Not current news, but I like the phrase “DARPA of Dissent”. Furthermore, techniques of dissent get repressed, again and again, generation after generation … can’t hurt to redundantly document the good parts.

Natalie Jeremijenko

PROF LEADS “DARPA OF DISSENT”
DefenseTech.net: August 27, 2004

[S]tarting this weekend, the machines put together here by Jeremijenko and her cohorts may get their biggest stage yet, by giving a guerrilla geek’s edge to the protests swirling around the Republican National Convention in New York City.

Months ago, it became clear that the RNC counter-demonstrations were going digital. But most of the gadgetry involved was household stuff — text messages to report cops’ whereabouts, or web pages to arrange housing. Jeremijenko and her group have gone beyond that, hand-crafting devices meant to level, just a bit, law enforcement’s technology advantage over activists.

Their devices include a 10-foot balloon, for counting crowds; a set of pirate transmitters, for taking over local radio stations; and 1,400 face masks that measure the level of pollution in the Manhattan air. Think of the group as a kind of Darpa of dissent — with Jeremijenko’s loft as the headquarters.

[Defense Tech: Link]
[Category = Dissent Tech]

slowLab states:

Natalie Jeremijenko is an inventor and engineer who focuses on the design and analysis of tangible digital media. Her work explores the transformative potential of new information technologies and alternatives to dominant IT design paradigms.

[slowLab: Link]

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