Hackers Congress Paralelní Polis

Blockchain and the Technological Foundations of Civilization

People think of blockchain as an edgy new technology. To some extent, this is true. But the real function of the technology is to solve a problem that dates deep into the history of the human experience. It is a new solution to the oldest problems.

CRISPR & Biohacking

CRISPR is science fiction made real. It is nature's technology for splicing genes, and we've learned that it can be used for almost any application. On top of that, it's shockingly affordable. One expert on CRISPR calls it “the biggest thing since penicillin,” and that may not be an over-statement. CRISPR puts physical evolution into our hands.

Foundations of Internet Money

Confidentiality in financial systems is a core property for maintaining fungibility and protecting fundamental human values. While financial privacy is a key tool in protecting against surveillance and censorship in oppressive situations, it is also a basic necessity for day to day business activity. The privacy features in Zcash set a foundation for Internet money that benefits all.

Lightning network basics and layer 3

Lightning-fast blockchain payments without worrying about block confirmation times. Security enforced by blockchain smart-contracts without creating an on-blockchain transaction for individual payments. Payment speed measured in milliseconds to seconds. Capable of millions to billions of transactions per second across the network. Capacity blowing away legacy payment rails by many orders of magnitude. Attaching payment per action/click possible without custodians. The emergence of use cases such as instant micropayments. Cross-chain atomic swaps occurring off-chain instantly with heterogeneous blockchain consensus rules. Julien, with the help of Alice, Bob and their friends, will present you the lightning network. How it works, why it's mind-blowing and some uses cases the will disrupt the blockchain technology itself.

Freedom of transaction

Why freedom of transaction in the information age is a basic precondition for all other basic and human rights. Historically it was always given and therefore never fought for in any revolution but now that we enter a fully digitized economy it can easily be taken away. Not to have freedom of transaction would end all other freedoms effective immediately though. Freedom of transaction must always include free choice of currency and of financial technology. If there was ever a time to defend the achievements of past centuries and to carry them into the future and strengthen them that time is now.

Now that North Korea, Venezuela, and Iran are making the headlines, don't you wish you had begun using my idea, Assassination Politics, years ago?

In 1995, I thought of an idea, which I wrote into an essay called "Assassination Politics", which I asserted (and genuinely believe and believed, then and now) would eliminate the need and even the possibility of war, armies, and oppressive governments. I put it out there for everyone to consider and debate. Everyone had the ability to find the flaws if any were present. Yet, subsequent years went by, and the world continued to have war and trillions of dollars spent on militaries. Governments continued to oppress. And the public did, essentially, nothing. We are all subject to that abuse, today. There is an old joke about a religious man who is caught in his house in a flood. As the water rises higher, he is visited by two rescue boats. Each time they offer to rescue him; he responds by saying, "Go away. The Lord will save me!" Eventually, the water continued to rise, he's on the chimney, water all around, and a rescue helicopter appears, offering assistance. He says, "Go away. The Lord will save me!". The helicopter leaves. The water rose, higher, the man drowns. In Heaven, he asks St. Peter, "Why did God not rescue me"? St. Peter answered, "He sent two boats and a helicopter; what more did you want?" Well, I, Jim Bell, sent the world my Assassination Politics essay. What more do YOU want?!?

Exploring Consensual Non monogamy

A look at the evolution of monogamy, how relationships have changed through time along with what is currently available on the fringe today.

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Full Spectrum Sexuality and Sexual Deviancy

There are many ways to sex and be sexed. This is a talk about the wide variety of sexual preferences expressed across the globe. Healthy sexual expression leads to a sane mind. Let's find out what type of sexual deviant you are.

Rojava: call for a revolutionary hacker movement and the study of polytechnics

We are a revolutionary organization following the ideology of apoism in Rojava, North Syria. Global power is breaking up, and new groups are emerging in the struggle for power around the world. We are the technical arm of the democratic confederalist ideological movement. At one time hackers believed they could use the power of the internet and software to shape the world. Leaders emerged that managed to put forward exciting visions of the future that brought groups of technically skilled people together to build large scale projects. But there was another strand in the movement which rejected collective action driven by shared ideas, and instead saw technology merely a way to improve the material conditions of individuals and rejected changing the world. Our group is here to restore back the potential of the hacker movement. We are advancing a vision and practice for technologists that will make the hacker movement a revolutionary force with the power to shape global politics.

