:

To start we can obtain this data from the Crawdad wireless dataset project. The Last HOPE data can be found at http://crawdad.org/meta.php?name=hope/amd

In browsing the dataset we will concentrate on different files as we need to relate users in different ways. As this data is heavily normalized, we will usually need two or three files to get at the relationships we are interested in.

Some of the more interesting csv files are:

• creation.csv – This file records when a user created an account, and which registration code they used.
• person.csv – This is the profile record. It contains the user’s handle, their stated age, gender, location, cell provider, etc. None of this data is verified or validated. This is data is useful for labeling and getting beyond user ids. Many of these handles are designed to be recognized. Mining forums for these handles could tell us more about the user.
• ping.csv – This file records everybody that pinged somebody else and when they did it. Think of this like Facebook’s “poke” feature.
• position_snapshot.csv – This file records what zone each user is twice a minute.
• talk_presense.csv – This file joins user locations with where talks were being held to infer which talks a user attended. This can be further used with talks.csv to link users with talk descriptions and interests associated with a talk.

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Check out http://sunnythinking.org/blog/mining_thelasthope.html for the rest of this analysis.

The OpenAMD/Badge team has another exciting announcement:  The Next HOPE iPhone App is now available for download and it’s totally FREE! 

Just like the Android App released last week, this app contains the whole schedule, which we’ll continually update before and during the conference.  The app also has full details on each talk, a favorites feature to mark the talks you want to attend, full search capabilities and a gateway for sending out vital information to attendees!

Please test it out and leave a comment in the forums to let the badge team know what you think!  Good feedback in the iTunes app store doesn’t hurt either.

For those of you without iPhones or Androids, longtime 2600 contributor Cheshire Catalyst has put together a .mobi site at http://thenexthope.mobi

If these efforts inspire a need for last minute coding, check out the public API for the conference badge.

Now is also a good time to remind you that pre-registering is the only way to guarantee getting a hackable badge of your own.  Supplies are very limited, and we’ll be closing pre-registration on Sunday, July 11.  So pre-register now, save $15 and be sure to get the best badge to hit a con yet!

As we get closer to the event, be sure to stay tuned here and via @thenexthope on Twitter.

Love them or hate them, they’re back!

In 2001 Dean Kamen introduced the secret project many were speculating would change the world. Some were underwhelmed, but the Segway Human Transporter is undoubtedly an impressive feat of engineering that intrigues hackers. Since 2006, HOPE has made Segways freely available for hackers to ride, play with, and figure out.

Servo drive electric motors, phosphate-based lithium-ion batteries, dual computers, two tilt sensors, five gyroscopes, and a navigation control system that uncannily seems to read your mind all makes this unique transportation machine worth trying out. You won’t have to shell out $5000 to ride one for free at The Next HOPE. These things are addictive, and quite safe. Instructors are available for the timid. Check out the Segways on the Mezzanine behind the Info Desk for an experience you’ll never forget.

The LOST FILM FEST hosted by vj Scott Beibin is seditiously delicious & chock full of subversive fun. It’s a live stage show that tours the globe weaving situationist storytelling and short video clips. Audiences witness a revolutionary multimedia defenestration, cleverly smashing the illusions cast by Hollywood, the Pentagon, and Wall Street. The secret sauce of the Lost Film Fest is that Beibin travels the planet sourcing new material from his extensive global network of independent mediamaking operatives. As a result LFF audiences are usually the first to see new clips revealed, way before they become internet memes or go to festivals.

The Lost Film Fest will be in the Video Temple on the Expo Floor on Saturday afternoon. Look for an event schedule poster near the Video Temple space or check lostfilmfest.org for exact showtimes.

Continue Reading…

The OpenAMD/Badge team is proud to announce that the Next HOPE mobile app is now available in the Android Market!

The Android app has the full schedule available now, and we’ll be pushing out live updates during the conference.  Please test it out and leave a comment to let the badge team know what you think!

If you’re wondering about all the fuss with badge itself, you can view the teaser video on OpenAMD.  If you want to get a head start on developing software to be used on the system at the conference, download the public API.  We’ll be posting more information on cool apps on the blog before and during the conference.

