@alxd@writing.exchange
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alxd

@alxd@writing.exchange

Programmer, hacker, #solarpunk, educator, activist and a wannabe writer fascinated by how technology is portrayed in culture - and how that affects human lives.

Co-author of https://podcast.tomasino.org/@SolarpunkPrompts #podcast , exploring realistic stories of our climate future with all their traumas and hopes.

Languages: 🇦🇺 🇵🇱

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varelse, to solarpunk Polish
@varelse@pol.social avatar

Uwaga uwaga, solarpunk po polsku! Dylogia mikropowieści Becky Chambers "Mnich i Robot" ukaże się nakładem wydawnicwa Insignis.

https://katedra.nast.pl/nowosci/33407/Nowele-Becky-Chambers-w-Insignis/

@ksiazki

Okładka "Modlitwy za nieśmiałe korony drzew" (taka sama jak w wersji angielskiej). Tutaj jaśniejsze kolory (głównie zielenie, żółcie i pomarańcze). Mnich zmierza swoim wózkiem drogą wijącą się między wzgórzami. Droga zmierza w stronę futurystycznego miasta. Budynki mają strzeliste konstrukcje, do których dołączone są kuliste elementy. Niektóre z budynków przypominają drzewa, a pomiędzy nimi znajdują się prawdziwe drzewa.

alxd,
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@varelse @ksiazki cieszę się, że będą wreszcie jakieś solarpunkowe ksiązki po polsku, wrzucę linki / fragmenty które wolno na https://solarpunk.pl/

Może po tym ktoś się zainteresuje Na wpół zbudowanym ogrodem?

alxd, to solarpunk Polish
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

[PL]

Dziś rano miałem przyjemność wystąpić u @mr_zvbr na GilotynaTV: https://youtu.be/hrH6hh51f4k?t=4161 (od tego konkretnego momentu).

Opowiadałem o u po polsku i w kontekście polskim, jako , i odmienny sposób patrzenia na świat, czym różni się od a i czy nie jest aż nazbyt optymistyczny.

alxd,
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@savi @mr_zvbr ogromne dzięki! Czy na tube.pol.social mógłbym też wrzucić swoje poniedziałkowe wystąpienie na UwU? :3

alberto_cottica, to sciencefiction
@alberto_cottica@mastodon.green avatar

I like doing economic analysis of #sciencefiction work (man needs a hobby, I guess). Looking for advice: what do I read next? Preference for recent work depicting #solarpunk economic systems.

Background: I am part of a collective, the Science Fiction Economics Labs. We maintain a list econ-sci fi work here: https://edgeryders.eu/t/economic-science-fiction-a-selection-of-works-and-authors/8582?u=alberto

Illustration by Nadia E. Alter

alxd,
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@alberto_cottica
Also: infrastructure and disasters. Every time there's an environmental disaster in the Global South, EVERYONE DIES.

Every time KSR puts a disaster in the Civilized West™, everyone survives, the infrastructure proves superior yadda yadda.

There's a whole chapter of how a completely flooded Los Angeles was Not A Big Problem because Americans Help Each Other and their (as we know, crumbling) infrastructure is superior.

How is that not a painful sarcasm?!

alxd,
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@alberto_cottica there's a whole example where KSR put a list of "organizations that helped change the world", but it's just a list of names, with absolutely nothing between them. I really struggled to read it as anything but really bad satire. "Hey, The Ministry & IMF is seeing your sacrifice". Now go be non-capitalistic somewhere else please, we have some more blockchain to implement.

Anaphory, to solarpunk

When there's a new RPG on the block claiming to do , I'm obviously interested. Recently, @FullyAutomatedRPG made its way to me via @fiction so I'm giving it a look. What does it want to do? It wants to be a kind of D&D for Solarpunk – a big kitchen sink game that becomes a cornerstone for the genre. That's… Hm, I like my RPGs written with a lightning focus on telling specific stories, so I feel like I'll be biased against , but let's see. 1/8

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction

Many perspectives. Good cyberpunk examines how technology and power intersect in many different communities. As an orbital space station, the city of Grand Cross can and should include perspectives from all over the world. The setting includes cyborgs and androids, but they're not stand-ins for minorities; they have their own identities and issues, which can change depending on how they intersect with other things.

