WGXC-90.7 FM
Saturday, November 30, 2013 local almanac
Nov 30, 2013 12:01 am
Local News
Local news from Wave Farm‘s WGXC 90.7-FM in the Hudson Valley, New York for Sat., Nov. 30. PLAY AUDIO (1:05)
Ski Report
WGXC Ski Report: Windham and Hunter open; Catamount opens Dec. 7. PLAY AUDIO (:52)
Local weather forecast
Today's forecast is specific to Acra, in Greene County.
• Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 31. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Saturday night there is a slight chance of snow showers after 3 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.
• Sunday: A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 1 p.m., then a slight chance of rain showers between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 42, and a low around 26.
• Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38.
Sunrise 7:04 a.m.
Sunset 4:24 p.m.
Other celestial rises/sets
Moon 4:09 A.M. 2:49 P.M.
Mercury 5:43 A.M. 3:39 P.M.
Venus 10:26 A.M. 7:15 P.M.
Mars 12:52 A.M. 1:20 P.M.
Jupiter 7:10 P.M. 10:12 A.M.
Saturn 5:11 A.M. 3:24 P.M.
Uranus 1:36 P.M. 2:05 A.M.
Neptune 12:14 P.M. 10:56 P.M.
Pluto 9:15 A.M. 6:44 P.M.
Public Meetings
Noon, Chatham Main St.: Congressman Chris Gibson and Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin will visit local businesses for "Small Business Saturday."
WGXC Programming
12:05 a.m. – 5 a.m.: Radio Stew: Brains
Flip your wig, adjust your dome, for some mind games. Audio maze through mind-reading is presented with Matmos' "ESP" and "Brain Radio," and also songs from Swans ("Telepathy"), Sebadoh ("Mind Reader"), Dave Davies ("Telepathy"), Buzzcocks ("E.S.P."), Alan Parsons Project ("Eye in the Sky"), Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind"), Hawkwind ("Radio Telepathy"), Modern Lovers ("Astral Plane"), Blondie (["I'm Always Touched by Your] Presence"), Lene Lovich ("Telepathy"), and Miles Davis ("E.S.P."). Many other songs and sounds about brains, minds, and more.
5 a.m. – 6 a.m.: Shortwave Hours: Cell Phone Calls on Planes
Two hours of shortwave radio-oriented programming, starting with solar weather, news on meteor showers and ham radio, and other reports. Other reports include:
5 a.m., "The RAIN Report" and "Amateur Radio Relay League Audio Report."
5:30 a.m.: "Glenn Hauser's World of Radio" DX and station news countries all over the world.
6 a.m.: "Amateur Radio Newsline" This week: "Ham radio relief efforts continue in the Philippines; the long awaited United Kingdom FUNcube
One ham satellite is now on-orbit; a new 76 Gigahertz record is set in Great Britain; lots of FCC enforcement action and
the Consumer Electronics Association issues its Annual Trends to Watch."
6:30 a.m.: "This Week in Radio News" from host Tom Roe at Wave Farm's WGXC. This week: "More in the almost 3,000 low-power FM applications recently submitted to the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. Also, the U.S. FCC wants to allow phone calls on planes, and will consider the measure at a Dec. 12 meeting. Also "This Week in Radio History" and more."
7 a.m. – 8 a.m.: Saturday Morning Serial: It Was All a Dream
Dreams, often as a crutch for poor writing, are explored. An alternate ending of "Breaking Bad" is explored, as well as dream endings for "The Wizard of Oz," "Newhart," and "Dallas." Plus "Dance of the Dream Man" from "Twin Peaks," "In Dreams" from Roy Orbison, "Dream Lover" from Bobby Darin, "I've Got Dreams to Remember" by Otis Redding, "Dream Operator" by Talking Heads, "Dream On" from Aerosmith, "Dreams" from Fleetwood Mac, "All I Have to Do is Dream" by The Everly Brothers, "If I Can Dream" from Elvis Presley, and "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream."
