🖇️ Volunteer Zine Folding Session
2024-11-06 14:00 - 16:00, 2024-11-20 14:00 - 16:00, 2024-12-04 14:00 - 16:00 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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 looking for a way to get involved at the shop, here’s your chance. (We’re limiting the number of sign-ups because we only have three booklet staplers.)
Register:

If you register and you can’t make it, let us know at iffybooks@iffybooks.net. Thanks!

🎶 Electronic Music Machines: Intro to Modular Synthesizers in VCV Rack
2024-11-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Once a niche interest of avant-garde electronic musicians, the practice of modular synthesis has flourished in the hands of a vibrant international community of artists, hobbyists, and weirdos. Electronic Music Machines is a workshop specifically geared towards the modular-curious and anyone with a desire to make electronic music and craves an intuitive, exploratory approach. We will cover many of the basics of modular synthesis while working with the free virtual patching environment VCV Rack. No experience necessary! For questions, please contact instructor Dr. Matt O’Hare at me@mattohare.com or reach out on Instagram @waterworld_part2
Please bring a laptop (macOS/Windows/Linux) if you have one. If you’ll need to borrow a computer, email iffybooks@iffybooks.net before the event.
We recommend making a $5–$20 donation for this workshop (no one turned away for lack of funds).
Register:

📚 Capital Reading Group
2024-11-07 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-12-05 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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, Chapter 1
November 7: Chapter 1, section 1
November 21: Chapter 1, section 2
December 5: 4. Chapter 1, section 3
December 19: Chapter 1, section 4
January 2: Recap and discussion
January 16: Chapter 2
February 6: Chapter 3, section 1
February 20: Chapter 3, section 2
March 6: Chapter 3, section 3
March 20: Chapter 4 ..

🎥 The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)
2024-11-08 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
On Friday, November 8th, the anniversary of Aaron Swartz’s birth, we’ll host a free screening of The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz. We’ll start the film at 7 p.m.
The Internet’s Own Boy depicts the life of American computer programmer, writer, political organizer and Internet activist Aaron Swartz. It features interviews with his family and friends as well as the internet luminaries who worked with him. The film tells his story up to his eventual suicide after a legal battle, and explores the questions of access to information and civil liberties that drove his work.
Year: 2014
Director: Brian Knappenberger
Runtime: 120 minutes

🍂 Philly Zine Fest
2024-11-09 10:00 - 17:00 | Mitten Hall at Temple Univesity, 1913 N Broad St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States
PHILLY ZINE FEST IS BACK! Saturday November 9th, 2024 at Temple University’s Mitten Hall from 10-5! Save the date! Organized by Philly Soapbox. Flyer by the legendary Alex Smith!

✂️ Fall QT Zine Jam!
2024-11-10 13:00 - 15:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
A Zine Jam for Queer and Trans identifying folx led by Pixel.
Not sure what zines are? Wishing to become a zinester?
You’ve come to the right place! This beginner-friendly zine jam will include a workshop component where we will peruse and learn about what zines are, how to make them, and how our QT identities play a part in that! Following, we’ll have an open zine making session.
For those who are more experienced, you’re welcome to also jump straight in with the supplies available on our zine cart too! Just want to hang out? We’ve got a huge collections of zines to browse from.
Masking requested. We’ll have masks to share.
Register:

✏️ The Writing Room
2024-11-12 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-11-19 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-11-26 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-12-03 17:00 - 19:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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: 'The Eye of the Master' by Matteo Pasquinelli
2024-11-13 18:30 - 20:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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 Social History of Artificial Intelligence by Matteo Pasquinelli. Our next book will be The Age of Surveillance Capitalism by Shoshana Zuboff.Archived pages of our previous books include: Resisting AI, The Human Use of Human Beings, Race After Technology, and Blood in the Machine: The Origins of the Rebellion Against Big Tech If you’d like to learn more about me, you can visit victorgom.es for a bio.

Schedule
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 meeting. You’re still welcome to participate if you haven’t done the readings as long as you are mindful. For each chapter, I’ve also noted some optional readings for context, so I’d suggest checking those out rather than reading ahead in the book. And remember, if you ever find yourself struggling with any of the readings or concepts, reach out! Either directly to me over email or to the entire group over discord.

