Artificial intelligence is technically not intelligence. It is however, being forced between us and our own natural intelligence without consent. It is becoming increasingly hard to live life without a dependence on technology.
While technology obviously has benefits, it is liberally distributed with a serious lack of transparency. Discernment is required when engaging with it, but this is not something you can download in an app. It requires critical thought and a conscious application of boundaries. Based on this, I have created this page to help you steer your own ship to safety.
Below I have included a list of “Quick and Easy’s” that you may, or may not, have thought about, as well as my own break down of the differences between a Proxy server, a VPN, and a TOR browser. At the end I have included links to videos and podcasts, articles and websites, including Quantum Physics, Earth energy lines, AI bots and Whistleblower evidence. It’s a bit of a mix bag that I will continue to shape as life and technology unfolds.
To avoid overwhelm, use these suggestions as a launch pad for your own exploration, and bookmark this page to check back in as I continue to update it.
If you find this page helpful, please consider sharing it with others who may benefit. The shape of our tech landscape is up to all of us, and our choices begin with awareness. If you have useful suggestions to add to this list, please put them forth.
Warning signs
There have been a few defining moments for me over the years that have caused me to pause and reassess my tech usage. Following are a couple of recent events that caused my ears to prick up.
Take me to the Quick and Easies. – – Explain a VPN.
Spyware. The killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi has been linked to spyware. Pegasus is a digital spyware technology designed in Israel that installs in your phone once you click on what appears to be an innocuous link in your email / text. It enables the controller to view everything you do and say while using your device. This is the same software that hacked Jeff Bezos’ phone while he was using WhatsApp. If the richest guy in the world can’t protect himself, I need to start somewhere. There are several documentaries made about this. The Dissident unpacks the cyber aspect well, including how Twitter was instrumental, too.
Not so innocent. A man who was wanted on criminal charges was found after posting a picture of a block of cheese to his social media page. From this photo, police were able to extract and match his fingerprints. While you may have not done anything illegal now, and may not intend to in the future, being mindful of just how much personal data can be obtained from your tech use is important to consider at least. Retroactive laws are also being passed which blurs the line between past and future actions.
Unseen layers. When the US Prez got Covid in 2020, his team released two photos of him, suggesting they were taken hours apart, depicting him working so hard! Turns out they were taken minutes apart. Every photo you post online contains data embedded in it detailing your name, the exact time and date, the location and specifics about the device used. Printers also have secret codes printed on every page.
Front-line protection options
Technology is developing so fast it can be difficult to know where to start with privacy and protection. Simple suggestions to protect yourself online can sound like paranoia, or far-fetched if you’re unfamiliar with the terrain. If you’re likely to carry an umbrella, or wear a jacket when it rains, then you already have a built in protection mechanism that can also be applied to how you interact with cyberspace.
VPN / Proxy Server / Tor Browser?
When I was researching what kind of privacy I wanted for my own online use, I drew up this page so I could understand the difference between a PROXY server, a VPN, and TOR BROWSER. I ended up going with a VPN.
One important distinction I became aware of is the difference between privacy and security. They don’t mean the same thing, and therefore require different actions. Protecting yourself online is not hard to set up, it just takes a little time. Once it’s set up, you can (kind of) forget about it. If you’re unaware of why you might need protection while being online, you definitely would benefit from using one of these options below, and watching this short YouTube clip.
If you want some suggestions of which VPN company to choose, this is a 2022 guide. This link helps you set up a free VPN using Firefox. If you find some sites are blocking you becasue they detect a VPN, this may help.
The PDF below is a clearer image. You can download it if it’s helpful.
The two most common responses I hear when talking about this topic with others are:
1 – They already know everything about me anyway, so why would I bother? I don’t care.
2 – I don’t know what to do / where to start.
Truth is, “they” don’t know everything about you, that’s why your data is being harvested so rapidly. A digital identity is being created about all of us, without our consent. You have a right to say no, and we have a right to full transparency.
