Tuesday Sweep: 13 February 2018
Your weekly reminder to back up your data, update software and otherwise pay attention to your digital environment. (Oh, and to go to the CRASH Space meeting…)
Jump in Here
- Welcome. If you haven’t been following along, it’s okay. You’re not behind, you’re just where you are.
- The coach tool at the Crash Override Network has a great step by step break down that makes it really easy to start.
- If that site doesn’t fit your needs or you want more, that’s okay, there are more recommendations under Start Here on the repo.
- Feeling more ambitious? Review the list of OneThing articles and pick one to catch up on.
Sweep
The basics slightly revised and with a printable checklist.
- Updated software recently? Pick a new device to check on today.
- Backups still up and running? When was the last time you made a clean disk image? Here’s a new great article on how to design a backup system.
- App, Password Gardening: Delete a low quality app from your phone or delete an account that you don’t need that doesn’t make you happy. Digital cruft builds up. Delete it. If you’re keeping it, can you move the password to your password manager (delete it from everywhere else) and add two factor authentication?
- Stored WiFi networks can be used to profile your computer and find out places you’ve been. Weed them out.
- Move to offline archive & delete your histories where you can find them.
- Double check privacy settings on your phone, social media accounts. The folks running the companies can change the TOS and add “features” before you notice them.
Learn
Where do you scan for news?
- Interested in mentoring? Levi is collecting a group of like minded folks at the space.
- If you do use facebook, you can help propublica collect data on political ads with wither a Firefox or Chrome plugin. via NotetoSelf
- WTF Salon. Well at least they’re kinda warning you that their is malware on their site. FASCINATING business model this choice between enabling ads or letting them use your computer to mine the Monero cryptocurrency. I don’t know how I feel about it. On one level it makes perfect sense, the more time a person spends on the site, the more the site gets paid. This seems like a much better incentive model than advertising, almost like micropayments might finally work out. That the payment comes in the form of green-house gases converted to a very unstable commodity backed by nothing via a transaction by a 3rd party service typically branded as malware seems fragile to say the least. Flawed implementation, but an intriguing start. They might have considered Brave.
- But at least with Salon, you know its coming unlike JavaScript libraries that hide miners in them. (via Troy Hunt)
- Always on the lookout for cool part-storage solutions.
- Missed having ethics in you Computer Science Curriculum? Some folks have been thinking about this a long time and there is now Google Docs warehouse of many syllabi via Casey Fiesler
- This Juliette Clovis piece is simply bad-ass. via WOMANSART
- UPDATE NOW: If you use KDE flavored Linux, there is a patch to a USB hack.
Reflect
Feeling dumb or stupid about how not-l33t you are? Angsting over some silly thing you “know better than to do.” Stop. That isn’t useful. Regret is only of use if it prompts an actual change in behavior. Maybe it’s NOT you that sucks. Could be it’s the technology and you could come up with a fix that would help lots of people. Look forward and make a plan.
Engage
We are a community. You are a welcome part of it.
- Did you learn something cool in your sweep? Make something? Share it!
- Speak up
- Give
- Show up at CRASH Space tonight!
Relax
Seeing nature is good for our minds. And while I’m not the biggest fan of facebook products I loved this image that the National Park Service used to publicize their Instagram feed. It seems very LA… “No pictures please.”
Here are some other options for getting more nature into your life:
From your desk:
- Flickr has a ton of groups for whatever flavor of nature photography is your bag.
- UPDATE: Reddit EarthPorn
- National Geographic has the photo of the day, but subscribers (12$/year) can see the National Geographic Archive
- Another photo of the day site from Natural Habitat Adventures & WWF
Out and about:
- There are 50 trails in LA Magazine’s 2017 round up, but dedicated hiking websites have more granular reviews. There are of course hiking apps, but always read the privacy policies.
- Don’t go alone, fine hiking pals on Meetup or Eventbrite or Sierra Club or intermittently Hike The Geek
Hardcore vacations:
