Aral Balkan

I make small things.

Unapologetically anti-genocide.

My posts are licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/)

🍉🌻 🏳️‍🌈 🏳️‍⚧️

#SmallWeb #SmallTech #web #tech #privacy #humanRights #personhood #democracy #aral #fedi22 #searchable

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nprofile1qqsfm2v52edj7vgq45t3gzqdpqdfp3m3hxa3yake89u47k57z7d0s2gpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qqyw2qp

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Last Notes

2025-01-16 21:52:26

So maybe now some folks can see why having trillion-dollar people farmers as sponsors is a problem too. Maybe? I don’t know… Too soon?
#fosdem #institutionalCorruption #JackDorsey #billionaires #capitalism #openSource https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/103483437564238747

2025-01-06 11:14:01

Activism that avoids criticism of capitalism isn’t activism, it’s public relations.

2024-11-27 13:38:04

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@nprofile…gfyr @nprofile…82p4 Figures it would take Elon Musk to make Paul Graham look good.

2024-09-24 18:43:54

Meta and friends – like Mastodon and Vivaldi – form Social Web Foundation.
May I be the first to say:
Fuck the Social Web Foundation.
https://socialwebfoundation.org
I am so fucking sick of this bullshit happening over and over again. I’d say they’re useful idiots but, let’s face it, Mastodon aren’t idiots. Vivaldi aren’t idiots. They’re smart folks. They know full well what Meta is. They clearly just don’t give a shit.
#SocialWebFoundation #Meta #BigTech #surveillance #capitalism #fediverse

2024-09-06 13:11:58

“I’ve never had COVID.”
– Person who has never tested for COVID

2024-08-28 08:51:23

Hey, Emmanuel, it’s “liberté, égalité, fraternité,” not “liberté, égalité, Macronité.”
#macron #france #democracy

2024-07-20 11:33:19

Folks: We’re on X to fight fascism.
Meanwhile, X: …
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/112/818/598/670/115/995/original/6e0f44a4beaca7eb.jpeg

2024-07-19 09:11:32

If everyone just uses the same thing we’ll all be fine.
– Epitaph, Extinct Species #9,435,303

2024-07-19 09:09:51

Quick, everyone, use the same tech by the same huge corporations… what could possibly go wrong?
#BigTech #TooBigWillFail #centralisation

2024-07-17 15:11:02

Linux: We have no idea why folks think we’re hard to use.
Also Linux: Would you like to use useradd or adduser to add a user to your system?
🤔
#linux #userAdd #addUser #decisionDecisions

2024-07-16 12:15:46

What do you call a fascist that is shot in the ear?
A fascist.

2024-07-14 16:05:54

No we fucking are not.
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/112/785/685/393/239/585/original/26564961c786682e.png

2024-07-14 09:58:31

A corporation will pay the least amount it can get away with for labour. If that number is zero, then that number is zero. Understand that and you understand slavery (both modern-day and historical), the prison-industrial complex, open source (not free software), privatisation, conservatism, and much else about the world around you.

2024-07-08 06:02:09

Some good news to start the day.
#france
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/112/749/353/986/094/232/original/0eaeb314a28bc9b0.jpeg

2024-07-07 09:14:31

If you want to understand your own privilege, ask yourself whether you see politics as a game or as survival. Where you land on that spectrum should give you a fairly good idea of how privileged you are.
#politics #privilege

2024-07-03 09:05:13

Technology is political.
If your project or organisation has a “no politics” clause, you’re saying you’re happy to exclude people whose very existence is political in our societies.
It’s only defensible if you’re coming from a place of privilege where the dominant politics are to your advantage so you can take them as given.
There is no such thing as “no politics”; there is only “no politics other than the politics of the status quo that I benefit from, which I’ve internalised as normal.”

2024-06-29 07:36:18

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@npub1g2d…l2nh Congratulations, Olga! Sending you all lots of love from the Emerald Isle. 🐣💕

2024-06-22 15:45:39

Is FOSS without fossbros a thing? Because how cool would it be if FOSS without fossbros was a thing?

