Difference between revisions of "Step 0"

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=== Uncluttering your life ===
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__TOC__
  
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Are you working flat out just to stay afloat, and not getting anything "important" done? Does it seem like there aren't enough hours in the day? Is your trash can full? Do you feel overwhelmed? No time to spare? No time to unwind?
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'''recommendations for the printed version: http://etherpad.calafou/p/securitydisclaimer'''
  
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Determine the cause. It could be (too) busy schedules getting in the way, temporary overload as an effect of changes, lack of motivation (what was labeled "important" may not be that important to you), not being able to let go of stuff (for various reasons), or it could be a lack of know-how in organisational skills. People in IT are usually overorganised down to the nitty gritty details, and that can be a clutter cause as well: over-organisation and super-rationality.
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== Before you start: mapping your data and devices; securing your data; anonymising your connections ==
  
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Case study: Uncluttering your life
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This section provides you with notions, methodologies and tools to take care of your data and devices and have those taking care of you. Data and devices management requires to reflect on their hosting and leaving qualities and in how we can configure those to not mess around with our well-being. This section It also explains how to engage into more secure communication practices when you get connected. All the following tips and tricks are pre-requisites to better understand how to manage identity on-line and creating safe spaces.
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There is so much written about cluttering and uncluttering [1], some of it may be useful for you, some of it may not. Just use what you need. Here I describe three steps for uncluttering in highly generalised form that worked for me, and afaik for many others as well.  
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'''EDIT'''
  
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Methodology
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This section will cover the starting points: what data do you produce and store? Where? How do you make sure your data is secure? And when you're connecting to the internet, how do you anonymise your connections?
  
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Step 1 Make a decision to unclutter your life
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It's also important to think about you relationship with your technology - how can we base this relationship in self care?
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Once you decide you have had enough of mental clutter [2][3], you can build a practice of removing yourself from any and all contexts that attempt to add to your mental clutter.
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Step 2 Rewrite your rules
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=== Mapping your data ===
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All of us live with inner rules about how to live our lives. Some of those come from our imagemakers (parents, family), some from our teachers, our (school) friends, and later experiences. Beliefs and rules can act like post hypnotic suggestions (spell casting) and filter our experience of reality. Some indigenous call those "pretender voices", like:
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  "I don't think I can ...."
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Before becoming a zen user and developer of technologies, and adopting better privacy and digital security practices, it's important to first know what you want to protect. One way of doing this is to map (using a table, map, drawing, etc) your production and management of data.  
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    "I must make others happy"
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    "It doesn't matter ..."
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    "You can't make me ..."
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    "It's not fair ..."
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    "I'm a [label] if I ..."
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    "What now?"
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    "It's [label] fault!"
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    ...  
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Alter wording the spell you are apparently casting on yourself:
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*What kind of data do you produce and or manage? With whom?
  
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    State your rule
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To begin mapping your data, first make a list of the data you create yourself. This can include personal and work-related documents, emails, images, videos, designs, tweets, blog posts, and so on. Then make a list  of the data you manage or store, which is produced by others. This can encompass information given to you by your colleagues, friends, relatives to files you download from websites, repositories, p2p networks, etc. Finally, identify which type of data you share with others, for instance if you share a social media profile or email account with a family member, partner, or colleagues.
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    Choose the most significant verb or noun in your rule
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    Choose at least two words that rhyme with that word
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    Choose a word that's opposite
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    Choose a freely associated word that has nothing whatsoever to do with the words in your rule
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    Restate the original rule, substituting the new words and read the rules out loud to yourself
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    How is that old rule doing?
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When learning something mechanical, like driving a car or changing a rule, at first you have to pay attention to the details of shifting gear, until you no longer have to. That happens when your body "knows". But it only "knows" for that (type) of car or gear shift. When driving another car, shifting gear may need your attention again. This is like that. For a while, monitor what happens closely in health, relationships, passion, growth, and contribution dimensions, and make changes until you no longer have to.
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'''Where is this data stored?'''
  
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Step 3 Dealing with the past and others
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*Which devices hold your data?
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-This can include your computer, external drives, and phone.
  
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Something happens. Trace what just happened and what might be related, what you ate, who you met, what was seen, heard, read, smelled, what meanings you made (and what other possible meanings can be made) and meanings about meanings made, what significance you assigned to the meanings made, and practice (other) responses in a safe setting, or the next time the situation seems to reoccur. And don't be hard on yourself when you do not do what you have set as intent for a "next time". All that slack and understanding you gave others because you think it's okay to make mistakes? Give it to yourself now. People from your past may reappear and may attempt to unjustly write karma in your book. Investigate and pull out the plank again if need be! Some good questions to ask when people seem to try to write karma in your book may be: Is what happened then relevant now? Was it even that serious? Was that situation even in my control? Does what I heard that person just say actually have any validity or are they just trolling me to get me to react in for them familiar and comfortable ways?
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*Which online platforms host your data?
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- This can include emails, social media accounts, etc. Also bear in mind that some applications enable syncing of data between your different devices, or between your devices and online platforms, and it's important to know where and when this is happening.
  
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Synthesis
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*How do you organise your data?
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- Do you keep your personal/professional/activist data separate?
  
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Focus on your priorities, make efficient use of your time on this planet, choose a design for your life that allows for relaxing and replenishment, and make it so.  
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*How sensitive is your data?
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- For each type of data you have listed in your data map, what would happen if this particular data suddenly disappeared? For instance, if your email account is closed down, if your computer or external hard drive is stolen or breaks down, if you accidentally erase a folder, etc?.  
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- What would happen if this data were seen and copied by a third party?
  
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References
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Do the same mapping exercise for the data you hold on others.
  
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[1] 27 Great Tips to Keep Your Life Organized http://zenhabits.net/27-great-tips-to-keep-your-life-organized/
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Once you've answered thesE questions, you'll be better able to make decisions about which data you want to regularly back up, and where these backups will be stored. You will also be better able to decide what to do with your data when traveling - What type of data do you need with you? What is too sensitive? What can you easily access online?
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[2] The Single Principle You Need to Clean Out the Mind Clutter for Good http://www.becomingminimalist.com/declutter-your-mind/
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[3] Clutter Clearing Anxiety http://www.fengshuivermont.com/pubart/five.html
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=== Exercises to map your data production and management and how data and devices/media interconnect ===
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How do you build trust in relation to your data and how you store it?
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Before entering in the wonderful pathway to become a zen user and developer of technologies, and in order to adopt better privacy and digital security practices, you should first reflect and understand what are the things (data, devices, other) you want to protect. To do so, you will need first to map, assess and analyse your production of data and how this data relates to your documents and personal folders, your social media accounts and on-line identities and/or your physical devices you have at hand.
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When doing so, ask yourself who has access to this device or media platform (your family, colleagues, friends, or servers administrators and you do not know
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One way of doing that is to draft a table in order to map your production of data. To do so you can for instance try to answer to the following questions:
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????
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What kind of data do you produce and or manage? With whom?
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There is data that you produce yourself (documents, emails, images, videos, design etc) and because you are the one producing those you can decide under which conditions they are released, shared, made available online for new uses by third actor parties. And there is data you manage that has been given or send to you by others, or that you have downloaded from somewhere.
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* Syncing (online/offline – apps permissions)
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????
  
