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

📡 Meshtastic 101
2023-07-09 13:00 - 15:00 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Sunday, July 9th at 1:00 p.m. we’re hosting an introduction to Meshtastic, an application that lets you send private text messages over the air using pocket-sized LoRa radios.
Here’s a link to our updated zine on LoRa + Meshtastic. (Print-imposed PDF coming soon!)
If you have a LoRa radio (or reserve one below), we’ll show you how to flash the latest Meshtastic firmware to the device and customize the settings. If you don’t have a LoRa radio, you’re still welcome to attend!
Register:

🔓 First Friday TOOOL Meetup
2023-07-07 18:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Friday, July 7th at 6 p.m. we’re hosting 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.

📡 Virtual Meshtastic Meetup
2023-07-06 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
We’re hosting a virtual meetup on Thursday, July 6th at 7 p.m. to help Meshtastic users get connected. Our goal is to make a wireless chat network across the PHL area using low-power LoRa radios.
To join the network, you’ll need a LoRa radio such as a Heltec LoRa32, LILYGO LoRa32, or LILYGO T-Beam. Here’s a full list of compatible devices.
We recommend updating your Meshtastic firmware before the meetup. Here’s a link to the latest release.
➡️ Meetup link

🌱 Iglesias Gardens Summer Solstice
2023-07-01 14:00 - 18:00 | Cesar Andreu Iglesias Garden, 425 Arlington St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States
The forecast is calling for rain and thunderstorms all weekend… While the plants are happy, this means we’ll have to reschedule our Solstice celebration to NEXT Saturday, July 1, 2pm to sundown. Same live music, danza Azteca, barbacoa and sancocho, kids art activities and more!
El pronóstico anuncia lluvia y tormentas eléctricas durante todo el fin de semana… Aunque las plantas están felices, esto significa que tendremos que reprogramar nuestra celebración del solsticio para el PRÓXIMO sábado 1 de julio, de 2 p. m. Hasta el atardecer. La misma música en vivo, danza Azteca, barbacoa y sancocho, actividades de arte para niños y más!

🚂 Model Internet Club
2023-06-30 18:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
The Model Internet Club meets again on Friday, June 30th, 6–9 p.m. Our goal is to build an offline network for fun and learning.
At our last meeting we all connected to a wi-fi router (instead of using Ethernet and a switch like the last few meetings). As usual, most of us were using Linux Mint.
We started by giving our computers static IP addresses in the router admin panel, which meant we needed to find our MAC addresses. Here’s a command to get your IP address and MAC address:
ip addr
Here are the steps for hosting a local website using Python:
mkdir ~/Desktop/website
cd ~/Desktop/website
echo "
Welcome to my cool website.
" > index.html
sudo python3 -m http.server --bind 192.168.0.111 --directory . 80
The command below sets your hostname to steve. After running this command and rebooting, your computer will be accessible on the network at steve.local:
hostnamectl hostname steve
We also used Netcat to chat over the network. You can run this command to start listening on port 9999:
nc -l 9999
Then run this command on another computer on the network, using the IP address of the first one:
nc 192.168.0.125 9999
To use UDP instead of TCP, add -u to the commands above.
We discussed several possible ways to create a custom top-level domain for the local network, which will mean running a DNS server (or perhaps using mDNS).
We ended with a discussion on ways to host multiple websites from a single computer.
If you have expertise in any of the topics above, consider joining us on June 30th at 6 p.m.! If you aren’t an expert, come out and learn!

🔉 Modular 101: A Crash Course in Modular Synthesis with Jerry Kaba
2023-06-29 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Modular Synths 101: In this crash course you will learn the basics of sound design with a modular synthesizer. We will cover all the basic components from shaping sound waves to the end of chain effects, a little synth history, and debate west coast vs east coast style! No experience needed. This is an introductory workshop! There will be a number of synths to explore and practice your newfound wisdom on!
Register:

✏️ The Writing Room
2023-06-28 17:00 - 19:00, 2023-06-21 17:00 - 20:00, 2023-06-14 17:00 - 20:00, 2023-06-07 17:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
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.

