May 31, 2022
We are very close to selling out our initial two hotels for the conference. If you want to book a room at either one of them, we suggest following one of the links for discounted rates at https://hope.net/housing.html soon!
We have an alternative to hotels that some of you may find convenient. St. John's University (the site of A New HOPE) has dormitories that will be available for attendees during the conference. You'll be able to wake up right on site! But there are a number of rules that apply to anyone staying on campus, which we've outlined at https://hope.net/housing.html - if you're comfortable with all that, we suggest following the link for on-campus housing on that page.
We have also tracked down five more nearby hotels with really good rates:
Hillcrest Hotel http://hillcresthotelny.com/ From $89 per night
Hotel Pergola http://www.hotelpergolany.us/ From $107 per night
Cresthaven Inn https://www.facebook.com/cresthaveninnjfk/ From $140 per night
Hotel Jamaica Plaza http://hotel-jamaica-plaza.hotelinewyork.com/en/#main From $109 per night
Days Inn by Wyndham Jamaica https://www.wyndhamhotels.com From $115 per night
All of these are within two miles of the venue. We will be updating our housing section to include specifics on how to get from these hotels to the conference via mass transit.
May 26, 2022
We're thrilled to announce that Sophie Zhang will be discussing her role as a Facebook whistleblower at A New HOPE, revealing details of Facebook superficial monitoring of online political manipulations. She became a whistleblower after spending two years and eight months at Facebook failing to fix the company from within. She personally caught two national governments using Facebook to manipulate their own citizenry, while also revealing concerning decisions made by Facebook regarding inauthenticity in Indian and U.S. politics.
Zhang's session will be moderated by Yan Zhu, who has been the chief information security officer at Brave Software (creators of Brave Browser) since 2015, and has also served as a staff technologist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, where she worked on open source projects such as HTTPS Everywhere and Let's Encrypt.
May 23, 2022
If you want to present a talk at A New HOPE, time is running out! The final deadline for submissions is one week from tomorrow: May 31, 2022. We still have openings for the kinds of presentations that the HOPE conference is known for: enlightening, creative, unique, controversial, etc. We welcome entries from young and old, from CEOs and professors to hacktivists and students - all we require is that you have the hacker spirit and something to say. Please consult the guidelines and tips at https://www.hope.net/callforspeakers.html .
Tickets are still available, but not for too much longer. We will NOT be selling tickets at the door, so if you plan on coming, get your tickets soon! Remember, tickets aren't refundable, but they are able to be transferred to others. You can get your ticket here: https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-a-new-hope .
If you want to participate in A New HOPE but aren't able to attend in person, you can be a virtual attendee! You can get your virtual ticket here: https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-a-new-hope-virtual-attendee.
There will also be a virtual track for speakers who want to participate from all parts of the world. The deadline to submit your proposal is also May 31, 2022.
We look forward to seeing you at HOPE!
May 18, 2022
Issued May 18, 2022 by the core organizing team of Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE)
At the HOPE conference in 2018, we experienced incidents that left many of us feeling threatened and worse.
We want to acknowledge what went wrong and how we plan for A New HOPE in 2022 to be much better.
Let's start with the basics: We, the HOPE core organizers, are committed to a conference with no tolerance for disrespect, abuse, disruptions, or other threats to participant’s and staff’s well-being.
In 2022 our eyes are wide open to the potential of the type of targeted disruption that occurred in 2018. In 2018 we were simply not prepared for the coordinated, deliberate attacks that occurred.
We did not deal well with the intimidation that some of us faced, nor with the confrontations that occurred. We did not react quickly enough to issues, and were slow to realize how some incidents were inter-related and escalating. Our internal communication was poor, and so were our responses. We also acknowledge that some of our staff’s behavior was shitty. All of this sucks.
HOPE has had a Code of Conduct for a number of years (online at https://www.hope.net/codeofconduct.html). The CoC was not the problem in 2018. Rather, it was that HOPE was ill-equipped to address CoC issues such as purposeful disruption, harassment and intimidation.
Since 2018, the US has changed considerably. A "MAGA" hat can no longer be seen as just a hat -- it is a symbol of allegiance to those who would seek to overthrow the US government at the behest of a would-be tyrant and supporters. There are other symbols which, if presented at a HOPE conference, can be seen as purely provocative. This is much more obvious today than in 2018, when we would have hoped for constructive dialog on competing views.
We, the organizing team of HOPE, value the participation of everyone who comes to our conferences who is open to teach and share and learn with respect for others. Disagreement is fine -- and encouraged! Disrespect and disruption are not, and will not be tolerated at HOPE.
