Now, melatonin is the opposite of adrenaline. The latter has an effect of making you more aware, short-cutting the rational mind and switching back to your pre-historic instincts. Melatonin, however, is a hormone produced by the pineal gland somewhere in the middle of your brain and leads to calmness and sleepiness.

Normally, the production and re-uptake of melatonin is synchronous with sunset and sunrise. When the sun rises, the blue and to a lesser degree the green light (or more precisely, light with a wavelength above 530nm) on your retina will inhibit the production of melatonin. In the absence of such light, melatonin is produced and makes one sleepy.

Delayed inhibitation

Now, it is not as simple as stated above of course. For one, melatonin is produced from serotonin, a neurotransmitter that is associated with mood. Depression is caused by a lack of serotonin (in many cases because the serotonin re-uptake is too active or due to a lack of physical activity during the day), so it is no surprise that both insomnia and depression go hand in hand.

Some people also have a delayed inhibition, either by some internal cause but usually due to external light. Especially within IT, people tend to stay up late and sit behind their laptop screens. And guess what, these emit the green light inhibiting the production of melatonin!

Reprogramming the brain

There are various methods one could utilize to help the brain stay in sync with the day and night outside. In many countries, melatonin supplements can be bought (over the counter or in higher dosage with a prescription). Since melatonin is a hormone produced by the body, it is relatively safe to take synthesized melatonin from these supplements.

While these can be very effective (I have found very positive effects with a dosage of 3mg, although off-the-shelf dosage is usually around 0.1mg), there has been very little study regarding the long-term effects. Given that the role in the circadian rhythm is just one of many for melatonin, it might be wise to exercise some caution.

Reprogram your brain

A better and more natural way of resetting your biological rhythm is to pay attention to the light in your environment. This starts in the morning (yes, waking up properly is an important condition for a good nights rest). When you wake up, stare outside for 5 to 10 minutes and get a good dose of green light. This will reset your pineal gland, and stop the production of melatonin.

In winter, it might still be dark when you get up. In that case, you might want to consider getting a full-spectrum lamp, or at least a lamp that has as significant amount of greens and blues in its spectrum. Fluorescent lighting might also do the trick, but be aware that these normally produce very narrow spikes in the visible spectrum on the green, blue and red wavelengths and might therefore be less effective.

Software to make you sleep better

In the evening, a good start is to do the inverse: dim the light, use incandescent light which tends to lack greens and blues. But also take a look at your computer or laptop screen. This is a very rich source of green and blue light, so staying up late behind your laptop will inhibit the onset of melatonin production and delay your sleepiness.

One, quite ridiculous, suggestion is to stop working on your laptop an hour before you plan to get to sleep. I know, it’s heretic. Luckily, we can be a bit smarter about it by simply reducing the green and blue emitted from the screen!

Until recently I used the compiz compositing window manager for the sole reason that it let’s me apply a rendering function to my screen. Rendering functions are transformations applied within your graphics card that combine the red, green, blue and alpha value your software draws on the screen into the output you see.

Compiz has a ‘color filter’ plugin, which can be used to apply a rendering filter. I wrote a simple rendering function (in GPU assembly) that averages the red, green and blue channels and then writes this average to the red channel (leaving the blue and green channel dark). This has the effect of making your desktop monochrome, like a black-and-white tv but with red light instead of white.

This worked wonders. Next to dimming the roomlights in the evening, switching to this red view had a great effect on my ability to fall asleep.

But, recently I switched to xmonad; is a much more rudimentary and efficient window manager. It does support compositing somewhat, but only for useless effects such as transparent terminal backgrounds.

After discussing the matter at my hackerspace, I was put onto the path forward. To start with, one can use gamma correction to color-shift the image on the screen. This is a tedious process though, and getting it right requires some insight in how gamma-values actually influence color.

Luckily, there is software that takes care of all of that. The first I tried was f.lux, but it wasn’t optimal. For one, it was not open source, you could only get a binary. But more annoying, I tend to have at least 2 monitors and f.lux only works on one. So while my laptop screen would redshift, my external screen wouldn’t and the effect would be ruined.

But a bit of additional research led me to redshift. This is open-source and available in most linux distributions (for eg., apt-get install redshift in debian, or apt-get install gtk-redshift to get the applet as well).