⚙️ Neo-Luddite Reading Group: 'Resisting AI' by Dan McQuillan
2023-06-27 18:30 - 20:30 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Time and Place:
2nd & 4th Tuesday each month
6:30–8:30 p.m. @ Iffy Books
Beginning Tuesday, June 27th
Contact:
neoluddite@victorgom.es
@notnaughtknot
Discord:
Email neoluddite@victorgom.es for an invite!
You may have played around with chatGPT, or perhaps even used DALL-e to generate images from text. Though Large Language Models have been around since 2018, they’re currently dominating the news thanks to the public release of these newer, even larger models. While impressive, like many technologies, they come at a cost and introduce new risks. However, there are specific issues related to the sheer scale of these models and they highlight the dangers of machines which allow for the consolidation of labor.
These issues are especially concerning given the lack of regulation in the tech industry generally, and the tendency of productivity-increasing technology to further concentrate power in the hands of the few. This reading group will explore these risks and engage with how they work in the hopes of better organizing to protect the rights of workers and individuals. The goal is to have a better understanding of the costs (data, carbon, human labor) and risks (misinformation, unpredictability, bias) of making these machines, as well as limitations in what they can learn about the world primarily through text. We will begin with “Resisting AI: An Anti-fascist Approach to Artificial Intelligence” by Dan McQuillan, with additional optional readings. If you’d like to learn more about me, you can visit victorgom.es for a bio.
Schedule
The only expectation is that you read the chapter(s) of the book that’s listed for that meeting. I tried keeping it around 30 pages on average. Even if you don’t read the assigned chapters, you’re still welcome to participate 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! Optional readings are by no means required, but they may add to and deepen our conversation. They’re a mix of news articles, essays, and journal articles, so you can pick from type of text is most engaging to you. They pull from a range of disciplines and schools of thought, which I hope serves to highlight and survey how many different people conceptualize issues with AI, though it is by no means exhaustive. If you ever find yourself struggling, reach out! Either directly or over discord to the group.
I’d suggest you read this before anything else for some historical context: What the Luddites Really Fought Against by Richard Conniff. The Luddites will also comes up in Chapter 6.
Meeting 1 (June 27th): Resisting AI

Introduction
Chapter 1. Operations of AI

Deep Learning: A Critical Appraisal by Gary Marcus
On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots, Can Language Models Be Too Big? by Emily Bender, Timnit Gebru, Angelina McMillan-Major, & Shmargaret Shmitchell
Stop feeding the hype and start resisting by Iris van Rooij

➡️ Complete reading schedule
Register (optional):

📚 Ulises Big Summer Book Sale 2023
2023-06-25 11:00 - 17:00 | Icebox Project Space at Crane Arts, 1400 N American St., Philadelphia, PA, 19122, United States
It’s almost time for this year’s BIG SUMMER BOOK SALE hosted by Ulises, Icebox Project Space, and FORTUNE with the support of Penn Treaty SSD!
Mark your calendar for Sunday, June 25 from 11 AM–5 PM — there will be books, print and all things adjacent from:
@allcapsstudio
@theeroticprojectxo
@firstlast.us @theheadandthehand @iceboxprojectspace
@iffybooks
@iota.editions
@lotion_decarme
@lot.forty.nine
@manyfortunes
@multiverse_philly
@partnersandson
@pet_riso @philaprintworkshop
#theprintparty
@risolve
@secondstatepress
@seen_journal
@phillysoapbox
@solitazine
@sometimespublishing
@space1026
@whopressdpress
Special guest @rice.philly , tabling on behalf of the Save Chinatown Coalition.
Come for the wares, stay for the snacks, drinks, and sweet summer vibes provided by the legendary @rashidzakat . Free hotdogs until 3PM (w/ vegan options!) and specially designed beverages from the FORTUNE team + A RAFFLE EVERY HOUR!
All Ulises deadstock will be available for 25%, 50% and 75% off!
SEE YOU SOON!
Special thanks to the exceptionally prolific @nick.massarelli for this year’s (and last’s) poster designs ❤️📗!

💻 Router Hack Day
2023-06-24 13:00 - 18:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Here’s a link with step-by-step notes on what we’ve done so far!
On June 24th (1–6 p.m) we’re meeting again to work toward installing open firmware such as OpenWrt or FreshTomato on an old FH1206 router. We have plenty of routers to go around, which we’re selling for $8 each. Proceeds will be split evenly between Philly Community Wireless and Iffy Books.
This will be an informal event, more like a hackathon than a structured workshop. We recommend bringing a laptop if you have one.
Last month we focused on showing folks how to gain access to the router’s serial shell. This month we’re examining the stock firmware, modifying it slightly, and flashing it to the router to see if it works.
• Firmware download for Tenda FH1206 router
The routers we’re trying to hack were sold under the name Atlas Media AMW-DBR1200AC, but they’re actually repackaged Tenda FH1206 routers.
Here’s a blog post with our progress on the router so far.
And here are more details to get you started:
• FCC page for Atlas Media AMW-DBR1200AC
• User manual for Atlas Media AMW-DBR1200AC
• Firmware for Atlas Media AMW-DBR1200AC router
• FCC page for Tenda FH1206
• Tenda FH1206 manual
• Firmware for Tenda FH1206 router
• Wireless Cat page with hardware details
• unblob, a program you can use to decompress the firmware files
• OpenWrt build for a similar Tenda router
• CPU details: Broadcom BCM5358B0

