Notes From The Electronic Cottage

Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Had your fill of Covid-19 news, at least for the moment? How about if today we look at a few things in the digital world that may not have made the headlines recently but are still pretty interesting – from new exoskeletons help workers lifting heavy loads to hacking new refrigerators so that a 13 buck water filter can be used instead of the manufacturer’s 50 buck variety. Give a listen.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

On a recent edition of the Electronic Cottage, we mentioned that those who wished to exercise their rights to petition the government for redress of grievances might be wise to consider dressing pretty blandly if they value anonymity. This recent story from a protest in Philadelphia offers a very good illustration of why that might be a wise fashion choice.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Covid-19 and George Floyd protests are, of course, taking up most of the headlines these days, and rightly so, but there are other things going on in the digital world as well. Here are a few, including a couple of “are you kidding!?!” items.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

Demonstrators are taking to the streets in the wake of George Floyd’s death across the country, and, with variations to suit their local situations, across the world. While tech like cell phones and social media can help to organize those events, and while cameras on smart phones can help record what happens at them, there is another side to tech, as there often is. Authorities are using cell phone tracing tech, facial recognition, and other tech tools to identify protestors, to populate databases, occasionally, even to follow them home or call them at home later. Thus, people who wish to exercise their Constitutional rights without opening themselves up to unconstitutional wrongs should make some key choices before they hit the streets. Below are some sites that, along with today’s program, can help people prepare if they wish to demonstrate anonymously in today’s digital world.

Surveillance Self-Defense

Vox: The police want your phone data. Here’s what they can get — and what they can’t

Gizmodo: Your Phone Is a Goldmine of Hidden Data for Cops. Here’s How to Fight Back

India Times: Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey says download Signal as US protests gain steam

Tom’s Guide: Signal is adding automatic face blurring to help protesters

Consumer Reports: How to Protect Phone Privacy and Security During a Protest

Wired: How to Protest Safely in the Age of Surveillance

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

It’s no surprise to anyone that Artificial Intelligence and Robotics are having a big influence on our lives to day, and probably moreso tomorrow. But what kind of impact? That is a very big question. Here’s one version of an answer from a few years ago that sounds very much like today.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

There has been a lot of interest in creating smart phone apps that would aid in Covid-19 transmission tracking. How would they work? There is widespread agreement of what such an app should be able to do, but how they would do that is not so clear. Here’s why.

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

While we’re trying to keep ourselves to ourselves as much as we can, here’s a little thought experiment. Suppose we were charged with coming up with some tech-based tools to try to reduce the spread of Covid-19. How might we think about doing that? Here’s one approach…

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Producer/Host: Jim Campbell

In our Covid-19 times, it’s interesting to see who is getting arrested in various places around the country for violating social distancing rules – and who is not. The differences point to some serious problems with AI predictive policing software programs that are increasingly being used by police departments around the country, and offer us an opportunity to think about the Covid-19 tracking tech programs that are beginning to come online and what they man mean for us and our neighbors.

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