Announcements

Announcements

12/26/2022

This book changed my life years ago as I finally had something to point to when speaking about unschooling! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYeNCLETo-k James Marcus Bach also has a book on software testing. He is the son of Richard Bach, the author of the award winning children's book Jonathan Livingstone Seagull.

 

10/25/2022

Facebook recently handed over direct messages between a mom and her teenage daughter to police. Now they’re being prosecuted under the state’s anti-abortion law. One simple thing every messaging platform must do right now: make our messages safe using end-to-end encryption. MakeDMsSafe.com
 

Free software that my tech cooperative uses daily.

 

7/4/2021

Design4Drupal, Boston 2021 one-day FREE online - coming in three weeks! There will be sessions for beginners. This is a great event to add to your skills or start from zero.
 
Register for the virtual keynote, and help spread the word by sharing with your colleagues and professional network.
 
virtual Keynote: Friday July 23rd 12:00 PM EDT

Voice content: Does your content speak for itself?
 
Keynote Speaker: Preston So - Author of "Voice Content and Usability"

Register here - https://design4drupal.org/

In addition to this keynote, our one-day free online event on Friday, July 23 will offer sessions on Drupal basics, new features, and contribution support. Stay tuned for complete schedule and details coming soon.

Our ongoing 2021 series of webinars, will resume in August, 2021

 

6/16/2021

Skynet Went Live June 8th

You may know SkyNet as Amazon Sidewalk. It turns your home wifi into a network allowing any Alexa device (your neighbors, people driving by your house etc.) to conect and access your Amazon Sidewalk network
Attn: With SkyNet, Alexa Echo and Ring Owners are now subjected to facial recognition as well as VOICE recognition through these devices. Even if you do not have these devices, they are everywhere  ad we walk by them everyday. This 20 minute video explains it.  

How to turn Amazon Sidewalk off: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n87yipn8fZU  (4 minutes)

When we say "off" we have to trust Amazon to actually turn it off, but there is no way to verify this in their proprietary software.
**Be aware  that some app menus, shuffle and you may have a hard time finding the menu link to turn things off. if something
 

5/10/2021

Hmmm...  Comparing privacy policies of Internet giants - side by side. Who loves you?

https://www.comparitech.com/blog/vpn-privacy/we-compared-the-privacy-policies-of-internet-giants-side-by-side/

 

5/4/2021

When people ask me if they should use a FREE or very low cost Corporate, proprietary online service to build and host their website, I tell them about the privacy they give up and how it will also affect their members and visitors in a bad way, but this reason seems to be the best understood explanation, that provokes a bit of thought:

Very bad free Corporate service.

Hmmmm... "a brighter future for us." it says. It does include a link to the privacy policy - Why is this the page no one reads?

 

3/15/2021

Two good videos.

You can get arrested without a reason

97% Owned: The Cruel Truth Behind Money Credit and Financial Crisis | Business Documentary from 2012

1/11/2021

FBI QUESTIONED A MICHIGAN SENATE STAFFER AFTER ZOOM CALL ABOUT BANNING TEAR GAS
The FBI visit raised alarming questions about why a confidential legislative discussion warranted police scrutiny.

https://theintercept.com/2021/01/04/michigan-fbi-zoom-tear-gas

12/21/2020

Feds accuse Chinese ZOOM executive of working with govt to surveil users and suppress video calls:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/zoom-executive-in-china-charged-with-disrupting-tiananmen-memorials-11608326277

EPIC, Coalition Urge FTC to Address Privacy in Zoom Settlement:

https://epic.org/2020/12/epic-coalition-urge-ftc-to-add.html

Digital Red-Lining:

The consequences of America’s extreme digital divide have been amplified in the current pandemic. This is our discussion on policy solutions to these connectivity barriers.

Hate Speech in the Pandemic:

Video: Algorithmic Amplification, Misinformation, & Hate Speech in the Pandemic

 

10/18/2020

Your web hosting and the tools you use ARE political and you must assure that your values align with your host. Many businesses have had to deal with the crisis of being denied hosting due to their political views. MayFirst is a democratically-run, not-for-profit cooperative of movement organizations and activists in the United States and Mexico and agrees not to turn over your data under any circumstances.

MayFirst series of membership meetings start in October and are taking place throughout November 2020 - https://mayfirst.coop/en/membership-meeting

8/6/2020

There are a few ethical software solutions out there for online meetings:

Choose BigBlueButton or Jitsi for chat.

 

6/25/2020

ARE YOU STILL USING ZOOM or SKYPE??? 

SKYPE: https://blog.grobox.de/2009/ten-reasons-why-you-should-boycott-skype/

We are using: BigBlueButton a free software that protects your privacy. If you are using a proprietary chat, you may be putting friends, clients, teachers and students in danger. You cannot inspect the software code to see exactly what they are doing, you do not know how they are exposing information and access to your devices. Try the BigBlueButton.org demo chatroom and be pleasantly surprised to see how elegant and functional it is while it protects you. https://communitybridge.com/bbb-room/demo/

Unlike Zoom which has a thing called attention tracking. If it is turned on, it reports to the host if a person clicks away from the Zoom window for more than 30 seconds...

A vulnerability in the Mac Zoom Client allows any malicious website to enable your camera without your permission. The flaw potentially exposes up to 750,000 companies around the world that use Zoom to conduct day-to-day business.

The company has seen a 535% rise in daily traffic in the past month, but security researchers say the app is a ‘privacy disaster.’

Though Zoom is incredibly popular it has a rather dismal security and privacy track record.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT ZOOM FOR EDUCATION

Zoom Meetings Aren't End-to-End Encrypted, Despite Misleading Marketing

Zoom is Leaking Peoples' Email Addresses and Photos To Strangers

Zoom's Encryption Is 'Not Suited for Secrets' and Has Surprising Links To China, Researchers Discover

Thousands of Zoom Video Calls Left Exposed on Open Web

Taiwan Tells Agencies Not To Use Zoom On Security Grounds

Google Told Its Workers That They Can't Use Zoom On Their Laptops Anymore

 

6/3/2020

Many have been arrested while peacefully protesting under our First Amendment rights. Please give what you can to the National Lawyers Guild - https://www.nlg.org/referral-directory/

Know someone that was arrested? 

NLG Phone: (212) 679-5100

Needs and wants database, find just about anything in the United States - Citizen Command Center

News from the Free Software Foundation