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One of the big problems with Facebook is that everyone is on Facebook. I don't really wish that for any platform I use.

Always cracks me up to see articles that make out like the Taliban is somehow worse than many of the Christian evangelical cults you see in the USA.

Speaking of irony...in the early 90s, Apple, IBM's OS/2, and Java were viewed as ways to counter the monopoly of Windows. Even Google's early internet successes were viewed as a victory for freedom of computing. We should have been listening to Stallman, but it was much harder to find counter culture before a ubiquitous internet. Capitalist misdeeds were much easier to hide. Once exposed to a superior OS, the ubiquity of DOS/Windows became easy to question and investigate.

So I just posted a comment on a Facebook post by our NZ Privacy Commissioner bemoaning the privacy threat of the mega multinational tech social media (Google/Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, etc.)... while remaining in complete apparent denial that there's another way - yes, the Fediverse. I posted a comment citing joinmastodon.org ... and Facebook autoblocked the submission of the post... and without explanation of why it was blocked (I also put links to a few Mastodon instances in it).

USB-C is annoying. I thought my laptop dock was failing--the screen blanked out whenever it moved on the hinge and it kept getting worse. I initially blamed a weak wire between the screen and base but on a whim replaced the USB-C cable with a new, higher quality version and all the instability went away instantly.

Study about the impact of open source software & hardware on technological independence, competitiveness and innovation in the EU economy - digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/ "The main breakthrough of the study is the identification of open source as a public good." 390 pages, free download

SOMEONE has gotta be clinking their champagne glasses about the fact that they made the unemployment benefits run out on labor day

Big Tech is the problem, but is antitrust the solution? What about copyright abuse, patent trolling and other shady tactics? Yes! But antitrust is foundational, because monopolies have more to spend on lobbying and less disagreement about how to spend it.

eff.org/deeplinks/2021/08/star

“We are responsible for creating a culture in which we can remain private.”
In conversation with privacy specialist Carissa Véliz
protonmail.com/blog/carissa-ve

EFF Threat Lab's new tool `apkeep` lets you download Android APKs directly from the command-line in either a Linux desktop or Android mobile environment. eff.org/deeplinks/2021/09/intr

Schools should be using #Nextcloud.

At least, that's what the French government thinks!

What do YOU think?
apps.education.fr/

I have started a small fundraiser for a friend that needs mental health support. Any help is welcome and appreciated.

4giving.com/2C8C #funding #peersupport #mentalhealth

Another day where I found myself pointing someone to one of my old Linux Journal articles to help with a task. This time it was an article about VIM macros from 2014: linuxjournal.com/content/retur

@lightweight Didn't easily find a privacy policy on dhis2.org, which I find concerning, especially with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a sponsor.

@lightweight @liamdiprose Just think of a situation where a startup doesn't have to succeed. i.e., remove money from the equation.

Healthy R&D is a relationship of many failures to one success. This is why many of the big tech innovations have come from defense spending. i.e., unlimited budgets.

It's also why the term R&D is a joke at most corporations. Very few are willing to attempt innovation without a production schedule.

Wow. This is what I've been looking for, because it's what we (as a species & civilisation) need! *Open source* digital public infrastructure. Here's an example: the world's most widely used public health software system! dhis2.org - where I found out about this: weforum.org/agenda/2021/08/4-r

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