*35C3 intro playing*
Herald-Angel: So please welcome Michelle for her talk about the urban organism
hacking in Hong Kong. *applause*
Michelle: So thank you for coming today. First of all, you could be anywhere right
now and you decided to come here, so, I really appreciate it. This talk will
engage the practices and protocols of hacking in the context of Hong Kong, and
the relationship of that with the socio- cultural aspects of architecture and
urbanism. But why architecture and urbanism? For a brief background, I'm
trained as an architect. But after about 10 years of corporate architecture, I
needed to kind of expand my tentacles. So now I build buildings to maintain that
technical proficiency. And I work in creative media which allows me to have
more instant gratification, and a more personal contact with individual people.
And I teach in the faculty of Design Environment at a university in Hong Kong.
So the Metropolis I'm speaking of refers to Hong Kong. If it wasn't obvious
already. It is a city of contradictions, a cultural pastiche of a colonial system,
Chinese traditions and with globalized modernity. So if the city slogan, Asia's world
city, it maintains itself as a entrepôt, or in other words, the intermediary
between China and the rest of the world. So before, we were trading opium, tea,
sugar, textiles, and which now has transitioned to focus more on the
financial sector, so cocaine, insurance and stocks. For many of those just passing
through Hong Kong which is frequent and obvious for anyone coming over to Asia.
There are several factors that make it such an exciting prospect. So the hyper
density here is always a fascination. This isn't super relevant, but the image on the
left is from the Leandro Ehrlich, it's called "The Room". It's a surveillance
camera, many surveillance cameras on one room and the other one does a
juxtaposition with our typical facades in Hong Kong. So the exciting prospects: One
is the proximity to Chinese manufacturers. So it's close enough where you can hop
over to Shenzhen, so the manufacturer hub, for just a few hours. You could just take
a day trip. So if we have a MOSFET emergency, you can run over there within
an hour, and grab everythin you need and go back. But, we are also just outside of
a great firewall. We don't have any of those issues, or, not most. And it's
culturally accessible, that's number two. You won't feel incredibly left out with no
Chinese language skills. You will still be a little bit left out, but not completely.
You can still function and operate there happily. And then three is the stimuli. As with
any metropolis, there's a factor of hyper activity that has this distinct scent of
infinite possibilities. Anything can happen. And this is the difference that I
feel most because you can make anything happen there if you're just willing to pay
a little bit. Sometimes it's not a lot of money and I'll go into this detail later
actually. Excuse me. So in this socio- cultural cornucopia, what gives way to
these contradictions and complexities, is a notoriously wide income gap, the soaring
costs of real estate and as well as the pressure towards commercialism. The more
we raise ourselves into the clouds, exploring the limits of the upwards
trajectory, it also creates wider separations from one another, and in that
segregation, it creates uniformity. The defining characteristics of any post-
modern city is how control is leveraged in the hands of the bureaucracy. Urban
policy, especially in Hong Kong, is a stringent arrangement serving only the
private and the powerful. And without going into the boring details, but for the
most part, the applied label here is called *crony capitalism*. So technological
changes in the quality of public space make it increasingly more evident that the
urban realm is a temporary experience that has imploded by the changes in the social
contract. The enjoyment of public space is normally governed by authority: public
transportation, parks, and even the most mundane section of the pavement; some are
the responsibility of an organization. In this respect, the city relinquishes itself
as a home or a collective space, but rather a temporary flow of people, information,
and commodities. So did you know? The parks in Hong Kong is nothing like the
parks in Germany. We have signs that say, no smoking, no drinking - OK, fine - no
busking, no bicycles, no skateboards, no hawking, so basically no fun. The pavements
aswell, if you've been to Hong Kong, or you see in the video, the pavements are
about 1.2m wide before you reach the façade of a building next to you. That's
because they are keen on maximizing 100% site boundaries which reach up to there.
That's why we are all closed in because the pavement in front of every building is
typically owned by the business in front of it. So that is actually their section
of the pavement, not yours but it's theirs. So while each technological
revolution allows us to offset mundane tasks, we've also been offsetting the
responsibility of monitoring these machines to large scale institutions.
Technology has been an extension of ourselves for a long time but very few pay
mind of what part of us that amputates. The quote from Gary Taubes where he writes
about sugar, like candy, the sugar: "It's a substance that causes pleasure with a
price that is difficult to discern immediately, and painful only years and or
decades later." That's from the case against sugar, 2016. And if we consider
cities moving more into the virtual realm, into cyber urbanism with smart technology,
we're heading into a world that is shackled by algorithmic conformity. For
one example, by mass implementation of self driving cars. And within these
networks of organized complexities, we were never meant to be in concrete boxes,
hovering in the sky, hermetically sealed from one another. For thousands of years,
our genetic programming had us living in tribes. And while the world seemed to
shrink in distance, with steam engines, airplanes, and the Internet, the space
with and between each other expanded even more. So machines replaced our fingers,
and we no longer needed each other to meet our needs, but instead on a system.
