[breezeTrowel]

The original HOPE (Hackers On Planet Earth) was in 1994 and it's where the phrase "Hack The Planet" originated. The "Hack The Planet" phrase was also used in the movie Hackers and, if you look closely, you can spot some yellow HOPE 1994 stickers in various scenes.

[fashiontechguru]

The producers and even Angelina Jolie showed up at the NYC 2600 meeting during production to get a feel for the culture. So much of that movie is still a part of what we do every First Friday of the month in the same location.

The Hack The Planet tv show was based on the very real Off The Hook radio show, which is still on the air at WBAI every week (you can find the back catalog of shows on 2600.com going back decades).

It's amazing to me that more people don't still show up to 2600 meetings. I get that interests groups fragmented out into things like Linux User Groups, professional infosec groups, and other "meetups," and people only have so much time to go to these things, but the real deal original is still happening.

If you're in NYC or a lot of other big cities on the First Friday of any given month, check out the Meetings list on 2600.com (or in the back of 2600 Magazine: The Hacker Quarterly, which is still in print).

There are still people hanging out every month who play with the broad spectrum of technology and other systems for the absolute joy of it.