#hope_16
LightNews LightNews
mrcrypt.bsky.social
Got to do some groovy things this year. Grateful for the opportunities.

Thank you. 🖖😎🏴‍☠️
The BSides Harrisburg logo I prepped for the (pictured) metal challenge coin we made. 2600 van at HOPE_16 Poster for the BSides NEPA conference I helped organize. One side of the unfolded origami elephant I made for my puzzle in the DC610 pub crawl CTF.
January 1, 2026 at 4:40 AM
davidkuszmar.com
It's been a thing for a minute 😊

I presented an exploit at HOPE_16. Towards the final third of my talk, iirc: www.youtube.com/live/6mI-8ia...
HOPE_16 - TRACK 3 - TOBIN 201/202 - DAY 3
YouTube video by ISOC LIVE
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 9:50 PM
davidkuszmar.com
I presented a similar exploit this year at HOPE_16: www.youtube.com/live/6mI-8ia...

I called mine Semantic Slide and it made use of poetic language in Vietnamese.
HOPE_16 - TRACK 3 - TOBIN 201/202 - DAY 3
YouTube video by ISOC LIVE
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:39 PM
davidkuszmar.com
No kidding, I presented an exploit at HOPE_16 this year called "Semantic Slide" that used poetic components of Vietnamese to get incendiary device engineering instructions and improvement.

Should queue to my talk beginning: www.youtube.com/live/6mI-8ia...
November 20, 2025 at 8:37 PM
davidkuszmar.com
I haven't! Thanks for bringing it to my attention, I'll be reading it when I have a moment.

Based on what I glanced at, I actually presented on something similar at HOPE_16 just this year. I disclosed an exploit called Semantic Slide, using poetic language in Vietnamese.
November 20, 2025 at 6:50 PM
ambrown.bsky.social
St. John's University banned one of the oldest hacker conferences in the world because they are complicit with a fascist regime.
Greetings, We've received some disturbing news from the venue of our Hackers On Planet Earth conference. We have been told that "materials and messaging" at our most recent conference "were not in alignment with the mission, values, and reputation of St. John's University" and that we would no longer be able to host our events there. Considering the universal praise from St. John's staff and the smooth handling of HOPE_16 last August, this naturally caught us by surprise. Our content has always been somewhat edgy and we take pride in challenging policies we see as unfair, exposing security weaknesses, standing up for individual privacy rights, and defending freedom of speech. Until now, that has never run afoul of St. John's values - or so we thought. What we're told - and what we find rather hard to believe - is that all of this came about because a single person thought we were promoting an anti-police agenda. They had spotted pamphlets on a table which an attendee had apparently brought to HOPE that espoused that view. Instead of bringing this to our attention, they went to the president's office at St. John's after the conference had ended. That office held an investigation which we had no knowledge of and reached its decision earlier this month. The lack of due process on its own is extremely disturbing.
November 18, 2025 at 6:54 PM
emma.best
From @2600.com:
Greetings, We've received some disturbing news from the venue of our Hackers On Planet Earth conference. We have been told that "materials and messaging" at our most recent conference "were not in alignment with the mission, values, and reputation of St. John's University" and that we would no longer be able to host our events there. Considering the universal praise from St. John's staff and the smooth handling of HOPE_16 last August, this naturally caught us by surprise. Our content has always been somewhat edgy and we take pride in challenging policies we see as unfair, exposing security weaknesses, standing up for individual privacy rights, and defending freedom of speech. Until now, that has never run afoul of St. John's values - or so we thought. What we're told - and what we find rather hard to believe - is that all of this came about because a single person thought we were promoting an anti-police agenda. They had spotted pamphlets on a table which an attendee had apparently brought to HOPE that espoused that view. Instead of bringing this to our attention, they went to the president's office at St. John's after the conference had ended. That office held an investigation which we had no knowledge of and reached its decision earlier this month. The lack of due process on its own is extremely disturbing. The intent of the person behind this appears clear: shut down events like ours and make no attempt to actually communicate or resolve the issue. If it wasn't this pamphlet, it would have been something else. In this day and age where academic institutions live in fear of offending the same authorities we've been challenging for decades, this isn't entirely surprising. It is, however, greatly disappointing, as we truly believed St. John's valued the freedom that we have always stood for. We know the people there who we've worked with understand this and it's unfortunate that those in charge see fit to cut off that invaluable connection. Where does this leave us? Well, obviously in an awkward position. We had already made plans for HOPE 26 to take place at St. John's next August. Our most recent conference was the first in our 31-year history to take place a single year after the previous one. That's how well things were going. So we now have several scenarios. We can scramble to find a new place for next year. We can take a year off and try to build something bigger. We can do something virtual. Or we can work on a combination of these things. As always, your feedback will help guide us. Write to hope@hope.net with your thoughts. There will be many people who will say this is what we get for being too outspoken and for giving a platform to controversial people and ideas. But it's this spirit that defines who we are; it's driven all 16 of our past conferences. There are also those who thought it was foolish to ever expect a religious institution to understand and work with us. But we will never regret trying and we are proud of our accomplishments in the three conferences we held at St. John's. We reached a lot of people and opened quite a few minds. And we don't intend to allow this unfortunate event to darken our optimism for the opportunities that lie ahead. We are not changing who we are and what we stand for any more than we'd expect others to. We have high standards for our speakers, presenters, and staff. We value inclusivity and we have never tolerated hate, abuse, or harassment towards anyone. This should not be news, as HOPE has been around for a while and is well known for its uniqueness, spirit, and positivity. We don't know exactly how we'll get through this latest challenge. But we know we will. Thanks as always for your interest and support. The HOPE Staff
November 18, 2025 at 6:20 PM
davidkuszmar.com
Disturbing news from @hope.net and @2600.com today.