2024-06-18 05:49:58

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@npub1g0t…tvm4 But clearly we have acceptable levels of genocide…

2024-06-09 10:19:07

The very fact we have to say “vote against fascism” is a damning indictment of the failure of our democratic institutions and the rule of law. You shouldn’t be able to vote FOR fascism. Democracies that lack constitutional safeguards against fascism will, eventually, stop being democracies. When? At the last election. The one that elected the fascists. Democracy cannot tolerate fascism. Tolerance cannot tolerate intolerance. I’m afraid this is a lesson we will learn the hard way. Again.

2024-06-08 07:46:37

I thought God of War and Baldur’s Gate 3 might have ruined most games for me by setting the bar so high but I’m *really* enjoying one of the loveliest games I’ve played in a while and it’s… are you sitting down?…
Cat Quest!
(Yep.)
It’s a gentle/sweet/fun Zelda/Final Fantasy/Skyrim inspired 2.5D cartoon-like RPG that you can dip in and out of made by a small studio in Singapore. I stumbled onto it on PlayStation Plus but it’s on all platforms.
https://www.thegentlebros.com/catquest/
#games #catQuest #RPG

2024-05-24 10:04:40

Users: the people used by Big Tech.

2024-05-24 08:38:49

International law is whatever the Unites States says it is, you fucking communists. Don’t make us nuke you again!

2024-05-23 08:39:49

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@npub1alq…mnj6 Yeah, no thanks. Not buying anything from “no politics in the workspace” / “DEI is bad, actually” 37Signals.

2024-05-23 07:47:13

Duck Duck Go is down because Bing is down.
(Also, you saw the recent AI stuff, right?)
Folks, I know… I use Duck Duck Go also but remember they have venture capital. Enjoy it while it lasts (or let’s fund and build alternatives differently that aren’t temporary businesses with profit motives and exits but commons-owned institutions working for the common good).
#DuckDuckGo #bing #microsoft #ventureCapital #DDG

2024-05-21 09:35:07

It’s not enshittification, it’s crapalism.
#crapalism

2024-05-19 12:11:00

To those Americans getting offended that their president and country is being criticised for arming a genocide may I just remind you that there is something a tad more offensive than being criticised for arming a genocide which is arming a goddamn genocide. Get some fucking perspective.

2024-05-18 11:09:49

Elon Musk was a mistake.

2024-03-26 07:18:11

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@npub1ten…z3h2 Just suspended his instance. I’m sorry you have to deal with this shit.

2024-03-21 14:04:08

Similarly, if you still follow Tante (Jürgen Geuter), you probably don’t want to follow me. Cause if you are OK with his libelling me as an antisemite and Holocaust denier for opposing Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people, I wonder where our common base could ever be.
https://tldr.nettime.org/@tante/112133181211078201
#israel #palestine #genocide #gaza #tante #JürgenGeuter #libel

2024-03-21 09:10:05

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Well, at least now I know how I’ll be starting my next talk :)

2024-03-21 09:02:27

What fresh hell is this?
(Needless to say that, no, I did not embark on a solo sailing journey from Ireland to Portugal in 2018 and get shipwrecked in the Atlantic.)
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bax_qHpe3hQ
#ai #bullshit #video #AralBalkan #shipwreck #atlantic #ireland #portugal

2024-03-19 16:22:19

Just got registered with a local GP in Ireland¹ and their first email states that all their staff are “formally trained in GDPR procedures and any information you give will be used in the strictest confidence.”
Their email address is @gmail.com
🤦‍♂️
¹ This, in and of itself, is a bloody miracle these days, apparently, and only happened because it’s a new practice that’s just opening up.
#ireland #gp #doctors #gdpr #gmail #google #surveillanceCapitalism #peopleFarming

2024-03-17 21:00:14

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@npub1xg3…nyjk Robert, your words are important, please ensure that people who need to use screen readers can see them too.
Here’s the alt text for your image. You can edit your post and add it to the picture to make it accessible.
Thanks.
***
Jeff Bezos made over
$7.9 million an hour last
year. In just 13 minutes,
he made the equivalent
of what a typical person
earns in a lifetime. Don't
tell me that the rich can't
afford a wealth tax.

