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Meta in Myanmar, Part I: The Setup - Erin Kissane's small internet website
“Technology is like a bomb in Myanmar.” —Kyaw Kyaw, frontman of Burmese punk band Rebel Riot 1 Back in early July, I started working on a quickerinkissane.com
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The Luddites weren’t backward technophobes. They saw factory owners using tech to degrade their livelihoods and they fought back — first by trying to negotiate, then writing to Parliament, and finally smashing the machines.
As workers today organize and strike over bosses using digital tech to upend their industries, there’s a lot we can learn from the Luddites’ story. I was thrilled to dig into it with @brianmerchant!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1004689/13638517-the-real-history-of-the-luddites-w-brian-merchant
#tech #history #luddite #workers
The Real History of the Luddites w/ Brian Merchant - Tech Won't Save Us
Paris Marx is joined by Brian Merchant to discuss the history of the Luddites, why we have their story all wrong, and what we can learn from them today. Brian Merchant is the technology columnist at the LA Times and the author of Blood in the...Buzzsprout
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Republicans face growing urgency to stop Trump as they enter the second presidential debate
#AureFreePress #News #GOP #Politics #USA #Trump #MAGA #Republicans
Republican debate: Republicans face growing urgency to stop Trump
Republicans are meeting for their second presidential debate as top rivals seek to blunt the momentum of Donald Trump.WILL WEISSERT (AP News)
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Republicans passed a ~$2 trillion tax cut for the rich and added $7 trillion to the national debt under Trump. And we're supposed to believe they're risking a shutdown because they care about "fiscal responsibility"?
It's all just a game to them.
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So make it so that shutdowns hurt the wealthy the most. They can afford it the most.
But then Dems also worship the wealthy.
A bald faced lie told in an attempt to protect and serve their owners.
The game of Monopoly writ large.
Somehow, the decks seem stacked with 'Get Out of Jail Free' cards, and missing 'Pay to Community Chest' cards.
Yeah, let's pretend the Dems aren't 100% in for this, too. Just like how Obama reversed the Bush II cuts when he had filibuster proof majorities in BOTH houses.
Oh yeah--forgot. The Dems did absolutely fuck all.
The moral: The Republicans are definitely a problem, but the Dems are also definitely not the solution.
Please contact me to obtain a free and reliable loan with the company Financiale Service
I also a business man selling motorcycle and pats
... contact me at. antoniohalliburton0@gmail.com
This is Republican MOCs' reason for existing.
Donors to Republicans: We do not care if you get re-elected. We only care that you give us what we paid you for in this term.
Republicans to Donors: How high?
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never forget: we didn’t ask for robot cars. when polled US majorities have always wanted action on climate, good public transit & safe streets. but our leaders act without our consent.
last year, 78% polled wanted increased investment in US passenger rail, a number that went to 80% among women and 82% in cities and 91% among Black people. this year, 76% polled in the US said they are afraid of self-driving cars & just 9% say they trust them and that number is declining year to year
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Majority of Americans Want More Investments in Passenger Rail https://railpassengers.org/happening-now/news/releases/new-poll-78-of-americans-want-increased-investments-in-passenger-rail-in-the-u.s/
68% Of Americans Afraid Of Self-Driving Cars, Up From 55% In 2022
https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/2023/03/02/68-of-americans-afraid-of-self-driving-cars-up-from-55-in-2022/?sh=1efc8e8e4ddd
68% Of Americans Afraid Of Self-Driving Cars, Up From 55% In 2022
Roughly 68% of Americans say they’re afraid of self-driving cars, according to a new poll by AAA, a huge jump from 2022 when 55% of Americans said they’re afraid of the nascent technology.Matt Novak (Forbes)
easy to blame the American individual for buying and driving enormous vehicles. but automakers invested $20.8 billion last year alone in manufacturing consent and desire for these! as biological mammals driven by evolutionary patterning, humans are easy to manipulate, especially when you have advanced marketing techniques and near infinite resources.
on one hand we know in our gut what we want, on the other hand we are convinced to purchase the opposite.
https://www.statista.com/topics/1601/automotive-advertising/
Topic: Automotive advertising in the U.S.
