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

⚡️ Get to Know Your Multimeter
2023-03-04 15:30 - 17:30 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Saturday, March 4th at 3:30 p.m. we’re hosting a workshop on how to use a multimeter, an essential tool for tinkering with electronics. You’ll learn to measure voltage, resistance, and current, as well as how to test batteries and transistors.
We’ll have analog and digital multimeters for sale. Bring your own if you have one!
Register:

🔒 First Friday Philly TOOOL Meetup
2023-03-03 18:00 - 21:00
Join us Friday, March 3rd at 6 p.m. for a meetup run by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Open Organization of Lockpickers!
> Come join us for our monthly First Friday 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.

💻 Command Line Beginners Meetup
2023-03-02 18:00 - 20:00
On Thursday, March 2nd from 6–8 p.m. we’ll host a meetup for folks who want to learn more about the command line. Bring a laptop if you have one! Any OS is fine: macOS, Windows, or Linux.
This will be an informal meetup, without a set program or start time. We’ll have a few command-line experts on hand to answer questions and demonstrate whatever tools people are interested in.
Register (optional but helpful):

✏️ The Writing Room at Iffy Books
2023-03-01 17:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-22 17:00 - 19:00
Wednesdays 5–8 p.m.
(5–7 p.m. the last Wednesday of the month)
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.

⚡️ Beginner Soldering Workshop
2023-02-26 15:30 - 17:30
On Sunday, February 26th at 3:30 p.m. we’re running 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:

🍅 Grow Something! with Goda Trakumaite
2023-02-26 13:00 - 15:00
Want to grow something this spring but not sure where to start? Have a community garden plot? A pot on your fire escape? A vacant lot on your block? In this very beginner garden planning workshop/group consultation, we’ll assess factors like space, time, basic plant needs and our desires to come up with a basic growing plan. We’ll be covering outdoor growing situations — talking about food, medicine and pollinator plants, not houseplant stuff! Bring your hopes and dreams.
It’s free! Led by Goda Trakumaite, a farmer and gardener with years of experience working with plants. Goda is the co-author and illustrator of Adventures in Seed Saving #1: Squash and Adventures in Seed Saving #2: Tomato.
Register:

🪡 Hands-On Darning Workshop
2023-02-25 15:30 - 17:30
On Sunday, February 25th at 3:30 p.m. we’re hosting a darning workshop and mending session. Total beginners welcome!
Register:

Behind the Scenes with PCW
2023-02-25 13:00 - 15:00
Join us on Saturday, February 25th at 1:00 p.m. for a presentation by the folks at Philly Community Wireless. They’ll tell us about the network they’ve built so far, where they’re planning to expand, and what they’ve learned along they way. They’ll also give advice on setting up your own neighborhood wi-fi network.
🎥 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.
Register (optional):

Book Launch Party for 'Space Rogue: How the Hackers Known as L0pht Changed the World'
2023-02-24 18:00 - 21:00
On Friday, February 24th at 6 p.m. we’re hosting a book launch party for Space Rogue: How the Hackers Known as L0pht Changed the World by Cris Thomas. Join us at 6:30 for a reading and Q&A with the author, followed by a book signing. We’ll have drinks and snacks.
You can buy the book here!
About the book:
In May 1998, the US Congress invited the seven members of the L0pht to testify on the state of government computer security. Two years later, that same group rode the Dot-com bubble to create the preeminent security consultancy the industry has ever known, @stake. Along the way, they stood up against tech giants like Microsoft, Oracle, Novell and others to expose weaknesses in those companies’ premiere products. Despite the L0pht’s technical prowess, the group could not keep what they had built together as money and internal politics turned friend against friend. Look inside L0pht Heavy Industries, or simply The L0pht, one of the most influential hacker groups in history. From formation, to congressional testimony, to going legit and the aftermath that followed. Follow the hacker ‘Space Rogue’ as he takes you on a journey through the magical hacker scene of the 1990s.The L0pht hacker collective no longer exists, but its legacy lives on. L0pht set the standard for how the cyber security industry now releases vulnerability information. Famous hackers that were once L0pht members, Mudge, Weld Pond, Kingpin, Dildog, Space Rogue, and others have done even more impressive things in the following years. The hackers and consultants hired by @stake and indoctrinated into the L0pht way of thinking have now become giants in the industry. All the hackers who read security information off the L0pht’s website, downloaded software from the Whacked Mac Archives, or watched the Hacker News Network and became inspired have changed the world more than the L0pht could have ever done alone. The L0pht’s message of bringing security issues to light and getting them fixed still echoes throughout the industry and is more important today than ever. The L0pht’s dire warning of an increasingly dependent culture on a fragile Internet made during their testimony twenty-five years ago still holds true. In fact, the Internet may be in even worse shape today. Is it too late to listen?
About Space Rogue:
With over two decades of experience, Space Rogue (Cris Thomas) has testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, and has been interviewed by Wired, CNBC and even MTV. He created the wildly popular websites the Whacked Mac Archives and Cyber Squirrel 1. He produced the weekly podcast SpiderLabs Radio, and the critically acclaimed weekly news video program the Hacker News Network. His writing has appeared in Network Computing, New Statesman, The Hill, and the Christian Science Monitor. He has spoken at security conferences such as Def Con, Blackhat, and Shmoocon. Space Rogue currently works as the Global Lead of Policy and Special Initiatives for the legendary IBM X-Force.

