We met on Tuesday, 12th March at the Code Factory.

For the first half hour we all slowly dropped in and had several chats in smaller groups. One notable discussion was about the current attempt of enforcing upload filters at the EU level and digital and analogue protests against it. If you also want to save our internet, take a look at pledge2019.eu, botbrief.eu and savetheinternet.info.

Then we had two talks:

In “Cryptographic hash functions and a PBKDF2 usage example” Jackie tried to briefly explain how (cryptographic) hash functions and key-derivation functions work, and what we have to keep in mind, when we want to use them securely. One practical example was the usage of the pbkdf2 python library by Darsey Litzenberger. The title of the talk links to the slides.

After that Zoé talked about “Home Automation with Python and Home Assistant” and gave some stunning example of what you can do to interact with your flat and how you can use the Python-based Home Assistant to increase fun and comfort. She also explained how to use a little bit of hardware to build a HODOR (Holds Open the DOor (foR you)) and never be bothered again by being to slow for early morning package delivery. The title of the talk links to the slides.

For the next meetup we are still looking for talks or other forms of input. If you want to present something, or if you know someone who you would like to present something, let us know.