HOPE conferences consist of the small organizing team, the scores of volunteers, and all attendees. The organizing team is committed to the well-being of everyone at A New HOPE. Volunteers and staff will all be trained for responding to any incident. We hold organizers, staff, and volunteers to the highest standards of behavior. Attendees will all be reminded throughout the conference on how to help in respectful ways. Together we will ensure that A New HOPE is a fantastic experience for everyone.
The main message for 2022 is that HOPE is better prepared for what may occur, including the unexpected. We are committed to being proactive against any bad actors. We are also committed to creating A New HOPE that lives up to its name.
We welcome suggestions, and collaboration as we prepare for A New HOPE: hope@hope.net
May 11, 2022
If you want to participate in A New HOPE but aren't able to attend in person, you can be a virtual attendee! We will also be adding a virtual track for speakers who want to participate from other parts of the world.
While this is our first in-person gathering since 2018 and the very first in our brand new home, we understand that some of you are still hesitant to travel or be with crowds of people. As our costs remain the same no matter what, this is a great way to support the conference and be a part of it at the same time. The more tickets we sell, the more we'll be able to do for both virtual and in-person attendees.
Virtual attendees will have access to all talks and will be able to participate in audience Q&A whenever those opportunities are open. In addition, if desired, you will also get a conference badge sent to you.
Here is the link to get your virtual ticket: https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-a-new-hope-virtual-attendee
To submit a talk (virtual or otherwise), check the guidelines at https://hope.net/callforspeakers.html and submit your proposal to speakers@hope.net. Remember that these are only guidelines and that you're free to explore whatever topics interest you. If it's something you're into and it relates to the hacker community, then we want to hear about it! (Be sure to indicate whether this is an in-person talk or virtual.)
A New HOPE will be held from Friday, July 22nd to Sunday, July 24th, 2022. More info is constantly being posted at www.hope.net.
In-person tickets are still available at https://store.2600.com/products/tickets-to-a-new-hope
May 1, 2022
Buy A New HOPE ticket and defend your digital civil rights!
We’ve extended our promotion with the Electronic Frontier Foundation in which 10 percent of every HOPE ticket sale will go to EFF through May 6, 2022.
April 26, 2022
We’re excited to announce over 20 speakers have been chosen to conduct presentations at A New HOPE at St. John’s University in New York City from July 22-24, 2022! We’re also pleased to announce that 10 percent of every HOPE ticket sale will be donated to the Electronic Frontier Foundation until the end of April.
Following are the individual presenters listed under HOPE’s themes/topics this year.
Hacking/Cybersecurity
Phillip Hallam-Baker, a member of the CERN team that developed the World Wide Web and a major contributor to the HTTP/1.0 specification. He will announce a new type of Public Key Infrastructure called a threshold key infrastructure at HOPE.
Tom Filecco, a computer technician/professional and frequent contributor about pagers/telecommunications hardware and software to 2600 Magazine.
Dr. Nathaniel “nwf” Filardo, a senior researcher at Microsoft Research where he leads the effort to incorporate secure Capability Hardware Enhanced RISC Instructions (CHERI) design architecture in software and hardware.
Tom Kranz, a CISO, published author and consulting director. He began his cybersecurity career in the 1980s when he broke into Prestel with a BBC Micro in the U.K.
Dr. Greg Newby, an international expert in the use of technology for discovery and understanding to support the common good. His HOPE talks over the past 20 years have focused on hacker ethics, eBooks and law.
BiasSciLab, founder and ceo of Girls Who Hack. Her election security research inspired her to build her own election system, Secure Open Vote.
Harri Hursti, co-founding partner at Nordic Innovation Labs and world-renowned data security expert. As an ethical hacker, Harry garnered attention for his demonstration on how the Diebold Election Systems’ voting machines could be hacked, altering the final voting results.
Privacy
David Sidi, a Ph.D. candidate who is focused on researching, developing and applying technology to privacy and security.
Holmes Wilson, a co-founder and board member of Fight for the Future, the organization that was instrumental in defeating the U.S. site-blocking laws SOPA/PIPA, fighting for net neutrality rules in the U.S. and Europe and opposing law enforcement crypto backdoors. His organization recently challenged the use of facial recognition technology used by U.S. law enforcement and products like Amazon Ring.
Journalism
Geoff White, investigative journalist, podcaster and author of The Lazarus Heist-From Hollywood to High Finance: Inside North Korea’s Global Cyber War.
Cory Doctorow, award-winning science fiction author, activist and journalist. Cory was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame in 2020.
Makers
Jameson Duncan, a Norfolk-Virginia-based maker/hacker cyborg whose hobbies and interests include biohacking, urban exploration, leather making, fire and flow arts, radio and RF and general creative hands-on making.