⚡️ Chip Set: A DIY Electronics Meetup
2023-02-23 18:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-09 18:00 - 20:00
Chip Set is a DIY electronics meetup at Iffy Books on the second and fourth Thursday of each month (starting February 2023). If you’re interested in circuits, microcontrollers, and/or single-board computers, stop by and make some friends! All ages and skill levels are welcome, including total newbies.
This is an informal meetup, without a set topic or agenda. Feel free to bring a project to show the group!
Photo by Raimond Spekking (CC BY-SA 4.0)

📚 Reading Group: 'Eleutheria' by Allegra Hyde
2023-02-22 19:00 - 21:00
For our February reading group, we’ll discuss Allegra Hyde’s cli-fi novel Eleutheria. See you Wednesday, February 22nd at 7 p.m.!
This event is free. Donations accepted.

Bleeding Control Basics
2023-02-21 18:00 - 20:00
Presented by Untitled Medical Collective in association with Philly SRA, Bleeding Control Basics will go over first aid as it applies to severe bleeding. We will cover scene safety, injury assessment, basic bleeding control, and tourniquet application. This class doesn’t provide any kind of certification, and is just meant to provide essential information to as many people as possible.
If you have any questions about class content, reach out to untitledmedical@proton.me.
Register:

Zine Launch and Social for "Fuck a Cellicon Valley: Against the Proposed Development of Bartram's North and South"
2023-02-19 15:30 - 17:30
Join us Sunday, February 19th at 3:30 p.m. to celebrate the launch of “Fuck a Cellicon Valley,” a zine about a development plan that would displace residents and destroy wild space in the area around Bartam’s North and Bartam’s South. We’ll have snacks and free zines!
Read the zine
Print the zine
Here’s an excerpt:
After we heard rumors about UPenn developing the land around Bartram’s North we did some research and discovered an evil plot. In 2013 a group of economists, developers, city planners, and other villians came up with the Lower Schuylkill Master Plan, a 143 page document envisioning a “21st century industrial district” in Southwest Philly along the Schuykill river corridor. The report details massive development projects to be carried out over 20-25 years. Reading the report in 2023 provided us with some answers and many many questions.
The Master Plan is worth looking over carefully if you are someone who cares about environmental destruction and gentrification. You can find it online at https://www.design.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/LSMP_Small.pdf
The plan breaks up the development projects into three sections. The first is a Logistics Hub, connected to the Philadelphia Airport, whose recent expansion destroyed wetlands to build a cargo facility. We’ve already seen how this has gone down for the FDR meadows. The second is the Energy Corridor in South Philly, where they are currently focused on remediating decades of industrial pollution from oil infrastructure. The remediation is predicted to take years, then they’re going build factories.
The third zone, the Innovation District, is the focus of this zine. Because it is closest to us, because it threatens the places we live in and love. In writing this zine, we hope that other people will look into the master plan and oppose gentrification as they see it manifest in their contexts.
The Innovation District consists of the Pennovation Center and the areas near Bartram’s North and Bartram’s South including some wild lands and spaces. We spend a lot of time in those spaces and despite what developers think, there is already vibrant activity, innovation, and life, we don’t want to see the area get paved over and built up.
…
The Lower Schuylkill Biotech Campus is part of what people at the University of Pennsylvania are calling “Cellicon Valley”. It’s an attempt to brand Philly as the next hi-tech hotspot for pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. Like Silicon Valley, Cellicon Valley is a bad and annoying idea that should never come to fruition. It’s literally a scheme to capture, commodify, and sell us ways to live, by destroying and locking us out of the ways we live.