10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Radia: Hans Schüttler
German composer Hans Schüttler creates live radio dramas, and was recently in New York City for a workshop and performance at Harvestworks as part of 2013 New York Electronic Art Festival. Hans Tammen from Harvestworks put together this audio tour of Schüttler's work. It includes excerpts of "Death of an Underwater Diver" and others. "Radia" is a network of international stations playing radio art. Each week, one station makes a show for all the others. This show was produced for Wave Farm's WGXC in New York.
11 a.m. – noon: What's the Frequency, Kenneth?: Nuclear Option
The US Senate voted to approve "the nuclear option"...to cut off filibusters and stop republicans from blocking Obama nominees from confirmation votes to be judges or posts at federal agencies. Why this? Why now? Why you should care...according to Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, President Obama...and how the media covered the story. From host Paul Fischer through Pacifica Radio.
12:24 p.m. – 10 p.m.: PRISM Breakup
Hosted by Eyebeam October 2013, PRISM Breakup, was a series of art and technology events dedicated to exploring and providing forms of protection from surveillance. The gathering brought together a wide spectrum of artists, hackers, academics, activists, security analysts and journalists for a weekend-long of conversation, hands-on workshops, and art installations. The 11 recordings that comprise the PRISM Breackup series will be broadcast on Sat., Nov. 30, 2013 in the following hours: 12:30-2 p.m.; 4-6 p.m.; 8-10 p.m. A special thanks to Roddy Schrock and Heather Dewey-Hagborg for making the WGXC radio broadcast of this exciting series possible.
Panels include, Ingrid Burrington, "The Architecture of Surveillance;" Katherine Maher, "[FullStop]Watching Us;" Nadim Kobeissi, "Cryptocat;" Seeta Pena Gangadharan, "Data Profiling And Social Justice;" Amelia Marzec, "Signal Strength;" Dan Phiffer, "Small Wifi Networks Loosely Joined;" Enrique Piraces and Barbra Mack, "Paranoia;" Brian House, "Open Paths;" Helen Nissenbaum, "DIY Privacy with Obfuscation;" Genevieve Hoffman, "Tracking, Spoofing And Jamming;" PRISM Breakup Opening Panel.
12:25 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Privacy and Security Policy in the Present
Panel Discussion Privacy and Security Policy in the Present Finn Brunton, Ashkan Soltani, Amie Stepanovich As an introduction to our event series, this panel will welcome a few policy and academic experts to comment on the current state of privacy in our post-PRISM domestic condition. What does it mean to be protected, how are we vulnerable and what are the political, legal, and academic implications of current privacy concerns? What programs enfeeble us and what tools and legal proposals might empower us? How can we take action to support responsible protection of precious social and personal assets? What might be the danger if we don’t?
1:30 p.m. – 2 p.m.: The Architecture of Surveillance
Eyebeam PRISM Breakup talk from Oct. 6, 2013. "The Architecture of Surveillance" A Tour of The National Business Park Ingrid Burrington The National Business Park is an office park in southern Maryland, less than a mile away from Fort Meade and the NSA offices. Its tenants include most of the major players of the defense contractor industry (L-3 Communications, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman) as well as some government agencies (which ones, exactly, are classified). This talk-as-Google Streetview tour of the NBP and its tenants will use the architecture and landscape of the seemingly banal office part as a lens through which to better understand the different players and participants in the intelligence and defense contracting industry. Notes from the ongoing project are available here (github.com/lifewinning/_NBP).
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Nothing is Real Radio Hour: Junky Talk
From Sam Sebren, "Listeners will hear a selection of actual answering machine messages from Pete, a heroin user for over 35 years, and also messages from his mother and various social workers, all of which paint a grim picture of the downward spiral which heroin often leads to for users, their families, and their communities. Heroin use is on the rise across suburban and rural America as well as in cities around the world, yet it's a topic that's mostly swept under the rug in family and community conversations. This program begins with a collage of clips from the past 3 years, taken from various small news channels and short documentaries about heroin. Expletives have been edited, however this program may not be suitable for small children. Produced by Sam Sebren, creator of the NIRRH for Wave Farm's Transmission Arts programming on WGXC."
