Is Internet safe for #FutureGeneration?
When I was growing up, I was always fascinated by computers because they always surprised me and also challenged me in many ways. I started my computer journey from playing the classic “Pinball”, which was super fun to be played with school friends. As the time passed, my school started teaching more stuff about the theory of Computers in terms like input devices and output devices. I got my first taste of programming when I was introduced to “MSW Logo”, which drew simple shapes with the commands we gave it. My relationship with technology was a bit rocky at first since it was difficult to keep up with the changing demands. It got to the point where I lost interest in learning and mostly played games.
But the scenario changed when I was in High School. We had to do a presentation on one of the few topics they gave us. It just so happened that I had to make a presentation on the “Difference between Wild and Domestic Animals”. Because of my then rocky relationship with tech, I needed some help from friends to help me make my presentation. That is the only time I have used and seen the “Floppy Disk” [3.5", 1.44MB]. But the problem was the presentation was a little bigger in size, around 2.2MB. As the deadline approached, we worked to reduce the size of the presentation by going through it, compressing whatever we could. Finally, we were able to get it to 1.2MB. I felt bad for depending upon my friend for this, this is what motivated me to start learning the basics of computers from where I left off. I spent around 3–4 hours per day learning everything from basic troubleshooting, fixing system troubles, and learning the ins and outs of the “Microsoft Office Suite” so I could help others, as opposed to feeling helpless. This process started a change in me — I started to love computers again, not just as a platform for games but rather for the complex machines they are.
At the time, the “Internet” was something of a miracle and we could see it beginning to take shape in our schools and our society. It was something that gave me hope, it made me excited for the future. As we learned more about the Internet, we started hearing about something called “Hacking”. At the time, we heard of them in legendary terms, that Hackers were fighting a bigger “Battle” than any on this Earth.
Yet, the more I learned about the Internet, the more I wanted to know, “How does it work? Why?”. This quest for discovery led to many troubles just as I learned many new things. I discovered that what they called a miracle in school turned out to be a very unsafe place with many dark, vulnerable corners. It has a devilish nature which can be cruel, brutal and ruthless. It’s the most powerful tool in the world, and I wanted to harness that power like a young Jedi so that I can control it. As I started in my path, it was difficult because there was nobody around to “train” with.
In this quest for learning more, the knowledge wasn’t as easy to acquire as it is now. As I learned more about and from those working on “Internet Freedom”, I lay awake at night trying to understand what it really meant. That is when I had a great opportunity to volunteer for Mozilla, one community which deeply cares and fights for privacy and a free Internet.
This part began as I was admitted to college in the Computer Science Department for my Bachelor of Engineering. This made me feel happy, but I wanted to learn more than what I was learning in class. That is when I started to look for opportunities to learn more about what’s involved in the “Technology” ecosystem. Days passed, months passed. Suddenly I saw a post from my friend (Dyvik Chenna) who posted about contributing to Mozilla. The little information I had about Mozilla was from the Firefox browser. As I was curious, I messaged him and enquired him about what it was all about, what ways of contributing were possible and all. He suggested I apply to become a “Firefox Student Ambassador”, which has since transitioned to the “Mozilla Campus Club” program. The process was amazingly simple, all you need to do is fill out the form and wait for the mail (sent almost instantly) and you are a “Mozilla Student Ambassador”. I never thought the process would so simple and easy since so many other programs have many prerequsities and other criteria to meet, in addition to work to done beforehand.
But the main problem started after this, I still didn’t know how to contribute! Again my friend came to my rescue explaining the pathways to contribute to Mozilla. My first blog about my journey is here
As I got excited about contributing, I thought I needed to share this with my friends in school. So Dyvik encouraged me make an event and helped me run it. This was the first event I ever planned, and how I got to know through experience what’s involved, including finding a venue! Here Dyvik came in at the last minute and we used his terrace. As documentation is important, I wrote up more about that experience here.
After the event, I focused more on my contribution path, wasn’t easy since I wasn’t skilled at any one thing. So I started contributing a little bit to all the areas until I finally zeroed in on Localization, Privacy and Security QA. That is when “Mozilla” came out with the revolutionary OS called “Firefox OS” which was built using HTML + CSS + JS, at the core of today’s “Web Technology”. In time, we started a local community in Hyderabad who shared the same passion and vision of Mozilla’s. We started to spread the word on the “Firefox OS” and also started “Firefox College Clubs” in various colleges around Hyderabad. It was great to learn and share knowledge with so many students.
Everyone starts out with “Stage Fright”, it’s not a natural thing to feel comfortable speaking before hundreds of people. I had the same at first, but I learned how to do it after involving myself in various activities in the Mozilla Hyderabad Community. Later I started heading up efforts on “Telugu Localization” in Hyderabad, finding people interested in contributing to this for Mozilla projects. This was a challenging task to keep going, since we had very few people who were intrested in contributing in this area and many people involved lost interest after a certain time. To help expand this community, I do IRC-based introductions and trainings in Localization. While keeping up interest is difficult, I have taken upon myself to lead this contribution along with help from Dyvik.
In time, we found a active contributor who has been a doing a great job in this area. This allowed me to move on to advocating for Security and Privacy at various events, along with showing how Mozilla is helping to keep the Internet safe for future generations. I started to learn more about Penetration Testing through various online blogs, forums and research papers. Then I applied to “Mozilla Reps” which aim to empower and support volunteer Mozillians who want to become official representatives of Mozilla in their region. Mozilla reps encourage, help and guide more people to contribute in the areas they can. I also have Mozilla to thank for helping me realize and develop my hidden talent for public speaking through their Mozilla Tech Speakers Program.
Of course, there are times when I feel drawn to leave the community, when I feel like I have fewer and fewer contributions to offer in areas I like. But so far, the Mozilla community always comes up with something new to keep me happy and involved. I am really excited for the “Web of Things” project which just started. These days, I mostly work on understanding how various “things” work by reverse engineering them, finding flaws in this “Internet of Things” and reporting them to those who can help secure them. But even in all this, my love for games never dies. Above all, never forget to take time to destress a little bit.