Crowdfunding as an expression of financial freedom

We can live on bitcoins, avoid bank products and freely choose the other party of your transactions. But setting up a business with significant initial costs? Ask for the banking loan or find an angel investor. Buying shares in an interesting company? Ask some investment fund to include it in its portfolio, we are too "unqualified" to do it on our own. Until last year, this had been the common situation. With blockchain-based digital tokens, this will be over soon. And the tsunami of ICO´s is just a beginning. Crowd is becoming significant financial power. And everybody has a chance to become "qualified" enough to understand the investments into to the business entities. For the first time in history.

Crowdfunding as an expression of financial freedom

We can live on bitcoins, avoid bank products and freely choose the other party of your transactions. But setting up a business with significant initial costs? Ask for the banking loan or find an angel investor. Buying shares in an interesting company? Ask some investment fund to include it in its portfolio, we are too "unqualified" to do it on our own. Until last year, this had been the common situation. With blockchain-based digital tokens, this will be over soon. And the tsunami of ICO´s is just a beginning. Crowd is becoming significant financial power. And everybody has a chance to become "qualified" enough to understand the investments into to the business entities. For the first time in history.

Anarchy as a Conservative Program

Many people consider anarchy to be a recipe for revolution and advocacy of chaotic social relations. Both claims are wrong. Not only we can easily see anarchy producing order, rather than chaos, but we can also show that the call for anarchy rests on very common-sense or even conservative requirements of social life.

How to bootstrap a DAO

We’ve heard a lot about decentralized autonomous organizations over the last several years, but thus far few have become fully operational. In this talk we’ll look at the practical considerations of designing and building a real-world DAO, using the Bisq exchange and its forthcoming DAO as a case study.

Liberland state model for 21st century

Liberland is the youngest country on earth, and was formed on the 272nd birthday of Thomas Jefferson, 13th April 2015. The country was formed on 7km2 of no mans' land, sitting between Croatia and Serbia. It is the third smallest state after The Vatican and Monaco. Liberland's constitution is based on libertarian ideals and values; minimum government intervention with the maximum amount of freedom granted to its' citizens. Liberland has attracted in excess of 450,000 applications for citizenship, and applies a concept of voluntary taxation. The state intends to be a leading role model in the 21st century, combining the best governance practices from constitutions of Switzerland and USA while implementing the latest state of the art technology such as blockchain, as well as proven concepts such as E-Residency demonstrated by Estonia. The creation of a new country requires an extensive array of diplomatic, legal and technological challenges, which are essential for the proper development of a nation. Modern countries have in many cases become burdened with obstacles, rather than supporting the economic development of a society. Over regulation and excessive taxation are smothering the economic growth, particularly in Europe. Is the creation of a new smaller jurisdiction, with low taxation policies the correct answer to the stagnation of economic growth? Do existing countries have the courage to allow Liberland and other "free spirit" nations to flourish? Or are we doomed to continue suffering due to the taxation policies of other countries?

FinTech vs. Traditional banking business models

A traditional banking industry faces a new challenge – disruptive innovations driven by financial technologies. A new FinTech branch of economy benefits from similar factors like non-banking financial institutions in the mid of 20th century like lower regulation, flexibility or reputation bubble. Are traditional business models going to disappear? Is FinTech industry strong enough to oppose to banking lobby? And, last but not least, is there any space for cash as a medium of exchange in the FinTech world? These questions are pillars of Ales’s contribution.

Comparing trade-offs of cryptocurrencies

When Bitcoin was created, it was widely believed to be anonymous currency. This was proven to be inaccurate in practice and that incentivized people to search for other solutions. This talk will compare Bitcoin, Monero and Zcash to provide information about not just their anonymity but also other properties. The talk is meant even for non-technical people, so yes, you will understand it!

Anonymous insurance and predictions markets

Every new government's regulation, restriction or embargo that makes impossible for people to trade, do business or increase their expenses, creates a demand for any market solution that helps to bypass these obstacles. The fact - how many entrepreneurs or ordinary citizens consider the given law to be unethical, willing to avoid with the least risk as possible, determines an economic feasibility of the 'avoidance' solution. Truly anonymous cryptocurrencies (like Monero/zCash/zCoin) and anonymous web applications (using Tor hidden service) make this problem technically solvable. The solution is an anonymous insurance company. For the first time in the history, it is feasible to achieve an anonymous economic incentive leading to fully anonymous corruption & bribes with the impossibility to identify those who corrupt as well as those who accept bribes. The perfect corruption allows democratization of corporatism – everyone can create an anonymous economic incentive and be both bribe provider and receiver.

