Workshops for HacktionLab Summer 2023

The following is a list of ideas for workshops, talks or other activities for the forthcoming HacktionLab Summer 2023 taking place in June in Sheffield, UK. The *Nerd gag* measures how technical and jargony the session might be, from "on tight" being accessible to all, to "ungagged" being no-holes-barred tech talk. In the middle there's "breathing room" and "rather loose".

Session times

TBC, but here’s a guide…

Friday

• 9.30 - 11.00 - Sessions
• 11.00 - 11.30 - Break
• 12.00 - 13.30 - Sessions
• 13.30 - 14.30 - Lunch
• 14.30 - 15.30 - Session
• 15.30 - 16.00 - Break
• 16.00 - 17.00 - Sessions

Saturday

• 9.30 - 11.00 - Sessions
• 11.00 - 11.30 - Break
• 12.00 - 13.30 - Sessions
• 13.30 - 14.30 - Lunch
• 14.30 - 15.30 - Session
• 15.30 - 16.00 - Break
• 16.00 - 17.00 - Sessions

Sunday

• 10.00 - 11.00 - Sessions
• 11.00 - 12.00 - Brunch
• 12.00 - 13.00 - Session
• 13.00 - 13.30 - Break
• 13.30 - 14.30 - Sessions

Types of Sessions

• Talk: 30-60 mins - please say if you need a projector / screen etc
• Workshops: typically 60 mins - let us know your requirements
• Skill Share Sessions: typically 60 mins - hands on in collaboration with others around a theme
• Round Table Discussions: typically 60 mins - around a theme
• Lightning Talks: typically 5-10 mins - these may be themed together or at random

Example

Title of workshop?

Format

talk / workshop (interactive) / skills share / round table / lighting talk

Proposed by

Your name

Length

30-60 minutes, 5-15 for a lighting talk

Equipment

projector, speakers, paper, pens, posits, chairs, etc

Description

a description of the workshop

Nerd gag

How much technical background will people need to be able to follow the session? Nerd gag measures how technical and jargony the session might be, from "on tight" being accessible to all, to "ungagged" being no-holes-barred tech talk. In the middle there's "breathing room" and "rather loose".

Reflective & Philosophical

Objectivism for Lefties: the philosophy of Ayn Rand

Format

talk

Proposed by

Mike

Length

30-40 mins plus discussion

Equipment

projector, maybe speakers

Description

The Russian-American author Ayn Rand was a controversial character in her lifetime and still is today. She’s often considered an apologist for selfishness and capitalist values by her detractors and is very much not a natural bed-fellow of the left. But by conservatives she is also considered a liberal who deplores the concept of statism and champions individual freedom and consent; values familiar to many on the left. In this talk I will take a look at who she was, her novels and other writings, her influence upon the Silicon Valley entrepreneur, then attempt to take a nuanced look at her World-view, and open the discussion as to whether there's something useful that can be learned from them.

Nerd gag

on tight

Emergent Technologies

Ecotech

Format

talk / workshop (interactive)? / skills share / round table

Proposed by

thebrentc

Length

45 minutes

Equipment

Description

Environmental issues around computing and digital technologies, probably with a web technologies focus.

TBC: Background, Practice (e.g. green hosting, assessment, software and system design approaches), possibly a case study

Nerd gag

on tight/breathing room - practice might become loose but hopefully we can moderate this

FLOSS Alexa?

Format

round table

Proposed by

Jonathan

Length

45 minutes

Equipment

Description

What Free/Libre software/hardware are you still waiting for? A tech/non-tech discussion. Example: I'm still waiting for a desktop Operating System that I can interact with by talking, keyboard-free, like Alexa ... open source AI... Fully automated luxury communism ...

Nerd gag

breathing room - a discussion for all(/time)

Non -alternativeInternet: the Fediverse and peer-2-peer

2023 - the year twitter died (WIP)

Is there a reason for twitter to exist anymore ?

Will a federated social media protocol finally displace the normies

does anyone actually use an ActivityPub network?

does anyone actually use twitter ?

Are Silos a good thing

The Tech Is Ours!

Event calendar: radar.squat.net

Format

skillshare/workshop

Requested by

locally

Proposed by

ekes & clara

Length

½ -1 hour or as needed

Equiment

own laptops, projector if there are more folk interested

Description

intro to https://radar.squat.net/ Get your group registered, update broken stuff. Talk about plans and ideas for the shiny new version.

Nerd gag

on tight

Programming and other nerding

The maths behind Mandelbrot and Julia

Format

talk

Proposed by

Mike

Length

45 mins

Equipment

projector

Description

A revamp of a talk on the Mandelbrot and Julia sets that I first gave at BarnCamp in 2011 and updated for the Wizard Amigos Code Camp at the Astral Ship in Autumn 2022. In the talk I take a look at the maths behind the beautiful Mandelbrot and Julia set images that appeared in the late 1980s and have continued in every increasing sophistication and resolution since. I’ll attempt to explain imaginary and complex numbers, iterative algorithms, pixel plotting strategies, with a live demo you can run in your own web browser, and code you can fork and develop yourself. Bring your laptop and explore with us.

Nerd gag

ungagged

Alternative hosting and services for activists and others

XtreamLab: a "free" hosting company that charges its activists

Format

talk

Proposed by

MikeHarris

Length

30 mins

Equipment

projector

Description

XtreamLab does alternative hosting for artists, coops, activists, and small businesses. It's been running nearly 12 years as a for-profit company. This talk covers what it does, the journey, and how charging people for services can lead to a healthy and affordable relationship.

Nerd gag

on tight

Other

melting stuff in your microwave (wip)

using your microwave to make rubies and other jewellery

Sovereign commemorations

It is a king's birthday (Saturday 17th June) so feels like we could do something

'Alternative' events and groups networking

Format

talk

Proposed by

Jonathan

Length

45 mins

Equipment

projector

Description

Radar - radar.squat.net/en/why-radar - Activist-led technology for international listing of events and groups, which campaigns, pressure groups and "social movements" at local level can join in with, to share and syndicate their events/groups info across the world

Nerd gag

~50%?