Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Which email client is better, Claws or Thunderbird, and why?

If there is another client that is better than either, what is it? And why?

The science is clear: to stabilize climate, we have to phase out fossil fuels.

Yet in the latest draft of the #COP28 Global Stocktake, that phrase has been removed. Instead, it calls for "abatement" of coal and "reducing both consumption and production of fossil fuels" -- and that's not enough.

For that reason, I've joined over 2000 CEOs, investors, NGOs, health professionals, scientists, youth, and faith leaders to sign this letter, which calls for:

1. An orderly phase out of all fossil fuels in a just & equitable way

2. A price on carbon and tripling investments for renewable energy

3. A halt and reversal of deforestation, land degradation & other ecosystem loss by 2030; safeguarding the territories of indigenous peoples; ensuring resilient food systems; and a strong global goal on adaptation

Read the letter here: https://bteam.org/our-thinking/news/statement-the-transformation-is-unstoppable

It’s time for world leaders to prove which side of history they are on--because #LaterIsTooLate.

Reason #3 your agency should release its software as open source: Open source is more secure than closed-source software. An authority no less than the Department of Defense calls for publishing government software openly, having found that it's more secure than keeping the source closed. I love the directness of this bit of their FAQ:

Q: Doesn’t hiding source code automatically make software more secure?

A: No. https://dodcio.defense.gov/Open-Source-Software-FAQ/#q-doesnt-hiding-source-code-automatically-make-software-more-secure

@waldoj *cough* I feel that Tax payers money should go to public code. While this is a European campaign by @fsfe #PublicMoneyPulicCode it's something that all governments should do.

https://publiccode.eu/en/

Open Source (FOSS) is an important democratic tool. The public need to be able to verify the code than our democratic systems run on. Otherwise we cannot claim that the systems serve democracy.

Is it required to own an apple or google controlled mobile phone device in order to participate in contemporary society?

98% of the time I don't want generative AI. The 2% of the time that I want generative AI to augment a workflow I have, I want it running on my own machine against my own data and not being used in a way where it's just funneling more money upwards and further commoditizing human creativity. Can those things exist together? It feels like it, to me. AI is statistics. I don't think the answer is "don't use any statistics in programming". But I so often relate to anti-AI sentiment that I see.

More enshitification. DropBox adds to the OpenAI data vacuum all your files unless you opt out. Having the pipe is one thing. Having it be opt out and not even telling users about it makes me furious. Their cover story that it is only being enabled for people in their alpha/beta testing program is BS too. I just double checked and I have "Early Access" turned off. I have no idea if I accidentally triggered a file dump to them with results from a file search because nothing in my UI was indicative of when/if they used AI. Fucking clowns. Time to start looking for another provider... #dropbox #VultureCapitalism #enshitifcation #OpenAI
Dropbox spooks users by sending data to OpenAI for AI search features

So cool that @apereo uses #Libre BigBlueButton (and not Zoom or MS Teams) for its conferences & symposia!

It's a rare, but very heartening, example of an organisation that makes a point of using technologies consistent with its mission.

If you haven't used it, https://bigbluebutton.org is superb. And you can host it yourselves if you want (we do)!

In 1998, Rita Hester, a transgender woman, was murdered in her apartment in Allston, MA.

The case was never solved.

Hester's murder inspired Transgender Day of Remembrance, an annual vigil.

For Hester’s family and LGBTQ+ people in Boston and across the world, her murder also represents the disregard police and media show for Black trans murder victims, the unsolved case casting a long shadow on Boston detectives.

https://youtu.be/MjaKfFUIpQo?si=mWG7WxW4M3LCNpfO @gbhnews

Earlier this year, backlash from media outlets and press freedom advocates killed a Florida bill to help the powerful bankrupt their critics with litigation. It’s time to do it again. https://freedom.press/news/florida-lawmaker-renews-attack-on-the-free-press/

On Friday (12/15) at 7 PM, @subMedia's 20-year screening tour is stopping at Iffy Books. Come out if you can! It's at our new location: 404 S. 20th St., PHL https://iffybooks.net/event/submedia-dec-15

> Join the subMedia crew this December as we celebrate two decades cranking out anarchist propaganda. That’s right, subMedia has finally made it through its angsty teenager years. Before you know it, we’ll be setting riot porn to soft jazz! So before that happens and to mark this auspicious milestone, we’re throwing a series of screening events in select cities. A riot porn jamboree, if you will – culminating in a livestream screening party, where current and former crew members will be on hand to introduce some of our favourite videos, shoot the shit, and answer all your most burning questions.

> So grab some popcorn, a crowbar and a gasmask to celebrate the way only subMedia can… with a two hour cavalcade of riot porn, direct from our projector to your eyeballs.

A rare but welcome example of the federal government saying no to Elon Musk's endless grifting off the US taxpayer: https://www.reuters.com/technology/space/us-agency-will-not-reinstate-900-mln-subsidy-spacex-starlink-unit-2023-12-13/

This looks like a clear case of using AI to do plagiarism. I hope the companies whose work is being lifted sue the site out of existence. https://www.semafor.com/article/12/10/2023/a-financial-news-site-uses-ai-to-copy-competitors-wholesale

The year is 2003, and I’ve just made one of the most consequential decisions of my life. To throw away any chances at a respectable career in the film industry, and dedicate my skills to spreading that most amazing philosophy of liberation... #Anarchism! Yep, it’s been 20 years since I steered @subMedia into the creation of anarchist films, movement support videos, and lot’s and lot’s of #RiotPorn. It’s been 4 years since I left the collective, but the good folks running the shop are doing multiple events this month to celebrate this milestone. So big ups to the submedia crew for keeping the flame of anarchist films alive, and a shoutout to all the freedom fighters who kept us inspired throughout these two decades.

https://itsgoingdown.org/the-two-decades-of-subversion-riot-porn-jamboree/

Wow. https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/504617/us-edtech-deeply-embedded-in-nz-school-system-with-discounted-prices-additional-benefits Seems our Min of Ed is entirely unaccountable in their tech decisions. Their position is fundamentally negligent and cavalier in the extreme in my opinion. This should be a major scandal within the gov't.

NOT NEWS: Stanford epidemiologist who wrote 324 papers from 2020-2022 expresses grave concern about the proliferation of "extremely productive authors" who wrote a mere 180 or more papers during the same period, suspects fraud is at play, blames global South.

NEWS: Nature sees fit to cover it.

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-03865-y

Media Nation (dankennedy-dot-net), which I've been writing since 2005, is a free source of news and commentary about #journalism, #LocalNews and more. I hope you'll consider becoming a supporter for $5 a month by clicking here: https://patreon.com/dankennedy

American pharmacies are handing private information about their customers over to the police without even a warrant. Contempt for privacy -- with potential "criminal" consequences in anti-abortion states -- has never been more blatant, or dangerous.

As usual, Congress can't be bothered to give a damn.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/12/23998869/cvs-kroger-and-rite-aid-will-hand-over-your-medical-data-to-the-police-without-a-warrant

Tune in this Thursday and Friday, Dec 14 & 15 to Unsettling Genealogies 2, a two-evening online symposium hosted by Michigan State University | a second annual Leslie Chair's Meeting on American Indian literature, art, and social justice. #SelfIndigenization #Pretendianism Zoom Registration:
https://bit.ly/3tRDgWV

Powley, Rights Recognition, and the Rise of “Métis Denialism”: A Response to First Nations’ Calls for Accountability #Metis #Indigenous rights
https://yellowheadinstitute.org/2023/12/07/metis-response-to-first-nations-calls-for-accountability/