I start it after I log in to an X session  (a windows version is available as well) and tell it where I am (by specifying latitude and longitude). It then knows when sunset and sunrise take place, and starts shifting the color of my display in small steps towards less green and blue and more red in the evening and back to the normal whiteness again in the morning.

Note that your phone also is a source of melatonin-production-inhibiting light. If, like me, you tend to check some rss feeds and maybe twitter in bed before you close your eyes, consider using something to redshift your phone display in the evening. Personally, I use an android phone with Cyanogenmod. This aftermarket firmware for your android phone already contains something called ‘rendering effects’. I placed a widget on my home screen that lets me choose between normal and ‘monochrome red’.

Good night, sleep well

The body is an intriguing complex of interacting processes, and while the above tends to work out really well it is not the panacea of sleep problems. There are many other interactions that may interfere with your ability to get a good healthy night of sleep.

For example, depression is known to cause a lack of serotonin and therefore may lead to decreased melatonin production. However, an unhealthy sleep rhythm (not in sync with planetary movement) has again a catalytic effect on depression.

I found that the above techniques (look into the light in the morning, redshift in the evening) greatly increased my ability to sleep at the right times and long enough, and be awake during the day without having to rely on stimulants. I feel more energetic and migraine has become a rare event as opposed to a weekly recurring disaster.

Your mileage may, of course, vary. But just give it a try. And let me know!

Ps: if you use caffeine to wake up in the morning or stay up late, disregard the above entirely; your circadian rhythm is too fucked up and the effects of my advice will likely be unnoticeable.

This year we have four days on the schedule, with a kick-off day of training sessions hosted by respected PostgreSQL developers such as Greg Smith, Bruce Momjian, Magnus Hagander, Guillaume Lelarge and more. Topics will cover performance tuning, application development, database administration, replication & high availability and geospatial. The training sessions are available on their own, or as part of a regular conference attendance at additional – but very reasonable – cost.

We had a record number of talk proposals submitted this year but we’ve resisted the urge to host even more sessions in parallel – in fact we’ve reduced the number of parallel sessions to three as we all know how frustrating it can be when more than one that you want to see are at the same time. Instead we’ve extended the conference by a day to accomodate over 40 different sessions, which has the added bonus of allowing an additional night of social activities – always a great way to discuss the latest technologies, trends and ideas with other Postgres users over a beer or two.

We’ve got a great range of topics for this year, covering new features in PostgreSQL 9.1 and beyond, developing applications, running Postgres in the cloud, hacking PostgreSQL internals, tools and add-on products and managing large databases, presented by a wide cross-section of users and developers, including a number of this year’s Google Summer of Code students who will talk about their work. You can view the complete schedule on the conference website: http://www.postgresql.eu/events/schedule/pgconfeu2011/

Our opening keynote this year will be presented by Ram Mohan, EVP and CTO of Afilias who manage the .info, .org and .mobi top level domains using Postgres. Ram will be discussing the business decisions and strategy around their use of PostgreSQL. Our closing keynote will be presented by Ed Boyajian, President and CEO of EnterpriseDB who will discuss PostgreSQL’s role in the post-Oracle era.

So, if you haven’t done so already, head on over to the website at http://2011.pgconf.eu/registration/ to register as an attendee to avoid missing out on what promises to be an outstanding conference in an fantastic location. See you in Amsterdam!

At the end of the show I say I think it is fantastic to be queer. While that sounds like an easy thing to proclaim, I have not always thought so. In fact, up until around 20 I really hated myself for being gay. My environment constantly gave me a lot of signals that being gay is somehow wrong, and although I never had to endure the physical violence that, for example, Mitch Altman had to endure it did scar me psychologically.

I denied that part of myself until I ended up with suicidal tendencies with a psychiatrist. During those sessions I first explored this part of my identity. By then, I had reverted to substance abuse (alcohol, weed, xtc, hallucinogens, you name it) to aid in the impossible task of pretending I had no sexual preference for boys. I mean, sexuality is such an integral part of our being, to deny that is like to deny that one breathes.

Imagine the constant struggle, fantasizing about boys and falling in love with your male classmates while at the same time strongly believing it is wrong and must never surface. That’s hard. Really hard. I don’t think I can aptly describe what that did to me to anyone who has not gone through the same struggle.