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Opening

(In)security of cryptospace

We will look at (in)secure design of various elements of cryptospace such as cryptocurrencies and their protocols and provide a short overview what went wrong and could have gone wrong this year.

Positive libertarianism

Most libertarians will go through several phases. Seeing the inefficiency or injustice of the state is one of them. I want to suggest that there is another phase: Taking your liberty into your own hands. Hate taxes? Go to tax haven! Don't like public schools? Unschool your kids. Do you want banking privacy? Cryptos! Don't like traditional models of relationships? Invent and build your own.

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Storing value in cryptos without fortune telling

A lot of people in crypto space are real-world gamblers. They play a sophisticated version of roulette on crypto-exchanges. This is not the only way how to store value in cryptocurrencies. You can use strategies that have reasonable premises. They are easy enough to implement without fortune telling. And they have been used and tested here in Paralelní Polis.

The Future of Crowd Funding

In 2017 almost 2 Billion USD has been raised in Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). Why do so many start-ups raise capital in ICOs and why people participate in ICOs? We will look at ICOs from both perspectives - ICO start-ups and investors. Differences between Venture Capital and ICOs. Opportunities and risks of participating in ICOs.

Welcome to the Recentralized World

Despite the promise of the blockchain technology to decentralize the power that current institutions and moneyed individuals wield, what we see is just a redistribution of power with the "blockchain" prefix to it. I will talk about a few examples of recentralization and actions we can take to prevent it.

Liberate education from the state

Compulsory school attendance is not only immoral, but it also represents the initial reason of our economical lack of freedom; State education costs money, also it's a source of the state propaganda and statist indoctrination. This is the main cause of the conviction of people that free market fails in so many areas, so we need the state authority to replace it. Why don't they teach us anything about the impossibility of economic calculation in the central planning? How easily can the authority of a teacher be replaced by the state authorities? And how can we keep the freedom when we spend the most important years of our lives in the jail?

We Gotta Take the Money Back!

How to Beat Fiat in a Not so Free Competition – meditations on proposed restrictions on product of the current monopoly money producers followed by an evaluation of private alternatives like gold, social networks money or cryptocurrencies. Speculations about their viability as fiat money contenders.

Fostering individual empowerment through social cohesion: A humanist view on freedom as a relational quality instead of a structural entity

The liberal vision of freedom sees the individual to be able to choose from a variety of options without being restricted externally. An equal access to economic structures and the legal system realizes the liberal goal of equal chances for any member of society. The lack of an external boundary stopping the individual to act does not necessarily empower the individual to deal with existing things around him in a creative manner though. How does an approach to the concept of freedom as an individually acquired ability in a socially fostered environment relate to the modern version of liberty as a structural-political achievement?

Innovations in education

The world is changing rapidly and education needs to adapt. But this is not always the case. In Hemisféra, we managed to innovate the education of children independently as a business without any external founding (Punk style). Business grows and we apply innovative methods such as gamification, freedom to learn, project education, edularping, new technology, NVC, and mindfulness.

Particl: A Private and Decentralized Marketplace

A technical presentation on how we plan to build a decentralized marketplace with a focus on privacy. Particl is a platform that features an anonymous cryptocurrency (CT, RingCT) and a BitMessage-style messaging system. We are in the process of designing a protocol (Open Market Protocol) for interactions between sellers and buyers.

Bio-Hacking - Overcoming Programmed Ideologies

Overcoming Programmed Ideologies: Re-learning through Removing Using meditation, breathing techniques and cold showers i trained myself to be fully submerged in a frozen lake for 7 minutes. I have gone 7 days without any food and dead-lift more than twice my body weight through strength training. I believe the human body is capable of many amazing things that we have forgotten. I hope to continue my last discussion and explore new possibilities that i have since explored.

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Giving people the tools to unchain themselves

We have come to witness an upward trend in the field of cryptocurrencies. Many respectful professionals referred to it as a "Bubble" or a "hype" that as they claimed was ran by "a bunch of kids in their basements". Something that was started by the peer to peer community, open source, free to all, to compete with existing centralised organisations and governments. So how did this technology come to be? How is it that it can not only compete with, but come to push fortune 500 companies, government services as well as many highly praised job titles towards becoming obsolete?

