[liberationtech] Drones are not storytellers or why Syrians need better storytelling was Re: Pirate Bay turns to drones
Isaac Wilder
isaac_lists at freenetworkmovement.org
Fri Mar 23 10:51:42 PDT 2012
>From a strategic standpoint, near-space dirigible platforms seem much
more promising than powered-flight drones.
FAA regs allow for two 6-lbs payloads per craft.
At 30km up, not much good for recon, but definitely able to support
communications. LOS to a 400+ km radius. Oil companies and the Air Force
have been deploying this stuff for years.
Just a thought.
Isaac Wilder
Director, The Free Network Foundation
www.thefnf.org
On 03/23/2012 12:37 PM, Brian Conley wrote:
> And this is exactly the piece that so many are missing:
>
> "At the end of the day," according to the first expert I consulted, "a
> drone is a tool, and the strategic advantage it may provide will also
> depend on the funda-mental unity, planning, and discipline that a
> movement has or does not have. For example, if a movement is lacking
> a fundamentally good and unifying message, no amount of technology
> will substitute for that, and thus the strategic value of that
> technology is diminished in the context of that movement. On the
> other hand if a movement has a good and unifying message and levers
> technology to reinforce that message, then the technology can act as a
> multiplier and provide substantially more strategic value."
>
> my corollary is that you also have to focus on telling that message,
> telling your story, not just exposing crimes and heinous acts, those
> encourage pity, not solidarity.
>
> On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 10:13 AM, Andrew Lewis <andrew at pdqvpn.com
> <mailto:andrew at pdqvpn.com>> wrote:
>
> I sent that draft before I finished it. I meant to add/say that
> drones can provide a view that on the ground can't, as well as be
> utilized as a communication platform for a wide area without
> resorting to sending satellites up or the associated costs with
> space programs. Amongst other advantages.
>
> Andrew
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On Mar 23, 2012, at 5:05 PM, "Patrick Meier (Ushahidi)"
> <patrick at ushahidi.com <mailto:patrick at ushahidi.com>> wrote:
>
>> Some thoughts on The Use of Drones for Nonviolent Civil
>> Resistance
>> <http://irevolution.net/2012/02/18/drones-for-civil-resistance/>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 1:01 PM, Andrew Lewis <andrew at pdqvpn.com
>> <mailto:andrew at pdqvpn.com>> wrote:
>>
>> I never indicated it would, but it would defiantly be
>> complementary, as well as useful for things outside Syria.
>>
>> It is not an either or situation as you are portraying it,
>> and as videos from drones in Russia/Poland illustrate not
>> only are video resolution getting better, but they can
>> provide an overview that on the ground coverage.
>>
>> Andrew
>>
>> On Mar 23, 2012, at 4:49 PM, Brian Conley
>> <brianc at smallworldnews.tv <mailto:brianc at smallworldnews.tv>>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Not only the development costs, but the litigation/jail time
>>> costs as well are a huge issue with more innovative
>>> applications of drone tech.
>>>
>>> Further, the idea of implementing drones in Syria first of
>>> all is a huge safety risk, and could fundamentally change
>>> the perception of an already hostile regime to encourage
>>> increasingly worse actions.< /div>
>>>
>>> Secondly, the drones for human rights stuff all forgets a
>>> fundamental issue, people care about stories, not grainy
>>> footage, unless the crimes are so enormous, and even then
>>> they don't encourage action nor do they help inform
>>> outsiders what exactly Syrians want or need.
>>>
>>> For example, there is a fundamental difference between
>>> videos like these that Iraqis we worked with in Baghdad were
>>> producing years ago:
>>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVib2fMtP1w
>>>
>>> http://www.aliveinbaghdad.org/2008/07/28/al-sahwa-mistakes-in-adhamiya/
>>>
>>> http://www.aliveinbaghdad.org/2007/10/08/us-military-destroys-iraqi-homes-by-mistake/
>>>
>>> ...and shaky content and long range images of what often may
>>> or may not be the "heinous crimes" individuals claim.
>>>
>>> see this video for example:
>>>
>>> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kQMSkdo_jc&feature=player_embedded
>>> <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kQMSkdo_jc&feature=player_embedded>
>>>
>>> I think its pretty clear why more efforts are not being made
>>> to more effectively and repeatedly tell the stories of
>>> individual refugees and people who have lost homes and loved
>>> ones. The people documenting are most often men, and as a
>>> man who has had the same problem myself when documenting
>>> police violence, war, etc, we too often resort to
>>> documenting horrible events, both because we are shocked and
>>> because that involves an adrenaline rush and provides its
>>> own sort of benefit to us as individuals, and leaves beside
>>> the wayside any review of whether this content is really
>>> moving minds or pushing forward a liberation agenda.
>>>
>>> As a trainer who has worked with individuals all over the
>>> world in conflict areas and the developing world, I have
>>> found that women are the best trainees, followed closely by
>>> older men. Young people are often too caught up in the
>>> moment and the injustice of it all to more effectively
>>> document or listen to recommendations about composition,
>>> pacing, etc. I guess this is a bit off-topic, but after
>>> spending a long time in a fairly pointless discussion with a
>>> man from Hama about this subject last night, I felt the need
>>> to mention it here.
