⏳ Pico LED Hourglass Workshop
2026-01-11 10:30 - 12:30 (America/New_York) | Iffy Books, 404 S. 20th St., Philadelphia, 19146, United States
Learn to make a programmable game timer and dice with a Pi Pico microcontroller! First you’ll solder six LEDs, two switches, and a vibration motor to the board’s GPIO pins. Then you’ll install and customize the CircuitPython code that makes it work. No experience needed!
You’ll need to buy a kit for $8.50 to complete this project.
• RP2040/Pi Pico board
• wood base w/ pilot holes
• 6 LED lights
• vibration motor
• push button switch
• 4 screws w /spacers
Instructions & starter code
Register
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

🧵 Anarchist Sewing Club
2026-01-11 15:00 - 17:00, 2026-02-08 15:00 - 17:00
Interested in learning to sew, mend or make clothes? Already know how and wanna hang out with people while sewing? Come and join us! Sewing supplies and a sewing machine will be available for anyone needing them.

Image credit

✏️ The Writing Room
2026-01-13 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.

🤔 FAFIO Beginner Tech Meetup: Share a File with BitTorrent
2026-01-14 18:30 - 20:30
FAFIO is a new meetup for folks who want to learn new tech skills but aren’t sure where to start. Let’s fuck around and figure it out! Feel free to come and work on something else!
This month we’re focusing on BitTorrent, a widely used peer-to-peer file sharing protocol. If you’ve ever wanted to share big files without using centralized “cloud” services, this meetup is for you!
Here’s the zine we’ll be working through:
🗒️ Share a file with BitTorrent
▸ PDF
▸ Imposed PDF

💻 Nushell Basics
2026-01-15 18:30 - 20:30
Nushell is a modern shell that combines a rich programming language with a fully functional shell for efficient and versatile usage.
Register
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

⚡️ Beginner Soldering: LED Spinning Top
2026-01-16 12:00 - 13:30
For this class we’re building a spinning top toy with LED lights that flash when it spins. No previous soldering experience required!

Registration
Registration for this event is now closed. Sorry.
Here's a link to future workshops in this series!

❤️ Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
2026-01-16 14:00 - 16:00
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. Sorry.
Here's a link to future workshops in this series!

🌤️ Breadboard Weather Display Workshop
2026-01-17 10:30 - 12:30
Learn to connect an ESP32 microcontroller and an OLED screen on a breadboard to make a web-connected weather display!
Register
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

📡 Meshtastic 101
2026-01-18 10:30 - 12:00
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.
We’re suggesting a $5–$15 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Here’s a link to our zine on LoRa + Meshtastic.
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. We'll offer it again soon!

✏️ T̶h̶e̶ ̶W̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶R̶o̶o̶m̶ (canceled due to cold!)
2026-01-20 17:00 - 19:30
We’re calling off the group this week due to cold temps. Stay warm, everyone!
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.

👁️ Intelligence History Reading Group: 'Den of Spies' by Craig Unger
2026-01-21 19:00 - 20:30
For our January meeting we’re reading Den of Spies: Reagan, Carter, and the Secret History of the Treason That Stole the White House (2025) by Craig Unger.

It was a tinderbox of an accusation. In April 1991, the New York Times ran an op-ed alleging that Ronald Reagan’s 1980 presidential campaign had conspired with the Iranian government to delay the release of 52 American hostages until after the 1980 election. The Iranian hostage crisis was President Jimmy Carter’s largest political vulnerability, and his lack of success freeing them ultimately sealed his fate at the ballot box. In return for keeping Americans in captivity until Reagan assumed the oath of office, the Republicans had secretly funneled arms to Iran. Treasonous and illegal, the operation—planned and executed by Reagan’s campaign manager Bill Casey—amounted to a shadow foreign policy run by private citizens that ensured Reagan’s victory.
Investigative journalist Craig Unger was one of the first reporters covering the October Surprise—initially for Esquire and then Newsweek—and while attempting to unravel the mystery, he was fired, sued, and ostracized by the Washington press corps, as a counter narrative took hold: The October Surprise was a hoax. Though Unger later recovered his name and became a bestselling author on Republican abuses of power, the October Surprise remained his white whale, the project he—as well as legendary investigative journalist, the late Robert Parry—worked on late at night and between assignments.
In Den of Spies, Unger reveals the definitive story of the October Surprise, going inside his three-decade reporting odyssey, along with Parry’s never-before-seen archives, and sharing startling truths about what really happened in 1980. The result is a real-life political thriller filled with double agents, CIA operatives, slippery politicians, KGB documents, wealthy Republicans, and dogged journalists. A timely and provocative history that presages our Trump-era political scandals, Den of Spies demonstrates the stakes of allowing the politics of the moment to obscure the writing of our history.

🖼️ Beginner Block Printing Workshop
2026-01-22 18:00 - 20:30
Join us on January 22nd from 6:00–8:30 p.m. and learn the basics of block printing. We’ll carve designs into linoleum blocks and make prints with a provisional press. Thanks to Bryn for putting it together!
Register:
Registration for this event is now closed. Sorry.
Here's a link to future workshops in this series!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

⚡️ Beginner Soldering: LED Spinning Top
2026-01-23 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-01-30 12:00 - 13:30, 2026-02-06 12:00 - 13:30
For this class we’re building a spinning top toy with LED lights that flash when it spins. No previous soldering experience required!

