Putin’s brutal aggression in Ukraine has put cyberwar back in headlines. Recently, Carey Parker, host of the Firewalls Don’t Stop Dragons podcast, reached out to us at Tech Learning Collective to talk through some of the issues the war in Ukraine has once again raised for laypeople who may be newly concerned about the reliance we’ve developed as a society on digital infrastructures. So, late last month, we sat down with him for another conversation about what anyone and, arguably, everyone could be doing not only to keep themselves safer online, but also prepared in the event of an escalation of hostilities in a cyber theater, rapid shifts in political climates, or even just natural disasters that affect telecommunication abilities.
Technology, taught collectively.
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(Learn more about Tor.)
Firewalls Don't Stop Dragons: Luck Favors the Prepared
The Enragés: Next Time the Pendulum Swings, Part 2
Earlier this month, we republished part 1 of our interview with The Enragés, where we discussed our blog post, Imagining an Optimistic Cyber-Future. In this post, you’ll find the conclusion of our conversation along with a (somewhat rushed) transcript of the same. Here, we touch on ways in which capitalism has constrained people’s telecommunication abilities, we describe some of our inspiration from earlier political thinkers, and we even answer a couple of listener questions.
Testimonials
“very supportive to newbies […] I learned a lot”
I found out about Tech Learning Collective through an Electronic Frontier Foundation article about an event they were hosting regarding cybersecurity.
What I really liked about it, is that they were very supportive to newbies (like me) and I wasn’t too overwhelmed during the event. They made it as simple as they could. The communication between the audience and the presenter (and the teacher’s assistant) was really nice too. They tried to answer as many questions as possible and kept going for almost two hours after the event was supposed to end.
Among other things I learned a lot about the Tor Browser, brute-force attacks, and how password hashing works.
“considered, and thorough […] from multiple nuanced perspectives”
The Tor workshop [I attended] was very slow, considered, and thorough, providing hours of spacious learning and the space to fully comprehend and learn. Although I did write down notes, I doubt I’ll need to refer to them, because of the pacing and thoroughness of understanding each step.
Rather than cramming too much information to retain, the tutor respectfully provided the core information repetitively, from multiple nuanced perspectives. That way, it’s gone in, I have done the learning while in the workshop, as opposed to needing to reread notes after the fact, and try to make sense of the information.
It was inclusive and respectful, and even the platform kinda helps with that, which gives you a screen of an avatar, and the option to collaborate either with your mic for voices, or by typing in the chat box.
Thanks again, TLC! I feel empowered to do this now!
“captured my imagination and has me inspired”
I found Tech Learning Collective’s “Our Streets, Our Maps” was a highly informative and stimulating workshop. The instructor did an excellent job illustrating the great versatility of OpenStreetMap and demonstrating the wide range of queries it can satisfy. As someone who’d never before used OpenStreetMap, this workshop captured my imagination and has inspired me to plumb the depths of this valuable resource!
“cogent, concise, and free of unnecessary technical jargon”
TLC’s workshop on securing email was very well organized and easy to follow. At every step of the way during demonstrations, actions taken were clearly explained along with their intended purpose. The instructor’s delivery was cogent, concise, and free of unnecessary technical jargon. The instructor facilitated an informative conversation with attendees about encryption and related issues. This workshop provided a convincing case for using encryption and demonstrated how easily it can be implemented. I look forward to setting up encryption for my personal communications and reaping the benefits.