>>>
>>> I'm still trying to sort out exactly why I think the idea of
>>> drones as human rights documentation may make sense, but it
>>> certainly cannot replace storytelling or investigative
>>> reporting.
>>>
>>> On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 9:32 AM, Andrew Lewis
>>> <andrew at pdqvpn.com <mailto:andrew at pdqvpn.com>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Yes, telecomix is looking at drones, and really the
>>> proposal by TPB is outlandish to current drone
>>> builders/operators, but most of the limitations seem to
>>> be artificially limited technical issues that no one has
>>> thought past due to limitations by US/UK/EU regulations.
>>> If you disregard these rules, long range drones are well
>>> within the realm of possibility. I think an open source
>>> drone program is possible, if people are willing to
>>> commit the resources and accept the overall development
>>> costs.
>>>
>>> Andrew Lewis
>>> Twitter: ThePunkbob
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPhone
>>>
>>> On Mar 23, 2012, at 4:53 PM, KheOps <kheops at ceops.eu
>>> <mailto:kheops at ceops.eu>> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Indeed, we're working on drones to film and livestream
>>> stuff in hostile
>>> > environment such as Syria :) Will keep you posted if
>>> something concrete
>>> > is somehow produced :)
>>> >
>>> > On 03/23/2012 04:57 PM, David Johnson wrote:
>>> >> It sounded ridiculous, but ideas can come from jokes.
>>> >>
>>> >> On Fri, Mar 23, 2012 at 9:48 AM, KheOps
>>> <kheops at ceops.eu <mailto:kheops at ceops.eu>
>>> >> <mailto:kheops at ceops.eu <mailto:kheops at ceops.eu>>> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> This is a joke - at least according to tetsu0, one
>>> of the TPB folks :)
>>> >>
>>> >> On 03/23/2012 04:44 PM, David Johnson wrote:
>>> >>> http://thepiratebay.se/blog/210
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> /TPB LOSS/
>>> >>>
>>> >>> /We were down a few hours earlier today. There's no
>>> need to worry, we
>>> >>> haven't been raided this time. We're only upgrading
>>> stuff since we're
>>> >>> still growing./
>>> >>>
>>> >>> /One of the technical things we always optimize is
>>> where to put our
>>> >>> front machines. They are the ones that re-direct
>>> your traffic to a
>>> >>> secret location. We have now decided to try to build
>>> something
>>> >>> extraordinary./
>>> >>>
>>> >>> /With the development of GPS controlled drones,
>>> far-reaching cheap
>>> >> radio
>>> >>> equipment and tiny new computers like the Raspberry Pi
>>> >>> <http://www.raspberrypi.org/>, we're going to
>>> experiment with sending
>>> >>> out some small drones that will float some
>>> kilometers up in the air.
>>> >>> This way our machines will have to be shut down with
>>> aeroplanes in
>>> >> order
>>> >>> to shut down the system. A real act of war./
>>> >>>
>>> >>> /We're just starting so we haven't figured
>>> everything out yet. But we
>>> >>> can't limit ourselves to hosting things just on land
>>> anymore.
>>> >> These Low
>>> >>> Orbit Server Stations (LOSS) are just the first
>>> attempt. With modern
>>> >>> radio transmitters we can get over 100Mbps per node
>>> up to 50km
>>> >> away. For
>>> >>> the proxy system we're building, that's more than
>>> enough./
>>> >>>
>>> >>> /But when time comes we will host in all parts of
>>> the galaxy,
>>> >> being true
>>> >>> to our slogan of being the galaxy's most resilient
>>> system. And all of
>>> >>> the parts we'll use to build //that system on will
>>> be downloadable./
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> --
>>> >>>
>>> >>> David V. Johnson
>>> >>> Web Editor
>>> >>> Boston Review
>>> >>> Website: http://www.bostonreview.net
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Twitter: http://twitter.com/BostonReview
>>> >>> Tumblr: http://bostonreview.tumblr.com
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Mailing Address:
>>> >>> San Francisco Writers' Grotto
>>> >>>
>>> >>> 490 2nd Street, 2nd Fl.
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>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>> Cell: (917)903-3706 <tel:%28917%29903-3706>
>>> <tel:%28917%29903-3706>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
>>> >>>
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>>> >>
>>> >> --
>>> >>
>>> >> David V. Johnson
>>> >>
>>> >> Web Editor
>>> >> Boston Review
>>> >> Website: http://www.bostonreview.net
>>> >> Twitter: http://twitter.com/BostonReview
>>> >>
>>> >> Tumblr: http://bostonreview.tumblr.com
>>> >>
>>> >>
>>> >> Mailing Address:
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>>> >>
>>> >>
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>>> --
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>>>
>>>
>>> Brian Conley
>>>
>>> Director, Small World News
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>>
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>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Brian Conley
>
> Director, Small World News
>
> http://smallworldnews.tv <http://smallworldnews.tv/>
>
> m: 646.285.2046
>
> Skype: brianjoelconley
>
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