2024-03-17 19:47:49

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@npub1xsy…cevg @npub16hm…xt0c Beautiful :)

2024-03-15 08:49:40

“The true con artist doesn’t force us to do anything; he makes us complicit in our own undoing. He doesn’t steal. We give. He doesn’t have to threaten us. We supply the story ourselves. We believe because we want to, not because anyone made us. And so we offer up whatever they want—money, reputation, trust, fame, legitimacy, support—and we don’t realize what is happening until it is too late.”
– Maria Konnikova, The Confidence Game: Why We Fall for It…Every Time
#SiliconValley #BigTech

2024-03-15 08:19:53

If the Twitter/X thing teaches you one thing, let it be this: Twitter was a neoliberal place. Then Elon Musk made it into X, a fascist place. Once again, neoliberalism laid the foundations of fascism. But that’s not the (whole) lesson… Neoliberal folks are still using X, calling it Twitter to make themselves feel better, and pining for the good old days. And there’s the real lesson: When neoliberalism turns into fascism, neoliberals will adapt to life under fascism. Right, class dismissed.

2024-03-13 10:26:39

I just love that we live in a system where all the free work you do for the common good has absolutely zero value and you’re only deemed successful if what you do makes money.
And then you wonder why you’ve ended up with the Elon Musks of the world.

2024-03-12 15:04:45

@npub15c0…hxke Any idea why my Mastodon turns into Twitter every time I come back from sleep? :)
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/112/083/327/577/740/780/original/fecd98f94321f254.png

2024-03-12 14:02:44

Accessibility for Everyone: In two hours, come hear @npub15dm…e38g talk about accessibility – register here now (it’s free/online):
https://lu.ma/BookGroup1
“Please join author Laura Kalbag, Guild host Lija Hogan, and other UX researchers for a fireside chat about the latest in accessibility and inclusive design topics … We’ll use her recent book, ‘Accessibility for Everyone’ from A Book Apart as a reference and starting point.”
#accessibility #a11y #event

2024-03-10 10:43:06

If the see the AGPL licenses on my free and open source work and you think “damn you, I can’t use this to enrich myself or my corporation without sharing back what I’ve built on top of what you’ve freely shared and thus contribute to cultivating a healthy commons where others might enjoy the same benefits from my work that I want to obtain from yours” (a) you really have long-winded thoughts and (b) well, you’d already see the flaw in your reasoning.
#foss #licenses #freedom #copyleft #gpl

2024-02-29 08:59:18

@npub1svs…p66u Hey there, just saw that I can no longer see how many characters I’m over in a post. Can we please at least have a way to bring that feature back. I find it invaluable when posting as I don’t want my post to be automatically split into two or more. Thanks :)

2024-02-24 09:51:17

In four months, Israel has murdered 100 journalists.
“On Monday 26 February join the special day to #SupportPalestinianJournalists.
The needs of our colleagues working in Gaza have become critical. In the middle of winter, they lack the essentials of clothes, blankets, tents, food and water. Basic goods, where they are available, are no longer affordable.”
https://www.nuj.org.uk/resource/international-day-for-palestinian-journalists.html
Images via and alt text by @npub1vj2…thgx
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/111/985/837/303/589/127/original/161ce41f5ab37641.png
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/111/985/837/781/344/740/original/460902cdfed9d849.png

2024-02-13 21:54:26

Mozilla fires 60 people to “focus on bringing ‘trustworthy AI into Firefox.’”
Fuck you, Mozilla. No one is asking for AI in Firefox. Sadly, you’re the best we can hope for under capitalism. So if we want something better, we should look into alternative models.
https://techcrunch.com/2024/02/13/mozilla-downsizes-as-it-refocuses-on-firefox-and-ai-read-the-memo/
#mozilla #firefox #ai

2024-02-06 12:39:15

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@npub1alq…mnj6 Remember kids, every day is slap a VC with a wet fish day.

2024-01-24 07:43:23

“When people say I changed the culture of Boeing, that was the intent, so that it’s run like a business rather than a great engineering firm.”
– CEO Harry Stonecipher
#capitalism #boeing

2024-01-16 13:54:02

🔥 PSA for men who cook: After you chop a chili pepper do not – I repeat, do not – go for a pee without washing your hands like your life depends on it.
Don’t ask me how I know. Just trust me when I say chilis and penises do not mix and this is definitely not the kind of fire you want in your pants.
Ow.
#cooking #chilis #penises

2024-01-13 08:52:13

Dear Germany,
Just because you carried out genocide in the past doesn’t mean you have to defend those carrying out genocide today.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog_entry/germany-rejects-un-genocide-charge-asserting-israel-defending-itself-after-inhuman-oct-7-attacks/
#israel #palestine #gaza #genocide #germany #ICJ

