@ajsadauskas@aus.social
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ajsadauskas

@ajsadauskas@aus.social

Australian urban planning, public transport, politics, retrocomputing, and tech nerd. Recovering journo. Cat parent. Part-time miserable grump.

Cities for people, not cars! Tech for people, not investors!

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ajsadauskas, to tech
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

A few absolute shockers in the list of websites the Washington Post has revealed are used to train Google's generative AI tools. Apparently including the likes of 4Chan, Breitbart, and RT.

From WaPo:

"Meanwhile, we found several media outlets that rank low on NewsGuard’s independent scale for trustworthiness: RT.com No. 65, the Russian state-backed propaganda site; breitbart.com No. 159, a well-known source for far-right news and opinion; and vdare.com No. 993, an anti-immigration site that has been associated with white supremacy.

"The top Christian site, Grace to You (gty.org No. 164), belongs to Grace Community Church, an evangelical megachurch in California. Christianity Today recently reported that the church counseled women to 'continue to submit' to abusive fathers and husbands and to avoid reporting them to authorities."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/interactive/2023/ai-chatbot-learning/

#technology #ArtificialIntelligence #AI #GenerativeAI #Google #tech #news @technology @politics #trans #lgbtqia #lgbtq

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@drdanielturner @technology @politics True. I guess the interest is that this is the first time we get to see exactly what crap these generative AI tools are trained on.

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@maegul @const_void The link for those following along on Mastodon: https://thomasbandt.com/the-day-windows-died?ref=birchtree.me

Windows 11 really reminds me of ChromeOS.

It wouldn't surprise me if it was born during a Zoom call during the middle of the pandemic, after some marketing manager in marketing read an article about Chromebooks gaining market share.

I noticed that MSFT is pushing that cur-down browser-focused OS crap again.

But if I wanted a Chromebook, I'd get a bloody Chromebook!

kcarruthers, to random
@kcarruthers@mastodon.social avatar

“'Workers left to pick up the crumbs': Former RBA boss Bernie Fraser slams neoliberal Australia” https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-30/bernie-fraser-former-governor-rba-review-neoliberalism-inflation/102131054

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@kcarruthers Key quotes from Bernie Fraser: "A couple of decades ago, Australia seemed well placed to move on to better things."

"It was not wildly fanciful to imagine that Australia might go on to become a rather special kind of society, combining a good measure of competency, fairness and compassion, and lighting a path which other countries might wish to follow."

Then John Howard happened...

"Fast forward to to-day and that vision has gone … on many measures, our society is now less fair, less compassionate and more divided than it was 20 years ago, and certainly more devoid of trust in almost every field of human activity."

I'm inclined to agree with the core of his analysis here.

ajsadauskas, to internet
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

Looks like even more brands are going to vanish from Twitter soon.

One of Twitter's big advantages over Mastodon for brands and advertisers was that it was supported by a range of social media and ad management tools.

Not anymore!

Via Mashable:

"Microsoft is going to drop Twitter from its Microsoft Advertising plan next week, according to the company.

"Users will no longer be able to access their Twitter account through its Digital Marketing Center's social media management tool, according to Microsoft. Users will also no longer be able to schedule, create, or manage tweets or tweet drafts. In addition, users won't be able to view their past tweets and engagement on the Microsoft Advertising platform."

https://mashable.com/article/microsoft-drops-twitter-from-advertising-platform

#TWITTER #TwitterMigration #Fediverse #Elon #ElonMusk #Microsoft @fediverse @technology

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@luciedigitalni @fediverse @technology Great question.

It looks like Buffer already supports Mastodon: https://buffer.com/resources/mastodon-scheduling/

SocialBU also supports Mastodon: https://socialbu.com/mastodon

Hootsuite doesn't appear to yet, but they do have a blog up about why everyone is going to Mastodon, so I'd imagine they're working on it: https://blog.hootsuite.com/what-is-mastodon/

Seenly says: "The ability to schedule Mastodon posts is under development and will arrive early in 2023 to the platform!"

https://seenly.io/scheduling-tools-for-mastodon/

Any tools that integrate with Buffer, such as CoSchedule, potentially support posting to Mastodon: https://coschedule.com/announcements/buffer-integration-updates-seamlessly-sync-social-messages-from-buffer-to-coschedule

And the biggie is WordPress, which has an official plugin: https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/13/wordpress-com-owner-automattic-acquires-an-activitypub-plugin-so-blogs-can-join-the-fediverse/

I'm guessing a lot more platforms and tools are likely to add Mastodon support over the next six months.

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@comfy Because of Elon's API pricing decision, a lot of the tools that businesses use to manage their social media accounts are likely to drop Twitter support.

Obviously, the marketing, sales, and customer support staff at companies and organisations that use Twitter aren't engaging with it through the consumer UI. They're using something like Buffer, or Microsoft's ad management tool.

In turn, a lot of brands will find that their tools no longer let them update Twitter, and will stop updating Twitter.

As I mentioned in a post elsewhere (https://aus.social/@ajsadauskas/110228344896093467 ), at the same time, many of these same tools (such as Buffer) are (or have) added Mastodon support.

That support doesn't guarantee that those organisations will set up Mastodon accounts. But it definitely makes it easier to post to the Fediverse.

ajsadauskas, to internet
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

And here's yet another example of how Elon is eroding the usefulness of Twitter.

One of the useful things about Twitter has been the ability to Tweet at or send a message to companies, and get a response from a staff member.

On the company's end, there are various customer service platforms that handle those customer service requests.

But with Elon now charging $US42,000 per month or more for API access, offering customer service support through Twitter is no longer financially viable:

"On Thursday, Intercom announced that the company would no longer support Twitter Integration due to the recent API pricing changes implemented by Twitter.

"Intercom's clients span many industries and include companies like Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Udemy, and H&R Block using its customer support products and services."

https://mashable.com/article/intercom-drops-twitter

#Twitter #ElonMusk #Elon #Fediverse @fediverse @technology

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@ajsadauskas I am absolutely furious that Canada Bay council is going ahead with this act of environmental and infrastructure vandalism.

If you've ever asked why Australia doesn't have great quality cycling infrastructure or transport planning that reflects the realities of net zero by 2050, here's a big part of the reason.

It's car-brained local governments listening to NIMBYs.

"A cycle path built through part of Sydney’s inner west will be ripped up on Tuesday, five months after it was completed, due to a council decision described by riders as a knee-jerk reaction to complaints from residents.

"The separated bike path on Heath Street in the inner west suburb of Rodd Point is part of a planned $7 million cycleway designed to connect the Bay Run at Iron Cove on the banks of the Parramatta River to Concord."

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/knee-jerk-reaction-sydney-cycle-path-to-be-ripped-up-months-after-opening-20230406-p5cym2.html

UPDATE: I did some more digging into the local council in Canada Bay, and found this about the mayor:

"The Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently investigating allegations Canada Bay’s long-term mayor Angelo Tsirekas accepted perks from developers, including international flights and accommodation, in return for favourable decisions."

https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-m-sounding-a-bit-like-a-liberal-councils-pursue-massive-cash-grab-20220822-p5bbpc.html

Ping @SydneyCyclewaysFan @cyclingnews @walk_sydney @sydneyurbanismnews @betterstreetsnsw

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@ukuku @ajsadauskas @SydneyCyclewaysFan @cyclingnews @walk_sydney @sydneyurbanismnews @betterstreetsnsw Jake Coppinger @jakecoppinger has written a very detailed blog post about the decision by Canada Bay Council. The blog post is up here: https://jakecoppinger.com/2023/03/canada-bay-council-plans-to-remove-heath-st-cycleway-due-to-a-misleading-traffic-report/

Among other things, they hired a car-focused traffic engineering firm to do an "independent" report.