*pause*
Hopefully, I set the stage now for this very dystopian Blade Runner view-esque of
the city. So a certain level of uniformity is inevitable. And to me, uniformity is
not so bad if we can translate this to cooperation. And to begin our detailed
understanding of similarities before we implicate and find the changes within the
cracks. We have this inherent quality in us, the small children, with such joy in
playing with switches and boxes, pushing buttons, and identifying objects as mine
and yours. But because of this innate desire to make changes to our
environments, and leave a mark in this world. So our ability to make collective,
(Two images disappeared, sorry) So our ability to make collective,
inflexible cooperation in large numbers is our strength in this world. And I mean
that's why we're all here in this amazing event, built by so many hands that are
sometimes organized and sometimes not. Together, we're finding a balance between
the ecological and the engineered, or the organic versus the designed. And to me,
the metaphorical link between the city and hacker spaces also have something in
common with termites, ants, birds, mussels, and mold. It's the experimental,
harmonic composition that arises from spatial self organization.
So it shows something that's difficult to miss, once you crossed your path. It's a horde of
termites animating a still branch, both building and destroying the physical
environment at the same time. And I enjoy observing termites and ants for their
emergent complex co-operative, yet primitive behaviour. And so in this line
of thinking, the macro and micro of our environments. And that is one of the
aspects that draws me to hacker spaces because they too are part of this greater
concept of collective, distributive action. Although part so to this very
messy human factor called the hacker community. So, Dim Sum Labs, Hong Kong's
first and only hackerspace. Started off like most hacker spaces, with a few people
getting together in informal places to chat about all things geeky. And then the
official location was secured in 2011 with about 10 different cofounders in a
commercial building in Sheung Wan which is near the center. So super convenient for
people to access, but also means, there's a scarcity of space. It's kind of a funny
name. The red part means Dim Sum, touch your heart, literally. But Dim Sum
naturally refers to a particular cuisine or an activity in Hong Kong where you can
potentially spend hours nibbling on things in bamboo steamer baskets and whatnot. And
when lots of people join together, you have this very diverse opportunity to
taste and experiment so many different things. It's cute, right? (Oh, I lost another
image. So is the image of Dim Sum. And I'm going crazy now.) OK. So, as I described
earlier, our proximity to China, because of our limited space, because of the
context where money is king and we are fools in this court, it shapes the culture
of our space in ways like affording ourselves really cheap equipments and
components. For example, our laser cutter was 4000 RNB, which is about 500 Euro,
and components, so it's about a 1000 resistors for half a Euro. But instead, we
spend the rest of the money on rent instead. And also, what changes the
culture is very transitional atmosphere of people that move onto their
journeys, their hobbies, or their lifestyle. And in Hong Kong, like the rest
of the world outside of Germany, hacking has a very different connotation than we'd
prefer. So as I define it, it is the intellectual activity of exploring an
object, system or protocol beyond its intended means. Of course, most people
don't see it that way, which is why (oh, get out of here termites, okay) which is
why there is a book called "The Field Guide to Hacking". It's a handshake, if you
will, to the greater community. How can we encourage others to hack, without showing
them how? So the book contains a collection of projects in an instructable
manner, sort of. Essays and snapshots of the activity in our nebulous community,
And is ordered into 6 sections, each prefaced by essays by someone who can
explain some peripheral topics of hacking. It begins with a foreword by Mitch Altman
because if you're going to talk about community, how can you not involve Mitch?
And if anyone doesn't know who he is, he also yearly organizes a hacker's trip to
China, so many of you have come to visit some labs in Hong Kong which is amazing.