Alex Lynd, an open-source developer and cybersecurity developer and cybersecurity content creator. He runs HakCat, a hardware business where he creates open-source products and educational content that he hopes empower the next generation of makers and hackers.
John Huntington, a professor of entertainment technology at New York City College of Technology, which is also known as Citytech and is a part of CUNY.
Civil/Human Rights
Jesselyn Radack, award-winning human rights lawyer, author, former whistleblower and national security and human rights director of the Whistleblower and Source Protection Program (WHISPeR) at ExposeFacts.
Carey Shenkman, human rights lawyer, litigator and co-author of a forthcoming volume on the history of the Espionage Act and CFAA: A Century of Repression: The Espionage Act and Freedom of the Press.
Alex Marthews, national chair with Restore the Fourth, an advocacy group dedicated to Fourth Amendment and surveillance issues.
Physical Security
Karen Ng, a risk analyst at GGR Security and a red team member with the organization’s physical penetration test unit.
Bill Grayson, principal researcher at GGR Security, where he is involved with the full spectrum of client risk analysis, testing and remediation.
Creative
Johannes Grenzfurthner, Masking Threshold filmmaker, author, performer, head of sex and tech festival Arse Elektronika in San Francisco and organizer of the Festival for Cocktail-Robotics in Vienna.
Biohacking
Mixael Swan Laufer, an advocate for people who want to manufacture their own medical devices and medications by giving them access to tools and information on how to make them.
Abi Hassen, a partner at O’Neill and Hassen LLP, a law practice focused on indigent criminal defense. Abi is also co-founder of the Black Movement Law Project, a legal response rapid response group that was created in response to the uprisings in Ferguson, Baltimore and other areas.
Isaac Overcast, Ph.D., a computational biologist. As a postdoctoral researcher in the Morlon Group at Institut de Biologie de l’Ecole Normal Superieure in Paris, he developed theory and models of island biodiversity genomics, in association with the EU-funded iBioGen project.
March 4, 2022
We have added a second hotel for this summer's HOPE conference!
The Fairfield Inn & Suites and the Courtyard New York Queens Fresh Meadows are actually right next to each other and about a mile from St. John's University where the HOPE conference will be taking place. The Q30 bus provides a direct link.
To book either hotel at the special rate, just click below:
Fairfield Inn & Suites (183-31 Horace Harding Expressway, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365): https://www.marriott.com/event-reservations/reservation-link.mi?id=1634920781885&key=GRP&app=resvlink
The Fairfield can be reached at +1 718 746 7230.
Courtyard New York Queens Fresh Meadows (183-15 Horace Harding Expressway, Fresh Meadows, NY 11365): https://www.marriott.com/events/start.mi?id=1634921796381&key=GRP
The Courtyard can be reached at +1 718-746-6769.
There are plenty of restaurants within walking distance of these hotels - and The Emerald Pub, a classic dive bar, is right next door and open way late.
Feb 3, 2022
We're happy to announce that general admission tickets to A New HOPE will become available on Monday, February 7th at 2 pm Eastern Time. At that time, a link for tickets will appear at www.hope.net.
This will be our first in-person gathering since 2018 and the very first in our brand new expanded home. In addition to attending, we encourage people to participate by presenting talks (speakers@hope.net) and workshops (workshops@hope.net), as well as volunteering to help run the conference (volunteers@hope.net).
Jan 27, 2022
Welcome to Hackers On Planet Earth! HOPE 2022: A New HOPE
July 22-24 2022
Queens, New York City
Hackers On Planet Earth (HOPE) will be an in-person event in 2022. Mark your calendar for what promises to be an amazing experience.
This is the conference we've all been waiting for. In 2020, HOPE was converted to a virtual event because of the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, HOPE will return as a three-day in-person event. Hackers, makers, tinkerers, artists, educators, and other creative thinkers are invited.
The theme, "A New HOPE," recognizes the amazing challenges and changes the world has gone through. HOPE will highlight the losses, strife, and upheaval of our times. It will also celebrate the triumphs of science, technology, and creativity.
The three days of HOPE will feature speakers, keynote presentations, workshops, villages, performances, and more. HOPE's new venue is St. John's University in Queens, which offers more space and greater opportunities than ever before.
HOPE runs on volunteer power. All teams need new volunteers: Network, audio/visual, emcees, security, info desk, program committee, music, artwork, workshops, and others. Watch the website for invitations to get involved. Email hope@hope.net if you have ideas or suggestions.
The call for participation will open soon. Submissions are invited for speakers, workshops, performances, and more. All topics related to hacking are welcome.
HOPE 2022: A New HOPE
July 22-24 2022