Smart phones, social networking and the “internet of things” let us integrate the online world and computers more deeply into our lives. Should we have to give up our freedom and privacy in to reap the benefits of a constant connection to friends and information? How are attitudes towards freedom

This Thursday, the Senate Judiciary Committee plans to vote on a couple of amendments by Russ Feingold proposing significant reforms to the PATRIOT Act and the FISA wiretapping statutes. These votes are the best chance yet to influence the PATRIOT Act reauthorization in the Senate. We’re kicking off a last-minute Twitter- and Faceboo- based activism campaign to pressure key politicians and try to get some media coverage on the issue. Please get involved!

• On Twitter, thank Arlen Specter for his vote last week — and come back Tuesday night and make another tweet about the Patriot Act
• On Facebook, sign up for Tuesday’s Action to fix the Patriot Act and invite your friends
• Help get the word out by sharing this link with your friends (via Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, or carrier pigeon).

The Senate Judiciary Committee’s markup of the PATRIOT Act today is a prime opportunity for activism. The hearing’s webcast, so we’ll be able to follow along. We can share links with each other via email, Facebook, and Twitter … and we can discuss and coordinate action. We’ll be keeping http://bit.ly/oct1hearing

UPDATE, 8:30 p.m.: Please join us online Thursday during the hearing! http://bit.ly/oct1hearing has all the info. This Thursday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing marking up the Leahy PATRIOT Act extension bill is the best chance yet for significant reform. As well as limiting the use of sneak-and-peak warrants and National Security

The notes from the “birds-of-a-feather” session I led at Computers, Freedom, and Privacy are written up on the CFP Wiki.  Alas, we didn't get the online aspects to work; still, we had a dozen people there in person, including Get FISA Right members Thomas Nephew and Chip Pitts.  It was

Notes, belatedly, from a “birds of a feather” session at Computers, Freedom, and Privacy 2009.

Identified strategies include building a broad, diverse coalition; focusing on cost, dignity, and human rights issues as well as privacy and constitution; use anti-corporate activism against the companies supplying equipment and profiting from surveillance; involve the technical community and domain experts; and more.

Now in its 19th year, CFP is the leading online civil liberties and privacy conference.  Yesterday featured workshops and tutorials on constitutional law in cyberspace, data fusion silos, advertising, and “Twittering in the trenches”.  Today, the main conference program kicks off a session on Computers and Freedom in the Obama

Do progressives care about diversity? Why it matters, and #p2’s experiences so far. Please join us at Thursday’s #p2 tweeting to discuss progressive hashtag organization on Twitter!

The National Day of Silence brings attention to anti-LGBT name-calling, bullying and harassment in schools. Each year the event has grown, now with hundreds of thousands of students coming together to encourage schools and classmates to address the problem of anti-LGBT behavior. — dayofsilence.org 11-year-old Carl Walker-Hoover took his own

Senator Feingold’s giving the Administration “a few more weeks” to come up with a bill to roll back the FISA amendments, and introduce his own bill if they don’t. Please help get the word out — and let’s start getting ready for activism once it happens.