Ursula K. Le Guin on "technology"
"Technology is the active human interface with the material world.
But the word is consistently misused to mean only the enormously complex and specialised technologies of the past few decades, supported by massive exploitation both of natural and human resources.
This is not an acceptable use of the word. "Technology" and "hi tech" are not synonymous, and a technology that isn't "hi," isn't necessarily "low" in any meaningful sense.
We have been so desensitized by a hundred and fifty years of ceaselessly expanding technical prowess that we think nothing less complex and showy than a computer or a jet bomber deserves to be called "technology " at all. As if linen were the same thing as flax β as if paper, ink, wheels, knives, clocks, chairs, aspirin pills, were natural objects, born with us like our teeth and fingers -- as if steel saucepans with copper bottoms and fleece vests spun from recycled glass grew on trees, and we just picked them when they were ripe..."
Some Fediverse alternatives to "big tech" social media:
Twitter β‘οΈ @Mastodon
Instagram β‘οΈ @pixelfed
YouTube β‘οΈ @peertube
Twitch β‘οΈ @owncast
Goodreads β‘οΈ @bookwyrm
Facebook Groups β‘οΈ @mobilizon
Medium β‘οΈ @writefreely
You don't need an account on all of these in order to interact with them.
Because they all use the ActivityPub open protocol, you can (for example) use a Mastodon account to follow someone on PixelFed or vice versa. That's why they are collectively known as the Fediverse, because they federate together at a technical level.
Also, this is an incomplete list, there are many other Fedi projects out there such as @funkwhale or @inventaire that are not direct alternatives but are their own thing.
Here's one of our coolest referents, the Telekommunist Manifesto by Dmytri Kleiner.
"Software development & immaterial cultural production aren't enough against exploitation or unfair distribution of assets. Only self-organization of production by workers can."
Just Delete Me, a site which lists hundreds of services with links to delete your accounts with them!
Uspol
SHOP SAFE has passed the House. If it passes the Senate, it will become extremely difficult for individuals and small businesses to sell anything online in the US.
It seems to me that weβre headed toward a future in which thereβs the government-sanctioned Internet dominated by multi-billion-dollar corporations, and then thereβs the place the rest of us hang out, using Tor and peer to peer software.
Immune cell 3D movie (microscopy not cartoon)
I promised @twistylittlepassages this movie, but it's soooooo cool, I figured I'd invite you all.
These are live immune cells (macrophages possibly but it doesn't say) in a zebrafish, eating fluorescent sugar molecules as a simulation of how they clean up bacteria. This is a great peek into how much energy is involved in keeping us healthy. If you have an active infection you can imagine how much ATP that consumes.
Happy "I Love Free Software" Day, my friends. Spread the love.
#FSFE
Detroit Haskells Harder