4 p.m. – 4:40 p.m.: [Full]Stop Watching Us
Eyebeam PRISM Breakup talk from Oct. 6, 2013. "[Full]Stop Watching Us" from Katherine Maher. "Since the Snowden leaks began, more than 569,000 people from all walks of life have signed the StopWatching.us petition telling the U.S. Congress to rein in the NSA. Punctuated by an international perspective on NSA surveillance, this talk will explore the ways people can engage with the SWU cause. For those wondering how best to apply themselves to an anti-surveillance and pro-privacy agenda, this talk is for you. Katharine Maher of Access Now will speak about the formulation of the Stop Watching Us Coalition, with more information about involvement and the upcoming October 26th rally in Washington DC."
4:40 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Open Paths
From Eyebeam's PRISM Breakup Oct. 6, 2013. "Open Paths: Location, encryption, and participatory sensing" by Brian House. OpenPaths, created by the New York Times Company R&D Lab, is a platform that demonstrates the collective value of personal data sovereignty. It was developed in response to public outrage regarding the location record generated by Apple iOS devices. OpenPaths participants store their encrypted geographic data online while maintaining ownership and programmatic control. Projects of many kinds, from mobility research to expressive artwork, petition individuals for access to their data. In the context of locative media practice, OpenPaths expands the notion of the tracing to address the components of an ethical implementation of crowdsourced geographic systems in the age of “big data”. This talk explains the history and results of the project and its implications in the current data climate.
5 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Cryptocat
Part of Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" Oct. 6, 2013. "Cryptocat." Technological Versus Political Approaches to Surveillance by Nadim Kobeissi. " People want to believe that technology has the answers. It’s tempting for privacy-seekers to believe that the solution against PRISM is as easy as downloading an app. But PRISM is not just a technological problem — it’s a social, political issue that stems from the permission given to intelligence apparatuses to rise above the law. It’s a fallaciously upheld threat to a healthy international democratic mindset, and has to be treated that way: as a human problem. In this talk, Nadim will outline how Cryptocat has reacted to PRISM, what we feel encryption tools can offer, and most importantly, how they can’t help you — therefore showcasing the importance of a political approach. Drawing from real-world examples of how the world has reacted to PRISM, he further elaborates on dangerous mental pitfalls in hopes of advancing our understanding of the threat."
5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.: Data Profiling and Social Justice
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 5, 2013. "Data Profiling and Social Justice" from Seeta Peña Gangadharan. "Chronically underserved communities – communities of color, poor people, migrants, and indigenous people – have historically shouldered the burden of an overbroad surveillance state. From redlining to medical research to racial profiling ot data profiling, the underserved have had their personal data used as instruments of exploitation. For many underserved communities, privacy is a luxury, not a right, and surveillance forms part of a larger system of discrimination and exclusion. Meanwhile, mainstream debate on surveillance and privacy remain fixated on principles of personal liberty and freedom. This talk opens a conversation about the palpable consequences of surveillance and presents a platform for privacy based on equality and social justice."
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.: Off The Hook: 20131130
Recorded from WBAI Nov. 27, 2013. Hacker show from 2600 Magazine.
7 p.m. – 8 p.m.: Framework: Jörg Piringer
This edition of framework:ephemera features sounds selected by Austrian sound, text, and video artist Jörg Piringer. For more information see http://joerg.piringer.net.
8 p.m. – 8:20 p.m.: Signal Strength and the Community Phone Booth
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talk Oct. 6, 2013. "Signal Strength and the Community Phone Booth" from Amelia Marzec. "What happens when you need to share a vital message with a chosen few? The Signal Strength Project is an alternative network for cell phones that allows people to connect despite political unrest and disaster relief. It consists of hardware that hacks used mobile phones in order to entirely circumvent cell phone providers and enable offline, peer to peer communication. It explores the role of technology in shaping resistance by bypassing our current infrastructure to create a new, private network for a close-knit community."