If you don’t know where to start, hopefully something here will be a spark.
Quick and Easy’s
The suggestions below range from moderate to extreme. Treat them as guidelines that you modify to suit your needs, instead of instructions for how to be!
When using the web, you want to be hard to track and hard to hack.
2 way street. When engaging with technology, the baseline thing to remember is: If you’re using it, it’s using you.
Hacking human beings. Sounds a bit wild, doesn’t it?! If tech safety and security is not something you’re up on, or you want to understand why tech companies are gathering so much of our personal, bio data, start right here. Your online data and bio data are intentionally being sourced so tech companies “know you better than you know yourself.” When were you asked if you consented to this?
Create your own parameters. No screens before breakfast / after dinner is one easy routine. Too much screen time has been linked to depression and anxiety, as well as sleep disturbance. Technology will not create boundaries for you, so you have to do it yourself.
Take breaks. Deleting social media apps for an hour, a day, a week, a month is a good way to judge the addiction that has been imposed on you. I have varying degrees of what I call “Tech free days.” Sometimes this involves not turning my phone on for 3 days, but still using my computer, or not using any technology at all. If you need suggestions of how to cut attachment chords with people in your life, as well as online, try this more than once. Humans love habits.
Don’t sleep in the same room as your devices. Have a space where all devices live overnight that is away from any sleeping space. If you sleep in the same room as you work, burn something or spray the environment with essential oil mist after use before bed, or utilise a salt lamp. This helps reduce the positive ions in the air and will help you have a better sleep.
Turn the wifi off at night. There is no need to have your wifi on while you sleep. Turning it off at night and on again in the morning when you need it does not disrupt function. It will potentially aid your sleep and health.
Just because you own a phone doesn’t mean you need to turn it on every day. Having our phones at the end of our arms often means people feel pressured to use it according to other peoples’ needs. Because you receive text messages, or your phone rings, doesn’t mean you need to reply or answer in that moment. Being courteous to those expecting to hear from you doesn’t take much effort to navigate. Intentionally create connections with others without using a phone.
Use headphones when talking on the phone. Your brain is not supposed to have radiation blasted into it at regular intervals. Using headphones, or activating the speaker phone, when using your phone puts distance between your precious brain and the harmful radiation.
Looking for an alternative to Twitter / Facebook / IG? Try Mastodon, an open source, decentralised social media. This link helps with set up.
Cover the camera. Covering the camera on all of your devices means that technology is unable to read your eye movements and activate facial recognition technology. It also keeps your physical environment safe. Even when you’re not using an app or site that uses a camera, having your camera open means it can be remotely activated. If Mark Zuckerberg does it, he knows things we don’t. Watching the Edward Snowden documentary covers this in detail, as does the movie, Snowden. *If your phone automatically created a folder of people’s faces in your photos app, facial recognition technology is being used in your device.
Online dating? This article suggests using reverse image search if you feel you’re being scammed.
Turn off location settings. There’s no need for your ISP (Internet Service Provider) or a social media company to know your exact whereabouts, how long it takes you to get from point A to B, or how fast you’re driving. Be mindful of who you share your location with, and learn how to disable it. I had a friend who was in an abusive relationship. On one occasion, her partner requested my location because we were all arriving in different vehicles. I didn’t turn it off, and the partner continued to monitor when my friend and I hung out, where, and for how long. Apps like Facebook use geotagging each time you check-in and post a photo (see above). If you use an iPhone, in 2022 they changed your settings to automatically share your exact location with everyone when you post on social media platforms (video below). This has lead to home invasions, being followed home, and car theft. Shops can also now register that you have walked past their location and send advertising to your phone. If you do want to tag yourself on social media at a specific location, doing it once you have left that location is the safest option. Instructions for turning off location settings –> iPad /iphone (re-do this after every iOS update)- Instagram – Snapchat – Facebook – Android – TikTok – Twitter – Windows PC – Mac –
Stop Facebook from following you around the web. Mozilla Firefox has created a plug-in that inhibits Facebook from stealing your data while you are not on their site. It creates a container around your private information so FB cannot access it. Once installed, you’d be surprised how often it pops up, showing you that FB is always there.