• Command for opening serial connection with your router:
minicom -D /dev/ttyUSB0 -c on
• Docker command for decompressing firmware with unblob:
docker run \n–rm \n–pull always \n-v /Users/iffybooks/Documents/Router_firmware/output:/data/output \n-v /Users/iffybooks/Documents/Router_firmware/input:/data/input \nghcr.io/onekey-sec/unblob:latest –report firmware_reoirt.json /data/input/firmware.bin
• Jim’s unsqhashfs instructions

🌇 Game Night: Solarpunk Futures
2023-06-23 18:30 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Friday, June 23rd 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:

⚡️ Open Soldering Session
2023-06-22 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Thursday, June 22nd from 6–8 p.m. we’re hosting an open soldering session. If you’ve been meaning to get a soldering project done, now’s your chance! We’ll have soldering irons and solder to share for free, as well as DIY electronics kits for sale.
If you’re looking for a step-by-step introduction to soldering, we’re hosting beginner classes on July 13 and August 10.

📍 Philadelphia Bookstore Map Release Party
2023-06-21 10:00 - 12:00 | The Skyline Room, Parkway Central Library, 1901 Vine St., Philadelphia, PA, United States
Join us at the Philly Free Library on Wednesday, June 21 from 10 a.m. to noon for the Philadelphia Bookstore Map release party!
A grassroots project to showcase our 50+ brick & mortar bookstores, a keepsake quality map to be distributed FREE around the city.
The map will include all of the city’s brick-and-mortar bookstores, regardless of size or prominence. Copies will be provided free of charge and made available to anyone who wants one.
The map will be painted and designed by local artist Henry Crane.
Each storefront will be represented by a two-by-two inch watercolor, along with contact information and a descriptive blurb.
The project will be financed by public fundraisers rather than ads to ensure all businesses are represented equally, regardless of whether they can afford to advertise. We’ve launched a GoFundMe
Please spread the word!
Support the Philadelphia Bookstore Map project here.

Bleeding Control Basics
2023-06-20 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
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:

💾🌾 Iffy Books Permacomputing Meetup
2023-06-18 13:00 - 15:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Our next permacomputing meetup is on Sunday, June 18th at 1:00 PM EDT. You can join us in person at Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St. #2I, PHL) or via Jitsi Meet.
This month we’ll discuss the new article Permacomputing Aesthetics: Potential and Limits of Design Constraints in Computational Culture by Mansoux, Howell, Barok, and Heikkilä (2023).
➡️ 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.

🐡 Hackers' Assembly: Streamlined Fuzzy Logic Inference Development for Anti-Phishing
2023-06-15 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
There are not many opportunities to learn the use of fuzzy logic without a detailed coding learning curve. This presentation makes an effort to provide the important and practical concepts of fuzzy logic while applying it to anti-phishing solutions.
This discussion will take the form of both a presentation and a workshop. After some coverage of the phishing problem and the mechanics of fuzzy logic inferencing, the audience will participate in a workshop that demonstrates a streamlined approach to implementing a fuzzy inference system. Two components are covered: (1) The IEC 61131-7 standard of a Fuzzy Control Language and (2) Scalablurry (https://github.com/raygarcia/scalablurry), a platform independent Scala fuzzy logic library that also processes IEC 61131-7 standard scripts. The goal is to build runnable implementations using these two components as a streamlined approach against existing phishing data sets. Only a minimal effort is required to get set up on a laptop for anyone to participate. Instructions will also be provided.
About the Presenter: Raymond Garcia, Ph.D.
Ray is experienced as both an applied researcher and a practitioner in the public sector and across several areas in the private sector that include the telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and banking industries. Within these industries, Ray has used a variety of technologies in applying natural language processing, numerical techniques, and machine learning to subject matters that include insider threat, information assurance, and situational awareness.
Ray has a BS (Temple U.), ME (Penn State), and Ph.D. (Georgia Tech) in Electrical Engineering with a minor in Applied Mathematics.
Materials for the session can be found here:
https://github.com/raygarcia/scalablurry
➡️ RSVP on Meetup

📡 Virtual Meshtastic Meetup
2023-06-13 19:00 - 21:00 | Jitsi Meet (iffybooks.club), 19107
We’re hosting a virtual meetup on Tuesday, June 13th at 7 p.m. to help Meshtastic users get connected. Our goal is to make a wireless chat network across the PHL area using low-power LoRa radios.
To join the network, you’ll need a LoRa radio such as a Heltec LoRa32, LILYGO LoRa32, or LILYGO T-Beam. Here’s a full list of compatible devices.
➡️ Meetup link

