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Hey TTFA got a mention in this news letter!<br>
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This probably gets lots of hits so we should put a link to
BarnCamp on that page somewhere. <br>
<br>
nice one<br>
Mick<br>
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<td>[Intheloop@tacticaltech] In the Loop February 2013</td>
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<td>Thu, 7 Mar 2013 12:20:26 +0000</td>
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<pre>Welcome to February's In the Loop!!
***THE BACK ROOM AT TACTICAL TECH***
INFO-ACTIVISM CAMP 2013 - EVIDENCE & INFLUENCE - SET THE DATE!
We are excited to announce that we have set the dates and found a fabulous location for this years Info-Activism camp: the camp will be held 23-30 June at a retreat centre near Lake Orta, in Northern Italy. Applications opening soon!
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://camp2013.tacticaltech.org/location">https://camp2013.tacticaltech.org/location</a>
WE ARE HIRING!
We are looking for two paid interns for our Berlin office for our Evidence & Action programme, and also to support our web production activities.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.tacticaltech.org/jobs">https://www.tacticaltech.org/jobs</a>
ADVOCACY TACTICS IN ARABIC
Beirut-based Social Media Exchange (SMEX) features 10 Tactics Unstitched <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://informationactivism.org/ar">https://informationactivism.org/ar</a> in its latest newsletter covering advocacy tactics in Arabic.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.smex.org/tactics-in-arabic/">http://www.smex.org/tactics-in-arabic/</a>
We also have printed cards available as a training resource.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.tacticaltech.org/new-training-resource-info-activism-arab-world-now-available">https://www.tacticaltech.org/new-training-resource-info-activism-arab-world-now-available</a>
***ACTIVISM***
TECH TOOLS FOR ACTIVISM BOOKLET
Members of the HacktionLab collective have put together a 32 page booklet called Tech Tools for Activism. Designed for "activists who are not techies", it covers a range of topics, from Email & Email Lists, to Hiding and Deleting Things on your PC to Browsing the Internet Safely.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://techtoolsforactivism.org/booklet">https://techtoolsforactivism.org/booklet</a>
STATS, ART AND POLITICS: AN UNLIKELY MIX?
>From a musical piece called "Hard Data", to a visual art piece called American Military Casualties in Iraq, data has made inroads not only into the world of news journalism and activism, but also into the art world. Artists are using "stark statistics" in ways that are interesting to the senses, while at the same time making political statements.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21018205">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-21018205</a>
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://rhizome.org/editorial/2012/nov/13/drones-eye-view-revealing-killing-fields/">http://rhizome.org/editorial/2012/nov/13/drones-eye-view-revealing-killing-fields/</a>
CHINA: HUMAN RIGHTS AND INTERNET ACTIVISM
Huang Qi is best known in China as the creator of the country’s first human rights website, Liusi Tianwang. Since then, his site has been blocked, he has been arrested, and has been imprisoned twice, for years at a time; but he continues with the website today.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2013/feb/09/blogging-slow-revolution-interview-huang-qi/">http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2013/feb/09/blogging-slow-revolution-interview-huang-qi/</a>
***PROVOCATION***
EUROPE vs GOOGLE
The troubled relationship between the European Union and Google continues to be.... troubled. The latest news is that the French Data Protection Commissioner, acting on behalf of the European Union, has announced it will take action against Google after the company failed to reply to questions about its handling of user information
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://epic.org/2013/02/europe-prepares-action-against.html">https://epic.org/2013/02/europe-prepares-action-against.html</a>
EGYPT: CROWDSOURCING AS A FORCE OF CENSORSHIP
When clips of the film The Innocence of Muslims hit the internet, there was pressure on Muslim countries to do something about it.. In Egypt, various censorship ideas did not get off the ground due to impossibility, impracticality, cost or illegality. The government could not force sites hosting content from the film to take it down, and could not ban Youtube either. But then they hit on something else: censorship through crowdsourcing. <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://www.theengineroom.org/crowdsourcing-censorship-in-egypt/">https://www.theengineroom.org/crowdsourcing-censorship-in-egypt/</a>
SOCIAL MEDIA IN EGYPT: A MIXED BLESSING
"Two years ago, the international media was churning out endless articles about the impact of social media on the political upheaval in the Middle East," writes Lisa Goldman in Techpresident: "This was particularly the case for the Egyptian uprising, which was dubbed the Facebook Revolution." There is, of course, a flip side to social media use in Egypt, however. Some analysts say that in some cases, social media has actually contributed significantly to political polarisation.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/23510/social-media-harming-arab-uprising">http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/23510/social-media-harming-arab-uprising</a>
BEFORE FACEBOOK GETS HACKED
It's not a case of if, but when, argues Adam Levin on the Huffington Post. "The nonstop Facebook information grabs of late, coupled with recent high-profile security breaches, point to the inevitable: a catastrophic breach at Facebook," he says. "When that happens, the most concentrated dossier about you, including all your personally identifiable information, will be in the wrong hands.<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/7-ways-to-avoid-identity_b_2634967.htmlandreadmorefromSecurityin-a-boxhttps://securityinabox.org/en/social_networking_toolsFindoutwhyauthorDouglasRushkoffisquittingFacebook;">"
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/adam-levin/7-ways-to-avoid-identity_b_2634967.html
and read more from Security in-a-box
https://securityinabox.org/en/social_networking_tools
Find out why author Douglas Rushkoff is quitting Facebook; "</a>It does things on our behalf when we're not even there. It actively misrepresents us to our friends, and worse misrepresents those who have befriended us to still other".
