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.
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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
“I’m learning way more in Tech Learning Collective workshops than my college classroom”
The amount I’m learning in Tech Learning Collective workshops is way more than what I was learning in my college classroom. As a computer science major, most of the curriculum was all about theory and had very little practical work. TLC more than fills in that gap for me. Another reason I’m frequenting TLC events is for their community! I would’ve never known how vibrant TLC’s alternative tech community was. I’m definitely looking forward to participating in as many Tech Learning Collective events and courses as possible.
“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.
“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!
“heighten[ed] my own digital defense practice”
During the anti-globalization movement of the early 2000s, tech collectives such as Riseup and Autistici came into existence to provide autonomous, non-corporate communication tools and “How-Tos” for social movements to organize safely and securely with emerging new media. In South Africa, the Right2Know campaign was initiated in 2010 in response to the Protection of State Information Bill, which aimed at weakening the rights of journalists and whistleblowers to access information. As part of their work, R2K has published guides for activists to protect themselves digitally.
To heighten my own digital defense practice, I recently took a virtual workshop offered by the New York-based Tech Learning Collective. This collective provides technology education for radical organizers and revolutionary communities with special attention to underserved groups. These groups, which design tools and training for activists, are not a new occurrence.