> welcome email

Hi Everyone! I hope you're as excited as I am to try out some faux-malicious hacking on Monday. It looks like it's going to be a great group of folks—I'm looking forward to meeting all of you!

To pick a lock, you need to know how the lock works, not just how to turn a key. This class is targeted at people with no hacking experience and perhaps even little coding experience. However, in order to cover all of the content, we need everyone to come in with some basic knowledge. Please know about:

  1. How HTML and JavaScript play together. We won't be using them extensively, but having a basic understanding will help some concepts make more sense. (If you'd like a fun little refresher on JavaScript, I recommend JavaScript for Cats.)
  2. The basics of how your browser talks to servers. This five minute video on YouTube is a great intro. We'll be digging in a little deeper in class.

You'll also need some software. Please download these things:

  1. Google Chrome
  2. Edit This Cookie, an extension for Chrome
  3. WireShark—if you're a Mac user, follow these instructions to get it working (it's kind of annoying, but totally worth it!)
  4. (optional) If you're not easily intimidated, I highly encourage you to download Firesheep, a Firefox addon. It needs to be built from source to work with any recent version of Firefox, and was a little buggy in my test run, but suuuuper creepy!

Play with some cats! This class has a companion website called Cat Meanings! Please sign up and upload some cats! Also browse around and see what other people have uploaded, and comment as you feel led. This will all have a purpose during the class.

Location: Our class is at the Department of Making and Doing. Parking information can be found on their website. It is a short walk away from a few trolley and MFL stops.

What to bring: A laptop and a sense of mischievous fun. If anyone is into lockpicking and has a practice knob & some supplies, please bring them!

The class will be a two hour mix of hands-on activities and lecture, with no set breaks. It starts at 6:45, which is usually around my supper time. I'll be eating early, and you should too! Snacking during class (and bringing tidy snacks to share) is also encouraged.