4 New Tech Solutions That Preserve Freedom

Joshua Krause
Activist Post

It seems that daily, we are faced with a new technological threat against our freedoms. The development and proliferation of drones and other robots has been ceaseless. The expansion of the NSA and the wider surveillance state continues to invade our lives in ways that past tyrants could have never imagined. The development of the internet of things will take this spying to a place we may never be able to return from.

After watching the governing and corporate bodies of the world throw unbelievable amounts of money at these projects, it’s easy to forget that technology is a purely neutral thing. Depending on who is wielding it and their intent, it has the potential for good rather than evil. There is a technological arms race going on as we speak, and it is being waged between those who want freedom and those who want control of our lives. Fortunately we have a few tricks up our sleeve as well.

The iCloak Stik

One of the most secure ways to explore the Internet is with the Tor Browser. This program allows you to log onto the Internet with a newly generated IP address that is relayed and encrypted through a random series of computers from around the world. Now with the iCloak, you can essentially take Tor with you anywhere. The device is a small USB stick that you can boot from your computer, instantly making any device a Tor browser.

The USB stick boots from your RAM, so all activity is separate from the rest of your hard drive. You can boot from Windows, Linux, or Mac, and it will work on 32-bit and 64-bit systems. After you’re done surfing the Internet you can turn your computer off and remove the iCloak, and all browsing history will be erased. When the device reaches the market it will be selling for 50-100 dollars. If you’d like to support the iCloak you can help them reach their Kickstarter goal here.

Greenhouse App

The news is about to take on a whole new dimension with this app. Sometimes we see our Congressman voting in baffling and disturbing ways, and one can only assume there is money behind those decisions. While I imagine most readers of the Daily Sheeple are informed enough to see through the rhetoric of their politicians, most people don’t care to take the time and effort to research the machinations of the American power base. Those people will soon have very little excuse, if they ever had any to begin with.

Greenhouse is a political app developed by 16-year-old Nick Rubin. It’s a simple program that allows any user to view the campaign contributions of every member of congress (I refuse to capitalize that word anymore). While you’re reading any news article, the app highlights the name of any member of congress that is listed in the piece. You can then see the top ten industries that the politician is getting his money from. You can download the app for free on Nick’s website.

Drone Detection

Here’s another Kickstarter project that reveals the full potential of crowd sourcing. There have been numerous drone projects on this website before, but this is the first time I’ve seen someone try to build anti-drone technology. As I stated before, this is a technological arms race, and the democratization of drone tech in all of its forms is crucial to winning. It’s about time the ability to detect these aircraft joined that race as well.

As you can see from the Kickstarter page, this is pretty limited. It’s not designed to alert you to military drones or anything like that. It’s only for aircraft that are within 50 ft of the device, like if someone was trying to spy on you from close range and at window level. But that doesn’t mean the technology won’t be scaled at up at some point. It had to start somewhere, and I’m glad it finally did.

MOTA 3d Printer

Need I say more? It’s common knowledge now that 3D printers are a game-changer with the potential to deliver advanced production and design to everyone. Things that once could only be built with a factory can now be brought to life from your living room. The means of production will no longer be in the hands of global corporations and governments, and the time is drawing near when anyone can build nearly anything. The only missing ingredient is affordability. Fortunately the price of these machines is finally dropping in a really big way. The MOTA is one of the first 100 dollar 3d printers, but it certainly won’t be the last.

No matter what bizarre or terrifying technology our controllers come up with, there will always be a solution waiting in the wings. We are reaching an age when technology cannot be monopolized and hidden away. None of these devices would have been possible ten or twenty years ago, and it’s not just because of technological limits. It was the limits of knowledge and communication that has kept everyday people from building whatever they could imagine. It is a liberating feeling to see such a populist proliferation of technology. Of these devices, which do you think has the most potential to stick it to the man? Let’s hear it in the comments.