CRITICAL ENGINEERING

SUMMER INTENSIVES, BERLIN 2016

NETWORKING

SELFHOSTED, 07-09 SEPTEMBER

WITH JULIAN OLIVER AND DANJA VASILIEV

Decentralise! This 3-day intensive walks participants through the process of setting up email, cloud, image gallery and website services on a server that they control - scalable to hundreds or thousands of users.

Those interested in serving from home can bring in a PC to wipe and re-purpose as a low-bandwidth server on the Internet. Others wanting a high-traffic, media-rich solution will be encouraged to choose and register a geographically-local server package in class such that they can be guided through a complete install (typical monthly fees are 5 to 20EUR).

Good server-side security practices are covered, from disk-encryption to password-management and firewalling. The basics of the UNIX command line are also taught such that participants can securely log into their server and administer it regardless of their physical location. It takes just 1 or 2 people in a community to give the gift of quality, localised and decentralised infrastructure - to take the power back.

No prior experience is necessary, although attention to detail and some experience in the UNIX command line are an advantage.

12 seats available, 3 days, 10:00 to 18:00.

Finished

CRITICAL ENGINEERING

SUMMER INTENSIVES, BERLIN 2016

BIOTECHNOLOGY

INTRODUCTION TO BIOSURVEILLANCE, 18-19 AUGUST

WITH HEATHER DEWEY-HAGBORG

How much can you learn about a stranger from a stray cigarette butt? What does (and doesn't) your DNA reveal? How are emerging genetic technologies reinforcing age old stereotypes and what can we do to subvert them?

In this 2 day workshop we will take a tour of diy biotech including DNA extraction, phenotyping, and concoction of our own genetic obfuscation spray. We will learn to extract our own DNA using common household items and how to profile stranger's DNA data from online sources. We will explore the present and future of biological surveillance and discuss what you can do to resist it.

No prior experience is necessary.

12 seats available, 2 days, 10:00 - 18:00.

Finished

CRITICAL ENGINEERING

SUMMER INTENSIVES, BERLIN 2016

RADIO

INTRODUCTION TO SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO, 27-28 AUGUST

WITH JULIAN OLIVER AND BENGT SJÖLEN

In this 2 day intensive participants will learn how to use a 12 Euro USB dongle* with free and open-source software to read, record and appropriate a vast world of signal around them. From weather satellite imagery to the International Space Station, police and military radio, pirate and amateur bands, software-defined radio allows for a laptop to become a powerful ear into a world otherwise unheard by the devices we use.

Outdoor excursions with antennae will be made to ensure participants have real-world experience discovering and recording RF phenomena. Skills, terms and concepts learned are then directly applicable to further self-learning in areas such as DIY cellular infrastructure, pirate and packet radio, radio-astronomy and wireless counter-surveillance.

* RTLSDR USB dongle included in course fee

No prior experience is necessary.

12 seats available, 2 days, 10:00 - 18:00.

Booked out

CRITICAL ENGINEERING

SUMMER INTENSIVES, BERLIN 2016

NETWORKING

NETWORKSHOP, 23-25 AUGUST

WITH JULIAN OLIVER AND DANJA VASILIEV

Ask anyone how the postal system works and they would give a vaguely correct description. Few however would come close to describing how email, let alone a computer network itself, actually functions. With this lack of knowledge comes a risk; we lack the practical understanding to effectively read the infrastructural and political implications of our increased dependency on this technology.

In this 3 day version of the popular NETworkshop intensive, participants learn low-level networking using only command line tools and network hardware. In doing so they not only grasp how to create and manipulate computer networks, but how they can be used to manipulate us.

By learning about routing, addressing, core protocols, network topologies, packet capture and dissection, students become dexterous and empowered users of computer networks. Complete documentation and software is provided.

No prior experience is necessary.

12 seats available, 3 days, 10:00 - 18:00.

Booked out