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
“their students reclaim power over the work they do and are able to truly flourish”
Read what
had to say about
Tech Learning Collective
on
December 31, 2021:
We can see a glimpse of what’s possible in Tech Learning Collective[. …] By going back to their digital roots, students become more aware of their immediate environment. Numerous possibilities open up when these students realize they aren’t limited to the proprietary products of Big Tech; instead, they can build what they need on their own, thanks to free and open source software.
The school also advocates for cross-pollination. Their workshops are interdisciplinary, melding technical topics with the humanities, in subjects including history and philosophy. This allows for a more holistic development for the students. For instance, like they do with all their other courses, they teach cybersecurity through an explicitly political approach. They prioritize teaching security because of their audience, as many participants are also activists. They also cultivate critical thinking by encouraging their students to scrutinize technology from an ethical standpoint. […] Thanks to their programs’ technological and political immersion, their students reclaim power over the work they do and are able to truly flourish.
“extraordinarily knowledgeable[,] quality instruction”
I have been to several of TLC’s workshops, on networks,
git, Signal, and virtual machines, as well as their Hackers Next Door conference and a Mr. Robot-themed happy hour event. I also loved their online Foundations courses. I have found the instructors to be extraordinarily knowledgeable on an extremely wide variety of topics. They are fluent in this stuff, plain and simple, and quite good at explaining dense, complicated topics. As someone who is new to the “behind-the-scenes” of today’s technologies, I feel that I have benefited greatly from their events. After each workshop, I have numerous takeaways that help me continue to learn on my own time, but I keep coming back to their live workshops because of the quality of the instruction. I cannot overemphasize how highly I recommend Tech Learning Collective.
“welcoming for beginners, but still engaging for more experienced people”
Read what
had to say about
Tech Learning Collective
on
July 24, 2019:
[A]fter checking the[ir Gone Phishing workshop] out, I highly recommend!! I’ve gone to a lot of meetups, including a few cybersecurity workshops, and what they are doing is really top of the line. The workshop was a good middle ground of welcoming for beginners, but still engaging for more experienced people. I learned so much! It was well-paced and had a tight, manageable scope, but I also walked away with a ton of links of additional resources to explore on my own time. So if you’re in the NYC area and have the chance, definitely check out their calendar!
“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!