When I came out to friends and family and labelled myself gay, I thought I was there. I partied like mad in the local gay scene, thought I was complete. Yet, the years of denial and coping mechanisms were not easily dismissed. Somehow, the feeling it was somehow wrong persisted. It was hard for me to assimilate within a new group and tell them I am queer. It really felt like an obstacle, I feared I would not be accepted for who I am.

The way the world was treating me still lead to a lot of frustration. The Dutch word ‘homo’ was (and still is) being used as a derogate term. It is a word some reserve for their worst enemies, for the people they deject the most. I got really angry about that, but instead of using that anger to change things in a positive way I let it build up inside me like a cancer.

I still feel hurt when people use the word ‘gay’ as a derogate term. Within certain subcultures of the hacker scene, especially those where kids measure their hacking abilities bragging about their conquests in some sort of nerdy masochism, it is socially acceptable to use language that hurts people. It is encouraged even. Bashing queers is, unfortunately, an easy way to get accepted within certain peer groups.

Usually the usage of the word gay as a way of dismissing someone is out of carelessness though. I have rarely found anyone who really has problems with queerness. It is habitual use of language, no conscious speech act. I tend to say something when I observe this. I try to explain how that same careless use of words almost drove me to end my life, kill myself.

I hope that will make people think. I know it has made people think. And I hope that with that I can contribute in making it easier for young kids out there who have similar issues as I did have.

For myself, I have found peace in that regard. I am openly queer, and will take every opportunity I can to let the world know. I love my life as such, and while I am still struggling with the psychological scars and addictive behaviour left from that time I do celebrate my queerness every opportunity I get.

It really makes me cry when I think of those young ones out there who might be gay, bisexual or whatever and are going through what I went through. I want to help them become themselves. I am glad that The Netherlands has the COC, an organisation that furthers queer emancipation but also supports anyone who is going through the process of coming out of the closet. I know some of my friends take issues with their political ways, but for me the real value of the COC is the sheer support one gets from being safe among peers who have had similar issues. When I finally acknowledged my homosexuality at 20, it helped me so much just to be able to go there and talk, listen and make friends with like-minded people. I have deep respect for the volunteers going into the classrooms, educating adolescents about the rich tapestry of queerness.

A few years after I came out, I had a profound experience. A friend whom I knew from the hardcore scene (gabber, speed, happy is for homos) called me, and started talking about how he heard about my coming out. To my surprise, he told me he was gay too. I had never expected this to come from that particular peer group, yet just by being openly queer it all of a sudden became acceptable for others as well. And that, for me, acknowledges the fact that just by being myself I can help.

I am therefore very proud of the show we did at CCC. We had a unique gathering of queer geeks at the table, openly talking about their deepest feelings, most horrible experiences and also the joy of being who you are. I really hope kids (and adults!) out there who struggle with their own sexual identity listen to it and can find support in the wise words spoken. Already a day after the show, Mitch told me about people coming out right there and then.

As a final thought, I want to emphasize that just putting the label ‘gay’ on myself is not the end but merely the beginning of the exploration of my own sexuality. Yes, I really like guys. And for a while I even went to the other extreme: I would deny every feeling I could possibly have for someone of the female (or whatever other) sex. I am slowly coming around, and realize things aren’t binary.

I have several friends who also do not tend to fit in the dominant social paradigm (to quote Mitch from the aforementioned show) of the monogamous heterosexual relationship, and are finding ways to deal with that while still existing within that dominating model. It is hard sometimes, but it is a lot of fun as well. And true hapiness, I believe, can only be found by following ones heart without regarding what others might think or judge you by.

Anyway, I encourage each and everyone (also if you do not consider yourself to be queer) to go and download that recording. And most of all, I encourage everyone out there to be themselves. And if that is hard somehow, know that there are a whole bunch of persons that have gone through it already and that are more than willing to talk. To listen. Do not hesitate to contact any of us on the panel (me, Mitch, Jimmy, Maha, Socialhack, Willow, Fabien and Tomate).

Be excellent!