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We propose you to draft first a list of the data you produce yourself. This can include the documents your produce for your work, activism, personal pleasure moments. It can also include the data you produce when writing emails, publishing tweets, drafting posts in your blog etc. Then you can draft a list of data you are managing but is produced by others, this can encompass from information given to you by your colleagues, friends, relatives etc. And finally, you can also list the type of data you are sharing with others, for instance if you share specific devices such as your mobile, external hard drive or computer with other persons, or if you are sharing social media profile or email accounts with other persons such as your family, partner, colleagues.
 
  
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Where is this data? Back up?
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=== Securing your connections and communication ===
  
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This question is about understating where do your host your data and by data we are talking about the data that is produced by you and also the one that is produced by others but under your management. First of all, when answering this question you should clarify where is hosted the data, is it inside your computer, an external drive, your phone? Is it hosted in somebody else server (for instance if you do not download all your mails, then those are leaving in a server owned by a company) or somewhere in the cloud (a dropbox or a social media account for instance)?
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Once we've mapped our data, the next step is making sure it's secure. Especially where your data is stored online, good passwords are crucial.  
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When answering those questions in relation to all your data, you should then ask yourself how do you keep your data? For instance do you keep your personal/professional/activist data together? And in complement, is this data hosted offline or online? This last dimension is very important as sometimes because of new applications that enable to sync data between your different devices or between your devices and applications hosted online, you might not realise that the data you thought was only leaving offline is indeed present also somewhere online. We will come back later on the sync dimension and which step you should take into account in order to always know where is your data really leaving.
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How sensitive is this data?
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''' Creating and using strong passwords'''
  
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You can answer to this question by asking yourself for each type of data you have listed in your map of data, what would happen if this particular data would suddenly disappear? For instance, if your email account is closed down, if your computer or external hard drive is stolen or break up, if you erase by mistake a folder, etc?. The other side of this question, is what happens if this data is seen and copy by third actor parties you did not intend to share information with? In that sense, the question is to evaluate how much personal data about you and others rest in the different type of data you manage? Imagine that you handle sensitive data of others persons you are working with, name health records, personal emails, love letters etc.  
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Managing passwords is also a crucial part of maintaining our information online. Using the same password over and over again is risky, as are passwords that connect us to our identit(ies). Since a password is only as secure as the least secure service where it has been used, it is good practice to maintain separate passwords for each of our accounts. For more information on the importance of strong passwords and how to store them, read Security in a Box's [https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/passwords%20 chapter on passwords].
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*Using a password manager
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To keep multiple secure passwords, you can use a password manager. *KeePassX* is a cross-platform free and open-source password manager that is easy to use and creates files with passwords that can also be exported and used in other devices. It can generate random passwords and store them securely.  To learn how to use KeePassX, read this [https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepass/windows%20 how-to].
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To learn how to use KeePassDroid, the correspondent tool for Android, read this [https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/keepassdroid/android how-to].
  
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When assessing those different questions, you will ask yourself about the back up you have for the sensible data you really do not want to lose or see in the hands of non intended third actor parties. This should enable you to take decisions about which type of data you want to regularly back up and to decide also where those back up will leave. Besides, it will also enable you to deal with the question of what to do with your data when traveling? What type of data you need with you, which one is too sensible for carrying it with you, which one you can easily access online, etc?
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*Creating strong passphrases using the diceware technique *
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Some passwords — like the one we use to decrypt our KeePassX file or lock our devices —need to be easy to remember and strong at the same time. A good solution is to create passphrases that are formed by a random group of words that don’t make any sense together, separated by spaces. One way to do this is to use the Diceware techique (this requires six-sided dice and the [http://world.std.com/~reinhold/dicewarewordlist.pdf Diceware word list] [PDF].
  
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How do you build trust in relation to your data and how you store it?
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By rolling the dice five times, we will come up with a five-digit number that corresponds to a word on the Diceware word list; this word is the first word of our passphrase. If we repeat this at least six times, we can create a strong passphrase formed by six words that together make a strong, random passphrase. It can be memorized just as we did when we had to learn poems by heart at school and will be so long that it would take an average of 3500 years to crack it with brute force at a speed of one trillion guesses per second.
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To learn more about the Diceware technique, read [https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2015/03/26/passphrases-can-memorize-attackers-cant-guess this article] published by Micah Lee in The Intercept.
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To learn more about two-factor authentication and security questions, read EFF's [https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/creating-strong-passwords "Creating Strong Passwords"].
  
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To be developped
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==== Using a secure connection ====
  
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Sync (online/offline) – apps permissions
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Another very important measure we should take when going online, especially if we are transmitting personal data and passwords, is to always use a '''secure SSL connection''', which ensures that our data cannot be seen by anyone as they travel from our computer to the website we are visiting or to the service we are using. To do so, when we access a website we should type HTTPS instead of HTTP befor the url of the website we want to visitin. If we receive an error or the HTTPS is replaced by HTTP again, this means that the website is not offering a secure connection. To make sure that we always connect securely to websites when this option is offered, we can install [https://www.eff.org/https-everywhere '''HTTPS Everywhere'''], a Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extension developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that encrypts our communications with many major websites.
  
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=== Uncluttering your machine ===
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Likewise, when we create an account with an online service (e.g. our mailbox or a chat network) that we will access through a specific client or app, we should check the features of the service to make sure that it offers a secure connection and configure our clients accordingly by activating the '''TLS/SSL''' option.
  
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Is your desktop a shining example of neatness and cleanliness? Or is it a big heap of icons only fit to be sorted in some manner? How many files are in your Documents folder? What does your directory structure look like? Easy to work with and a natural fit for you and what you do? Can you easily find what you are looking for or does the way you organise suck totally and drain your energy?
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==== Using a secure mail server ====
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Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) are helpful for many tasks, but they box you in in the tasks the designer designed the GUI for. M$ systems come with a preset set of directories, and so does Linux (if it isn't stripped). Like beliefs and rules, such predefined organisations can act like post hypnotic suggestions (spell casting) and filter our experience of reality and affect us in undesirable ways. Not only that, standard default folders tend to fill up with junk files and folders that are not at all important.
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Case study: Uncluttering your machine
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Also the choice of the mail server we use for our contact mail address is important. While there are several secure servers that offer a good service – e.g. the Swiss commercial service [https://kolabnow.com Kolab Now] and the autonomous servers [http://riseup.net Riseup] (a site used by activists with a clear set of political principles) and [https://www.autistici.org Autistici/Inventati] – the main point is to find a service that offers a secure connection (HTTPS instead of HTTP) and that is compatible with our needs.
  
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There is so much written about cluttering and uncluttering your machine, about (re)organising your files and directories [1], some of it may be useful for you, some of it may not. Just use what you need. Here I describe steps for reorganising your machine in highly generalised form that worked for me for building a resilient machine that allows me to focus on what I want to do with it and quickly recover from intrusions and crashes.
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=== Anonymising your connections ===
  
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Methodology
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When browsing the internet through a normal internet connection, there are several ways in which we give away data about ourselves - our IP address (the number that identifies our connection), for example, or which websites we are visiting. There are also several ways to intercept our communications, especially if we are connecting via a free Wi-Fi spot.
  
