WOMBLES - Technology

The Freiburg Programme: A five-year plan on deviant behaviour

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:00:00 +0000

from email, updated 24 February 2010: "A five year plan on deviant behaviour, creating a European space of freedom, anti-capitalism and rebellion. The European wide network "Out Of Control" was created in 2009 with the purpose of a cross-border collaboration of activists against a European security architecture..." more

Decryption: Jailed for keeping schtum

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:41:29 +0000

from freedompress, 16 January 2010: "A 33-year old has been sentenced to nine months imprisonment for refusing to decrypt his personal computer files. Judge Hetherington declared that the man, in spite of initial police suspicions, poses no threat to national security, and made it clear that his failure to cooperate with the police and to comply with a section 49 notice to provide passphrases to his encrypted computers was the reason the harsh sentence was handed down... more

Israeli robots remaking the battlefield, deploying unmanned military vehicles by air, land and sea

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 14:50:26 +0000

from corporate media, 13 January 2010: "Israel is developing an army of robotic fighting machines that offers a window onto the potential future of warfare... In 10 to 15 years, one-third of Israel's military machines will be unmanned, predicts Giora Katz, vice president of Rafael Advanced Defense Systems Ltd., one of Israel's leading weapons manufacturers..." more

Riseup: Some great reasons why you shouldn't use online corporate tools like Facebook

Sun, 03 Jan 2010 15:22:59 +0000

from riseup, 26 December 2009: "Two riseup birds recently did a presentation at the People's Summit celebrating the 10 year anniversary of the Seattle WTO protests. We discussed the dangers of using corporate tools to do organizing work, in particular, the fact that you don't know what they do with your data. Thanks to some anonymous comments in a blogger's post about his research regarding a U.S. mobile phone company's release to law enforcement of its customers' geographic location information, we now have some answers..." more

USA: Surveillance Self-Defense advice from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 19:36:22 +0000

from eff, 29 November 2009: "The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has created this Surveillance Self-Defense site to educate the American public about the law and technology of government surveillance in the United States, providing the information and tools necessary to evaluate the threat of surveillance and take appropriate steps to defend against it..." more

Identifying threat: New biometrics markets and terror culture

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:55:39 +0000

from corporatewatch, 18 November 2009: "The culture of fear and distrust that has grown up around this century’s terror culture and its associated wars has created vast new markets for anything that can be branded with the words security or defence. In April 2010, London’s Kensington Olympia will play host to a Counter Terror Expo, put on by DSEi’s infamous events’ organiser, Clarion, and sponsored by French arms company, Thales..." more

Pittsburgh G20: A new testing ground for acoustic weapons

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:50:57 +0000

from corpwatch, 3 November 2009: "The mass mobilisation against September's G20 Summit in Pittsburgh was met with a characteristically brutal response from US Homeland 'Security'. In many ways, police repression of UK protests pales in comparison to American political policing, with activists being routinely arrested under various terrorism-related charges and local and federal law enforcement agencies rolling out military style operations, complete with temporary detention facilities and costing hundreds of thousands of dollars each..." more

Tortuga House Update: Pennsylvania drops all charges against Madison & Wallschlager for twittering

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:38:41 +0000

from tortuga, 3 November 2009: "In the face of a PR nightmare, Pennsylvania authorities have withdrawn all charges against two members of Tortuga accused of using Twitter to aid protesters at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh. At a hearing today, instead of oral arguments regarding a defense motion to unseal the secret 18-page affidavit authorizing the arrests of Elliott Madison and Michael Wallschlager at a motel just outside of Pittsburgh, the prosecution immediately moved to withdraw all charges against the two before the defense had a chance to argue its case..." more

Anonymous Blogging Guide Updated (re Tor) and Security Links

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 12:24:19 +0000

from imc, 11 June 2009: "In case you missed it the guide to anonymous browing published by Global Voices was updated in March this year to take account of the changes in TOR. The simple to understand guide is online as html or downloadable as a pdf..." more

Resources: More on mobile phone surveillance

Mon, 01 Dec 2008 21:47:44 +0000

from MobileActive Wiki, updated 20 February 2009: "Mobiles can be useful tools for collecting, planning, coordinating and recording activities of NGO staff and activists. But did you know that whenever your phone is on, your location is known to the network operator? Or that each phone and SIM card transmits a unique identifying code, which, unless you are very careful about how you acquire the phone and SIM, can be traced uniquely to you? " more

Cryptogon: The ugly truth about online anonymity

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 15:51:22 +0000

from Cyptogon.con, reposted here 4 January 2008: This is a relatively old article but its all relevant to those people interested in surveillance, social control, data mining, online security, anonymity and traceability. Its written by someone who knows how the internet was developed and how it really works. As he says "A lot of times, ignorant people refer to things they don’t understand as “tinfoil” ... What follows, however, is so far out that it seems like tinfoil even to me. But then again, I haven’t been targeted by a death squad for my activities online, like some people are in many countries around the world. So, is it tinfoil? For you, maybe. For people struggling against repressive regimes, maybe not." more

NYPD tracking cell phone owners

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 14:06:49 +0000

via cryptogon, 9 October 2009: "The NYPD is amassing a database of cell phone users, instructing cops to log serial numbers from suspects’ phones in hopes of connecting them to past or future crimes. In the era of disposable, anonymous cell phones, the file could be a treasure-trove for detectives investigating drug rings and other criminal enterprises, police sources say..." more

The Bedazzler: DIY non-lethal weaponry - build your own sea-sick flashlight for under $250

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:21:18 +0000

from email, 3 October 2009: "After attending a conference where the $1 million "sea-sick flashlight" (named "THE DAZZLER") was demonstrated by the US Dept. of Homeland Security, we decided to create our own version. For under $250, you can build your own dazzler and we've released the source code, schematics and PCB files to make it easy..." more

VIDEO: BigDog, the walking military robot, coming soon to a war-zone near you!

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:13:05 +0000

from email, updated 2 October 2009: "BigDog is a four-legged military packhorse designed to carry soldiers' equipment over all sorts of terrain. The US military have decided that within a few years they want the majority of the transportation of goods and equipment to be robotic (as opposed to some soldier driving a lorry, which is expensive and a real pain in the ass when he gets blown up). Have a look..." more

Pittsburgh IMC launches G-Infinity media project for the G-20 summit

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 17:17:00 +0000

from email, 11 August 2009: "Media for the G-20 Summit, to bring together grassroots voices to cover issues related to the policies of the G-20 from a people’s perspective. We will host a live web-streaming, radio broadcast 24 hours a day during the week surrounding the G-20 summit..." more