Connected the USB between phone and laptop, then enabled tethering (this is Cyanogen 2.2 on a G1, rooted). This brings up the usb0 nic on both ends with some default ip’s. Then went into the terminal on the phone (probably can do this with adb shell as well) and checked I could ping:

# ifconfig usb0
usb0: ip 192.168.42.129 mask 255.255.255.0 flags [up broadcast running multicast]
# ping 192.168.42.137
PING 192.168.42.137 (192.168.42.137) 56(84) bytes of data.
64 bytes from 192.168.42.137: icmp_seq=1 ttl=64 time=0.519ms

With that running, it is time to enable forwarding on my linux laptop:

sysctl -w net.ipv4.ip_forward=1

And enable some firewall rules to have traffic from the phone get NATTED on the outgoing tunnel endpoint on my laptop (tap0, remember usb0 is the usb nic that connects to my phone):

iptables -A FORWARD -i tap0 -o usb0 -m state --state RELATED,ESTABLISHED -j ACCEPT
iptables -A POSTROUTING -t nat -o tap0 -j MASQUERADE
iptables -A INPUT -i usb0 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A FORWARD -i usb0 -o tap0 -j ACCEPT

Then I set the default route:

route add default gw 192.168.42.137

And finally, I need to tell the android that my nameservers are 194.109.6.66 and 194.109.9.99:

# setprop net.dns1 194.109.6.66
# setprop net.dns2 194.109.9.99

And we’re done!

One of the things I have always wanted to do is visit Vienna and attend Ninjacon (previously known as Plumbercon). So when I learned that this years Ninjacon is actually going to be the last one (it will continue as B-sides Vienna, you know, B-sides, the next hippest thing since sliced bread), I had a crazy idea: let’s just drive down to Vienna, stop at some hackerspaces along the way and attend!

As it is with me and crazy ideas, I then stopped thinking and just did it. So here I am writing from a comfy couch in Das Labor. This hackerspace in Bochum (Germany) is my first stop on the way to Vienna, and I must say: not a bad choice at all. But more on that later.

In about an hour, I will be heading out to Kassel where there is Flipdot. From there on to Weimar (Maschinenraum) and Prague (brmlab). And then I will hit Vienna just in time to unload and set-up the audio gear for Ninjacon. Yes, the audiogear. You know how these things go. You plan a quiet vacation, but before you know it your car is full of equipment or fiber or what-have-you. So in this case, the crew at Ninjacon asked if I could bring some audio gear, since that was one of the things they had not covered yet.

So with all the audio gear of the Signal studio (graciously sponsored by Hxx of course) and some borrowed PA speakers I will do the audio at Ninjacon. Great, I won’t get bored then! Luckily, i’m staying an extra day to leave on Monday again. Of course I want to check out Metalab and the city and whatever else Socialhack is going to show me!

From Vienna, it is on to Munich (I hope, haven’t yet heard back from then) and then Stuttgart, where I will revisit Shackspace. Well, that is, visit their new location because they have moved since my first (and also last) visit there about 6 months ago. And then it’s Luxembourg, for that long-due visit to syn2cat. En passant, I will join celebrations of the duke’s birthday (sort of like queensday back home, but with dukes and duchesses instead of queens and princes).

If that’s not enough, after a day of recovery, I’m heading to Charleroi in Belgium to arrive in time for the opening weekend of a fresh new hackerspace by the name of Wolfplex.

So yeah, quite the trip. I haven’t planned much, just announced my arrival at certain dates in certain cities and hope I will be able to find a place to crash. I mean to spend the days contemplating and reflecting. I’m due for a re-evaluation of all my projects, priorites and life. What better way to do so than lounging at all those hackerspaces!

Looking forward to all of it. And I hope I will find a 74HC125N along the way somewhere to complete my USBTinyISP. Stay tuned for updates.

Just try one for free

It started like so many addictions. You try one of their samplings. In my case, it started with google docs. I don’t remember what my first google doc was. I was participating in some project or the other and someone offered to share a document with me (and the rest of the team). Relucantly, I created a google account (with some feigned name and custom email address to keep up the pretence of anonymity) and went into the document. All went well, we shared information, changed the document collaboratively and that was it.

Yet, after a while, someone on another project wanted to share a document. So I created a new account, went in, and did the rest. Well, after a while I had 20 google accounts for as many documents. It became a nuisance, I had to log out and log in again to get to another document. So I crossed a line. I merged all the documents into one account.

Later, I bought my android phone (the HTC Dream aka G1) directly from the pusher. I created another google account to activate it, thinking I would miss out if I would use the phone without. I know that if you don’t use any of googles services, it is fine not to use a google account on your phone (after some hackery). But I was curious, ok??

