Sunday 4 November 2012

TODAY 1pm to 11pm- #HurricaneHackers Hackathon + (Mini #Cryptoparty) - Help #Sandy Victims.

SUPER LAST MINUTE INVITATION: HACKATHON 1pm to 11pm @ Google Campus!
Is it raining? Are you stuck inside? Bored? Come and join us at Google Campus London and Hack! :D

We would like to invite you to an event to write code, write software for social good, hack wireless routers and learn something about cryptography all in aid of helping people affected by hurricane #sandy.
The event will feel a bit like a #HurricaneHackers themed Cryptoparty and there will be a lot of crossover of interests.
The event will have the following format:
Important Note: BRING YOUR LAPTOP
 
Introduction (10mins)
A quick talk to provide some context for the hackathon and to let people know what they can expect from the event.
Workshops
  • Round table style (where everyone that turns up shares their knowledge on the topic / focus).
  • ~ 80mins each w/ breaks and then people should go to the next table
  • OpenWRT router hacking (Howto: Flash and Hack Different Models of Router, Extend Coverage of Public Hotspots, Mesh Networking, Other advanced topics etc) + Sharing Internet Connections Between Devices (more than just tethering :p)
  • Howto: #HurricaneHackers Community (howto join us, help us etc) + Maptivism,. Making Maps To Help People (bit.ly/hh-index, bit.ly/hh-projects, bit.ly/hh-linklist, hh-mindmap) + Howto #Cryptoparty Community (IRC, the wiki, meetups, the book).
  • Robust Android Communications - Oppertunistic Twitter Client (Twimight) + Secure Android Communications - Encrypted SMS and Phone Calls (Textsecure and Ostel.me etc)
Hackathon
  • #HurricaneHackers Code Sprints and Development Sessions-
  • Hacking on bit.ly/hh-projects and https://github.com/hurricanehackers
Putting it into context
Sandy is a major storm, previously a hurricane, that has caused  extensive flooding, power and transportation outages, and physical  damage to the US East Coast and Caribbean. More than 100 deaths have  been linked to the storm. You can see an overview of what is going on in NYC here: http://google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy-nyc
So essentially, over  100,000 people in Lower Manhattan are without power, and will likely  not have it back up for a few days. In order to stay informed as the  situation changes, and to keep in touch with loved ones, they will need  a way to communicate with their laptops  and phones.
We are innovating rapidly to create tools built and deployed using Heroku, Twillio, Human.io, google docs, google maps, crowdmaps -- pretty much anything we can get our hands on. This effort is being  spearheaded by the http://civic.mit.edu/  to help make services and connect tech people with people in need on the ground. A lot of interesting things are happening in the wake of  this natural disaster: http://www.fastcompany.com/3002598/sandy-prompts-louder-calls-free-wi-fi
This  is a unique opportunity to innovate to help people (people before  borders, tech beyond borders) and maybe change the debate on issues like  universal free open wifi). Please volunteer some coding / hacking  time and help some real people in a different part of the world that are  not having a great time right now. This a chance to demonstrate the power of the open, unrestricted internet, and the community that such an internet makes possible.
Come and help us over at #HurricaneHackers! Start here: http://hurricanehackers.com/ | Then read the HH-Projects list here: http://bit.ly/hh-projects-read | lulz: http://brownbag.me:9001/p/sandylulz | tunes: http://turntable.fm/hurricane_jammin | follow us @hurricanehackrs. Also: Join or organize a Sandy CrisisCamp this weekend: http://crisiscommons.org/2012/10/30/sandycrisiscamp/
If you are in NYC are looking for space to work with power, heat, and wifi, check out https://sandycoworking.crowdmap.com/ and the#sandycoworking hashtag on Twitter. Many of NYC's co-working spaces were damaged, so the need for work space is urgent. Updates on the broader NY Tech community response can be found at www.nytechresponds.org.
Please share this post far and wide!
#HurricaneHackers
Posted by Unknown at 02:52 0 comments

Thursday 1 November 2012

Hackers Unite! Help #Sandy Victims. Join #HurricaneHackers on irc.freenode.net and follow @hurricanehackrs on twitter

Hey all,
Sandy is a major storm, previously a hurricane, that has caused  extensive flooding, power and transportation outages, and physical  damage to the US East Coast and Caribbean. More than 100 deaths have  been linked to the storm. You can see an overview of what is going on in NYC here: http://google.org/crisismap/2012-sandy-nyc

So essentially, over  100,000 people in Lower Manhattan are without power, and will likely  not have it back up for a few days. In order to stay informed as the  situation changes, and to keep in touch with loved ones, they will need  a way to communicate with their laptops  and phones.