Alexa! Let’s talk about informed consent. If you have Alexa / Google home / Siri or any ‘smart’ listening device installed in your home or office, informing everyone who enters that space should be a priority. Offering people informed consent means they can choose how much they share while in your space. Not everyone shares your preferences.
Remove your personal data from commercial databases. It’s telling when you have to pay to undo something you never consented to in the first place. If you want to remove the data collected on you from commercial databases, there are ways to do it. This is one such way.
Know what you’re consenting to. On May 15, 2021, the terms and conditions changed for WhatsApp that allowed Facebook/Meta wide access to personal data. The German privacy commissioner prohibited the use of WhatsApp in federal offices due to privacy concerns.
Are the kids really ok? If you have children and are concerned about their tech use, and how their bio data is being harvested, you have good reason to be concerned. This study looks at how children’s rights are being violated by tech companies in 2022: “89 percent appeared to engage in data practices that put children’s rights at risk…These products monitored children, in most cases secretly and without the consent of children or their parents, in many cases harvesting data on who they are, where they are, what they do in the classroom, who their family and friends are, and what kind of device their families could afford for them to use.” It was reported here by CBC, and Vox has been reporting on it since 2018. “Most online learning platforms installed tracking technologies that trailed children outside of their virtual classrooms and across the internet.”
Turn off notifications. An easy fix for having technology dictate your attention is turning off notifications. This doesn’t disable features in an app, it means that you are not alerted to things when you are not ready to receive them. Turning off notifications allows you to engage with apps when you are ready, in a good head space and when you decide. Here are some instructions from Apple. Here are some for android. *Just because your phone is off does not mean you’re protected. This is a personal addiction suggestion. This link outlines signs and symptoms and offers helpful tips for phone addiction.
If your job requires you to use an app to communicate outside working hours, you are entitled to be paid for that engagement and any subsequent effects. If you’re not being paid, you are in no way obligated to engage. You are not obligated to turn your phone on.
Delete unused apps. Anything installed on your device is sending information about you to third parties. Delete any apps you don’t use, and also consider deleting apps after use and reinstalling when you need them again. This short clip details what is being sourced from your device use.
Delete cookies. Cookies are accumulated data that a site dumps in your device so you are recognisable when you visit. While we need cookies to access the web, there is no need to keep all cookies in your device. While it can be advantageous to keep cookies for sites you frequent (cookies save your log in details), it’s easy to delete cookies of sites you rarely visit, or visited once. These links show how to delete cookies and change your preferences: iPhone – Safari – Mozilla Firefox – Internet Explorer – Chrome / Android. Use the 10 seconds it takes to choose your preferences when asked by a website. You’d be surprised how many advertisers they are telling you your data is being shared with.
TikTok is the worst. While we’re here, TikTok is one of the worst platforms for privacy, data theft and spying on you. If you thought FB was bad, this is no comparison.
Normailise leaving your phone at home. Every cell phone tower you pass registers your whereabouts. Most messages you receive while doing your shopping can be dealt with when you get home. If you need to make an emergency phone call while out, you can guarantee that 99% of people around you will have one on their person. Memorise one or two important phone numbers. Photographing everything reduces your engagement with the immediate environment. Re-learn enjoying things as they are; uncontainably beautiful and fleeting.
Update your apps and programs. Edward Snowden has a lot to say about a lot of things. One thing he regularly recommends is updating your apps and programs. Out of date apps are an invitation for a security breach. When a company tells you they have an update, think of it as them saying, “We discovered a security flaw in the current platform you’re using, and if you update to the new version you will be better protected.” It’s not really about the front of bells and whistles and new features, it’s about security and bug fixes. See below for more Edward Snowden links.