So all went fine. I had my google docs account. I had my android phone account. I tried to take care and not leave any traces that would link the two together. I would never log in to google from my desktop with the android account and vice versa.

Meanwhile, I was running some web-based groupware suite to keep track of my appointments. This had some disadvantages though: it was clunky to use on my phone. Also, it was a nuisance to have yet another tool to maintain, keep track of security updates and what have you. I mean, an agenda should increase producitivty, right, not get in the way of productivity.

So I made a next big step, I decided I wanted to try google calendar. It came integrated on my phone by default and had a usable interface on the web so I could use it on my desktop as well. So after a few tentative test-runs I switched and decommisioned the groupware suite.

From there, it all went down-hill for me.  I started using google latitude to share my location on my blog during my trip through the US, used google voice to make cheap international calls from the us back home, started using google tasks to keep track of my todo items, initiated new google docs myself and even had a short period where I (unwillingly) experimented with google wave.

Antagonizing realization

But all this time I had stayed far from the one google service that symbolizes, for me at least, the summum of giving up any privacy one has: google contacts. I would not, never, share my contacts with google! But then  I wanted to upgrade my phone to cyanogen mod. Well, I actually had to flash the device because I broke the dalvik cache and it would not execute any app anymore. I had somehow deleted all the permission definitions. I could not even install new apps anymore. With no sensible way to backup my contacts, I started to contemplate the uncontemplateable: google contacts! Because of course, google apps still had all the permissions they needed.

So I broke. Synced my contacts, flashed the device and restored them again. And discovered how convenient google contacts actually is. I am now even looking into integrating google contacts into mutt.

And there you have it. That is the story of how I turned from a decent google opponent into a fully integrated cell of the great google information collection agency. I use google services to organize my life. And I like it.

Healing

Now, some people, when they hear I am addicted to google services, sigh “Oh you fool, I can do without just fine!”. Yeah well, that’s nice for them. But those are either the people that are impossible to work with because they always forget what they promised to do by when and need constant reminders to get even the silliest little thing done. Or they are the people with nice unconvoluted lives who generally are not that full of initiative or commitment.

For the rest of us, the people who operate on the same high level of energy as myself, tools like described above are essential to keep track of the many things going without keeping it all in your head and going insane. Some use apple’s crap but most are also on google.

I would love to kick this habit!

But their applications are so damn easy to use. They do what I want, without getting in the way. They are not overly complex. They don’t require me to maintain a server, keep track of security issues with the zillion of dependencies and keep an eye on the hardware. I can access them from wherever I want, on whatever device I want. I get reminders on the desktop and on the phone, so that whatever I’m doing I’m not going to miss an appointment.

Now, I can see a few ways out here. The first would be to reverse-engineeer some of their protocols. This should not be too hard, as it all works browser-based. It just takes time.

Another thing I could imagine to prevent google from looking at your contacts and tasks would be to write custom applications to access those but store everything encrypted. Looking at google tasks for example, I could simply write a desktop application and an android application that both use the same encryption algorithm and key to store each individual task encrypted. I could build an android contacts store to store my contacts encrypted, or on another server. It just takes time.

And oh, I could try and implement the google calendar backend protocol in a relatively simple daemon that would not require lots of dependencies and thus would be easy to maintain. Then redirect calendar traffic from my phone to my own backend server, and use sunbird as a frontend. It just takes time.

And there you have it. Google’s services are there. There is no open alternative for any of those services that is as easy to use, as integrated as googles services, cross-platform and without the hassle of maintaining dozens of packages.

Who knows. Now that I am aware of my problematic addiction, I might work up the energy to start a project to provide a more open alternative with privacy and encryption as the driving design forces, instead of data-mining and dollar signs. A suite where you have a choice to host it yourself, or on community-operated servers. Or perhaps even a non-profit that you pay a little amount towards keeping the software and hardware running for you.

I could see this kick off. Now all I need is a little time (or money so I don’t have to worry about making a living while making this work).

Addendum

By the way, in case you are wondering: I’m not entirely stupid. I do make my own backups of everything I stuff in their cloud.

There is no name yet, there is no location yet. Heck, there is no organisation yet. But I know there will be a next edition, and I know Hxx will be behind it.