8:20 p.m. – 8:40 p.m.: Small Wifi Networks Loosely Joined
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks Oct. 6, 2013. "Small wifi networks loosely joined" by Dan Phiffer. "Occupy.here is an invisible virtual space for anonymous speech, built on Internet technologies but intended to run independently of the Internet itself. The project seeks to create and maintain a network of affiliated wifi routers, each hosting local services that don’t require an Internet connection. Each wifi network—identified with the SSID “occupy.here”—allows those within physical proximity of the signal to connect to custom-built social software. Once connected, any URL you type into your web browser redirects you to occupy.here/, a website offering a mobile-friendly message board and a growing library of e-books and articles. It’s a tiny wifi-powered darknet, connecting you with your neighbors and possibly past and future neighbors."
8:40 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Tracking, Spoofing, and Jamming
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 6, 2013. "Tracking, Spoofing and Jamming - A Beginner’s Guide to GPS Systems and How They Work (or Don’t)" from Genevieve Hoffman. "As our dependence on smartphones and gps mapping technologies increases, we must come to terms with the fact that our locations are being tracked. Laura Poitras commented in her recent NYT Magazine profile, “Geolocation is the thing,” she said. “I want to keep as much off the grid as I can… I am not going to ping into any G.P.S. My location matters to me. It matters to me in a new way that I didn’t feel before.” What conveniences must we give up in exchange for keeping our physical locations private? This talk will dive deeper into understanding how the Global Positioning System (GPS) works. While GPS coverage is practically ubiquitous, there are aspects where it is vulnerable. Devices, while illegal, can be used to jam GPS frequencies. More sophisticated manouevers can be used to spoof GPS signals. This technique was used to land the US Military drone in Iran in 2011, and research suggests that GPS spoofing could be used to interfere with high speed algorithmic trading."
9 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.: Paranoia
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 5, 2013. "Paranoia, it's not just for crazies anymore" from Barbra Mack and Enrique Piracés. "For many years, security experts and whistleblowers have warned us of the growing surveillance capacity of states, and the increasing role that corporations play in the brokerage of our rights to privacy and anonymity. However, given Lavabit and SilentCircle’s responses to the NSA revelations, it is also clear that informed paranoia is not always enough to counter this strengthening surveillance culture. The data storage approach taken by Martus (a secure human rights documentation solution) has proven to be an effective approach(so far). Decryption keys are not stored on Martus servers, and the encryption algorithms employed by Martus (over the last 10 years) are not considered compromised by the larger security community. However, finding an effective technical solution is only one part of the paranoia equation. Ensuring that people adopt best practices, and making encryption tools “usable” to most humans is also a significant challenge. In this talk, we expect to share our experience building and supporting Martus, a secure solutions for human rights documentation, and our experiences implementing best practices to help shield the identity of victims or witnesses in some of the most challenging situations around the world."
9:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.: DIY Privacy with Obfuscation
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 5, 2013. "DIY Privacy with Obfuscation" from Helen Nissenbaum. "We define obfuscation as the effort to hide information not through concealment but through noise and confusion. Tactical obfuscation may be harnessed as a mode of resistance to surveillance and security breaches in multiple technological manifestations. Because obfuscation is relatively flexible in its use by average citizens as well as by experts, it holds great promise as a universal principle of DIY privacy and security. The talk will present two lightweight systems of obfuscation: one, a mature browser extension, TrackMeNot, which shields search from surveillance and data profiling, and a second, as-yet-unnamed, which we will be unveiling,here, for the first time."
Local news from Wave Farm‘s WGXC 90.7-FM in the Hudson Valley, New York for Sat., Nov. 30. PLAY AUDIO (1:05)
Ski Report
WGXC Ski Report: Windham and Hunter open; Catamount opens Dec. 7. PLAY AUDIO (:52)
Local weather forecast
Today's forecast is specific to Acra, in Greene County.
• Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 31. Calm wind becoming south 5 to 8 mph in the morning. Saturday night there is a slight chance of snow showers after 3 a.m. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 25.
• Sunday: A slight chance of rain and snow showers before 1 p.m., then a slight chance of rain showers between 1 p.m. and 4 p.m., then a slight chance of rain and snow showers after 4 p.m. Cloudy, with a high near 42, and a low around 26.
• Monday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 38.
Sunrise 7:04 a.m.
Sunset 4:24 p.m.
Other celestial rises/sets
Moon 4:09 A.M. 2:49 P.M.
Mercury 5:43 A.M. 3:39 P.M.
Venus 10:26 A.M. 7:15 P.M.
Mars 12:52 A.M. 1:20 P.M.
Jupiter 7:10 P.M. 10:12 A.M.
Saturn 5:11 A.M. 3:24 P.M.
Uranus 1:36 P.M. 2:05 A.M.
Neptune 12:14 P.M. 10:56 P.M.
Pluto 9:15 A.M. 6:44 P.M.
Public Meetings
Noon, Chatham Main St.: Congressman Chris Gibson and Assemblyman Steve McLaughlin will visit local businesses for "Small Business Saturday."
WGXC Programming
12:05 a.m. – 5 a.m.: Radio Stew: Brains
Flip your wig, adjust your dome, for some mind games. Audio maze through mind-reading is presented with Matmos' "ESP" and "Brain Radio," and also songs from Swans ("Telepathy"), Sebadoh ("Mind Reader"), Dave Davies ("Telepathy"), Buzzcocks ("E.S.P."), Alan Parsons Project ("Eye in the Sky"), Gordon Lightfoot ("If You Could Read My Mind"), Hawkwind ("Radio Telepathy"), Modern Lovers ("Astral Plane"), Blondie (["I'm Always Touched by Your] Presence"), Lene Lovich ("Telepathy"), and Miles Davis ("E.S.P."). Many other songs and sounds about brains, minds, and more.
5 a.m. – 6 a.m.: Shortwave Hours: Cell Phone Calls on Planes
Two hours of shortwave radio-oriented programming, starting with solar weather, news on meteor showers and ham radio, and other reports. Other reports include:
5 a.m., "The RAIN Report" and "Amateur Radio Relay League Audio Report."
5:30 a.m.: "Glenn Hauser's World of Radio" DX and station news countries all over the world.
6 a.m.: "Amateur Radio Newsline" This week: "Ham radio relief efforts continue in the Philippines; the long awaited United Kingdom FUNcube
One ham satellite is now on-orbit; a new 76 Gigahertz record is set in Great Britain; lots of FCC enforcement action and
the Consumer Electronics Association issues its Annual Trends to Watch."
6:30 a.m.: "This Week in Radio News" from host Tom Roe at Wave Farm's WGXC. This week: "More in the almost 3,000 low-power FM applications recently submitted to the Federal Communications Commission in the United States. Also, the U.S. FCC wants to allow phone calls on planes, and will consider the measure at a Dec. 12 meeting. Also "This Week in Radio History" and more."
7 a.m. – 8 a.m.: Saturday Morning Serial: It Was All a Dream
Dreams, often as a crutch for poor writing, are explored. An alternate ending of "Breaking Bad" is explored, as well as dream endings for "The Wizard of Oz," "Newhart," and "Dallas." Plus "Dance of the Dream Man" from "Twin Peaks," "In Dreams" from Roy Orbison, "Dream Lover" from Bobby Darin, "I've Got Dreams to Remember" by Otis Redding, "Dream Operator" by Talking Heads, "Dream On" from Aerosmith, "Dreams" from Fleetwood Mac, "All I Have to Do is Dream" by The Everly Brothers, "If I Can Dream" from Elvis Presley, and "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream."
