#ShowerThoughts: Water is not the fuel of the human body, but the oil.

nostr:npub1ycccmlftetyyqsnv957l0h4pywmtyj8j83a6q3mxc0ma9x79khwsp00l5g

No worries. Anything I have to say on the subject was in the string of 3 posts that kicked off this thread, and the comments I made in the thread that started here:

https://social.wake.st/@liaizon/110323955241348824

It's mind-boggling to listen to a clearly well-educated person for almost an hour, lecturing on a network he clearly knows very little about the history or social structure of. As a consequence, he says very little with a lot of words, and a lot of strawmen die in the process.

Oh, the irony. Because this works just as well in reverse. Being Black is no inoculation against homophobia. So queer people would be no less justified in slamming Flowers minimisation of their harassment as unconscious bigotry, than he is in dismissing their defence of Mastodon as "whiteness".

But where does any of this really get anybody? At no point does any of this pseudo-pomo navel-gazing connect with technical reality. I can't help but be reminded a bit of this:

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/110836037898328214

"'... whiteness is a large problem within the LGBT community. Being queer does not insulate oneself from the inheritance of whiteness. Although one can use one's queerness as a shield from critique. As many Mastadonians have used by presenting the history of Mastodon as grounded in queer folks' attempts to avoid the harrassment on Twitter."

#DrJonathanFlowers

https://techpolicy.press/the-whiteness-of-mastodon

#Mastodon #LGBTQ+

nostr:npub1ycccmlftetyyqsnv957l0h4pywmtyj8j83a6q3mxc0ma9x79khwsp00l5g

Do you have links, so i can read what they said in their own words, in context?

nostr:npub1fgeemwn9zedxdnn32c4mlpnxdp62gwq6vs4q3hx6ehv5jp66ascsq766xk nostr:npub1v7j7dtmgl6a3mhh3mhltcvlpzah8j9kh8scj7759t96mclrld44sehmcl4 nostr:npub1zxn5thzmj2252w9dfyw3n5vcgjrajawp5uvpss3v3wk9m20q6zased7s3u nostr:npub1w0h29g47254sgmjuaza0qj6cmvwd6qs9rffjyt34a4xs37rfu0sskruwua

nostr:npub1ycccmlftetyyqsnv957l0h4pywmtyj8j83a6q3mxc0ma9x79khwsp00l5g

Do you have links, so i can read what they actually said, in context?

nostr:npub1fgeemwn9zedxdnn32c4mlpnxdp62gwq6vs4q3hx6ehv5jp66ascsq766xk nostr:npub1v7j7dtmgl6a3mhh3mhltcvlpzah8j9kh8scj7759t96mclrld44sehmcl4 nostr:npub1zxn5thzmj2252w9dfyw3n5vcgjrajawp5uvpss3v3wk9m20q6zased7s3u nostr:npub1w0h29g47254sgmjuaza0qj6cmvwd6qs9rffjyt34a4xs37rfu0sskruwua

nostr:npub1t5k09uru23emywfl6x4zkrzhkdx0q9v2jnp7d8tgnyzgd5249kas29nd3q

Cory Doctorow just published a book all about the political-economic circumstances that allowed tech companies to get so huge, and get away with rolling out these blatantly exploitative designs:

https://mastodon.nzoss.nz/@strypey/110835983003443964

nostr:npub19xu7l3dzum28386tx9fv2n3699uqwq8wc3l4sy8sjkc67nu938hql9e8yd

nostr:npub1t5k09uru23emywfl6x4zkrzhkdx0q9v2jnp7d8tgnyzgd5249kas29nd3q

> distracted by having alerts appearing or texts or whatever they were, than any of their peers without a smart watch

Sure. But people don't get constantly distracted by ordinary watches. So again, it's not the watch itself that's distracting, but the dark patterns designed into it. For example the ways notifications are turned up to 1000 by default, to grab and monopolise attention. This is the phone-as-slot-machine phenomenon that The Social Dilemma talks about.

nostr:npub19xu7l3dzum28386tx9fv2n3699uqwq8wc3l4sy8sjkc67nu938hql9e8yd

nostr:npub1hcns7myljqlq2g53hfn9h3sl4mx5g3kkvkljwf5tl54tud0ag8dq0yacmj

> I never thought of that song like that

That's another sign of a great song; it supports multiple interpretations. But I reckon the lyrics that I quoted in the next post supports mine ; )

nostr:npub14dlm9lmazz90enz5d6s382ypazq5ltuwcsnw4av37g5r5uh0yfcscj2rjr

> From the outside (i.e. to me) it looks pretty much monolithic. At least compared to XSF

Fair comment. But at the same time, it's not really an apples with apples comparison. Matrix now is where XMPP was when it was still Jabber, before the protocol was standardised by the IETF. I expect MF to become more separate from Element as time goes on, just as the XSF became more separate from the Jabber company.

