[liberationtech] Content liberation on the command line

[Erik Moeller]

https://freeyourstuff.cc/ is a Chromium/Chrome browser extension that lets
you download your contributions to supported sites, which typically don't
provide any facility to do so. This includes IMDB reviews and ratings, Yelp
reviews, Quora answers, and more. The extension can also publish datasets
to the website (provided users release them under a free license), which is
mirrored by volunteers. It's most popular with Quora users; tens of
thousands of Quora answers have been "liberated" in this manner.

Now there's a command-line version as well, which you can check out here:

https://github.com/eloquence/freeyourstuff.cc/blob/master/cli/INSTALL.md

It works by controlling a headless Chromium browser and running the same
plugin code that the extension does. Once set up, you should be able to use
it, for example, to run a daily cronjob for backing up your Yelp reviews or
Quora answers.

You can't publish via the command line yet, but if there's interest, I'll
work on that for sure:
https://github.com/eloquence/freeyourstuff.cc/issues/87

Why do we need a headless browser to do this? Well, the web is no longer
what it used to be -- many sites don't work at all without JavaScript, or
important features are broken. And JavaScript is complex and hard to
reliably execute without a full browser environment. The nice thing about
using headless Chromium is that it really behaves exactly as you would
browsing the site, so we can observe DOM changes, anticipate AJAX requests,
and so on, which is necessary on many sites.

This is still pretty experimental. If you can't get it to work, check out
the troubleshooting section in the install guide, and file an issue if that
doesn't do the trick :-). And of course, I'd love to see more folks
contribute plugins to other sites -- docs for that here:

https://freeyourstuff.cc/plugins

Towards universal content liberation,

Erik
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[Thomas Delrue]

On 01/28/2018 01:05 AM, aryt alasti wrote:
> I didn't realize to what extent activists in the Middle East are relying on
> Facebook.
> 
> http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-facebook-bans-free-speech-egypt-activist-social-media-april-6th-mubarak-1685366161
There are many parallels to be drawn between the content in the article
you link to and some stories that I've heard of people who've been in an
abusive relationship. I'm not saying these two are equivalent... I'm
just saying that there's many parallels.

On the subject of the usage of social networks in social activism, which
the linked article is really about: very relevant content was posted
years ago on LibTech which, I think, should serve as a lighthouse for
anyone wanting to organize in any serious fashion, warning them that
there are jagged rocks and danger ahead.
For those around back then, I recommend a re-read of, and for those new,
an initial read of the thread titled "when you are using Tor, Twitter
will blocked your acc[ount]"

You will find the initial message of the thread here (do go through the
thread in full, the initial message is just the kick-off):
https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-June/013791.html
And the incredibly germane content I refer to in regards to this
particular issue is right here:
https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-June/013878.html

And now for my usual rant against FB and the like:

People need to grow up and realize that things like FB, Twitter and
other social networks & centralized services are not working in their
favor. They are doing a disservice to themselves, to their goals and to
others by using these surveillance & manipulation platforms; by using
these platforms, they cause damage to other individuals who they suck
into these platforms.

Facebook isn't there to 'connect us', Google isn't there to 'help you
find things on the Internet'; they (and others) are there to sell you
ads, extract revenue from you and to keep you docile so you can be shown
more ads and so that more revenue can be extracted from you. If that
means that anything that is bad for business is swept under the rug,
removed, blocked... if that means cozying up to the current Power of the
Day that provides them with access to this "set of eyeballs" but has a
tendency to crush dissent... well so be it.
Anyone who does not realize this yet continues to use facebook & their
ilk is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world,
meaning no harm... (if you'll forgive the re-purposing of that quote)

I'll leave it at this for the moment...

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Tool so people might stop doing crazy things with their bitcoins (and stop being robbed)

[Marc Juul]

On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 3:49 AM, Aymeric Vitte 
wrote:

> Please see https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-transactions


Ok. Why is it not open source though?
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Tool so people might stop doing crazy things with their bitcoins (and stop being robbed)

[Aymeric Vitte]

This is explained in the repo:

" this is the only part of the code that is slightly minified which does
not impact anything in terms of security

*The rationale for this is that we have noticed that some people are
trying to cheat with the dev fees, if you don't like them, don't use
this module, and modifying anything can be quite dangerous, should this
continue we might consider a much higher rate for the dev fees and
replace the code in clear by an obscure obfuscated one"*

People don't estimate the effort to do such tool, which is not trivial
at all given the over complexification of bitcoin stuff, and are trying
to cheat modifying the code to remove the fees (which is a bit crazy for
such a module and could just result for them to send their coins to some
wrong places or have them locked somewhere)

But on another hand they see no problem to pay very high fees to the
network (that they can lower with the tool to the minimum for once, they
just have to set ~1 satoshi per byte), to the exchanges, to the mining
pools, etc, or 10/20% fees to dubious wallets and services asking for
their seeds (then potentially stealing everything)

