This is not a rejection of the Internet or your precious digital connections. If anything, you'll find you rediscover your digital agency and how it's been stripped from you! You'll engage in new ways online that put you in the drivers' seat. You'll also find your values start to shift. You'll stop asking if a service can do something for you, and instead ask what it wants from you in return--and whether that's a price worth paying, especially if it's "free."
It's also not a course for those deep into the InfoSec world (Information Security). I won't teach you how to go dark, how to move around the web entirely anonymously. But I will teach you how to take steps toward that direction, so that the path is available to you once these short weeks are up.
To that end, I will recommend systems and services that some people who are deep into infosec won't like. Internet nerds have deep and well informed opinions and controversies erupt all the time. For instance, some people recently are angry at Mozilla for some changes they are making, so they recommend not using Firefox. That's just one example. Some will be upset to find that I am still recommending Firefox -- among many other options.
Why? For one, I want to recommend user-friendly systems of many stripes. I will never tell you to just use one thing: the ball is in your court! I'll also tell you when there are concerns, some of which you may care about and others you won't. I don't think there is (or should be) one system to rule them all. There should be many options. We should use many of them, instead of just one. It's way more freeing to do so.
I also want to get you used to something new: moving. Jumping ship. Right now, we think of moving from one service to another like moving a house you've lived in for fifty years. It's a huge burden, and exhausting to even consider. This forces a kind of lock-in where users never want to leave. Tech companies count on this. Academics hand-wring over this form of lock-in, especially in social media.
But once you get started moving your data around, taking agency in how you work the web, you'll see it's actually much easier than you thought. That way, you might move to a new browser and not like it very much (for whatever reason)-- and instead of going back to Google, you'll try something new. Easy peasy. No moving company involved.
I'll clue you in to a different way to use the web. You'll pay more attention to tech gossip. You'll know if a company is doing something nefarious or making a change. You'll know what to do if so. You'll already have one foot out the door anyway.
That's because Opting Out isn't just about leaving systems we don't like -- it's about opting in to systems and communities we value instead.
Also From Microsoft’s own FAQ: "Note that Recall does not perform content moderation. It will not hide information such as passwords or financial account numbers. 🤡
fanfic recommendation for someone who never read a fanfic?
Hi! Ok that’s a cool challenge. Please keep in mind that I’m leaving a lot of great fics out, some because it’s humanly impossible to remember everything and others because I refuse to make a list the size of the bible. Anyway, I hope you like my suggestions ^-^
If you don’t mind a bit of sexy times:
more women than warriors (modern au) by steklir is possibly my favourite fic of all time
in love and war and politics (modern au) by centuriesofexistence is hands down one of the best Clexa fics there is
what heart’s ease must queens neglect (modern royalty au) by thrace is just absolutely brilliant
blood rush in he hazy glow (modern au) by firetestsgold will always be a favourite of mine
oh you’ll find me between (the devil and the deep blue sea) (pirates au) by orangeyouglad8 is an awesome story with pirates and treasure hunts and mysteries ahoy
broken wands (fwb au) by smallamountsofmonster is one of my favourite HP au’s ever
she got me up all night (all i’m singing’ is love songs) (modern au) by mostlyunstablefangirl is my go-to happy one-shot
fight me series (modern au + canonverse) by fairytaleslayer is a beautiful second-person series of fics, two au and one canon
a pleasant undoing by mopeytropey (modern au) is one of those fics that I love, when the characters are roughly my age and I relate (and it’s simply amazing)
touch or carry (modern au) by paintthebrain has Clexa as beach volleyball players - need I say anything else?
suburbia (modern au) by raspberrytree has confident, sure of herself Lexa and it’s both sexy and fun
what is this feeling? (HP au) by aiscrimson is a soulmates au in the HP universe
“i found love” series (modern au) by crumbleduppieceofpaper wrecked me when I read the first one and is now patching me back up
black magic (magic au) by paintthebrain is awesome awesome awesome awesome awesome - awesooooome
two’s company series (modern au) by careyelizabeth is a wonderful ballet au
mystic coffee (magic au) by blindwire is magic, coffee shops, magic tattoos, tiny pet dragons, cool Clarke, and Lexa is glasses all wrapped into one
lifetimes (royalty au) by 8hedaofhearts8 is one of the most underrated fics there are - I love it to bits and pieces, it’s easily a top-5 of mine
if you don’t mind a lot of sexy times:
open windows, open hearts (modern au) by Sheisme is one of the hottest clexa fics out there
loving you in the light & dark series (modern au) by Tanagariel is one of the first I ever read
bare my soul (modern au) by Tanagariel was one of the first to explore the theme and it’s great
you’re fired (so yeah you win) (modern au) by LaFlashdrive was THE smutty fic in its time
this is heaven in hiding (modern au) by orangeyouglad is sexy, ridiculously well written, and fun
the whore’s queen (royal and medieval au) by w0rldofmy0wn is my current obsession
bought, owned, earned series (modern au) by sassymajesty is hot as hell and hits you hard on the feels
fearless. (modern au) by lordvoldyfarts is possibly the best road trip au ever
if you prefer your fics smut-free:
six (mythology au) by LingeringLillies is a beautiful, beautiful take on the Hades/Persephone story
habromanic (modern au) by alittlesoulcarryingacorpse is a sweet and witty one-shot
greencard (modern au) by coeurdastronaute (x and x) is heartbreaking but bloody fucking beautiful
the lay of looking-glass land series (canonverse) by KL_Morgan is a fantastic take on azgeda!clarke, it’s honestly so so great
in the shallows (canonverse au) by blindwire is my favourite role reversal fic
falcon (modern au) by anonbeme is the age gap fic you’ve all been looking for
light a thousand fires under me. (modern au) by sovereignchicken is a beautiful high school au that deals with peer expectations
hooked on a feeling (HP au) by onebigroughdraft is my favourite bundle of joy
love remember me (sweetly and tenderly) by betteronpaper is, like this friend of mine’s other fics, ridiculously well written and beautifully bittersweet
special category: comedy
the 300 (modern au) by bucklethorpe is pure hilarity and beautiful fluff
the business of caring (modern au) by coldmackerel is simply hilarious
it’s called contraband for a reason (prison au) by coldmackerel can’t be described
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I apologise once again to everyone whose fics I forgot to include or decided not to - I do love them.