Some of the projects, we start off with something very simple, like a button badge
that you can solder yourself, with links to github repository and all your
components that you need to do it, and potentially teach you how to solder it. Some
projects are a little more functional. This is the kilowatt countered that we
have in our space where we monitor the use of electricity in the space. And that also
helps if someone has left the air con on and it's empty, so we know. Some of the
products are a little more polemic. This is Neomi "SexyCyborg" Wu. She's quite well
known. If you follow her on Twitter and if you want to check her Twitter, you'll find
out yourself. *general laughter* And there are some projects that are a little more
artistic. So this is fields by me and Savio. There's one here which maybe I'll
show you later if I have time. Mine is not very instructional but I teach you how to
hack it and how it works which I suppose is more important. And then the essays not
only provide the spike from the sea of projects, but also a gesture for those who
would like to know more about hacking but perhaps not participate into it,
participate in it physically. So this is when I write a little bit about urbanism,
and surveillance capitalism. This is from Dr. Daniel Howe who teaches a class on
hacktivism at the school of creative media in the city university whose essay ponders
the relationship between artistic freedom and expression in Hong Kong. And Scott
Edmunds who founded the Bauhinia genome project. He works on a different kind of
code. It's a four letter code of DNA. And while cultivating a stronger relationship
between locals and Hong Kong's history, by way of citizen science. And on
inclusivity, Sarah Fox writes about technology and recognition with respect to
the feminist space. And then we round it all off with Luis Filipe R. Murilo who
writes about this from an anthropologyst perspective and empirically as a former
member of Dim Sum Labs. So I hope that throughout this talk and the book, that it
provides some insight into the backdrop of some of the issues that face Dim Sum Labs
every day. It's not the easiest task to have people on the other side of the world
to have this empathetic sharing of our Zeitgeist, but we try. Some of the things
that have been asked to me, is where can I find the book? So there's the website,
and there's the email. The next question is actually, can I buy the book? Well, not
really, because I ran out, and because the publisher is called Dim Sum Labs Press
which isn't just me. So if anyone knows a publisher that would like to help me?
Because right now I'm just printing it from Taobao. And if there's going to be
another version, I kind of need more content. So if you want to be part of
this, and you are kind of part of the community, please let me know. Contact is
there. So this is not really a conclusion, but I'm just going to assume it is. Hong
Kong has become part of this geopolitical experiment. So we are on this precarious
edge between maintaining its openness, in this sense where individuals can maintain
their cultural roots, and are osmosis with Shenzhen or China, a city where it lives
under the guise of China's rules and regulations, but as well as, breaking
beyond its limitations in the physical and the social sense. In Hong Kong, the type
of travelers that I come across, always have the same fascination towards the
city. It's this kind of magical wonder as one travels up the escalator in the center
of the city, leaning over the edge just to catch a glimpse of the sky as the towers
are leaning towards each other. It's amazing on one hand. Because it's a
massive scale of structures that we built with this comparatively tiny hands, and
it's similar with electronics and whatnot. We are encapsulating and embedding our
perspectives within these artifacts that perpetuate around us. But I also see it as
relinquishing our dominion. We are complicit to our own detriment by not
really addressing who our environments belong to. So in all respects: the
physical, the temporal, and digital strata that our streets are paved upon.
That's it. *applause*
Herald-Angel: Thank you very much, Michelle. We now have time for Q and A's,
and I can see that we already have one question from the microphone number 2.
Microphone 2: So, thank you for your talk.
What would you say to a *inaudible* *laughter*
Michelle: I'm thinking of how to say this. Number one, you can't just calm, there's
plenty of Europeans there, you'll fit right in. Number two, there's - I just
tell you - there is a way you can get your own visa because it's very easy to start a
business in Hong Kong. And then you can kind of hire yourself and give yourself a
visa. M2: Thank you.
Michelle: Don't tell anyone I said that. Herald-Angel: Just between you and the
internet. And speaking of that, do you have any questions from the internet,
Signal-Angels? No, no, it's no. So, there's still two microphones and we have
time for questions. So please if you have it, we have a question from microphone
number 1. Microphone 1: Well, it's not a question,
it's more, there is a publisher called "No Starch Press", and it's for geeky stuff.
So if you are looking for one, I would suggest that one.
Michelle: Ah, I did look at them. I haven't gotten that far, yet, because as I
pointed out, I kind of doing everything myself, so. But if you know a contact.
M 1: Will have a look. H: And microphone number 2.
M 2: Where do you see the difference contact between Hong Kong and in Europe?
Michelle: The fundamental activity of hacking, I think, is not that different.
As in, we are all people trying to explore things: What cool thing can come out
of the stuff around us? The difference, I find most, is how we spend our time, and
how generous we are with ourselves. Because if you live in a very commercial
city that is dominated by this mentality of finance, and money, and how do I pay
rent, and whatever, then your time becomes money, and you do feel, or you get the
feeling that people don't want to extend so much because they're too busy with
work, or they have to go to dinner, or they just have better things to do, than
to basically volunteer in a space. H: And question from Microphone number 1
Microphone 1: Hi, question: How famous are hacker communities in Hong Kong, or the
region in general? So if I would be looking for an alternative to the Chaos
Computer Congress here, what would I be looking for in Asia, like, if not Hong
Kong, then Singapore, or Tokio, like Asia. Michelle: Can you rephrase your question?
