🏄‍♀️ IP Addressing Basics
2024-10-02 18:00 - 20:00 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
A talk by Gaia at Iffy Books
Wednesday, October 2nd at 6 p.m.

Ever been curious as to how your home WiFi works? Maybe you’ve heard of an IP address, but don’t really know where to start. Maybe you want to know why your IP address can tell a website where you live? If any of these apply, this event is for you! This is a beginner-focused event which will go introduce attendees to what an IP Address is, IP address types, the components of an IP address, how IP addresses are distributed, and how these apply to the way you use the internet or any other IP-based network. This session’s focus is IPv4 addressing and protocols that leverage it, but there is some IPv6 content as well.

🤖 Shut Down Ghost Robotics Open House
2024-10-03 19:00 - 20:00
CALL TO ACTION: Join us at our open house at Iffy Books on Oct 3rd from 7pm – 8pm. Come engage with other folks concerned about these overpowered buckets of bolts and get involved with future actions. Let’s SHUT IT DOWN.
From the Petition to Shut Down Ghost Robotics:
Founded in 2015 by two Penn graduate students Avik De and Gavin Kenneally, Ghost Robotics designs, manufactures, and sells four-legged robot dogs known as “Vision 60” units to the US and Allied governments. The company operates out of Pennovation Center on Grays Ferry Avenue and has received initial support from Penn’s PCI Ventures. Furthermore, the company receives significant tax breaks through Pennovation’s association with the Keystone Innovation Zone Tax Credit Program. The company routinely tests the robot dogs outdoors at Pennovation Works which has been witnessed and filmed by many community members. These remote-controlled robot dogs can be readily fitted with machine guns and drones and are marketed at military and defense conventions as outlined below. Ghost Robotics is currently the number one supplier of legged robots to US and Allied governments with 25+ national security contracts and more than 450+ units sold to date. The Department of Homeland Security has tested the Ghost Robotics’ robot dogs along the US-Mexico border.

💻 Philly 2600 Meetup
2024-10-04 18:00 - 20:00, 2024-11-01 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.

📡 PHL Meshtastic Meetup & Live Stream
2024-10-05 13:00 - 16:00
Join us for a meetup of Meshtastic users in Philly! We’ll meet in person at Iffy Books, and we’ll be running a live stream so folks can try to join the chat network from home.
Beginners are welcome! We’ll have LoRa transceivers for sale, and a free how-to guide to help you get set up.
➡️ Virtual meetup link
Meshtastic is a project that enables you to use inexpensive LoRa radios as a long range off-grid communication platform in areas without existing or reliable communications infrastructure. This project is 100% community driven and open source!

📚 Philly Socialists Reading Group: 'Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organization' by Rodrigo Nunes
2024-10-06 16:00 - 17:30, 2024-10-20 16:00 - 17:30
We’re reading Neither Vertical nor Horizontal: A Theory of Political Organization by Rodrigo Nunes.

How do we organize in a world after both Occupy and the Sanders campaign?
A decade ago, a wave of mass mobilisations described as “horizontal” and “leaderless” swept the planet, holding the promise of real democracy and justice for the 99%. Many saw its subsequent ebb as proof of the need to go back to what was once called “the question of organisation”. For something so often described as essential, however, political organisation remains a surprisingly under-theorised field. In this book, Rodrigo Nunes proposes to remedy that lack by starting again from scratch. Redefining the terms of the problem, he rejects the confusion between organisation and any of the forms it can take, such as the party, and argues that organisation must be understood as always supposing a diverse ecology of different initiatives and organisational forms. Drawing from a wide array of sources and traditions that include cybernetics, poststructuralism, network theory and Marxism, Nunes develops a grammar that eschews easy oppositions between “verticalism” and “horizontalism”, centralisation and dispersion, and offers a fresh approach to enduring issues like spontaneity, leadership, democracy, strategy, populism, revolution, and the relationship between movements and parties.