I think it's useless to restart an "open source vs not open source"
discussion, open source does not mean secure and easy to audit (try for
example to audit the bitcoin core source code and all dependencies), the
only thing that matters is that the code is provided and can be checked,
which is the case

In the first versions we stated something like "Should this project be
funded we will remove the dev fees and it will become fully open source"

This is still valid

Le 28/01/2018 à 11:38, Marc Juul a écrit :
>
>
> On Sat, Jan 27, 2018 at 3:49 AM, Aymeric Vitte  > wrote:
>
> Please see https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-transactions
> 
>
>
> Ok. Why is it not open source though?
>  
>
>

-- 
Bitcoin transactions made simple: https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-transactions
Zcash wallets made simple: https://github.com/Ayms/zcash-wallets
Bitcoin wallets made simple: https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-wallets
Get the torrent dynamic blocklist: http://peersm.com/getblocklist
Check the 10 M passwords list: http://peersm.com/findmyass
Anti-spies and private torrents, dynamic blocklist: http://torrent-live.org
Peersm : http://www.peersm.com
torrent-live: https://github.com/Ayms/torrent-live
node-Tor : https://www.github.com/Ayms/node-Tor
GitHub : https://www.github.com/Ayms

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[aryt alasti]

True though all of that is, if tens of thousands of people are relying on
Facebook for their connectivity to activism and dissident viewpoints, then
pressure should be put on Facebook to cease with its blatantly suppressive
practices.


Aryt




On Jan 28, 2018 4:59 AM, "Thomas Delrue"  wrote:

> On 01/28/2018 01:05 AM, aryt alasti wrote:
> > I didn't realize to what extent activists in the Middle East are relying
> on
> > Facebook.
> >
> > http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-facebook-bans-free-
> speech-egypt-activist-social-media-april-6th-mubarak-1685366161
> There are many parallels to be drawn between the content in the article
> you link to and some stories that I've heard of people who've been in an
> abusive relationship. I'm not saying these two are equivalent... I'm
> just saying that there's many parallels.
>
> On the subject of the usage of social networks in social activism, which
> the linked article is really about: very relevant content was posted
> years ago on LibTech which, I think, should serve as a lighthouse for
> anyone wanting to organize in any serious fashion, warning them that
> there are jagged rocks and danger ahead.
> For those around back then, I recommend a re-read of, and for those new,
> an initial read of the thread titled "when you are using Tor, Twitter
> will blocked your acc[ount]"
>
> You will find the initial message of the thread here (do go through the
> thread in full, the initial message is just the kick-off):
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-
> June/013791.html
> And the incredibly germane content I refer to in regards to this
> particular issue is right here:
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-
> June/013878.html
>
> And now for my usual rant against FB and the like:
>
> People need to grow up and realize that things like FB, Twitter and
> other social networks & centralized services are not working in their
> favor. They are doing a disservice to themselves, to their goals and to
> others by using these surveillance & manipulation platforms; by using
> these platforms, they cause damage to other individuals who they suck
> into these platforms.
>
> Facebook isn't there to 'connect us', Google isn't there to 'help you
> find things on the Internet'; they (and others) are there to sell you
> ads, extract revenue from you and to keep you docile so you can be shown
> more ads and so that more revenue can be extracted from you. If that
> means that anything that is bad for business is swept under the rug,
> removed, blocked... if that means cozying up to the current Power of the
> Day that provides them with access to this "set of eyeballs" but has a
> tendency to crush dissent... well so be it.
> Anyone who does not realize this yet continues to use facebook & their
> ilk is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world,
> meaning no harm... (if you'll forgive the re-purposing of that quote)
>
> I'll leave it at this for the moment...
>
>
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[Cristina]

On 28/01/18 08:35, aryt alasti wrote:
> True though all of that is, if tens of thousands of people are relying
> on Facebook for their connectivity to activism and dissident
> viewpoints, then pressure should be put on Facebook to cease with its
> blatantly suppressive practices.
>
>   
>   
> Aryt

This never worked and will never work, as said Thomas Delrue here:

>
>   
>   
>   
>   
>   
>   
>   
>   
> 
>
>
> On Jan 28, 2018 4:59 AM, "Thomas Delrue"  > wrote:
>
>
> Facebook isn't there to 'connect us', Google isn't there to 'help you
> find things on the Internet'; they (and others) are there to sell you
> ads, extract revenue from you and to keep you docile so you can be
> shown
> more ads and so that more revenue can be extracted from you. If that
> means that anything that is bad for business is swept under the rug,
> removed, blocked... if that means cozying up to the current Power
> of the
> Day that provides them with access to this "set of eyeballs" but has a
> tendency to crush dissent... well so be it.
>
>

This is grossly demonstrated in the negotiations conducted by Facebook
with the Israeli government to censor the Palestinians [0], and the
meetings that the two companies had with China and other countries
without democracy governments.
I was reading more examples in these years, but now I'm lazy to look for
them: you can find them in a quick search.

