Embedded Files
Welcome to Week 1 of the Summer Playground Book Club.
No matter what book or game you start with you'll find yourself in a collaborative group of adventurers, hackers and learners who to some degree or another want to save the world. What about you? Can you become immersed in these books, games, world views? Could you use this material with your students?
Readings this Week
True Names p. 125 to 220 (Skim)
Cult of the Dead Cows Chapters 4 through 7
Most of the members (and yes Beto O'Rourke is a member) have gone on to work for some of the biggest technology companies or gone into development. While the book doesn't explicitly mention the term public interest technologists, for the most part the members even in tech companies have gone into something that helps or helps protect (cybersecurity) the public interest.
C-SPAN did a book talk on cDC about two weeks ago.
Intro to Cult of Dead Cow Book C-Span
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4808872/intro-cult-dead-cow
CSPAN - Taking Questions with John Lester (21 mins)
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4805838/taking-questions
In the category, of you never know when you are going to run into a hacktivist. Here's a screenshot from 2012.
It was taken in a virtual world, at a event where about 2000 educators from around the world logged in. On the left hand side, the avatar is Count Zero (John Lester) who was part of the cDc and is taking question during the C-SPAN show. John Lester at that time was the education coordinator for a virtual world. He has since moved on from that company and now is involved in cryptocurrency.
If you want to know more about public interest technology. Here's link to some of the blogs and website coming out about public interest technologists.
Five Reasons You Might Be a Public Interest Technologist (Ford Foundation)
Why Universities Need "Public Interest Technology" Courses (WIRED)
https://www.wired.com/story/universities-public-interest-technology-courses-programs/
A Case for Critical Public Interest Technologists
https://points.datasociety.net/a-case-for-critical-public-interest-technologists-111d7ea3d384
Communications:
We will be doing discussion in two different places in the discussion forum of ISTE Games and SIms Network forum and also on the EDUCAUSE Games and Learning constituency listserv (GAMESANDLEARNING@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU).
Additional Material
Cult of the Dead Cow (Wikipedia)
The Hacking Supergroup That Counts Beto O'Rourke as One of Its Own (New York Times)
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse