I realize it's blasphemy to say it around here, but I am still not too comfortable with the idea of a world where only nazis and fascists get to platform each other on one of the larger social media networks on the planet. What happens if Twitter doesn't die, but in fact, gets subsidized by sovereigns and elites who are more than happy to have a one way information channel keeping billons of the little people busy. I worry.
I spoke to Ruchira at @VICE about sensitivity reading and how the #RoaldDahl thing is more nuanced than reports suggest
What Sensitivity Readers Actually Do, From a Professional
https://www.vice.com/en/article/pkg7kn/sensitivity-reader-profession-explained-roald-dahl-edits
TIL that one of Germany’s biggest supermarket chains will stop producing printed marketing flyers this year. Their main argument is the climate and the numbers are insane:
Yearly savings:
- 390.000 m3 of wood
- 70.000 tons of CO2
- 380.000.000 kWh of energy
It’s the CO2 equivalent of roughly 60.000 ICE cars and the energy could power 100.000 4-person households for a year 🤯
https://www.rewe.de/nachhaltigkeit/unsere-ziele/projekte/klimaschutz/papierlos/
Don't forget to change your DNA after this breach. https://www.rawstory.com/millions-of-dna-tests-leaked-after-hackers-breach-company-s-forgotten-database/
i hope, though, that this exponential flood of inhuman content will finally make it impossible not to see that we all have inherent value regardless of what we produce or consume.
care about the world because caring matters. make art because it matters. *you* matter. each of us contains infinities the machines will never understand. don’t let them try to tell you that you can be replaced; you can’t. none of us can.
always ask yourself who benefits from your apathy, your overwhelm, your exhaustion, your loneliness.
Twitter: "Hi, we're run by a cryptofascist who reinstates the accounts of literal nazis while suspending those of press. We'll keep randomly taking away features with no notice and limiting your visibility until you pay us a monthly fee, which you can only do in a handful of countries. Vaccines are bad, the election was rigged, and we love Putin!"
Mastodon: "Hi! You need to choose a server and our DM UX is a little iffy."
Users: "NEVER BEFORE HAVE I FACED A CHOICE THIS HARD"
Everyone in Japan wears masks voluntarily. Why?
In 1918, Japan put a lot of effort into educating the public, providing masks for free, and mandating them in public spaces. They continued to do so, even when places like the US stopped.
The result? Long-term behavioral change.
What Japan did in 1918 was so effective in changing long-term behavior that 100 years later everyone in Japan wears masks voluntarily despite there being no mandates these days.
https://www.gavi.org/vaccineswork/100-years-and-counting-mask-wearing-japan
Ok, so there is much discussion about the alt text on pictures. My mom is legally blind. As she has gotten older her sight is almost gone. She LIVES on the computer and to say she gets excited when special attention is paid for the blind is a great understatement. Please use alt text and describe the pictures you post. Describe it as if you had your eyes closed and the only link to the outside world is what a kind soul took an extra 5 minutes to type. Come on, do it, make someone’s day.#AltText
The Onion is on a roll. https://www.theonion.com/evangelical-leaders-announce-j-k-rowling-finally-bigot-1850129128
Today's previously unheard sentence: "Ladybirds are riddled with venereal disease" #Biocontrol #IntegratedPestManagement
There is big conservation news coming out of Scotland today.
The government has adopted new planning rules, known as National Planning Framework 4, which will ensure that *NO* development will be supported if it impacts ancient woodland & ancient & veteran trees across the country.
The new rules have come into force with immediate effect.
These habitats are irreplaceable, so it's a landmark step in the fight against climate & nature emergencies.
Born at 341 ppm (https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/carbon-footprint-calculator/carbon-by-birth-year/)
Apparently a collection of hastags in a trenchcoat. #Botany #Entomology #Ecology #Weeds #PavementPlants #Permaculture #Sustainability #Composting #NoDig #Hiking #Cycling #RightToRoam #SlowTravel #FlightFree #CarFree #Bushcraft #Foraging #WildFood #PlantBased #AncestralSkills #Cordage #FibreCraft #Knitting #OpenSource #OpenAccess #SolarPunk #coops #unions #RightToRepair