I don't know.. Microphone1: So, question is, if I'm
looking for a hacker event in Asia. What do I look for? Which city, what event?
Michelle: We don't have very many hacker events in Asia. There is some in
Singapore, and I suppose the Tokyo Maker Fair is pretty cool in terms of like
artifacts and stuff. But we don't have as much of this community because hacking is
very much so a Western concept, and the way a lot of Asia, if we include China and
the rest of it, it's not necessarily considered hacking. I mean if you
understand the way Chinese do things, if we bring in the concept of Shanzhai, they
don't think that's hacking. That's kind of just part of the culture. That's what you
do to make things work for yourself. So it's a little more dispersed and it's not
under the umbrella term that is easy to find here.
M 1: Shenzhen Maker Fair? Michelle: Oh yeah, Shenzhen Maker Fair is
also really cool. Herald-Angel: We have a question from
number 2. M 2: Meeting here *inaudible* it's really cool
How do you reach outside the community, beyond the hackerspace, beyond the
industry. How this works. Around Hong Kong, if you do it? How do you do it?
Michelle: You mean reaching the community outside of the hacker space?
M 2: Artists *inaudible* Michelle: So I'm hoping that's what the
book accomplishes. Since I have pushed it through a non-profit architectural design,
yeah, non-profit, so that's reaching a different network. Unfortunately, by doing
that, and same with architects and education, hacking and hacker spaces is
kind of this counterculture underground thing where it's cool now. So that's
another thing I have to negotiate because I don't want it to be just a trend, or a
toy that someone says like, your alternative version of whatever, but more
as a way of life, way of thinking type thing.
Herald-Angel: We still have time for more questions. There is a question from
Microphone number 2. Microphone 2: Hello from a fellow Hong Kong
citizen. So I'm just wondering what the *inaudible* Hong Kong is *inaudible* politically?
*inaudible* just an example. Michelle: If you say, do you mean
politically like, just directly against China and Hong Kong then I wouldn't say so
much. Because the current member base is not very local, and they have their own
politics to establish. Although, if you consider politics as in Open Source then
there are people that do that. It's a very vague answer, I'm sorry.
Microphone: The question i've had, the number of educational programs...
I'm just, I couldn't keep on reading the
*inaudible* from Hong Kong.
I don't think hacking, or learning about coding is such a marginal thing, it seems
that it is the trend... It's that a lot of rich Hong Kong parents, they are very
eager to put their kids into learning coding and stuff, maybe there is something
there that spaces can look into? Michelle: I agree with that idea that it's
very big now to... kids' camps and coding and whatnot, although I still believe that
because you're introducing these kits to a child, that you develop this and this is
what happens, that they still maintain that mindset. And what I'm hoping is that
they have... they can change their thinking into: What do I need this kit for
when I can mix up all these other things that are outside of it. So it's... that
idea's based on the educational system in Hong Kong as well, where, you know that
it's mostly about regurgitation and less about critical thinking. So that's what
I'm kind of pushing them more towards, in terms of actually doing it in education.
I try to do it with my students but I can really only do so much.
Herald-Angel: Please don't be shy. There is still time for questions and I'm quite
sure that Michelle has more to offer you in terms of dialogue. So get up behind the
microphones if you have any questions. And also do we have any questions from the
internet? No, no questions from the Internet. You, Michelle, you brought along
a thing that you have on the table. Do you want to share it with us?
Michelle: This is just in case I talk too fast and I didn't finish my presentation.
Then I brought this thing. So this is the book that I was talking about. It's covered
in stickers because it is my copy. So there's two pieces of copper on
the front of the limited edition version. I'm sorry you didn't get one.
The limited edition version.
And in the back there's supposed to be a PCB embedded into it.
So how it works is that as you draw a line with a graphite pencil connecting the two
pieces of copper it changes the frequency of the sound that's coming out from the
back PCB. So then this version was turned into a through hole mount version so it
can be presented at Seoul or Hong Kong. So this is the through hole version. So I
guess I'm just going to play with it for you a little, wind this up. Also this was
built because the Dim Sum Lab's logo is a cha siu bao, so a barbecue pork bun, on a
5-5-5 IC timer, so this whole thing is built on, is based on that 5-5-5.
Just to be *inaudible*. *device emits sound*
So this is volume... *Michelle adjusts volume on the device*
Then we can change the pitch... *Michelle changes pitch from high to low*
And then the *inaudible* *device emits sound*
And then we have switches that can change it from a continuous manner
to a step fashion... *device emits changed sound*
Yes, that's kind of it. *laughter*
*Applause*
Herald-Angel: Thank you very much, Michelle.
And I think we should give Michelle another round of applause
for her excellent presentation.
*Applause*
*postroll music*
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