WHYcast transcript episode 21

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Transcript 21

Ad: Hi and welcome to the WHYcast episode 21. My name is Ad and Nancy will be joining us shortly. We are the hosts of the podcast, the only podcast about a hacker camp in the universe, and this volunteer-run event will take place this year in the Netherlands approximately 42 kilometers above Amsterdam from August 8 to 12, 2025.

Ad: Normally Nancy would ask me, “What are we talking about this time?” and I would say “The news,” “Where to hack,” followed by a cool interview, vacancy of the week, listener questions, but I want to start off with where to hack because we are actually on our way to Hacker Hotel—and so is Nancy. So I just quickly record this intro while getting some more snacks, because when you're road tripping you need snacks. In a bit we'll cut to Hacker Hotel and then I will record the news together with Nancy on location. See you there.

Nancy: Hello and welcome to the WHYcast episode 21. I'm already here at Hacker Hotel; Ad is also somewhere. Let's see what he's up to. So look what I found—it's me, an influencer in the wild.

Nancy: We are at Hacker Hotel. Yes, of course we are. But I think most people already know about this by now. And we can actually touch each other now. That's also interesting—usually we do this remotely, but now we're at the same location. We're a couple of hundred something kilometers away from where we usually are.

Nancy: So we can touch each other, but now we're live on location at Hacker Hotel in the special WHY room.

Ad: We have a WHY room. What are we going to do here? We are going to do a lot of tiny tasks hopefully, because there are a lot of small things that need to happen and anyone with a heartbeat and 37 degrees can take care of them.

Nancy: So let's gather all the people who are here and who are willing to help out—even if it's just one hour or half an hour. You can pick something up and make it happen. I think it's great. A lot of people I've met already who are also coming to WHY are here.

Nancy: We will probably also try to do it online as well, making it a hybrid session. But that's still a little bit of work in progress for now—we'll see.

Ad: This episode will come out at the exact time that the Hacker Hotel doors officially open.

Nancy: Geeky Valentine's Day. Geeky Valentine's Day—yes, and as I said in the intro, we should look at the news.

Nancy: So what news do we have? Well, there's something about ticket prices. It's now February, and until the end of the month ticket prices are €342.

Nancy: From March 1, they go up to €362, I think. So if you get your paycheck and it's still February, go and buy a ticket now.

Ad: Go buy a ticket. This will be the last price change up until the event.

Nancy: We also have the late-nerd ticket from March 1, following the early-nerd ticket. If you're really, really late to the party, we have Procrastinator tickets from July 1—in the show notes if I'm wrong.

Nancy: Also, today when this episode comes out, it's Valentine's Day. We don't particularly like commercial stuff like Valentine's Day, but it is a possibility to give the best Valentine's present ever to your geeky partner—player two, favorite other person. So if you don't have a gift yet, you can get them a nerd ticket, of course.

Nancy: And ticket sales—last time I checked it was around 2,048 tickets sold. That's a nice number. We love numbers. It was fun to see last week we had MCH tickets sold, and then we had WHY tickets, and now we're at 2,048.

Nancy: I saw a blog post on the website, and I received an email from Thijs from Team CTF. I come in the Waikiki soon, so we will probably have an interview with him—but maybe you can tell a little bit more because you're on Team Info as well.

Ad: We got a big message from Thijs from the CTF team saying we have a blog post, social media posts, and something cool—a teaser CTF, a warming-up round online this March. At the end of March there will be an online CTF session to get some feeling for the CTF at WHY in the big tent.

Nancy: So if you've never played a CTF before, this is your chance to get a taste. Can you explain a little bit about what CTF is? Not too much—should we leave some for Thijs?

Ad: No, we'll keep some information for Thijs. A CTF, Capture the Flag, is basically a cyber puzzle you solve to get a bit of text, the flag. It could be hidden in the source code of an HTML page. Or you get hints and dive into JavaScript behind the page. Or cryptographic tricks. There are also hacking challenges where you have to gain access to a machine or make it behave differently to get the flag.

Ad: There are on-site CTFs where you sometimes have to search for the flag physically, like geocaching. You find it on a piece of paper, take proof you saw the flag, and get your points. Usually there's a point system: more points for more difficult challenges. I'm not entirely sure how it's going to be for this CTF, but Thijs will explain.