What I see as an increased problem is the fact than people seems to be
more anesthetize about the use of Internet that in the past: nobody
(*even* IT people) wants to use emails anymore. I suffer it on my own
interactions. If even my close contacts (included "activists") refuse to
use emails... what can i do? to remain alone or to adapt to the majority
and to do what I know is not correct?
Is an obvious thing we need to rise our voices, the danger is to become
as hamsters running inside a wheel and believe we are going a long way.

I agree on most people is using FB, Telegram, WA, and Google products to
interact and search for information. I agree on Thomas' observations,
but in the middle we have a problem: the vacuum has to be filled... with
education? with what?
I don't know. But to say "people is dumb" is not enough and will not
stop them, specially those living under desperate situations.
I don t know the answers, I try to find them and experiment with
possible solutions since years, and the scenario turn worse from the
past to now.

I think all the critic voices need to join on try to find an accessible
solution for the ones that are in real harm because if it s just to
criticize them it will not change anyway.

Love,

Cristina (99)

[0]https://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Social-Media-Imperialism-Facebook-Bans-Palestinian-Content-at-Behest-of-Israel-US-20171230-0023.html

-- 
Esta comunicación puede ser ilegal y/o legalmente recogida, almacenada y 
utilizada por distintos actores. Si duda sobre el contenido a compartir, evite 
enviarlo sin cifrar.

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[Thomas Delrue]

On 01/28/2018 08:07 AM, Cristina wrote:
> I agree on most people is using FB, Telegram, WA, and Google products
> to interact and search for information. I agree on Thomas'
> observations, but in the middle we have a problem: the vacuum has to
> be filled... with education? with what?

We do have a problem but we try the same thing over and over again,
expecting a different result: something doesn't work, just do another
implementation of the same solution - but this time with 50% more
javascript or whatever the fad of the day is.
I mentioned this before: the problem is not the technology because that
would make a solution easy, the problem is the people.
We don't need more implementations or rehashing of the same idea, we
need different ideas and along the way to get there, as you rightfully
suggest, we need education above all. This requires that we call things
by their proper names and not dilly-dally around.

> I don't know. But to say "people is dumb" is not enough and will not 
> stop them, specially those living under desperate situations.

There's a difference between calling /people/ dumb and calling
/behaviors/ dumb. Although it is very satisfying to call people dumb,
you are correct that this is unproductive. So let's stick to calling the
behavior dumb(*).
But sanity is not statistical: it's not because a lot of people are
doing X that the behavior of doing X is not a dumb behavior nor does it
provide an excuse to not be called out as the dumb thing it is. This is
part of the education that, I think we all agree on, is sorely needed.
I'll refer back to the leper in my original answer...

(*) But you'll pry out of my cold, dead hands my right to call people
dumb /inside my own head/.

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[Thomas Delrue]

On 01/28/2018 06:35 AM, aryt alasti wrote:
> True though all of that is, if tens of thousands of people are relying on
> Facebook for their connectivity to activism and dissident viewpoints, then
> pressure should be put on Facebook to cease with its blatantly suppressive
> practices.

As long as that "putting pressure on" means "cut it out of our lives
entirely", then you and I can agree. Because, as I point out, that's the
only thing that organizations like this understand. In fact, they even
have a term for it: "unrealized profits". Unless you turn in this into
"unrealized profits", nothing will change and any hope you have for
change, is in vain.

My position on FB, and things like it, is not just that they are a
nuisance or that they have /some/ bad sides. My position is that they
are fundamentally, irreparably evil and should be eradicated like we
eradicate diseases or tumors: systematically and with unrelenting zeal.
Any time we relent, we give it time to breath and grow.
We don't need to fight FB on issue X or Y, we need to fight them, full stop.

It saddens me that projects like Diaspora never took off but that
cancers like Facebook continue to exist.
Sure, we need/could use some new technology to help us with this, but
that's not what we truly need, we need education first!

P.S.: Consider bottom-posting instead of top-posting, you'll leave more
friends in your wake that way... :)