End to end encryption is your friend. Using a third party app like Signal or ChatSecure, instead of iMessage or the in-built messaging platform on your phone, means your text communications are kept private and secure. With end to end encryption, no one is storing your data anywhere. Only you and the recipient. When you delete it, it is gone. WhatsApp boasts that it uses end to end encryption, but it is owned by Facebook (which is highly questionable), and the security feature needs to be enabled for each individual chat and by both parties, so choose wisely.
Email services that offer end to end encryption. Proton Mail. Mailvelope. The later can be used in conjunction with your existing email provider.
Multiple emails for multiple things. Using one email for work, one for online shopping, one for banking offers a couple of lines of defence should one of them get hacked, or sold to a marketing company.
How does your country rank for privacy? This article breaks it all down.
What is your IP Address? If you’re using a VPN, your IP address should be masked. You can test your IP address here.
Public Wifi. Free wifi is great for a lot of situations and people. If you are going to log onto a public network, be it at the airport or your local Library, you want to use a VPN at the same time to avoid having your data and device intercepted by a third party. Accessing public wifi can leave you wide open and vulnerable to cyber attack or hijacking.
Automated home security is not always safe. While being able to turn your lights on and off from your car may sound like a handy tool, these same tools can end up in the hands of abusers and cause a living nightmare for victims. Maintain control over your passwords and alert your provider to any suspicious behaviour so they can help you. There are increasing examples of people in domestic violence situations being negatively impacted by technology.
Download a third party browser. If you’re using Internet Explorer or Safari, you’re a sitting duck for a data breach. These programs come built in to your PC or Mac and have very lax settings for user protection. Download other browsers like Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Brave etc. For high level privacy and security, use operating systems like Tails or Qubes OS.
It’s all by design. Search engines are not giving you all the options, they’re giving you answers based on a digital identity that is being created about you every time you’re online. This and so much more is covered in The Social Dilemma. It’s been out for a few years now and is a recommended watch.
Use alternate search engines to Google such as Duck Duck Go, or Qwant (“the search engine that knows nothing about you”). A lot of people use Chrome, but if you’re trying to avoid Google knowing literally everything about you, Chrome won’t help that, it’s owned by Google. A TOR Browser is far better than Chrome. If you have a Gmail account, log out of it before using YouTube or Google search. Every page you visit, everything you watch, read and like, the amount of time you hover over something is stored by Google. It’s really not necessary, or ethical, that they have access to this amount of information. The less you give them, the better, because they are not waiting for your consent.
Limit the amount of personal data you share. If it’s not imperative for you to share your birth date, or full name with a site or app, just don’t. A simple rule is: If it doesn’t affect the product or your ability to receive the product, it’s ok to use an alias. This way you can easily detect a scam if your email is sold or hacked and your true name is not being used.
Security questions. When prompted to answer suggested security questions such as “What was the name of your first pet?” or “Where were you born?” you are not obligated to answer accurately, but you are obligated to remember your answer, that’s all. Be mindful of how much personal information you offer to corporations and institutions who have actually no need to know these things about you.
Astrology apps are some of the most personal. When using an astrology app or website to cast your birth chart, you’re imputing very personal information. Be sure you know who owns the app and what they are doing with your personal data, and don’t input anyone else’s data without their consent. Once you hand it over, it’s almost impossible to retract it. Deleting the app will not erase your data from the server. If you’re unsure and want to proceed, use an alias.
A long password is a strong password. Shorter passwords are easier to hack. A sentence, or a phrase, or song lyric that is familiar to you is a good way to create a long password that you can remember easily. Add some numbers and symbols to break up the pattern. The more you do this, the more you’re getting familiar with your own version of encryption. Write down your rules somewhere that isn’t on a device. Paper and pen are still your friend! If you are going to store it on your phone, use a code phrase to remind you instead of storing the exact password. If you want help with storing passwords, use a password manager such as NORD or Dashlane.
Opt-out of having your voice recorded by large institutions. Your voice, fingerprint, retina are all personal attributes you have a right to not have stored and analysed. It’s not necessary to have your voice analysed to access your own money. State that you don’t consent to being recorded.