If you’re a hardware hacker, don’t forget about the Badge Hacking workshop taking place during the conference.

The only way to guarantee that you’ll get the cool hackable badge is by pre-registering.  Supplies are very limited, and at the present rate, it looks unlikely we will have badges for attendees purchasing their ticket at the door.  So pre-register now, save $15 and get the awesome hackable badge!

And don’t worry iPhone users, we have an iPhone app that’s currently in the approval process as well.  We’ll post more news on that as soon as we have it!

Stay tuned here and via @thenexthope on Twitter.

The Prometheus Radio Project, in collaboration with Hive 76, will host a hands-on electronics workshop for HOPE attendees to build their own low-power FM radio transmitter on Sunday July 18th at Noon in the Hardware Hacking Village.

This simple FM transmitter design by Tetsuo Kogawa uses only 14 components, so in just a couple of hours you can seize the public airwaves! This is a great introduction to RF circuits. Beginners welcome! Everyone can have their own radio station!

Also, on Saturday at 4pm check out the Prometheus Radio Project’s panel discussion about building LPFM community radio stations around the country and around the world.

Are you curious about how locks work and how to open them without keys? Maybe you’re an experienced lockpicker and want to show off your skills? Stop by the Lockpick Village to learn, practice, or show off!

The Lockpick Village is a fun physical security demo and workshop area run by The Open Organisation Of Lockpickers (TOOOL) and Locksport International. Workshops and talks will be held throughout the conference covering topics for novices and experts alike. Learn about the history of mechanical locks, experiment with exotic lock designs, test your skills against your friends, and compete head to head in a multitude of exciting contests! Plus meet some very interesting people.

TOOOL, Locksport International, and other community members will be on hand with numerous trial locks, picks, shims, and other devices. By exploring the construction and flaws of mechanical locks, you can learn how to apply your hacker mindset to manipulate them open in non-destructive ways, or even how to build better locks. Fun for hackers, tinkerers, and professionals alike, The Lockpick Village is the place to gain a stronger understanding about the role locks play in our physical security today, and learn how to improve your own security.

Here is a Lockpick Village video from Hope Number 6, back in 2006:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAwYjKuOolM

Stop by The Lockpick Village to check out the workshop schedule and contest times!

! Saturday July 17th Only !

MARCH (Mid-Atlantic Retro Computing Hobbyists) will demonstrate several working examples of computers important to hacker culture, from an Altair 8800 to the ZX-80 from Clive Sinclair, and many in between. There will be at least one actual minicomputer and the world’s first smartphone will be on display.

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There will be a Badge-Hacking Workshop on Sunday at 3pm in the Hardware Hacking Village on the Expo Floor.

The Next HOPE’s electronic admission badge and the new and improved Open Attendee Meta-Data system are the result of a year’s US collaboration on top of several years of CCC work among dedicated hardware/software hackers to develop an amazing wearable RFID-based tool for you to explore the possibilities of new human tracking technology. It’s about more than just others knowing where you are—it’s about tracking your social interactivity. Powerful stuff in the hands of governments and corporations, but at HOPE it represents opportunities for learning and fun as well! At this hands-on workshop you’ll learn fundamentals of RFID technology, how it can be used and abused, and gain insights on what it means to us and privacy in our society.

Travis Goodspeed’s (no experience required) badge-hacking workshop will help you modify your HOPE badge with a USB port to connect it to your laptop for use as a wireless computer and badge network adapter. You’ll then make firmware modifications to install apps like wireless games, packet sniffers, Morse code beacons, radio jammers and more. Fifty hardware kits will be available for these workshops for a nominal fee (first come, first served) courtesy of Mitch Altman’s Cornfield Electronics. A second, advanced workshop will be offered Sunday for a limited few who want to reverse-engineer the firmware and learn cryptographic key extraction techniques. RSVP to travis@tnbelt.com to save your spot.

Related information:
OpenAMD Panel – Friday at 6:00pm in Lovelace
Badge-Hacking Seminar – Saturday at 10:00pm in Tesla