ToorCamp: Adventures In an American Hacker Camp

Posted by timothy on Thursday August 23, 2012 @02:08AM from the funny-thing-about-stereotypes dept.

jcatcw writes "While a tech camping event might sound like an oxymoron, hackers, makers, breakers and shakers assembled at the northwestern tip of the USA for ToorCamp and dispelled the notion that all hackers avoid sunshine and the great outdoors. As you would expect from a hacker conference, there were workshops like the one for lock picking and a plethora of presentations from "hacking computers to brain hacking, from brewing soda to fighting robots, from civil rights to lightning guns." Then unique aspects of this cool hacker camp get more bizarre . . like the laser that was so bright it required FAA clearance to deploy it, the ShadyTel community 'payphone,' the Temple of Robotron, an RFID implantation station, bike jousting, dancing robots and of course campfires. Need an even stranger adventure that's also in the ToorCon family of hacking conferences? There's the upcoming WorldToor, the first ever hacker conference in Antarctica."

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Developing Pioneers by wermske · 2012-08-23 03:22 · Score: 2

Pekka Himanen (The Hacker Ethic) articulates how hackers represent a new, opposing ethos for the information age. That there are values underneath their actions and creations that challenge us all. They share a spirit that they can discover and create great things in imaginative ways. They questions cultural "norms" in a society that is often overly focused on outcomes at the expense of privacy and equality.
The cost and potential profit motives of such adventures (and lack of universal access) seem to be very oxymoronic given the audience and ideals. I question the motives of the sponsors. I also worry that the sensational aspects overwhelm or drown out the very real risks in young, impressionable minds. Additionally, there is the potential "Big Brother" list generating opportunity for government [shudder].
On the whole, I think this is a wonderful idea. It is something I would have enjoyed. But in the absence of any guiding principles or philosophical grounding, I am concerned that we are nurturing western-style martyrs. Every action has consequences...