Find the most up-to-date statistics and facts about advertising in the U.S. automotive sectorStatista
@ukuku
At least in Los Angeles county it's estimated that there's about 100 square miles of land (~14%) dedicated to parking.
https://la.curbed.com/2018/11/30/18119646/los-angeles-parking-lots-total-size-development
Also about 2.5 parking spaces and the associated aisle takes up about 800 square feet of land. Which could be a 1-2 bedroom apartment.
(from https://graphingparking.com/2013/05/17/parking-requirements-for-office-buildings/ )
How much parking does LA have?
A new study shows land dedicated to parking in Los Angeles is larger than Manhattan.Elijah Chiland (Curbed LA)
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FRAUD...FRAUD...FRAUD
Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump, and the entire Trump Org found guilty of FRAUD!
Trump's New York business and real estate holdings wiil be assigned a receivership, who will sell Trump's NY holdings to pay off creditors and pay the up to $250,000,000 fine expected to be levied against Trump.
The Civil trial, to determine that fine amount, will begin on October 2nd.
#AureFreePress #News #GOP #Politics #USA #Trump #MAGA #Republicans #BREAKING #BreakingNews
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The media is fixated on the age of Joe Biden.
I would rather they talk about The Age of Joe Biden.
Biden has done more in under three years than any president not named FDR.
I don't care how old he is. He is sharp, in shape, and gets it done.
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The social platform #X, formerly known as #Twitter, is the largest source of #misinformation and #disinformation among the major online platforms, the #EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova said on Sept. 26.
The official said so during the meeting with the Code of Practice on Disinformation signatories, including major players such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Read more here🔗 https://kyivindependent.com/eu-commission-twitter-x-largest-disinformation-source-among-popular-social-platforms/
#Ukraine 🇺🇦 #SlavaUkraine
#СлаваУкраїні! #StandWithUkraine
EU Commission says social platform X leading disinformation source
EU Commission Vice President Vera Jourova noted that compared to other major players such as Facebook, Google, YouTube, TikTok, or LinkedIn, the X platform has the largest ratio of misinformation and disinformation posts.Martin Fornusek (The Kyiv Independent)
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Here's the quote, on the official #EU server, blaming #X / #Twitter for being the worst #disinformation outlet:
"X, former Twitter, who is not under the Code any more is the platform with the largest ratio of mis/disinformation posts."
https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/speech_23_4645
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Journalists: Trump is a fascist. He wants to rule the United States as an unaccountable dictator. Given the Republican Party's broad contempt for fair elections, civil liberties, and the rule of law, this could happen.
Your necessary role in political coverage of the upcoming elections is to be activists in defense of democracy.
When the hell are you going to wake up and realize that?
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2023/09/trump-milley-execution-incitement-violence/675435/
Trump Suggests That Mark Milley Deserves Execution
The former president is inciting violence against the nation’s top general. America’s response is distracted and numb.Brian Klaas (The Atlantic)
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That's always the way. Careful what you wish for.
You have displeased dear leader, would you prefer poison or window.
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Journalists and lawmakers investigated #CBP & other agencies’ purchase of smartphone location data without #warrant
“While it is good news that CBP is ending its purchase of Americans' location information, it's troubling that the agency still hasn't released the Trump-era DHS legal memo that provided CBP with the authority to engage in such warrantless surveillance in the first place”-Wyden
https://www.404media.co/customs-and-border-protection-stop-buying-location-data/
Customs and Border Protection Says It Will Stop Buying Smartphone Location Data
For years, journalists and lawmakers have investigated CBP and other agencies’ purchase of smartphone location data without a warrant. Now CBP says it will stop using such data at the end of the month.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
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A TikTok account is using facial recognition to dox random people simply for clout with its millions of viewers. Takes requests from the comments.