OpenBazaar 2.0: Now is the Time to Shift to a Decentralized Marketplace

Cryptocurrencies are decentralizing money, but online commerce is still highly centralized. OpenBazaar 2.0 has delivered on the promise of a decentralized marketplace that is easy to use. This talk explains why now is the time to shift our economic activity away from the tightly-controlled e-commerce websites and into this censorship-resistant, private, peer-to-peer marketplace.

Liberate education from the state

Compulsory school attendance is not only immoral, but it also represents the initial reason of our economical lack of freedom; State education costs money, also it's a source of the state propaganda and statist indoctrination. This is the main cause of the conviction of people that free market fails in so many areas, so we need the state authority to replace it. Why don't they teach us anything about the impossibility of economic calculation in the central planning? How easily can the authority of a teacher be replaced by the state authorities? And how can we keep the freedom when we spend the most important years of our lives in the jail?

First steps to educational emancipation

First steps to educational emancipation: an extraordinary revolution is occurring in the developing world. Low-cost private schools are replacing government provision, bringing the first steps towards educational freedom. But governments still regulate the framework of education – curriculum, assessment, etc. The next phase of liberation must address this too.

p≡p ≡ pretty Easy privacy; Privacy by Default

p≡p motivates a new standard to encrypt and verify written communication without reinventing the wheel: p≡p eases secure communications relying on well-established end-to-end cryptographic methods. p≡p's protocols automate the steps taught to users and follows standards like OpenPGPG or OTR to integrate into existing systems for written digital communications and automating key management tasks.

How to Nap the Most

Bitcoin is a terrifying place full of ridiculous emotions. It is intelligent to prioritize naps in your investment decisions. This talk is about how to make investment decisions in the Bitcoin world that will let you sleep a lot and not drive yourself insane.

How to hack a blockchain

No system is 100 % safe all the time. Same goes for blockchain. This talk will explain different blockchain frameworks and their respective characteristics. Based upon this attack vectors for these blockchain frameworks are explained. Live hacking included.

The future of Swiss private banking: Monero

Switzerland’s banking sector is legendary for respecting its clients’ privacy. But that privacy is only available to very wealthy clients, and it vanishes at the first request of a foreign power. Cryptocurrency is the solution, and Bitcoin seems to be a safe bet. But while Bitcoin is useful in many ways, it’s Monero that will likely become the technology of choice for the future of private banking and wealth management.

Criminal Law 101: On Cryptocurrencies and Encryption

Under the flag of national security, governmental authorities are inclined to access all communications and follow every euro that is being spent. Encrypted communication and crypto currencies greatly enhance our privacy, but they’re legally challenged by investigative authorities. Noud and Reynier are criminal defense lawyers and defend this tech in the court room. They'll tell everything you need to know about criminal law, and how to prevent (unconsciously) laundering Bitcoins.

Anonymous locking boxes for everybody

Ethereum blockchain in locking systems. Locking system architecture. CryptoComb - open source modular system of anonymous boxes, design, construction, development, prototype demonstration. Possible applications for shared garages, hotel rooms, 3D printers, CNC machines or even drones...

What Bitcoin taught me about people

Bitcoin has had an uncanny impact in just a few years, not just on tech, economics & politics, but on individuals. We all had our own ideas about how btc can affect lives. Many "bitcoiners" had a vision of how people will use bitcoin and why. And some, including myself, had a naive view about what kind of people would be drawn to this unique innovation. Expectations and preconceptions inevitably lead to disappointments...but hopefully ones we can all learn from.

Taking Back The Web: Information Markets and Sociotechnical Systems

The World Wide Web that we know today has powered both positive and negative change for society. What does the next web look like? We explore how it might operate without compromising the freedom, privacy, or security of its users, ensuring the alignment of fair economic incentives for its participants - the Internet users.

Fashion STL

A new beginning of fashion.stl which started as a 3D printed fashion show at HCPP 2015. Now Bet Moreno with Ivana Kanovska and Oldrich Vojta are finding more innovative ways how to put together fashion and technology. How FashTech can change our future of clothing. How to use 3D print and scanners to have customized clothes. How we incorporate sensors and chips so our clothes become interactive. Let´s communicate via our clothing!

3D printing: Decentralization of manufacturing

We are living at very exciting times. You can start manufacturing right on your desktop. The future of manufacturing is going to be local again thanks to 3D printing. Imagine consumer goods manufacturers publishing spare parts for download and letting anyone to print them on their 3D printers. Think of on-demand manufacturing and digital stock of items.

Closing

Official wrap-up of #HCPP17