> On Jan 28, 2018 4:59 AM, "Thomas Delrue"  wrote:
> 
>> On 01/28/2018 01:05 AM, aryt alasti wrote:
>>> I didn't realize to what extent activists in the Middle East are relying
>> on
>>> Facebook.
>>>
>>> http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/how-facebook-bans-free-
>> speech-egypt-activist-social-media-april-6th-mubarak-1685366161
>> There are many parallels to be drawn between the content in the article
>> you link to and some stories that I've heard of people who've been in an
>> abusive relationship. I'm not saying these two are equivalent... I'm
>> just saying that there's many parallels.
>>
>> On the subject of the usage of social networks in social activism, which
>> the linked article is really about: very relevant content was posted
>> years ago on LibTech which, I think, should serve as a lighthouse for
>> anyone wanting to organize in any serious fashion, warning them that
>> there are jagged rocks and danger ahead.
>> For those around back then, I recommend a re-read of, and for those new,
>> an initial read of the thread titled "when you are using Tor, Twitter
>> will blocked your acc[ount]"
>>
>> You will find the initial message of the thread here (do go through the
>> thread in full, the initial message is just the kick-off):
>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-
>> June/013791.html
>> And the incredibly germane content I refer to in regards to this
>> particular issue is right here:
>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/2014-
>> June/013878.html
>>
>> And now for my usual rant against FB and the like:
>>
>> People need to grow up and realize that things like FB, Twitter and
>> other social networks & centralized services are not working in their
>> favor. They are doing a disservice to themselves, to their goals and to
>> others by using these surveillance & manipulation platforms; by using
>> these platforms, they cause damage to other individuals who they suck
>> into these platforms.
>>
>> Facebook isn't there to 'connect us', Google isn't there to 'help you
>> find things on the Internet'; they (and others) are there to sell you
>> ads, extract revenue from you and to keep you docile so you can be shown
>> more ads and so that more revenue can be extracted from you. If that
>> means that anything that is bad for business is swept under the rug,
>> removed, blocked... if that means cozying up to the current Power of the
>> Day that provides them with access to this "set of eyeballs" but has a
>> tendency to crush dissent... well so be it.
>> Anyone who does not realize this yet continues to use facebook & their
>> ilk is like a dumb leper who has lost his bell, wandering the world,
>> meaning no harm... (if you'll forgive the re-purposing of that quote)
>>
>> I'll leave it at this for the moment...
>>
>>
> 


-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[carlo von lynX]

I find it surreal and tragically amusing how articles still
speak of companies like people willing to do the right thing,
as if the people had any importance in a structure whose only
aim is to dominate a market.

So here we have yet another political failing from Facebook,
as if its influence in BREXIT and Trump wasn't enough. As if
it makes sense to expect anything else after the Malvinas
incident in 2009. Millions of dashboards optimized to change
the democratic will of the Argentinean population.

https://theintercept.com/2015/04/02/gchq-argentina-falklands/

Do we need any further proof than that? Centralization of
data produces the power to play golf with democracy as its
ball, not its green. And Facebook isn't to blame. It is
just the corp that got gov support at the right moment to
become the market leader in mind manipulation, which is a
naturally logical thing to do, if unregulated markets are
your logic.

Therefore, Cristina hits the spot when she says that Aryt's
benevolent appeal is utterly misunderstanding the game.

On 28/01/18 08:35, aryt alasti wrote:
> True though all of that is, if tens of thousands of people are relying
> on Facebook for their connectivity to activism and dissident
> viewpoints, then pressure should be put on Facebook to cease with its
> blatantly suppressive practices.

Just like last week's musings of the Facebook PR department
regarding its own market position in a race to the bottom
of humanoid ethics.

On Sun, Jan 28, 2018 at 10:07:51AM -0300, Cristina wrote:
> This never worked and will never work.

> If even my close contacts (included "activists") refuse to
> use emails... what can i do? to remain alone or to adapt to the majority
> and to do what I know is not correct?

At least the Pirates were using their own infrastructure,
but now all the movements meet on Facebook, organize in
Slack and write their political documents in Google Docs.
And it's ridiculously easy to disrupt their social structure
even more than it was with the Pirates.

> I don't know. But to say "people is dumb" is not enough and will not
> stop them, specially those living under desperate situations.

If anybody in our parliaments cares to keep their jobs,
they should better listen to our regulation proposals.
Once they have been replaced by election winners created
by mass manipulation, things get hairy. This new
"leadership" may at best not be aware they got put in
power by manipulation. And even they are probably easy
to blackmail, or chosen on the criterion of being able
to exercise blackmail power.

> I think all the critic voices need to join on try to find an accessible
> solution for the ones that are in real harm because if it s just to
> criticize them it will not change anyway.

Si.

Liberationtech has essentially failed if it
only helped some people in some battles sometimes
while the war as a whole is being lost.


-- 
  E-mail is public! Talk to me in private using encryption:
 http://loupsycedyglgamf.onion/LynX/
  irc://loupsycedyglgamf.onion:67/lynX
 https://psyced.org:34443/LynX/
-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Tool so people might stop doing crazy things with their bitcoins (and stop being robbed)

[Thomas Delrue]

On 01/28/2018 06:22 AM, Aymeric Vitte wrote:
> People don't estimate the effort to do such tool, which is not
> trivial at all given the over complexification of bitcoin stuff, and
> are trying to cheat modifying the code to remove the fees (which is a
> bit crazy for such a module and could just result for them to send
> their coins to some wrong places or have them locked somewhere)

And so your solution is not to prevent the 'cheating' but instead to
hide it, wave your hands and say "these are not the droids you are
looking for, move along"?
If that is the case, I have a hard time understanding what your
value-add is, because your solution has a hard-embedded way to cheat,
that is fundamental to its operation.
Security through obscurity only works for an ever diminishing time.

