[liberationtech] Drones are not storytellers or why Syrians need better storytelling was Re: Pirate Bay turns to drones
KheOps
kheops at ceops.eu
Fri Mar 23 13:41:55 PDT 2012
Hey, quick answer. Some Damascus inhabittants already use drones in a
successful manner and all Syrians I talked to told me it would be a good
idea.
It can't be bad that they have them. They will have the choice not to
use them if they think it is not good.
On 03/23/2012 05:49 PM, Brian Conley 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.
>
> 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.
> >>> San Francisco, CA 94107
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> Cell: (917)903-3706 <tel:%28917%29903-3706> <tel:%28917%29903-3706>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> _______________________________________________
> >>> liberationtech mailing list
> >>> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>
> >> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>>
> >>>
> >>> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
> >>>
> >>> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> >>>
> >>> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you
> >> click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail
> batched in
> >> a daily digest?"
> >>>
> >>> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
> >> moderator in monthly reminders. You may ask for a reminder here:
> >> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> >>>
> >>> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list
> >> moderator.
> >>>
> >>> Please don't forget to follow us on
> >> http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
> >> <http://twitter.com/#%21/Liberationtech>
> >>
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> liberationtech mailing list
> >> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>
> >> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>>
> >>
> >> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
> >>
> >> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> >>
> >> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you
> >> click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail
> batched in
> >> a daily digest?"
> >>
> >> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
> >> moderator in monthly reminders. You may ask for a reminder here:
> >> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> >>
> >> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list
> moderator.
> >>
> >> Please don't forget to follow us on
> >> http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
> >> <http://twitter.com/#%21/Liberationtech>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >>
> >> 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.
> >> San Francisco, CA 94107
> >>
> >>
> >> Cell: (917)903-3706 <tel:%28917%29903-3706>
> >>
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > liberationtech mailing list
> > liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>
> >
> > Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
> >
> > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> >
> > If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you
> click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in
> a daily digest?"
> >
> > You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
> moderator in monthly reminders. You may ask for a reminder here:
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
> >
> > Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list
> moderator.
> >
> > Please don't forget to follow us on
> http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
> _______________________________________________
> liberationtech mailing list
> liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu
> <mailto:liberationtech at lists.stanford.edu>
>
> Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to:
>
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>
> If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you
> click above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in
> a daily digest?"
>
> You will need the user name and password you receive from the list
> moderator in monthly reminders. You may ask for a reminder here:
> https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech
>
> Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator.
>
> Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
>
>
>
>
> --
>
>
>
> Brian Conley
>
> Director, Small World News
>
> http://smallworldnews.tv <http://smallworldnews.tv/>
>
> m: 646.285.2046
>
> Skype: brianjoelconley
>
> public
> key: http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xCEEF938A1DBDD587 <http://pgp.mit.edu:11371/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0xE827FACCB139C9F0>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 554 bytes
Desc: OpenPGP digital signature
URL: <http://mailman.stanford.edu/pipermail/liberationtech/attachments/20120323/f8cdf523/attachment.asc>
More information about the liberationtech
mailing list