- Author spoke to multiple victims who say they were "violated"
- TikTok refuses to remove because says doesn't violate policies
The End of Privacy is a Taylor Swift Fan TikTok Account Armed with Facial Recognition Tech
A viral account is using off-the-shelf facial recognition tech to dox random people on the internet for the amusement of millions of viewers. One victim said they “felt a bit violated really.”Joseph Cox (404 Media)
Symfony Station :symfony: reshared this.
Similar to how Meta abuses people who don’t have a facebook account. You just need to be identified by a facebook user.
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This pretty much explains the Fediverse
Share this post and if you can, post a comment because, genuinely I woke up this morning to a staggering number of shares and favourites.
The comments PROVE Mastodon is the place where common decency is being restored. I feel hopeful for the future.
What lovely people you all are.
Comment to be part of this new town square, or as I like to think of it, our tearoom. And add me, I'm going to be brewing lots of tea.
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*full paragraph of exactly the shit that actual town squares used to be all about*
"That doesn't seem like enough to build a town square on."
I think what the author was doing was viewing the "town square" from the eyes of a billionaire:
How will these smaller groups of happier people be monetized? That is a tough question for the billionaires... That doesn't seem like enough to build a town square on.
If billionaires were allowed to own a public square, I mean a real one, I doubt it would be a place many people would want to hang out at. Why would they? It would be chock full of billboards aggressively vying for your attention, performative angry people standing on soapboxes, and so full of random traffic its impossible to find your friends in the crowd. I mean, that's basically what twitter is now anyway.
This one: https://mastodon.terabyte-computing.com/@cloudguy/111116664690127109
you write you woke up to staggering numbers of shares and favourites. But at the moment of my reply the post had some 50+ shares and 3 favourites. I am surprised these numbers can seem big or even staggering.
This pretty much explains the FediverseShare this post and if you can, post a comment because, genuinely I woke up this morning to a staggering number of shares and favourites.
The comments PROVE Mastodon is the place where common decency is being restored. I feel hopeful for the future.
What lovely people you all are.
Comment to be part of this new town square, or as I like to think of it, our tearoom. And add me, I'm going to be brewing lots of tea.
Yes, as I've replied above, I've had the impression of not seeing all reactions to toots on mastodon, but it is shocking how little one actually gets displayed. I hope this issue gets fixed at some moment since it really makes mastodon dysfunctional as a social media imho. After all you might get lots of identical replies without people realising they are spamming you and their point has already been addressed. (sorry for the copy&paste)
Actually, it's kind of ironic. Mastodon has been discussed a lot as an alternative to the intransparent algorithms curating what users get to see on cetralised proprietary networks. Instead we end up having our timelines and interactions curated by some intransparent bugs/features of the federation concept or its implementation.
As to sounding like a dick: I have the imression you can only sound like a super duper nice guy (or girl) or kind of like a dick on the internet, there doesn't seem to be anything in between.
Anyway, sorry for not hitting the right tone.
God Did the World a Favor by Destroying Twitter
Remember what happened with the Tower of Babel? Same type of deal.Paul Ford (WIRED)
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The Free Software Foundation Europe set up a website to help move governments from proprietary social media to the #fediverse.
Excellent idea!
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This is what Donald Trump really looks like.
A tired, defeated, 300-pound, wrinkled, bald old man with major health issues.
This is what his base wants to vote for.
This is the cult mentality.
#DumpTrump
#NeverAgain
#RidinWithBiden
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Inside #ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players
What a piece by @404mediaco
ShadowDragon: Feeding the mass surveillance machine by tracking people who play Fortnite (and probably, I guess, other popular online games), scraping images from BabyCenter (a site for expectant parents), and social media sites for the Black community, the bodybuilding community, and others.
ShadowDragon also has the capability to monitor/scrape information from hundreds of social media sites/games/websites. Who plays a game and expects to end up in an ICE database?
This is insane.
You are being watched.