2023-12-29 20:14:50

The mental gymnastics skills of folks attempting to justify Mozilla paying their CEO $7 million while asking for donations.
#mozilla
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/111/665/537/757/508/201/original/6216ed1feafee34a.mp4

2023-12-27 21:36:24

I am now finally the owner of a Henry. This makes me far giddier than owning a vacuum cleaner should.
PS. While in the store, had a little kid come up to the line of Henries (and one Hetty) on display, address each of them in turn, give them hugs, and tell them he loved them.
What really guts me is knowing just how wonderful we could make this damn world if most of us weren’t in the employ of a relative handful of fucking psychopaths…
#design
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/111/654/534/115/706/493/original/f54d4a7a43ab3eb2.jpeg

2023-12-23 23:07:37

Just because you can program a computer doesn’t mean you have the first fucking clue about what’s going on in the world.

2023-12-10 09:37:55

Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights:
“Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.”
Israel:
“Except Palestinians.”
The US and other Western democracies:
“Except Palestinians.”
#israel #palestine #gaza #genocide #ethnicCleansing #UDHR #UDHR75

2023-12-07 10:01:18

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No human being with a conscience – or even a single gram of morality or humanity – can look at the slaughter of 6,600 children and find a justification for it.
There is none.
Not the one.
And if you’re going to try and argue that there is, please don’t waste your breath or your keystrokes and do us both a favour and just fuck right off. (And save me the effort of blocking your genocide apologist ass.)
#israel #palestine #gaza #genocide #ethnicCleansing #barbarism #inhumanity

2023-12-07 09:54:21

Let’s never forget the almost 3,000 people killed during 9/11 – the deadliest terrorist attack in history.
Now double that number. And imagine they’re all children.
That’s how many Palestinian children Israel has murdered in the last two months.
Let it really sink in: Israel has just murdered more than twice the number of Palestinian children as people killed by terrorists on 9/11.
Now ask yourself, what does that make Israel?
https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2023/12/07/words-are-no-good-to-my-sister-whose-home-in-gaza-has-been-destroyed/
#israel #palestine #gaza #genocide

2023-12-04 21:14:27

Pro-tip: if you don’t want to be compared to Nazis, don’t act like Nazis.

2023-12-04 09:00:35

What’s sad is realising you live in a world where every exaggerated analogy you used to make a point is actually happening:
Having Google in schools is like having McDonalds in nutrition class. (I find out that McDonalds does, in fact, sponsor nutrition classes in US schools.)
Having a surveillance capitalist sponsor a conference on free and open source/human rights is like having an oil company sponsor a climate conference. (Forget sponsoring, turns out head of #Cop28 runs an oil firm.)
🤬

2023-12-03 14:22:43

These fuckers are content to watch us die.
This bullshit is going to condemn our species to extinction unless we find a way to depose these sociopaths.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels
#cop28 #copOut #ClimateEmergency #ClimateCrisis #ClimateChange

2023-12-01 12:00:28

“So it’s over for you, Elon Musk. You are a public failure of a man. You’ll still be rich, but you no longer matter. That’s all you really wanted out of this, wasn’t it? You bought Twitter because you thought that owning it would make you the most special person in the whole wide world, only to reveal yourself as an unremarkable shithead with no good ideas … Go fuck yourself, Elon. Go. Fuck. Yourself. Is that clear?”
https://www.sfgate.com/sf-culture/article/elon-musk-nyt-interview-18524602.php

2023-11-25 10:58:27

Your daily reminder that an immigrant shouldn’t have to carry out heroic acts to justify their existence or to be deserving of the same rights, privileges, and dignity that you enjoy as someone who just happened to be born where you live.

2023-11-23 11:45:17

No criticism of capitalism can ever top the suits at Netflix seeing Squid Game and thinking “Let’s make it real!”
#capitalism #SquidGame

2023-11-22 13:48:56

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@npub1u2h…z4d7 @npub1w0k…z3sz It’s always ordinary people, Erik. Behind every horrible act in history, there are always ordinary people. Ordinary people following a charismatic leader. Ordinary people with a financial interest. Ordinary people unwilling to rock the boat…

2023-11-12 09:59:45

The “rule of law” refers to the god-given right of white people to make shit up as they go along.

2023-11-01 13:05:30

But what if it wasn’t a genocide and we needlessly stopped the endless slaughter of innocent civilians?

