Archive for March, 2012
Meeting #3
Posted by drakopoulos in Group Meetings on March 21, 2012
Having decided on what we would be building (an anonymous social network), this meeting was focused on discussing the technical details of 3speech. From the previous meeting, we had assigned a network to each member to research (Tor, I2P, Freenet etc.), using this research we created a list of pros and cons for each and then had a group discussion about which network we should select. After much debate, we narrowed it down to either Tor or I2P and ultimately settled on I2P.
For the remainder of the meeting, we started creating some storyboards for potential users.
Moving Forward
Posted by epan in Group Meetings on March 14, 2012
After our second group meeting, there is a common belief amongst the group members that we are heading to the right direction. Having started from a brainstorm session where ideas on features were still in an abstract form, finally it seems like we have managed to target our creativity towards a more concrete level, augmenting our understanding on issues that may come down the road and getting a feeling of what BlackBox* is all about. Talking on behalf of the group, our mentor has been an invaluable asset, keeping the thought process on track and providing us with helpful advice and resources.
Since the Easter break is not far away, we decided to set specific milestones until the project deadline, in order to stay focused on our research and tackle every issue on time. By breaking up tasks into smaller parts, each member of our group was assigned with research on a specific area, starting from the analysis of existing tools that can help us to identify different approaches and possible weaknessess.
Setting project milestones
Since we all feel like 3speech could go beyond the scale of a module project, user experience is considered one the most important aspects of our work. Working together, we defined a layout that will enhance the look and feel of our social network. The picture below presents what we came up for today. Of course, this is an iterative process but it feels good to be able to visualise core components of the network such as navigation and easy access of personalised topics of interest for users.
User Interface(UI) Visualisation
Finally, the next steps we need to take include gathering of relevant sources of information, creating a mock up of the UI and addressing implementation issues.
Moving forward, there is a high level of enthusiasm and a solid belief in this project.
Project Brief
Posted by drakopoulos in Welcome and project brief on March 8, 2012
Over the last couple of years there have been numerous occasions of people being prosecuted by the authorities for expressing their opinions online. For example:
•Two months ago, two British citizens got banned from entering the United States for making a joke about ‘destroying America’ on Twitter.
Story
•Twitter recently changed its policy, saying that it would begin censoring tweets on a country by country basis.
Story
•Three activists from Hong Kong had their accounts suspended from Facebook, for creating a group on the site that was in opposition to the development of luxurious housing in their area.
Story
The major social networks are clamping down on references to activism and even banning members for taking part in these discussions. We propose ‘3speech’, a secure social network that keeps your identity private and allows you to discuss potentially controversial issues and share your ideas without fear.
The driving force behind this idea is to preserve online freedom of speech, in light of recent attempts to monitor and censor online activities. BlackBox will use the Tor network in order to protect the identities of the users within the community.
In relation to the previous examples, the ‘victims’ were penalized for freely expressing themselves. In BlackBox, we value open discussion, we value open dialogue and free speech. People will not be judged for sharing their ideas, on the contrary, we encourage collaboration and discussion on anything you feel worthwhile. We looking forward to a democratic, no administrated social network that it could stand on its own.
It’s about the topic, not the people. The cause we are promoting is to get involved with what is happening globally. Get informed. Get engaged. Share thoughts freely. Freedom of speech is your right.
Talk about it.