@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

GhostOnTheHalfShell

@[email protected]

opinionated lurker of the intarwebs.

Used to write code, still do. c/c++, java, php, js, c#, gdscript, gnawed on sql, sparql, unix/windows etc etc billions of years ago.

tech, graphics, anything STEM
anything anthropology, history, linguistics
anything blender, gimp (although i scream using it), audacity
prefers not to be run over by cars

I drink Philz.

I do a (non-monetized) video or so a week on yt.

Tyranny and poverty are everywhere a mainstream economics phenomenon.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. View on remote instance

gerrymcgovern , to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

Apple’s ‘next CEO’ says EU’s right-to-repair laws risk forcing ‘bad decisions’ on product design

John Ternus says firm is on the path to sustainability but debate lacks ‘nuance’
https://www.independent.ie/business/technology/apples-next-ceo-says-eus-right-to-repair-laws-risk-forcing-bad-decisions-on-product-design/a465200648.html

The company that gave us irreparable toxic earbuds talk about bad design.

Apple is on "path to sustainability" like all Big Tech

Big Tech: the wudda shudda cudda saved the environment crowd.

Apple, through its unrelenting greed, tried to kill Right to Repair multiple times.
Greed
Greed
Greed

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@gerrymcgovern

My head set is a $14 pair of JVC wire ear buds. They’re about 7 years old and going strong.

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@gerrymcgovern

There’s also another imperative here: market share drives corporations, it comes from the math governing manufacturing costs. The largest factor is fixed costs (the factory). The more they sell, the lower fixed costs becomes to the capital investment. This motivation can be seen as ‘natural’, in the sense of making the most of any effort. The impulse to efficiency is another dynamic. It drives avarice (market share).

worked out the correct math governing profits

gerrymcgovern , to random
@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

"Degrowth calls for an organized slowing down of society, to minimize harm to humans and other species. Degrowth and post-growth proponents conceive economic growth as a major driver of environmental degradation. Beyond a certain scale, the economy is seen to enter into conflict with ecological life-support systems, the costs of growth accelerate, and environmental conflicts multiply."

https://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(24)00146-5?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS2590332224001465%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@breadandcircuses @Captain_Jack_Sparrow @gerrymcgovern

The economic pathway we’re on needs to go for more than one reason. The common pattern is everywhere. In the US, we face a housing crisis after so many decades of the suburban experiment, but this is coupled urgency of adaptation to the warmer atmosphere. In poorer regions of the world they face existential crises of subsistence (food, water, housing) because of development, and climate adaptation is need is dire

🧵

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@breadandcircuses @Captain_Jack_Sparrow @gerrymcgovern

In the US, cities have begun to change zoning laws, legalizing the flexibility the US had before the 50s, but there’s one more needed ingredient: finance. The mortgage business was engineered to subsidize suburban housing. It’s not capable of financing the unmet demands for housing rework and until finance is available the rework; small business won’t emerge to do the work.

The problems for the global poor are similar.

🧵

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@breadandcircuses @Captain_Jack_Sparrow @gerrymcgovern

but for local finance, they are stuck.

But in rich or poor world, credit is desperately needed to restore ecology regionally and green towns/cities, but also local self sufficiency is necessary for supply chain disruption resilience. Permaculture elements address this.

Finance is obsessed with energy transition, big expensive, industrial scale development; that’s its design. It is unfit for purpose. We need ground level transformation.

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@gerrymcgovern @breadandcircuses @Captain_Jack_Sparrow

We should grasp that the home loan market (big chunk of US economy) was engineered to subsidize suburbia. It was made to power the transformation of the US economy from a war footing. It succeeded wildly for a few decades, but painted the economy into a dysfunctional corner. It will never fund enormous unmet needs.

A new system of finance must be engineered. Cities in the US are in a position to finance; globally something is needed.

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@gerrymcgovern @breadandcircuses @Captain_Jack_Sparrow

It’s more than profit margin; it’s not economically feasible for them; they could not lend like they do without Fannie Mae. Take that away and mortgage structure won’t work.

Finance is engineered to be like it is; without that engineering it also could never extend the credit needed.

The mainstream economists don’t grasp that the basis for their precious US economy is defined by gov policy. We don’t generally.