We are innovating rapidly to create tools built and deployed using Heroku, Twillio, Human.io, google docs, google maps, crowdmaps -- pretty much anything we can get our hands on. This effort is being  spearheaded by the http://civic.mit.edu/  to help make services and connect tech people with people in need on the ground. A lot of interesting things are happening in the wake of  this natural disaster: http://www.fastcompany.com/3002598/sandy-prompts-louder-calls-free-wi-fi

This  is a unique opportunity to innovate to help people (people before  borders, tech beyond borders) and maybe change the debate on issues like  universal free open wifi). Please volunteer some coding / hacking  time and help some real people in a different part of the world that are  not having a great time right now. This a chance to demonstrate the power of the open, unrestricted internet, and the community that such an internet makes possible.

Come and help us over at #HurricaneHackers! Start here: http://hurricanehackers.com/ | Then read the HH-Projects list here: http://bit.ly/hh-projects-read | lulz: http://brownbag.me:9001/p/sandylulz | tunes: http://turntable.fm/hurricane_jammin | follow us @hurricanehackrs. Also: Join or organize a Sandy CrisisCamp this weekend: http://crisiscommons.org/2012/10/30/sandycrisiscamp/

If you are in NYC are looking for space to work with power, heat, and wifi, check out https://sandycoworking.crowdmap.com/ and the#sandycoworking hashtag on Twitter. Many of NYC's co-working spaces were damaged, so the need for work space is urgent. Updates on the broader NY Tech community response can be found at www.nytechresponds.org.

Please share this post far and wide!

#HurricaneHackers
@hurricanehackrs

Posted by Unknown at 09:56 0 comments
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Monday 29 October 2012

Sukey Team Making a Mashup for #Sandy

To all that asked if #Sukey can be used for crisis mapping, I guess we're about to find out. sukey[dot]org@gmail.com #Sandy #NYC #maptivism
This is a shoutout to all techies that support #sukey @sukeyio please get over to http://irc.lc/freenode/hurricanehackers and signup to collaborate on code for #hurricanehackers projects here: bit.ly/hh-projects 
 
Aim
===
Wise words from a friend: 
"
JFYI, there are a lot of mapping efforts underway; it might make more sense to help with analysis on one of the other mapping projects -- I assume standby task force, for instance, has one going.
" 

 Will be using geoJSON and will provide feeds in / out support to facillitate integration with other projects. Also revisioning the geoJSON through git / github. Make a quick OSM map with overlays containing content which reflects thr structure of the standard #Hashtag conventions here
 
Who
===
<collaborators add your name here>
samuelcarlisle@gmail.com/ pgp: 0x54828CAA / twitter: @samthetechie
sukey.org@gmail.com / twitter: @sukeyio

What
====
Based on sukey.io / sukey.org
Who
===
<collaborators add your name here>
samuelcarlisle@gmail.com/ pgp: 0x54828CAA / twitter: @samthetechie
sukey.org@gmail.com / twitter: @sukeyio

What
====
Based on sukey.io / sukey.org

Key Technologies:
Client Side {JS, HTML, CSS, Leaflet.js using geoJSON}
Server Side {Python, Human.io}

Where
====
New York City, USA

Why
===
People before borders. Tech beyond borders. We need to help.
How
===
Make a Mashup which uses open data standards (with feeds available to be plugged into and out of other services) https://github.com/sukey/webapp
N.B these are both really early repositories on github. I need to get a  good few hours hacking on to make them usable. Need to travel home  first from the hackspace and then get down to it.