As with HAR2009, I am already stirring up the fire. Just a little. I mean, seriously, doing such a thing as HAR2009 is an enormous task to take on, and starting just one year before the actual event has proven to be effective yet kinda stressful. Anyway, I am not yet hashing out details such as where the next edition will be or what the name will be. We can sort that out later, can’t we? No, I am still contemplating the bigger picture: what will be the timeframe, who will pull the cart.

With HAR2009 I got help from Fenrir early on. I am very glad Mischa got him on board, as he has proven to be instrumental in getting the job done. I have learned a lot from this seasoned hacker-event veteran. For that matter, things would never have happened had Mischa not been there. Sadly, as things are now, they will not be in a position to take a half-year break from work to concentrate on the event this time. So that leaves me.

Of course, they will be there in their roles as board members of the foundation, but the day-to-day stuff will be down to me. Yet, it is a lot for one person to take on. Experience shows that you need two people full-time during crunch-time. So now a daunting task has been imparted on me: find someone that gets along with me, has a healthy dose of intelligence, a bunch of social skills, is a doer and available full-time for the first half year of 2013. That narrows it down quite a lot.

Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Sure, let us first enjoy the ccc camp, which is going to be a blast if the signs are any indication. I mean, shit, a hacker space program? But not long after that, the hunt for a location is on! And then, mid-2012 when we have found the most awesome location, we can get down to the details.

I am already looking forward to have the honour of working with such an amazing group of volunteers again. Both the recidivists as well as the greenhorns. You all inspire me to do what I do. Thanks in advance, guys & gals. I love you all!

After dumping my luggage, I take a stroll along the beach. It’s around 22 degrees Celsius, but under the glare of the sun it feels like at least 30. I could live with that, walking around in shirt and shorts in early December. Now, there is no hackerspace in Miami. But, I used to watch a lot of Miami Vice when I was young, so I had to stop by. It’s all there, the palm trees, the wide roads flanked by pastel-tinted art-deco low-rise buildings. I don’t seem to detect any of the vicious crime and drug-smuggling though, but no doubt if I had looked it could be found.

After a good nights sleep, it is time to start my journey back home. Starting with the return of the rental car at Miami International Airport. It is an emotional goodbye. After 8762.8 miles, this car feels like home. In fact, it is the closest thing to home I have had for 6 weeks. It has served me well, never asking for much and always ready to take on endless roads through cold and hot weather. Never complaining when I revved up the engine to swerve through the armadas of crazy Boston drivers or insane New York City cabbies. Thank you Ford Focus with Nevada license plate 402WUM. I shall miss you.

I manage to get through security without too much groping or invasive body scans, and end up having 3 hours to kill. T-Mobile is letting me down again, so I purchase some crappy wifi and check my mail. I feel a bit depressed. It is really over now. I will miss this country. I think I might have fallen in love with it. I had never expected this!

By the time we lift off night has fallen. It is a dark but clear night. Miami is a sea of orange lights below. Soon, the lights thin out into lines demarcating the strip-malls and occasional suburb along the highway. Until it is pitch dark down there. The only light coming from the flash-bulb on the wing and the interior cabin lights.

A 22-hour layover awaits, so I collect my bags and walk out into the cold Washington DC air. I wait for the hotel shuttle. Wait some more. And some more. By now I have seen all of the other hotels’ shuttles 3 times it seems so I decide to give the hotel a call. Should’ve done that earlier, the clerk says “I’ll send the shuttle right over sir!”.

Well, anyway, safely in the hotel room I enjoy the complimentary chocolate-chip cookie as I zap around American television. No Sonic & Knuckles at this hour (I do love that Knuckles character!), but I fall asleep to some family guy and American dad. Forgot to turn off the heating though, which I regret as I wake up that morning with a slight headache.

After checking out I order some lunch in the hotel restaurant. The two handsome young waiters compliment me on my dreads, making my day again! I wish people in Europe would notice the awesomeness of my dreads some more.

It seems the TSA personnel at Dulles International Airport is not really into it. The naked body scanners are all switched off, and apart from taking of my shoes and veering through the metal detector I can go through security without too much hassle. Not even a quick pat-down. Should I feel less secure now??

When the plane lifts off, it is dark again. Looking out the window I see the lights of Washington DC grow more distant as the plane climbs to cruising altitude. I silently say goodbye to America. I’ve had a wonderfully good time down there. I miss it already.

