Technology Education Collaborative (TEC)
The Technology Education Collaborative (TEC) empowers everyday people to become informed users of today's extraordinary technology.
We help people better understand the tech that surrounds them on a daily basis. TEC does this through practical application by hosting in-person, hands-on events ranging from Right to Repair workshops, Privacy meetups and tech field trips and demos.
Our agreement with the Advanced Cyber Systems Lab at GateWay Community College helps us give the general public hands-on access to advanced technologies from 3D printers to a podcasting studio people can use to learn, discover and play.
TEC at CactusCon 13
Come and say hello to us on Thursday, February 13 at the EFF's Speakeasy where TEC is celebrating our recent induction as an EFA member organization.
TEC is excited to be a Sober in Cyber sponsor and supporting them in bringing delicious, custom mocktails to the CactusCon 13 Happy Hour at Level 1 Arcade Bar on Friday, February 14 at 5:30 p.m.
February Events & Tech Meetups
February 2025 Privacy PIE
YES, this talk has been updated to include information about the potential and actual impacts of the current Administration's actions.
Three Cheers for the Privacy Protecting FCC!
Join us at the Advanced Cyber Systems Lab on Tuesday, February 18, at 6 p.m. to learn about the best privacy-protecting friend you never knew you had!
Just like Clark Kent, the Federal Communications Commission hides behind its painfully boring, stodgy and bureaucratic exterior whilst valiantly fighting (and winning!) raging privacy battles against massive anti-privacy foes.
The FCC's PRIVACY & DATA PROTECTION TASK FORCE is basically the Avengers of Privacy. The court filings, administrative notices and procedures are boring, but the stories behind taking on anti-privacy corporate interests is exciting (no, but really, though!).
Join the TEC HAM Radio Meetup & Study Group
Interested in getting your HAM operators' license and/or leveling up to Extra? Keep "meaning to" study for the test? Join us for some external accountability (and fun!).
We'll meet twice a month for two-hour dedicated study sessions at the Advanced Cyber Systems Lab, located at Gateway Community College. The first cohort will work towards its FCC's Amateur Radio Service Technician Class license exam.
We'll use HamStudy as our general guide. This will be fun, but it's not purely social - the goal is to be ready to sit for the exam!
CHECK OUT THE TEC TALKS PODCAST
NEW TEC TALKS EPISODE
In our What Does a [Technologist] Do? segments we ask a professional technologist with real life experience five questions about what their actual day-to-day looks like. The questions stay the same but the answers are almost always wildly different than what we expect.
What Does a Technical Support Engineer Do? Featuring Patrick Smith
Patrick Smith tells us what it’s like to be a Technical Support Engineer for a major credit card company. He also offers some great tips on how not to annoy your company’s IT staff.
What Does a Front End Software Engineer Do? Featuring David Koontz
TEC Talks also does deeper dives into issues that explore the tech industry and the ways in which technology and society intersect.
Like what you hear? Catch up on some of our favorite episodes from last year!
The TEC Article Club
The Technology for Autonomous Weapons Exists. What Now?
In a phenomenal piece for Undark, reporter Sarah Scoles deep dives into the technological advancements and ethical and human implications of autonomous weaponry. Combining meticulous, deeply researched reporting - yes, there's plenty of tech specs - with unparalleled narrative nonfiction skills, Scoles examines both the technological challenges and triumphs of modern weaponry while also giving every argument about its use and ethics fair due.
As both proxy and direct wars continue to rage at the dawn of 2025 with very little sign of abating, the technical, political, ethical and human implications of AI weaponry is no longer a theoretical dorm-room debate; it's the world we live in now. That's worth learning about, and you can't get much of a better guide than Scoles. If you've been waiting for a piece to talk about, this one is it.
Author: Sarah Scoles
Date Published: November 26, 2024
Publication: Undark
Undark is a nonprofit, editorially independent digital magazine exploring the intersection of science and society.
Long and Ugly Link:
https://undark.org/2024/11/26/unleashed-autonomous-weapons/?src=longreads
Length: 4,857 words
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TEC is an Arizona 501(c)3 and all contributions are tax deductible.
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