Tech Sucks… But It Doesn't Have To

• R.W. "Moose 🫎" Singh (they/them)
• Associate Professor of Computer Science at JCCC
• Previously worked in web and software development
• I make indie video games in my free time
• Sometimes Flash animations using my 1999 copy of Macromedia Flash
• Grew up on the "old, good internet"
• I've been an Open Source enthusiast for a long time, and have spent a lot of time reading, researching, and thinking about ethics in tech

From the Banned Books Week website:

Banned Books Week was launched in 1982 in response to a sudden surge in the number of challenges to books in libraries, bookstores, and schools. Held in the last week of September or first week of October, the annual event highlights the value of free and open access to information and brings together the entire book community — librarians, educators, authors, publishers, booksellers, and readers of all types — in shared support of the freedom to seek and to express ideas.

[…]

By focusing on efforts across the country to remove or restrict access to books, Banned Books Week draws national attention to the harms of censorship. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom (OIF) compiles lists of challenged books as reported in the media and submitted by librarians and teachers across the country.

[…]

The most common justifications for censorship provided by complainants were false claims of illegal obscenity for minors; inclusion of LGBTQIA+ characters or themes; and covering topics of race, racism, equity, and social justice.

Library Bill of Rights

The American Library Association affirms that all libraries are forums for information and ideas, and that the following basic policies should guide their services.

I. Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

II. Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

III. Libraries should challenge censorship in the fulfillment of their responsibility to provide information and enlightenment.

IV. Libraries should cooperate with all persons and groups concerned with resisting abridgment of free expression and free access to ideas.

V. A person’s right to use a library should not be denied or abridged because of origin, age, background, or views.

VI. Libraries which make exhibit spaces and meeting rooms available to the public they serve should make such facilities available on an equitable basis, regardless of the beliefs or affiliations of individuals or groups requesting their use.

VII. All people, regardless of origin, age, background, or views, possess a right to privacy and confidentiality in their library use. Libraries should advocate for, educate about, and protect people’s privacy, safeguarding all library use data, including personally identifiable information.

• Back then…
  • In games like Quake 3 Arena and Unreal Tournament you were able to download maps and skins for free to add into the game.
  • For a while, gambling-style loot boxes were popular in more modern games, but as there was threats of it being legislated, the games industry found other methods of income.
• These days…
  • Even things like game Item Shops and Battle Passes utilize player psychology, such as "fear of missing out", limited-time deals, and more to influence gamers of all ages to shell out money for skins, items, and other customizations.

• Back then…
  • Social websites like Neopets, MySpace, and blog hosts permitted users to customize their pages with CSS, which motivated a lot of young users to begin learning about web development.
  • We were more used to visiting individual webpages rather than having everything be aggregated on just Facebook, Twitter(whatever), and Instagram.

    • Webpages would have web rings and links to other pages with little banners

      

• These days…
  • Social media only lets you set a profile picture and maybe a banner, but everything else on the site remains uniform, so you have to figure out how to make yourself fit inside of a box.
    • This can be better for accessibility. However ALL tools should enable easy creation of accessible works, rather than just assuming we all have to live in the same little boxes on the same social media pages.

• Back then…
  • Bandwidth was not so widely available, so we still bought games, music, and movies on physical media.

    • Knowledge circulated among us on how to rip the music and movies off disks, so we could have personal copies on our computers that we could listen to with mp3 players.

      

  • Once you purchased an item you owned it - your physical media couldn't be taken away.
• These days…
  • Video game cases often come with just a "download code" - or even if a game is included, it has to be heavily patched before playing.
  • Even if we pay to "buy" a movie off a service, we still have to use locked down players with DRM to play them, and there is stil a chance that the service will just remove the media in the future.
  • It can be hard to find digital MP3 albums to buy online, especially if you're trying to avoid Amazon.
  • Many games (even single-player) still require some form of internet connection in order to play them, or to verify with a server - if the company's server is shut down, you can't play anymore.
  • Games in digital storefronts (Wii Shop Channel, XBox Live Arcade, Google Play, Apple App Store) may be de-listed, taken down, or completely removed - even if you paid for the game, it just disappears. (This can be an issue with video media, too!)

There are a lot of Free/Open Source alternatives to existing products out there, they may just not be as polished as you're used to. (Still, compared to tech from 15+ years ago, quite polished!)

Proprietary software wants to keep you in their ecosystem for as long as possible so they can "learn" about you, train their ad systems, and serve you ads to maximize their profits.

They're not going to faciliate cross-platform interactions, they're not going to prioritize you above the revenue, they are not community-oriented but instead quite anti-social.

While Free/Open Source ecosystems have their own problems, there is a lot more freedom in the tools.

Distributed social media alternatives permit you to pack up your profile and move to a new server, let you interact with people on different platforms,

(Quick links for during presentation: Bookwyrm profile Mastodon view / Pixelfed profile Mastodon view)

A screenshot of my profile on Bookwyrm, a reading logging social media site.

Viewing my Bookwyrm account feed from Mastodon (a Twitter-like social media site).

A screenshot of my profile on Pixelfed (Instagram alternative).

Viewing my Pixelfed account feed from Mastodon.

• YouTube created a product and programmed in artificial ways to inconvenience us – you can't have the app or website (in mobile view) play videos in the background or with your screen off unless you give them money.

  DON'T REWARD BAD BEHAVIOR!!

  Watch YouTube in Firefox, even on your phone. You can have an AdBlock installed like uBlock Origin - even on mobile! If you want to watch a video in the background on your phone, change the browser to "Desktop" mode.

  • On Desktop there are also Firefox plugins like SponsorBlock (auto-skip sponsor segments), DeArrow (change thumbnails and titles to be less click-baity).

Free/Open Source options:

• Graphical
  • Krita art tool
  • GNU Image Manipulation Program
• Audio
  • Audacity audio editing
• Video
  • OpenShot video editor
  • kdenlive video editor

• F-Droid is an app store for Android that has Free/Open Source software. Here are some apps I have installed:
  • NewPipe - Watch YouTube videos without the official app's restrictions, easily download videos as video and audio files.
  • Mastodon client
  • Thunderbird - email client
  • Termux - terminal for Android
  • Fossify Voice Recorder - Simple audio recorder
  • VLC - Media player

  • AF Weather Widget - Nice lil weather widget