Nancy: That's basically it. If you want to do it, if you like puzzles or escape rooms, CTF is definitely something to play. I'm always up for playing.

Nancy: Yeah—you’re biased.

Nancy: I'm biased. I think that's anyone who likes a bit of puzzling.

Nancy: There's also a CTF here at Hacker Hotel from another company—looking forward to that one. There's a special CTF room next door. Oh, it's behind you.

Ad: Maybe we have an interview later with someone here doing CTFs. I don't know—open to everything. We'll see.

Ad: If you're not at Hacker Hotel, then sorry—it's sold out. Months ago.

Ad: Next week, on the 22nd, at Hack42 in Arnhem, there's the in-person orga meet. It's a nice place to hack together. If you want to know what teams are up to or help but don't know how, register on the wiki. A note will be in the show notes below. Come to Hack42 in Arnhem at around 1:37 or 2 o'clock-ish. We'll get updates from teams and then time for teams to talk face-to-face, not via email or hitseagulls. That is an excellent time to get a feeling for what teams are doing and align your skills with their needs.

Nancy: Most definitely.

Nancy: And please, please do sign up because last time the food was just enough, according to some people—they would have loved more food, so maybe it was not quite enough. So please sign up so we can make sure there's enough food for everybody.

Ad: Okay. So that's the way to hack, and I think it's now time for an interview, because Nancy spoke with people who do merch.

Nancy: Yes, also the merch you're wearing right now. I spoke a couple of weeks back with Rowan and Frank from Team Merch. We are almost 700 garments sold already—bags, bucket hats, all kinds of cool stuff.

Ad: Shirts, hoodies. And they're going to tell a bit about how it came to be. So let's listen to them.

Nancy: With me here today are the amazing people of Team Merch. Maybe you can start by introducing yourself and what you do for YCamp this year. Shall I start with Rowan?

Rowan: I'm Rowan. I'm from the Netherlands, grew up next to Acrospace Literary on the train of BitLair in Amersfoort. I've been in the community since I was theoretically nine, but realistically since I was 15 or something. I've been to WHY camp since SHA camp, and I always liked it. I've always been involved with some organization, and this time I'm leading Team Merch—making sure we have awesome merch at camp and it's all sorted out.

Nancy: Very cool. Is this the first time in Team Merch?

Rowan: Yes. Although last camp I was organizing patches—we had unofficial patches organized outside of Team:Merch with Nicolette, who did the patch design last time. Now I thought it would be fun to help out officially.

Nancy: Awesome. So tell me some more.

Rowan: Well, Frank, you introduce yourself.

Frank: I'm Frank, also from the Netherlands. I worked for 10 years at Extra Internet; I handled all the merchandise there and then started my own clothing company called Eigenlabel. This is the fourth time we do the camp's merchandise.

Nancy: The fourth time already—wow, amazing. So you might also have some war stories from former camps.

Frank: Yeah. Of course I'm wearing the MCH merch from last time and also Hacker Hotel swag, another Dutch event where we do the merch.

Nancy: Yes. So let's start with this year's design. What were your thoughts and what was the process?

Frank: There was a team from Hairstyle—they made a neon ’80s style look. We worked with new inventions on clothing like UV ink, neon ink, and neon embroideries. So this year will be flashy.

Rowan: Flashy but also subtle. The UV ink will really pop during a party at night. We're working with lighting to have UV spots around camp so the merch stands out. But during the day, it's incognito—a black hoodie, black t-shirt. We also got feedback from previous camps that people want something not black or monotone. So we have an event t-shirt in a few colors, balancing color with incognito.

Nancy: Awesome. Is UV ink used in all the merch? Can you tell us about the types of merch?

Frank: We have a design t-shirt and design hoodie printed with UV ink. Event shirts are printed with normal ink. So only the design shirt and hoodie pop under UV.

Nancy: Is it the same for kids' t-shirts? I saw a remark from Dimitri that he was sad kids' shirts are only in kids' sizes despite having an awesome print. Will kids get the UV-ink version?

Frank: I think so, yeah. The print on the back I'll bring to the event so if you want it you can get it.

Nancy: Ah, so there's a solution for the big kids out there.

