(The more active pad where the guide is being worked on is here: http://etherbox.local:9001/p/toc.md)
NOTES ON THURSDAY SESSION http://etherbox.local:9001/p/thursday and SIDE CHANNEL DISCUSSION http://etherbox.local:9001/p/side-channel-analysis


Guide Description:

As part of the Techno-Galactic Software Observatory, we will collectively produce a Software Survival Guide. The guide will lay out ways to achieve critical distances from the seemingly endless software systems that surround us and will offer practical tools for the tactical (mis)use of software, empowering/enabling users to resist embedded paradigms and assumptions. The guide will include a description of the myths and realities of software, a list of currently available methods for approaching software including their risks and benefits, and a glossary of terms. Participants will (can? are invited to?) contribute to the guide by naming and describing methods of observing software, by nominating and defining terms for the glossary, and by sharing personal stories of close encounters with software.


Idea of a "local network"
Introduce the "dropbox" ...that there is a folder to drop/drag files to that then creates a library/archive that can then be selectively output to pdf as selected/desired
for instance: http://etherbox.local/home/pi/books/

Introduce makefile process by demoing a title page/table of contents page/topics for table of contents (for later, visualization of pad and its history)
- table of contents begins to get created and structured through the demo
Multiplicity.... one makefile to produce different outputs (example of software)

pandoc
can have an example of footnotes


guide to techno-galactic software observation




Multiple tasks:

    guide for software observation: for participants, for the walk-in clinic, but also a more general public (dissemination)
    guide for the cross session knowledge accumulation: for participants, archiving
    curation/organization is part of both
    a "how to contribute?"
glossary
table of contents

inspiration from the zombie survial guide:
fictional list of documented software encounters throughout history/ daily list of software encounter

Appendix:
    journal of the walk-in clinic
collection of observation metaphors: from Autopsy to Zone-H (the internet thermomether)
a place for whoever is using the guide to also add own experiences

COMMENTS...
Indeed the "survivalist" aspect of the guide and the situation of  it's writing could be interesting dimensions to explore. In the past  we've played with the "lego/toy" like aspect of a DIY network  infrastructure in an attempt to emphasize its composability and an  imagination of what custom infrastructures might be. In this case though  perhaps a more explicit survivalist aesthetic could make sense and here  I guess I'm imaging like camping / wilderness survival (a la compasses,  metal food tins, and swiss army knives). In any case, I'm quite  interested in how the infrastrucure of the local server + collaboration  software can take physical form to in some sense "speak for itself" as a  way to somehow both be present but then also remain functional (as any  tool / infrastructure also needs to be). IN this sense, I don't think it  needs to be mentioned per se in the email as it should hopefully just  follow from the idea of writing of the guide -- and this writing will be  "ground based" (as opposed to "cloud based" ;)

Looking forward to the event, until then I will be attempting to get  some kind of automated workflow in place so that the guide can be more  or less "automatically" given form (from say etherpad inputs to PDF  output). The idea though is to do this in a way that remains open to  contribution, in the form of revised and additional flows and outputs.  In any case, I will try to share any mockups along the way.

some visual inspiration?
https://openclipart.org/detail/8750/campfires-and-cooking-cranes
https://openclipart.org/download/8751/Gerald-G-Campfires-and-cooking-cranes-11.svg

+cargo cult aesthetics.. roelof wireless totem? ;)
http://roelof.info/radio_totem.png

And had to think about bolo bolo, too, some linking elements like the Machine-Travail planétaire (MTP)
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo%27bolo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/13/Bolo-glyph_bolo%27bolo_P_M.svg

Yes I was thinking of the camping, compasses aesthetic as well. One thing that I can imagine if it is manageable fundingwise is some kind of wearable USB drive that has the guide in PDF form as a takeaway from the workshop. (Even if the guide is updated/changed after the workshop people could always reload it onto their drive and it would follow the have the essential tools/information on your body at all times motto.)

How to think about image aesthetics such as:
http://www.infographicsblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/zombie-survival-infographic.jpg
https://mir-s3-cdn-cf.behance.net/project_modules/disp/78ff3f9590303.560d664d0ff9b.jpg

 I think we are proposing already a lot in terms of structuring, focus, topics, approaches.. I would then avoid suggesting aesthetics, especially if they are already ironical takes on formats (in this case the combination of apocalyptic themes with pseudo advisory aesthetics)