10 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.: Radia: Hans Schüttler
German composer Hans Schüttler creates live radio dramas, and was recently in New York City for a workshop and performance at Harvestworks as part of 2013 New York Electronic Art Festival. Hans Tammen from Harvestworks put together this audio tour of Schüttler's work. It includes excerpts of "Death of an Underwater Diver" and others. "Radia" is a network of international stations playing radio art. Each week, one station makes a show for all the others. This show was produced for Wave Farm's WGXC in New York.
11 a.m. – noon: What's the Frequency, Kenneth?: Nuclear Option
The US Senate voted to approve "the nuclear option"...to cut off filibusters and stop republicans from blocking Obama nominees from confirmation votes to be judges or posts at federal agencies. Why this? Why now? Why you should care...according to Harry Reid, Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, President Obama...and how the media covered the story. From host Paul Fischer through Pacifica Radio.
12:24 p.m. – 10 p.m.: PRISM Breakup
Hosted by Eyebeam October 2013, PRISM Breakup, was a series of art and technology events dedicated to exploring and providing forms of protection from surveillance. The gathering brought together a wide spectrum of artists, hackers, academics, activists, security analysts and journalists for a weekend-long of conversation, hands-on workshops, and art installations. The 11 recordings that comprise the PRISM Breackup series will be broadcast on Sat., Nov. 30, 2013 in the following hours: 12:30-2 p.m.; 4-6 p.m.; 8-10 p.m. A special thanks to Roddy Schrock and Heather Dewey-Hagborg for making the WGXC radio broadcast of this exciting series possible.
Panels include, Ingrid Burrington, "The Architecture of Surveillance;" Katherine Maher, "[FullStop]Watching Us;" Nadim Kobeissi, "Cryptocat;" Seeta Pena Gangadharan, "Data Profiling And Social Justice;" Amelia Marzec, "Signal Strength;" Dan Phiffer, "Small Wifi Networks Loosely Joined;" Enrique Piraces and Barbra Mack, "Paranoia;" Brian House, "Open Paths;" Helen Nissenbaum, "DIY Privacy with Obfuscation;" Genevieve Hoffman, "Tracking, Spoofing And Jamming;" PRISM Breakup Opening Panel.
12:25 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.: Privacy and Security Policy in the Present
Panel Discussion Privacy and Security Policy in the Present Finn Brunton, Ashkan Soltani, Amie Stepanovich As an introduction to our event series, this panel will welcome a few policy and academic experts to comment on the current state of privacy in our post-PRISM domestic condition. What does it mean to be protected, how are we vulnerable and what are the political, legal, and academic implications of current privacy concerns? What programs enfeeble us and what tools and legal proposals might empower us? How can we take action to support responsible protection of precious social and personal assets? What might be the danger if we don’t?
1:30 p.m. – 2 p.m.: The Architecture of Surveillance
Eyebeam PRISM Breakup talk from Oct. 6, 2013. "The Architecture of Surveillance" A Tour of The National Business Park Ingrid Burrington The National Business Park is an office park in southern Maryland, less than a mile away from Fort Meade and the NSA offices. Its tenants include most of the major players of the defense contractor industry (L-3 Communications, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics, Northrop Grumman) as well as some government agencies (which ones, exactly, are classified). This talk-as-Google Streetview tour of the NBP and its tenants will use the architecture and landscape of the seemingly banal office part as a lens through which to better understand the different players and participants in the intelligence and defense contracting industry. Notes from the ongoing project are available here (github.com/lifewinning/_NBP).
2 p.m. – 3 p.m.: Nothing is Real Radio Hour: Junky Talk
From Sam Sebren, "Listeners will hear a selection of actual answering machine messages from Pete, a heroin user for over 35 years, and also messages from his mother and various social workers, all of which paint a grim picture of the downward spiral which heroin often leads to for users, their families, and their communities. Heroin use is on the rise across suburban and rural America as well as in cities around the world, yet it's a topic that's mostly swept under the rug in family and community conversations. This program begins with a collage of clips from the past 3 years, taken from various small news channels and short documentaries about heroin. Expletives have been edited, however this program may not be suitable for small children. Produced by Sam Sebren, creator of the NIRRH for Wave Farm's Transmission Arts programming on WGXC."