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/25/opinion/rushkoff-why-im-quitting-facebook/index.html">http://edition.cnn.com/2013/02/25/opinion/rushkoff-why-im-quitting-facebook/index.html</a>
And if you are going to stay on Facebook - why not find out "How Facebook Is Using You to Annoy Your Friends (and How to Stop It)<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://lifehacker.com/5987248/how-facebook-is-using-you-to-annoy-your-friends-and-how-to-stop-itCLOUDCOMPUTING:CORPORATEENCLOSUREOFTHEGENERALINTELLECTAthoughtpiecefrom2011,butevenmorerelevantin2013;onthesubjectofCloudcomputing,influentialSlovenephilosopherSlavojŽižekiswary:">"
http://lifehacker.com/5987248/how-facebook-is-using-you-to-annoy-your-friends-and-how-to-stop-it
CLOUD COMPUTING: CORPORATE ENCLOSURE OF THE GENERAL INTELLECT
A thought piece from 2011, but even more relevant in 2013; on the subject of Cloud computing, influential Slovene philosopher Slavoj Žižek is wary: "</a>Cloud computing offers individual users an unprecedented wealth of choice — but is this freedom of choice not sustained by the initial choice of a provider, in respect to which we have less and less freedom?”
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/slavoj-zizek-on-cloud-computing-as-corporate-enclosure-of-the-general-intellect/2011/05/12">http://blog.p2pfoundation.net/slavoj-zizek-on-cloud-computing-as-corporate-enclosure-of-the-general-intellect/2011/05/12</a>
SOCIAL MEDIA: ONLY FOR THE POWERFUL?
"For many authoritarian states, social media can present the ultimate threat: anti-regime discourse and dissent from the party line", reports Techpresident. But this hasn’t, apparently, stopped many despots from taking to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram themselves -- to make announcements, spread propaganda... and sometimes just to post snaps of their holiday.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/23457/wacky-world-authoritarian-regimes-social-media">http://techpresident.com/news/wegov/23457/wacky-world-authoritarian-regimes-social-media</a>
"HOW JIHADISTS USE TWITTER"
A new research paper tracks how and why organisations linked to Al – and their sympathisers – are using social media. YouTube and Twitter have already been put to use..... and Instagram is next.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3005577/how-jihadists-use-twitter-and-soon-even-instagram">http://www.fastcompany.com/3005577/how-jihadists-use-twitter-and-soon-even-instagram</a>
EUROPEAN UNION DATA LAW: CORPORATE INFLUENCE
An activist group has published evidence showing that significant proposed revisions to the data draft law currently being debated by the European Union are almost word-for-word the same as model legislation written by American and European corporate interests. The revelations have been met with opposition from a variety of sources.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/eu-data-law-proposal-uses-language-word-for-word-from-us-eu-corporations/">http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/02/eu-data-law-proposal-uses-language-word-for-word-from-us-eu-corporations/</a>
"GOOGLE FOR SPIES": NEW SURVEILLANCE SOFTWARE TARGETS SOCIAL MEDIA
A multinational security firm has secretly developed software capable of tracking people's movements and predicting future behaviour by mining data from social networking websites, says The Guardian newspaper. Dubbed a "Google for spies," the technology has already been shared with the US government as part of a "joint research and development effort in 2010".
