Tech Learning Collective

Technology education for radical organizers and revolutionary communities.

  • April 30, 2020 5:00 PM (-0400) April 30, 2020 6:30 PM
  • Remote
  • Status: CONFIRMED

Tickets are no longer available for this event.

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Event description

Start or continue your journey away from Google in this absolute beginner’s guide to the OpenStreetMap, a free, worldwide mapping project. Learn how to add information to the map, such as your own business or your favorite lunch spot, as well as how to use the map to find points of interest added by others. OpenStreetMap has been used by humanitarian efforts all over the world, but it’s also useful for more everyday tasks like finding gender-neutral restrooms, vegan-only restaurants, and more. In this workshop, you’ll see all these use cases in action, and even become familiar with the basics of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) concepts that you can use in other location-based projects.

Workshop Description

OpenStreetMap is a free and open-source, worldwide mapping project that was started in 2004. Since then, it has become a powerful, community-driven resource for people to share information about their immediate vicinity.

Much more than simply a “Google Maps alternative,” OpenStreetMap (OSM) is also a freely-available dataset of geographic information that is collectively owned. It powers a huge assortment of public (and commercial!) services from weather monitoring stations, civic infrastructure maps, and even the map views from sites like Craigslist. An ever-evolving community of humanitarians, hobby cartographers, and neighborhood residents add, edit, and maintain the information in the OpenStreetMap database and, much like Wikipedia, anyone can contribute the things that are important to them simply by creating a free OpenStreetMap account.

In this workshop, learn the basics of how to use this free tool to create and improve publicly available, communally editable maps of the things that matter to you. Learn about initiatives such as the Tech Autonomist’s Gender-Neutral Restrooms map which helps non-binary, genderqueer, and gender non-conforming people find safe restrooms to use, along with other ways to find accessible venues, queer friendly spaces, and other necessary resources.

As this is a remote/online-only event, there is no physical class space, but attendance is still limited to 15 students, so purchase your ticket now to reserve your spot.

To participate in our webinars, you will need access to a modern Web browser such as an up-to-date copy of Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome. You will also need a reliable Internet connection. We recommend disabling Wi-Fi and plugging your computer in to a hard-wired Ethernet network cable for the duration of the webinar, if possible.

If you would like to share your video screen or appear on camera, you will need to have and activate your own camera, such as the one built-in to many modern laptops. Similarly, to speak with the rest of the webinar participants, you will need a microphone. If you do choose to activate your microphone, we ask that you please plug in headphones/ear buds or use a headset in order to help reduce audio feedback loops that can degrade the webinar experience for other participants.

Please refer to our workshops and webinars FAQ for additional tips and advice before you join the video conference.

As with all Tech Learning Collective events, racism, queerphobia, transphobia, sexism, “brogrammer,” “manarchist,” or any kind of similarly awful behavior will result in immediate removal from class without a refund. Please refer to our lightweight social rules for details on our strictly enforced no-tolerance policy against bigotry of any kind.

About Tech Learning Collective

Tech Learning Collective is an apprenticeship-based technology school that trains politically self-motivated individuals in the arts of hypermedia, Information Technology, and radical political practice. We offer unparalleled free, by-donation, and low-cost computer classes on topics ranging from fundamental computer literacy to the same offensive computer hacking techniques used by national intelligence agencies and military powers (cyber armies). For more information and to enroll, visit TechLearningCollective.com.

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