alx

alx, 1 year ago to random

The very first tweets of the opening talks by @EU_Commission and EU Parliament presidents at #BeyondGrowth conference show how politicians are still very on board with #growth and didn't (or refuse to) understand that the all point of a conference called #BeyondGrowth is to move away from growth, not trying to fix it.

btw, the conference is livestreamed here: https://www.beyond-growth-2023.eu/lecture/opening-plenary-limits-to-growth/

#ClimateDiary #degrowth

alx, 1 year ago to random

Good morning everyone. The second day of the #BeyondGrowth conference is starting. Being in the UK, I'm an hour delayed so I will start micro-blogging a bit later and miss the first speakers.
Here is the link to follow the plenary session this morning:

https://www.beyond-growth-2023.eu/lecture/plenary-3-addressing-the-limits-of-resource-consumption/

You can follow this thread for updates about the conference and everyone is invited to contribute.

See you in a bit
#BeyondGrowth #ClimateDiary #degrowth

alx, 1 year ago to random

Day 3 - Plenary 6
Gaël Giraud
'Why do we, economists, not understand the role of energy in the dynamics of our economy?'

'We have no way to understand interest rates, so why do we have flexible interest rates if we don't understand how they move?'

#BeyondGrowth #ClimateDiary #degrowth

alx, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago) to random

Hello everyone, and welcome to the last day of #BeyondGrowth
I'm a little late today and juggling between a work and the conference, so I'll probably be silent after the opening plenary.
However, back to work, now talking Joseph Stiglitz, that just dropped for connection problems
They are moving to Benoît Lallemand.

here is the link to the livestream
https://www.beyond-growth-2023.eu/lecture/plenary-5/

#BeyondGrowth #ClimateDiary #degrowth

alx, 8 months ago to phdstudents

I'm in a tough point in my #PhD journey as changes in supervisory team are slowing things down and leaving me with a lot of uncertainty, while of course, I have like 1K of deadlines approaching.
So, for the first time in my life, I'm publicly admitting my mental health is in need of a boost, so please send good vibes :)

Cute pictures to remind me the beauty of our world are also welcome!
I start:
Here is my little cat Caffè tacitly reminding me the subtle art of not giving a f*

@phdstudents

alx, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

First, some reference context: Italian is a gender-based language which linguistically contains only two genders, male and female, and every word, whether referred to a person, an animal, or an object, is classified in this binary system male/female noun.
As a linguistical practice, when you a have a mix of male and female elements like 'ragazzi' (boys) and 'ragazze' (girls), you refer to the group by using the masculine plural 'ragazzi'.

1/

#gender #GenderEquality

alx, 9 months ago to fediverse

I found today that there are some downside in being mostly in this amazing ad-free space that the #fediverse is. I check my Facebook account everyday for notification-only, as many people still use it sometimes to get in touch with me. Today, casually, I decided to scroll. And OMG.

#scam #facebook #ads #CyberSecurity

1/

alx, 9 months ago to random

Anyone else feels like we need to delete the label 'carbon-neutral' from any sustainability vocabulary because, well, it's an enormous, gigantic lie whose only purpose is to shield business-as-usual and to make individuals feel good without them having to engage in any meaningful substancial change?

#ClimateDiary #Greenwashing

alx, 11 months ago (edited 11 months ago) to conspiracy

Oh my...I searched for the word 'climatism' online as part of understanding whether it would be better to prioritise narratives on more tangible things (remember the old days when environmentalism was about, well, the environment?), rather than something so complicated and abstract as the climate. To my disbelief (am I really surprised?) 'climatism' opens to a whole new level of conspiracies that are as fascinating as unbelievable. And, yes, dangerous, too.

#ClimateDiary #Conspiracy

alx, 5 months ago (edited 5 months ago) to italia

🇮🇹 🧵
Trovo molto triste e patetico che diversi account italiani che seguivo su Twitter che hanno speso gli ultimi due anni a parlare del diritto (sacrosanto) degli ucraini all'auto-determinazione, sono invece ora tutti impegnati a difendere Israele, e a parlare di 'genocidi veri o falsi', 'terzomondisti' contro 'il mondo civilizzato'. Questo linguaggio non solo è inappropriato, ma soprattutto razzista:
1/

#italia #whitesupremacy #racism

alx, 4 months ago (edited 4 months ago) to random

There is this strange perception that fascism, or any totalitarianism, happens after some dramatic disruptive event, an 'armed coup' born out and perpetrated by some fringe extremists. The March on Rome, it's the classic example you would find on Italian history books.
This narrative, that is very happily embraced by all powers, as it helps avoiding liability and accountability, is very dangerous, and presents a distorted reality.
1/

https://www.ilpost.it/2024/01/18/cassazione-saluto-romano-reato-commemorazione-ramelli-processo-appello/

https://mastodon.social/@redstreamnet/111804835195317973

#fascism

alx, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to design

So, while the Mediterranean is burning, the Global South is devastated by the effects of climate change with millions of lives on the line, the Design Council UK sends a newsletter titled: 'Can AI save the planet?', publishing ChatGPT article prompted by the question 'Can #Design save the planet?' accompanied by a DALL-E generated image that looks like the architecture dystopian renders that colonise the web since the beginning of the 2000s

https://medium.com/design-council/can-chatgpt-solve-the-climate-crisis-9dcc1b2fd8a8#msdynttrid=Dlxb9HGZ6a3BTDra6_MzoLsjTSOqmwLOFjelvdCCVsM

1/

#AIHype #AI #ClimateDiary

alx, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to Banking

#FediHelp

I need to open a new current account in the UK. Before going with the classics, does anyone here has some suggestion of ethical banks?