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Step 1 Make a decision to unclutter your machine
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'''Virtual Private Networks (VPN: accessing the web through an encrypted tunnel'''
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To add a layer of protection, we can access the internet through a virtual private network (VPN) - an encrypted tunnel that hides all services, protocols, and contents. Using a VPN is not difficult: it basically requires downloading a compressed file, extracting it and changing our computer’s connection settings, but it is important to choose a secure one – better if located abroad – because a compromised VPN server could be accessed by an intermediary who could then analyse all our activities. Autonomous servers [https://help.riseup.net/en/vpn Riseup] and [https://vpn.autistici.org Autistici/Inventati] both offer a reliable VPN.
  
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Cluttered systems are reflections of cluttered lives. From having chosen to unclutter your life, you can choose to also unclutter your machine.  
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But we should consider that from a technical standpoint VPNs have some limitations:
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'''An insecure connection is still insecure''': Although a VPN will anonymise our location and protect us from surveillance from our ISP, once our data is securely routed through the VPN server, it will go out on the internet as it normally would. This means we should still use TLS/SSL when available (ie. (HTTPS to browse websites, pop-ssl/imaps/smtp-tls for mail exchange, and so on).
  
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Step 2 Create your own file system from scratch!
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'''VPNs are not a panacea''': although they accomplish a lot, they can’t fix everything. For example, they cannot increase our security if our computer is already compromised with viruses or spyware. If we give personal information to a website, there is little that a VPN can do to maintain our anonymity with that website or its partners. For more information, see Riseup’s [https://help.riseup.net/en/vpn/security-issues webpage on VPN anonymity].
  
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Our personal data (documents, photographs, emails, etc...) is the most valuable component in our interaction with computers, because it can be irreplaceable if lost. The most minimalist and safe implementation is putting all files you wish to keep and all files containing personal data on an external harddrive that you only mount when you need access to it. In a public space put the machine offline before mounting any external disk (preferably do not connect in public spaces at all).  
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'''The connection might get slower''': the VPN routes all our traffic through an encrypted connection to the server before it goes out onto the normal internet. This extra step can slow things down. For more information on VPNs, visit [https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/anonymity-and-circumvention this page].
  
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Step 3 Separate application files from data files
 
  
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On a Linux system this is already the case. Most applications make directories with a dot in front of its name that are default not visible (you have to set "Show Hidden Files" in your "View" menu when using a GUI).  
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'''Hiding your IP address using the Tor network'''
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Apparently, in M$ there is no such separation and the My Document directory gets a lot of junk added to it by just about everything. Remove your icons/links to “My Documents” in your menus and desktop (everywhere) and replace them with links to the folders you created and you care about, fake or not!
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A key step to being anonymous online is to  hide your IP address.
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On way to do this is to use a tool called Tor, an anonymity network that conceals both the location of our connection and what we do on the internet. By consistently using Tor, no one can link our IP (and therefore our alternative identity) to us, not even the mail server we use. For further information on how to use Tor, see the project's [https://www.torproject.org/ website].
  
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Step 4 Customise and accessorise
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The [https://www.torproject.org/projects/torbrowser.html.en Tor Browser] is a software tool designed to increase the privacy and security of our Internet activities and habits. It masks our identity and our online browsing from many forms of internet surveillance.
  
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Having unique icons for each folder does allow you to more quickly visually identify which folder is which, and thus saves you time when you’re finding files. You can get some beautifying stuff for Linux from gnome-look, kde-look, xfce-look and many more sites.  
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From the Tor Project:
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"The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked."
  
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Step 5 Regular backups
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The Tor Browser Bundle consists of the Tor software and a modified version of the Firefox web browser, which is designed to provide extra protection while using it. To stop scripts from running without us knowing and to force secure SSL connections whenever available, the browser bundle also includes NoScript and HTTPS-Everywhere add-ons.
  
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Data backup is something that everybody should do, but unfortunately, few people do it on a regular basis.  
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Tor protects our anonymity by routing communications through a distributed network of servers run by volunteers all over the world. Using Tor hides the sites we visit from potential onlookers, and hides our location/identity from those sites. The software is designed also to make sure servers in the Tor network don't know both our location and the sites we are visiting.  
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Synthesis
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Focus on your priorities, make efficient use of your time on this planet, choose a design for your life that allows for relaxing and replenishment, and make it so.  
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References
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[1] Zen and the Art of File and Folder Organization http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/15677/zen-and-the-art-of-file-and-folder-organization/
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Tor also takes steps to encrypt the communication to and through its network, but this measure cannot extend all the way to a website which is sending or receiving content over non-encrypted channels (i.e. not providing HTTPS access). Nevertheless, the advantage of using Tor when accessing such sites is that Tor can secure our communication up to the step between the last of the Tor servers and the non-secure site. This confines the chance to intercept the content to that last step.  
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[2] Permissions http://linuxcommand.org/lc3_lts0090.php
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[3] How to Backup Linux? 15 rsync Command Examples http://www.thegeekstuff.com/2010/09/rsync-command-examples/
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[4] Unison http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~bcpierce/unison/
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=== Uncluttering electronic waste ===
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As with VPNs, there is a trade-off between anonymity and speed. Because Tor facilitates anonymous browsing by bouncing our traffic through volunteers’ computers and servers in various parts of the world, it will definitely be slower than using other web browsers on our computer.
  
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What is e-waste? How do I dispose of my "old" computer(s)? Can I reuse (parts of) it?
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What we should remember when using the Tor Browser is that it makes us anonymous, but not private. Although our web requests are anonymous, if we are posting on Facebook or sending an email through Gmail, that activity is still identifiable as “us”.
  
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E-waste refers to electronic products nearing the end of their "useful life": “Mom, there’s a new game. Can I have it?””Your birthday is coming up. What is it called?”
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*NOT SURE WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS SECTION - DOESN'T FIT HERE*
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If we want to browse the web anonymously with more than one identity, we can do so by creating each time a new identity for our browser, so that a new set of random Tor proxy servers is selected and we appear to come from a new location to the web servers. To do this, we just need to click the onion icon in the upper left of our browser and to select “New identity” from the menu. The Tor Browser will briefly close, clearing our browsing history and cookies and then restart. After that, we can safely browse the internet with a different identity.  
  
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The huge cardboard box the game DVD is sold in shows requirements for running the game. The latest M$ windows operating system. Meaning, need that too. And oh dear, the hardware either doesn’t run the latest M$ operating system or it is too slow, killing the fun of playing the game. Need to replace that too. “Oh mom?” Make that new machine x number of children.  
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For more information on Tor and instructions for Windows users, see Security in a box's [https://securityinabox.org/en/guide/anonymity-and-circumvention howto].  
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For instructions for Mac OSX users, visit this [https://ssd.eff.org/en/module/how-use-tor-mac-os-x howto] by the EFF.  
  
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Case study: Uncluttering e-waste
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=== Devices and Well being ===
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A LOT OF THIS CAN BE CONDENSED AND DELETED.
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REFERENCE THE LEVEL-UP RESOURCES!
  
