Replies

ricmac, 6 days ago to random

If you had to power rank the least trustworthy big tech cos to start a new social product, how would you rank them? My list:

1. Google (the least trustworthy; 99% of their products would be eventually sunsetted)
2. Apple (the blue bubble gang is as social as it gets)
3. Meta (long list of past infractions)
4. Amazon (everything they do is designed to make Bezos richer and own more of space)
5. Microsoft (ironic they are the most trustworthy of this lot…but they’ve learned their lesson, no?)

urlyman, 6 days ago (edited 6 days ago)

@ricmac equal first. All of them are engaged in obsolescence by design. All of them are accelerating into this conundrum. They are utterly energy blind behemoths https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/111068095946637599

urlyman, 7 days ago to random

There’s a Guardian article from Fiona Harvey today, which links to https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/nov/20/richest-1-account-for-more-carbon-emissions-than-poorest-66-report-says from November last year, citing that…

the richest 1% of people in the world are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than the bottom 2/3rds.

So how much wealth does one need to be in the world’s richest 1%?

Knight Frank had some answers to that in 2021: https://www.knightfrank.com/research/article/2021-03-01-how-much-wealth-gets-you-into-the-global-top-1

In the UK, at the time, it was $3.3 million, which was about £2.4 million.

London’s average property price is ~£700k

urlyman, 6 days ago

@seachanger glad to help. I find it kind of fascinating how when these reports come out the reporting tends not to join the dots with the specifics.

A partial picture seems to be a way to avoid the implications

cferdinandi, 7 days ago to random

Lasted 3 hours

https://mastodon.social/@cferdinandi/112554405432756211

urlyman, 7 days ago

@cferdinandi what didn’t stack up?

Just curious. I made the switch just over 4 months ago and am happy with that.

urlyman, 7 days ago

@cferdinandi interesting, thanks. 1P works fine for me but each to their own :)

@noleli @mattwilcox @dzajew

urlyman, 8 days ago to random

Got a feeling that the UK centre ground hasn’t shifted that much since 2019. It’s just that the parties have.

The Tories are now way to the right of most of the people that voted for them in 2019.

And Labour are now roughly Cameron with an extra authoritarian topping.

This isn’t leadership.
It’s capitulation

urlyman, 8 days ago

The millions who ‘don’t do politics’ are a huuuge fly wheel.

But that fly wheel will be disrupted. Probably this decade https://mastodon.green/@pvonhellermannn/112546019855473380

pvonhellermannn, 9 days ago to random

#ClimateDiary Yep, this is where we are at.

urlyman, 9 days ago

@pvonhellermannn it’s soul destroying.

I’m thinking on this and pretty much everything else Vanessa said https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/112542527498426551

urlyman, 9 days ago

@pvonhellermannn me too. But, if you haven’t already listened to it, the conversation linked to is really great.

Including recommendations not to read the book!

urlyman, 13 days ago to random

I just saw a beige.party poll with 50 ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-choices 🥴

urlyman, 13 days ago

…Is this PR?

urlyman, 17 days ago to random

#climateDiary
#decroissance

This is a fascinating and sobering discussion
https://overcast.fm/+nh1AEbE7s

urlyman, 17 days ago

My attempt at Tim Garrett’s model in bullet point form:

• everything in life is pushing energy along networks
• all networks are built of matter
• having built a network, there is a corresponding energy demand to keep that network functional
• but networks are always in the process of decay so they always need maintenance and renewal
• too little and it decays, too much and there is a window for growth and for power laws to do their thing
• and here we are

#climateDiary #decroissance

urlyman, 17 days ago

…a corollary to this is that just like every other creature, we exploit gradients and are subject to the same power laws.

We’ve just been more ingenious at harnessing combustion and doing everything at scale.

The more energy we find a way to harness, the bigger our economy grows. This makes it likely that renewables will be additive. Which has been the pattern of our energy history

#climateDiary #decroissance

urlyman, 16 days ago

@simon_brooke agreed

urlyman, 7 months ago to climate

I’ve been intrigued by Aeromine bladeless wind turbine tech since I heard about them last year, but since their initial PR blast they have been frustratingly tight-lipped.

This 10-minute video from @mattferrell is by far the best overview I’ve found yet. It also covers the Powernest approach being trialled in the Netherlands

https://youtu.be/OkRqVBpO2BQ?si=uCnBiYquzAV_l8FC

#climateCrisis #energyTransition

urlyman, 17 days ago

@kta thanks Kyle. They sound soooo promising. Here’s my local dream 👉 https://mastodon.social/@urlyman/111260875244120375

@mattferrell

urlyman, 17 days ago

@kta do you have a link to the new funding story? There’s nothing on their website as yet

@mattferrell

urlyman, 18 days ago to random

Not getting tickled
by tactical voting.
Jumping over its
sliding tackle.

Vote for who you want
#ge2024

urlyman, 18 days ago

Tactical voting is as nihilistic as AI. Creating false certainties based on the past. Reinforcing the status quo. Entirely unable to imagine the future.
#ge2024

urlyman, 18 days ago

“What on Earth are you talking about. AI is going to disrupt everything.”

Well. Yes and no.

First and foremost, it’s amplifying:

• energy consumption
• surveillance
• inequality
• feudal power
• eugenic thinking
• mistrust