WHYcast transcript episode 15
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Transcript 15
Nancy: Hi, and welcome to the WHYcast episode 15. I’m Nancy.
Ad: I’m Ad, and we are the hosts of the only podcast about a hacker camp in the universe. This volunteer-run event will take place this year in the Netherlands, approximately 42 kilometers above Amsterdam from August 8 to 12, which is 217 days from now.
Nancy: Happy New Year, Ad. What are we talking about today?
Ad: Thank you very much, and a Happy New Year to you too, and to everyone listening or watching this first episode of 2025, the year of WHY. It’s an actual countdown with 217—I mean, we can now start to cross it off on the calendar. And we have some great news about the ticket sales. We have some… we can mention the merch. The merch—yet again. Ooh. Mm-hmm. We have some cool places where you can hack, and I think you’re going to a very special place as well. And we have a cool interview recorded at the last in-person Orga meet, and another one recorded at CCC.
Nancy: In Hamburg.
Ad: Because you were there, and I want to hear more about that as well. Yep. And, of course, we have the vacancy of the week. We have messages from our listeners, but I think we’ll start off with the news.
Nancy: Yeah. So we aimed for 1,500 tickets sold at the end of last year. We almost made it, which is an amazing score, and I think we did great. At this point, we are at 1,450 tickets sold. And, yeah, we aimed for 1,500. But we really did our best at CCC Congress in Hamburg. We put up, I think, almost 100 posters—we kept some for the Italian embassy—94 posters, thanks to Piiindakaas for that. She did most of the work. Thousands of stickers: each and every sticker exchange we could find. So a lot of WHY stickers are all over Europe now, hopefully. We made a lot of noise. We also brought the big WHY light from Henry to Assembly—sorry, HSNL Village-WHY Village assembly, Nancy. It’s called Assemblies, Nancy, at Congress.
Nancy: Yes.
Ad: But, yeah, this means we are almost halfway through the tickets. So I would love to ask our listeners: I have a lovely WHY pin, which is on my backpack. I got one here—do you have it? I have one here.
Nancy: Perfect.
Ad: Yes, they were made by Dani, Daniela, and I want to give one away to someone who guesses the right date—and let’s also do an hour if more people pick the same date—when will we be halfway through the tickets? That’s 1,750 tickets sold. Whoever wins gets a WHY pin. I will bring it to you personally if it’s in the Netherlands. Can I say that? That’s a daring statement.
Nancy: Yes, you will.
Ad: I will do that. We’ll make an item out of it in the WHYcast. But please let us know in the comments or any other way when we will hit that halfway point. And I think it could be soon.
Ad: Well, we’re closer to the halfway point than to the start—I mean, 1,450 already.
Nancy: That’s a lot.
Ad: It’s a lot. It’s a lot of friends already to party.
Nancy: I will get back with some more Congress stories at the end of the news item. But what was also cool is there was an email sent out by HouseTail on the mailing list. If you sign up for the Orga mailing list, you get these emails as well. You can find the information on the wiki about the generator. The generator is officially live, and I’ve seen a lot of cool creations all around already. You can generate something in the WHY style, pick some colors—it’s crazy cool. Team:Volunteers made an angel-like logo. So it’s not fully from the generator, but it looked very cool. I’ll put it in the show notes. Thanks to O Karin for making it happen. I will reach out to Rohan for a demo so we can have a demo in the WHYcast—though maybe not too audio-friendly, interesting choice of words.
Nancy: And there’s also something else going on: the hack-camp scene is becoming a little older and more luxurious. The waiting list for the camper vans is really blowing up. Next week we’ll have a meeting with PL on many topics, but that will also be on the agenda. We need to find a sweet spot between the real camping experience and the camper vans so we don’t lose the specific atmosphere of having tents. We’ll keep you posted on that.
Nancy: Also, from the 15th of January on, the online Orga meets will be every two weeks. You can find all the meetings on the wiki at wiki.WHY2025.org/meetings. It’s only 217 days left, so a lot of work to do. And we have another sponsor: thank you, Access42, for sponsoring WHY.
Ad: Let’s get back to Congress, because my goodness, what an event it was: 15,000 people from what I heard in the closing talk. I’m always more of a hallway-track kind of person, so I haven’t seen a lot of talks myself, but I heard people come back from sessions with a lot of excitement. Three things stood out: trains, dinosaurs, and automobiles. There was a follow-up talk from last year on the hacking of Polish trains, which was really a must-watch. I saw a tagline: “Lawsuits are temporary, glory is forever.”
Nancy: …
Ad: Yeah, both the vehicle data and personal data of the owners was in there.
Nancy: Not great.
Ad: No, but a great talk.