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There is so much written about e-waste, about (re)using (parts of) it [1], some of it may be useful for you, some of it may not. Just use what you need. Here I describe how we can use the M$ cycle as opportunity, and recycle “outdated” PC hardware. And depending on context, women can build small local businesses with it, charging for the costs of collecting old machines and time and energy spent on rebuilding machines and installing software.
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While working on computer, smart phones and other devices, we tend to forget our body. Our body freezes. Fingers, eyes and ears follow the rhythm of our clicks, scrolls and swipes. In almost motionless, staring at the screen, the user forgets the possibilities of movement, pause or improving posture and even is imposing on the body pains and discomforts. While some senses get paralyzed, our brain becomes intertwined with the machine: processing a lot of data and information, multi-tasking and executing creative, administrative challenges while managing our engagements and multiple identities... our neurological activity increases. There is a risk in becoming inseparable of our hardware technologies. Actually we can do almost everything with a machine: communicate, getting ourselves organized, informed, be entertained, play, have sex, ... To have a healthy relationship with our machines is hence a key for our well being.  
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“Around 2000, I made a video installation “Does Technology ever end or does it restart automatically?” it was the moment when there was fear that the machines' clock would crash on the number 2000 <Y2K problem, the Millennium bug>: display of dates and the automated ordering of dated records or real-time events would get twisted. The media media hysteria around the potential failure of our electronic and digital devices which were surrounding us, made me reset (reboot in another distro). In the ecstasy of integrating tech in my daily life, exploring avatars and audiovisual creation, design to communicate political struggles, my hand was hurting, and I couldn't click the mouse anymore. I had to change my daily routine, care about my body and cure myself. I couldn't hold my keys nor masturbate :), .. what was I going to do with my right hand.”  
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Methodology
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SHOW THE PAIN open mouth and lips as wide as possible simultaneously raising your eyebrows as high as possible, hold while counting to 5 repeat a few times  
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(A/ A,separation/séparation) (1) strategies of prevention SCHEDULE: Work out a regular pattern for your day, and stick to it. Your brain will relax a bit if it knows “what comes next”. Plan non-digital activities.  
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Step 1 Collect "old" machines
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PROCESS: If you get an idea or think of something you need to do, write it down. Your brain is actually a bad early implementation of Calendar reminders, Email Notifications and Associative Tagging. Brain reminders aren’t timed, so they will pop up at the most inconvenient moments. By writing it down you literally tell your brain that it’s ok to let go of the thought.  
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WORKFLOW: Interrupt Driven Work is a hassle. You do some work from your todo, but mainly you keep getting interrupted by new email, IRC and instant messages and phonecalls. Ideally, turn off the immediate notification and just check your email/social media/IRC / … once or twice a day.  
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It is often possible to collect old machines from family and friends, give-away stores, 2nd hand stores, (online) markets, you name it, and then use some machines for parts to repair the others. PC's are easy to find thanks to the M$ consumerism cycle, routers are not that often replaced and are harder to find. Phones seem to be replaced even faster than PC’s in Europe and the US, but not elsewhere in the world.
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PROCESS: If you get an idea or think of something you need to do, write it down. Your brain is actually a bad early implementation of Calendar reminders, Email Notifications and Associative Tagging. Brain reminders aren’t timed, so they will pop up at the most inconvenient moments. By writing it down you literally tell your brain that it’s ok to let go of the thought.  
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If possible, ask for the "story" of the machine, why it is no longer being used. It gives clues as to what works and what doesn't.
+
CHARGING: Charge your devices in a place which is not easy reachable. Do some stretching while reaching them.Go a Bit Off the Grid and use alternative energies to charge your devices so we reinforce the relation between technology and nature.  
−
 
+
DAYLIGHT: You need about to get some decent daylight (20-40 minutes daily) to reset your body clock. Sitting in front of the window and sunlight can be limiting your screen view. Going outside can increase your healthy look... you will look better on the screen after! The quality of light also influences your sleeping/dreaming.  
−
Step 2 Take out (re)useful parts
+
SLEEPING: Let's not take our daemons and shells scripts into our state of dreaming. Not having your devices next to your bed works wonders for your sleep well and good morning rituals.  
−
 
+
FOOD & DRINK: Water can safe plants! And if you drank to much, don't forget to go to the toilet once in a while.  
−
If the machine is *really* e-waste, as in, its disk has crashed or the processor got fried, open it up, and take out the harddrive, ethernet card(s), graphic cards, and any other cards and components that may be reuseful. Test the parts you took out by putting them in a functional linux machine. Build new machines out of old machines.
+
(2) Exercises to disconnect  
−
    Step 3 Put firm- and/or soft-ware on it
+
Create performative events for a human understanding of technology. Probably besides of becoming an icon or a symbol of a visual interface, I guess you have to be minimum 2 people: 0 en 1 to make the process into a social momentum. # Let's go analogue – physical. ??
−
Linux expands the life of hardware by reducing overhead and needing less system resources, which is why it runs fine on older machines.
+
_ make props for all the hardware components in the computer  
−
Routers and other non-PC boxes: Some firmware are non-rewriteable while others are upgradeable, meaning that it is possible to upgrade the firmware of the device by connecting it to your PC in a particular configuration and then running the “flashing” software. Many routers can be flashed with openwrt or dd-wrt firmware. You can easily “jailbreak” a phone with tools such as Pangu or evasi0n.
+
  (from cardboard, scrap, .. take your time to make them)  
−
    Step 4 Giveaways
+
_ distribute props over the #actors, _ create a script to enact the process (scenario)  
−
The art of giving comes to mind. Thanks to the insane commodify-everything western mindset, giving away stuff may make a receiver feel indebted. Giving in a way that this doesn't happen is an art in and of itself. One "safer" way is to have a table "on the side" (bazaar, not a cathedral) during events, where people can anonymously "leave" machines and others can "take" machines freely. Add notes as to the history of the machine: whether it is broken, repaired, and if so what was repaired. If anything fails, the new steward has clues where to look. The care with which these notes are made, the OS was installed, and how the machine is presented on such a table, presets the first connection a new steward of the machine makes. The new steward is not receiving crumbs that fell off a (big) business plate, not a watered down whiskey, not a feature deprived OS … she gets stewardship over a full-blown, complete, freakishly configurable and flexible intuitive ready OS with hardware having a second life. It only gets better!
+
exemple scripts: Screensavers, sleep mode, hibernate, standby or off. In this performative event the switching on and shutting down of a computer is (re)enacted through a collective body. What is happening with our hardware and software when we go to sleep or other modi of existence. Link:  
−
 
+
Home Is a Server In this performative event we install a webserver and understand about Wiki's and it's recepies on a virtual machine SSH? Doors to open, commands to learn to activate our space into a home while baking pancakes. Link:  
−
Synthesis
+
Crypto Dance ! In this performative event security is at stake in a dance which introduces basic crypto like in bob and eve do a lambada. (need still to be developed by Hacking with care)  
−
 
+
Strategies of care  
−
Focus on your priorities, make efficient use of your time on this planet, choose a design for your life that allows for relaxing and replenishment, and make it so.
+
Chair Strike installation at the Academy of fine Arts Vienna, PC-Lab, in the framework of Strike, she said, by GirlsOnHorses (Auer, Egermann, Straganz, Wieger).  
−
 
