WHYcast transcript episode 4

WHYcast episode
Episode Nr.	4

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Transcript 4

Nancy: Hi and welcome to the WHYcast episode 4. I’m Nancy.

Ad: And I’m Ad and we are the hosts of the only podcast about a hacker camp in the world. This volunteer-run event will take place next year in the Netherlands, approximately 42 kilometers above Amsterdam from August 8 to 12 2025.

Nancy: So Ad, what are we talking about today?

Ad: Well, this episode is clearly on fire or about fire or both. It’s both. It’s just fire. It’s lit. We’re gonna talk about the monthly meets that we have as the entire organization. We have a cool short interview. We have another cool interview with one of the teams. We have a vacancy that has to do with that interview, but more on that later. There’s obviously a where-to-hack. We have the history. We have a lesson and questions from our listeners. And I think you have to start off with a little apology to Azure Hackerspace.

Nancy: I know. I know. I did add a rectification in the YouTube video from last episode, but I made a major, major mistake. So I’m so sorry for the sweet people of BitLair. I know BitLair is in Amersfoort, and I accidentally said something else. But sorry, I will never do it again. So BitLair is in Amersfoort—not the other big city with an A.

Ad: Well, they both start with an A. So, I mean, mistakes are easy to make. Yeah. So with that out of the way, the monthly meet was the day before yesterday—mm-hmm—the online meet. So if you’re listening to the podcast now, you missed it.

Nancy: Yeah. It was the 9th of October. And the next one will be in November because we have one monthly now. So if you want to join in on the fun and figure out if you can do something for the organization of WHY in any of the 42 teams, I would really like to invite you to join our monthly meeting online in Jitsi. You can find all the information on the wiki—of course—November 6th. And 10, 11-ish days before Christmas, the 14th of December, there will be another physical meet. A lot of the interviews in this podcast are recorded on days like this. Last time, 70 people showed up. We’d like at least that number in December. It will probably be somewhere in the center of the Netherlands. Location will be announced soon, but we would love to see you all there. And of course we will bring our gear as well, so you can make it into the White House if you want to. And if you don’t want to, you can just talk to us without microphones. That’s perfectly fine as well.

Ad: Sure. Absolutely. Yep. Yeah. And someone who did end up with a microphone on his shirt—kind of by surprise—because he was just interested in “Ooh, what kind of gadget do you have there?” I just hit record and talked to Dimi about lasers and fire and pyrotechnics.

Nancy: Fire. More fire.

Ad: Run the clip.

Ad (interviewing Dimitri): Hello.

Dimitri: Oh, hello, Ed.

Ad: I’m here with—uh—with Dimitri.

Dimitri: Yeah, that’s me. Hello. Dimitri here.

Ad: He’s the guy who brings lasers to the party. And not only lasers—flames. Pyro.

Dimitri: Yes, that’s correct. I hope. I’m currently planning to build extra flamethrowers. Last time we had eight flame effects on the stage—gas-powered propane flamethrowers. We want to bring them again, of course. But for WHY, I want to build 16 flamethrowers. They’re liquid-fueled and go up to 10 meters. I’m prototyping right now. If it works, I want to fire them in succession, one-tenth of a second apart, so you get a wall of fire moving along the field. That’s our “firewall” project. I expect to finish the prototype this week. Then I’ll ramp up production and build for winter.

Ad: If you have something to show—a working prototype—we hope to get some pictures and videos. You can insert them wherever.

Dimitri: Yeah, it would be lovely to do that. Thanks so much for having me on the WHYcast. Really cool.

Ad: Hope to have you again.

Dimitri: Oh, yes. Look forward to it. Thanks, Al. Have a nice day.

Nancy: So that was Dimi. Like we told last episode, he’s from BitLair in Amersfoort and organizer of Hacker Hotel in February. Very cool to hear about his plans. I’m really looking forward to what he’s creating.

Ad: Yes. I just spoke to him on the phone. Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to get the prototype working yet, because last weekend was the Weekend of Science. A lot of Dutch hackerspaces had their open days—everybody was invited. He was in the space all weekend showing people around, so he didn’t get to finalize it.

Nancy: My co-anchored Crystal had a little Tesla coil that she found and demonstrated at Hackalot in Eindhoven last weekend. Very cool.

Ad: Do you have a picture to insert here or…?

Nancy: Here it is. I think a lot of hackerspaces had a very cool opportunity to show new or young hackers the beautiful world of science. Must have been a great weekend.

Nancy: Also, on the 7th of September I spoke to Jick. He knows everything about fire—it’s even in his nickname. He’ll tell you himself, because I interviewed him about team:security and team:fire, and also team:first aid. Let’s listen to Jick.

Nancy (interviewing Jick): Welcome. Can you please tell me a little bit about yourself and your team?

Jick: They call me Fireball. I started off as Team Fire but nowadays I’m Team Safety—it covers fire, first aid, and security. We make sure everyone can enjoy the event in a safe way.

Nancy: I find that very important. Can you tell us more about what you do—what kind of activities your team undertakes?