Thanks so much to all and everyone who made this trip possible. Whether it is by putting me up for a night or two, by engaging me in fun activities at the various hackerspaces or just by pointing out fun and interesting things to do. If I can ever reciprocate the favor, you know where to find me!

So long and thanks for all the fish, Americans.

The next day, before I head off to Charlotte, I drive by the beach. I stroll along the shoreline of the Atlantic ocean. It’s cold, but clear. The sun is beating down on the peer jetting out into the Atlantic. A nice place for breakfast, so I get the bread and Nutella.

As I head into Charlotte, I’m a bit wary of what I’m going to find. This is the south, you know. And indeed, before long the southern federation flags start making their appearance along the highway. I hope people will not shoot at me, I do have a strange accent and dreadlocks. I’m getting hungry, and need some more bread. Time to pull off the highway. I go into a local shop, and although they do look at me as if I’ve come from another planet, they are very friendly. They don’t have any bread though, but kindly point me to a place that might have. There, I indeed find some as well as some bananas. I’m good to go again, and continue the 8-hour drive.

When I first get into Charlotte, I wonder what I have gotten myself into. I need some batteries for the voice recorder, so I pull up into a mall. The parking lot proves to be an obstacle course, with deep holes and wide cracks in the asphalt. A police car keeps watch over the crummy shops, and as I walk into a ‘Family Dollar Store’, people start shouting. Apparently, I can’t go in to the store with my bag. Ah well. I do find some batteries though, and moments later I drive into town.

The hackerspace folk welcome me with open arms! They are about to have the grand opening about a week from now. I can only stay for a night so I have to miss that. But what a fun-filled night! Not only can I help here and there with straightening out the place, we go on the roof to do some spying on the high-rise office buildings in downtown Charlotte. And if that is not enough, we drive around finding a supermarket that sells dry ice! Having found it, we attack it with a jig-saw and later with a table-saw to create evenly-sized Jamendo pieces (blowing the fuse on a lab-psu while at it).

Now, after sleeping in an entirely empty apartment it is time to head out again on an 8-hour drive into Alabama. The radio speaks of sins and savior and penance and assassination of Julian Assange. Friendly.

I’m glad I did not skip Huntsville though. Makers local 256 is one hell of a hackerspace. Located in their own dedicated building not far from the highway, they are an interesting bunch. My attention is drawn to a nice mixing-desk on one table, and after inquiring it turns out they have started their own podcast under the working-title ‘the hackerspace digest’. Of course, I want that on Signal!

I leave Huntsville under a stark blue sky. All of a sudden, a huge Saturn V rocket attracts my attention. Someone just parked his launch vehicle next to the highway, it seems. I take the exit to investigate, and end up on the parking lot of the U.S. Space & Rocket Center (ussrc.com, ain’t that funny domain name for a museum portraying one of america’s greatest feats?). Inside, there is more Saturn V, also a moonlander and a space buggy. Outside, a whole park of rockets and missiles. Even a bunch of German v2′s, the once deadly WWII weapons that inspired the whole American space program.

There is a difference between SW Metropolitan Parkway and Metropolitan Parkway. Most importantly, one is 10 miles from Atlanta, the other is in Atlante. Anyway, I do arrive before my host has to leave for work. At first, I wonder whether I have the right address, as this looks like an industrial complex. With my host on the phone, I drive through the gate and enter the repurposed former corn processing plant.

Inside the gates I find a thriving artistic and creative community. People live in the old industrial buildings, and there are literally dozens of workshops to be found. The hackerspace, Freeside, is also located on the terrain. It is huge! They’ve got everything, from a classroom to a car workshop. There are several rooms, each with a purpose of their own. I’m still very much tired though, and sink in a chair behind my laptop to catch up with email and edit the last episode of ‘gmc does america’, which airs tomorrow.

There is one more space to visit on my trip: Familab in Orlando. It is sort of the opposite from freeside. In terms of surface area that is. But first I meet up with my host of that night, who is a student at Full Sail University. The campus turns out to be too complex for my exhausted brain, and we decide to meet up on the McDonalds parking lot. At the space, which is a storage/workshop unit, I meet several people with interesting projects. We don’t stay long though, everyone is tired and it is getting cold.

And with that, I conclude the visit of my last hackerspace on this tour. I have one final destination: Miami! Stay tuned for the wrap-up.