RFID badges at HOPE hackercon form automatic social nets and irony

This weekend, the Attendee Meta-Data (AMD) project at the Last HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth) in NYC will introduce a new location-aware social networking system to track and bring together hackers based on a huge array of matching interests. Conference goers will be given unprecedented ability to connect with new people, find the talks they're most interested in attending, see what's happening and where in real time, and experience and talk about the way RFID technology is changing the world.

The AMD social networking site lets visitors "tag" themselves based on a diverse set of interests. Old-school hackers, network security experts, cryptographers, political activists, law geeks, lockpickers, reverse engineers, bloggers, privacy advocates, and far more–visitors can label themselves with multiple interests, to become discoverable by fellow visitors from around the world with similar interests, in the same room or across the building. Attendees can then use email or text messages to "ping" the people they discover on the site–new contacts and old friends alike.

The AMD site connects visitors to the many talks and events occurring during the conference, too. The same interests tags are used to highlight events and alert visitors to something they might otherwise miss–a vital feature for such a large conference. Attendees can also use the interactive schedule to select events they want to attend, and receive alerts before those events begin.

The site also provides visualizations of activity on the conference floors. Website users can watch the real time positions and movements of people across the Mezzanine, revealing the group dynamics of a massive number of people and instantly identifying the hotspots. Users can also click on any conference room to see its current event, speakers, and attendees.

Link (Thanks, aestetix!)

• [slgalt]

  So if you tag yourself “privacy advocate,” can you immediately be removed from the system so no one can find you?

• [certron]

  I’m off to the conference myself, once I finish my Asterisk set-up for the machine I’m putting in the NOC NOC. I had hoped that they would release the data format and web service before now, but I would probably have ended up with two uncompleted projects instead of one.

  There are a whole lot of other cool things going on, besides the scheduled talks: http://www.thelasthope.org/projects.php

  If anyone knows anything about command-line python scripts and running them through blender in console mode only, I would be quite interested.

  I hope to take lots of pictures, too.

• [krex]

  I’ll be over there later today as well. Wearing my Happy Mutant hat of course.

• [Anonymous]

  Offering us attractive conveniences in return for universal tracking and surveillance is very threatening. At WSIS in Tunis I put aluminum foil around my badge so that the RFID could not be tracked. If I were at HOPE this year, I would do the same.

  - Richard M. Stallman

• [Joel Johnson]

  Oh, wonderful. This is exactly what I needed for the house.

  I’m not going to make it over to HOPE this year, but I’m looking forward to seeing all the stuff that’ll come to light!

• [Trvth]

  Old-school hackers, network security experts, cryptographers, political activists, law geeks, lockpickers, reverse engineers, bloggers, privacy advocates, and far more

  It looks like it will be a fun group, though by most of the “interests” – it should have been called ‘HOPE anarchistcon.’

• [madjo]

  I’m just glad that they also have a radio station that occasionally airs a few of the talks. I could not attend this year, which makes me sad, because of obligations at work.
  But with the radio I feel a bit like being there. (Though the talks are on ungodly hours like midnight and further) :)

• [Chris Tucker]

  “#7 posted by Anonymous , July 20, 2008 8:41 PM

  Offering us attractive conveniences in return for universal tracking and surveillance is very threatening. At WSIS in Tunis I put aluminum foil around my badge so that the RFID could not be tracked. If I were at HOPE this year, I would do the same.

  - Richard M. Stallman”

  Anonymity. You’re Doing It Wrong.