Nancy: And one I have to watch myself is the talk about dinosaurs. It’s also a good way to sense if your child will be a future hacker—if they love dinosaurs, that’s a good indicator. I haven’t seen it yet, but I heard it was awesome.
Ad: It checks out for me.
Nancy: Right?
Ad: Yep, definitely. And there was also a very cool story about satellite hacking—quite old, obsolete tech in space. They thought maybe we could fix it. Very cool talk.
Nancy: Oh, wow.
Ad: Yeah. I saw people from BornHack, FrightCamp in Belgium, and EMF Camp in the UK. I spoke to folks from EMF Camp. It was awesome to hear about all the other European camps that are going on. And especially for our listener Pink: I talked to the people from FrightCamp and told them you’re coming to WHY because of what you saw at FrightCamp. Very cool.
Ad: Also, were they easily recognizable because they were wearing merch?
Nancy: Well, what we did—there was like a two-hour line for CCC merch. So we put up all our posters in line and talked to everyone: “If you want your WHY merch already, you can order it.” We also posted on socials, “WHY merch is available!”
Ad: If you were waiting in line, you had all the chance and time to order your WHY merch online, because in the ticket shop it not only gives you tickets but also provides merch. And the merch is really, really cool this time, with UV print, a reversible bucket hat with a bathcloth inside. It’s nice and soft, and you can flip it around to neon pink. Awesome—go check that out.
Nancy: We did receive one complaint by Dimitri from Hacker Hotel—the non-existing event, allegedly. He was a bit sad that the children’s design doesn’t come in an adult version. He wanted the rocket.
Ad: Oh.
Nancy: So maybe. That’s not up to me.
Ad: Maybe I can talk to Roman and see what we can do. Sizing for the 4XL and 5XL hoodies will come later—it’s not yet available, but as soon as it is, it will be on the wiki. Show notes will contain the link to the ticket shop, which is also the merch shop. All down below. Please let us know what you think in the comments, because that helps get more people interested in WHY.
Ad: So you were at CCC and you will be going to…
Nancy: Valencia.
Ad: Si.
Nancy: Each week, we’ll share where you can find WHY-minded people. Here’s me having a love-hate relationship with holidays: I’ll call it a workation. I will be in Spain, in Valencia. I figured out there’s a hackerspace there, open on Tuesdays. I’ll bring my WHY gear—posters, stickers—and probably visit the hackerspace in Valencia. If any Spanish listeners live near Valencia, you can meet me there this Tuesday or next Tuesday. Who knows? We might have a Spanish meet-and-greet there.
Ad: Cool.
Nancy: I searched for any New Year’s cyber-meetups anywhere—I couldn’t find any. What about you?
Ad: Nope, I didn’t run across any, but I wasn’t actively searching. If you know one, put it down below in the doobly-doo and maybe some people can hop on board as well. Having New Year’s drinks with WHY-minded people would be cool.
Ad: Speaking of WHY-minded people, Manduca had some more cool stories that we recorded at the Orga meet at Bitlair, so let’s jump into a little history lesson with Manduca.
Manduca: We’re here again in Amersfoort at Bitlair, a very cool hackerspace. I’ve been around since ’97, when the tradition of dropping things started—almost the same terrain as we’re going for. We started because there was a lot of trash lying around; the terrain got messy. We thought we needed to drop stuff for you—it started with a basic forklift. We dropped off items and made a movement: “Who will it drop? Will it drop?” We dropped a wooden thing; it splashed into pieces. Scott tried it; it wasn’t a good idea—but it started the tradition.
Manduca: Then we needed something bigger, so we got a telehandler 80 meters high and dropped a sofa into a container—but it didn’t splash interestingly, so not very exciting. Higher is better. At the last event, we had a big rotating telehandler 25 meters high. We found a free book cabinet in the garbage—it looked like a little house—so we set that on top and dropped it. It dropped spectacularly. We have a lovely video edit from Stitch, which we’ll put on YouTube. For the next event, we’re planning an even higher drop—30 meters—so we need something to drop. If you have ideas, let us know. It must be safe and allowed to drop.
Nancy: Great story—thank you so much, Manduca.
Manduca: You’re welcome.
Nancy: If you want to see the video footage, go to YouTube and scroll to the end of the episode. You’ll see the drop—let us know what you’d like to drop this time.
Ad: So while you were at CCC Congress, I bet you spoke to a million people—or at least some interesting ones. You even did an interview there, right?
Nancy: Absolutely. One of the interesting people is Bas from Team:Waste, who handles trash disposal management for the camp. Let’s listen to my interview with Bas.
