FLOSS Manuals content being used in CryptoParties

FLOSS Manuals content (Basic Internet Security and Bypassing Internet Censorship) continue to be used in the world-wide movement of CryptoParties. The CryptoParty Handbook was created at a book sprint in Berlin. Cryptoparties provide a great way for anyone to learn how to install and use encryption technology and other tips to keep you anonymous online.

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There has been an increased interest in CryptoParties in the UK following the UK government lack of response over Snowden data. There is also a new initiative called Techno Activism 3rd Mondays with similar aims. Green host who convened the BIS sprint are involved with that.

New groups linked to the Open Rights Group and Free Software groups are emerging in Manchester, London and Brighton. I'm involved in the Manchester ORG group and happy to be able to use and reuse materials on FM in a flexible way.

A few observations:

It's not easy to teach your self some of these methods so clear documentation is very important
A peer group and encouragement can really help the process
It helps to focus on specific, achievable tasks to avoid being overwhelmed
When printing / presenting resources it can be helpful to include user scenarios that are familiar to your target audience

Some of the contents on Basic Internet Security suit being broken out into self-contained workbooks. This makes the resources less daunting for new users and allows the material to be transported in smaller documents for printing. Also here are some links to open formats that allow for re-editing for hand outs including epub and Open Office. If you have never tried editing an epub it's easy just open it up in the Sigil application.

We are also experimenting with making these resources available as P2PU (peer 2 peer University) courses. Have a look at https://p2pu.org/en/groups/encrypt-and-sign-your-email/
Material has been reused in a printed booklet specifically aimed at activists called Tech Tools for Activism.

If you want to help improve the resources then why not check or update material? You can find out how to do that on the FLOSS Manuals Community page or the best thing is to join our mailing list and ask/suggest how you can get involved.