#privacy #privacymatters #opsec
https://www.404media.co/inside-shadowdragon-ice-babycenter-pregnancy-fortnite-black-planet/
Inside ShadowDragon, The Tool That Lets ICE Monitor Pregnancy Tracking Sites and Fortnite Players
ShadowDragon tracks BabyCenter, a website for people expecting children, as well as social media sites specifically for Black people, bodybuilders, and the fetish community.Joseph Cox (404 Media)
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Do They Own You? | Daily Stoic
Content warning: To the Stoics, there wasn’t anything wrong with having money. Marcus Aurelius came from money. So did Cato. Seneca came from money and also made a lot of it. In fact, pretty much all the Stoics except for Cleanthes and Epictetus were incredibly rich.... #
To the Stoics, there wasn’t anything wrong with having money. Marcus Aurelius came from money. So did Cato. Seneca came from money and also made a lot of it. In fact, pretty much all the Stoics except for Cleanthes and Epictetus were incredibly rich.
Money, nice stuff, living the comfortable life…this was not necessarily the problem.
The problem was the dependence it engendered. The problem was the insatiability that seemed to come along with it. The problem was the fear and jealousy it encouraged–the fear of losing it all, the lust to have more than someone else. It didn’t make you freer, as we talked about last month, but less free, less risk-averse, less connected.
“Slavery,” Seneca would write, “lurks beneath marble and gold.” The things we own…end up owning us. Because now we can’t live without them, now we identify with them, now we’re worried someone will take them from us.
For the Stoics, money, success, and power had to be viewed with a kind of detachment. It was fine if life had given it to you, but you had to understand that life could also take it back (as it did for Zeno and later for Seneca). You had to understand that it didn’t say anything about you as a person, that it didn’t make you better or worse than anyone else. In fact, it might make it harder for you to be a good person because now you have temptation and corruption.
We must not be owned by our possessions. We must not be enslaved by our success. We must remain indifferent to them, our eyes locked on the only thing that matters: Virtue.
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An FBI agent released info describing Ukrainian oligarch Pavel Fuks as a Russian Intel asset who once paid Giuliani $300K
New reporting shows Fuks is linked to shell company owners of two units in Trump Tower NYC
My latest:
#PavelFuks #PavelFuchs #Oligarch #Ukraine #Trump #TrumpTower #RealEstate
Ukrainian oligarch Pavel Fuks has ties to Trump Tower in NYC
Pavel Fuks is a Ukrainian oligarch with a notorious past. New evidence shows he is linked to two units in Trump Tower in New York City.Wendy Siegelman (NewsTRACS)
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Just a little notice for pro-gun US politicians!
Here in Europe we play the same games, watch the same movies and read the same books and browse the same internet but we do not have daily mass shootings
"Daily deaths by gun" is not something normal and should not be accepted
Please stop finding excuses and start protecting your people
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"But my first amendment rights!" they shall scream.
Nevermind that that was meant back in the day for the colonists to protect against Britain. But yeah, since it wasn't specified "as such"...
Edit: seems it was second amendment. Fact remains the same: it was not meant what the gun toting people say it is for.
It is the 2nd amendment. And it was written to ensure a militia was in the hands of each individual state and not at the federal level so states could defend themselves against the federal government.
More broadly, it is there so citizens can defend themselves against government. If the government had only single barrel rifles, that would suffice. But even the police has increasingly powerful weapons. So in the spirit of that law, citizens should be able to have equal firepower. A wise choice given that every dictator starts by disarming the population if that isn't already the case.
@gvs
I think we're done talking.
Remove me from this thread.
I'm reluctant to say it, but I think the reason why "daily deaths by gun" continue in the USA is simply that too many people think it's okay--perhaps even normal or acceptable. A fervent minority with enough money and fanatic beliefs seem to be able to outweigh the majority, especially when so many of our politicians are bought and paid for by those who don't mind the daily deaths. For these folks, the price of protecting our people IS daily gun deaths.
Never said they were rational.
The big issue is not laws but culture.
In Switzerland it is relatively easy to still acquire new machineguns legally.
It's just that in #Europe, #Mainstream #MassMedia don't commit #PropagandaOfTheDeed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3VQULyT390
Not to mention [mental] healthcare isn't paywalled to be unaffordable for the average Wageworker...
In Canada, where guns can be more easily smuggled across the border, we have an intermediate number of guns and an intermediate number of gun deaths.
