@rra@post.lurk.org
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

rra

@rra@post.lurk.org

I do projects on/with/about computers, networks, infrastructures. he/him

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

rra, to Typeface
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'Teranoptia is a without letters, a peculiar contraption that allows you to imagine chimeric creatures just by typing letters with your keyboard. Its design has been inspired by the Bayeux Tapestry and by medieval illustrations, as well as by children's books. You can use it to create border ornaments, to daydream about monsters or just to spice your layouts with .'

https://www.tunera.xyz/fonts/teranoptia/

rra, to Barcelona
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Today I am hosting an introduction to PyFedi and a small hands-on workshop on translation in open source at the fediverse meetup

We will make a start with translating the software to castellano and catalan

https://bcn.convoca.la/event/fediverse-community-taller-descubrimos-y-traducimos-piefed

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Despite tough competition from the spring weather, it was really fun.

Long discussion on various aspects of translation, contexts, untranslatable sayings and deep scrutiny of the UI to make sense of it all. At the end of the session we reached 2% completion in Catalan and 1% completion Castellano. Still some work to do.

Much thanks to @spectrumgirl @t3rr0rz0n3 and @OpenForFuture for organizing the meetups.

Give them a follow to keep up to date with their activities!

rra, to random
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Well, there goes the energy transition

"Going forward, we think that training and operating future models will be even more compute intensive.
We don't have a clear expectation for exactly how much this will be yet, but the trend has been that
state-of-the-art large language models have been trained on roughly 10x the amount of compute each year. Our training clusters are only part of our overall infrastructure and the rest obviously isn't growing as quickly. But overall, we're playing to win here and I expect us to continue investing aggressively in this
area. In order to build the most advanced clusters, we're also designing novel data centers and designing our own custom silicon specialized for our workloads"

Zuckerberg on AI in Meta's earnings call: https://s21.q4cdn.com/399680738/files/doc_financials/2023/q4/META-Q4-2023-Earnings-Call-Transcript.pdf

freebliss, to random
@freebliss@post.lurk.org avatar

I read this today on the fediverse: "I don’t think [static site generators] work for regular people - too much command line for grandma to use."

This is a surprisingly common sentiment among many people, on which I'd like to weigh in:

  1. Conflating static site generation with "terminal interface" is technically wrong and conceptually counterproductive. I think part of why there isn't so much experimentation and diversity in the SSG space is because so many people are stuck with a mindset of the past (Tom-Preston Werner's «Blogging Like a Hacker»¹ was back in 2008!) instead of cultivating an awareness and imagination for what already is (and what else could be) there instead.

  2. I don't know how far accessibility of SSGs can be pushed for general audiences in the end and where we will meet hard boundaries, but I feel that there is still so much untapped potential and space to try things, and not so many people taking notice or trying to go there. Be courageous and explore!

  3. Correct usage of "grandma" is for instance "My grandma wrote a python script to detect reactionary jokes on the fediverse, and today she found a particularly bad one". The term the author was looking for is "non-technical audience". You're welcome, author!

¹ https://tom.preston-werner.com/2008/11/17/blogging-like-a-hacker

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

@freebliss Agreed! Also it tends to bifurcate in two directions: either local command line or cloud contraption. Very little in between. Last year we wrote this: In the five years between our initial release and this one, to our surprise, no robust and user-friendly application for static site generators has appeared that could replace our current workflow. Several projects exist, but these are all dependent on proprietary cloud services. A usable graphical interface for static site generators is still where key contributions to this field can be made.

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2023/06/rebuilding-a-solar-powered-website/

rra, to random
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Honestly, this timeline where zuck joins fedi in the same week as trump scams people into valuing his mastodon instance at 9B USD is a bit too much

rra, to Netherlands
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/03/15/poetin-komt-tanken-bij-vlissingen-a4193179

Last week the NRC reported about a little-known refueling (bunkering) point in the south-west of the , at the entrance of the Schelde near . The newspaper uncovered that it is being used by a of often badly maintained and very old tanker vessels which play a pivotal role in turning sanctioned Russian in to not sanctioned oil. The vessels make their way from Baltic ports along the North Sea, either to India or Turkey. The newspaper called this bunkering point "Putin's petrol station", because on the way back the sanctioned vessels stock up on fuel. The ships all fly under several different "flags of convenience" and as their companies get put on sanction lists, the ships move to other owners.

It is not often that international politics, global capital, supply chains, the news and infrastructure congeal the way it does at Putin's Pitstop so I had to go take a look .

infra thread!

