Post ArTd8OKri5WDuSU4n2 by cpdxdev@fosstodon.org
(DIR) More posts by cpdxdev@fosstodon.org
(DIR) Post #ArTbTv6Ksq3ThfpGcq by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2025-02-25T12:10:09Z
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Was talking with a friend of mine in academia here in Ireland about introducing one of the universities in Dublin to the concept of the Small Web and Small Tech. She asked her faculty if they’d be interested.Their response?“We’re not looking to change things.”I shit you not.(In case you’re wondering why we’re fucked or who exactly is complicit. These are folks that have multi-million euro relationships with Big Tech.)#BigTech #SiliconValley #academia #institutionalCorruption #education #neoliberalism #fascism #SmallTech #SmallWeb #humanRights #democracy
(DIR) Post #ArTcOl7af0xRG3W1po by mray@social.tchncs.de
2025-02-25T12:20:19Z
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@aral I guess the "never change a running system" mentality goes a longer way the further you are from technical understanding of what is actually going on. 🤷♂️
(DIR) Post #ArTchqfAHVjRwlK2uO by holdenweb@freeradical.zone
2025-02-25T12:23:50Z
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@aral I'm sorry to say this kind of thing only works when it comes from the grass roots up. Universities are the Establishment. Continue to evangelise ... but yes, it's disappointing to realise how much energy is wasted stopping things from happening to support vested interests.
(DIR) Post #ArTcm0oIUoKuZnZyxk by Grey@basilisk.gallery
2025-02-25T12:24:23Z
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@aral I dunno if you've seen this trailer for a parody film called Silicon Docks by Graham Jones: https://youtu.be/W5z-kQcyHRM?si=fgzW0jjvX199gRIfIt's the trailer for the longer film mocking American tech giants: https://youtu.be/cG8gwP3kQfE?si=rNhzWwQPvRl3jqddUnfortunately they've definitely got their claws into Ireland as you well know.
(DIR) Post #ArTcqthMMhp9y1fDiS by elsa@rheinneckar.social
2025-02-25T12:25:31Z
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@aral Not being willing to change things is another way of Saying „don’t want to trouble myself.“ I know them too.
(DIR) Post #ArTd3VYBST8Qq1Nvyy by r3vlibre@mastodon.tetaneutral.net
2025-02-25T12:27:27Z
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@aral I remember I discoverd Linux and free software at my university (ULB where FOSDEM happens), for our sections we had a room with DOS-Win3.1 / Linux dual boot, and a Solaris room where I learned emacs and Lisp. I could even phone the lab to get mail from home. When I was about to leave, I heard about renewing stuff with Windows...I am glad I was there in the timeframe that shaped my computer life, but I am sad it shifted. I don't know about today, but comm' is within the corporate medias.
(DIR) Post #ArTd8OKri5WDuSU4n2 by cpdxdev@fosstodon.org
2025-02-25T12:28:41Z
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@aral you’re trying to get them to drop MS office for libre office or something?
(DIR) Post #ArTdQuVWpmAatyInnE by axel@social.glitched.systems
2025-02-25T12:26:14.260Z
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@aral@mastodon.ar.al I constantly run into this same exact attitude here in India too.It is incredibly frustrating as an educator when you get stonewalled with no room for discussion because the people in charge just want to coast along and not actually do anything.
(DIR) Post #ArTdpydkbe6exU6JMG by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2025-02-25T12:36:31Z
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@Grey Hadn’t. To be fair, have zero life to spare to even watching a parody of those assholes.
(DIR) Post #ArTecVKINnRIEV8lHs by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2025-02-25T12:45:13Z
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@joe_vinegar @axel Not sure what you’re on about: they said no to even hearing about it. I was going to give a talk about it to them and see if we could work together on something. The budgetary and time requirement for them was exactly zero. So they should have told me to “fuck off?” Nice. (Don’t worry, they did tell me to fuck off in their own way so the world’s not all bad.) Would it be great to have budget/funding from a higher level? Sure. But take a wild guess what the asshats at the higher level think when they’re in the pocket of Big Tech too. And then in a few years time, they’ll all turn around and cry “buh, why did the fascism happen?”
(DIR) Post #ArTf8DbHp5C2WWD5ii by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2025-02-25T12:51:02Z
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@cpdxdev “introducing one of the universities in Dublin to the concept of the Small Web and Small Tech”Small Web:- https://ar.al/2020/08/07/what-is-the-small-web/- https://ar.al/2024/06/24/small-web-computer-science-colloquium-at-university-of-groningen/Small Tech: - https://small-tech.org/about/#small-technology
(DIR) Post #ArTfmwFdERBMaYUx1c by Grey@basilisk.gallery
2025-02-25T12:58:25Z
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@aral I get it, it's a constant grind fighting them.
(DIR) Post #ArThGSx4pXKGMOSlUW by alx@mastodon.design
2025-02-25T13:14:54Z
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@aral It's especially disheartening when you compare it to how instead they move quickly to change things to use AI in academia and in the classroom.
(DIR) Post #ArTrzhNN30ozfVy8Zs by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2025-02-25T15:15:10Z
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@Grey I’m not even fighting them. Waste of energy. I’m working on something that will hopefully make them irrelevant.
(DIR) Post #ArTzdQRU7oqYPcmeCu by katrinakatrinka@infosec.exchange
2025-02-25T16:40:46Z
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@aral Cost might come into play as big tech has discounts for schools and nonprofits.
(DIR) Post #ArU2oCgXuhv8nFewT2 by aral@mastodon.ar.al
2025-02-25T17:16:22Z
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@katrinakatrinka This wasn’t about procurement. It was about hearing about a different way of doing things. And possible collaborating on research, etc.But yes, they get multi-million euro grants for working with industry. Hence why they’re perfectly fine with technofascism.