2022 Recap
A small gift, some updates and looking back
Thank you
I appreciate your support and look forward 2023. I hope you’ve had a fantastic time to relax with friends and family this holiday season. December has been mostly quiet for me as I’ve been reflecting and working on some less-visible improvements.
My Gift to you
It’s often hard to get into the habit of bookmarking websites when you don’t really have many to start with. I really can’t recommend it enough, because once you get in the habit it becomes really easy to reference important links.
A gift for you is a subset of my curated bookmarks. These bookmarks are relevant to things discussed in previous articles or my overall goals of people overcoming censorship.
Note that these are in not ordered and these bookmarks represent links that I’ve found interesting or relevant. Bookmarking something isn’t always a wholehearted endorsement, rather just that useful information can be found there.
How to import
Save the bookmarks file with CTRL-S
Go to your browsers bookmark manager
Under import/export import from HTML file
Select the bookmarks file
I’d recommend getting in the habit of sharing bookmarks with others, as well as regularly backing up your bookmarks.
Why bother?
In a Simple Tip video I explain how bookmarks can help reduce your reliance on search engines that may be filtering results. Firefox (and presumably chrome & chrome based browsers) allows you to auto-complete URLs based off your bookmarks.
Keyword search
I really like the keyword search feature Firefox has. It allows you to convert ANY site with a search bar into it’s own search engine.
As you can see I’ve added this searx instance with the keyword ‘searx’
This allows me to start a search by just starting with the keyword
In 2023 you can look forward to new initiatives:
Operations:
Operations are going to be concepts to work towards.
By defining a big picture, lofty goal then cataloguing projects and tools that work in that direction.
Operation: Written in stone will be about ensuring important information is kept permanently and accessibly
Steward skills:
Steward Skills are a roadmap of concrete actions people can take to build themselves up in 3 disciplines:
Cypherpunk
(Privacy and Encryption)
Information Scout
(Research and Censorship avoidance)
Computer Wizard
(Self-hosting and tool use)
Truth Talk UK
Many of my articles have been featured on Truth Talk UK.
I’m pleased to have the opportunity to get the word out.
It’s a nice feeling to have my own posts pop up in my RSS feeds.
Truth Talk has a lot of great coverage on many developing topics. I have to thank
for they would not have found me without her great content.
Feedback
What do you think was the best published piece this year?
View past postsWhat would you like to see covered here more?
Big Stories of 2022
The Freedom Convoy
One of the most remoralizing moments Canada has had for quite some time. While many have lost jobs and even family to the harms of lockdowns and mandates, it is great to have proof we are not alone.
Part of what made this such a big story wasn’t just the protest itself, but also the goverment’s response such as:
Overt propaganda by state funded media
Seizing crowdfunded funds
Freezing bank accounts
Violent crackdown
Paypal fininng users for ‘misinformation’
The Canadian Government freezing protestors bank accounts was one of the most over movements towards totalitarian financial control. Paypal took the step of confirming that the march isn’t over.
As countries around the world rush to finalize CBDC & Digital ID projects, financial control is likely going to be one of the most central concerns in the next year.
Twittergeddon
Elon Musk purchased Twitter, this caused a great deal of gnashing of teeth as well as celebration. Many are optimistic about Elon bringing a new age of free expression to the site. Those who enjoyed total hegemonic dominance of the site quickly fled in the great #TwitterMigration to the most heavily moderated mastodon instances. Elon reworked the verification system, unbanned Trump after a poll, and unbanned many other accounts. Time will tell what the new boundaries are and if they have truly expanded.
The #TwitterFiles are a curated look into the inner workings of twitter as they handled contentious issues like the 2020 Election and the Covid Crisis. There is no longer any doubt that the American Government (and likely other governments) had their thumb on the scales to suppress dissent.
Though, I need to warn you that Twitter is only the tip of the iceberg.
The World of Warcraft files?
Global Walkout
There are many simple concrete steps people can take to revoke consent to totalitarian control. Some are easier than others, but all are worth trying your best to regularly attempt.
One Nation Under Blackmail
I haven’t finished reading, but Whitney Webb has done a fantastic job bringing together a vast treasure of information. It’s one of the many things that can change how you see the world entirely.
Stablecoins, FTX and the Cryptocurrency Winter
As the high tide of “easy money” allowed massive scams to balloon to incredible size, they fell like dominoes when the tide receded. Higher interest rates, Bitcoin falling in price, were both things that applied immense pressure on even relatively solid projects.
At the moment, we still don’t know how the massive FTX debacle will wash out. For now we know that it’s a nexus of insider corruption. It is a shame how much “DeFi” has actually managed to help dissident causes. If nothing else, we can be glad that particular weaknesses were exposed before things get even more dire.
Honorable mentions:
Documentaries in 2022
Independent Web
If you’d like to suggest any indie blogs I’d be happy to include them.
