Burlington Hacker Book Club!

We’re excited to add a new event to the Lab’s roster: the BTV Hacker Book Club! The group will be meeting monthly to discuss a book drawn from a list built by Lab members, with members voting on which book from the list to read each month. While Lab members pick the books, all who have read the book are welcome to the discussions, and attendees are welcome to bring munchies and beverages to share.

Our first pick is A Hacker Manifesto by media theorist McKenzie Wark, and we’ll be gathering for the discussion on Thursday, 8/17 at 6pm in the Couch Room. For more details and updates, RSVP to the Facebook event.

We’ll be discussing setting a recurring monthly date at the August meeting, and Lab members are presently voting on the September book pick. Cyberpunk classic Neuromancer by William Gibson currently holds a narrow lead, but there are a few more days for members to weigh in…

Events in February with Laboratory B

It’s a new month and that means new events with Laboratory B.

Crypto-Party LogoLaboratory B  is currently working to organize a crypto party right in Burlington. This party will be your chance to learn about cryptography, information security and operational security. How to reduce some of the harmed caused by mass surveillance too. Learn about TOR, PGP/GPG, Pseudo-anonymity, TAILS and other super geeky privacy topics.

We are still organizing a location and time but stay tuned because it is coming soon!

Events:

2/7/2014: 2600 Meeting
Laboratory B is the primary supporter of the local 2600 meeting  if you are interested in hacking and security related events in Vermont, check out the 2600 meeting held the first Friday of every month at 5 o’clock at the Food Court at Burlington Town Square Mall.

2/10/2014: What the Hack? How hackathons & makerspaces are sparking innovation in Vermont
In the past few years we’ve seen hackathons and makerspaces spread across the state as creative ways to solve community problems and catalyze collaborations across sectors. Join Burlington NetSquared and leaders of these hackathons and makerspaces for an evening of learning, idea generation and reflection on how we can foster lasting multi-sectoral collaborations–and innovations– through these kinds of events.
If you’ve participated in one of these events, come share your experiences! And if you want to get involved in one of the upcoming hacks or new makerspaces, here’s your chance to ask questions.

Panelists include:
Bradley Holt, Code for BTV
Rebecca Roose, HackVT and My Web Grocer
Jesse Krembs, Laboratory B
Nate Herzog, StoryHack

Meetup info here

2/12/2014, 7-9pm: Crypto-Currency Night.
A semi-regular gathering of Burlington crypto-currency enthusiasts (Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Litecoin, etc.). Feel free to brings thoughts, schemes, snacks and/or beverages to share… RSVP on Facebook

2/18/2014, 7-9 PM: Learn to solder with us at the Lab.
We’ll teach you the basics of through hole soldering with kits from Sparkfun!.   If you interested in learning to solder microelectronics please RSVP us at [email protected] 

2/26/2014, 7-9 PM: Lock Sport Wednesday:
Generally speaking on the last Wednesday of the month we sponsor Lock Sport Wednesday from 6pm to 8pm. This event is a place for folks who are interested in physical security and locksports to get together. We adhere to the idea of better security through education, and we also follow the law in this matter.  Learning how locks works and don’t work is not a crime.