The Cypherpunks Strike Back – Tomorrow’s Tech Activism Today – Sunday, March 11th, 7:00pm-11:00pm, The High Road on Dawson
The annual EFF-Austin Cyberpunk Party is upon us! Check back at this space for additional details as they are confirmed.
In the ongoing crises of our present moment, it is easy to succumb to apathy. Our personal information stolen and compromised, our rights eroded and our privacy erased, our own technological tools weaponized by state and private actors to sow disinformation and distrust. In the midst of all this paranoid confusion, it is tempting to hunker down and hope this futureshock storm will pass us by. We wonder, what can we do to make a difference, to make sure that our rights are protected in a world in desperate need of great cognitive security.
At EFF-Austin’s beloved annual party, we will meet and engage with a variety of modern activists who are showing us how we can fight for a better world where our technology works for and empowers us. Our keynote speakers are Caroline Old Coyote and Michael Running Wolf, Native American VR/AR activists who are using technology to preserve their cultures and heritage. Additional speakers include EFF Investigative Researcher David Maass discussing police surveillance, government transparency, and legislation in California, former EFF-Austin president Jon Lebkowsky, Carly Rose Jackson with Texans For Voter Choice, and Vikki Goodwin, Democratic candidate for Texas House District 47.
In addition to this inspiring group of activists, musical acts will include Michael Garfield, Pilgrimess, and UBA. There will also be custom video game consoles, lockpicking, and cosplay. Finally, leading up to the party will be the world’s first cyborg pride parade. As the electronic frontier moves into our bodies, it is important that we cyber-libertarians march as allies alongside the cyborgs among us and the cyborgs we will all someday become. What do we want? cyborg rights! When do we want them? Now! We hope to see you all there!
Schedule
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7:00pm-7:30pm – Michael Garfield
Michael Garfield writes music for which new words must be invented. Simultaneously tender and apocalyptic, chill and energetic, intensely technical yet vulnerable tunes that re-imagine folk and psychedelic rock alike, updating “solo artist with guitar” to suit our age of planetary renaissance.
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7:30pm-7:40pm – Opening remarks from Kevin Welch, Jon Lebkowsky, Owen McNally
Remarks on the passage of John Perry Barlow (1947-2018)
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7:40pm-8:10pm – Caroline Old Coyote and Michael Running Wolf
Presentation: “Standing Rock is Everywhere – Protect the Sacred”
Connecting the water protector camps on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation with a movement sweeping the nation and addressing the needs of the world – to protest the exploitation of non-renewable energy sources, to protect our water and environment, and to resist the attacks on our humanity and sovereignty.
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8:20pm-8:50pm – Dave Maass
Across the country, battles over free expression and privacy are playing out in statehouses and city council chambers. The Electronic Frontier Foundation–along with local Electronic Frontier Alliance members like EFF Austin–is fighting against police surveillance, overbroad hacking laws, and mandatory porn filters. At the same time, we’re also advancing our rights through transparency ordinances and legislation that would ensure greater access to the Internet. EFF Senior Investigative Researcher will provide an overview of EFF’s activism work, including his quest to file 1,000 public records requests regarding one of the most pernicious forms of police technology, automated license plate readers.
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9:00pm-9:30pm – Pilgrimess
Pilgrimess presides over the religious rituals of the future, playing darkwave jams that are equally soothing and menacing while accompanied by her coterie of masked, dancing spirit animals.
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9:40pm-10:00pm – Vikki Goodwin and Rob Matney
We will hear from two political campaigns, Vicki Goodwin, Democratic candidate for State House District 47, and Rob Matney speaking on behalf of Steve Kling, Democratic candidate for State Senate District 25.
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10:00pm-10:20pm – Carly Rose Jackson
Carly Rose Jackson will be speaking to us on behalf of Texans For Voter Choice, an advocacy group attempting to use technology to allow for more third party participation in the Democratic process.
10:30pm-11:00pm – UBA
UBA (pronounced Ooo Bah) is the electro mind-meld of Mickey Delp (Delptronics) and Ricardo Acevedo (Lost Cat Magnet). This union creates music that throbs of the raw early electronica of Chris and Cosy, Suicide, while blurring the art edge with the cinematic vision of the likes of Tangerine Dream, Brian Eno, and Coil.
https://www.meetup.com/EFF-Austin/events/248031866/
https://www.facebook.com/events/147639109263268/
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