2023-10-31 17:53:08

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@npub1j8m…v5r7 @npub1mmf…eknq Hi. Thanks for reaching out but I’m not sure what you could tell me that would make me go “Ah, now that you mention it, yes, I hope Bibi keeps bombing the shit out of Gaza because, on further thought, 8,000 dead Palestinians, almost half of them children, is nowhere near enough.” Sorry, no.
Also: Raz Segal is an associate professor of Holocaust and genocide studies at Stockton University and the endowed professor in the study of modern genocide.

2023-10-31 17:29:52

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@npub1j8m…v5r7 @npub1mmf…eknq https://jewishcurrents.org/a-textbook-case-of-genocide

2023-10-20 13:14:21

Your daily reminder that condemning genocide does not make you a ‘terror supporter.’”
(And yes, fuck Hamas. They’re barbarians. The very low bar for any state that purports to be a democracy is to be better than barbarians.)
https://www.politico.eu/article/greta-thunberg-calls-global-pro-palestinian-strike-gaza-genocide-israel-slam/
#israel #hamas #gaza #terrorism #apartheid #genocide

2023-10-17 18:07:32

‘At least 500’ dead after Israeli airstrike on Gaza hospital
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/middle-east/2023/10/17/israel-hamas-war-air-strikes-pound-gaza-as-efforts-made-to-break-deadlock-on-aid/
More than 1,000 children have reportedly been killed in 11 days of airstrikes on Gaza – one child every 15 minutes – with children making up a third of total fatalities in Gaza.
https://www.savethechildren.org.uk/news/media-centre/press-releases/save-the-children-calls-for-ceasefire-in-gaza
This is not war. This is slaughter. This is barbarism. Nothing justifies this.
And yet the West watches—cheers with blood lust, even—as Israel commits genocide.
#israel #gaza #genocide

2023-09-30 18:44:26

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@npub1sce…9lmd @npub18gy…az9t How is this man and his social network, car company, space rocket company, and satellite internet company still considered socially acceptable? How is it that these enterprises aren’t being nationalised as we speak? How have we built a system that franchises a handful of billionaire psychopaths at the expense of everyone else?

2023-09-19 10:19:04

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@npub1hpc…hjn3 Much shock! Such surprise!

2023-09-17 13:34:17

Mathematical italic capital h mathematical italic small e mathematical italic small l mathematical italic small l mathematical italic small o.
WTF?
Oh, I just said “Hello” to you in italics.
(That’s similar to what someone who uses a screen reader hears when you use fancy non-alphabetical Unicode characters to simulate italics or boldface on your fediverse posts. So please don’t do that.)
#fediverse #acessibility #a11y #unicode

2023-09-17 12:12:29

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@npub1kzk…k9tq Is next.forgejo.org going to replace codeberg.org or are there two instances now?
Also, does this mean codeberg will stop accepting new projects at some point (soon?)

2023-09-15 08:27:16

It’s not that we’re not doing anything about the climate crisis, we’re just waiting to see if we actually go extinct before acting. No need to rush into these things and accidentally end up improving human welfare for no good reason.
#climateCrisis #shortsighted #humans #anthropocene

2023-09-08 07:30:01

War is Peace
Freedom is Slavery
Privacy Sandbox
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/googles-widely-opposed-ad-platform-the-privacy-sandbox-launches-in-chrome/
#google #chrome #adtech #surveillanceCapitalism #PeopleFarming #surveillance #capitalism #privacy #web #BigTech #SiliconValley

2023-09-03 21:19:56

So the rage.love folks seem lovely; asking for me (apparently “a massive tool”) to be fediblocked because I called Twitter/X a Nazi bar.
Hmm… 🤔
#fediblock
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/111/003/286/424/989/712/original/8f836cef123c1d59.jpeg

2023-09-01 06:36:27

Glad to hear Apple has killed its plans to implement privacy-destroying on-device scan and snitch into its devices (although it will make autocrats like Erdoğan unhappy to hear it because they likely had plans for it).
https://www.wired.com/story/apple-csam-scanning-heat-initiative-letter/
Here’s what I wrote about it at the time:
https://ar.al/2021/08/08/apple-is-trying-to-redefine-what-it-means-to-violate-your-privacy-we-must-not-let-it/
Remember that end-to-end encryption is moot if the ends are already compromised.
#apple #privacy #security #encryption #e2ee #humanRights