HOPE_16 was a wonderful, safe, and welcoming event. The idea that anyone at St. John's felt it wasn't in keeping with their ideals is shocking to me.

It even took place during a damned Kid Cop Academy graduation on the campus, and no issues.
November 18, 2025 at 6:12 PM
c0de333.bsky.social
Every Phrack issue cover has a special design for each conference. Did Hope_16 get a special design and where is it? I couldn't find it online.
November 11, 2025 at 7:31 PM
davidkuszmar.com
Truly sad.

I only got to see him speak at the HOPE_16 conference, but he seemed like a kind and thoughtful human.
October 22, 2025 at 8:04 PM
davidkuszmar.com
@sethgodin.bsky.social was asked about the stickiness of crypto at hope_16 and his response was basically "People like it because it always goes up. When it stops doing that, which it will, then people will lose interest."

Feels like this is a good example of that at play.
October 7, 2025 at 10:18 PM
lambdacalculus.bsky.social
I have a lightning talk to finish, which I may rework into an article afterwards.

I already stepped on a lot of fascist and techbro toes at my HOPE_16 talk.

Now I'm strapping on my boots and I'm about to kick the pedestals they stand on.

Because sometimes you just gotta kill your "idols".
September 5, 2025 at 12:05 PM
lambdacalculus.bsky.social
Were the rumors true? The rumors were true!

I spoke at HOPE_16 on 15 August about Off-Grid Data Running in Oppressive Regimes with the Pirate Box (and Sneakernet!), and I'm working to revive the Pirate Box project as a whole!

In this day and age, we need to take back control of our data!
August 31, 2025 at 3:09 PM
mrcrypt.bsky.social
I made the Hostname Hall of Fame at HOPE_16.

Im okay with it. 🍷😜🏴‍☠️
#DefinitelyRansomware
mrcrypt (definitely ransomware) Hostname Hall of Fame • Dees-Nuts (welcome back, legend) • DontWorryAboutIt (we're worried) • badbox (133t h4x0r?) • ZoneofDestruction (subtle) • devnull (where packets go to die) • skiv (minimalist) • workshop-ayayay (workshop enthusiast!) • The-Spicy-Pickle (4) • kungfoo24u (24/7 martial arts?) • Tourniquet (stop the bleeding) • mrcrypt (definitely ransomware) • BEEFTYFOUR (O×BEEE + 543) • anonymous (expect us) • megaframe (big packets only) • Surveillance-Drone (not suspicious at all) • holyhandgrenade (count to 3!) • proof-through-the-night (patriotic hacker) • Flesh-Eater-2 (what happened to 1?!) • NSA0192B0 (totally not a fed) Peak hostname creativity - You magnificent weirdos!
August 19, 2025 at 8:31 PM
pirx26.bsky.social
Saw in a presentation at HOPE_16 conference in NY. #hopeconf #hope16
August 19, 2025 at 1:22 PM
evan.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
https://www.youtube.com/live/zxgoACKKH30?si=yVQrU_GUi4z9AgUv