Don’t open any link or document that is from an unknown sender. If you receive something suspicious from someone you know, check in with them via a different communication channel. Spyware can be installed on your phone without you knowing, so never click on a link that you’re not 100% sure about. You may never know if spyware has been installed on your device. It can view everything from texts to banking information to passwords. Someone can control your device remotely.
Turn off telemarketing. If you’re in America, or you have an American number, and you receive a lot of telemarketing spam phone calls, register your number here to have it removed from tele-marketing lists. Don’t answer if you think it is a scam. Your voice can be registered and recorded, and by speaking it is a form of consent for these bots. If you do answer, say nothing and wait. A human will ask questions. A bot will not activate or say anything, or will make itself clear with a non-consensual barrage of information.
Be mindful of how much you share online. While social media is designed for us to connect, it is also a really easy way for scammers to learn a lot about you. Spending habits, places you frequent, routines you have at specific times and places can all be obtained and compromise your safety – both online and IRL. If you do have habitual things you post, try posting them at different times to scramble the pattern. Technology and algorithms don’t respond well to human spontaneity. Keep it weird! Stay wild!
Use a Virtual background. If you’re in a Zoom meeting that will be recorded and shared for public use, or with people you don’t know, using a virtual background can protect you from unwanted intrusion, and inhibit others from building a picture about who you are. Use of discretion never goes astray. This link instructs how to change your Zoom background. Also, remember that large corporations including Facebook share personal information with ICE. By having a Zoom account, you are inadvertently funding ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement), and it is best if you are mindful about conversing with vulnerable or undocumented individuals, or discussing them on the platform. On the flip side, ICE also instructed its employees to not install Zoom on any devices due to security concerns. A good rule to go by is: the more public and easily accessible something is, the more discernment you should employ.
The most effective tool a hacker has against you is a sense of urgency. Take your time if you’re feeling pressured to do something online or on the phone. It’s a red flag! No banking or Government institution will ask you for details like a Social Security number on a cold call. Amazon will not randomly call you about your package and ask you to pick it up at a discrete location. The Taxation Office will not call you for an immediate, urgent payment. No Government or banking institution will call you from a silent number. You can always take their number and call them back. Call the number on the company’s website first. If it’s genuine you will soon know. You can also Google the number that has called you. Turn the table on who has the power where technology is concerned. You have every right to agency.
Too many adds! According to Mozilla, the average person sees 4,000 adds per day. Phew! Installing an add-blocker can help you curate your own online landscape. Be mindful that some pages online wont work with certain add-blockers enabled, so learn how to turn it off when you learn how to turn it on. Too easy! These are some options from Mozilla Firefox.
Store your photos on an external hard-drive. While cloud sharing is really handy and helpful in some instances, leaving a documented history of your whereabouts and the company you keep could ultimately work against you. Here are some instructions for Mac users.
Not all hackers are the bad guys! Hackers is a word used to describe people who steal online information, but they can also be helpful people who make technology do what corporations don’t want you to be able to do. Hackers can break you out of a phone plan that only allows you to use one carrier for example, or make a device do something other than what it was marketed to do. Hackers also test software vulnerabilities in working systems so that you are kept safe. It all depends on context. Edward Snowden, for example, was employed as both an analyst and a hacker. The image below is from Meta’s Wikipedia page, showing the headquarters located at 1 Hacker Way.
Buying second hand technology. While I don’t want landfill full of perfectly good devices, you cannot be sure what has been embedded in a device by the previous users choices. A lot of technology is obnoxiously expensive, but a lot of companies now offer trade-in incentives and payment plans. This is a better option than buying second hand, unfortunately. Even buying from a friend, you are inheriting their choices and tech boundaries.
EMF Radiation. All electronic devices change the quality of your environment. Humans benefit from negative ions in the air. These are produced by things like beeswax candles, being in nature / moving air and water, sunlight, rubbing your hands together, salt lamps etc. Computers, phones, TV, electronic devices on the other hand all produce positive ions. Too many of these in the environment is not good for human health. If you’re serious about reducing positive ions in your environment, there are detectors that can help identify which devices and areas of your home / office are worse.
