Karl Austin @[email protected]

Latest XKCD is FAR TOO REALISTIC https://xkcd.com/2797/

let’s just shut down the internet and try again. web1 but with gigabyte speeds and fibre. Simple HTML pages that load faster than ever. IRC or other basic protocols for communication.

Thread:

Years ago I worked as a tech advisor for NGOs, and alongside one client I ended up present at some meetings of ministers, and watched a press conference Tony Blair did. It was astonishing.

I won't bore you with details of the campaign I was part of, but Blair had a statement about a thing relating to it.

Around 60 journalists all wanted to ask about other things.

absolutely fucking inexcusable that a TECHNICAL REFERENCE, perhaps among the MOST-USED IN THE WORLD, would staple on a gibberish machine without ever once considering "hmm what if it says things that are wrong"

it is with a heavy heart that I regret to inform you that the tech bros have invented sails

I had misunderstood what "Checks & Balances" meant in my civics education. Apparently it means that the balance is tipped in favor of whoever can write the biggest checks to legislators & justices.

Google and Microsoft are breaking email for their own selfish reasons - to force everyone to use their services if they hope to have email delivered to anyone using those dominant platforms. http://www.igregious.com/2023/03/gmail-is-breaking-email.html Seems undeniable that they are actively trying to kill independent email providers in order to surveil all people who use email (and profit from selling the results to other capitalist dregs).

@neil Not to mention hacking of illicit sites and exfiltration of stored photos and official ID documentation leading to a surge in extortion and fraud…

Yall wanna hear a two-word horror story?

C'mere

*whispers*

"Sponsored toots."

😱😱😱

A cryptobro DMed me to ask if I wanted to join his mailing list.

I spent slightly too long making this to send in reply.

See in a conversation about Reddit killing the API:

“Imagine if YouTube or Facebook had ad blocking third party apps, it's just not feasible and idiotic to be upset over.”

You mean, like, a web browser? Inconceivable!

<< To put it bluntly: if our space overlords behave this way on Earth with governments looking over their shoulders, how will they behave off-world with little possibility of oversight or redress? >>

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/musk-and-bezos-offer-humanity-a-grim-future-in-space-colonies/

Denver last year offered subsidies for buying electric bikes

Their first 600 were snapped up in 10 minutes. Demand was *huge*

Denver ended up issuing over 4,700 (about 2,300 of which went to low-income residents)

Research shows it reduced car-miles driven in the city by 100K a week

My takeaway?

We should have ebike subsidies *everywhere*, and *now*. Cheaper than electric car subsidies, and arguably even more catalytic

My essay: https://clivethompson.medium.com/its-time-to-subsidize-e-bikes-900a862b8e76

"Friend" link https://clivethompson.medium.com/its-time-to-subsidize-e-bikes-900a862b8e76?sk=dea9f07c0dab4be831ee50a197360f95