RHL'18 in Saint-Cergue, Switzerland

RHL'18 was held at the centre du Vallon à St-Cergue, the building in the very center of this photo, at the bottom of the piste:

People from various free software communities in the region attended for a series of presentations, demonstrations, socializing and ski. This event is a lot of fun and I would highly recommend that people look out for the next edition. (subscribe to rhl-annonces on lists.swisslinux.org for a reminder email)

Ham radio demonstration

I previously wrote about building a simple antenna for shortwave (HF) reception with software defined radio. That article includes links to purchase all the necessary parts from various sources. Everything described in that article, together with some USB sticks running Debian Hams Live (bootable ham radio operating system), some rolls of string and my FT-60 transceiver, fits comfortably into an OSCAL tote bag like this:

It is really easy to take this kit to an event anywhere, set it up in 10 minutes and begin exploring the radio spectrum. Whether it is a technical event or a village fair, radio awakens curiosity in people of all ages and provides a starting point for many other discussions about technological freedom, distributing stickers and inviting people to future events. My previous blog contains photos of what is in the bag and a video demo.

Open Agriculture Food Computer discussion

We had a discussion about progress building an Open Agriculture (OpenAg) food computer in Switzerland. The next meeting in Zurich will be held on 30 January 2018, please subscribe to the forum topic to receive further details.

Preparing for Google Summer of Code 2018

In between eating fondue and skiing, I found time to resurrect some of my previous project ideas for Google Summer of Code. Most of them are not specific to Debian, several of them need co-mentors, please contact me if you are interested.