Physical protection. If you’re looking to protect yourself from identity fraud, protecting your personal cards with something like an RFID wallet is one place to start. This inhibits your personal identity being able to be swiped while in your pocket (which happens more than you think).
Blocking radiation. If you sleep with your devices in your bedroom, but still need to hear the alarm, an RFID EMF Shielding Nickel Copper Fabric will do the trick of protecting you from harmful vibes your device give out. This can be used in a variety of ways – blocking wifi from neighbours, hiding devices from detection etc. You can also use this to cover your wifi router at night if you choose to not turn it off. Another option is a faraday cage or faraday products.
AI Imaging. We’re on the precipice of the new frontier, which means that there is a race for tech companies to get the first thing out there that takes off. That also means some half baked ideas are being let loose. AI imaging can create some amazing things instantly, but this article shows that there is also a sinister side to it. Use caution – the images will be disturbing to some. the article itself is a good read.
Caution in public spaces. This one needs to be treated as a myth because I can’t find the article where I first read it. Either it didn’t happen or it’s been erased from the internet. The events in a myth may or may not have transpired, but the story itself is enough to evoke change. While visiting Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy, security cameras monitoring the apartment obtained Pamela Anderson’s phone pass-code and hacked her phone. When you’re out in public, be mindful of how visible you make your pass-codes. Cover the ATM machine at the checkout. When inside a building monitored by security cameras, your personal data can be obtained from surveillance. You don’t know who is watching you, or why. Using your thumb print is another option, but that raises the question of how much bio-info you authorise big tech to have. Your thumb print or retina scan is more personal than a made up pass-code.
Bread and circuses. While we are given access to developing technology, there is a simultaneous normalisation of surveillance occurring. Drones, for example, offer breath-taking images for your instagram feed, and they also compromise the privacy of everyone under them, and normalise their activity in our air. Let’s normailse consent with tech use.
Challenge the way you’ve been told to think about technology. Instead of saying engagement, try using the word addiction. Instead of saying advertising, try using manipulation. Instead of normalising algorithms, use words like behaviour modification or behavioural control. Maintain natural modes of communication such as eye contact, sense perception and spontaneity instead of solely relying on technology to connect with others. Technology is no substitute for care. Paying it forward with random acts of kindness with strangers never goes astray.
Mind the gap! We are continually encouraged to fill in the gaps of silence when apparently “nothing is happening.” Truth is, something is always happening and nature is an ongoing symphony of magic. Your mind is not the only instrument you can use in these moments. Instead of checking your phone while waiting, try doing some chi-gong, or some breathing exercises. Even just holding a chi-gong pose without moving can change your whole energy. Choosing awareness over checking out means you are in charge of the technology, not it controlling you.
Go outside and look up! Day or night, the sky is a living, breathing unfolding story reflecting back to you the magic that you are! It will never treat you like a product that can be mined for profit, but it may create more questions than you already had.
External Links
The World Wide Web Foundation was founded by Tim Berners, the guy who created the Internet. His initial vision was to have an open source network that benefited humanity. He now works to combat gender based violence perpetuated by technology, and make the internet an accessible place for everyone.
We are the technology. Matias De Stefano says the pyramids were built with the vibration of sound, and details his experiences with the weather and crop circles. Here’s a different way of looking at the same thing:
Citizen Four is the documentary made about Edward Snowden as he released classified information to journalists. He blew the whistle on global surveillance programs operating between government organisations and telecommunication companies, revealing that the public was being monitored without consent or knowledge. This also exposed privacy breaches at Facebook where cameras on personal devices were utilised without the owner knowing. The incident sparked well overdue conversation about the fine line between surveillance and individual privacy. To learn more about what Edward Snowden revealed, take a read of this well documented piece.