Bas: I’m returning to Team:Waste, which handles waste disposal management for the camp. I started in SHA2017, handling waste and being part of the batch team. For WHY, we’re back with Team:Waste because getting rid of waste is very important—and not as high-maintenance as some other teams. Right now, we’re just planning: what kinds of waste do we separate, how many bins do we need, where do they go, what about wet paper towels in the toilets that weigh a ton, and so on. We’ll send out shifts in the Angel system—we’re looking for dedicated team members. Running waste is surprisingly fun: you get to drive a golf cart or Gator with a big trailer, see the entire campsite, and make everybody happy by taking away their trash. At SHA2017, we decorated our golf cart with inflatables. It’s as fun as you make it. We’d love your help with tear-down—when lots of people leave behind tents and furniture, we need to recycle or return it. If you have a couple of days spare after camp, that’d be a big help—just grab a bag and collect trash. And as a visitor, please take everything you brought with you, especially tents.
Nancy: Great war story. What was your first camp?
Bas: SHA2017. I wanted to both Org and visit—I had to help. We even planned a QR-code system like C3 bottles so visitors could report full or empty bins. We worked months on the software and bin placement, but after the first night, all the bins reported “full”—it turned out a security guy scanned every QR code and reported them all full, even though he visited every one on foot. It wasn’t helpful, but the idea was good.
Nancy: As a visitor, what stands out to you from previous camps?
Bas: I learned to enjoy the villages. At Shop I didn’t notice villages—I was too busy. At CCC camp the community was strong: each village organized dinner and it was “gezellig” (cozy, communal). So check out villages as you’d check out Assemblies at Congress—there’s more than talks and workshops. Visit other groups, talk to people, help each other, and share knowledge.
Nancy: I heard that every person you turn to at camp has an interesting story.
Bas: For me, the most amazing project is World of Techno from EMF Camp in the UK. It’s a little cart like a welded robot that makes beepy-boopy techno tracks based on geolocation—every five meters it changes. People drag it around; it’s interactive. It creates an instantly recognizable campsite soundtrack—“I’m at camp, I feel at home.”
Nancy: EMF is the UK camp every two years. The Dutch camp is every four years, the German camp (CCC) is every four, and BornHack in Denmark is every year. All camps have a very different feel—BornHack is about 600 people. All of them are worth visiting.
Ad: What happened last night at Congress? You sent me a Signal: “Come to the main hall, Nancy, now.”
Bas: We were queued for Hacker Jeopardy in Hall 1, but there was a pyrotechnics demo before and it got smoky, so we went downstairs to the Protest March assembly. They were chanting “Let them fight!” with a sign “Illegal Hebocon.” They marched to the entry hallway—and there was Hebocon: literal thousands of people piled in the hall and on balconies, watching very poor robots fight each other. Contestants kept appearing—people ran to their assemblies and grabbed more robots. We spent an hour watching them. I hope we get Hebocon at WHY 2025, because we need it. It was spontaneous, communal madness.
Nancy: One final thought—why should people who’ve never been to a camp go?
Bas: The Germans say “endlich normale Leute”—finally normal people. Everyone has a place where they feel at home and realize they’re not that different from each other. People help each other become who they want to be. It’s the togetherness, community feeling, and willingness to share knowledge, learn, and have fun together. Here at Congress, someone wanted to learn to solder—I skipped a talk and taught them on the spot. That only happens at camps and conferences. If you’re listening to this podcast, you should’ve already booked a ticket. Thanks.
Nancy: Thanks so much, Bas. Looking forward to seeing you again soon.
Ad: What we’ve heard from Bas is that Team:Waste is looking for people to help out, and it’s as much fun as you make it. That goes for a lot of teams.
Nancy: What’s the vacancy of this week?
Ad: This week we’re looking at Team:Shuttle—not a space shuttle, but a car for shuttling people back and forth to the train or bus station. They need a team lead. Someone experienced is there to help, but they need a lead to coordinate the team. Sounds like a warm-up—go for it. And as mentioned, at Congress it’s an Assembly; at WHY we call it a Village.
Ad: We got a question in the mail: what is a Village? It’s a group of people who want to camp together and organize themselves. It could be from the same hackerspace, a shared interest like model trains, a national embassy (Italian Embassy, for example), or a combined hackerspace tent. Some villages even bring small data centers or set up workshops or talks. It’s not a cheap way for a company to advertise; it’s a camp for hackers. If you have more questions, reach out to Team:Villages on the wiki at wiki.WHY2025.org under Teams.
Ad: Thank you all for listening or watching this first episode of 2025, the Year of WHY. If you have feedback, questions, or comments, put them down below or email us at whycast@why2025.org. Like, subscribe, share on social media. We hope to see you next time—next Friday. Bye!
Nancy: Bye!