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction

Cybernetics are not inherently good or bad. Like most tech, what matters is how it's used. The problem is that cybernetics often serves the needs of capital rather than people; Any alienating or dysphoric effects come from being reshaped into some corporation's property. There is no mechanic that suggests wearing a prosthetic makes you less human, or prone to mental illness; instead, the tradeoff of augments is adding to your financial burdens.

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction

Cyberpunk is not just an aesthetic. Cyberpunk shouldn't just be about the neon-lit adventures of a group of trenchcoat futurists as they amass wealth and power through violence. Hard Wired Island is about a group of marginalized people using technology to try to change the status quo.

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction

Capitalism? No thanks. Good cyberpunk is anti-capitalist. It's about how technology without ethics can make social inequality worse. The wealthy use it to cement their power and perpetuate the status quo, while marginalized communities are kept that way. The PCs want to use it to break the current system. They work against their enemies, not for them.

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction

Cyberpunk should be relevant. It is a study of where our society could go in the coming years. The issues faced by people in a cyberpunk setting should have some relevance to issues faced by the audience, even if they're not the same. Retro future, present problems.

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction thank you!

Speaking about a positive version of anarchy, have you read / played https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/dream-askew ?

I think especially Dream Askew, which brought us the original Belonging Beyond Belonging, is a really interesting inspiration / direction for such themes.

While it might not be a game for me, I loved the queer community roles for all the characters - and how their story beats function within the narrative.

alxd,
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@8petros @Anaphory @fiction @FullyAutomatedRPG I think you forget that a lot of Mastodon instances have a hard cap on character number and we would need to self-host or convince our admins to change the character limit for us ;)

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction if we go into different meanings of communities and positive anarchy, maybe the Hard Wired Island ( https://preview.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/354684/Hard-Wired-Island ) would be an interesting direction?

It's a 90's retrofuture cyberpunk, but it goes back to the roots: it is about grassroots movements, social solidarity of the lower class, where the implants don't make you inhuman, they just make you dependent on the evil corpos which can ruin your life?

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction that's an interesting take, because for me the Dream Askew setting is surprisingly hopeful, because you can feel the community is there behind you. I would feel much... wholesome? safer? hopeful? playing Dream Askew than any game where myself and the other players are not actively integrated within a community.

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction The Hard Wired Island, despite claiming to be , is almost a for me when it comes to presenting its world: it talks a lot about community (both on individual and societal role), infrastructure, non-trivial problems, complex identity, unions, grassroots...

Just read their mini-manifesto:

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction also a review from the Gnome Stew: https://gnomestew.com/hard-wired-island-review/

alxd,
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@FullyAutomatedRPG @8petros @Anaphory @fiction this is a take on Cyberpunk I could actually get behind. I still would like them to go a step further, to imagine a world past the corporate capitalism, but as you can see they are building it and they are aware of so many things within their society.

huwfulcher, to Life
@huwfulcher@toot.wales avatar

Never got around to an toot on my old profile so I guess I should do one here!

I’ll leave the general background to my profile and instead capture what I’ll likely be posting about here:

All of the above specifically related to

I avoid most of the time so don’t follow expecting any of that!

alxd,
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@huwfulcher I don't think you will be able to avoid politics using the phrases Machine Learning and Solarpunk in one paragraph ;)

So, what's your take on empowering the communities with ML, before anyone whips up their torches and pitchforks?

alxd,
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@huwfulcher so what is the political side of Solarpunk? Cooperatives? Permaconputing? I did a few essays on that, but I'm curious about your take.

As for the human focused ML, can that be done with polymorphic networks, already half-trained on not very well moderated data? How do you remove biases?

alxd,
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@huwfulcher

Let me know if the approach works for you long term!

I'm a technologist / software dev / FLOSS hacker myself (even contributed to Mastodon) and I see any and every technology as inherently political. There is no harmony without understanding the politics of it, the emergent effects of those little decisions me make when designing it.

If you want to see more of my perspective, https://alxd.org/solarpunk-lenses-and-foundations.html#solarpunk-lenses-and-foundations might be a good start?