+
By paying more attention to the body and ICT work experiences, 'WORKINGSTILLWORKING” developed a variety of micro-movements and creative habits, tactics, gestures and practices, consciously or unconsciously to break free from motionless postures, painful or stultifying. Together with HACKING WITH CARE, they published a zine: http://workingstill-stillworking.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/AttentionSomaticTheZine1.3.pdf, Attent!on som(t)a(c)tics: With the micro movements of our bodies when using our devices, we improvise and explore forms of embodied emancipation within a digital context.  
−
References
+
describe your (intimate, pleasant, difficult or binding…) relationships with computers and propose ways of subjugating those routines.  
−
 
+
http://hackingwithcare.in/wiki/doku.php/projects : Online Resources for psychological and physical well-being, health, self-care, caregiving, in general and in the specific contexts of activism and hacking. Material to explore and raise awareness on related political issues, among caregivers, hackers-who-care, and friends of a good fair world, with the purpose of inspiring alliances. Caring for one self can be a collective emancipatory process to produce a collective platform of liberating instructions, gestures, movement or poetry.  
−
[1] The Big Question: How big is the problem of electronic waste, and can it be tackled? http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/the-big-question-how-big-is-the-problem-of-electronic-waste-and-can-it-be-tackled-1908335.html
+
SOMATIC EXPLORATIONS AND LIBERATING EXCERSISES RE-EMBODYING RELATIONS TO OUR DAILY TECHNOLGIES: TRICKS OF SELF AWARENESS(3)(4)(5) ???strategies of curing ???  
−
 
+
We know adjustable chairs, but what about adjustable software to different cognitive capabilities.  
−
=== Our physical and well being relation to data and devices ===
+
disable auto-login check cognitive capacity Using short cuts Organize a Hands massage workshop Switch between commandline and graphical Interface … lalala, do do, reeeeeeee: Technology accelerates to find solutions of interfacing to the human body Technology can be used to persuade people into a behaviour change. We can change our behaviour in relation with technology.  
−
 
+
State of inertia & Red Light Reflex Long hours hunched over your hardware can cause the muscles of the front of the body to contract while the body pulls inward. The Red Light reflex is a protective reflex found in all vertebrate animals and is a response to fear, anxiety, prolonged distress or negativity. Rounded shoulders, depressed chest and the head jutting forward can lead to chronic neck pain, jaw pain, hip pain, mid-back pain and shallow breathing. The inability to breathe deeply deprives your brain, blood and muscles of the oxygen they need to function properly. This in turn can cause fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep problems and exacerbate allergies.  
−
While working on computer, smart phones and other devices, we tend to forget our body. Our body freezes. Fingers, eyes and ears follow the rhythm of our clicks, scrolls and swipes. In almost motionless, staring at the screen, the user forgets the possibilities of movement, pause or improving posture and even is imposing on the body pains and discomforts. While some senses get paralyzed, our brain becomes intertwined with the machine: processing a lot of data and information, multi-tasking and executing creative, administrative challenges while managing our engagements and multiple identities... our neurological activity increases. There is a risk in becoming inseparable of our hardware technologies. Actually we can do almost everything with a machine: communicate, getting ourselves organized, informed, be entertained, play, have sex, ... To have a healthy relationship with our machines is hence a key for our well being.
+
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) http://www.workrave.org/ Workrave is a program that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.  
−
 
+
(1) Annie Abrahams,separation/séparation http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/abrahams_separation/separation/index.htm# (2) http://bluehackers.org/howto (3) http://workingstill-stillworking.net (4) Anne Goldenberg, Hacking with Care : Attention, bien-être et politique de l’ordinaire dans le milieu hacktiviste: http://dpi.studioxx.org/en/hacking-care-attention-bien-%C3%AAtre-et-politique-de-l%E2%80%99ordinaire-dans-le-milieu-hacktiviste (5) L'ERSE POSTURE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0ZLaZHQlU (6) http://networkcultures.org/blog/2007/04/23/linux-for-theatre-makers-embodiment-and-nix-modus-operandi/
−
“Around 2000, I made a video installation “Does Technology ever end or does it restart automatically?” it was the moment when there was fear that the machines' clock would crash on the number 2000 <Y2K problem, the Millennium bug>: display of dates and the automated ordering of dated records or real-time events would get twisted. The media media hysteria around the potential failure of our electronic and digital devices which were surrounding us, made me reset (reboot in another distro). In the ecstasy of integrating tech in my daily life, exploring avatars and audiovisual creation, design to communicate political struggles, my hand was hurting, and I couldn't click the mouse anymore. I had to change my daily routine, care about my body and cure myself. I couldn't hold my keys nor masturbate :), .. what was I going to do with my right hand.”
+
−
 
+
−
SHOW THE PAIN
+
−
open mouth and lips as wide as possible
+
−
simultaneously raising your eyebrows as high as possible,  
+
−
hold while counting to 5  
+
−
repeat a few times
+
−
 
+
−
(A/ A,separation/séparation) (1)  
+
−
strategies of prevention
+
−
SCHEDULE:
+
−
Work out a regular pattern for your day, and stick to it. Your brain will relax a bit if it knows “what comes next”. Plan non-digital activities.
+
−
 
+
−
PROCESS:
+
−
If you get an idea or think of something you need to do, write it down. Your brain is actually a bad early implementation of Calendar reminders, Email Notifications and Associative Tagging. Brain reminders aren’t timed, so they will pop up at the most inconvenient moments. By writing it down you literally tell your brain that it’s ok to let go of the thought.  
+
−
 
+
−
WORKFLOW:
+
−
Interrupt Driven Work is a hassle. You do some work from your todo, but mainly you keep getting interrupted by new email, IRC and instant messages and phonecalls. Ideally, turn off the immediate notification and just check your email/social media/IRC / … once or twice a day.  
+
−
 
+
−
PROCESS:
+
−
If you get an idea or think of something you need to do, write it down. Your brain is actually a bad early implementation of Calendar reminders, Email Notifications and Associative Tagging. Brain reminders aren’t timed, so they will pop up at the most inconvenient moments. By writing it down you literally tell your brain that it’s ok to let go of the thought.  
+
−
 
+
−
CHARGING:
+
−
Charge your devices in a place which is not easy reachable. Do some stretching while reaching them.Go a Bit Off the Grid and use alternative energies to charge your devices so we reinforce the relation between technology and nature.
+
−
+
−
DAYLIGHT:
+
−
You need about to get some decent daylight (20-40 minutes daily) to reset your body clock. Sitting in front of the window and sunlight can be limiting your screen view. Going outside can increase your healthy look... you will look better on the screen after! The quality of light also influences your sleeping/dreaming.
+
−
 
+
−
SLEEPING:
+
−
Let's not take our daemons and shells scripts into our state of dreaming. Not having your devices next to your bed works wonders for your sleep well and good morning rituals.  
+
−
 
+
−
FOOD & DRINK:
+
−
Water can safe plants! And if you drank to much, don't forget to go to the toilet once in a while.
+
−
 
+
−
(2) Exercises to disconnect
+
−
 
+
−
Create performative events for a human understanding of technology. Probably besides of becoming an icon or a symbol of a visual interface, I guess you have to be minimum 2 people: 0 en 1 to make the process into a social momentum. # Let's go analogue – physical.  
+
−
 
+
−
_ make props for all the hardware components in the computer
+
−
  (from cardboard, scrap, .. take your time to make them)  
+
−
_ distribute props over the #actors,  
+
−
_ create a script to enact the process (scenario)
+
−
 