🧵

arstechnica , to random
@arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

Feds probe Waymo driverless cars hitting parked cars, drifting into traffic

Auto-safety regulator is investigating 22 reports of Waymo cars malfunctioning.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/05/feds-probe-waymo-driverless-cars-hitting-parked-cars-drifting-into-traffic/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
@GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

@arstechnica

Lord above, please end this pestilence.

molly0xfff , to random
@molly0xfff@hachyderm.io avatar

"In 2024, for the first time, it finally feels like we have a critical mass of people and platforms who are interested in rewilding the internet to bring back what we lost, and create something new. ... There's a palpable feeling that this just might be the year of the open web."

is this feeling... hope? https://activitypub.ghost.org/day-0/

At various points we revisited our old idea for networked publishing in Ghost and tested a few prototypes, but we were never sure how to make it scale; nor how many other platforms would ultimately adopt it. For all its promise, ActivityPub (like many open standards) seemed to generate products with user experiences that were often confusing and convoluted. But something else happened in the intervening period between 2016 and 2024: People became increasingly fed up with the behavior of centralized platforms, and increasingly hungry for alternatives. The motivation for exploring and understanding new technologies, rough edges included, meaningfully increased. In 2024, for the first time, it finally feels like we have a critical mass of people and platforms who are interested in rewilding the internet to bring back what we lost, and create something new. In the past week alone, we've had conversations with Mastodon, Flipboard, The Verge, Buttondown, WriteFreely, and several co-authors of the ActivityPub spec. There's a palpable feeling that this just might be the year of [begin strikethrough] the linux desktop [end strikethrough] the open web.
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    • GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @molly0xfff

    Question: if W3C governs ActivityPub, can they wreck it?

    nixCraft , to random
    @nixCraft@mastodon.social avatar

    This is funny. OpenAI, who scraped the entire internet to build its product, is now enforcing copyright via notices. They still don’t give credit for stealing content from everyone, yet now acting like holier-than-thou https://www.reddit.com/r/ChatGPT/comments/1cnvyzp/

    Hello Mods, We have received a copyright complaint from openai.com alleging unauthorized use of their copyrighted logos in r/ChatGPT. The "subreddit profile image" does make use of the copyrighted content, which can lead to user confusion: please address the unauthorized copyrighted elements by May 16, following the steps below: Remove the copyrighted image from the subreddit profile. Reply to this message to confirm that the requested changes have been completed.
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    • GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @nixCraft

    This is like the enclosure of the past. The freaks are hijacking the commons, stealing everyone’s work for their own fucking profit.

    gerrymcgovern , to random
    @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

    "Mining, big agribusiness, and the fossil fuel sectors have unleashed an astronomical spate of attacks on human rights defenders (HRDs) throughout 2023. Crucially, perpetrators linked to companies and projects in these sectors account for the majority of over 600 attacks across the course of the year.

    This is according to a new damning report by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC)."

    https://www.thecanary.co/global/world-news/2024/05/07/human-rights-defenders-attacks-2023/

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @gerrymcgovern

    Climate denial is a murder project

    jensorensen , to random
    @jensorensen@mastodon.social avatar

    Latest comic: Where's the crisis?

    (Drawn before events of last week, but still relevant!)

    WHERE'S THE CRISIS? 1. Palestinian family with hungry children among ruins TWO MILLION GAZANS ON THE BRINK OF FAMINE AFTER THEIR ENTIRE SOCIETY HAS BEEN DESTROYED - MAJOR CRISIS 2. PEACEFUL ENCAMPMENT RESPONDING TO THIS CRISIS Student encampment with protest signs CEASEFIRE NOW and JEWISH STUDENTS FOR PALESTINE NOT A CRISIS 3. COLLEGE ADMINISTRATORS CORRUPTED ВУ RIGHT-WING DONORS AND ACTIVISTS Executive guy to college president: CALL THE COPS ON YOUR STUDENTS OR WE'LL DEFUND THE SCHOOL AND HAVE YOU FIRED. ACTUAL CRISIS 4. NEWS ORGS DEMONIZING PROTESTERS TRYING TO END ATROCITIES News anchors: OUR TOP STORY TODAY: AMERICA'S COLLEGE CAMPUSES IN CRISIS! ALSO, RAFAH WAS FLATTENED TODAY. NOW LIVE TO COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY! A NEVER-ENDING CRISIS
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    • + demofox
    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @jensorensen

    they are not on the brink. famine is underway.

    w7voa , to random
    @w7voa@journa.host avatar

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his government has voted unanimously to shut down the local offices of Qatar-owned broadcaster Al Jazeera. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/5/5/netanyahu-government-votes-to-close-al-jazeera-channel-in-israel

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @w7voa @potus

    and the WH position on the annihilation of the free press?

    Where are those precious shared values Joe “Neville Chamberlain” Biden? How’s bipartisanship with fascism working out for you and any of us?

    gerrymcgovern , to random
    @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

    “As a society, we have to admit that, despite 50 years of knowledge about the dynamics of the collapse of our life support systems, we have failed to initiate a systematic change to prevent this collapse. It is becoming increasingly clear that, despite technological advances, the change needed to put us on a different trajectory will also require a change in belief systems, mindsets, and the way we organize our society.”

    https://tomdispatch.com/eco-collapse-hasnt-happened-yet-but-you-can-see-it-coming/

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @gerrymcgovern

    which we? I’d go with Roger Hallam on this, a specific set of people keep us in a trajectory of mass death. Treat it as a murder project, no different than the mass killings of Lebensraum.

    aral , to random
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Opposing genocide is antisemitism.