Trashpanda Village Security Meetup
2023-02-16 17:00 - 19:00
This meetup is focused on hands-on learning and networking for those interested in information security. In other words a place for people to learn more about computer security and the tools used by information security professionals. This group is starting out but with some input from all of you I’m sure it will be able to grow into something great.
RSVP on Meetup.com (optional)

✏️ The Writing Room at Iffy Books
2023-02-15 17:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-08 17:00 - 20:00, 2023-02-01 17:00 - 20:00
Wednesdays 5–8PM (except the last week of the month)
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.

🔥 Make a DIY Tent-Safe Heater Pt. 2
2023-02-12 15:30 - 17:30
On February 11th and 12th we’re hosting a two-day workshop on how to build a tent-safe heater that burns isopropyl alcohol or ethanol.
Workshop Day 1: Making the burner
Workshop Day 2: Testing, wicking, caging
➡️ Register here
image by heater bloc via twitter

💾🌾 Permacomputing Meetup
2023-02-12 13:00 - 15:00
Our next permacomputing meetup is on Sunday, February 12th at 1:00 PM EST. You can join us in person at Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St. #2I, PHL) or via Jitsi audio stream.

➡️ Jitsi Stream 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.

🔥 Make a DIY Tent-Safe Heater Pt. 1
2023-02-11 15:30 - 17:30
On February 11th and 12th we’re hosting a two-day workshop on how to build a tent-safe heater that can burn isopropyl alcohol or ethanol.
Workshop Day 1: Making the burner
Workshop Day 2: Testing, wicking, caging
Register:
Note: We have limited supplies for this event. Don’t register unless you’re sure you can make it to both days of the workshop (2/11 & 2/12 at 3:30 p.m.)

image by heater bloc via twitter

🐘 An introduction to Mastodon & the fediverse
2023-02-11 13:00 - 15:00
Are you curious about Mastodon and the fediverse? Join us Saturday, February 11th at 1:00 p.m. for an introduction to federated social media with Nelson Chu Pavlosky. Nelson is an admin and moderator at jawns.club, a Philly-centric Mastodon server.
You’ll learn about Mastodon’s history, how it compares to legacy social media (e.g., Twitter), and how it fits into a wider constellation of social media services that can interact using the ActivityPub protocol.
We’ll help you set up a Mastodon account if you don’t have one, and we’ll recommend some people you might want to follow. See you there!
Register (optional but helpful):

🐘 Follow Iffy Books on Mastodon
This event is free. Donations accepted.

Philly ABC Letter Writing for Alex Stokes
2023-02-06 18:30 - 20:30
Philly ABC is back with our regular letter-writing events this month featuring Alex Stokes, an antifascist prisoner sentenced to 20 years for defending himself and others from armed Proud Boys at the New York State Capitol on January 6th.
Alex is a journalist and artist from Albany, NY. He began documenting social unrest in 2014, and was arrested with over 200 protestors and independent journalists during #DisruptJ20 in Washington DC. He was injured during the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA, and has routinely attended Black Lives Matter protests in Albany throughout 2020. He also regularly exposed local white supremacist groups and members.
On January 6, 2021, multiple members of the Proud Boys—a nationwide far-right gang—gathered outside the New York State Capitol in Albany, NY in support of the larger “Stop the Steal” rally in Washington DC. A fight broke out with counter-protestors as one Proud Boy tased a Black man who had his hands in his pockets, and another beating a woman over the head with a flag pole. Alex was watching from the sidelines and ran to help those being attacked, at which point he was also assaulted and managed to fend off multiple attackers, injuring two of them, and helped get other victims away from the fray. The Proud Boys involved did not receive any charges. Alex was charged with first-degree assault, among other charges.
In November 2022, despite video evidence from multiple angles showing this very clear cut case of self defense, and despite the fact that no one died or received life-altering injuries, Alex was found guilty and sentenced to 20 years in prison. His previous work and experience with exposing dangerous hate groups was inadmissible for his defense. The prosecution picked apart his social media accounts and portrayed his actions as premeditated. Alex is currently appealing the sentence. A fundraiser has been launched by the International Anti-Fascist Defence Fund to ensure that his appeal case does not lack financial resources.
Join us this Monday at 6:30pm, at Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St. #3E). Snacks and letter-writing supplies will be provided. If you cannot make the event, please send Alex some love at:
Alex Contompasis #22B5028
Elmira Correctional Facility
PO Box 500
Elmira, New York 14901
We’ll also be signing birthday cards for political prisoners with birthdays in February: Veronza Bowers (February 4th), Kamau Sadiki (February 19th), and Oso Blanco (February 25th).
from the Philly ABC blog