It's almost as if there's a pattern. 🤔
Yeah.
You stab and mug each other. Your murder rates make us jealous...
It's not about the guns. It's about control and being able to force our politicians and bankers into wearing brown pants. And those pants best be brown when they make decisions affecting us and future generations.
It’s funny how when some brown people killed 2977 Americans by flying planes into buildings, the US flipped out and started wars and built new government agencies so it couldn’t happen again.
Then 10-15x that many people are killed every year by guns in the US and it’s all “thoughts and prayers, but the 2nd amendment…”
Gee, what could be the difference that causes so many psycho Americans to shoot each other over stupid shit like skin color, sexuality, or being told to stop shooting guns?
Could it be the guns? No, it's the drag queens that are responsible.
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Automaker CEO Elon Musk Strips UAW Twitter Verification as Union Strikes Against Big Three >>> https://theintercept.com/2023/09/15/uaw-strike-twitter-verification-elon-musk/
Elon Musk Blame's X's Failing on Jews - Threatens to Sue the ADL >>> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/sep/05/elon-musk-sue-adl-x-twitter
Journalists: "Water's just fine..."
#Musk #Twitter #journalists #frogs
Elon Musk threatens to sue Anti-Defamation League over lost X revenue
World’s richest man claims civil rights group has falsely accused site formerly known as Twitter of being antisemiticDan Milmo (The Guardian)
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By prioritizing workers and the middle class, Biden has created the best economy in decades—for everyone. “Inflation is low, unemployment is low and there’s virtually no hint of a recession. But many Americans, according to surveys, are convinced the economy is terrible.”
How do journalists explain this paradox? Either it’s an unfathomable mystery, or it’s Biden’s poor messaging.
The obvious explanation—that journalists are failing at THEIR job—escapes them.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/sep/15/trump-biden-mainstream-politics-news-coverage
With democracy on the ballot, the mainstream press must change its ways
The American press is failing to adequately emphasize the stakes of the coming electionMargaret Sullivan (The Guardian)
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Ah, but the journalists are working for their bosses, and so on, till you come to the media owners, which tend to be rich people, statistically, more GOP leaning.
And generally, bad news sells more copy than good news.
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“Meet the Press” booking Trump for first show with new host is how FASCISM is normalized
Please call NBC to tell them this is wrong!Dean Obeidallah (The Dean's Report by Dean Obeidallah)
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With the new #COVID vaccine approved, a reminder that we’re all indebted to the ancient & wondrous horseshoe crab.
Their blue blood contains Limulus Amebocyte Lysate (LAL) which clumps at contact with bacterial toxins. They are caught for their blood to test sterility of medical equipment & injections.
Unfortunately the harvest is unsustainable & populations are in decline. An effective synthetic substitute has been around for 2 decades & we just need the biomedical industry to switch.
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This is so strange that had it not come from a generally reliable source, I would have doubted it.
That said, I Google`ed anyway, and as it turns out, this is very much true.
Thanks for sharing this little nugget of information.
Horseshoe crabs and vaccines
A new synthetic test to create safe vaccines – based on the secrets of the horseshoe crabBBC
If I recall, horseshoe crabs are an ancient lineage that may be related to (though not descending from) Trilobites.
They've been on this planet a hell of a long time, survived many mass extinctions, and now are in danger because one species that should know better continues to exploit them.
I assume they just bleed the poor animals to death and then discard them?
I remember reading Richard Fortey's books back in HS and college, where he wrote about how Horseshoe Crabs are the closest living relatives to his beloved trilobites. He even ordered one in a restaurant, but was disappointed by the taste. And I have vivid memories of them from summer vacations along the Delaware coast as a child.
It's hard to imagine a world where they perished in the end-Permian extinction alongside their cousins. It would be like a world without penicillin or oil.
Don't they take about 33% of their blood then just dump them back into the ocean? It's amazing more don't die. :(
I hadn't heard there was a synthetic substitute. Is it economically viable? Not prohibitively expensive?
PKPs Powerfromspace1
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