Together, we're in a world of trouble. Corporations and governments are conspiring to keep regular people down in every way possible. In our change from a mechanical world to a computerized world, now for the first time, it's possible for governments to spy on all of us, all the time, including every phone call, every email, everything digital we do.
If you think this sounds far fetched, this blog post is for you. If you're worried or not worried, this post is for you too.
This first video talk, below, is by two computer security researchers who build Tor, a privacy system that keeps activists and journalists, and soon graffiti writers, safer in places like Syria, Libya, China, your country and mine.
In the beginning of the talk they detail the Arab countries' revolutions this year, the role of Tor in those, and the importance of anonymous communication in preventing security services from chopping people up into small pieces and mailing them back to their families. Really. This last 10 minutes or so of the talk is essential. Please give the end of this talk a few minutes of your time, because it matters. Then pass it on.
I've bookmarked it so it starts near the end, but you can rewind it with the player controls to get the whole talk if you find you want more.
If you live in the Middle East, or you think this is an exaggerated threat, you must watch the whole thing. If you fear your government (or your mafia or your military or your employer) now or in the future, you should probably watch the whole thing too.
Read about Tor and maybe get and install it now, before it becomes both difficult and necessary to do so.
I encourage you to consider our collective online future with Corey Doctorow as well.
Corey's hair-raising rant on the future of computers (phones, games, iPads, etc.) and why it matters to us all. Video talk and text transcript. He also spoke to an audience of enthusiastic hackers this week at 28c3 (more videos there), a.k.a. the 28th Chaos Communications Camp in Germany. Both of these talks are from 28c3, and if you are a privacy, computer, or phone enthusiast, the other talks on YouTube from this event will blow your mind.
And last but certainly not least, here's the roundup of recent events featuring Anonymous and Lulzsec hacker collectives, at Wired's Threat Level.
Happy 2012! It's going to be interesting.
And now back to working on my Art Crimes web update, which should be available sometime on the first, with any luck....
Be careful out there. No drinking and driving. Watch out for the drunken fools. You are your biggest asset. Take care and take condoms.
