Villages at HOPE XV

VILLAGES

There are several Villages at HOPE XV. Each has its own wiki page. Most are in the Marillac Terrace. Check them out!


Please note that any materials needed to participate in hands-on portions of certain workshops that happen at a Village will be available at-cost. In all cases, observers are welcome for free. For details, visit the Workshop's wiki page.

Amateur Radio Station

Everyone is welcome to visit Special Event Station W2H, which plans to operate on several amateur radio bands during the HOPE XV conference, using various modes to freely communicate with hams around the globe - sans telecom infrastructure! If you're an amateur "ham" radio operator, you're part of a hacker community that goes back over a century. Bring your handie-talkie to QSO with the many hams at HOPE to keep up with what's happening.

As with past HOPES, a 70cm repeater is planned with input of 442.875 MHz (PL 167.9) and the output at 447.875 MHz. We also encourage simplex ops on 147.545 MHz and 433.545 MHz (PL 77.0).

Anarchist Hacker Village

A space for anarchists, abolitionists, anti-authoritarians, other like-minded folks, and friendly faces to meet and socialize. This is a space where hacking and technology are tools for total liberation. They will have freely available swag like zines and stickers, and possibly more things like tea. So please come by.

The Badge Clinic

If you own a HOPE electronic badge or other similar device, then celebrate by coming to The Badge Clinic with your stories, questions, and answers. Nurses at The Badge Clinic serve electronic therapy to hackers interested in badges. They encourage families and kids to become their most hacked patients.

The Badge Clinic is open for your exploration of modern and classic hacker-made wearable electronics. Their raison d'être includes answering questions about the 30th anniversary HOPE XV electronic badge, as well as other devices. Electronic devices resembling hacker badges or accessories (lanyard, simple addon, SAO, programming cable) can get therapy at The Badge Clinic. Nurses who have taken the Hackocratic Oath serve by assembling a museum of historical badges, showcasing devices that you bring to them, examining and surgically repairing badge problems, and advising hackers on electronic badge related topics.

The Badge Clinic will be hosting an ongoing workshop for all three days of HOPE XV, where everyone can come by and learn about (hack) their hackercon badges. Come by with your stories, questions, and answers! Nurses at The Badge Clinic serve electronic therapy to hackers interested in badges. They can surgically repair badge problems and advise on all hackercon electronic badge-related topics.

Calyx Mobile Privacy Village

The Calyx Institute's mission is to educate the public about privacy in digital communications and to develop tools that anyone can use to build "privacy by design" into their Internet access. By developing encryption and anonymity tools that can help users maintain their privacy, they hope to make online security easier and more accessible for everyone online.

They are a non-profit education and research organization devoted to studying; testing, developing, and implementing privacy technology and tools to promote free speech; free expression; civic engagement; and privacy rights on the Internet and in the mobile communications industry.

They believe that everyone deserves privacy and security online, regardless of their technological know-how. Many tools exist for encrypting online communications and keeping your data private. However, many people don't know that they need these tools or how to access them. The Calyx Institute will continue to develop these tools and educate the public on the best ways to use them, with the goal of making cybersecurity, privacy, and freedom of expression accessible to everyone. Through research and development, legal advocacy and defense, and by distributing information and open-source software as widely as possible for the benefit of the general public in both democratic and repressive contexts, they hope to build a more free and accessible Internet.

DevKitty Village

DevKitty is a cat-themed hacking platform created by Alex Lynd. They host frequent workshops at L.A. hackerspaces, and also pop up at conferences around the United States!

The DevKitty Village will offer hardware and hacking mini-classes throughout the day where attendees can learn at their own pace and ask questions about any of the proposed topics.

Their development kit, the DevKitty (formerly Nugget), is a cat-themed hacking companion you build yourself. They will give out free samples that attendees can solder themselves and use to follow along with the mini lessons on any of the three days!
They will offer a small soldering and repair area where they can work on projects, or build one of their kits. Levels will range from beginner to advanced; lessons will be offered asynchronously and at the attendee’s pace.

Escape Room Village

The SquadCon Escape Room Village promises to be an engaging and educational experience, blending the excitement of escape rooms with the serious pursuit of cybersecurity excellence. We invite all technology enthusiasts and professionals to join us in this unique event that not only challenges but also enhances your skills and professional network.

The DevKitty Village will offer hardware and hacking mini-classes throughout the day where attendees can learn at their own pace and ask questions about any of the proposed topics.

Hackerspaces Village

The Hackerspace Village is organized by some of New York City's local hackerspaces. They are all nonprofit and 100 percent volunteer-run.

This is the village to learn about upcoming workshops, meetups, and parties. Talk about hackerspace design patterns. Swap stories about projects and organization strategies in case you want to join a hackerspace or start your own!

Lockpick Village

A place to learn and practice lockpicking. As part of Lockpick Extreme, Christine Bachman and Bob Hermes have run lockpick villages for many public conferences including B-Sides SF, B-Sides Chicago, and the Diana Initiative. Here you will find the necessary materials, locks, picks, instructional aids, and knowledgeable instructors.

The Lockpick Village will be hosting an ongoing workshop for all three days of HOPE XV, where everyone can come by to learn and practice lockpicking. All of the necessary materials will be available for you to use, including locks, picks, and instructional aids. Knowledgeable instructors will give you an understanding of how locks work.

Physical Security Village

The Physical Security Village explores the world of door hardware bypasses and techniques generally outside of the realm of cybersecurity and lockpicking. Come learn some of these lock bypasses, see how to fix them, and have the opportunity to try them out for yourself. They will be covering the basics, like the under-the-door-tool and latch slipping attacks, as well as an in-depth look at more complicated bypasses. Learn about elevator hacking, as well as defeating alarm systems and surveillance cameras, with cutaway and display models of common hardware to show how it works on the inside. It is very easy to get started in this village - simply read the instruction sheets provided, scan a QR code to learn the techniques, or ask any of the volunteers in the green shirts if you have questions!

Script-Kitty Village

Want to learn ethical hacking? Come by the cat-themed Script-Kitty Village and learn something new from one of their exciting, beginner-friendly projects! Check out their workshops and kits teaching soldering, Wi-Fi hacking, bad USB attacks, LoRa hacking, and more.

They will have open-source, cat-themed tools for learning ethical hacking and prizes for their adorable Pusheen-hacking CTF challenge. If you're a fan of the Null Byte, Hak5, Retia, or SecurityFWD YouTube channels, come meet your favorite hacker content creators at the village!

The Script-Kitty Village will be hosting workshops at their Village all three days of HOPE XV.