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Reading the article and thinking about how a "wild", outlawed and sanctioned product becomes normal by ending up in a long global supply chain, there are clear echoes of Anna Tsing's Mushroom At The End of the World. In it, she describes how japanese trading firms work to translate "wild" and "untamed" products like the matsutake mushroom and the adventurers that pick it, in to stable and dependable supply chains with standard products.

One of the way sanctions busting works in the case of the shadowfleet, is not just by the product changing hands several times but also by evading shipping insurance. Shipping insurance is a market that is firmly in control of Western powers and sanctions on Russian oil were imagined to work by making it "uninsurable". Shipping insurance looms so large in the Western mind that we even go to war over it. Since operation "prosperity guardian" commenced against Houthis, the insurance rates on shipping in the area have gone down (https://www.lloydslist.com/LL1147831/Red-Sea-war-risk-rates-soften-as-insurers-price-in-Prosperity-Guardian). However, it turns out, mercenary capitalism can take cover that risk in other ways.

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Aside from ignoring shipping insurance, maritime flags of convenience are another way this is enabled. In the article a ship from the Cook Islands is mentioned, a country that apparently even has less regulations and inspections than known "cheap flag countries" Cyprus, Panama or Liberia. The specific ship in the article is owned by a company in Dubai with an untraceable owner. The ship manager is a Dubai based firm called "Radiating World Shipping Services".

Anyway, the thing here which is amazing is how a tiny Dutch fueling station is used to evade American sanctions on Russian oil, which is done by ships from Dubai, flying under Cook Island flags on their way to Turkey.

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Another way that this fueling station enables these practices is because none of the relevant authorities inspect these ships, despite there being a lot of reasons for it: the bad state of the ships, lacking insurance even perhaps suspicions of sanctions busting. Why are they not inspected? The fueling point is far enough outside of the actual port, that stopping at the fueling point is not considered a port call, so no inspections happen.

Here's one image of a tanker refueling at the point. Note that this is most likely NOT one of the ships described in the article. The SEAGUARDIAN is only three years old and mostly sails in the area (https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9891919)

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Next to the refueling point several ships were waiting in line. One of them, the AMBELOS (flying under the Bahamas), is currently making its way through the Baltic sea. It has made port calls in China and Russia the last two year, but it doesn't mean it is one of the ships described in the article. It is also only 7 years old.

https://www.vesselfinder.com/vessels/details/9801524

However, it shows how this little refueling point ties together far away places in unexpected ways.

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

So what is on the other end of the pipes that lead to the ships?

Storage tanks with fuel oil!

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Another entity in the description of this infrastructural cross roads: Japanese OYSTERS! Ships from far away places not only bring goods, they also bring different kinds of marine life.

The region of Zeeland is traditionally known for its blue mussels (Mytilus edulis, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_mussel), making for one of the Dutch culinary achievements (of which there are like, three, in general).

Since the 60s the "pacific oyster" has been growing in the area as an invasive species that is slowly taking over much of the Westerschelde because it thrives in polluted waters and eats the spawn of the Blue Mussels. At the same time it has made its way on the menu as well. All along the Dutch tidal dykes you can find them.

Whether you want to eat them is another issue, like other shellfish they bioaccumulate toxins (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioaccumulation). Just upstream from where I picked these up is the Port of Antwerp which is home to among others the American chemical giant 3M, known to dump PFAS in to the water (https://www.ad.nl/buitenland/zeeland-krijgt-zijn-zin-belgie-grijpt-eindelijk-in-bij-chemiebedrijf-3m-om-giftig-pfas~a4898793/).

A handful of empty oyster shells

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Last but not least, a cool shot from the way back. Because infrastructure tends to accumulate on top of infrastructure (as invasive oysters accumulate on top of other molusks?) a pretty cool view of no less than THREE different types of energy facilities. From left to right, the Borssele Nuclear Power plant (the only one in NL producing electricity), an on-shore wind park and on the far right the refineries of Zeeland Refineries which are 50% owned by non other than.. Lukoil! The sanctioned Russian oil and gas giant. (https://www.trouw.nl/duurzaamheid-economie/zeeuwse-raffinaderij-zwijgt-liever-over-haar-russische-mede-eigenaar~b86f83a4/)

rra,
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@becha VOC-mentaliteit!

https://blogs.transparent.com/dutch/untranslatable-dutch-voc-mentaliteit/

rra, to renewableenergy
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

How to Escape From the Iron Age?