2023-08-30 13:51:31

Oh ffs, why do I even look into these things? I think I’m being harsh and then it’s always worse than I thought:
FairPhone has taken venture capital.
https://www.fairphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Crowd-Notification.pdf
They’ve been invested in by, among others, Invest-NL (currently three exits, all IPOs¹) and Quadia (also three exits, all acquisitions²).
I would just like it if for once – fucking once – it wasn’t just about making money.
*sigh*
¹ https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/invest-nl/recent_investments
² https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/quadia/recent_investments
#VentureCapital #VC #FairPhone

2023-08-30 10:08:27

So FairPhone are launching the 5th version of their phone and right there on the page (which I won’t link to):
“All of your favorite Google Apps will be right there with you.”
Nothing like a good bit of fair trade, environmentally-friendly surveillance capitalism, eh?
(I spoke with them when they were just starting out. They fully know and understand what #Google’s business model is. They fully understand what #SurveillanceCapitalism is. This is not an oversight; it’s strategy.)
#FairPhone
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/110/978/014/053/383/285/original/297a45dd39df1603.jpeg

2023-08-23 18:47:20

If the thing you’re making wouldn’t exist if people had to opt in instead of having to opt out, maybe the thing you’re making shouldn’t exist.
#technology #humanRights #consent #respect

2023-08-23 13:32:11

Hi there, if you don’t want me to hit you, please carry this sign that says “please don’t hit me” with you always. Otherwise, I can’t possibly be held responsible if I hit you. Because it’s in my nature to hit you. I can’t live without hitting people. It’s just who I am and what I do. Thank you for your understanding in this delicate matter.
Sincerely,
OpenAI.
#ai #optOut #bullshit

2023-08-23 10:52:30

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@npub1psd…9sr7 @npub12r5…acx7 @npub1zw6…xkku This is true. Here’s hoping DuckDuckGo doesn’t have its exit anytime soon.

2023-08-23 10:44:33

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@npub12r5…acx7 @npub1zw6…xkku @npub1psd…9sr7 I mean, is it really that difficult to use a search engine?

2023-08-23 10:13:19

“Learn Privacy,” a new course from… surveillance capitalist Google.
These people have no shame.
https://web.dev/learn/privacy/
#google #surveillanceCapitalism #peopleFarming #surveillance #capitalism #webDotDev #web #dev #privacy #SiliconValley #BigTech #privacyWashing

2023-08-20 16:29:12

“Nice people made the best Nazis. My mom grew up next to them. They got along, refused to make waves, looked the other way when things got ugly and focused on happier things than “politics.” They were lovely people who turned their heads as their neighbors were dragged away. You know who weren’t nice people? Resisters.”
– Naomi Shulman

2023-08-20 14:06:49

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@npub1d76…897u I understand you’ve done some studies but can you please answer my question: How can you tell which app you’re in by looking at the screen in GNOME?
You see how that’s a fundamental landmark that’s currently missing, right?

2023-08-20 07:24:24

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@npub1d76…897u @npub1uh0…jwxx @npub1mcq…gzj9 Hey Tobias, in that screenshot, what app are you in and how can you find out just by looking at the screen?
(I can’t help but think this is a huge step backwards in terms of usability. Multiple workspaces is a power feature. Knowing which app you’re in, especially when apps themselves don’t even tell you, is basic usability. I simply don’t understand the rationale behind this design choice.)
#landmarks #design

2023-08-16 07:02:03

The latest VC-funded startup: We might be a scorpion but we promise we won’t sting you. Look, we’ve even painted pink hearts on our stinger!
Folks: Aww, hello cute new scorpion! I’ve been stung by every other scorpion that said the same thing but I think the smartest I can do right now is to pet you and hope this time will be different.

2023-08-16 06:10:23

“We rebuilt the Mastodon backend from scratch and made it able to handle Twitter-scale (500M users, 20M writes/second, unbalanced social graph, etc.)”
Congratulations, you reinvented Big Tech.
Did you stop to consider that fediverse (emphasis “diverse”) servers should not be trying to reach “Twitter scale?” That they should be kept small on purpose? That the goal isn’t to recreate Twitter but with some other asshole in charge?
(Of course, it’s a VC-backed startup.)
https://redplanetlabs.com/mastodon-clone

2023-08-15 11:05:12

Elon: It’s called Nazi Town now. The posts are called Zs.
Folks: Ah, Twitter, why can’t I quit you? I guess I should just go and tweet on Twitter now because tweeting is what you do on Twitter and I’m on Twitter, tweeting.