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

✏️ The Writing Room
2024-10-08 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-10-15 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-10-22 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-10-29 17:00 - 19:30, 2024-11-05 17:00 - 19:30
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
2024-10-09 18:30 - 20:30
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
2024-10-10 18:00 - 19:30, 2024-10-24 18:00 - 19:30
On the second and fourth Thursday of every month we run a soldering workshop for beginners! You’ll need to buy a circuit board with components for $6 to complete the project. We suggest making a $5–$15 donation for the class, but no one will be turned away for lack of funds.
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:

📚 A literary event with Colin Dodds and Matt Dublin: 'Forget This Good Thing'
2024-10-11 19:00 - 21:00
Forget this Good Thing is a first-of-its-kind literary and philosophical experience. Both a book and an app, it was named a finalist for the Big Other Book Prize for Nonfiction.
Born out of a writer’s gift to friends during COVID, this playful yet erudite project is a magic eight ball for today’s technological age. It is a mixture of chance, ancient wisdom and parlor game.
The oracle/app will answer any and all questions, no matter how serious or how silly! Join Colin Dodds, prolific and longtime writer, and his tech co-creator, Matt Dublin for an evening of whimsy!
https://forgetthisgoodthing.vercel.app/
https://thecolindodds.com/

🎥 A Screening of 'Metropolis' (1927)
2024-10-12 18:30 - 21:00
On Saturday, October 12th at 6:30 p.m. we’re screening the film Metropolis (1927), directed by Fritz Lang and written by Thea von Harbou and Lang. This free event is presented by the Neo-Luddite Reading Group.
In a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city’s mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.

🎶 Intro to Computer Music: Build an Algorithmic Sequencer in Max
2024-10-16 18:00 - 20:00
This workshop approaches one of the most fundamental components of electronic music-making — the sequencer — as a potential creative collaborator. Leveraging a handful of simple algorithms, participants will develop their own interactive digital music software application capable of coaxing complex rhythms and melodies from your favorite software-based synthesizers and MIDI-enabled hardware. To accomplish this task, we will be using the graphical programming platform Max [cycling74.com/downloads/]. No musical or computer programming experience is necessary, but participants are encouraged to download Max ahead of time and take a look. For questions, please contact instructor Dr. Matt O’Hare at me@mattohare.com.
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
2024-10-17 19:00 - 21:00, 2024-11-07 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 ..

🔓 TOOOL Lock Picking Meetup
2024-10-18 18:00 - 20:00
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.

🖇️ Volunteer Zine Folding Session
2024-10-23 13:00 - 15:00, 2024-11-06 14:00 - 16:00
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:

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

📡 Meshtastic 101 Class & Meetup
2024-10-23 15:00 - 18:00
Our Meshtastic 101 class will begin at 3 p.m. on October 23rd, followed by a general meetup for local Meshtastic users from 4–6 p.m.

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.
➡️ Virtual meetup link (starting at 4 p.m.)
Register:

🎵 Open Cassette Mixtape Session
2024-10-30 13:00 - 17:00
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.

🪐 Speculative Futures Reading Group: 'To Be Taught, If Fortunate' by Becky Chambers
2024-10-30 19:00 - 20:30
Join us Wednesday, October 30th at 7 p.m. to discuss the novel To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers. (We moved Who Fears Death to November 27th because copies were temporarily on backorder.)

🪧 Open 4–7 p.m. on Sunday, Nov 3
2024-11-03
We’re opening late on Sunday, November 3rd. We’ll be here 4–7 p.m.
Sorry for the inconvenience!

📚 Philly Socialists Reading Group
2024-11-03 16:00 - 17:30
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

🎶 Electronic Music Machines: Intro to Modular Synthesizers in VCV Rack
2024-11-06 18:00 - 20:00
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:

🎥 The Internet’s Own Boy: The Story of Aaron Swartz (2014)
2024-11-08 19:00 - 21:00
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
