I’ve been a hacker since the Cap’n Crunch days, I’ve been involved with many hackerspaces around the world, used to sit at the pay phones in Union Station waiting for distant calls, some forgotten first Friday of the month .. and all I can say, anecdotally, is that this death by a thousand cuts is par for the course.

Hacker culture has been co-opted by a broad spectrum of folks - and a big part of the value of CCC is navigating that spectrum.

I’ve met plenty of folks that are annoying as fuck in this scene - but I’ve also met plenty of folks who are just great.

As for the camera thing - Germans have an aversion to being held accountable for their actions in public. It is a deep-seated fear of consequences born from a culture that literally thought it was acceptable, not so long ago, to spy on ones neighbors. They cram themselves into boxes upon boxes and live on top of 2000 other people they want nothing to do with. Just remind them, public photography is not a crime, and that there is no right to privacy in the public sphere, and why don’t they just smile and enjoy the fact that they are frozen in time on some strangers device, just like a strangers memory they have no right to erase. This is the needed context.

That's just Germany for ya. Source: Am German

> someone I met almost went into a rage every time he saw a camera.

The rage may be too much but the taboo on taking photo that is real and cultural normal that will be enforced or made to feel embarrassed for doing (i.e. 'lets not be the stasi'). That's the cultural norm of there and that scene. You visited from the states, correct? Bay area but the guess "small negative experience" - the idea of we are going around experiencing things and our life is a product of these experiences we consume and interpersonal politics - that's very california "the personal is the political" or that it's some how a consumption experience we "have" and who we "are" is coloured by these "experiences" etc (a fish in the water "what is water?")

One thing in German culture I very appreciate (as australian) is the "polite complaining" as in - you know a German cares if they will share with you what is wrong (and then they will have solution) as Australian we just complain about the big things (but never on your mates or people on your level) hehe "the government" etc - German - politely complain (and here's the patch) etc hehe In both cases it's a sort of affection or closeness if they tell you what they really think

it's not seen negative it's seen like 'of course we have feelings good and bad' etc

All generalising of course.

This could I see easily clash with american culture where often it's positivity all the time and it's seen taboo to say something bad - as if it's letting down the 'team' or it must be personal again 'you' or something - where as kinda truthfulness and integrity seen as the thing there - say as it is or as feel etc

Also another thing you might notice (probably less in Hamburg but in Berlin or something) in winter you want to go for a swim - that's the spa. Everyone is naked. This can come a shock to, say, a culture like the US that had the puritans - that people being naked is not sexualised any way. Actually the US because the norm is "naked" = "naked fun" that can lead to perhaps the most confusing cultural mishap. This might be related to photos also. For instance - in Australia it's increasingly less common people sunbath naked. In east europe and nordics - being naked in spa is just common.

Also: new years eve - they try to blow up everything. In a civilised city it blew my mind to see folks firing guns in the air.

Yes! There's some differences.

Saying that: there's assholes everywhere and don't let the 5-20% allocation of asshole influence your opinion of the 80% of the cool calm quiet

Hmmm... this comment is long... I may be the asshole. Ok,

Ciao

I was walking about 34c3 with an old medium format folding camera and mainly got nice comments. I did try to avoid getting people in shots though.

21th/24th -> celebrating with family the winter solstice 25th -> visiting the extended family 26th -> visiting friends

27-30th -> congress \o/

31th -> celebrating a new year either close to the congress or with family again

Works very well for very long time. Plenty of families with kids on the congress too and you always have holidays at that time.

Im not single and i'm not 20...

Marry a hacker, and have hacker kids, problem solved :3

I actually know several people who regularly visit the 3C with their families and children. There are a lot of cool activities for kids from a certain age (10-ish). Even without all the social programm, there are plenty of talks which are interesting to non-IT people.

Go to the camp, that's in the summer time every .. 4? years.

Many people who go enjoy the opportunity to get away from family

45, married and traveling from America to go to my first CCC

...or 40 and divorced

Its the perfect date for people who see all of their "real" family once per year, at CCC. Lots of couples attending obv.

I don't think there is outsiders vs the rest. Either you propose content, accepted talks or workshops, and you can come or you buy a ticket. Everybody has the same "chance". If you miss the ticket but really want to come you can try your luck at the entrance, there are usually always some people who can't make it but it's of course a bet.

Actually, Markus Hess already gave such a talk this year (in German, no closed captions but lots of AI-generated illustrations):

https://media.ccc.de/v/ho26-124-vom-hacker-zum-spion-die-ges...

That's the official position. I'm pretty sure, but of course I'm not suggesting you do so, that if you pay with a prepaid credit card and call yourself Random Person you will have no problem. As I said in another thread you can also just show up and buy ticket cash at the entrance from whomever sells them, but of course you risk not getting a ticket. Depends on your concerns. I'm pretty sure if you have a better solution but such large scale event you can contribute directly.

Go to the local smaller CCC conferences, where you can pay with things like GNU Taler or cryptocurrency, and the entry is often free anyway, with a donation being appreciated or buying event merch being a nice alternative to simply donating.

I think the hacker spirit is definitely alive & kicking in those smaller CCC events.

The organisation has to still pay their suppliers, and have to comply with anti money laundering laws

The politics of C3 is mixture of older anarcho communist hackers and contemporary progressive statists. So against authoritarian government, if it's right-wing, and privacy to protect against surveillance capitalism (rather than from the state).

So things like bitcoin are not liked as they're outside of the state and money should be a function of a benevolent left-wing state.