Registration
Registration for this event is now closed. Sorry.
Here's a link to future workshops in this series!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

❤️ Soldering Practice: LED Heart Board
2026-01-23 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-01-30 14:00 - 16:00, 2026-02-06 14:00 - 16:00
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. Sorry.
Here's a link to future workshops in this series!
This workshop is now full. We'll offer it again soon!

🏠 Host a Website at Home (Moved to Sunday!)
2026-01-25 10:30 - 12:30
Join us for the workshop Host a Website at Home! You’ll learn to run a web server using Apache on a single-board computer, letting you host a website from your home internet connection.
We’ll have home server kits available for $51.99. Here’s what’s included:
• Orange Pi Zero 3 single-board computer
• Micro HDMI adapter cable
• 20W power supply w/ USB-C port
• 60W USB-C to USB-C power cable (6″)
• zip tie & rubber bands
Here’s what you’ll need at home:
• Monitor or TV w/ HDMI input
• micro SD card (16GB or larger)
• Ethernet cable
• HDMI cable
• USB keyboard with USB-A plug
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!

🚧 Make Your First Website (canceled due to the weather!)
2026-01-26 18:00 - 20:00
Make a home page like it’s 1999! Join us at Iffy Books for a new workshop called Make Your First Website, led by Ragman a.k.a. Richard Green. You’ll learn the basics of HTML and create a static site on the free hosting service Neocities. No experience necessary!
Please bring a laptop if you have one. We’re suggesting a $5–$25 donation for this workshop, no one turned away for lack of funds.

✏️ T̶h̶e̶ ̶W̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶R̶o̶o̶m̶ (canceled due to cold!)
2026-01-27 17:00 - 19:30
We’re canceling this week’s Writing Room due to low temps and icy conditions. Stay warm, everyone!
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.

👾 HDMI Video Throwie Workshop
2026-01-31 10:30 - 12:30
Solder DVI sock to Pi Pico board (see photo).

Connect “5” pin on DVI sock to “VSYS” pin on Pi Pico and solder in place.

Follow the instructions at the following URL to load CircuitPython firmware, libraries, and code.py file onto your device. You’ll need a microUSB cable with a data connection. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-dvi-sock-for-pico

Connect your HDMI throwie to a TV or monitor and test it out!

(Optinal) Trim the heat shrink tubing to size, slip it over the device, and shrink it with a heat gun or hairdryer.

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!

👾 HDMI Video Throwie Workshop
2026-02-01 10:30 - 12:30
In this workshop you’ll use a Pi Pico microcontroller to send low-res (320×240) digital video to an HDMI display. Despite its limitations, the cool thing about this device is that it’s inexpensive enough that you can plug it in somewhere (perhaps a wall of TVs at an electronics store) and leave it behind for prank/art/propaganda purposes. The term “throwie” usually refers to a battery-powered device such as an LED light or radio transmitter with magnets on the back, tossed onto a high metal surface where it can’t easily be reached.
Your Pi Pico will generate video in the DVI-D format rather than the newer HDMI standard. But because HDMI is backwards compatible with DVI-D, your device should work with any HDMI monitor or TV.
Here’s what’s in the kit:

Pi Pico board w/ microUSB port
Pico DVI video sock
insulated wire (4″)
heat shrink tubing (3″)

Here’s what else you’ll need:

HDMI cable
microUSB cable with data connection
computer (macOS/Linux/Windows)
soldering iron
lead-free solder
flux paste
header pins (optional)
wire stripping tool (optional)

➡️ Instructions
Register
coming soon!

🏠 IndieWeb Homebrew Website Club
2026-02-01 18:00 - 20:00
Homebrew Website Club is a growing world-wide network of meetups for everyone who wants to take back their web experience from social media silos, and own their online identities & content, or just want support with blogging!

✏️ T̶h̶e̶ ̶W̶r̶i̶t̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶R̶o̶o̶m̶ (canceled due to cold)
2026-02-03 17:00 - 19:30
The folks who host our weekly co-working group have decided to call it off again due to the weather. Hope to see you next week!

🪐 Speculative Futures Reading Group: 'Hell Followed With Us' by Andrew Joseph White (postponed to 2/4!)
2026-02-04 19:00 - 20:30
We’re postponing this month’s meeting ’til Wednesday, February 4th due to ice and low temps across Philly. See you then!

💻 Philly 2600 Meetup
2026-02-06 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.

📡 Meshtastic 101
2026-02-07 10:30 - 12:00
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.
We’re suggesting a $5–$15 donation for the class, no one turned away for lack of funds.
Here’s a link to our zine on LoRa + Meshtastic.
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!

🚧 Make Your First Website
2026-02-09 18:00 - 20:00
Make a home page like it’s 1999! Join us at Iffy Books for a new workshop called Make Your First Website, led by Ragman a.k.a. Richard Green. You’ll learn the basics of HTML and create a static site on the free hosting service Neocities. No experience necessary!
Please bring a laptop if you have one. We’re suggesting a $10–$25 donation for this workshop, 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!