🎤 Audio Recording Basics
2023-06-11 13:00 - 15:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Sunday, June 11 at 1 p.m. we’re running a free 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.
We’ll have a computer available for everyone who signs up.
Register:

This event is free. Donations accepted.
Photo CC-BY Tm

🎉 Rail Park Block Party 2023
2023-06-10 12:00 - 17:00 | The Rail Park, 1300 Noble Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Rail Park Block Party 2023
Sat, June 10th
12–5 p.m. at The Rail Park
1300 Noble Street, PHL
Free

What’s more Philly than a block party? Join us on June 10, 2023 for The Rail Park’s Annual Block Party for a day filled with live music, local vendors, food trucks serving up delicious treats and plenty of activities for all ages. Whether you want to dance the day away, explore the park’s beautiful views and greenery, or just soak up the sun with friends, we’ve got you covered.
You won’t want to miss our live musical performances featuring some of the city’s most talented artists and bands curated by Philly’s own Chill Moody.
Best of all, you’ll be supporting the Friends of the Rail Park, a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and enhancing this iconic public space for generations to come. So, bring your family, friends, and neighbors, and join us for a day of celebration, community, and fun!
We can’t wait to see you there!

Register on Eventbrite!

🚂 Model Internet Club
2023-06-09 18:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
The Model Internet Club meets again on Friday, June 9th at 6 p.m. Our goal is to build an offline network for fun and learning. We’ll have routers, switches, servers, and plenty of Ethernet on hand.

⚡️ Beginner Soldering Workshop
2023-06-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Thursday, June 8th at 6:00 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:

🪄 Intro to ImageMagick
2023-06-03 15:30 - 17:30 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Saturday, June 3rd at 3:30 p.m. we’re running a workshop on ImageMagick, an essential command-line tool for converting between image formats and applying custom compression and filters.
Register:

🔐 Philly 2600 Meetup + TOOOL Meetup
2023-06-02 18:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
The Philly 2600 meetup will be at Iffy Books on Friday, June 2nd, starting at 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.

📚 Reading Group: The Water Knife by Paolo Bacigalupi
2023-05-31 19:00 - 20:30 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
On Wednesday, May 31st at 7 p.m. we’ll meet to discuss The Water Knife (2015) by Paolo Bacigalupi.

✏️ The Writing Room at Iffy Books
2023-05-31 17:00 - 19:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States

📡 Virtual Meshtastic Meetup
2023-05-30 19:00 - 21:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
We’re hosting a virtual meetup on Tuesday, May 30th at 7 p.m. to help Meshtastic users get connected. Our goal is to make a wireless chat network across the PHL area using low-power LoRa radios.
To join the network, you’ll need a LoRa radio such as a Heltec LoRa32, LILYGO LoRa32, or LILYGO T-Beam. Here’s a full list of compatible devices.
➡️ Join the meetup

📙 A Poetry Reading with John DeWitt, Mark Francis Johnson & Rosa van Hensbergen
2023-05-28 17:00 - 19:00 | Iffy Books (319 N. 11th St.), 319 N. 11th St. #2I, Philadelphia, PA, 19107, United States
Hi all!

I’m kind of feeling this “cold month of May” thing, reminds me of one of my favorite Cocteau Twins tracks.

That said, anticipate a HOT HOT reading in the early evening of Sunday, May 28th, at Philadelphia’s fabulous Iffy Books. I’m really humbled to be hosting some of my favorite poets!

John DeWitt is a poet and researcher living in Marseille. He is author of 20 20 Pretzels (Materials, 2020) and The Neckless Spokesperson of the Garden of Earthly Delights (Face Press, 2019), as well as a doctoral dissertation on the work of Clark Coolidge.

Mark Francis Johnson‘s latest books are Blown Study (Erotoplasty Editions, 2022) and Doleful Hoo-Ha (Intrinsic Coat, 2022). He lives in Philadelphia.

Rosa van Hensbergen is a researcher, translator, writer, and performance maker. She is Assistant Professor of East Asian Languages and Literatures at Yale, where she teaches and researches modern and contemporary Japanese and American literature and performance. She has five poetry pamphlets published, and she publishes other poets’ work through her small press, Tipped Press.

We’ll be gathering around 5p with the reading beginning at 5:30p at Iffy, which is located at 319 N. 11th St #2I. Attached is a flyer in my typical style— please distribute freely to any and all interested parties.

Love and solidarity until then!
ted