> I think it's useless to restart an "open source vs not open source" 
> discussion, open source does not mean secure and easy to audit (try
> for example to audit the bitcoin core source code and all
> dependencies), the only thing that matters is that the code is
> provided and can be checked, which is the case

It is most certainly *not* useless to restart this discussion because
people still don't "get it". People need to be told about it over and
over again as demonstrated again right here.

The fact that neither you nor I are knowledgeable enough to be auditing
the BitCoin core source code is not important; what is more important is
that someone who /is/ capable, has the ability, means and access to do
so: light works as a disinfectant and your choice to hide from the light
speaks for itself.

Sadly, you also chose to keep something related to crypto (generation of
hashes) in an inaccessible state. If anything, this is the part that
should be made most easy to audit to those with expertise in that area
since it is the thing that will provide 'trust' to your system. Since
you're dealing with money, I'm pretty convinced that it is incredibly
important to you that people trust your implementation.

Keeping a part, crucial to said trust, inaccessible is a big red flag to
me because chances are, you're rolling your own crypto/hashing. And as
we all (should) know: unless you are or have a team cryptographers that
do this for a living, rolling your own encryption will result in enCRAPtion.
If you're not rolling your own and are using a standard, then why not
make that easy to figure out and audit?

Are you or do you employ one or more cryptographers?

> In the first versions we stated something like "Should this project
> be funded we will remove the dev fees and it will become fully open
> source"
Where exactly is this stated? I can't find it if I search your github
spot for the term  "source":
https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-transactions/search?q=source

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[Cristina]

On 28/01/18 12:10, Thomas Delrue wrote:
> On 01/28/2018 08:07 AM, Cristina wrote:
>> I agree on most people is using FB, Telegram, WA, and Google products
>> to interact and search for information. I agree on Thomas'
>> observations, but in the middle we have a problem: the vacuum has to
>> be filled... with education? with what?
> We do have a problem but we try the same thing over and over again,

what on my statement suggested you I m talking about being doing the
same things?
I'm really tired of this fight, at the same time I can't abandon it
definitely. Don't know why.

> - but this time with 50% more
> javascript or whatever the fad of the day is.
··· part of the reasons: Internet today is harder than before, its
almost impossible to navigate, lots of newspapers bloke the navigation
unless you take off your add blocker or subscribe to them, the net
neutrality is almost lost on the papers, but I see is already lost in
fact in different scenarios. Devices are each year more difficult to
hack to install them Free Software, and so on. And so on.

> I mentioned this before: the problem is not the technology because that
> would make a solution easy, the problem is the people.
I-do-know-it.
But are the ones we have  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Education is not functioning, not on large scales, not even in small
scales... i would say is a one-by-one very slowly process. And that
doesn't help (again) on situations like huge oppressions, Human Right
violations over thousands and millions of people. The heavy pressure of
the world order we are living in and the speed of changes (social and
technological ones) are going faster than our tiny efforts.

> We don't need more implementations or rehashing of the same idea, we
> need different ideas and along the way to get there, as you rightfully
> suggest, we need education above all. This requires that we call things
> by their proper names and not dilly-dally around.

I agree on call things by their proper names.
I don't know if the solution is to try to implement on school the
teaching of PGP (not even on hight school or equivalent): if we are
talking on large education is the only massive way. Once you are alone
and have to look for the education by yourself very few people do it,
and you can't find easily something if you don't even know what you are
looking for. It remains me to an spiritual exploration...
Tell me how could it be possible to implement a change on educational
curricula in favor of freedom of people and I send you a present to any
place of the world were you were.

People usually learn that technology (and implications of technology, in
general) from themselves and as I said above: even on those cases they
will be isolated for a long time from their close buddies and co workers
and even jobs, because it's not easy or quickly to have the disposition
to change.
In the end I agree with you: is a sociological problem. And as we know,
those kind of problems can't be solved by using force or imposed
changes. I only see a light on this path on awakening one person here,
other there.. maybe 5 on the other side... until all collapse and then
we could have a renovated attitude from our fellow human beings to do
something different.

I'm apologize about my poor English vocabulary, and about my tiredness.
I will not follow (at least today) the discussion on the thread because
takes me a lot of time to redact/compose in English.
Thanks for reading and for the exchange.

Cristina (99)

-- 
Esta comunicación puede ser ilegal y/o legalmente recogida, almacenada y 
utilizada por distintos actores. Si duda sobre el contenido a compartir, evite 
enviarlo sin cifrar.


-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

Re: [liberationtech] Revealed: Seven years later, how Facebook shuts down free speech in Egypt | Middle East Eye

[Thomas Delrue]

On 01/28/2018 10:53 AM, Cristina wrote:
> On 28/01/18 12:10, Thomas Delrue wrote:
>> On 01/28/2018 08:07 AM, Cristina wrote:
>>> I agree on most people is using FB, Telegram, WA, and Google products
>>> to interact and search for information. I agree on Thomas'
>>> observations, but in the middle we have a problem: the vacuum has to
>>> be filled... with education? with what?
>> We do have a problem but we try the same thing over and over again,
> 
> what on my statement suggested you I m talking about being doing the
> same things?
> I'm really tired of this fight, at the same time I can't abandon it
> definitely. Don't know why.

