Also very helpful: There is ~C which opens a "command" mode where you can add local or remote forwardings after you opened a SSH session (e.g. -L8080:localhost:8080)
There is no chapter of the CCC in the U.S. (yet?). While there is no head-organization (as far as I know), there are similar hackerspaces all around the U.S. (and the globe), e.g. see map on hackerspaces.org: https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
It's a good question and not easy to answer in general as there a lot of different types of hackerspaces.
Some hackerspaces are more a kind of makerspace and provide expensive, large or complicated hardware like industrial laser cutters, 3D printers, embroidery machines and (electronics) workshops with soldering irons, electronic parts etc.
Other hackerspaces are focusing more on the social side and offer a space to hang out, meet and discuss with beverages (I guess mostly mate and beer). There can be talks, workshops or competitions (like CTFs) and so on.
Also providing services to the public, like repair cafes and holiday programs for kids can be a way to further engage in society to share technical knowledge.
I use my EarPods with headphone plug on a number of devices. The one with the Lightning connector is only useable with Apple devices, so this is again a vendor lockin. This has to stop.
If no content blocker like µBlock is used, Google will probably find out about the website visit through Google Analytics. But the important difference is that Analytics is not essential for visiting a website while the CAPTCHA from the CloudFlare page in front of the website is.
But the change is especially good for Tor users as they are often blocked from using Google reCAPTCHA (due to "suspicious" activity from the network) at all.
Finally I hope more companies follow the lead of CloudFlare and change some parts of their services to not solely use Google so that the web becomes more diverse again.
As replacement "ungoogled-chromium" is recommended: https://ungoogled-software.github.io/