Jick: We have basically three sub-teams. Security focuses on the event perimeter—making sure no one who isn’t allowed gets in. First aid handles any injuries—anyone who hurts themselves—and gets them the right treatment. Fire specializes in preventing fires: placing fire extinguishers, checking that people don’t use charcoal, verifying gas hoses—all very important. All of that fits into a “safety pyramid,” and without it no event.

Nancy: That is our task next Monday, right?

Jick: Absolutely. We’re doing a lot. We’re also talking to the municipality about the permit—making it legal. That’s the hard part—a 70-page document or so. It covers number of extinguishers, number of people, shift schedules, dogs—everything. It’s a lot of information to share.

Nancy: Is there more help needed within your team—specific skills?

Jick: We’re always looking for people who are Red Cross–certified first-aid or doctors for first aid. For Team Fire, we need BHV or fireman certifications. For Team:Safety, we need FIVV certifications—gray or blue badge for security. If you have these, email safety@why2025.org and we’ll add you to the list. You can also check the wiki. The more people we have, the nicer the shifts—more free time to catch talks. The fewer people, the more work per person, so the more the better.

Nancy: That’s for the event itself. Do you also need help in preparation?

Jick: Preparation is tricky in the days leading up to the event: build-up, putting up exit signs, safety checks. Incidents start before day zero—last time someone fell off a truck unloading. We stay on duty through two days after the event. Some volunteers camp a week early, so if you have any certifications and can be there early, let us know.

Nancy: Sounds like a lot of work!

Jick: Yes, but it’s also a hacker event staple—and very important. Shout-out to Dimi for his fire ideas—awesome, and safe because of our team. If anyone has pyrotechnic ideas, come to me and we’ll do it safely.

Ad: Like he mentioned, there’s a vacancy—go help him out. Visit the wiki under “Vacancies” or contact Team Fire, Team First Aid, or Team Safety for details.

Nancy: Okay, now that that’s out of the way, let’s look at where to hack.

Ad: Each week we’ll share where to find WHY-minded people.

Nancy: It’s closer to you than it is to me. Can you tell me a little bit about where to go?

Ad: Hackerspace Drenthe, in the province of Drenthe, is expanding. They’ll open a new hackerspace in Emmen on November 2, starting at 10:00 at the GreenWise campus. Everyone’s invited to come see the new space.

Nancy: I found out via someone I worked with a while ago—failed to keep in touch—so it’s really cool to see they’re opening a second hackerspace in Drenthe. Three days of hacking: October 31 and November 1 is WeekOn, then November 2 in Emmen—a full long weekend of hacking.

Nancy: With that, we’ll go back in time to 2017.

Ad: Each episode we dive into a piece of history from a predecessor of WHY 2025: Galactic Hacker Party (1989), Hacking at the End of the Universe (1993), Hacking in Progress (1997), Hackers at Large (2001), What the Heck (2005), Hacking at Random (2009), Observe.Hack.Make (2013), Still Hacking Anyway (2017), May Contain Hackers (2022), and this week we look at fire trucks.

Ad: In 2017 at SHA, the fire department from Gelderland North and East brought two fire trucks ("brandweerwagens") to camp. They offered inside tours and invited hackers to poke at the Wi-Fi network used for first-responder communications—open guest network. On two occasions, within one and a half hours, they breached the internal network that should have been shielded. That network connected to the internet and the tablets used by firefighters for maps and navigation. This was the communication truck, used when cell reception is poor, especially in large forest-fire operations. The fire department was glad for the ethical-hacking report: they patched firmware and improved security. These hackers improved fire safety.

Nancy: My tent was only about 80 or 100 meters away from that truck at SHA 2017—near the harbor, so lots of water. That was good.

Ad: Although it was the communications truck, not the pump-and-water one.

Nancy: Yeah. But it was really good to see. Amazing to see.

Ad: Did you go inside?

Nancy: No. I didn’t. But a lot of people did—in more than one way.

Ad: Okay. Well, that brings us almost to the end of this episode, but not before we look at our listener questions.

Nancy: Yes. Let’s see if we got more questions than last week.

Ad: We at least got a response on the badges from last episode. I have some materials for a future episode—more about badges.

Nancy: That was not a question, but someone sent more information for another history lesson.

Ad: Yeah. And I think you got a remark about the “42 kilometers above Amsterdam.”

Nancy: I know. Because Geest in Brambrug is actually 37 kilometers, not 42.

Ad: But if you take the car, it’s slightly more. Averaged as the crow flies or by car, you get approximately 42. Close enough for me to say 42. Thanks, Mirta, for the feedback.

Nancy: We changed our opening to “approximately 42,” so it’s factually correct—but we still think it’s 42.

Ad: If you have any feedback, leave comments below on YouTube or email WHYcast@why2025.org. All other information is in the show notes and on the wiki.

Nancy: Perfect. We’ll see each other next week, I think, Ad.

Ad: Yep, definitely—on Friday. WHYday? See you next week.