+
−
exemple scripts:
+
−
Screensavers, sleep mode, hibernate, standby or off.
+
−
In this performative event the switching on and shutting down of a computer is (re)enacted through a collective body. What is happening with our hardware and software when we go to sleep or other modi of existence.
+
−
Link:  
+
−
 
+
−
Home Is a Server
+
−
In this performative event we install a webserver and understand about Wiki's and it's recepies on a virtual machine SSH? Doors to open, commands to learn to activate our space into a home while baking pancakes.
+
−
Link:  
+
−
 
+
−
Crypto Dance !  
+
−
In this performative event security is at stake in a dance which introduces basic crypto like in bob and eve do a lambada.
+
−
(need still to be developed by Hacking with care)
+
−
 
+
−
Strategies of care
+
−
 
+
−
Chair Strike installation at the Academy of fine Arts Vienna,  
+
−
PC-Lab, in the framework of Strike, she said,  
+
−
by GirlsOnHorses (Auer, Egermann, Straganz, Wieger).
+
−
 
+
−
By paying more attention to the body and ICT work experiences, 'WORKINGSTILLWORKING” developed a variety of micro-movements and creative habits, tactics, gestures and practices, consciously or unconsciously to break free from motionless postures, painful or stultifying. Together with HACKING WITH CARE, they published a zine: http://workingstill-stillworking.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/AttentionSomaticTheZine1.3.pdf, Attent!on som(t)a(c)tics: With the micro movements of our bodies when using our devices, we improvise and explore forms of embodied emancipation within a digital context.
+
−
 
+
−
describe your (intimate, pleasant, difficult or binding…) relationships with computers and propose ways of subjugating those routines.
+
−
 
+
−
http://hackingwithcare.in/wiki/doku.php/projects : Online Resources for psychological and physical well-being, health, self-care, caregiving, in general and in the specific contexts of activism and hacking. Material to explore and raise awareness on related political issues, among caregivers, hackers-who-care, and friends of a good fair world, with the purpose of inspiring alliances. Caring for one self can be a collective emancipatory process to produce a collective platform of liberating instructions, gestures, movement or poetry.  
+
−
 
+
−
SOMATIC EXPLORATIONS AND LIBERATING EXCERSISES
+
−
RE-EMBODYING RELATIONS TO OUR DAILY TECHNOLGIES:
+
−
TRICKS OF SELF AWARENESS(3)(4)(5)
+
−
???strategies of curing ???
+
−
 
+
−
We know adjustable chairs, but what about adjustable software to different cognitive capabilities.
+
−
 
+
−
disable auto-login
+
−
check cognitive capacity
+
−
Using short cuts
+
−
Organize a Hands massage workshop
+
−
Switch between commandline and graphical Interface
+
−
…
+
−
lalala, do do, reeeeeeee:
+
−
Technology accelerates to find solutions of interfacing to the human body
+
−
Technology can be used to persuade people into a behaviour change.  
+
−
We can change our behaviour in relation with technology.
+
−
 
+
−
State of inertia & Red Light Reflex
+
−
Long hours hunched over your hardware can cause the muscles of the front of the body to contract while the body pulls inward. The Red Light reflex is a protective reflex found in all vertebrate animals and is a response to fear, anxiety, prolonged distress or negativity. Rounded shoulders, depressed chest and the head jutting forward can lead to chronic neck pain, jaw pain, hip pain, mid-back pain and shallow breathing. The inability to breathe deeply deprives your brain, blood and muscles of the oxygen they need to function properly. This in turn can cause fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep problems and exacerbate allergies.
+
−
 
+
−
Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI)
+
−
http://www.workrave.org/
+
−
Workrave is a program that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit.
+
−
 
+
−
(1) Annie Abrahams,separation/séparation
+
−
http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/abrahams_separation/separation/index.htm#
+
−
(2) http://bluehackers.org/howto
+
−
(3) http://workingstill-stillworking.net
+
−
(4) Anne Goldenberg, Hacking with Care : Attention, bien-être et politique de l’ordinaire dans le milieu hacktiviste: http://dpi.studioxx.org/en/hacking-care-attention-bien-%C3%AAtre-et-politique-de-l%E2%80%99ordinaire-dans-le-milieu-hacktiviste
+
−
(5) L'ERSE POSTURE
+
−
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0ZLaZHQlU
+
−
(6) http://networkcultures.org/blog/2007/04/23/linux-for-theatre-makers-embodiment-and-nix-modus-operandi/
+
  
 
[[Category:Resources]]
 
[[Category:Resources]]

Latest revision as of 18:27, 27 May 2015

recommendations for the printed version: http://etherpad.calafou/p/securitydisclaimer

Before you start: mapping your data and devices; securing your data; anonymising your connections

This section provides you with notions, methodologies and tools to take care of your data and devices and have those taking care of you. Data and devices management requires to reflect on their hosting and leaving qualities and in how we can configure those to not mess around with our well-being. This section It also explains how to engage into more secure communication practices when you get connected. All the following tips and tricks are pre-requisites to better understand how to manage identity on-line and creating safe spaces. EDIT

This section will cover the starting points: what data do you produce and store? Where? How do you make sure your data is secure? And when you're connecting to the internet, how do you anonymise your connections?

It's also important to think about you relationship with your technology - how can we base this relationship in self care?

Mapping your data

Before becoming a zen user and developer of technologies, and adopting better privacy and digital security practices, it's important to first know what you want to protect. One way of doing this is to map (using a table, map, drawing, etc) your production and management of data.

  • What kind of data do you produce and or manage? With whom?

To begin mapping your data, first make a list of the data you create yourself. This can include personal and work-related documents, emails, images, videos, designs, tweets, blog posts, and so on. Then make a list of the data you manage or store, which is produced by others. This can encompass information given to you by your colleagues, friends, relatives to files you download from websites, repositories, p2p networks, etc. Finally, identify which type of data you share with others, for instance if you share a social media profile or email account with a family member, partner, or colleagues.

Where is this data stored?

  • Which devices hold your data?

-This can include your computer, external drives, and phone.

  • Which online platforms host your data?

- This can include emails, social media accounts, etc. Also bear in mind that some applications enable syncing of data between your different devices, or between your devices and online platforms, and it's important to know where and when this is happening.

  • How do you organise your data?

- Do you keep your personal/professional/activist data separate?

  • How sensitive is your data?

- For each type of data you have listed in your data map, what would happen if this particular data suddenly disappeared? For instance, if your email account is closed down, if your computer or external hard drive is stolen or breaks down, if you accidentally erase a folder, etc?. - What would happen if this data were seen and copied by a third party?

Do the same mapping exercise for the data you hold on others.

Once you've answered thesE questions, you'll be better able to make decisions about which data you want to regularly back up, and where these backups will be stored. You will also be better able to decide what to do with your data when traveling - What type of data do you need with you? What is too sensitive? What can you easily access online?

How do you build trust in relation to your data and how you store it? ???

When doing so, ask yourself who has access to this device or media platform (your family, colleagues, friends, or servers administrators and you do not know ????

  • Syncing (online/offline – apps permissions)

????


Securing your connections and communication

Once we've mapped our data, the next step is making sure it's secure. Especially where your data is stored online, good passwords are crucial.