nostr:npub1fgeemwn9zedxdnn32c4mlpnxdp62gwq6vs4q3hx6ehv5jp66ascsq766xk nostr:npub1v7j7dtmgl6a3mhh3mhltcvlpzah8j9kh8scj7759t96mclrld44sehmcl4 nostr:npub1zxn5thzmj2252w9dfyw3n5vcgjrajawp5uvpss3v3wk9m20q6zased7s3u nostr:npub1w0h29g47254sgmjuaza0qj6cmvwd6qs9rffjyt34a4xs37rfu0sskruwua nostr:npub15a43zxh6pmdl6k0f8lsxt5p9rx8d5pawhee6untdy7t8kw386vps7uqzna

Kia ora nostr:npub1nl98j7g9kxkdh5f3u0cxltk8dl0gwt77kxxmk5wtlmstufjrkkqsk0fh6t, you might be interested in having a chat with nostr:npub1g0ry43689uwqw8rh9xdvdtlygvq0qkp52aeafwykj9jgkqhnyhksgv32x8. He's keen to make use of some Zot features, for an app (currently targeting iThings) to...

> improve reasoning by bringing a more mathematical approach to evaluating content

"These companies rule our digital world. The place where we find one another, form communities, and mobilize in solidarity to take collective action. Winning tech back isn't more important than preventing runaway climate change, or ending gender-based violence and discrimination. But it's hard to imagine how we'll do either, or anything else of significance, without digital infrastructure to hold us together."

#CoryDoctorow, 'The Internet Con', 2023

https://craphound.com/news/2023/08/01/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation-audiobook-outtake/

The result was a top 40 pop hit called 'I'm Only Happy When it Rains'.

"I only smile in the dark

My only comfort is the night gone black

I didn't accidentally tell you that

I'm only happy when it rains

You'll get the message by the time I'm through

When I complain about me and you

I'm only happy when it rains

Pour your misery down

Pour your misery down on me"

(2/2)

Here's an example of why Garbage have grown on me over the years.

I suspect we've all known people who seems to delight only in drama. Who will actively sabotage their own lives - dragging others down with them - seemingly to make sure they've always got something to lament.

When Garbage wrote about this universal annoyance, the song wasn't delivered as an angry rant targeting such people. But rather as an ironic celebration song, from the POV of the drama queens themselves.

(1/2)

#Garbage

Here's an example of why Garbage have grown on me over the years.

I suspect we've all known people who seems to delight only in drama. Who will actively sabotage their own lives - dragging others down with them - seemingly to make sure they've always got something to lament.

When Garbage wrote about this universal annoyance, the song wasn't delivered as an angry rant targeting such people. But rather as an ironic celebration song, from the POV of the drama queens themselves.

(1/2)

#Garbage

"FaceBook decides which news your see and which news you don't. If FB or InstaGram or WhatsApp kicks you off their platform, it can cost you your artistic career... Or contact with your distant family... Microsoft, AirBnB, Uber, LinkedIn, the largest tech firms structure our lives in myriad ways, without regard to our wellbeing, without fear of competition, and largely without regulation. For now."

#CoryDoctorow, 'The Internet Con', 2023

https://craphound.com/news/2023/08/01/the-internet-con-how-to-seize-the-means-of-computation-audiobook-outtake/

#DataFarms #TechPolicy

nostr:npub1u7hj63vqw7ky0jkwvl5wn5zxnnn7euusmzrdqvkva68mu8zdkz6srxv9ne

> Bluesky invite finally came through. Feels very Twitter-esque

In which ways? Good ways? Bad ways?

nostr:npub19xu7l3dzum28386tx9fv2n3699uqwq8wc3l4sy8sjkc67nu938hql9e8yd

> If phones are that bad for school student’s mental health, then they are probably equally bad for everyone’s mental health

Good point. Of course we know better; it's not the phone itself that harms mental health but the addictive apps and surveillance networks DataFarmers are allowed to deliver *using* the phone. See the recent announcement by Goggle that they plan to force everyone with an account to supply a bunch of personal information, then *publish* it 🤦‍♂️

nostr:npub1t5k09uru23emywfl6x4zkrzhkdx0q9v2jnp7d8tgnyzgd5249kas29nd3q

nostr:npub19xu7l3dzum28386tx9fv2n3699uqwq8wc3l4sy8sjkc67nu938hql9e8yd

> Years ago I had my own web server, to be honest I was relieved when I could stop doing that

Fair enough. Websites intended to serve other people create a lot of headaches. Serving a web app for your own use is much simpler. If we all did this, it would be much harder for Goggle etc to block apps like Invidious by targeting a handful of widely used instances.