4 p.m. – 4:40 p.m.: [Full]Stop Watching Us
Eyebeam PRISM Breakup talk from Oct. 6, 2013. "[Full]Stop Watching Us" from Katherine Maher. "Since the Snowden leaks began, more than 569,000 people from all walks of life have signed the StopWatching.us petition telling the U.S. Congress to rein in the NSA. Punctuated by an international perspective on NSA surveillance, this talk will explore the ways people can engage with the SWU cause. For those wondering how best to apply themselves to an anti-surveillance and pro-privacy agenda, this talk is for you. Katharine Maher of Access Now will speak about the formulation of the Stop Watching Us Coalition, with more information about involvement and the upcoming October 26th rally in Washington DC."
4:40 p.m. – 5 p.m.: Open Paths
From Eyebeam's PRISM Breakup Oct. 6, 2013. "Open Paths: Location, encryption, and participatory sensing" by Brian House. OpenPaths, created by the New York Times Company R&D Lab, is a platform that demonstrates the collective value of personal data sovereignty. It was developed in response to public outrage regarding the location record generated by Apple iOS devices. OpenPaths participants store their encrypted geographic data online while maintaining ownership and programmatic control. Projects of many kinds, from mobility research to expressive artwork, petition individuals for access to their data. In the context of locative media practice, OpenPaths expands the notion of the tracing to address the components of an ethical implementation of crowdsourced geographic systems in the age of “big data”. This talk explains the history and results of the project and its implications in the current data climate.
5 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.: Cryptocat
Part of Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" Oct. 6, 2013. "Cryptocat." Technological Versus Political Approaches to Surveillance by Nadim Kobeissi. " People want to believe that technology has the answers. It’s tempting for privacy-seekers to believe that the solution against PRISM is as easy as downloading an app. But PRISM is not just a technological problem — it’s a social, political issue that stems from the permission given to intelligence apparatuses to rise above the law. It’s a fallaciously upheld threat to a healthy international democratic mindset, and has to be treated that way: as a human problem. In this talk, Nadim will outline how Cryptocat has reacted to PRISM, what we feel encryption tools can offer, and most importantly, how they can’t help you — therefore showcasing the importance of a political approach. Drawing from real-world examples of how the world has reacted to PRISM, he further elaborates on dangerous mental pitfalls in hopes of advancing our understanding of the threat."
5:30 p.m. – 6 p.m.: Data Profiling and Social Justice
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 5, 2013. "Data Profiling and Social Justice" from Seeta Peña Gangadharan. "Chronically underserved communities – communities of color, poor people, migrants, and indigenous people – have historically shouldered the burden of an overbroad surveillance state. From redlining to medical research to racial profiling ot data profiling, the underserved have had their personal data used as instruments of exploitation. For many underserved communities, privacy is a luxury, not a right, and surveillance forms part of a larger system of discrimination and exclusion. Meanwhile, mainstream debate on surveillance and privacy remain fixated on principles of personal liberty and freedom. This talk opens a conversation about the palpable consequences of surveillance and presents a platform for privacy based on equality and social justice."
6 p.m. – 7 p.m.: Off The Hook: 20131130
Recorded from WBAI Nov. 27, 2013. Hacker show from 2600 Magazine.
7 p.m. – 8 p.m.: Framework: Jörg Piringer
This edition of framework:ephemera features sounds selected by Austrian sound, text, and video artist Jörg Piringer. For more information see http://joerg.piringer.net.