Creating and using strong passwords

Managing passwords is also a crucial part of maintaining our information online. Using the same password over and over again is risky, as are passwords that connect us to our identit(ies). Since a password is only as secure as the least secure service where it has been used, it is good practice to maintain separate passwords for each of our accounts. For more information on the importance of strong passwords and how to store them, read Security in a Box's chapter on passwords.

  • Using a password manager

To keep multiple secure passwords, you can use a password manager. *KeePassX* is a cross-platform free and open-source password manager that is easy to use and creates files with passwords that can also be exported and used in other devices. It can generate random passwords and store them securely. To learn how to use KeePassX, read this how-to. To learn how to use KeePassDroid, the correspondent tool for Android, read this how-to.

  • Creating strong passphrases using the diceware technique *

Some passwords — like the one we use to decrypt our KeePassX file or lock our devices —need to be easy to remember and strong at the same time. A good solution is to create passphrases that are formed by a random group of words that don’t make any sense together, separated by spaces. One way to do this is to use the Diceware techique (this requires six-sided dice and the Diceware word list [PDF].

By rolling the dice five times, we will come up with a five-digit number that corresponds to a word on the Diceware word list; this word is the first word of our passphrase. If we repeat this at least six times, we can create a strong passphrase formed by six words that together make a strong, random passphrase. It can be memorized just as we did when we had to learn poems by heart at school and will be so long that it would take an average of 3500 years to crack it with brute force at a speed of one trillion guesses per second. To learn more about the Diceware technique, read this article published by Micah Lee in The Intercept. To learn more about two-factor authentication and security questions, read EFF's "Creating Strong Passwords".

Using a secure connection

Another very important measure we should take when going online, especially if we are transmitting personal data and passwords, is to always use a secure SSL connection, which ensures that our data cannot be seen by anyone as they travel from our computer to the website we are visiting or to the service we are using. To do so, when we access a website we should type HTTPS instead of HTTP befor the url of the website we want to visitin. If we receive an error or the HTTPS is replaced by HTTP again, this means that the website is not offering a secure connection. To make sure that we always connect securely to websites when this option is offered, we can install HTTPS Everywhere, a Firefox, Chrome, and Opera extension developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation that encrypts our communications with many major websites.

Likewise, when we create an account with an online service (e.g. our mailbox or a chat network) that we will access through a specific client or app, we should check the features of the service to make sure that it offers a secure connection and configure our clients accordingly by activating the TLS/SSL option.

Using a secure mail server

Also the choice of the mail server we use for our contact mail address is important. While there are several secure servers that offer a good service – e.g. the Swiss commercial service Kolab Now and the autonomous servers Riseup (a site used by activists with a clear set of political principles) and Autistici/Inventati – the main point is to find a service that offers a secure connection (HTTPS instead of HTTP) and that is compatible with our needs.

Anonymising your connections

When browsing the internet through a normal internet connection, there are several ways in which we give away data about ourselves - our IP address (the number that identifies our connection), for example, or which websites we are visiting. There are also several ways to intercept our communications, especially if we are connecting via a free Wi-Fi spot.

Virtual Private Networks (VPN: accessing the web through an encrypted tunnel To add a layer of protection, we can access the internet through a virtual private network (VPN) - an encrypted tunnel that hides all services, protocols, and contents. Using a VPN is not difficult: it basically requires downloading a compressed file, extracting it and changing our computer’s connection settings, but it is important to choose a secure one – better if located abroad – because a compromised VPN server could be accessed by an intermediary who could then analyse all our activities. Autonomous servers Riseup and Autistici/Inventati both offer a reliable VPN.

But we should consider that from a technical standpoint VPNs have some limitations: An insecure connection is still insecure: Although a VPN will anonymise our location and protect us from surveillance from our ISP, once our data is securely routed through the VPN server, it will go out on the internet as it normally would. This means we should still use TLS/SSL when available (ie. (HTTPS to browse websites, pop-ssl/imaps/smtp-tls for mail exchange, and so on).

VPNs are not a panacea: although they accomplish a lot, they can’t fix everything. For example, they cannot increase our security if our computer is already compromised with viruses or spyware. If we give personal information to a website, there is little that a VPN can do to maintain our anonymity with that website or its partners. For more information, see Riseup’s webpage on VPN anonymity.

The connection might get slower: the VPN routes all our traffic through an encrypted connection to the server before it goes out onto the normal internet. This extra step can slow things down. For more information on VPNs, visit this page.


Hiding your IP address using the Tor network A key step to being anonymous online is to hide your IP address. On way to do this is to use a tool called Tor, an anonymity network that conceals both the location of our connection and what we do on the internet. By consistently using Tor, no one can link our IP (and therefore our alternative identity) to us, not even the mail server we use. For further information on how to use Tor, see the project's website.

The Tor Browser is a software tool designed to increase the privacy and security of our Internet activities and habits. It masks our identity and our online browsing from many forms of internet surveillance.

From the Tor Project: "The Tor software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked."

The Tor Browser Bundle consists of the Tor software and a modified version of the Firefox web browser, which is designed to provide extra protection while using it. To stop scripts from running without us knowing and to force secure SSL connections whenever available, the browser bundle also includes NoScript and HTTPS-Everywhere add-ons.

Tor protects our anonymity by routing communications through a distributed network of servers run by volunteers all over the world. Using Tor hides the sites we visit from potential onlookers, and hides our location/identity from those sites. The software is designed also to make sure servers in the Tor network don't know both our location and the sites we are visiting.

Tor also takes steps to encrypt the communication to and through its network, but this measure cannot extend all the way to a website which is sending or receiving content over non-encrypted channels (i.e. not providing HTTPS access). Nevertheless, the advantage of using Tor when accessing such sites is that Tor can secure our communication up to the step between the last of the Tor servers and the non-secure site. This confines the chance to intercept the content to that last step.

As with VPNs, there is a trade-off between anonymity and speed. Because Tor facilitates anonymous browsing by bouncing our traffic through volunteers’ computers and servers in various parts of the world, it will definitely be slower than using other web browsers on our computer.

What we should remember when using the Tor Browser is that it makes us anonymous, but not private. Although our web requests are anonymous, if we are posting on Facebook or sending an email through Gmail, that activity is still identifiable as “us”.

  • NOT SURE WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS SECTION - DOESN'T FIT HERE*

If we want to browse the web anonymously with more than one identity, we can do so by creating each time a new identity for our browser, so that a new set of random Tor proxy servers is selected and we appear to come from a new location to the web servers. To do this, we just need to click the onion icon in the upper left of our browser and to select “New identity” from the menu. The Tor Browser will briefly close, clearing our browsing history and cookies and then restart. After that, we can safely browse the internet with a different identity.

For more information on Tor and instructions for Windows users, see Security in a box's howto. For instructions for Mac OSX users, visit this howto by the EFF.

Devices and Well being

A LOT OF THIS CAN BE CONDENSED AND DELETED. REFERENCE THE LEVEL-UP RESOURCES!

