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TLDR 91

Too Long; Didn't Read Issue 91

Published: 2017-04-01 • 📧 Newsletter

Welcome to TL;DR Newsletter #91. TL;DR is a weekly synthesis of things you need to know about the intersection between education, technology, and literacy. Feel free to share this with someone that you believe would benefit. Please subscribe to this newsletter if you haven't already.

In this week's episode...I always feel like someone is watching me... :)

This week we held our first webinar as part of The NEXT School initiative. The event was a big success and I owe it to the readers here on TL;DR. You can review the slide deck and video of the event. I did not include questions and feedback from the event in this video. I'll have more news soon about our next event.

Send me feedback or questions at hello@wiobyrne.com. You can review archives of the newsletter or on Medium. I also share the quotes at the bottom of the newsletter on Instagram.

🔖 Key Takeaways

📺 Watch

A video from Thomas Frank explaining the Feynman Technique, a process for explaining the complex in a simple language as if you were teaching it to someone else. The technique is named after the renowned physicist Richard Feynman.

One of the keys is that you must not fool yourself in the process, and that you may be the easiest person to fool.

This provides an interesting thought experiment as we consider our own abilities to teach and learn.

📚 Read

We talked a bit about this last week, and now the U.S. Congress has passed legislation that will effectively kill privacy rules enforceable by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). This is not good news for those of you in the U.S. I think the effects will also reverberate globally as the Internet is a connected space.

This is a problem as your Internet service providers (ISPs) see everything that you do online, and they connect this to your name and billing information. This is bigger than a concern about whether or not you have something to hide in your online behaviors. This may signal an increased use of targeting advertising for a variety of uses. We see how this has been used in the recent U.S. political elections. Click here for more insight from the N. Y. Times.

One of the things that we've talked a lot about in TL;DR over the past couple of months is that it is now your responsibility to maintain your own privacy and security using digital tools. You cannot trust device manufacturers or businesses. And you most certainly cannot trust governments to watch out for you. A good analogy is when you buy a house. The bank or the builder doesn't come by to make sure you have locks on the doors and windows. They don't make sure you have curtains installed on your windows as well. The only one you can really trust to protect you is you.

This post from Popular Mechanics is the best one that I have found that gives granular advice on potentially opting out of some of these data collection techniques. Keep in mind, your ISPs will make it very hard to opt out, and we don't know if these techniques will change, or what they're not telling you. You still need to try...and remain vigilant.

As you identify and understand ways to protect yourself online, many online sources quickly shared discussion about virtual private networks (VPNs). This source from The Wirecutter gives the best overview and guidance on the subject.

Please note that this is not a perfect solution. If you're interested in taking a deeper dive, check out the following links. Motherboard also provides a guide to VPNs. Wired indicates that VPNs won't save you. Mo Bitar explains that VPNs are a solution to a policy problem.

I think VPNs are something that you should check out. You may not need to use it all of the time, but it is something that you should have in your toolkit.

One final way to protect your online privacy is through obfuscation through disinformation. This means that you create a spray of misinformation to throw people and trackers off.

This could involve using different birthdays, email addresses and vital info for online accounts. The good news is that all of your friends on Facebook will wish you a happy birthday on whatever day you choose. :)

You can take this a step further by automatically having your browser spread disinformation and obfuscate your identity. This page (Internet Noise) shares some simple steps you can take to protect your privacy online. It also has the fun benefit of randomly searching for nonsense online.

Finally, you may want to use Adnauseum on Chrome, Firefox, or Opera. This plug-in automatically clicks on random ads as you search online. The end result is that you develop a profile as a voracious, omnivorous clicker of everything you see online. Don't worry, this doesn't mean that you'll have hundreds of pages opening as you read online. You should also know that this plug-in has been blocked by Google on Chrome as it most likely messes up their advertising business model.

A very important post from danah boyd about the recent "fake news" discussions that we've been having online...and here in TL;DR. Increasingly, we're seeing a call for tech organizations, notably Facebook and Google to identify "fake news" and stop it from spreading. This would involve modifying their algorithms and using technology as a Band-Aid to provide a solution.

But, the real problem here is not, and should not be a surface level response to this issue. The problem is with us and normal human behaviors. The problem also needs to be addressed by education.

danah's post identifies three components of the problem, and tackles them head on:

  1. No one can even agree on a definition of "fake news," even though a ridiculous number of words are being spent trying to define it.
  2. Folks don't seem to understand the evolving nature of the problem, the way that manipulation evolves, or how the approaches they propose can be misused by those with whom they fundamentally disagree.
  3. No amount of "fixing" Facebook or Google will address the underlying factors shaping the culture and information wars in which America is currently enmeshed.

🔨 Do

In this issue of TL;DR we spent a lot of time identifying ways to protect yourself online. As we wrap up this issue, I wanted to back up a bit and let our brains cool off.

This post from edutopia identifies opportunities to use art to help build our critical thinking skills. You can follow the steps in your own free time. Better yet, spend some time reviewing artwork and discussing it with a child. Analyze the theme and elements of the piece(s). Create your own work or collages and build your critical thinking skills.

If you cannot get to a local museum, you might want to check out the Google Art Project.

🤔 Consider

"Until they became conscious they will never rebel, and until after they have rebelled they cannot become conscious." — George Orwell

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