    – 2024

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @aral

    And famine was unavoidable… a month ago.

    “ Some observers estimate that the real death toll may be 100,000, or 4.5% of the pre-war population. That is about the percentage of the non-Russian European population killed by Nazi Germany 1933-1945 (17 million out of about 400 million).”

    https://www.juancole.com/2024/04/unavoidable-exponential-outpacing.html

    junesim63 , to random
    @junesim63@mstdn.social avatar

    "So two things are being asserted:

    1. Famine in Gaza is now unavoidable and will kill many civilian noncombatants even if more food aid starts getting in now.

    2. The responsibility for this starvation of children, women and noncombatant males lies squarely with Israel, which is obstructing food aid deliveries"

    Conclusions of a memo to Anthony Blinken from US State Dept officials seen by foreign policy journalist Colum Lynch.

    https://www.juancole.com/2024/04/unavoidable-exponential-outpacing.html

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @junesim63

    It was never about speed running 9/11 as officials said they were trying to dissuade them from. The far right government had and has entirely different goals.

    https://youtu.be/A-4zVfLwVb4

    aral , to random
    @aral@mastodon.ar.al avatar

    EU leaving Fediverse (Mastodon & PeerTube) because no one wants to operate the servers

    “In recent years, a total of 40 institutions have opened an account with EU Voice, including the EU Data Protection Supervisor, the European Court of Justice and the EU Commission. The video platform, on the other hand, was used by six institutions … the EU institutions were thus the largest group of public institutions in the Fediverse worldwide.”

    https://netzpolitik.org/2024/mastodon-und-peertube-eu-macht-fediverse-dicht-weil-niemand-die-server-betreiben-will/

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @aral

    What social media will they use then? Threads, X and YouTube?

    gerrymcgovern , to random
    @gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green avatar

    "The capitalist world system will likely confront unprecedented “polycrisis” events by the early 2030s – referring to mutually amplifying shocks across the domains of political economy, climate, energy, food, and geopolitics. If left-green movements remain weak in this conjuncture, then dominant responses like today will continue to prioritise short-termist energy and food security strategies that perpetuate ecologically damaging practices."

    https://theecologist.org/2024/apr/25/polycrisis-ecosocialism

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @gerrymcgovern

    The problem here is investment and operation of modernity relies on a relatively stable moderate environment. Investment and returns for large scale infrastructure, bridges, dams, roads, ports, factories all require stable operating environment. Climate change blows the doors off stability. It also constantly assaults existing productive capacity.

    It erodes the capital base, and kills its expansion. Without growth, this economic order dies in crisis.

    indivisibleteam , to random
    @indivisibleteam@mastodon.social avatar

    If you’ve been waiting to get involved in this election, today is a good day to join the organizing that’s happening to defeat Trump once and for all: https://act.indivisible.org/survey/majority_over_maga_signup?source=mastodon&medium=directpost

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @indivisibleteam

    See, this is finally truth in advertising. Political assassinations, A-OK.

    And most conservatives openly embrace it. Act accordingly to people who have no issue with murder.

    djlink , to random
    @djlink@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

    these jokes write themselves

    Bike fall meme

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @djlink

    https://youtu.be/4M6lrhuiPv0

    arstechnica , to random
    @arstechnica@mastodon.social avatar

    You can now buy a flame-throwing robot dog for under $10,000

    Thermonator, the first "flamethrower-wielding robot dog," is completely legal in 48 US states.

    https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/you-can-now-buy-a-flame-throwing-robot-dog-for-under-10000/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @arstechnica

    I can imagine people walking that in a park.

    joshuaphilll , to random
    @joshuaphilll@spore.social avatar

    I'm a Jew who's been afraid at Palestine protests.

    Then, I learned more. I learned that I didn't know what people were chanting. I learned there was a lot to unlearn.

    Then I decided I don't want my identity used to shield a genocidal apartheid state.

    https://www.jphilll.com/p/being-afraid-does-not-mean-youre

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @RememberUsAlways @joshuaphilll

    Do they teach you about following the commandments? Here I am thinking of the 9th.

    w7voa , to random
    @w7voa@journa.host avatar

    Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant today. Blinken “discussed efforts to protect Israel’s security and negotiations to secure the release of hostages, enable an immediate ceasefire, and increase the flow of life-saving humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza. The Secretary also underscored the importance of measures to de-escalate tensions in the region.” - State Department

    GhostOnTheHalfShell ,
    @GhostOnTheHalfShell@masto.ai avatar

    @w7voa

    Israel’s government is not interested in a ceasefire or the hostages.

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