While working on computer, smart phones and other devices, we tend to forget our body. Our body freezes. Fingers, eyes and ears follow the rhythm of our clicks, scrolls and swipes. In almost motionless, staring at the screen, the user forgets the possibilities of movement, pause or improving posture and even is imposing on the body pains and discomforts. While some senses get paralyzed, our brain becomes intertwined with the machine: processing a lot of data and information, multi-tasking and executing creative, administrative challenges while managing our engagements and multiple identities... our neurological activity increases. There is a risk in becoming inseparable of our hardware technologies. Actually we can do almost everything with a machine: communicate, getting ourselves organized, informed, be entertained, play, have sex, ... To have a healthy relationship with our machines is hence a key for our well being. “Around 2000, I made a video installation “Does Technology ever end or does it restart automatically?” it was the moment when there was fear that the machines' clock would crash on the number 2000 <Y2K problem, the Millennium bug>: display of dates and the automated ordering of dated records or real-time events would get twisted. The media media hysteria around the potential failure of our electronic and digital devices which were surrounding us, made me reset (reboot in another distro). In the ecstasy of integrating tech in my daily life, exploring avatars and audiovisual creation, design to communicate political struggles, my hand was hurting, and I couldn't click the mouse anymore. I had to change my daily routine, care about my body and cure myself. I couldn't hold my keys nor masturbate :), .. what was I going to do with my right hand.” SHOW THE PAIN open mouth and lips as wide as possible simultaneously raising your eyebrows as high as possible, hold while counting to 5 repeat a few times (A/ A,separation/séparation) (1) strategies of prevention SCHEDULE: Work out a regular pattern for your day, and stick to it. Your brain will relax a bit if it knows “what comes next”. Plan non-digital activities. PROCESS: If you get an idea or think of something you need to do, write it down. Your brain is actually a bad early implementation of Calendar reminders, Email Notifications and Associative Tagging. Brain reminders aren’t timed, so they will pop up at the most inconvenient moments. By writing it down you literally tell your brain that it’s ok to let go of the thought. WORKFLOW: Interrupt Driven Work is a hassle. You do some work from your todo, but mainly you keep getting interrupted by new email, IRC and instant messages and phonecalls. Ideally, turn off the immediate notification and just check your email/social media/IRC / … once or twice a day. PROCESS: If you get an idea or think of something you need to do, write it down. Your brain is actually a bad early implementation of Calendar reminders, Email Notifications and Associative Tagging. Brain reminders aren’t timed, so they will pop up at the most inconvenient moments. By writing it down you literally tell your brain that it’s ok to let go of the thought. CHARGING: Charge your devices in a place which is not easy reachable. Do some stretching while reaching them.Go a Bit Off the Grid and use alternative energies to charge your devices so we reinforce the relation between technology and nature. DAYLIGHT: You need about to get some decent daylight (20-40 minutes daily) to reset your body clock. Sitting in front of the window and sunlight can be limiting your screen view. Going outside can increase your healthy look... you will look better on the screen after! The quality of light also influences your sleeping/dreaming. SLEEPING: Let's not take our daemons and shells scripts into our state of dreaming. Not having your devices next to your bed works wonders for your sleep well and good morning rituals. FOOD & DRINK: Water can safe plants! And if you drank to much, don't forget to go to the toilet once in a while. (2) Exercises to disconnect Create performative events for a human understanding of technology. Probably besides of becoming an icon or a symbol of a visual interface, I guess you have to be minimum 2 people: 0 en 1 to make the process into a social momentum. # Let's go analogue – physical.  ?? _ make props for all the hardware components in the computer 

 (from cardboard, scrap, .. take your time to make them)

_ distribute props over the #actors, _ create a script to enact the process (scenario) exemple scripts: Screensavers, sleep mode, hibernate, standby or off. In this performative event the switching on and shutting down of a computer is (re)enacted through a collective body. What is happening with our hardware and software when we go to sleep or other modi of existence. Link: Home Is a Server In this performative event we install a webserver and understand about Wiki's and it's recepies on a virtual machine SSH? Doors to open, commands to learn to activate our space into a home while baking pancakes. Link: Crypto Dance ! In this performative event security is at stake in a dance which introduces basic crypto like in bob and eve do a lambada. (need still to be developed by Hacking with care) Strategies of care Chair Strike installation at the Academy of fine Arts Vienna, PC-Lab, in the framework of Strike, she said, by GirlsOnHorses (Auer, Egermann, Straganz, Wieger). By paying more attention to the body and ICT work experiences, 'WORKINGSTILLWORKING” developed a variety of micro-movements and creative habits, tactics, gestures and practices, consciously or unconsciously to break free from motionless postures, painful or stultifying. Together with HACKING WITH CARE, they published a zine: http://workingstill-stillworking.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/AttentionSomaticTheZine1.3.pdf, Attent!on som(t)a(c)tics: With the micro movements of our bodies when using our devices, we improvise and explore forms of embodied emancipation within a digital context. describe your (intimate, pleasant, difficult or binding…) relationships with computers and propose ways of subjugating those routines. http://hackingwithcare.in/wiki/doku.php/projects : Online Resources for psychological and physical well-being, health, self-care, caregiving, in general and in the specific contexts of activism and hacking. Material to explore and raise awareness on related political issues, among caregivers, hackers-who-care, and friends of a good fair world, with the purpose of inspiring alliances. Caring for one self can be a collective emancipatory process to produce a collective platform of liberating instructions, gestures, movement or poetry. SOMATIC EXPLORATIONS AND LIBERATING EXCERSISES RE-EMBODYING RELATIONS TO OUR DAILY TECHNOLGIES: TRICKS OF SELF AWARENESS(3)(4)(5) ???strategies of curing ??? We know adjustable chairs, but what about adjustable software to different cognitive capabilities. disable auto-login check cognitive capacity Using short cuts Organize a Hands massage workshop Switch between commandline and graphical Interface … lalala, do do, reeeeeeee: Technology accelerates to find solutions of interfacing to the human body Technology can be used to persuade people into a behaviour change. We can change our behaviour in relation with technology. State of inertia & Red Light Reflex Long hours hunched over your hardware can cause the muscles of the front of the body to contract while the body pulls inward. The Red Light reflex is a protective reflex found in all vertebrate animals and is a response to fear, anxiety, prolonged distress or negativity. Rounded shoulders, depressed chest and the head jutting forward can lead to chronic neck pain, jaw pain, hip pain, mid-back pain and shallow breathing. The inability to breathe deeply deprives your brain, blood and muscles of the oxygen they need to function properly. This in turn can cause fatigue, depression, anxiety, sleep problems and exacerbate allergies. Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI) http://www.workrave.org/ Workrave is a program that assists in the recovery and prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). The program frequently alerts you to take micro-pauses, rest breaks and restricts you to your daily limit. (1) Annie Abrahams,separation/séparation http://collection.eliterature.org/2/works/abrahams_separation/separation/index.htm# (2) http://bluehackers.org/howto (3) http://workingstill-stillworking.net (4) Anne Goldenberg, Hacking with Care : Attention, bien-être et politique de l’ordinaire dans le milieu hacktiviste: http://dpi.studioxx.org/en/hacking-care-attention-bien-%C3%AAtre-et-politique-de-l%E2%80%99ordinaire-dans-le-milieu-hacktiviste (5) L'ERSE POSTURE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va0ZLaZHQlU (6) http://networkcultures.org/blog/2007/04/23/linux-for-theatre-makers-embodiment-and-nix-modus-operandi/

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