After Jake and others pointed out the major errors in that report, Canada Bay City Council pulled it from their website, and updated their website from saying cycle lane removal to cycle lane "modification".

The council has requested feedback about the proposal:

"To submit your feedback online please fill in the form below. Alternatively, you can also provide feedback via email through council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au or by mail to Locked Bag 1470 Drummoyne NSW 1470."

I suggest we take them up on their request, and provide them with feedback.

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@jedsetter @ukuku @ajsadauskas @jakecoppinger @SydneyCyclewaysFan @cyclingnews @walk_sydney @sydneyurbanismnews I've just sent them a letter as well. The address is council@canadabay.nsw.gov.au.

To all whom this may concern at Canada Bay Council,

I just wanted to reach out about your council's shameful, disgraceful decision to remove the barrier-protected bike lanes along Heath Street, in favour of two additional on-street parking spots.

As you are no doubt aware, your council has rightly been condemned in the media, including in The Sydney Morning Herald over the Easter long weekend, for this reckless act of car-brained infrastructure vandalism: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/knee-jerk-reaction-sydney-cycle-path-to-be-ripped-up-months-after-opening-20230406-p5cym2.html

You have completely ignored the views of the community and local residents in this decision, as well as the broader community across Western Sydney.

Here are just some of the quotes from residents in that SMH article:

"They just decided they wanted to get rid of it. They’re just focusing on the people who don’t want it − it is a real NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) exercise where they got the council on to support them. They have used state money to do it, and now they want to rip it up."

"A lot of people don’t ride bikes because of speeding cars. Removing the cycleway and just replacing it with a few logos on the road is just going to discourage people who were looking for a safer option. It is a retrograde step."

(1/4)

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@jedsetter @ukuku @ajsadauskas @jakecoppinger @SydneyCyclewaysFan @cyclingnews @walk_sydney @sydneyurbanismnews It is incredibly telling that the council has pulled the traffic report from its website, as well as modified the language on its website to say it is "modifying" rather than "removing" the cycle lane: https://jakecoppinger.com/2023/03/canada-bay-council-plans-to-remove-heath-st-cycleway-due-to-a-misleading-traffic-report/

This cynical dishonesty from Council would frankly not be necessary if this were a good decision that was supported widely by the community.

The decision to remove the protected lane in favour of restoring two parking spaces is disastrous for a number of reasons:

  1. It shows an absolute and utter contempt to both local residents and taxpayers across the state, whose $7 million funded this protected bike lane.

  2. Removing the protected bike lane substantially increases the risk of serious injury and death for cyclists commuting along this stretch. Council has blood on its hands for anyone killed or injured as a result of this reckless and stupid decision.

  3. This decision will encourage more people to drive to work, rather than cycle, using the already congested streets of Sydney's inner west.

  4. More people driving rather than cycling means more traffic congestion across the Inner West. This additional congestion doesn't just affect people in the Canada Bay LGA, but across the entirety of Western Sydney.

(2/4)

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@jedsetter @ukuku @ajsadauskas @jakecoppinger @SydneyCyclewaysFan @cyclingnews @walk_sydney @sydneyurbanismnews 5) It has been shown, time and time again, that increasing road capacity does not decrease traffic, but instead encourages more people to drive. This well-documented phenomena is known as induced demand.

The solution to traffic problems across Inner Western Sydney is to provide alternatives to driving, which is an incredibly inefficient use of road space. That is achieved by rolling out more protected bike lanes, not bulldozing the ones you have.

On a separate but related note, I understand that Mayor Angelo Tsirekas has already faced an ICAC investigation for his alleged corruption: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-m-sounding-a-bit-like-a-liberal-councils-pursue-massive-cash-grab-20220822-p5bbpc.html

"The Independent Commission Against Corruption is currently investigating allegations Canada Bay’s long-term mayor Angelo Tsirekas accepted perks from developers, including international flights and accommodation, in return for favourable decisions. He vowed to fight the allegations."