8 p.m. – 8:20 p.m.: Signal Strength and the Community Phone Booth
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talk Oct. 6, 2013. "Signal Strength and the Community Phone Booth" from Amelia Marzec. "What happens when you need to share a vital message with a chosen few? The Signal Strength Project is an alternative network for cell phones that allows people to connect despite political unrest and disaster relief. It consists of hardware that hacks used mobile phones in order to entirely circumvent cell phone providers and enable offline, peer to peer communication. It explores the role of technology in shaping resistance by bypassing our current infrastructure to create a new, private network for a close-knit community."
8:20 p.m. – 8:40 p.m.: Small Wifi Networks Loosely Joined
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks Oct. 6, 2013. "Small wifi networks loosely joined" by Dan Phiffer. "Occupy.here is an invisible virtual space for anonymous speech, built on Internet technologies but intended to run independently of the Internet itself. The project seeks to create and maintain a network of affiliated wifi routers, each hosting local services that don’t require an Internet connection. Each wifi network—identified with the SSID “occupy.here”—allows those within physical proximity of the signal to connect to custom-built social software. Once connected, any URL you type into your web browser redirects you to occupy.here/, a website offering a mobile-friendly message board and a growing library of e-books and articles. It’s a tiny wifi-powered darknet, connecting you with your neighbors and possibly past and future neighbors."
8:40 p.m. – 9 p.m.: Tracking, Spoofing, and Jamming
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 6, 2013. "Tracking, Spoofing and Jamming - A Beginner’s Guide to GPS Systems and How They Work (or Don’t)" from Genevieve Hoffman. "As our dependence on smartphones and gps mapping technologies increases, we must come to terms with the fact that our locations are being tracked. Laura Poitras commented in her recent NYT Magazine profile, “Geolocation is the thing,” she said. “I want to keep as much off the grid as I can… I am not going to ping into any G.P.S. My location matters to me. It matters to me in a new way that I didn’t feel before.” What conveniences must we give up in exchange for keeping our physical locations private? This talk will dive deeper into understanding how the Global Positioning System (GPS) works. While GPS coverage is practically ubiquitous, there are aspects where it is vulnerable. Devices, while illegal, can be used to jam GPS frequencies. More sophisticated manouevers can be used to spoof GPS signals. This technique was used to land the US Military drone in Iran in 2011, and research suggests that GPS spoofing could be used to interfere with high speed algorithmic trading."
9 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.: Paranoia
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 5, 2013. "Paranoia, it's not just for crazies anymore" from Barbra Mack and Enrique Piracés. "For many years, security experts and whistleblowers have warned us of the growing surveillance capacity of states, and the increasing role that corporations play in the brokerage of our rights to privacy and anonymity. However, given Lavabit and SilentCircle’s responses to the NSA revelations, it is also clear that informed paranoia is not always enough to counter this strengthening surveillance culture. The data storage approach taken by Martus (a secure human rights documentation solution) has proven to be an effective approach(so far). Decryption keys are not stored on Martus servers, and the encryption algorithms employed by Martus (over the last 10 years) are not considered compromised by the larger security community. However, finding an effective technical solution is only one part of the paranoia equation. Ensuring that people adopt best practices, and making encryption tools “usable” to most humans is also a significant challenge. In this talk, we expect to share our experience building and supporting Martus, a secure solutions for human rights documentation, and our experiences implementing best practices to help shield the identity of victims or witnesses in some of the most challenging situations around the world."
9:30 p.m. – 10 p.m.: DIY Privacy with Obfuscation
From Eyebeam's "PRISM Breakup" talks, Oct. 5, 2013. "DIY Privacy with Obfuscation" from Helen Nissenbaum. "We define obfuscation as the effort to hide information not through concealment but through noise and confusion. Tactical obfuscation may be harnessed as a mode of resistance to surveillance and security breaches in multiple technological manifestations. Because obfuscation is relatively flexible in its use by average citizens as well as by experts, it holds great promise as a universal principle of DIY privacy and security. The talk will present two lightweight systems of obfuscation: one, a mature browser extension, TrackMeNot, which shields search from surveillance and data profiling, and a second, as-yet-unnamed, which we will be unveiling,here, for the first time."