Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Every time I see something like this, I hear Gilbert Gottfried's voice in my head shouting "you fools!"

https://gizmodo.com/spotify-execs-bet-people-will-pay-for-ai-music-stock-price-plunges-2000794327

a comic by Smooth Dunk

https://bsky.app/profile/smoothdunk2.bsky.social/post/3mseieqolt22q

How to run a successful AI project

1. Find a well-scoped problem you can solve using boring technology. (You know: Postgres, Python, Java, shell scripts.)
2. Solve said problem the old fashioned way.
3. Find a way to cram a teeny tiny bit of AI into something that's of marginal importance and very low risk, so as to convince management that it's actually an AI project. Flattering their ego and making them feel like they are doing something exciting is an important part of working in technology.

In a world scarred by indiscriminate bombing, forced starvation, and mass displacement, a nameless survivor lies crushed beneath the rubble of a bombing—alive, but barely.
Available now at pmpress.org. Get 20% off with code RUBBLE here: https://pmpress.org/index.php?l=product_detail&p=2154

Donavan McKinney organized health care workers before running for office. Now he has defeated an incumbent in Michigan’s 13th District.

Jake Triola argues unions leave wins on the table by funding politicians instead of building their own candidates.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/voters-trust-union-candidates-labor-democrats

"Dear ELIZA, I need your help! Conversation #1, Hanna Schraffenberger"

https://deareliza.org/post/2026/08/06/11.html

> And I guess that’s part of the problem. We, people, talk to you, and then we forget who — no, what — we’re dealing with. We anthropomorphize and start to see you as a human…

“Coming soon: restroom access for $29.”

In this week’s comic, Jen Sorensen imagines the logical next step for an airline industry that has turned nearly every part of flying into an opportunity for another fee.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/airline-ceos-are-profiting-and-flying-private-jets-comic-jen-sorensen

Fuck my life. My country's social security system is the pits. I got survivors benefits because my abusive mother died. I didn't know social security counts that as extra income. I was getting the maximum amount on SSI. I was approved for survivors benefits but then they lowered my SSI payments because I'd have extra income. I know people don't like it when disabled people get things for free, but I wasn't going out and buying cars with it. Fuck.

> Your new amount will be $125 unless you appeal.

Firstly, that number is way disproportionate to what I was getting before. The fuck? That's a 95% reduction rate! I hate this system. You bet your ass I'll appeal. I'm lawyering up. Why is it okay for a billionaire to hoard multiple houses but I can't hoard an extra, say, $100 monthly? Explain why billionaires are applauded for stashing cash and poor people like me are spat on because we maybe want to stay at home and write Fan fiction. Oh, is it because I'm not working in your myopic view of work? You don't have a clue what living with a disability is like.

News flash. Billionaires don't work either. Billionaires exploit others labor.

If you wanna help,

If you are in the US, my Zelle is kingettr@gmail.com

Other one time ways to give can be found at https://sightlessscribbles.com/tip/

#SocialSecurity

For anyone who was under the mistaken impression that the RAM situation would get better in 2027, I’m afraid I have some bad news:

https://www.digitimes.com.tw/tech/dt/n/shwnws.asp?CnlID=1&id=0000763847_DVY7YHX65GMLYZ6UQEEMP

The article says the memory market is currently undergoing a structural shift. If you’ve been following my posts, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.

The headline roughly translates to:

Memory production for all of 2027 is already sold out. Buyers are keeping quiet because they’re afraid they might not get enough themselves.

According to DigiTimes, the 2027 production capacity of the three major DRAM manufacturers, Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron, has essentially already been allocated.

And China isn’t going to save us either. Even Apple just hit a wall there:

https://www.techpowerup.com/351401/tsmc-sits-on-usd-1-billion-of-apple-chips-as-it-waits-for-dram

This affects both regular DRAM and HBM. The situation with NAND is a little less extreme, but even there, large chunks of 2027 production are already being reserved.

So we’re moving from

“RAM is getting scarce.”

to

“The big customers aren’t buying memory chips anymore. They’re reserving factory capacity years in advance.”

DigiTimes paints a pretty vivid picture: some buyers are deliberately keeping quiet about just how aggressively they’re reserving capacity, because they’re worried that too much attention will bring even more companies into the bidding and leave them with a smaller share.

Memory manufacturers are increasingly signing three- to five-year LTAs, Long-Term Agreements, with their major customers. Large cloud and AI companies use these deals to secure fixed volumes or production capacity. On top of that, manufacturers are sometimes demanding advance payments or deposits to reserve that capacity.

Interesting times ....

Funny how “electability” works. Progressive candidates win, and the pundit class immediately starts asking whether they can really win.

Jonathan Cohn wrote about this racket back in 2019.

Though, frankly, astrology deserves better.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/candidates-electability-is-astrology-for-pundits-2020-campaign

That feeling when you see people get away with only criticising the perceived overreach of those against "AI" but never those promoting it; somehow managing to look "impartial" while making money advising companies on "AI"

You just know they'll come out of the other end of this bubble squeaky clean

One of the downsides of having known a lot of consultants is an intimate familiarity with polished and accomplished dishonesty.

"Oh no, the cigarettes have 'gone rogue' and are causing lung cancer and buying legislation to make themselves legal!!"

Do you hear how ridiculous that sounds?

This is a post about #AI

It took humanity 68 years to install 1TW solar capacity, which we reached in 2022.

It took 2 years to double it to 2TW, which we did in November 2024.

Now a little under 2 years later, we’re at 3TW.

https://e360.yale.edu/digest/three-terawatts-solar

#RenewableEnergy

New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/06/new-mexico-court-meta "Ruling comes as part of second phase of landmark trial that found social media company enabled harm against users"

"When Thiel, Musk, Zuckerberg and Andreessen mine science fiction for blueprints, they are not finding the only possible futures. They are selecting the futures that justify their power."

https://aeon.co/essays/silicon-valley-has-a-science-fiction-problem?ref=life-in-the-21st-century.ghost.io

@ShadowJonathan
Hmm okay, I can only assume Google would just wipe their collective corporate ass with a GDPR Article 17 request ('right to be forgotten') if someone was to issue one over scraped Google Drive documents.

I mean, that'd mean they'd have to retrain their models (from scratch?) without the scraped documents.

ive been looking for this movie for over a decade now, maybe im famous enough for one of my followers to recognize it 🥺

Authenticity Problem

Bonus timelapse: https://www.peppercarrot.com/en/miniFantasyTheater/064.html#bonus

#webcomic #krita #miniFantasyTheater

She draws the picket line, resistance to ICE and life at the border. Her art is journalism and movement work.

This fall, @mollycrabapple joins In These Times as our first-ever Artist-at-Large, in partnership with the Puffin Foundation.

https://inthesetimes.com/article/bund-ice-socialist-molly-crabapple-in-these-times