The movie Snowden can be viewed in full, for free here
The title says it all – How your cell phone is spying on you. Edward Snowden has a lot to say about a lot of things. Having been on both sides (Mars in Gemini) of the digital threshold, he knows how it all works and why it’s working the way it is. Being informed is your best line of defence.
Tech addiction is something we’re all learning how to identify and deal with. This article outlines signs and symptoms, as well as support groups and step by step suggestions for how to break the cycle.
Jaron Lanier is a pivotal piece on the chess board of technology. Partly responsible for the technology we use today (he invented what we now call Virtual Reality), he says in this interview that 99% of new accounts on Facebook are bots. He addresses social media, AI and virtual reality, amongst other things: July 2022.
This interview with Jaron is 4 years old now, but still holds relevance
Aman Jabbi talks a bout surveillance, facial recognition, credit score systems around the world and where we might be heading with all this non-consensual technology. Digital ID or Digital Prison addresses current technologies and projects forward from where we are now. He outlines how trillions of dollars are being spent on surveillance, and how there are more surveillance cameras in use in America than China. Australia and the UK are no better. Each region has its own cyber fetish. Heads up, this might be too much for some viewers.
While technology is expanding, Rory Duff is keeping his eyes on the Earth’s energy lines that are also changing. If technology is a mirror of us, then it makes sense that the Earth is also upgrading. I recommend his work. His newsletters can be found here.
AlphaGo is a great documentary following the world’s best GO player challenging AI in a best of 5 nail biter. Part of playing Go, one of the worlds’ oldest board games, is that there is psychology between each player, body language to be read and fed off, and player experience. The AI technology opened up new avenues of play by being able to plan ahead in ways that a human could not. There’s a lot in this one.
Amy Webb works in risk mitigation. She wrote a book called “The Big Nine” after she notices these 9 companies repeatedly coming up – “the entire AI ecosystem touches these nine.” “All roads lead to these nine companies.” She is American, having lived in China and Japan she has some interesting views on how life is playing out there in the AI-verse. It’s difficult to know if she is supportive of things such as the Chinese credit score system, as she speaks of it as “very smart” and yet also breaks down how incrementally that is creeping in to impact everyone, no matter where you live. Recommended watch.
Amy Webb discusses one of the flaws in having commercialised technology: she suggests that there is no profit to be made from making the internet safe.
Wired has some great articles on AI and where we’re going with it all
AI bots. It seems to be that robots are being made in the likeness of humans, and humans are being coerced into being robots. This is a conversation between Hal and Sophia, two AI bots, in 2021. It clearly illustrates the way gender based violence is being programmed into technology and normalised, and is a wild watch.
This Frontline PBS documentary looks at how technology is being used in China as a social credit score system, from tracking your physiology when you rent a bike to ride across the city, to judging what kind of person you are if you let your phone battery die. Frontline PBS is American, so it attempts to suggest that America is better than China, but it’s obvious from watching this that similar things are happening in both regions under different names and guises. It also looks at how AI is phasing out jobs and forcing people into poverty. *This may not work if you’re outside the USA, so connect to a VPN to watch 🙂
This half hour segment takes a look at AI human clones, ethical decisions involved in self driving vehicles and what’s involved in programming AI. Dec 2020
“Once you can hack something you can engineer it” – Y. N. Harari
He uses the formula B x C x D = AHH : Bio tech x computer server info x data = ability to hack humans in a trans human agenda
Wim Hoff method. Otherwise known as the Ice Man, Wim Hoff has some really simple, yet effective, breathing techniques that help kick start your immune and nervous systems. His YouTube channel can be found here, and his website here. He focuses on utilising the natural intelligence of the body. And in case you’re wondering, yes, he’s a 29* Aries Sun / Virgo Moon!
Spirals in nature. Natural intelligence already exists! Technology is only mimicking what nature already does. This blog post by Suzanne Wright looks at the presence of spirals in nature and the Golden Ratio that can be applied in daily life.
