Jules @afewbugs@librem.one

I think it's important to spell out exactly what's happening with Twitter layoffs because there's so much euphemism in US press when it comes to actions of the rich that it's easy to miss.
1. Musk couldn't afford Twitter so he took out $13bln in loans
2. When you're rich, you can "buy" a business with loans and the make the business pay back your loan for you
3. Twitter now has $1bln/year in new expenses paying those loans
4. Musk is taking people's salaries and using them to pay off his loan

Gove’s defence of UK coalmine dismissed as ‘greenwashing nonsense’ - Head of offsetting standard rubbishes minister’s claim of Cumbrian mine’s carbon neutrality as ‘absurd’Michael Gove’s justification for approving the UK’s first coalmine in three decades is “obviously nonsense” and has no climate justification, according to the carbon offsetting standard whose... #theguardian

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/13/gove-defence-of-uk-coalmine-dismissed-as-greenwashing-nonsense

A coffee mug left behind in the abandoned Homer Research Labs, a top-secret facility that tested Bethlehem Steel's metal
Gallery: https://www.abandonedamerica.us/homer-research-laboratories

#art #industry #abandoned #photography

I've just published my first ever blog: "The Tragedy of the Non-Commons"

I wrote it in July, frustrated by a Twitter thread about how the Tragedy of the #Commons continues to be taught at universities. I then left it (it's somewhat experiemental) but with #COP27 and #Twittermigration coinciding this week, I just wanted it to be out there. Would love for it to be shared here on our #digitalcommons and grateful for any comments

https://medium.com/@p.vonhellermann/the-tragedy-of-the-non-commons-4bfad884cdbe

December 12.
Why snow is white

Bavarian folktale. In the beginning snow didn't have color. The Creator told snow to go and borrow any color it'd like. Snow went around asking all the flowers - roses, violets, tulips - but none would share their color.

In the end a small, shy flower offered to share her white color. Ever since, snow has been white, and it doesn't bother snowdrops at all.

#GentleFolktales #folktales #folklore #AdventCalendar #storytelling #winter

"Lensa’s fetish for Asian women is so strong that I got female nudes and sexualized poses even when I directed the app to generate avatars of me as a male."

Brilliant story from Melissa Heikkilä at Technology Review about how portrait-making AI Lensa -- which uses stable diffusion -- created sexualized drawings when prompted with photos of the author, who is an Asian woman.

https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/12/1064751/the-viral-ai-avatar-app-lensa-undressed-me-without-my-consent/

“You can find us anywhere you get your podcasts.”

I *adore* this phrase, because it has been like two whole-ass decades and not one single venture capital darling has managed to unseat plain RSS as the distribution method for podcasts. Not one. (And they have really tried!)

Podcasts are just out there, like air. You don’t go to one place to get them; you get them from everywhere and anywhere. You can choose how you want to engage with them and manage them and it is legitimately heartwarming that nothing has ever gotten in the way of that being a fundamental fact.

This is the best of what the web is. It will never have a stock ticker or even a marketing scheme. Most people don’t even know it is there. But it endures (past the many, many attempts by squillionaire corporates to kill it) because of its absolute unshakable utility.

My suggestion: any time you hear “anywhere you get your podcasts”, send a little thanks to RSS for keeping the real web alive.

#RSS #Podcasts #ProtocolsNotProducts

Folks, I'm an editor at #Conservation Biology and we are actively soliciting research papers that focus on "Diversifying Conservation" We want to create a special issue highlighting research from diverse voices, research that highlights #diversity (broadly defined) in conservation, and submissions that may be centered in non-western epistemologies. Abstracts due mid Feb, with research papers at the end of March. Hit me up for more details

@malwaretech

I'm happy to announce we have this new article in Nature, discussing policies and challenges for a just transition. "Degrowth can work - here's how science can help": https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-022-04412-x