Research
======

copy-pasta links / dumping ground (todo: meta sort and tag in delicious +++)

Key Technologies:
Client Side {JS, HTML, CSS, Leaflet.js using geoJSON}
Server Side {Python, Human.io}

Where
====
New York City, USA

Why
===
People before borders. Tech beyond borders. We need to help.
How
===
Make a Mashup which uses open data standards (with feeds available to be plugged into and out of other services) https://github.com/sukey/webapp
N.B these are both really early repositories on github. I need to get a  good few hours hacking on to make them usable. Need to travel home  first from the hackspace and then get down to it.

Research
======

copy-pasta links / dumping ground (todo: meta sort and tag in delicious +++)

Posted by Unknown at 11:51 0 comments

Saturday 20 October 2012

SUKEY PRESS RELEASE 8am Oct 20th. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Introducing Sukey 3 aka. http://sukey.io

Happy 20 October! Have a great march today. New version of Sukey (v. 3.0), the web app that keeps demonstrators safe, mobile and informed, goes live at 11am in solidarity with London's #Oct20 anti-austerity march.
Sukey.io is a new platform which is designed to keep demonstrators safe, mobile and informed and we hope will spur on previously unprecedented levels of collaboration and truly international digital participation and gestures of solidarity during demonstrations, the world over.

Our Aim. 

What we hope is that people will engage with this framework and start  using Sukey.io to support each other at the demo by completing  'microtasks', much like Amazon's Mechnical Turk Service (i.e. small  digital tasks like tagging a photo or linking to a tweet) in order to  help the people on the ground combat issues such as Police Brutality, Kettling, Excessive State Surveillance to name a few but also to have some fun by rating our favourite banners and protest signs and sharing  our favourite chants or quotes from the day with each other online.

What have we learnt over the last few years? Over the years we have learnt that the best opportunities for making  these key observations are on the ground, in the streets, where these  things are actually happening. Furthermore we have learnt that it can be  so valuable when people on the ground have tactical support online i.e.  support from those with a different perspective- outside the  demonstration (with a large computer screen and a cup of tea no doubt!).  So we want to connect these two groups and help them keep an ongoing dialogue going.

So we made you a webapp on which we have been working really hard in  order to make the best app we can with the limited resources that we  have- we really hope you like it. :) It is designed to make it easier to  use Sukey on the move, even though the signal is not that great and the  internet can often be slow.

Lastly, there are also ways in which people can support a demonstration,  wherever they are in the world by helping to verify information coming  out from the protest by searching and using datasets (e.g. twitter,  twitpic, google street view and google maps searches). By participating  you can help solve a real need of people on the ground. For example some  groups of people will take photos of banners and placards, while some  others rate them. Some people will observe which roads have been closed  or are slow to travel down and report them as such while will suggest  alternative routes.

Introduction / Theory

Sukey.io, in concept, could be viewed as a sequence of Stimulus:Response  mappings which have been devised in order to help demonstrators  collaborate effectively during a demonstration.
Example:
Stimulus0: We find a tweet online which says "there is a kettle forming on Whitehall, OMG, get out of there!"
Response0: We launch a localised (to whitehall's co-ordinates and the  immediate locality) micro questionnaire which simply asks: "Is there a  Kettle here?" and can you take a photo of it?
Stimulus1: We receive photos and verification of the fact that the kettle is on
Response1: We can then faithfully tweet out a report that the kettle is indeed happening.

Posted by Unknown at 00:14 1 comments

Tuesday 16 October 2012

Introducing Sukey 3 aka. http://sukey.io

Sukey.io is a new platform which we hope will spur on previously unprecedented levels of collaboration and truly international digital participation and gestures of solidarity during demonstrations, the world over.

Our Aim.

What we hope is that people will engage with this framework and start using Sukey.io to support each other at the demo by completing 'microtasks', much like Amazon's Mechnical Turk Service (i.e. small digital tasks like tagging a photo or linking to a tweet) in order to help the people on the ground  combat issues such as Police Brutality, Kettling, Excessive State Surveillance to name a few but also to have some fun by rating our favourite banners and protest signs and sharing our favourite chants or quotes from the day with each other online.