I think this link gets you right to the beginning of my talk at #hope_16 .
August 19, 2025 at 2:57 AM
fediverse.activitypub.awakari.com.ap.brid.gy
Thoughts on HOPE_16 I’m on the train back to Montreal from New York, where I attended HOPE_16 over the weekend. I wanted to capture some thoughts while they were fresh, even though they might not...

#Uncategorized #2600 #fediverse #hackers #hope #hope16

Origin | Interest | Match
Thoughts on HOPE_16
I’m on the train back to Montreal from New York, where I attended HOPE_16 over the weekend. I wanted to capture some thoughts while they were fresh, even though they might not be fully formed…
socialwebfoundation.org
August 19, 2025 at 9:25 AM
mrcrypt.bsky.social
It’s a beautiful Pennsylvania day today in Queens, NY. Thank you Queens!
It’s been lovely. 🏴‍☠️

#HackThePlanet
#HOPE_16>
August 18, 2025 at 12:55 PM
mrcrypt.bsky.social
HOPE_16> Amazing!
If you didn’t go, you were missed.
If you did, it was good to see you (again)!

@hope.net

More to come 🍷😎🏴‍☠️
August 18, 2025 at 2:34 AM
evan.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
I got a few minutes at #hope_16 to catch up with Harry Halpin, who probably more than anyone is responsible for the existence of social web standards from the W3C.
Harry and Me at the 2600/HOPE phone van
August 17, 2025 at 10:34 PM
evan.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
#hope_16 NOC report was awesome. The number that blew my mind: 32% of HTTP traffic on the wifi network was unencrypted. How can that even happen?!?
August 17, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Of all the great talks at #hope_16, yours was my personal favorite!
August 17, 2025 at 8:57 PM
evan.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
Joshua Aron at #hope_16 talking about people developing hostile apps against #iceblock : "Anyone who uses their talents to hurt people? Fuck you." Co-signed.
August 17, 2025 at 9:00 PM
evan.cosocial.ca.ap.brid.gy
At the talk on counter-surveillance against state violence in Israel/Palestine #hope_16

https://schedule.hope.net/hope16/talk/B3NHFP/
Counter-Surveillance as Activism: Using Cameras Against State Violence in Israel/Palestine HOPE_16
Palestinian, Israeli, and international anti-occupation activists in Israel/Palestine have been using cameras to deter and document violence from Israeli security forces and settlers for around two decades. Human rights organizations first started distributing cameras in the mid-2000s to facilitate documentation, and today, essentially every anti-occupation activist in the West Bank and Jerusalem carries some combination of video cameras, smartphones, and body cameras to deter and document state-settler violence. The activists also take it upon themselves to take the videos to journalists, human rights organizations, courts, and elsewhere; recently, this activism was the focus of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. This talk will describe how activists organize, what happens to the footage, how this activism changed after October 7th, and what this all means for thinking about counter-surveillance as a strategic response to state violence.
schedule.hope.net
August 17, 2025 at 4:02 PM
grunionshaftoe.bsky.social
Want to see the banality of evil on full frontal display?

This is an interview with Sahil Lavingia, who was fired from his job at #DOGE after 2 months. It's an interview from #HOPE_16

Make sure you haven't eaten anything recently. It's pretty sickening.
HOPE_16 - TRACK 1 - MARILLAC AUDITORIUM - DAY 1
YouTube video by ISOC LIVE
www.youtube.com
August 17, 2025 at 2:15 AM