Iffy Books | 404 S. 20th St., PHL
hacking, free culture, gardening, zines
Guitar Cable Soldering Class
Join us for a relatively quick and easy soldering workshop, suitable for total beginners! You'll strip some wires and solder 1/4-inch plugs to the ends, creating your own guitar cable. You can get a kit with 6 inches of cable for $4.25, or 4 feet for $13.50. We're suggesting a $5–$15 donation for the class, […]
Pico Game Timer & Dice Workshop
Learn to make a programmable game timer and dice with a Pi Pico microcontroller! First you'll solder six LEDs, two switches, and a vibration motor to the board's GPIO pins. Then you'll install and customize the CircuitPython code that makes it work. No experience needed! You'll need to buy a kit for $9 to complete […]
LED Heart Soldering Class
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 […]
Make Your First Website
Make a home page like it's 1999! Join us at Iffy Books for a new workshop called Make Your First Website, led by Ragman a.k.a. Richard Green. You'll learn the basics of HTML and create a static site on the free hosting service Neocities. No experience necessary! You can bring a laptop or use one […]
ESP32 Captive Portal Workshop
Stay tuned for details!
H̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶W̶e̶b̶s̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶H̶o̶m̶e̶ (canceled, sorry!)
We had to cancel this workshop because a family obligation came up. Sorry for the inconvenience. We'll offer it again soon! ̶J̶o̶i̶n̶ ̶u̶s̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶w̶o̶r̶k̶s̶h̶o̶p̶ ̶H̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶W̶e̶b̶s̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶a̶t̶ ̶H̶o̶m̶e̶!̶ ̶Y̶o̶u̶’̶l̶l̶ ̶l̶e̶a̶r̶n̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶r̶u̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶w̶e̶b̶ ̶s̶e̶r̶v̶e̶r̶ ̶u̶s̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶n̶g̶i̶n̶x̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶a̶ ̶s̶i̶n̶g̶l̶e̶-̶b̶o̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶u̶t̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶l̶e̶t̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶o̶s̶t̶ ̶a̶ ̶w̶e̶b̶s̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶f̶r̶o̶m̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶h̶o̶m̶e̶ ̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶e̶t̶ ̶c̶o̶n̶n̶e̶c̶t̶i̶o̶n̶.̶ We’ll […]
Meshtastic 101
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. […]
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.
Solar Music Synth Workshop
Join us and build a tiny solar-powered square wave generator on a breadboard. No soldering required! The workshop is free to attend, but you'll need to purchase a kit for $12.50 to complete the project. Here's a link to the how-to zine we'll use. And here's a diagram of the oscillator circuit we'll build: Register:
Audio Editing with Reaper
Bring a laptop and learn the basics of audio editing! We'll start by making a recording of a poem as a group, passing the mic after each line. Then you'll learn to remove pauses and mic handling noises using Reaper, a free-to-use digital audio workstation (DAW) that works on Mac, Windows, and Linux. No registration […]
Pico MP3 Sampler Workshop
Create your own digital audio sampler using a Pi Pico clone board! This project requires some soldering. It's recommended for folks who have soldered once or twice before, but beginners are welcome too. For the programming portion, you can bring a laptop or use one of our lab computers. You'll need to buy a kit […]
Permacomputing + Solarpunk Meetup
The Permacomputing + Solarpunk meetup is every other third Wednesday at Iffy Books! You can join us in person (404 S. 20th St., PHL) or remotely via Jitsi Meet. 
Virtual 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 […]
USB Data Blocker Soldering Class
Charging your phone in a public place can be stressful. What if someone is collecting your metadata for marketing purposes? What if they're copying your files or installing malware? A USB data blocker can help! It's a little adapter with the data terminals left disconnected, so you can charge your phone anywhere without fear. This […]
DIY Macro Keyboard Workshop
For this workshop you'll use a Pi Pico board and CircuitPython to create a programmable mechanical keyboard with two keys. No soldering experience necessary! To complete this project you'll need to buy a kit for $14. Here's what's included: • RP2040/Pi Pico board • 2 mechanical keyboard switches • 2 key caps • oak base […]
FM Transmitter Soldering Class
Come out and get some soldering practice! This time we're assembling a short-range FM transmitter kit with a built-in mic and a 1/8" audio input jack. This project is recommended for folks who have soldered at least once or twice before. If you're brand new to soldering, we recommend taking a beginner class first. Register: […]
Iffy Books 4th Birthday Party!
Stay tuned for details!
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.
Speculative Futures Reading Group
The Speculative Futures Reading Group meets on the last Wednesday of every month at 7 p.m.!
ESP32 Captive Portal Workshop
Stay tuned for details!
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.
Meshtastic 101
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. […]
IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club
Homebrew Website Club is a growing world-wide network of meetups for everyone who wants to take back their web experience from social media silos, and own their online identities & content, or just want support with blogging!
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.
Capital Reading Group
Join us for a discussion on Marx's Capital by. We'll post the sections we're covering before each meeting. We're reading Paul Reitter's recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).
LoRa Mods: Header Pins & Vibration Motors
Stay tuned for details!
Model Internet Club
The Model Internet Club is back! Join us every third Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for an informal meetup focused on building small-scale computer networks. No registration needed for this event! If we run out of space we can expand into our back yard area.
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.
Neo-Luddite Reading Group
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 by Richard Conniff.The only expectation is that you read the chapter(s) of the book that's listed for that […]
Meshtastic 101
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. […]
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.
Intelligence History Reading Group
Stay tuned for details!
LoRa Mods: Header Pins & Vibration Motors
Stay tuned for details!
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.
DIY Macro Keyboard Workshop