What have we learnt over the last few years?

Over the years we have learnt that the best opportunities for making these key observations are on the ground, in the streets, where these things are actually happening. Furthermore we have learnt that it can be so valuable when people on the ground have tactical support online i.e. support from those with a different perspective- outside the demonstration (with a large computer screen and a cup of tea no doubt!). So we want to connect these two groups and help them keep an ongoing dialogue going.

Having the Right Tools for the Job

This is why it is so important that you, the protestor, have good tools to work with. Because you need to collect the first-hand source materiel data that makes this whole thing work!
We are talking:

*Android Phone
*Spare Batteries (boughtly cheaperly off Ebay)
*A full list to come In our comic / journal.


So we made you a webapp on which we have been working really hard in order to make the best app we can with the limited resources that we have- we really hope you like it. :) It is designed to make it easier to use Sukey on the move, even though the signal is not that great and the internet can often be slow.


Lastly, there are also ways in which people can support a demonstration, wherever they are in the world by helping to verify information coming out from the protest by searching and using datasets (e.g. twitter, twitpic, google street view and google maps searches). By participating you can help solve a real need of people on the ground. For example some groups of people will take photos of banners and placards, while some others rate them. Some people will observe which roads have been closed or are slow to travel down and report them as such while will suggest alternative routes.

Introduction / Theory

Sukey.io, in concept, could be viewed as a sequence of Stimulus:Response mappings which have been devised in order to help demonstrators collaborate effectively during a demonstration.
Example:
Stimulus0: We find a tweet online which says "there is a kettle forming on Whitehall, OMG, get out of there!"
Response0: We launch a localised (to whitehall's co-ordinates and the immediate locality) micro questionnaire which simply asks: "Is there a Kettle here?" and can you take a photo of it?
Stimulus1: We receive photos and verification of the fact that the kettle is on
Response1: We can then faithfully tweet out a report that the kettle is indeed happening.


Posted by Unknown at 19:35 0 comments

Friday 12 October 2012

Sukey 3 ALPHA for #globalnoise

We are very proud to announce Sukey3 ALPHA for #globalnoise 2pm to 5pm stay-tuned for details on how to connect #sukey #sukeyio :)

Posted by Unknown at 18:31 0 comments

How now, brown cow?

Where did Sukey come from?

It was dubbed 'the anti-kettling app' and received international media attention in 2011. It attempts to keep people safe mobile and informed during a demonstration. We achieve this by promoting collaboration between people on the demo that are using Sukey, and people not at the demo via social networking, to share reports and observations which can be independently verified by a team inside and outside the demo (some are on the ground) and then broadcast back to the entire crowd. We believe  in information for information's sake and try to introduce as little 'editorial bias' in rebroadcasting as possible. We also produced a map showing where the police were kettling protestors so that people had a better sense of what was going on.

Where are we going?

The information flows are now more dynamic and interesting as we enter into the 3rd generation of the app and we can now engage thousands of people from all around the world who may just simply watching the demo at home or from work, using social media or live-streams, to help the people on the ground by preforming 'mechanical-turk-esque' micro tasks. These are small digital tasks which may involve adding or correcting waypoints on a map, taking photos (on the ground), rating a photo, tagging a photo, doing a google search, voting on the perceived veracity of a piece of information or looking on google street view to help find things. This is all very exciting and I would ask those interested to get in touch to help us BETA. Email: sukey.org@gmail.com twitter: @sukeyio

Connecting People

It is really interesting and important to connect people at a given demonstation with people not at the demonstration and give a 'loose-knit collective of clicktivists' something to do in order to help the demonstrators in a tangible way. This will lead to compelling stories of collaboration between people from all over the world who identify with the struggle of fellow people from other countries who are being silenced, coerced and beaten for peacefully protesting against their states. Even better when these stories are received and read by the people that were helped, then those in the countries that were helped will turn around and return the favour when the time comes. So we want to be the first group to really pay it forwards and start helping people to stay well informed at demonstrations and see if we can start a trend which will help all people collaborate to facilitate peaceful protest in this digital age.
Posted by Unknown at 05:48 0 comments
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