Iffy Books | 404 S. 20th St., PHL
hacking, free culture, gardening, zines
Meshtastic Mods: Batteries & Canned Messages
If you're already using Meshtastic and you're curious about adding hardware to your LoRa radio, this workshop is for you! We'll show you how to attach a lithium-ion battery and/or the hardware you'll need to used the "canned messages" feature. There will be soldering. Stay tuned for details & registration!
Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose. This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you […]
Philly 2600 Meetup
> The Philly 2600 meeting is a monthly gathering of local hackers, phreaks, nerds, geeks, activists, tinkerers, developers, infosec professionals, and other interesting people.
M̶e̶s̶h̶t̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶M̶o̶d̶s̶:̶ ̶B̶a̶t̶t̶e̶r̶i̶e̶s̶ ̶&̶ ̶C̶a̶n̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶M̶e̶s̶s̶a̶g̶e̶s̶ (postponed!)
We're postponing this workshop while we work out some issues with the rotary encoders we're using. We're sorry for the inconvenience! Stay tuned for a new date sometime in the next few weeks. ̶>̶ ̶I̶f̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶a̶l̶r̶e̶a̶d̶y̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶M̶e̶s̶h̶t̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶'̶r̶e̶ ̶c̶u̶r̶i̶o̶u̶s̶ ̶a̶b̶o̶u̶t̶ ̶a̶d̶d̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶h̶a̶r̶d̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶L̶o̶R̶a̶ ̶r̶a̶d̶i̶o̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶s̶h̶o̶p̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶!̶ ̶W̶e̶'̶l̶l̶ […]
Cassette Mixtape Session
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape! We have plenty of cassettes to share. We're suggesting a $5–$15 donation for this project. Thanks! Register:
Cassette Mixtape Session
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape! We have plenty of cassettes to share. We're suggesting a $5–$15 donation for this project. Thanks! Register:
Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose. This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you […]
Cassette Mixtape Session
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape! We have plenty of cassettes to share. We're suggesting a $5–$15 donation for this project. Thanks! Register:
Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose. This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you […]
The Writing Room
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.
Cassette Mixtape Session
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape! We have plenty of cassettes to share. We're suggesting a $5–$15 donation for this project. Thanks! Register:
Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose. This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you […]
Neo-Luddite Reading Group: ‘The Age of Surveillance Capitalism’ by Shoshana Zuboff
Our next book for the Neo-Luddite Reading Group is The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff (2019). 
Virtual Meetup Link Discord: Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite! Full schedule: victorgom.es/neoluddite If you're joining for the first time, I'd suggest you read this before anything else for brief context: What the Luddites Really Fought Against […]
Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose. This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you […]
̶M̶a̶k̶e̶ ̶L̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶M̶a̶r̶k̶e̶t̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶L̶o̶v̶e̶ ̶P̶a̶r̶k̶ Canceled
Canceled due to the parade 
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Model Internet Club
The Model Internet Club is back! Join us every third Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for an informal meetup focused on building small-scale computer networks. Space is limited in the shop, so you'll need to register for this event. Register: coming soon!
Design a Flyer with Scribus
Scribus is a free computer program you can use to design flyers, zines, books, and anything else you're planning to print! Unlike Microsoft Word, you can arrange text and images however you want on the page. And unlike subscription-based design programs, your creative work won't be monitored and archived by the surveillance state. Register:
The Writing Room
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.
Design a Flyer with Scribus
Scribus is a free computer program you can use to design flyers, zines, books, and anything else you want to print! Unlike Microsoft Word, you can arrange text and images however you like. And unlike online design programs, your creative work won’t be vacuumed up by the surveillance state. 
Register:
Intro to Computer Music: Build an Algorithmic Sequencer in Max
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 […]
Capital Reading Group
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 post the sections we're covering before each meeting. We'll be reading Paul Reitter's recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).
Capital Reading Group
Join us on the first and third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. for a reading group on Capital by Karl Marx. For February 20th we're reading chapters 3 and 4. We'll be reading Paul Reitter's recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).
Design a Flyer with Scribus
Scribus is a free computer program you can use to design flyers, zines, books, and anything else you want to print! Unlike Microsoft Word, you can arrange text and images however you like. And unlike online design programs, your creative work won’t be vacuumed up by the surveillance state. Register:
TOOOL Lock Picking Meetup
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 […]
Design a Flyer with Scribus
Scribus is a free computer program you can use to design flyers, zines, books, and anything else you want to print! Unlike Microsoft Word, you can arrange text and images however you like. And unlike online design programs, your creative work won’t be vacuumed up by the surveillance state. Register:
Solder & Code: Make a 3-Button Keyboard with a Pi Pico
In this workshop you'll build and program a customizable 3-button USB keyboard using a Pi Pico microcontroller. You can program each button to type a chunk of text (e.g., your email signature), enter a keyboard shortcut, or launch an application. It's easier than it sounds! Here's what we'll do: • Solder three push button switches […]
The Writing Room
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.
Volunteer Zine Folding Session
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 […]
Speculative Futures Reading Group: ‘The Birds of Maine’ by Michael DeForge
On Wednesday, February 26th at 7 p.m. we'll discuss the graphic novel The Birds of Maine by Michael DeForge. Hope to see you there! > Long after the demise of humankind, birds roam freely around the Moon complete with fruitful trees, sophisticated fungal networks, and an enviable socialist order. The universal worm feeds all, there […]
Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're making a heart-shaped board with 22 LEDs, using an oscillator circuit to dim and brighten them at the speed you choose. This project is ideal for folks who have soldered at least once before. Beginners are welcome to join us, but it may take you […]
Cassette Mixtape Session
Bring a playlist on your phone/computer and we’ll help you record it to an audio cassette tape. We have plenty of tapes to share! Register:
̶M̶e̶s̶h̶t̶a̶s̶t̶i̶c̶ ̶1̶0̶1̶ (tomorrow at PCW instead!)
We're calling off this workshop because we're doing one with Philly Community Wireless the following day, Saturday, March 1st. We're very sorry for the inconvenience. 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 […]
Meshtastic Workshop with Iffy Books & PCW
Join us Saturday, March 1st at 2141 N. Howard St. to learn about Meshtastic and LoRa for building encrypted networks with Steve McLaughlin from @iffybooks! Meshtastic uses small radios to send signals, and these radios connect to each other to form a “mesh” network of devices without using the internet or phone lines. We’ll start […]
