Tuesday Sweep: 6 February 2018

Post on new CRASH Space repo

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…)

As I am writing up I am listening to the Senate Hearing: Data Security and Bug Bounty Programs: Lessons Learned from the Uber Breach and Security Researchers

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?

• You’ve heard me yammer on, now here is the video Hackaday LA Meetup : Carlyn Maw ‘A Social Life for IoT’
• Some great reading this February?
  • Algorithms of Oppression (Publisher Link | Amazon Afil Link)
  • Hidden Figures (Publisher Link | Amazon Afil Link)
• Working with privacy and security issues can become very disheartening when no one seems to care. You aren’t alone.
• Really neat code to take STL files and turn them in SVGs. Thanks Trammel Hudson!
•  Investigating the Bridge Between Engineering and Art with Sara Hendren
• The Tristan Harris’ Center for Humane Technology has been much in the news this week. I don’t know what they’ll really accomplish, but I wish them the best. (Watch Harris’ TED talk. )
• “The Framework Project is an interview series with individuals in tech who spend a lot of time thinking about tech and its impact on society.” run by Jackie Luo
• Bunhy on how to incentivize transparency in manufactures.
• Sex toys make for an excellent test case when trying to think about how to design IoT devices that respect the privacy and security of the end users. Sarah Jamie Lewis wrote a great thread on how to get started in response to the Wired article on the “squishy ethics” of sex toys that ran this week.
• What Section 702 reauthorization means (schneier.com)
• 20 years ago the phrase “open source” was coined by Christine Peterson. Celebrate by donating to the Open Source Initiative or Open Source Hardware Association or both!
• I just really like these Paper Campers by vera van wolferen.

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

Did you know that there were THOUSANDS of images in the public domain at the Library of Congress? Introduce yourself to a bunch of them with this Photo Roulette game that asks you to guess the date of a random image from the collection. Made with glitch.