Frequently Asked Questions

The Rebel's Notebook is a passion project, born from a deep belief in empowering ordinary people to create change. It's built by me, an individual, not a large organization or a company, and it's not financed by any corporate or institutional grants.

This platform exists because I believe that activists, working tirelessly for justice, deserve every tool and insight available to amplify their efforts. It's my way of contributing to the vital work of those fighting against the overwhelming power of entrenched systems, helping the "little men" stand strong.

Connect with me: LinkedIn

Building and maintaining The Rebel's Notebook is a significant undertaking, requiring countless hours of development, data processing, and ongoing server costs. This is a labor of love, but the infrastructure to keep it running for everyone isn't free.

My core mission is to ensure this powerful tool remains completely free and accessible to every activist, everywhere. There are no paywalls, no premium tiers, and no hidden features. Everyone gets the same full experience. To uphold this commitment and keep the project alive and thriving, your support is invaluable.

If you find this tool helpful in your fight for a better world, please consider contributing:

Welcome to the test phase! The Rebel's Notebook is currently in "open alpha" - this means you're experiencing an early version of the platform that's still being refined and improved.

What to expect:

• System crashes: The platform might occasionally crash or become temporarily unavailable as technical issues are worked out.
• Offline time: There may be periods of downtime for maintenance, updates, or fixing critical bugs.
• Incomplete features: Not all functionality is completely implemented yet. Some features may be missing or work differently than expected.
• UI/UX rough edges: The user interface and experience are still being polished. You may encounter design inconsistencies, broken layouts, or confusing navigation.

Your feedback is invaluable! By using the platform during this alpha phase, you're helping identify issues and improve the tool for the entire activist community. Thank you for being an early supporter!

You're out there, pouring your heart into a cause you believe in, facing giants with endless money and time. The Rebel's Notebook is a data driven way to learn from the protests, campaigns and uprising that came before us. I have gone through thousands of stories; the wins, the setbacks, the clever moves, and found the patterns, the real lessons.

The Rebel's Notebook helps you cut through the noise. It doesn't tell you what to fight for, but it shows you how others fought, and won. It's a clear, simple guide to build your own plan, save your precious time and energy, and make every action you take hit harder.

We're using several open source databases but it all started with the Global Nonviolent Action Database (GNAD) from Swarthmore College.

The GNAD is a rigorously researched collection containing over 1,100 case studies from more than one hundred countries, spanning centuries of struggle. It offers detailed narratives and structured information on campaigns for human rights, economic justice, democracy, environmental sustainability, and peace.

By combining databases, research, machine learning and recommender systems I have built a data driven support system for activists.

The "Basic Recommender" section is designed to give you immediate, balanced suggestions for individual nonviolent action methods. It's like asking a seasoned activist for a few solid starting points. It works by looking at:

• What worked before in similar fights: I check how a method has historically performed in situations similar to yours; like in your country, against your type of opponent, or for the kind of cause you're fighting for.
• What sounds like your fight: I compare the words you use to describe your goal with thousands of past campaign stories and the descriptions of the 198 methods. If the language matches, it's a good sign it's relevant.
• Giving you fresh ideas: I make sure to suggest a mix of common, specialized, and foundational tactics. This helps spark new ideas and ensures you don't just get the same old advice.

I blend these insights, giving more weight to what matters most. I also filter out methods that historically haven't worked well in similar situations, so you can focus on what hits harder.

This is where The Rebel's Notebook truly becomes your strategic partner. It's an interactive canvas for building a full, multi-phase plan. A sequence of actions that work *together* to win your fight. It's not just about picking individual moves; it's about building a coherent strategy.

To do this, the Notebook's smart engine takes three aspects into account, and it blends their advice to give you the best possible suggestions:

1. The Historic Score: First, it looks at the historical data from over a thousand past campaigns. It analyzes what has worked in situations similar to yours—your country, your opponent, your goals. This is the solid, evidence-based foundation for every recommendation.
2. The Community Score: Next, it looks at the feedback from other activists on this platform. It answers the question, "What are people like me, fighting similar battles *right now*, finding effective?" This score starts by mirroring the Historian's advice, but as soon as even one other user provides feedback on a method, it starts to adjust, giving you real-time insights from the field.
3. The Personal Score: Finally, the Notebook learns *from you*. As you use the planner and give feedback on methods you've tried, it starts to understand your unique strategic style. It learns what kinds of tactics you prefer and which ones you find ineffective. This score ensures that the recommendations become more tailored to your personal approach over time.

The "Ripple Effect"

As you make changes to your plan like; pinning a key tactic, excluding another, or giving feedback—the Notebook's three advisors instantly reassess everything. Pinning a method you believe in tells the system, "This is important," and it will immediately find other actions that work well with it. This creates a "ripple effect" across your entire plan, helping you optimize your strategy holistically and ensuring every action you take hit harder.

Your feedback is the most valuable part of The Rebel's Notebook. It's what turns a static library of historical facts into a living, learning system that helps the entire activist community. Here's how it works:

• It Teaches the Community: When you give a "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" to a method, that feedback is anonymously incorporated into the "Community Score." The next time an activist is planning a similar campaign, your experience will help inform their recommendations, telling them what's working on the ground right now.
• It Teaches the Notebook About You: Your feedback also builds your personal "Mentor" profile. The more you tell the Notebook about what you find effective or ineffective, the better it gets at suggesting tactics that fit your unique style and strategic preferences. Your recommendations will literally evolve to match your experience.
• You Are Always in Control: This is a tool built for you. Your feedback helps the system learn, but you always have the final say. You can always manually add, remove, or pin any method you choose. The goal is to blend the wisdom of history and the community with your invaluable, on-the-ground expertise.

The Rebel's Notebook draws from Gene Sharp's widely recognized list of 198 methods of nonviolent action. These methods are broadly grouped into three powerful types of moves:

• Protest and Persuasion: These are often symbolic actions meant to send a message and win hearts and minds. Think public speeches, marches, vigils, or even creative pranks.
• Noncooperation: This is about withdrawing your support or participation. This could mean social boycotts, student strikes, economic boycotts, or refusing to cooperate with unjust rules.
• Nonviolent Intervention: These are direct actions designed to disrupt a situation and force change. Famous examples include sit-ins, fasts, blockades, or even setting up alternative institutions.

These methods offer a comprehensive toolkit for your fight, and The Rebel's Notebook helps you discover which ones have historically been most effective for situations like yours.

I believe you deserve to know *why* something is suggested. The Rebel's Notebook isn't a "black box"; it's designed to be transparent so you can trust its insights:

• We explain the "Why": Both the "Basic Recommender" and the "Campaign Planner" sections show you the reasoning behind their suggestions. This includes how well a method worked historically, how it matches your situation, and how it plays with other tactics.
• You're in control: By giving you this context, I help you dig into the information, understand the trade-offs, and ultimately make your own smart choices. It's about blending the lessons from history with your invaluable, on-the-ground expertise.
• It's like having a seasoned activist whispering lessons in your ear: Our goal is to explain the reasoning, helping you understand the system and the dynamics of nonviolent action at a deeper level, so you can make every action you take hit harder.