strypey

strypey, 3 hours ago to random

"... ads for a Brian Tamaki church event showing a boy carrying a severed head - an apparent reference to David and Goliath - and bearing the tagline 'Time to kill'."

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516805/brian-tamaki-s-destiny-church-notice-with-time-to-kill-tagline-extremely-concerning

Wow. That is extremely concerning. But imagine these people are perched on a ledge about to jump, and likely to injure or kill members of a crowd gathered below. The only viable response is trying to talk them down. Attacking them will make them more likely to harm others, not less.

strypey, 1 day ago (edited 1 day ago) to random

When overcrowded buses replace train services, they should be free of charge. It's nowhere near the same quality of service, and charging for it is kind of rude. If it's free, it encourages train operators to do everything they can to avoid replacement bus situations.

They could make it half price, at the very least.

#PublicTransport

strypey, 1 day ago to random

"Scientists have identified a set of nine ecological and biophysical limits within which the Earth can continue to sustain human society. These are known as the ‘safe planetary boundaries.’

...There are three planetary boundaries that have already been breached. They are biodiversity loss, climate change and the nitrogen cycle."

#RusselNorman, 2020

https://www.greenpeace.org/aotearoa/story/greenpeace-briefing-government-on-priorities-for-the-environment-and-build-back-better-covid-recovery/

#SafePlanetaryBoundaries

strypey, 2 days ago to aotearoa

"So here is a call from the NZOSS to the New Zealand Government to set up a Government centric Mastodon instance to provide a conduit for Agencies, Departments, Entities, Schools, Councils, DHB's and any other central or local government organisation to disseminate pertinent information in real time."

#CarlKlitscher, May 2022

https://nzoss.nz/node/2168

#Aotearoa #NZ #GovernmentIT

strypey, 2 days ago to random

"I think the core, critical sin was choosing the advertising model to begin with. Brand advertising is not like direct advertisement, which is more programmatic. It requires something like a Disney to essentially give you a favor, because the only players that matter to them are Google and Facebook. Snapchat, Twitter, everything else did not matter. And these are ads that are essentially throwaway for them. But we made that choice in order to go public."

#JackDorsey,

https://www.piratewires.com/p/interview-with-jack-dorsey-mike-solana

strypey, 2 days ago to Palestine

"The stakes are much higher now than when I was in college. The genocide against Palestinians in Gaza is already a world-historical crime, and the looming invasion of Rafah promises a new magnitude of horror, all of which has motivated students to make sacrifices they might not have otherwise. And the repression they face is far more extreme, with universities directing state violence on their campuses without qualms."

#DylanSaba, 2024

https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/student-protest-history/

#Palestine #Gaza #Rafah

strypey, 2 days ago to random

"The idea that trans existence can be debated, in the same way that trans people’s rights to accurate documentation was debated, or trans people’s right to play community sport was debated, does not lend itself well to a discussion by opposing op-eds. Especially if one side is held to a higher standard of proof than the other..."

#JohnPalethorpe, 2024

https://www.1of200.nz/articles/media-amp-the-thousand-families-myth

strypey, 3 days ago to TikTok

Seems TechDirt's take on Biden's TikTok ban is similar to mine;

"Enacting this legislation has undermined this long standing, democratic principle. It has also undermined the U.S. government’s moral authority to call out other nations for when they shut down internet access or ban social media apps and other online communications tools."

#JasonKelley #BrendanGilligan, 2024

https://www.techdirt.com/2024/05/07/biden-signed-the-tiktok-ban-whats-next-for-tiktok-users/

#TikTok #US #FreedomOfExpression

strypey, 3 days ago to random

"If we could expand that, by drawing in local media and cooperating with each other, then that sort of model could be expanded to all the community stations nationally.

This is an essential public service - and a not-for-profit is a good way to go because if it becomes successful, the owners aren't just going to flick it off to a bigger company or shut it down during a downturn which is what's happening to a lot of our old newspapers."

#PeterFowler, 2024

https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/mediawatch/audio/2018938002/bid-to-backstop-local-news-in-tight-times

#MediaWatch

strypey, 3 days ago to facepalm

"The price gap between new dwellings and existing properties is forecast to narrow as tax rules become less favourable for new developments."

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/business/512857/price-gap-between-new-homes-and-existing-houses-expected-to-narrow

#FacePalm

#housing

strypey, 5 days ago to TeslaMotors

"A power system that is already prone to shortages like those currently forecast on Friday is facing never-before-seen demand from electric vehicles (EVs) and big data centres.

Vector is preparing for it - but the lack of laws and regulations and an Energy Ministry are in its way."

#PhilPennington, 2024

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/516449/govt-must-regulate-to-smooth-evs-and-data-centres-demand-on-power-grids-vector

#EV #DataCentres #Vector

strypey, 6 days ago to RSS

"But the real tragedy of Reader was that it had all the signs of being something big, and Google just couldn’t see it. Desperate to play catch-up to Facebook and Twitter, the company shut down one of its most prescient projects; you can see in Reader shades of everything from Twitter to the newsletter boom to the rising social web."

#DavidPierce, 2023

https://www.theverge.com/23778253/google-reader-death-2013-rss-social

#RSS #SocialWeb

strypey, 6 days ago to Podcasts

"I think the defining economic reality of the modern platform media world is that all the platforms realized that an infinite supply of teenage creators are cheaper to deal with than media companies or groups of media individuals or powerful creators."