Given these already serious allegations, I suggest that it's not a great look for Mayor Tsirekas to engage in acts of car-centric infrastructure vandalism that ignore the will of the community in order to create two additional on-street parking spaces for nearby developments.

(3/4)

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@jedsetter @ukuku @ajsadauskas @jakecoppinger @SydneyCyclewaysFan @cyclingnews @walk_sydney @sydneyurbanismnews Rather than dramatically increasing traffic across the inner west, with the additional pollution this will create across Western Sydney, and increasing the risks of deaths and injuries, the council should instead seriously reconsider whether the nearby developments really need the two additional on-street parking spaces.

I strongly urge you to do the right thing and actually listen to the community on this one, and retain the protected bike lane on Heath Street.

Kindest regards,

AJ Sadauskas.

(4/4)

ajsadauskas, to fediverse
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

So let me get this straight.

The Effective Altruism/Musk/Thiel/MacAskill/Longtermism crowd is obsessed with artificial general intelligence.

Their view is that bringing about "friendly" AGI, along with space travel, should be humanity's top priority. They believe that if a “friendly” AGI superintelligence is created whose goals “are aligned” with “human goals,” then a new Utopian age will begin.

Their view is also that the biggest threat facing humanity is a malevolent AGI superintelligence, whose goals are not aligned with "human goals".

That's the dichotomy. Promote "friendly" superintelligence, avoid malevolent superintelligence.

Okay then.

Let's follow their logic.

Where would a socialist, feminist, or pro-Black superintelligence fit in that dichotomy?

If a superintelligence evaluated the data and decided that Emma Goldman and Comandante Che were basically right, and the best hope for humanity is to do away with all the billionaires, would that be a friendly superintelligence that's aligned with "human goals", or a malevolent one?

https://www.currentaffairs.org/2021/07/the-dangerous-ideas-of-longtermism-and-existential-risk @fediverse @technology

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@ajsadauskas Across the internet, there's a host of niche communities on message boards and web forums, using platforms such as phpBB and its various competitors.

Is there scope to get these communities on the Fediverse?

Over the past couple of weeks, I've been trying out Lemmy (lemmy.ml ), which is basically a Reddit-like platform on the Fediverse. (For those reading this on Mastodon, this post is actually a reply to a post on Lemmy, meaning you can read it on Lemmy, on Mastodon, or elsewhere!)

It's shown me that the concept of a Fediverse -connected discussion forum certainly can work.

So is there scope to either add ActivityPub to any existing message board software platforms?

Alternatively, is there scope to develop a fediverse-connected general purpose message board platform?

Is anyone working on it?

@tchambers @atomicpoet @LemmyDev

ajsadauskas, to programming
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

Anyone have an interesting blog that uses the WordPress ActivityPub plugin?

If so, please leave a link/handle as a reply to this post.

(And even if you don't, please boost this thread on so it can reach people who do.)

@pfefferle @fediverse @asklemmy @technology

ajsadauskas, to internet
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

My thoughts on Meta's strategy on launching an ActivityPub-based social network are simple.

Embrace, extend, and extinguish: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish

Embrace: Look, we've launched a shiny new Twitter clone!

It's not an empty new social platform, like Google Plus was. You can already access all the content on Mastodon and all the other ActivityPub-based platforms!

We've seen the light! We now embrace open networks!

And it's so simple!

All you people who wanted to switch to Mastodon, but freaked out when you read the word "server" and thought it was too complicated for you, no fear! We've done away with the confusing choice for you! It's a super simple UX!

Extend: Our shiny new Twitter clone now integrates seamlessly with Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and more! You can even get notifications in Horizon Worlds!

Oh, we're not integrating our other platforms to ActivityPub. If you want one easy platform for Meta's social media platforms and ActivityPub, our Twitter clone is your only choice!

To advertisers and media, we'll let you boost posts too, for a tiny fee!

We'll feature you prominently on our new algorithmic feed.

So don't bother spinning up your own Masto instance, join us instead!

Extinguish: As of 1 July, we are depreciating support for ActivityPub.

Also, effective immediately, our privacy terms have been updated. You won't believe what we hid on page 76.

#Meta #Facebook #Zuckerberg #Twitter #Mastodon #SocialMedia #MarkZuckerberg #Elon #ElonMusk

atomicpoet, to random

I actually predicted this last week!

Now that outages have massively increased, Elon Musk pronounces Twitter's old code is a mess that can't be saved -- and there will be a re-write:

https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1632810081497513993?cxt=HHwWkoCw1ceH9KgtAAAA

This is Stage 3 of Twitter's demise.

Now pay attention to the next stages.

It will be awhile before Twitter 3.0 will arrive. When it arrives, it won't be "real" Twitter.

See: https://mastodon.social/@atomicpoet/109949723816737406

See screenshots.

Prediction for Twitter's demise: 1. Twitter gets harder to maintain 2. Outages increase from once a week to near daily 3. Elon Musk pronounces that Twitter's old code is a mess that can't be saved, and he promises Twitter 3.0 -- which will be better in all ways from the old Twitter 4. A year later, Twitter 3.0 is released, and it's not like "real" Twitter -- but it's a pay-to-play platform 5. People finally realize "old" Twitter is not coming back, and go elsewhere -- probably to Mastodon

ajsadauskas,
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

@atomicpoet I predict Twitter 3.0 will be called X.com.

When you log in, you'll be greeted with a tab featuring the latest updates from Elon himself! X.com gold members can watch his livestreams, and premium plus members can even submit a question!

The next tab is finances, where you can see your account balance, apply for a loan, insurance policy, credit card, or pension plan. $5 a month is added to your balance each time you renew your monthly subscription.

There's the X.com marketplace tab, where you can buy a range of physical products, content from your favourite creators, and services.

There's tabs for Tesla and SpaceX. If you want to drive your new EV, you'll need to subscribe to the silver tier of X.com first.

There's the "for you" tab, where you can access the content you purchased, as well as get personal recommendations for financial products, products from the marketplace, and exclusive content from Elon and his businesses you might have missed.

Wait, you ask, where do I post a Tweet on this thing? Oh honey, that option only appears if you registered for the creator plus or X.com marketing bundle.

As for the newsfeed? I think it's still accessible. You just need to activate it in settings, then go to the "more services" tab, then tap on the hamburger menu, then switch into developer mode. But to access it, you need to have the developer subscription bundle first.

#Twitter #TwitterDown #Elon #ElonMusk #BirdSite

ajsadauskas, to fuck_cars
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

Back in the 1960s, two Tasmanians – Bill Mollison and David Holmgren – coined the term “permaculture” to describe a new way of thinking about farming, and how we can grow our food in a more ecologically sustainable way.

Here's how we could apply the same underlying principles to build greener, less car-dependant, more walkable cities with better public transport: https://thefifthestate.com.au/innovation/design/on-why-a-sustainable-built-environment-means-retrofitting-some-permaculture-principles-to-our-cities/

@fuck_cars

ajsadauskas, to internet
@ajsadauskas@aus.social avatar

The thing about Twitter is that it really lacks a lot of the features you'd expect from a true Mastodon replacement.

For example, there's no way to edit your toots (which they, confusingly call "tweets"—let's face it, it's a bit of a silly name that's difficult to take seriously).

"Tweets" can't be covered by a content warning. There's no way to let the poster know you like their tweet without also sharing it, and no bookmark feature.

There's no way to set up your own instance, and you're basically stuck on a single instance of Twitter. That means there's no community moderators you can reach out to to quickly resolve issues. Also, you can't de-federate instances with a lot of problematic content.

It also doesn't Integrate with other fediverse platforms, and I couldn't find the option to turn the ads off.

Really, Twitter has made a good start, but it will need to add a lot of additional features before it gets to the point where it becomes a true Mastodon replacement for most users.

@fediverse

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