On the huge iron/steel requirements of renewables infrastructure and how that threatens decarbonization.

https://solar.lowtechmagazine.com/2024/03/how-to-escape-from-the-iron-age/

rwg, to fediverse
@rwg@aoir.social avatar

Latest #FOSSAcademic post: Researching the fediverse from the perspective of individual or instances. In which I draw on an article Christina Dunbar-Hester to talk about researchers' perspectives on the #fediverse, including my own.

https://fossacademic.tech/2024/03/14/Instances-and-Individuals.html

#commodon

[replies to this post will appear as comments on my blog, unless set to followers-only or more private. CWs will work]

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

@stefanlaser @rwg @inquiline @mel_hogan @luis_in_brief @ntnsndr @Aepasek

Thanks for the mention. Yes for Lurk, storage is the main trouble maker and that has to do with the ever-expanding remote media cache of Mastodon. If you do not subscribe to a cloud model (that assumes storage is cheap, while it isn't) this becomes a problem. The remote cache is necessary at the same time, because that is what makes local moderation policy possible (you always respond / work on a local copy of remote content). We have a forthcoming position document on why lurk won't scale. It ties together the ecological, social and financial sustainability of the instance and the consequences that has for instance policies (fixed number of accounts that matches what the hardware supports, scepticism towards automated posts / LLM content, no federation with threads).

For some context:

Attachments: 30.3 GB (15.5 GB local)
Custom emoji: 3.56 GB (1.76 MB local)
Preview cards: 387 MB
Avatars: 22.8 GB (36.4 MB local)
Headers: 54.4 GB (102 MB local)

And this is with us already keeping remote data only a few days and running daily cleanup scripts.

Without the modern commercial cloud, the fediverse would not be possible.

rra, to random
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

> In relation to other struggles in Germany, with this occupation, we want to take the next step in the fight for climate justice, because we are trying to bring in water as an issue, and we are trying to debunk the narrative of “green growth,” the idea that electric cars are solving the problem. At the same time, this occupation is related to the anti-fascist movement, because Elon Musk is also part of the fascist problem.

https://crimethinc.com/2024/03/08/germany-the-fight-against-the-tesla-gigafactory-some-occupy-the-forest-some-shut-down-the-power-grid

@CrimethInc

rra, to random
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

I attend my first ever . A Catalan onion grilling bonanza. It was very good.

People bringing more onions and cycling those on the grill
Many many onions on the gril, the photographer's shadow visible on the photo

rra, to random
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Imagine that instead of playing instance admin, of which we have thousands, Mozilla would focus on leveraging their browser, which only they can do, to fix usability and discoverability issues for the fediverse?

Imagine something like Street Pass by @tvler would be shipped by default.

rra, to random
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

Low-Tech Magazine explores techniques of the past and combines them with the knowledge of today to propose more sustainable futures.

Based on this idea, Kris de Decker and Roel Roscam Abbing organize an evening exploring concepts from the Internet's history that can help create a more sustainable future internet. With talks by Kris De Decker, @rra and @timrodenbroeker

How about systems where independent publishers could own their platform? Or what about media where you actually get to see posts from those you follow?

The evening will start with short talks and then make space for a larger discussion and chats over a drink. Are you curious what fresh ideas from the past can tell us about the future and who are the people working on them? Join us at Akasha Hub in Barcelona on the 21st of February.

More info: https://www.meetup.com/es-ES/akashabarcelona/events/299157033/

Poster design by @johannagratzer

freebliss, to random
@freebliss@post.lurk.org avatar

I'd like to learn more about what's going on at the intersection of tech/politics/arts/culture in my CEE vicinity (especially Slovakia, Czechia, Hungary, Slovenia) Anybody got follow recommendations (people, organizations) or events (conferences, gatherings) to look out for? Ďakujem/Děkuji/Köszönöm/Hvala lepa! ฅʕ•ᴥ•`ʔ

rra,
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@freebliss @michal @sandu and perhaps consult monoskop: https://monoskop.org/Czechia

rra, to random
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

https://kmaasrud.com/blog/opml-is-underrated.html

I knew OPML only as a format where I export and migrate my podcast subscriptions; but it could be a great way to make a webpage of recommended blogs and podcasts that people can immediately subscribe to. The opml can even be styled. What if people share annotated OPML collections, rather than web rings? Will play around with this in the near future.

rra,
@rra@post.lurk.org avatar

@liaizon I don't know? I found it on the orange site. What is your OPML dream?

rra,
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@liaizon Zeitgeist!

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