#ClimateDiary
#FediTips #Banking #EthicalBanking #Finance #Sustainability #AdviceNeeded #Advice #Help #MastodonHelp

alx, 4 months ago to fediverse

Hello #Fediverse community! I am in need of some #tips and #suggestion for collaborative whiteboard that:

• don't require sign in for invited people to collaborate: like uploading images and adding/editing text
• can be saved on your computer or on a repository
• can be shared as link (view only - even from self-host)

and last but very important:

• has a good privacy policy.

🙏

#whiteboards #CollaborativeTools #tools #collaboration

alx, 1 year ago to random

Is #Mosstodon still a thing? Here a little contribution from South Devon 😊

Found along our way to #Dartmoor

With @inqbiol
#Moss #Nature #NaturePhotography #Walking

alx, 11 months ago to phdstudents

That kind of feeling of being at the same time a PhD student and a staff member at a university, and as a staff member you receive an email congratulating your supervisor for being appointed a higher position in a different university, in a different city, before, of course, he could tell you the news.
Welcome to academic limbos, Alx.

#phd #PhDLife @academicchatter @phdstudents

alx, 11 months ago to fediverse

Did I ever say that joining the #fediverse was one of the best decision I've made?
On another round of #Twitter #enshittification, I'd like to share my very personal experience. Joining #Mastodon has been like a healing process from a toxic relationship with social media, where I found a far less addictive platform, that I engage with far less in time, far better in quality.
1/

alx, 11 months ago to random

It's #Monday, and I would love not to start the week with a rant. But I've just received an invitation to an academic symposium to explore the "opportunities and challenges of #ChatGPT", just after reading a disturbing article in The Guardian for "helping children to survive #AI".
So well, here's my rant.
1/

alx, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

#GoodMorning
This morning news is that all the poor tourists that couldn't make their Sicily holidays because, well, the island is in flames, will be conspicuously refunded.
There are 2 very sad things here: first, that the people (and animals) suffering most from the fires are the inhabitants: THEY SHOULD BE THE PRIORITY; second, the only preoccupation of Europe seems to be their lost holidays, not the immense loss the wildfires are causing.

Which rant should I start with?

#ClimateDiary

alx, 9 months ago to food

It's been a while since I posted something about #veganism, so I thought this article is a good reminder for all those 'plant-based food' is unnatural (????) that your beef meal is very likely to be full of antibiotic, hormones, and derived from a genetically manipulated animal grown to meet commercial standards which, by definition, are UNNATURAL.

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/theres-nothing-natural-about-modern-meat/

#vegan #PlantBased #Animals #GoVegan

alx, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to design

As a rule of thumb, expanding a feature or service that engineers love to the general user base, it's NEVER a good idea.

#design #ServiceDesign

alx, 6 months ago (edited 6 months ago) to academicchatter

@ia Writer new feature of keep in track of AI generated text is interesting (but won't do much for me because I am against using unethical tools built of stolen material). Instead, as #plagiarism is trending on YouTube, I wonder if they will ever implement a good citation feature to help with proper referencing.
I love iA Writer, but I find kind of sad that we're more worried on citing a machine, than implementing fair creative practices first, like citing your sources properly
@academicchatter

alx, 1 year ago (edited 1 year ago) to politics

Silvio Berlusconi is dead. While I can recognise his central role in Italy contemporary politics, his influence and figure has been highly negative, full of corruption and trivialisation of women and sexual exploitation. So, despite I don’t rejoice on anyone’s death, I don’t have kind words with for a man that I consider contributed the most to the ongoing degradation of the Italian culture and society.

#Politics #Italy

alx, 6 months ago to academicchatter

Hello #AcademicFedi and #AcademicMastodon
I have a question for you (which might sound a bit provocative, but it's an actual genuine question).

What is really the value of Auto-ethnography?

I notice a new trend in some PhD group chat (Humanities) of students resorting to this method for their research. I'm personally puzzled, because beyond some reflexivity, how can a n=1 sample being any representative? Also, isn't it a very individualistic take on research?

@academicchatter #ResearchMethod

alx, 1 month ago to academia

There is a level of discomfort and cognitive dissonance that keeps growing in me working in HE while scholasticide and ecocide (yes, they are part of the genocide or ethnic cleansing) committed in Gaza for more than half a year, and the deafening silence of Western universities completely ignoring it.
I truly believed that if there is any place in the world when dialogue should and must always be a priority, is in academic fora. Dialogue is the foundation of #academia
1/

#StudentsProtest