🔊 Make your own MP3 boombox
2023-02-05 15:30 - 17:30
Join us at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, February 5th and make your own MP3 boombox! We’ll use the DFPlayer Mini MP3 player board (below), which has an SD card slot and a built-in 3-watt amplifier. You’ll set up the MP3 player controls on a breadboard, connect speakers and a battery, and mount everything in a cardboard enclosure.
We’ll have a kit available for $15. The kit includes a DFPlayer Mini board, two small breadboards, an 18650 battery, and several other parts you’ll need. (If you can’t afford the kit, you can still join us for the project.)
Please bring scavenged speakers if you have them! (We’ll have speakers to share, but we aren’t 100% sure we’ll have enough for everyone.) Old computers speakers, speakers from broken CD players, and over-the-ear headphones are likely to work well. 3-Watt speakers are ideal, but you can experiment with other sizes.
You’ll also need a Micro SD card (32GB or smaller). We’ll have 16GB SD cards for $5.

Register:

🧲 Data Destruction Day
2023-02-04 13:00 - 17:00
On Saturday, February 4th we’re hosting a data destruction event at Iffy Books. Join us at 1 p.m. for a workshop on several command-line tools for securely deleting data on magnetic drives (shred, wipe, and srm). We’ll also discuss full-disk encryption. Bring a laptop and/or external hard drive for hands-on practice!
From 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. we’ll provide tools and assistance for anyone who wants to destroy some data. Drop by any time! We’ll have a large electromagnet for wiping magnetic drives and tape, as well as a nail gun for destroying any kind of storage device.
In the spirit of leaving no trace, we aren’t doing registration for this event. Mark your calendar now!
This event is free. Donations accepted.

🔓 Philly 2600 Meetup + TOOOL Meetup
2023-02-03 18:00 - 21:00
The Philly 2600 meetup will be at Iffy Books on Friday, February 3rd, starting around 6:00 p.m.
> The Philly 2600 meeting is a monthly gathering of local hackers, phreaks, nerds, geeks, activists, tinkerers, developers, infosec professionals, and other interesting people.
We’re also hosting a meetup for the Philadelphia Chapter of the Open Organization of Lockpickers:
> Come join us for our monthly First Friday 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.

Letter Writing for 6 Forest Defenders in Atlanta Denied Bail
2023-02-02 18:00 - 20:00
On Thursday, February 2nd at 6 p.m. we’re hosting a letter writing event for six Atlanta Forest defenders who have been denied bail. Bring a pen!

Philadelphia Creators Meetup
2023-01-28 13:00 - 15:00
A new meetup for creators in Philly! You can find more info on Facebook: Philadelphia Creators Meetup

Game Night: Solarpunk Futures
2023-01-26 18:30 - 20:30
On Thursday, January 26th at 6:30 p.m. we’ll play a round of the tabletop storytelling game Solarpunk Futures.
Solarpunk Futures is a storytelling game where players imagine the pathways to a desirable world from the perspective of a utopian future. Players use a deck of cards to remember Ancestors and work together using Tools and Values to overcome a set of real-world Challenges. Through dialogue and collaborative worldbuilding, collective and visionary narratives emerge of a new society, along with plausible scenarios for how to get there.
Solarpunk Futures is a project by Solarpunk Surf Club, led by members Nick Lyell & Max Puchalsky
Illustration by Solarpunk Surf Club, licensed under CC BY NC SA 4.0
Register:
