Information About

Hal2001




The name HAL was primarily due to the film 2001 A Space Odyssey , in which HAL is the name of the ship's Artificial Intelligence . The name was retronymed ''Hackers At Large''.

The conference was held primarily outdoors. Logistically speaking, the network structure was quite a feat, with approximately 15 km of Category 5 cable for the Ethernet backbones, as well as supplying power feeds for the tents' computers.

Interestingly, there was a technology-free zone, The Solaris Cafe, named for the 1972 film. The only technology permitted in the place was a television, a DVD player running the movie, and coffee brewing equipment. A fishtank was set aside for drowning mobile phones which ringed in the tent.

This conference was run by Stichting HAL2001, a not-for-profit organization.