BallShapedMan, to aiart

Solar Punk Future

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alxd,
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@BallShapedMan ...how are green tanks supposed to be Solarpunk?

varelse, to solarpunk Polish
@varelse@pol.social avatar

Kolejna solarpunkowa antologia za mną: “And Lately, The Sun”, wyd. Calyx Press.
Poziom bywa różny. Zaczyna się od naiwnych “Roots” Virindy Baligi, ale potem bywa lepiej. Zapadło mi w pamięć szczególnie “In The Storm, A Fire” Andrew Dany Hudsona i @thejaymo które dzieje się w dystopijnych eko-faszystowskich Stanach Zjednoczonych, a główna bohaterka zajmuje się rozprowadzaniem nielegalnych leków produkowanych przez hakerów. Trochę naciągając, nazwałem sobie to opowiadanie “katolickim solarpunkiem” – pozytywnym bohaterem jest katolicki ksiądz (aczkolwiek w opisywanej przyszłości funkcjonuje co najmniej czterech (anty)papieży, a ten konkretny duchowny jest z tej bardziej progresywnej frakcji, która m. in. uznała, że antykoncepcja nie jest taka zła). Spodobało mi się też “Under Pressure” Commando Jugendstil i Tales From the EV Studio, opowiadające o aktywiście-pracoholiku wysłanym na przymusowy urlop (nie wiem czy “aktywista” to dobre słowo – to osoba współtworząca grupę rzemieślników, architektów i innych specjalistów, pomagającej m.in. przeprojektowywać i remontować budynki tak, aby były bardziej ekologiczne, ale jednocześnie też człowiek mocno zaangażowany w transformację, jaka zaszła w tamtym świecie). Opowiadanie dość humorystyczne, acz niepozbawione refleksji na temat tego, jak głęboko siedzą w nas pewne mechanizmy wytworzone przez obecną kulturę. Wreszcie, przypadło mi do gustu “From the Rooftops” Jacoba Ashtona opowiada o przyjaźni formującej się między mieszkańcami jednego budynku za sprawą dachowego ogrodu (i, na meta-poziomie, może skłaniać do refleksji, jak bardzo architektura i infrastruktura wpływa na relacje międzyludzkie, wszak bez ogrodu bohaterowie nigdy by się nie spotkali). Nie dopisała z kolei Holly Schofield. Czytałem wcześniej dwa inne jej teksty, które nadal uważam za jedne z najlepszych solarpunkowych opowiadań jakie znam. Tymczasem “Stubborn as Dirt” z “And Lately...”, choć nie jest złe, nie zrobiło aż takiego wrażenia.
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@ksiazki

alxd,
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@varelse @thejaymo @ksiazki dzięki za polecenie! Nie czytałem tej antologii, ale moje spostrzeżenie dotyczące Afrykańskich pisarzy proszonych o Solarpunka jest takie, że często boją się, że jak napiszą coś "zbyt dziwnego", "wychodzącego poza poverty porn" i oczekiwania Zachodu wobec Afrykańskich narracji, to nikt ich nie wyda.

Mała próbka, niemniej zdziwiło mnie, że to mocno siedzi w ludziach.

alxd,
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@varelse @thejaymo @ksiazki tylko podrzucę a propos prawdziwych leków tworzonych przez hakerów -

https://openinsulin.org/

https://www.makery.info/en/2015/06/30/gynepunk-les-sorcieres-cyborg-de-la-gynecologie-diy/

I jeszcze parę ;)

42GB, to solarpunk

In my future is no space for AI or nuclear power plants.

alxd,
@alxd@writing.exchange avatar

@billiglarper @42GB I'm not an expert here, but could I flip the perspective a little and say:

Instead of nuclear proliferation, we could be using Plutonium from existing nuclear weapons, "burning out" what is already there AND cleaning up the waste at the same time?

I'm not arguing that it's the best practical step forward [I don't have the expertise], but I would absolutely see it in a future, as a kind of a peace temple burning out our old weapons and nuclear waste.

As a symbol.

alxd,
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@42GB what about the ones burning out nuclear waste from the current generation plants? Is it better to leave it underground for millions of years than to limit their radiation by putting them in a Fast Breeder?

alxd, to ukteachers
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What's up with projects wasting their grant money on ? I've met yet another educator, who against any advice decided to put a lot of the budget on a shitty unusable app with no UX or tests.

Is it a grant requirement?

Do people believe that apps will make their projects more attractive?

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