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/10/software-tracks-social-media-defence">http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/feb/10/software-tracks-social-media-defence</a>
SECURE SERVERS WORLDWIDE
What is a secure server and do you have any secure servers near you? According to these stats from the world bank, a server is secure when it makes use of encryption technology. As for the second question, you can see how many secure servers there are in your country, per 1 million people. Top of the list is Lichtenstein, with over 7,000 as of 2011; there are a number of countries, however, with no documented secure servers whatsoever, including Cuba, Iraq and Malawi. The data can also be viewed on a map.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.SECR.P6?order=wbapi_data_value_2011+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc">http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IT.NET.SECR.P6?order=wbapi_data_value_2011+wbapi_data_value+wbapi_data_value-last&sort=desc</a>
WHO ARE THE HACKERS?
In an article provocatively called "Who are the hackers? Profiling the masters of data disruption," the Guardian newspaper sets out to answer a tough question: When your PC is attacked, who is behind it? Focusing specifically on Denial of Service attacks, the article concludes that "Cybercriminals range from terrorists to 'hacktivists' and each has their own motives.<a class="moz-txt-link-rfc2396E" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/feb/11/hackers-hacktivists-cybercriminals-virus-dataALTERNATIVESTOSOCIALMEDIAMONOPOLIES">"
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media-network/media-network-blog/2013/feb/11/hackers-hacktivists-cybercriminals-virus-data
ALTERNATIVES TO SOCIAL MEDIA MONOPOLIES
"</a>The Unlike Us Reader offers a critical examination of social media, bringing together theoretical essays, personal discussions, and artistic manifestos. How can we understand the social media we use everyday, or consciously choose not to use? We know very well that monopolies control social media, but what are the alternatives?".
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publication/unlike-us-reader-social-media-monopolies-and-their-alternatives/">http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publication/unlike-us-reader-social-media-monopolies-and-their-alternatives/</a>
****ILLUMINATION****
RAPE: A LACK OF CONVICTION
Based on rape-related statistics in the UK, informationisbeautiful has put together an infographic that makes these stats more accessible. From a big blue semicircle representing the 78,000 estimated rapes per year, the circles get smaller as you scroll down through the number of rapes reported, then the number of perpetrators prosecuted, and then finally -- a relatively tiny circle at the bottom -- the number of convictions. The circles are supplemented by other related information, such as why victims don't report rape, and why cases are lost at the police stage of the proceedings.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rape-a-lack-of-conviction/">http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/rape-a-lack-of-conviction/</a>
DATA VISUALISATION: "SEVEN DIRTY SECRETS"
Secret #1: Real data is ugly; Secret #2: A bar chart is usually better; Secret #3.... Read the rest of the article, from .net magazine, here:
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.netmagazine.com/features/seven-dirty-secrets-data-visualisation">http://www.netmagazine.com/features/seven-dirty-secrets-data-visualisation</a>
MIGRATION: WHERE DOES THE MONEY GO?
Remittances – money sent home by migrants to family and friends – appear to have soared to record levels. This interactive map based on data from the World Bank tracks how much money is sent, where it comes from and where it goes.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/feb/05/remittances-around-world-visualised">http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2013/feb/05/remittances-around-world-visualised</a>
COMPETITION: CAN YOU VISUALIZE GOVERNMENT DATA?
As more and more government data is made publicly available -- on both a local and national level -- we now, in theory, have access to a lot of information. But can we make this data accessible?Google, the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Guardian newspaper have teamed up to offer a money prize to the person who can create the best data visualisation using "an open dataset from any government open data website".
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2013/feb/12/government-data-free-our-data">http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/2013/feb/12/government-data-free-our-data</a>
TAKE IT ONTO THE (DIGITAL) STREETS: SIMPLE D.I.Y. MAPPING
If you've got data you'd like to map, but aren't sure where to start, try MapBox Streets -- a worldwide street-level map, designed and powered by OpenStreetMap.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://mapbox.com/tour/design/">http://mapbox.com/tour/design/</a>
CREATING A BETTER WORLD: HOW ARE WE DOING?
On betterworldflux.com, you can track the progress of the Millennium goals: how the world has changed over time on any issue, as some countries get worse, and some improve. Universal Education, gender equality and HIV prevalence are just three on the long list you can see visualised.
<a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="http://betterworldflux.com/">http://betterworldflux.com/</a>
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