Last weekend saw the staging of BarnCamp 2015 (in which Bristol Wireless’ volunteers have been involved since its inception. Ed.). Running from Friday 19th June to Sunday 21st, BarnCamp was as usual a low-cost rural DIY skillsharing event open to everyone, including UK activists, campaigners, people involved in social and community groups and anybody else […]
Barncamp is a low-cost, rural DIY skills sharing event open to everyone, including UK activists, campaigners, people involved in social and community groups, and anybody else with an interest in technology and how to subvert it to put it to good use. All skill levels are welcome and the organisers promise that workshops are not […]
Microsoft has announced that it will be ending support for Windows XP, now 12 years old, on 8th April 2014. The Bristol & Bath Linux Users’ Group (BBLUG) has seen this as an opportunity to introduce people currently using XP to a reliable free and open source Linux operating system and has planned an event […]
The Bank of England recently announced that social and prison reformer Elizabeth Fry, who currently graces the English five pound note, is to be replaced by Sir Winston Churchill, leaving Elizabeth Windsor as the only woman shown on an English bank note – and that’s merely due to an accident of birth. Since the announcement, […]
Yesterday, the Bristol Wireless members of the production crew returned to Bristol from this year’s Barncamp event (the fifth that has been organised. Ed.) after clearing out all the kit. Barncamp is a joint event organised by HacktionLab, Bristol Wireless and FLOSS Manuals, and has been described by our friend Charlie as follows: …hanging out […]
Next month on the weekend from Friday 7th to Sunday 9th, BarnCamp 2013 – a weekend of hacktivism, workshops, entertainment, politics and fun in the sun – will be taking place. BarnCamp is three days of workshops, discussions, demos and practical how-to sessions looking at how technology can be useful (and dangerous) for campaigners, community […]
The email below has been posted today to the Hacktionlab mailing list. Hi All, I’m pleased to announce that the BarnCamp 2013 sign-up is now live and on-line: https://barncamp.org.uk/ More information about BarnCamp on that site and at: https://hacktionlab.org/barncamp/ You know what to do! 🙂
We learn today from the Wild Webmink blog that the controversy over the Communications Data Bill – aka the Snooper’s Charter – is still rumbling on (news passim). To quote: The UK’s Home Office continues to push for maximum surveillance powers with minimum accountability in the latest adjustments to the Communications Data Bill. Although the […]
Regular readers will know that Bristol Wireless takes a dim view of the government’s draft Communications Data Bill, also known as the Snooper’s Charter (news passim). Consequently, we were pleased to hear that the Open Rights Group is organising a series of workshops around the UK so supporters can help to tell people across the […]
Today, 16th October is Ada Lovelace Day, which is a worldwide event about sharing stories of women — whether engineers, scientists, technologists or mathematicians and has the aim is to create new role models for girls and women in these male-dominated fields by raising the profile of other women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics […]
Some time ago we wrote to our local MP, Dawn Primarolo, about the Government’s proposed Draft Communications Bill, aka Snooper’s Charter (news passim), and we’re still awaiting the courtesy of a reply (or even an acknowledgement), Dawn! However, that’s by the by and there are other matters of greater import to report on the Snooper’s […]
On Monday the advance crew – by now known as the tat-down team and consisting mostly of Bristol Wireless volunteers – arrived back tired but satisfied from the rural Barncamp site up the Wye Valley. Our journey began the previous Wednesday afternoon, when the advance crew got to site after a frantic best part of […]
Yesterday adelayde wrote to the Hacktionlab mailing list with a reminder about the forthcoming Barncamp 2011 (news passim). Hi 2010 Barncamper! You’re probably already aware that we are running BarnCamp again this year, in three weeks time, but as I wasn’t sure everyone was on the mailing list, I’ve decided to send this out the […]
Yesterday, adelayde posted the following email to the Hacktionlab mailing list. Hi all, Am very pleased to announce that the booking system is now on-line at: http://registration.hacktivista.net If you’re intending to come please get on over there and book as soon as possible to secure your place. There are limited places this year as there […]
JH writes to the Hacktionlab list: Richard Stallman is doing 5 talks at various locations around the country in early March. It seems his main current activity is around raising awareness against anti-downloading legislation, corporations imposing Digital Rights Management and cracking down on copyright infringements – so it’s not the standard rant from him about […]
One of the joys of this year’s BarnCamp (news passim) was the banter around the campfire in the evening (in some instances the campfire conversation was redolent of this recent xkcd cartoon. Ed.). And for the following we’re indebted to Asterisk enthusiast Naomi for reciting round the flames on Saturday evening: Our father, who art […]
Today is the last day to sign up for BarnCamp 2010, which will be staged in the beautiful Wye Valley from 11th to 13th June 2010, courtesy of Hacktionlab, a regular convergence space where activists interested and/or working in the areas of alternative media, renewable energy, online video distribution, free software or any other form […]
About a week ago I wrote a piece (news passim) when the forward crew for Hacktionlab were about to depart to site, since when a discreet silence has been maintained. A partial excuse for such taciturnity was your scribe’s duties on the woodpile for the event – hard physical graft for someone used to tickling […]
Sitting on the desk before your correspondent is page 15 from Linux Format edition 119 for June 2009. This is a page entitled ‘Events radar’ and features Linux & open source events from around the world. Looking at June there’s one in particular that caught my eye – Bristol Wireless Linux Bootcamp, Bristol UK, particularly […]
Following on from the two successful gatherings to date – a rural hack meeting in the Wye Valley in June 2008 (news passim) and an urban one in Leeds in October 2008 – HacktionLab is pleased to announce its next rural gathering will be taking place between Thursday 11th and Sunday 14th June 2009 and […]