Presented at
HOPE X (2014),
July 18, 2014, 7 p.m.
(60 minutes)
There is literally nowhere else on earth where you can run an experimental mobile phone network with a potential 50,000 users and get away with it (legally). Nowhere else can you learn so much in as short a timeframe about people's relationships with their mobile phones or what makes a mobile network tick. Since 2006, the folks behind OpenBTS have been running the Papa Legba camp at Burning Man, providing fully licensed independent (free) GSM cellular service in the most unlikely of places. Johnny and Willow will go through the hardware and software tools they deployed in 2013, along with a discussion of lessons learned and future plans.
Presenters:
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Willow Brugh
Willow Brugh is the director of Geeks Without Bounds, an accelerator for humanitarian projects. Previous endeavors include being co-founder of Seattle makerspace Jigsaw Renaissance, the hackerspace collaboration initiative Space Federation, and the response-development competition GameSave. Years of participation in the hacker and makerspace community have created purpose towards distributed systems, engaged citizens, and mutual aid. With heavy involvement in Maker Faire, Random Hacks of Kindness, and the SpaceApps Challenge, Willow's main skill is "getting out of the way."
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Johnny Diggz
Johnny Diggz is an entrepreneur, musician, filmmaker, and founder of Geeks Without Bounds. In 1995, he co-founded IRDG (Intergalactic Research and Development Group), which built the world's first Internet-based unified messaging platform, iPost. In 1999, he co-founded Voxeo Corporation and serves as chief evangelist for Voxeo Labs' flagship cloud communications platform, Tropo, and its community of over 250,000 developers. He produced the indie feature film, The Karaoke King, a musical comedy that premiered in 2007 at the Cinema City International Film Festival. Johnny is also a professional dueling piano player and will perform at the slightest arm-twist.
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