Rowan: Yes. At previous events, Funk had a stand and a t-shirt press so you could get the logo printed onto items you brought or bought. So the t-shirts and hoodies aren’t the only items this year. We have a reversible bucket hat—incognito universe print on one side, neon pink towel fabric on the other. Always bring your towel in your hat. We also have a shopper bag with a universe print and a patch, and a more affordable tote bag that Frank will print in-house for people on a smaller budget.

Nancy: A nice range of different things for everybody.

Rowan: Exactly. There's stuff for outgoing people who want color and stuff for people who want to stay under the radar.

Frank: Besides the merchandise, Eigenlabel will also bring other items with WHY logos, like bomber jackets with rosettes on the back and a patch on the front.

Nancy: Cool. Fanny packs, I don't know—things, all kinds of things. And we also have glow-in-the-dark tiaras that match the merch; you can 3D print them yourself.

Rowan: Team:Merch is also working with other teams to design the wristbands for event access. They might have UV print, glitter, glow-in-the-dark, or be woven to match the theme.

Nancy: Love it. Very cool. Since this is the fourth camp, Frank, do you have any war stories or merch challenges?

Frank: At the first camp, merch was a challenge. A week before, it was still in Turkey, stopped at the border. On the first day of camp we didn't have any merch. But by the second day it arrived, so we handed it out.

Nancy: At least it arrived in time, sort of.

Frank: This time we hope to get it weeks before.

Ad: We're learning from that and making sure it's done in time this time.

Nancy: Any other weird cool stuff?

Frank: It's always a fun project to design the merch. This year I'm making all the designs.

Rowan: All the kudos go to Frank for the designs. We gave feedback and brainstormed, but he made the prints, so credit goes to him.

Nancy: Thanks, Frank. If you were talking to someone who’s never been to a Dutch hackercamp, what would you say to convince them to go—besides the merch?

Rowan: Besides the merch, it's primarily the people. An amazing, unique group with stories and stuff to show. It's about all the people coming together, meeting them, making new friends—something special. I haven't replicated it outside hackercamps. MCH and WHY balance tech and making, creativity but not too busy. Perfect camp to start—you're not overwhelmed but can dive in or withdraw as you want.

Frank: You can move peacefully—happy people. I like it very much.

Nancy: Same here. We had Bertu Bera in a former episode and he said every time it’s over he cries a little. I completely relate.

Rowan: Yeah, me too. It's like a happy bubble of creative, interesting people.

Frank: I fully agree.

Nancy: Anything else to add?

Frank: For people who didn't order merchandise yet—link in the show notes. At the event, stop by the merch stand. You can also print your own stuff—bring shirts or anything you want the WHY logo on.

Rowan: If you have questions about merch, reach out to the WHY info channels and they'll redirect you, or email the merch mailing list.

Nancy: Perfect.

Nancy: Well, thank you so much for all the effort you're putting into making WHY merch amazing, and thank you for taking the time for this interview.

Nancy: Let's do the vacancy of the week—or month. It's an urgent one—Team Parking.

Ad: Yeah, we need a Dutch-speaking team lead for parking because of local legislation. You have Konmei on your side—listen to the last interview with her in the latest WHYcast episode; she has loads of experience. You're not alone and will have support, but we need someone to help Team Parking. Please reach out to Konmei or Netsmurf and check the wiki.

Nancy: Maybe we'll make a nicer vacancy text with background info. You can always go to the wiki and click vacancies—if this isn't your thing, maybe some other vacancy is for you. Thank you so much.

Ad: Did we have messages from listeners?

Ad: We did. We got a message for Team Badge—a question about the simple add-on connector. There’s an official standard; I will put a link in the show notes pointing to the add-on connector spec. In the latest 1.69 spec it states you cannot exceed 1.1 millihorsepower of current draw on the connector.

Ad: What is 1.1 millihorsepower, you ask? It's really tiny, but I think it works out to a reasonable number if you do the calculations. If you can do the calculations, put them in the comments—I'm curious if you get the same answers as I did. I'm not entirely sure how to convert horsepower to current, so we'll see.

Nancy: So those were the messages from listeners. I think we're at the end of the episode.

Ad: I think so too. We're going to continue editing Hacker Hotel on the go, ready for everybody. And someone has to edit this episode—so I'll probably be editing.

Nancy: Okay.

Ad: With that, we're at the end. Thank you for listening. Thank you for watching. Hope to catch you next time, because next time is another Friday—Why-day.