Iffy Books | 404 S. 20th St., PHL

✏️ The Writing Room
2025-01-21 17:00 - 19:30, 2025-01-28 17:00 - 19:30, 2025-02-04 17:00 - 19:30 (America/New_York) | 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.

🐢 Draw with code! An intro to turtle graphics using Python
2025-01-27 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-01-30 12:00 - 13:30
Stay tuned for details & registration!
☀️ Draw with code! An intro to turtle graphics using Python
☀️ Screen reading PDF
☀️ Print-imposed PDF
▶️ Project files on GitHub
Register for Jan 27th:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

Register for Jan 30th:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

🖇️ Volunteer Zine Folding Session
2025-01-29 12:00 - 14:00
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 for Jan 15:
Registration is now closed. We'll offer this event again soon!

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

❤️ Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
2025-01-29 14:00 - 15:30
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 more than one session to finish. Working with a friend is encouraged!
The kit you’ll need to complete this project costs $5.50. We’re suggesting a $5–$20 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

🪐 Speculative Futures Reading Group: 'The Stone Sky' by N. K. Jemisin
2025-01-29 19:00 - 20:30
Join us Wednesday, January 29th at 7 p.m. to discuss The Stone Sky by N. K. Jemisin, book three in the Broken Earth trilogy.
The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.
Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.
For Nassun, her mother’s mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.

💡 Solder & Code: Make a 3-Button Keyboard with a Pi Pico
2025-01-30 10:00 - 11:30, 2025-01-31 10:00 - 11:30
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 onto your Pi Pico
• Install CircuitPython firmware
• Install Adafruit HID libraries
• Copy example code to your Pi Pico
• Adjust the example code to make your own custom keyboard
We’ll have a limited number of computers to share, so bring a laptop (Windows/macOS/Linux) if you can.
You’ll need to buy a Pi Pico Push Button Interface Kit for $9.75 to complete this project. We’re recommending a $5–$20 donation for the class (notaflof).

Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

🎵 Cassette Mixtape Session
2025-01-31 12:00 - 13:30
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 for January 31st:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

📡 Meshtastic 101
2025-01-31 15:00 - 17:00
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.
Register for Jan 31st:
(coming soon!)

✨ NFC Sculpture Workshop
2025-02-01 11:00 - 13:00
In this workshop we’ll make little clay sculptures with NFC tags embedded inside, which you can use to trigger shortcuts on your phone. Fun!
Here’s a link to a blog post about this project.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. Sorry about that!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

🔊 Beginner Soldering: DIY Audio Meter | Sunday, February 2nd, 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.
2025-02-02 10:30 - 12:00
Join us for another beginner-friendly soldering project at Iffy Books! You’ll assemble a DIY audio meter kit, which you can use to visualize an audio signal’s amplitude.
To complete this project you’ll need to buy a kit for $7.95. We’re suggesting a $5–$20 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds. We’ll provide soldering irons and solder.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

⚡ Beginner Soldering: Make a DIY Guitar Cable
2025-02-03 10:30 - 11:30, 2025-02-04 10:30 - 11:30
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, notaflof.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

🔊 Beginner Soldering: DIY Audio Meter
2025-02-03 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-02-04 12:00 - 13:30

💻 DC215: Hands Off – Make the Machines Do It!
2025-02-05 18:00 - 20:00
Welcome to the DC215 Meetup! Join us for an exciting gathering of tech enthusiasts, hackers, and cybersecurity professionals at Iffy Books. This in-person event is the perfect opportunity to network, share knowledge, and engage with like-minded individuals in the industry. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just starting out, everyone is welcome to come together for a night of learning and fun. Don’t miss out on this chance to connect with the vibrant tech community of Philly.
Agenda
6 PM – 6:45 PM: Socialize
6:45 PM – 7 PM: Updates & Announcements
7 PM – 7:30 PM: Presentation
7:30 – 8 PM: Wind Down
Hands Off – Make the Machines Do It!
Manual processes in security operations are no longer sufficient to keep pace with emerging threats and increasing workloads. This talk explores the journey of fostering a culture of automation within a security operations team to enhance efficiency, accuracy, and improve analyst job satisfaction. Attendees will learn practical strategies to identify high-impact automation opportunities, overcome resistance to change, and empower team members with the tools and skills to adopt an automation-first mindset. By integrating automation into the fabric of daily workflows, teams can not only improve operational performance but also focus on more strategic, value-driven security initiatives. Whether you’re starting your automation journey or looking to scale existing efforts, this session will provide actionable insights to build a resilient, adaptive, and forward-looking security operations culture.
RSVP on Meetup (optional)

🔊 Beginner Soldering: DIY Audio Meter
2025-02-06 12:00 - 13:30
Join us for another beginner-friendly soldering project at Iffy Books! You’ll assemble a DIY audio meter kit, which you can use to visualize an audio signal’s amplitude.
To complete this project you’ll need to buy a kit for $7.95. We’re suggesting a $5–$20 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds. We’ll provide soldering irons and solder.
Register:
coming soon!

📚 Capital Reading Group
2025-02-06 19:00 - 21:00
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 ..

📡 Meshtastic Mods: Batteries & Canned Messages
2025-02-07 12:00 - 13:30
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
2025-02-07 14:00 - 15:30
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 more than one session to finish. Working with a friend is encouraged!
The kit you’ll need to complete this project costs $5.50. We’re suggesting a $5–$20 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

💻 Philly 2600 Meetup
2025-02-07 18:00 - 20:00
> 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!)
2025-02-08 11:00 - 12:30
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 ̶s̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶ ̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶t̶t̶a̶c̶h̶ ̶a̶ ̶l̶i̶t̶h̶i̶u̶m̶-̶i̶o̶n̶ ̶b̶a̶t̶t̶e̶r̶y̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶/̶o̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶a̶r̶d̶w̶a̶r̶e̶ ̶y̶o̶u̶’̶l̶l̶ ̶n̶e̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶u̶s̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶”̶c̶a̶n̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶e̶s̶s̶a̶g̶e̶s̶”̶ ̶f̶e̶a̶t̶u̶r̶e̶.̶ ̶T̶h̶e̶r̶e̶ ̶w̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶b̶e̶ ̶s̶o̶l̶d̶e̶r̶i̶n̶g̶.̶ ̶S̶t̶a̶y̶ ̶t̶u̶n̶e̶d̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶d̶e̶t̶a̶i̶l̶s̶ ̶&̶ ̶r̶e̶g̶i̶s̶t̶r̶a̶t̶i̶o̶n̶!̶

🎵 Cassette Mixtape Session
2025-02-09 10:30 - 12:00, 2025-02-10 12:00 - 13:30, 2025-02-11 10:00 - 11:30
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:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

❤️ Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
2025-02-10 13:30 - 15:00, 2025-02-11 12:00 - 13:30
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 more than one session to finish. Working with a friend is encouraged!
The kit you’ll need to complete this project costs $5.50. We’re suggesting a $10–$25 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!