I wasn't suggesting you are trying the same thing over and over again. I
was suggesting that the collective "we" is doing that. Apologies for not
expressing myself enough.


>> We don't need more implementations or rehashing of the same idea, we
>> need different ideas and along the way to get there, as you rightfully
>> suggest, we need education above all. This requires that we call things
>> by their proper names and not dilly-dally around.
> 
> I agree on call things by their proper names.
> I don't know if the solution is to try to implement on school the
> teaching of PGP (not even on hight school or equivalent): if we are
> talking on large education is the only massive way. Once you are alone
> and have to look for the education by yourself very few people do it,
> and you can't find easily something if you don't even know what you are
> looking for. It remains me to an spiritual exploration...
> Tell me how could it be possible to implement a change on educational
> curricula in favor of freedom of people and I send you a present to any
> place of the world were you were.

The Network Effect worked for FB; can we make it work for us as well? Or
in other words: be the change you wish to see in the world. Start small
and teach those around you; while you're at it, teach them how to teach
others and watch it multiply...
And I know that you (now I /am/ talking to you, individually) are indeed
doing that! I'm not expecting anyone to change hundreds of people's
minds, but it's not unreasonable to expect someone to influence a small
handful of people, even if that means only one, two or three, and have
things grow from there...

-- 
Liberationtech is public & archives are searchable on Google. Violations of 
list guidelines will get you moderated: 
https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech. Unsubscribe, 
change to digest, or change password by emailing the moderator at 
zakwh...@stanford.edu.

[liberationtech] Scratch 3.0 preview announced

[Phil Shapiro]

For those of you doing coding with kids, you might want to take a look at the 
Scratch 3.0 preview. It currently works with Firefox, but 
not Google Chrome. 


https://scratch.mit.edu/preview-faq 






Scratch 3.0 Preview FAQ 



Overview 

What is Scratch 3.0? 
Scratch 3.0 is the next generation of Scratch. It expands how, what, and where 
you can create with Scratch. With Scratch 3.0, you will be able to play Scratch 
projects on your phone, create Scratch projects on your tablet, and control 
Scratch projects with your voice. And there are many other new features too! 

When will the Scratch website transition to Scratch 3.0? 
We plan to launch the online version of Scratch 3.0 in August 2018. For people 
without Internet connectivity, an offline version of the Scratch 3.0 
programming editor will be available later in 2018. 

What is the Preview version of Scratch 3.0? 
The Preview version lets you see and try out new features and changes in 
preparation for the launch of Scratch 3.0. The Preview includes only the 
Scratch programming editor, not the rest of the website. 

What’s included in this Preview version of Scratch 3.0? 
The Preview version includes many of the core features of the Scratch 3.0 
programming editor, but you’ll notice that some important features haven’t been 
added yet (such as the ability to save projects or import your own images). We 
will continue to add features between now and the official launch in August. We 
plan to release new features every couple weeks, so check back often! 

Will all of my previous projects still work? 
Yes. We are working hard to make sure projects that were created in earlier 
versions of Scratch still work in Scratch 3.0. In the coming months, we will be 
providing ways for you to try out your existing Scratch 2.0 projects. 

Can I save and share projects that I create with the Scratch 3.0 Preview? 
Right now, you can’t save or share. In the next few months, we’ll provide a way 
for you to save your Preview projects on your local drive. You won’t be able to 
share projects into the online community until the official Scratch 3.0 launch 
. 

What changes are planned for the rest of the Scratch website? 
The Preview version focuses only on the programming editor, but w e also plan 
to make other improvements to the website . For the launch of Scratch 3.0 in 
August , we're planning some new features and new designs (especially for the 
homepage and project pages), but existing community features will all still be 
there. We will share more information as we get closer to the release of 
Scratch 3.0. 

How can I share feedback and report bugs? 
You can share your comments and bugs with us by clicking the “Feedback” button 
in the top-right corner of the Scratch 3.0 Preview. 

Will Scratch 3.0 be available in multiple languages? 
The Preview is available only in English, but we will be adding translations in 
the coming months. By the launch in August, we plan to support the same range 
of world languages (with improved support for right-to-left languages). 
What’s New? 

Blocks 

Will Scratch 3.0 remove any existing blocks? 
No blocks have been removed in Scratch 3.0, but some have changed a bit and 
others have moved into “Extensions” (as described below). 

Will Scratch 3.0 introduce new blocks? 
Yes ! You will find some new blocks in the Preview version. 

