Iffy Books | 404 S. 20th St., PHL
hacking, free culture, gardening, zines
On the second Thursday of every month we run a soldering workshop for beginners! Anyone can attend for free, but you’ll need to buy a circuit board with components for $6 to complete the project. Here’s what’s included in the kit: 1 x Weevil-shaped PCB 2 x LEDs 1 x 47k Ohm resistor 1 x […]
Join us for an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sized LoRa radio transceivers. We’ll show you how to flash the latest Meshtastic firmware to the device, customize the settings, and start chatting with your friends. Here’s a link to our zine on LoRa + Meshtastic. […]
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
▶ How-to zine on GitHub Join us for the workshop Host a Website at Home. You’ll learn to run an Apache web server on a single-board computer, letting you host a website from your home internet connection. Then you’ll register a domain name (or create a subdomain for a domain you already own) and set up […]
Join us for a social experiment / collective action / community building event! A night of no phones. No digital photos. No social media. No FOMO. Just face to face fun with your crew and the chance to engage with someone new. We'll have plenty of interactive activities, including • Meditation and breathwork with Monarch […]
The third Friday of every month from 6–8 p.m. we host a meetup run by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Open Organization of Lockpickers. > Come join us for our monthly open pick night at Iffy Books! Whether you’re a novice who just stumbled upon LockpickingLawyer, a seasoned safecracker, or somewhere in between, come join […]
Unfortunately we had to move this workshop to Wednesday, October 16th at 6 p.m. We apologize for the inconvenience! This workshop approaches one of the most fundamental components of electronic music-making -- the sequencer -- as a potential creative collaborator. Leveraging a handful of simple algorithms, participants will develop their own interactive digital music software […]
The Iffy Books Permacomputing Meetup is every fourth Sunday at 1:00 PM ET. You can join us in person at Iffy Books (404 S. 20th St., PHL) or via Jitsi Meet. ➡️ Meetup Link From Permacomputing.net: Permacomputing is a more sustainable approach to computer and network technology inspired by permaculture. Permacomputing is both a concept and a community […]
We’re reading Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organization by Rodrigo Nunes. How do we organize in a world after both Occupy and the Sanders campaign? A decade ago, a wave of mass mobilisations described as “horizontal” and “leaderless” swept the planet, holding the promise of real democracy and justice for the 99%. […]
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape. We have plenty of tapes! Stop by any time 1-5 p.m. No registration needed! This event is free/by donation.
Our September book is Vajra Chandrasekera's The Saint of Bright Doors, a post-colonial fable that features, among other things, a support group for the chosen ones who were, in the end, not chosen.
On the second and fourth Thursday of every month we run a soldering workshop for beginners! You’ll need to buy a circuit board with components for $6 to complete the project. We suggest making a $5–$15 donation for the class, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Here’s what’s included in […]
Join us for a workshop on the basics of recording audio! We’ll discuss mic technique, audio hardware, recording conditions, and software options. Everyone will get a chance to make a recording with Audacity and start editing with Reaper. Register
Join us for a meetup of Meshtastic users in Philly! We'll meet in person at Iffy Books, and we'll be running a live stream so folks can try to join the chat network from home. Beginners are welcome! We'll have LoRa transceivers for sale, and a free how-to guide to help you get set up. […]
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
A talk by Gaia at Iffy Books Wednesday, October 2nd at 6 p.m. Ever been curious as to how your home WiFi works? Maybe you’ve heard of an IP address, but don’t really know where to start. Maybe you want to know why your IP address can tell a website where you live? If any […]
CALL TO ACTION: Join us at our open house at Iffy Books on Oct 3rd from 7pm - 8pm. Come engage with other folks concerned about these overpowered buckets of bolts and get involved with future actions. Let's SHUT IT DOWN. From the Petition to Shut Down Ghost Robotics: Founded in 2015 by two Penn […]
> The Philly 2600 meeting is a monthly gathering of local hackers, phreaks, nerds, geeks, activists, tinkerers, developers, infosec professionals, and other interesting people.
Join us for a meetup of Meshtastic users in Philly! We'll meet in person at Iffy Books, and we'll be running a live stream so folks can try to join the chat network from home. Beginners are welcome! We'll have LoRa transceivers for sale, and a free how-to guide to help you get set up. […]
We’re reading Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organization by Rodrigo Nunes. How do we organize in a world after both Occupy and the Sanders campaign? A decade ago, a wave of mass mobilisations described as “horizontal” and “leaderless” swept the planet, holding the promise of real democracy and justice for the 99%. […]
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
The Neo-Luddite Reading Group meets the 2nd Wednesday of every month at 6:30 p.m. Starting October 9th we'll discuss The Eye of the Master: A Social History of Artificial Intelligence by Matteo Pasquinelli. ➡️ Virtual Meetup Link Discord: Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite! Full schedule: victorgom.es/neoluddite We're currently reading The Eye of the Master: A […]
On the second and fourth Thursday of every month we run a soldering workshop for beginners! You’ll need to buy a circuit board with components for $6 to complete the project. We suggest making a $5–$15 donation for the class, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds. Here’s what’s included in […]
Forget this Good Thing is a first-of-its-kind literary and philosophical experience. Both a book and an app, it was named a finalist for the Big Other Book Prize for Nonfiction. Born out of a writer’s gift to friends during COVID, this playful yet erudite project is a magic eight ball for today’s technological age. It […]
On Saturday, October 12th at 6:30 p.m. we're screening the film Metropolis (1927), directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou and Lang. This free event is presented by the Neo-Luddite Reading Group. In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind […]
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
This workshop approaches one of the most fundamental components of electronic music-making -- the sequencer -- as a potential creative collaborator. Leveraging a handful of simple algorithms, participants will develop their own interactive digital music software application capable of coaxing complex rhythms and melodies from your favorite software-based synthesizers and MIDI-enabled hardware. To accomplish this […]
Join us on the first and third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. for a reading group on Capital by Karl Marx. We'll be reading Paul Reitter's recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024). October 17: • The Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith, Chapters 1–5 • Principles of Political Economy by John Stuart Mill, […]
The third Friday of every month from 6–8 p.m. we host a meetup run by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Open Organization of Lockpickers. > Come join us for our monthly open pick night at Iffy Books! Whether you’re a novice who just stumbled upon LockpickingLawyer, a seasoned safecracker, or somewhere in between, come join […]
We’re reading Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organization by Rodrigo Nunes. How do we organize in a world after both Occupy and the Sanders campaign? A decade ago, a wave of mass mobilisations described as “horizontal” and “leaderless” swept the planet, holding the promise of real democracy and justice for the 99%. […]
Come co-work with other writers in three 40-minute units of silent writing. Writers and projects of any type welcome. 10-minute breaks and accountability check-ins between units. BYO coffee, water, computer chargers, notepads, etc.
We print a *lot* of zines at Iffy Books, which we distribute for free or by donation. That means we’re constantly folding and stapling, which takes patience. And we’re currently having a hard time keeping all 150+ titles in stock. So we’re running a volunteer zine folding session every other Wednesday afternoon! If you’ve been […]