#NilayPatel, 2024

https://www.theverge.com/24087834/hank-green-decoder-podcast-google-youtube-web-media-platforms-distribution-future

#podcasts #TheVerge #Decoder #platforms #GigEconomy

strypey, 6 days ago to fediverse

Marshall McLuhan wrote books and taught students about his theories of media for decades, and is widely known as "as the father of modern media studies";

https://ama-toronto.com/inductees/marshall-mcluhan/

Phrases he coined are so quoted they've become cliches; like "the global village", and most famously "the medium is the message".

What is the message of the fediverse as a medium?

#MarshallMcLuhan #MediaStudies #fediverse

strypey, 6 days ago to random

Photographed in a backpackers hostel in Te Wai Pounamu. The text reads;

"The truth about using HostelWorld and booking.com

• they take 15% of your payment -
  Try always to book directly with the hostel or hotel
  Owners of booking sites live in luxury and don't do any work"

#accomodation #BackPackers #hostels

strypey, 7 days ago (edited 7 days ago) to Podcasts

"We're also competing against a lot of people in politics who come along and say... it's those rich people's fault, we'll just take even more money off them and give it to you."

#DavidSeymour, 2024
https://www.rnz.co.nz/programmes/30-with-guyon-espiner/story/2018936159/david-seymour

This is the fundamental lie of neoliberal politics. A total inversion of the truth, which is that neoliberal parties say 'it's those poor people's fault, we'll just take the money off them and give it to you', and they do.

#podcasts #RNZ #30WithGuyonEspiner #neoliberalism

strypey, 7 days ago (edited 7 days ago) to random

#FreudianTypoOfTheWeek

Needia (n.): Subscription-based news.

strypey, 7 days ago to random

"Facebook is used by 79% of New Zealanders aged 16-64 last year..."

#PeterGriffin, NZ Listener, May 11-17, 2024

Another way to describe the same data is that 21% of 16-64 year olds - about 1 in 5 - choose not to use FarceBook. Despite the common perception that it's normal for everyone to use it. I do wonder if that 21% includes people who don't count Meta's Messenger as being part of FB. Griffin doesn't give a source for his data, so there's no quick way to check.

strypey, 7 days ago (edited 3 days ago) to Podcasts

"Again, this is that lovely, quaint, sort of late 70s idea, that computers would be better than us at deciding things, isn't it. It's very, very old fashioned. But yeah, they let the computer weigh up the evidence."

#NeoZAZ, 2018

https://neozaz.com/dev-tarrant/

#Blakes7 #podcasts #InCharacter #AI

And this is that lovely, quaint 2010s idea that computers deciding (or designing) things instead of humans is old-fashioned, instead of being the everyday dystopia they were already starting to live in.

strypey, 8 days ago to random

"In the two weeks before October's election, more people than ever before (454,000 people) enrolled to vote, including more than 100,000 enrolments on election day.

The Electoral Commission did not expect this number of late enrolments, putting pressure on its systems, the report said."

#KatieScotcher, 2024

https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/516189/official-2023-election-result-final-check-done-in-a-few-hours-under-extreme-pressure

#elections #Election2023

strypey, 7 days ago to random

"Today, my colleagues in astrobiology no longer assume that life started at hot vents deep in the oceans. For many, the focus has shifted to locales on land — notably hot spring environments. This shift has also transformed science’s consideration of where life might start in the universe and how common it could be, and provides an upgraded framework to address the age-old question: Are we alone?"

#BruceDamer, 2024

https://www.lucid.news/a-psychedelic-journey-to-the-origin-of-life/

#astrobiology #OriginsOfLife

strypey, 8 days ago to random

"Don’t get me wrong. I am not nostalgic for the past. There were attitudes we thought once thought were acceptable that I am delighted to have seen the back of – strapping and caning children, imprisoning gay men, denying work, promotional and aspirational opportunities to women simply on the basis of gender."

#BryanBruce, 2024

https://thedailyblog.co.nz/2024/05/07/guest-blog-bryan-bruce-how-i-became-a-radical-by-standing-still/

strypey, 8 days ago to random

"... because Bennett will now be governing a public agency specially designed to have an arms-length relationship with the government of the day, to retain public confidence in Pharmac’s integrity, she will have to display total independence from the ministers that she is closely associated with."

#BryceEdwards, 2024

https://democracyproject.nz/2024/04/30/bryce-edwards-paula-bennetts-political-appointment-will-challenge-public-confidence/

#PublicService #Pharmac

strypey, 9 days ago to Podcasts

"The clock is ticking for Tiktok in the US with the government giving the social media giant a deadline to sell its US operations."

#ImogenWells, 2024

https://interactives.stuff.co.nz/newsable/

The US government wants to make sure only they can use DataFarming platforms to spy on and influence US citizens. They're following the example set by the CCP, which has been blocking foreign-owned platforms for years, for similar reasons.

#podcasts #Stuff #Newsable #TikTok

strypey, 9 days ago to random

It would be useful to see journalists collecting clips of the claims and promises made by politicians during an election campaign, then comparing that against what they're saying and doing in government or opposition, 3-6 months into the new term. I mean literally putting the before clip next to the after clip, so people can decide for ourselves how consistent they are.