* New sound "effect" blocks 
* New operators that make it easier to work with text (strings) 
* New pen blocks, including support for transparency 
* New glide block to move easily to a sprite (or random point) 
* Many new extensions (see the “Extensions” section below) 


Why are the blocks bigger in Scratch 3.0 than in earlier versions? 
In order to make Scratch 3.0 work well on tablets, we needed to make the blocks 
bigger, so that it’s easier to drag and tap the blocks. 
Interface 

What are the changes in the Scratch 3.0 interface? 
We made a number of changes to the Scratch user interface, to make it easier to 
use and learn. Here are a few of the changes: 

* You can now scroll through all of the blocks (from all of the categories) 
in a single list 
* The stage is now on the right, instead of the left 
* There are now new ways to add sprites and backdrops and extensions 
* Some blocks (such as “point in direction”) have a more visual and 
intuitive way to select inputs 
* All projects now start with a variable (called “my variable”) to help 
make them more visible for beginners 
* The pen blocks and music blocks are now Extensions to allow adding of 
features while simplifying the basic block palette 
* Color picker blocks offer more options and control 

Sprites, Sounds, & Backdrops 

Will there be new sprites, sounds, and back drops? 
Yes! We’re working with illustrators and musicians to update all of our asset 
libraries with new art and new sounds. Many of the previous sprites, sounds, 
and backdrops will continue to be available 

Re: [liberationtech] Tool so people might stop doing crazy things with their bitcoins (and stop being robbed)

[Yosem Companys]

I'm no longer a list moderator, but I can't help but intervene here. All of
you have been and continue to be great contributors to the larger
liberationtech community. A longstanding participant has created something
to try to advance the public good. There may be differences in terms of how
to do it.  But we can all speak amicably about the issues.

On Sun, Jan 28, 2018 at 10:16 AM, Aymeric Vitte 
wrote:

> Sorry I don't get a single thing in your answer, apparently you don't
> know what you are talking about (and please keep your statements for
> yourself, like "knowledgeable enough" and auditing the bitcoin core code)
>
> It's quite easy to check what the module is doing, this is "just"
> implementing the bitcoin protocol, which works for quasi all of existing
> coins, there are no crypto inventions/tricks, and such tool does not
> exist then there is a real added value
>
> Probably you don't know very well the bitcoin world and the current
> mess, please read everything again and we could discuss, and indeed I
> really care that people don't make mistakes with this module
>
> And see https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-wallets or
> https://github.com/Ayms/zcash-wallets or
> https://github.com/Ayms/cashaddress , those ones are not trivial at all
> also and completely open source, and btw can be combined with the module
> of course as explained, should people read things, consider reading the
> "not coming from nowhere" link too and linked issues on BTG github rep
> where people commented
>
> See the git history of the README for your last question
>
>
> Le 28/01/2018 à 16:53, Thomas Delrue a écrit :
> > On 01/28/2018 06:22 AM, Aymeric Vitte wrote:
> >> People don't estimate the effort to do such tool, which is not
> >> trivial at all given the over complexification of bitcoin stuff, and
> >> are trying to cheat modifying the code to remove the fees (which is a
> >> bit crazy for such a module and could just result for them to send
> >> their coins to some wrong places or have them locked somewhere)
> > And so your solution is not to prevent the 'cheating' but instead to
> > hide it, wave your hands and say "these are not the droids you are
> > looking for, move along"?
> > If that is the case, I have a hard time understanding what your
> > value-add is, because your solution has a hard-embedded way to cheat,
> > that is fundamental to its operation.
> > Security through obscurity only works for an ever diminishing time.
> >
> >> I think it's useless to restart an "open source vs not open source"
> >> discussion, open source does not mean secure and easy to audit (try
> >> for example to audit the bitcoin core source code and all
> >> dependencies), the only thing that matters is that the code is
> >> provided and can be checked, which is the case
> > It is most certainly *not* useless to restart this discussion because
> > people still don't "get it". People need to be told about it over and
> > over again as demonstrated again right here.
> >
> > The fact that neither you nor I are knowledgeable enough to be auditing
> > the BitCoin core source code is not important; what is more important is
> > that someone who /is/ capable, has the ability, means and access to do
> > so: light works as a disinfectant and your choice to hide from the light
> > speaks for itself.
> >
> > Sadly, you also chose to keep something related to crypto (generation of
> > hashes) in an inaccessible state. If anything, this is the part that
> > should be made most easy to audit to those with expertise in that area
> > since it is the thing that will provide 'trust' to your system. Since
> > you're dealing with money, I'm pretty convinced that it is incredibly
> > important to you that people trust your implementation.
> >
> > Keeping a part, crucial to said trust, inaccessible is a big red flag to
> > me because chances are, you're rolling your own crypto/hashing. And as
> > we all (should) know: unless you are or have a team cryptographers that
> > do this for a living, rolling your own encryption will result in
> enCRAPtion.
> > If you're not rolling your own and are using a standard, then why not
> > make that easy to figure out and audit?
> >
> > Are you or do you employ one or more cryptographers?
> >
> >> In the first versions we stated something like "Should this project
> >> be funded we will remove the dev fees and it will become fully open
> >> source"
> > Where exactly is this stated? I can't find it if I search your github
> > spot for the term  "source":
> > https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-transactions/search?q=source
> >
>
> --
> Bitcoin transactions made simple: https://github.com/Ayms/
> bitcoin-transactions
> Zcash wallets made simple: https://github.com/Ayms/zcash-wallets
> Bitcoin wallets made simple: https://github.com/Ayms/bitcoin-wallets
> Get the torrent dynamic blocklist: http://peersm.com/getblocklist
> Check the 10 M passwords list: http://peersm.com/findmyass
> Anti-spies and 