2023-08-13 14:17:35

Everyday there are at least a half a dozen posts that I want to boost but won’t because the images on them don’t have descriptions (“alt-text”) so they exclude people who use screen readers to experience the fediverse.
If I have time, I’ll write/extract the text from an image and reply to the thread. But most times, I just have to favourite and move on.
So come on folks, make it easier for me to boost your stuff and do the right thing by enabling everyone to experience your images and videos.

2023-08-13 07:58:11

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@npub1llz…08cq
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/110/881/247/180/403/995/original/59d06b55e526407f.jpeg

2023-08-07 06:31:12

Whenever you see the words “ads”, “cryptocurrency”, “blockchain”, “web 3”, or “AI”, just replace them with “farts” and you’ll know whether you want them or not.
“Can the fediverse survive without farts?”
Yes, perfectly well.
“Will farts replace people?”
I hope not.
“The European Commission embraces farts.”
That’s unfortunate.
“This new startup wants to improve your life with farts.”
I’m good, thanks.
#SiliconValley #BigTech #farts #buzzword #bullshit #ads #adtech #blockchain #ai #web3

2023-07-29 07:36:33

Neoliberals are the folks you send in to sanitise the place before the fascists move in.

2023-07-19 12:23:08

Basically, what we’re saying to people today is:
You’re interested in tech and you want a nice home (or just any home) and stability? Go work at Google, Facebook, or some other surveillance capitalist.
What’s that? You want to work on free and open source? Sure, go work at IBM or Oracle… Oh… you don’t mean enterprise software? Tech to protect human rights/democracy? Not for profit hippie-dippie crap for the common good?
Oh, then suffer.
I mean, is it any surprise things are as they are?

2023-07-19 12:16:36

You want ethical alternatives? Let’s build a campus where folks can work on them without worrying about how to exist day-to-day (or fund their early-stage development like VC does for surveillance capitalism).
The extent of what public funding is doing today is “Oh, looks like you’ve got some alternative functional, let’s pay you to add Feature X to it.”
Better than nothing?
Sure.
Best we can do?
Not by a longshot.
https://ar.al/2019/11/29/the-future-of-internet-regulation-at-the-european-parliament/
#EU #tech #alternatives #notForProfit #commonGood

2023-07-12 08:19:05

Stop anthropomorphising billionaires.

2023-06-30 17:38:22

Might’ve found the cutest little mochi pillows for my reading nook 🥰
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/110/634/382/248/918/539/original/5d7d2922f64e1a79.jpeg

2023-06-24 11:03:24

If there is even a single gram of truth to this…
Any instance that goes along with such a thing will be lost to surveillance capitalism. I don’t care how large they are or who they are, any instance that becomes Meta’s bitch should be defederated immediately by all others. Let the largest few get swallowed up whole by Silicon Valley if they’re dumb enough to do it. The rest of us will rebuild.
I really hope no one is stupid enough to take Meta up on this if it’s true. https://beach.city/@vantablack/110594120842443355

2023-06-01 09:29:53

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@npub1gzl…kk4u I am, but appreciate your reaching out, thanks :)
One of the downsides of being on Fedora Silverblue is that installing stuff that messes with the operating system at that sort of level is more problematic (not to mention, apparently, that it already has issues with Fedora). Don’t want to sacrifice the stability of my (rather rock solid) system to make a keyboard happy.

2023-06-01 09:18:20

So because I apparently NEED another keyboard, I got a #Razer #Huntsman Mini with the optical linear red switches after touching one in Paris.
(I love my Topre but it can get a bit tiring after a long typing session. Also, I’ve always wanted a 60%)
Anyway, great little #keyboard, crappy proprietary Windows-only software. Used my Windows test machine to map Shift to Hypershift which makes the arrow keys usable.
Then, in #Linux, had to press Fn+menu until the correct profile kicked in.
https://s3-eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/mastodon-aral/media_attachments/files/110/468/203/632/346/511/original/6b8553f4cb998d2c.jpeg

2023-05-28 20:01:26

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@npub1w7m…9wnp Perfect analogy.