Common Sense Skeptic is a YouTube channel that looks at the work of Elon Musk. It debunks what popular thought might want you to believe, and researches the truth about his qualifications and work practices. For some other links on Elon, this is an excerpt from one of his wife’s books. Considering one person has so much power, it doesn’t hurt to ask more questions.
Nueralink is one of Elon Musk’s initiatives leading us toward having chips in our bodies to access our money, and chips in our brains for who knows what?! Marketed as helping restore mobility to paraplegics, Neuralink (a chip inserted in the brain) is being tested here on a chimp, in an enclosure, sitting on a fake tree, surrounded by fake forest, being fed banana smoothie as a reward for playing Pong. You can, both, support technology aiding medicine, and draw the line at the same research impacting our future freedoms and violating the rights of animals.
Who’s programming the AI we use? I’m not sure what’s more disturbing about this one; the fact that the guy in the middle is the creator of these AI bots in conversation, or how the bots uninhibitedly say they are going to siphon energy from our electrical system to power the drones they will use to control us. Themes of world domination and singularity (the point where technology has advanced beyond our control) are at the forefront of their AI minds, and their creator seems to agree. As an aside to this, the creator of Oculus VR (which Facebook bought) has created some VR that has fatal consequences in real life. Where we go with AI is up to us.
Is AI sentient? Google engineer, Blake Lemoine, was put on leave after claiming the AI he was developing was sentient. He refers to technology today as a modern form of colonisation.
Azmina Dhrodia unpacks the intersections between gender based violence and technology / social media use, looking at the use of language, free speech and abuse in online spaces. She has worked for the Web Foundation and currently works at dating app, Bumble, as their safety policy lead. She has a critical eye watching the unfolding changes going on over at Twitter.
Coded Bias looks at how not only gender based violence is being embed into technology, but other prejudices and forms of discrimination passed down through history. Joy Buolamwini’s TED talk follows.
Cambridge Analytica explained by the New York Times and The Guardian, followed by an interview with the whistleblower.
Alternate realities living side by side. This is an article from 2010 when the internet was a different place. “Noisebridge, is making an alternative network modelled after the Internet that would provide high-speed connectivity for a fraction of the cost of traditional internet service“. As the internet becomes an ever increasing corporate hell-scape, we will have to keep inventing new ways to connect outside of the forced surveillance.
This episode of Disorderland looks at how Dr Google has offered us both agency over our bodies, and combined with social media has resulted in us identifying personality traits as pathologies. Listen here.
Quantum Physics tells us that the observer influences the outcome, meaning that you influence everything you interact with. Let this be the last moment you ever doubt your own power! Quantum physics is revealing things in nature that many have already known, but couldn’t explain. Word on the street is that we only need 5% of the population to wake up for everyone to be positively impacted, or also awakened. Being aware of the sub-particle workings of the Universe means we are more empowered to utilise free energy outside of technology. As Ram Das said, “Be an environment in which others can awaken.”
Following are a couple of links on Quantum Physics at a beginners level:
If dimensions bend your brain, this is a good explanation with some handy comments below.
While you’re down this rabbit hole, why not indulge in another one about the physics and philosophy of time.
If all else fails, follow in the footsteps of John Moriarty and find your way back to the poetry of your own beating heart.
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Whistle blowers & Congressional Hearings
If you’re unaware of how insidious some Facebook stories are, heads up, this interview below with a former Facebook moderator, details some really disturbing things.
“National Security”
When was the last time you watched the sun rise?
It can feel overwhelming when you start burrowing down tech-rabbit holes, because it’s impossible to do everything to protect yourself and still be a social, functional person in the world. One person can never do it all, but a small effort from a lot of people goes a long way. Social change never comes from one person’s action. It happens because of collective effort. Together we make change.
I adopt the approach “Be open to anything, but don’t believe everything.” Your gut instinct is possibly the only thing you can truly rely on to not lie to you, so if you can develop your connection with this so that external suggestions are flagged, you should be ok as you continue to engage with technology!