Old Fucking Punk @lwriemen@librem.one

Philanthropy exists to launder the reputations of the rich.

Just read the draft Generative AI guidelines that China dropped last week. If anything like this ends up becoming law, the US argument that we should tiptoe around regulation 'cos China will beat us will officially become hogwash.
Here are some things that stood out. 🧵

Given the government’s long history of using and abusing incredibly invasive techniques, people in the United States should push for more robust human rights safeguards.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/04/us-deserves-stronger-spyware-protections-bidens-executive-order

Scientists discover that fungi can effectively break down plastic - https://boingboing.net/2023/04/16/scientists-discover-that-fungi-can-effectively-break-down-plastic.html more like this, please...

lol jk 😂

https://dcist.com/story/23/04/12/world-bank-cafeteria-workers-contract-picket-wages/

Tech-obsessed utopian fad-chasers are going to doom us all. First they gave us crypto, which wastes vasts amounts of electricity to facilitate gambling and fraud. Now they've delivered ChatGPT, which wastes vast amounts of water to facilitate the removal of human interaction on the internet. Their stupidity truly knows no bounds, and yet they are convinced they're the smartest cats on the planet. 🤦‍♂️

https://www.businessinsider.com/chatgpt-generative-ai-water-use-environmental-impact-study-2023-4

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-023-01100-0

Excuse me, but how are people calling this a win?

What this 5th Circuit ruling means:

* FDA approval of Mifepristone remains

* Mifepristone cannot be mailed

* Mifepristone can only be dispensed after over 3 doctor visits

1. to administer mifepristone,
2. to administer misoprostol
3. assess any complications

Hope you’re rich and living where you can get three doctor visits in 49 days, ladies!

This feels like the soft crescendo before they remove more of our waning rights.

Was thinking i could maybe also just wire that up to sense the voltage in one of the batteries and to run a relay off that.

Running stuff at lower voltage from a battery in a larger voltage battery bank is something i try to avoid. In this case it feels like it shouldnt be so bad. Its a low draw, the system is only running up in summer months and should regularly be getting a good charge.

Anyone got any thoughts?

#electronics #offgrid #solar

Helping out with some offgrid power stuff on a community farm.

They have a 1kw 72v solar irrigation pump and controller which is designed to run without batteries. It runs when theres enough sun to start the motor.

They attempted to upgrade the system with six nice new 12v lead acid batteries and a 72v charge controller which worked OK for a bit until the low voltage cutout malfunctioned and the batteries got hammered so hard they died.

continued...
#electronics #offgrid #solar

The thing about Twitter is that it really lacks a lot of the features you'd expect from a true Mastodon replacement.

For example, there's no way to edit your toots (which they, confusingly call "tweets"—let's face it, it's a bit of a silly name that's difficult to take seriously).

"Tweets" can't be covered by a content warning. There's no way to let the poster know you like their tweet without also sharing it, and no bookmark feature.

There's no way to set up your own instance, and you're basically stuck on a single instance of Twitter. That means there's no community moderators you can reach out to to quickly resolve issues. Also, you can't de-federate instances with a lot of problematic content.

It also doesn't Integrate with other fediverse platforms, and I couldn't find the option to turn the ads off.

Really, Twitter has made a good start, but it will need to add a lot of additional features before it gets to the point where it becomes a true Mastodon replacement for most users.

#twitter #mastodon #twittermigration

I don't begrudge any writer who wants to keep writing for Substack. Make money however you can do it! But I am tired of people saying that there is nothing scammy or problematic about a publication that hides its financials, hides who it is paying, and then says that we should just trust that it is a neutral platform with no agenda. And on top of that, they now refuse to have any kind of coherent moderation policy.

My friend @afeinman (author of _Duplicate_ , _We Were Gods_, and _Philadelphia Story: Roughskin Magic_) is trying to figure out how to connect with readers of his in-development fiction stories.

Does anyone have words of wisdom on how to most effectively share fiction on Mastodon?

https://social.coop/@afeinman@wandering.shop/110199884213890632

I worked in a nursing home about 18 years ago, and even then, when they had no problem filling positions, the place was still "chronically understaffed." On the weekends, some residents had unanswered call lights on for half an hour or more before someone could check on them. The status quo ante was already bad, now it's even worse. 😡

https://www.politico.com/newsletters/politico-nightly/2023/04/13/the-red-lights-are-flashing-in-our-health-care-system-00092004

It's incredibly disappointing to see people I respect even thinking about replacing Twitter with another centralized company funded by right-wing tech bros.

Audience is the only thing that matters, I guess.

It's not complicated: Clarence Thomas, who shits all over the notion of "Equal Justice Under Law" every time he puts on his robes, took undisclosed bribes from the billionaire whose right-wing policies he's been championing through the court for decades. #SCOTUS #crime #GOP https://www.propublica.org/article/clarence-thomas-harlan-crow-real-estate-scotus

The government *always* exaggerates claims of national security "damage" when something leaks. Always.

It's sad so many news outlets who know better have been uncritically repeating this sky-is-falling rhetoric.

https://theintercept.com/2023/04/13/pentagon-classified-documents-leak/

Join us on May 2nd for a conversation about worker-consumer #multistakeholder #coops.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/owning-together-worker-consumer-co-ops-in-conversation-registration-615930553867

Medical crowdfunders for Britons surge amid record NHS waiting lists - https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/13/medical-crowdfunders-for-britons-surge-amid-record-nhs-waiting-lists-gofundme just what the tories want: destroy #NHS, drive people to private

‘I’m all for climate change’: Axel Springer CEO faces heat over leaked messages - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/13/axel-springer-ceo-mathias-dopfner-leaked-messages-reported what a vile and stupid individual...