And there was a great Keynote from Bruce Schneier covering the topics of security, privacy and where we're headed. Like a frog that doesn't realize it's already boiled alive, Data and Goliath points out that the inerta, the less amount of work, is for governments and corporations simply to continue their practices of vacuuming up all of our data and metadata.
I had a tremendous amount of fun, and I'll see you there in 2016! I'm really looking forward to it. In the mean time, I'll see if I can't get that flying arduino streaming sensor data into my local database.
Excellent Video @wendell. This seems like something I may need to get some friends together and check out since Michigan isn't too far out of my way to get to. I just wish there were other cool conventions like this in the Des Moines or Chicago area.
A key aspect to computing in field is the need for power and communications,generally speaking running air conditioning inside your tent from the power grid is frowned upon, but plenty of groups have community tents with full catering facilities, sofa's, tables etc. Meanwhile, typically their is the fastest net access anywhere in the planet. To get an idea of what happens have a look at this 2013 congress Infrastructure Review Presentation of MOC/NOC/VOC/SOC/*OC http://is.gd/th9gi9 (https://media.ccc.de)
The camp happens once every 4 years interleaved with a similar camp "Hacking @" in the Netherlands also on a 4 year cycle https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hacking_at_Random. The spread of hacker spaces across the globe was kicked off 8 years ago at chaos camp 2007 by the attendance of the Hackers on a Plane trip to Chaos Camp.
Personally its at these camps that I have seen the next big things in Geek culture years before it hits the mainstream for instance my first introduction into personal drones was at Chaos in 2007, with how to build yourself a UAV workshops (using parts from 3D printers) being held there. It was 2 years later in 2009 at Hacking At Random that the Dutch police discovered the power of 3D printers, when a key to there new super handcuffs was photographed and printed and then used to open their unhackable handcuffs. I was there watching it happen! Oh and Julian Assange was there talking about wikileaks https://vimeo.com/6460432
If you don't feel like having fun a field with thousands of other hackers this summer don't forget there is also the chaos congress between Christmas and New Year now in Hamburg every year. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaos_Communication_Congress