Re: [liberationtech] Scratch 3.0 preview announced

[Kẏra ​]

There's also https://code.world/blocks

Which is a project similar to scratch but using Haskell and functional
programming!

https://github.com/google/codeworld

On Sun, Jan 28, 2018 at 10:42 AM, Phil Shapiro  wrote:

>
> For those of you doing coding with kids, you might want to take a look at
> the Scratch 3.0 preview.  It currently works with Firefox, but
> not Google Chrome.
>
> https://scratch.mit.edu/preview-faq
>
> Scratch 3.0 Preview FAQ
> Overview
>
> What is Scratch 3.0?
>
> Scratch 3.0 is the next generation of Scratch. It expands how, what, and
> where you can create with Scratch. With Scratch 3.0, you will be able to play
> Scratch projects on your phone, create Scratch projects on your tablet, and
> control Scratch projects with your voice. And there are many other new
> features too!
>
> When will the Scratch website transition to Scratch 3.0?
>
> We plan to launch the online version of Scratch 3.0 in August 2018. For
> people without Internet connectivity, an offline version of the Scratch 3.0
> programming editor will be available later in 2018.
>
> What is the Preview version of Scratch 3.0?
>
> The Preview version lets you see and try out new features and changes in
> preparation for the launch of Scratch 3.0. The Preview includes only the
> Scratch programming editor, not the rest of the website.
>
> What’s included in this Preview version of Scratch 3.0?
>
> The Preview version includes many of the core features of the Scratch 3.0
> programming editor, but you’ll notice that some important features
> haven’t been added yet (such as the ability to save projects or import your
> own images). We will continue to add features between now and the official
> launch in August. We plan to release new features every couple weeks, so
> check back often!
>
> Will all of my previous projects still work?
>
> Yes. We are working hard to make sure projects that were created in
> earlier versions of Scratch still work in Scratch 3.0. In the coming
> months, we will be providing ways for you to try out your existing
> Scratch 2.0 projects.
>
> Can I save and share projects that I create with the Scratch 3.0 Preview?
>
> Right now, you can’t save or share. In the next few months, we’ll provide
> a way for you to save your Preview projects on your local drive. You won’t
> be able to share projects into the online community until the official
> Scratch 3.0 launch.
>
> What changes are planned for the rest of the Scratch website?
>
> The Preview version focuses only on the programming editor, but we also
> plan to make other improvements to the website. For the launch of Scratch
> 3.0 in August, we're planning some new features and new designs
> (especially for the homepage and project pages), but existing community
> features will all still be there. We will share more information as we
> get closer to the release of Scratch 3.0.
>
> How can I share feedback and report bugs?
>
> You can share your comments and bugs with us by clicking the “Feedback”
> button in the top-right corner of the Scratch 3.0 Preview.
>
> Will Scratch 3.0 be available in multiple languages?
>
> The Preview is available only in English, but we will be adding
> translations in the coming months. By the launch in August, we plan to
> support the same range of world languages (with improved support for
> right-to-left languages).
>
> What’s New?
>
> Blocks
>
> Will Scratch 3.0 remove any existing blocks?
>
> No blocks have been removed in Scratch 3.0, but some have changed a bit
> and others have moved into “Extensions” (as described below).
>
> Will Scratch 3.0 introduce new blocks?
>
> Yes! You will find some new blocks in the Preview version.
>
>- New sound "effect" blocks
>- New operators that make it easier to work with text (strings)
>- New pen blocks, including support for transparency
>- New glide block to move easily to a sprite (or random point)
>- Many new extensions (see the “Extensions” section below)
>
> Why are the blocks bigger in Scratch 3.0 than in earlier versions?
>
> In order to make Scratch 3.0 work well on tablets, we needed to make the
> blocks bigger, so that it’s easier to drag and tap the blocks.
>
> Interface
>
> What are the changes in the Scratch 3.0 interface?
>
> We made a number of changes to the Scratch user interface, to make it
> easier to use and learn. Here are a few of the changes:
>
>- You can now scroll through all of the blocks (from all of the
>categories) in a single list
>- The stage is now on the right, instead of the left
>- There are now new ways to add sprites and backdrops and extensions
>- Some blocks (such as “point in direction”) have a more visual and
>intuitive way to select inputs
>- All projects now start with a variable (called “my variable”) to
>help make them more visible for beginners
>- The pen blocks and music blocks are now Extensions to allow adding
>of features while simplifying the basic