Meeting 1 (Oct. 9th):📖 The Eye of the Master

Introduction: AI as Division of Labour

Will A.I. Become the New McKinsey? by Ted Chiang

1. The Materials Tool of Algorithmic Thinking

🗞️ Data center emissions probably 662% higher than big tech claims. Can it keep up the ruse? by Isabel O’Brien
🗞️ Microsot’s Hypocrisy on AI by Karen Hao
🗞️ AI is poised to drive 160% increase in data center power demand

2. Babbage and the Mechanisation of Mental Labour

📜 Origin Stories: Plantations, Computers, and Industrial Control by Meredith Whittaker

3. The Machinery Question

Weizenbaum examines computers and society by Diana ben-Aaron

4. The Origins of Marx’s General Intellect

🗞️ The Silicon-Tongued Devil by Leif Weatherby

5. The Abstraction of Labour

📜 GPTs are GPTs: An Early Look at the Labor Market Impact Potential of Large Language Models by OpenAI/OpenResearch team

Meeting 2 (Nov. 13th):📖 The Eye of the Master

6. The Self-Organisation of the Cybernetic Mind

🎙️ The Thinking Machine by 99% Invisible

7. The Automation of Pattern Recognition

🎥 Facial Recognition: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

8. Hayek and the Epistemology of Connectionism.

🎙️ Project Cybersyn by 99% Invisible

9. The Invention of the Perceptron

🎥 The Perceptron Explained by Alice Heiman
🗞️ We’ve been here before: AI promised humanlike machines – in 1958 by Danielle Williams

Conclusion: The Automation of General Intelligence

🎥 Superintelligence: The Idea That Eats Smart People by Maciej Ceglowski

Additional resources

Outreach Resources & Guides

📜 Digital Defense Playbook: Community Power Tools for Reclaiming Data by Our Data Bodies
📜 A People’s Guide to AI by Mimi Onuoha and Mother Cyborg (Diana Nucera)
📜 Algorithmic Accountability: A Primer by Data & Society
🗞️ Prior to (or instead of) using ChatGPT with your students by Autumn Caines

Potential Future Reads

📖 Automating Inequality: How High-Tech Tools Profile, Police, and Punish the Poor by Virginia Eubanks
📖 Questioning Technology: Tool, Toy or Tyrant by John Zerzan & Alice Carnes
📖 Technofix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment by Michael Huesemann & Joyce Huesemann
📖 Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor by Kim Kelly
📖 The Internet Con: How to Seize the Means of Computation by Cory Doctorow

Links to more links

📋 Critical Lenses on AI by Iris van Rooij
📋 Resources by Ruha Benjamin

More on Luddites

🗞️ I’m a Luddite. You should be one too by Jathan Sadowski
🗞️ Byron Was One of the Few Prominent Defenders of the Luddites by Kat Eschner

Poems

🎵 A Luddite Lullaby by Don Bogen
🎵 All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace by Richard Brautigan
🎵 I Am the People, the Mob by Carl Sandburg
🎵 They Say This Isn’t a Poem by Kenneth Rexroth
🎵 Under Which Lyre by W.H. Auden
🎵 When I Heard The Learn’d Astronomer by Walt Whitman

Sign up for the Neo-Luddite Reading Group email list:

⚡️ Beginner Soldering Workshop
2024-11-14 18:00 - 19:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
On the second and fourth 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 miniature photocell
1 x 2N3904 transistor
2 x 220 Ohm resistors
1 x CR2032 coin cell battery
1 x 20mm coin cell battery holder

Register:

🔓 TOOOL Lock Picking Meetup
2024-11-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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 us for a evening of fun as we pop some locks.

✨ Poetry at Iffy Books: Alan Felsenthal, Kendra Sullivan, Dobby Gibson, Bridget Talone
2024-11-15 20:30 - 22:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Friday night reading! Poets Alan Felsenthal, Dobby Gibson and Kendra Sullivan are coming to IFFY to read from their new books. Joined by Bridget Talone. Hosted by Josef Kaplan. ✨There will be books, there will be bevs✨ No cover, come through!
Doors at 8
Reading at 8:30

🚴 Basic Bike Repair
2024-11-16 14:00 - 16:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Biking is an empowering and sustainable way to get around the city (and beyond!), get some exercise and just have fun. With simple tools and a little know-how, it’s easy to keep your bike running smoothly. This workshop is designed for total beginners who want to learn the essentials of bike maintenance and repair.
In this hands-on workshop, we’ll cover the absolute basics, so no prior experience is needed. You’ll learn:
• How bikes work: a simple introduction to braking, gear shifting, and other core mechanics.
• Basic preventative maintenance: easy routines like checking tire pressure and applying lubrication to keep your bike in good condition.
• Simple fixes for common problems: step-by-step guidance on repairing flat tires, tightening brakes, and more—using basic tools.
This workshop is all about empowering you to feel confident with your bike. Just bring your bike along and we’ll guide you through every step!
Register:

Photo CC-BY Adam Baker

📚 Philly Socialists Reading Group
2024-11-17 16:00 - 17:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Beyond the Slogan presents:
Hal Draper’s ‘Anatomy of the Micro Sect’: Reading Group Meetup & Discussion
Open to all!
Iffy Books
Sun Nov 17th
4 PM – 5:30 PM
> This group is open to anyone committed to collective learning and liberation whether they are a member of Philly Socialists or not. We aim to tackle challenging theoretical texts together. Rather than finding ‘the correct reading’ of a text, the goal of group is to collectively find tools from texts for creating a better world.
> Philly Socialists is a political organization committed to creating a just and sustainable future for ourselves and our planet. As socialists, we believe in freedom, democracy, and the right to basic human dignity. Capitalism denies us all these. Only revolutionary change that ends capitalism will win us the future we deserve. And only a massive, organized force can get us there. If you are interested in finding out more, please find us at our reading website or email us admin@phillysocialists.org

🪐 Speculative Futures Reading Group: 'Who Fears Death' by Nnedi Okorafor
2024-11-20 19:00 - 20:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us Wednesday, November 27th at 7 p.m. to discuss the novel Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor.

📚 Capital Reading Group
2024-11-21 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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 our November 21st meeting we’ll be reading up to Chapter 3, Section 3: Money.
We’ll be reading Paul Reitter’s recent translation (Princeton University Press, 2024).

🎤 Audio Recording Basics
2024-11-22 15:00 - 17:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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

📙 Collide Zine 8 Release Party at Tattooed Mom
2024-11-24 12:00 - 17:00 | Tattooed Mom, 530 South St, Philadelphia, PA, 19147, United States
See y’all at Tattooed Mom for the Collide Zine issue #8 release party!

💾🌾 Permacomputing Meetup
2024-11-25 18:30 - 20:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
The Iffy Books Permacomputing Meetup returns on Monday, November 25th from 6:30–8:30 p.m. EST. 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 of practice oriented around issues of resilience and regenerativity in digital technology. In a time where computing epitomizes industrial waste, permacomputing encourages a more sustainable approach, maximizing hardware lifespans, minimizing energy use and focussing on the use of already available computational resources. We do this because humans are part of nature and technology is an extension of humans, and we acknowledge that technology has been used to harm nature. We want to find out how we can practice good relations with the Earth by learning from ecological systems to leverage and re-center existing technologies and practices. We are also interested in investigating what a permacomputing way of life could be, and what sort of transformative computational culture and aesthetics it could bring forward. If you want to know more, please start reading about what is permacomputing in essence, and then dive into its principles.
Permacomputing Aesthetics: Potential and Limits of Design Constraints in Computational Culture by Mansoux, Howell, Barok, and Heikkilä (2023)

🎵 Open Cassette Mixtape Session
2024-11-27 13:00 - 17:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
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.

📚 Philly Socialists Reading Group
2024-12-01 16:00 - 17:30 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
This group is open to anyone committed to collective learning and liberation whether they are a member of Philly Socialists or not. We aim to tackle challenging theoretical texts together. Rather than finding ‘the correct reading’ of a text, the goal of group is to collectively find tools from texts for creating a better world.
Philly Socialists is a political organization committed to creating a just and sustainable future for ourselves and our planet. As socialists, we believe in freedom, democracy, and the right to basic human dignity. Capitalism denies us all these. Only revolutionary change that ends capitalism will win us the future we deserve. And only a massive, organized force can get us there. If you are interested in finding out more, please find us at our reading website or email us admin@phillysocialists.org

🎄 Soldering Village Workshop
2024-12-04 17:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join DC215 for a hands-on Soldering Village Workshop at Iffy Books! Whether you’re a complete beginner or looking to sharpen your skills, this event is perfect for anyone interested in learning the art of soldering. Kits will be available for purchase, and donations are welcome to support our group. We’ll provide guided instruction to help you master this essential technique. Come ready to create, learn, and have fun in a supportive, engaging environment!
Registration for this event is optional! Stop by any time from 5 to 8 p.m.! We’ll have ~12 soldering irons to share, so we’ll operate on a first come, first served basis.

💻 B-Sides Philly
2024-12-06 08:00 - 18:00 | Live! Casino, 900 Packer Ave., Philadelphia, 19148, United States
We’ll be tabling at B-Sides Philly on December 6th. Stay tuned for more details!

💻 Philly 2600 Meetup
2024-12-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
> The Philly 2600 meeting is a monthly gathering of local hackers, phreaks, nerds, geeks, activists, tinkerers, developers, infosec professionals, and other interesting people.

🛜 Behind the Scenes with Philly Community Wireless
2024-12-07 11:00 - 12:00 | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Join us on Saturday, December 7th at 11 a.m. EST for a presentation by the folks at Philly Community Wireless.
🎥 Video Stream Link
> Philly Community Wireless is a volunteer-led coalition of technologists and organizers working to build community controlled wireless internet networks in Philadelphia. We are committed to growing tech literacy, expanding internet access, and building community autonomy with our neighbors. We believe that internet access is a human right. Questions? Check out our FAQ.
