Posts by ajsadauskas@aus.social
(DIR) Post #AY3JHTRV6OxVAh0pQu by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-07-25T10:25:00Z
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So Elon's a "visionary" who wants to turn X into a single website where you can do everything — kinda like Yahoo!He wants his new MySpaceX portal to be a website...Where you can message people: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_MessengerWhere you can stream audio: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadcast.comWhere you can stream videos: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_ScreenWhere you can create social media posts: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_360%C2%B0Where you can manage your finances: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_FinanceWhere you can share photos: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_PhotosWhere you can earn money publishing content: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_Publisher_NetworkWhere you can find a job: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_HotJobsWhere you can buy and sell stuff: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yahoo!_AuctionsYes, ladies and gentlemen, this truly is a vision for the future — if by "the future" you mean 1997.#tech #technology #twitter #X #musk #ElonMusk @technology #yahoo
(DIR) Post #AZtiysB7WtOR59QuY4 by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-09-18T14:02:52Z
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I wonder how Google's plans to develop a messaging and communications platform it consistently supports are coming along...Oh wait...https://www.theverge.com/2023/9/18/23878449/google-nest-hub-max-end-support-meet-zoom#technology @technology #tech #google
(DIR) Post #AZuN01p39g1NRsDQNk by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-09-18T23:11:35Z
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Looks like there might be yet another mass-migration wave from Twitter to Mastodon on the way...https://www.thefader.com/2023/09/18/elon-musk-pay-for-twitter#twitter #tech #technology @technology #X #fediverse
(DIR) Post #Aa2UN44DVXrU7ZkBay by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-09-14T07:33:03Z
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Right now, could you prepare a slice of toast with zero embodied carbon emissions?Since at least the 2000s, big polluters have tried to frame carbon emissions as an issue to be solved through the purchasing choices of individual consumers.Solving climate change, we've been told, is not a matter of public policy or infrastructure. Instead, it's about convincing individual consumers to reduce their "carbon footprint" (a term coined by BP: https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/aug/23/big-oil-coined-carbon-footprints-to-blame-us-for-their-greed-keep-them-on-the-hook).Yet, right now, millions of people couldn't prepare a slice of toast without causing carbon emissions, even if they wanted to.In many low-density single-use-zoned suburbs, the only realistic option for getting to the store to get a loaf of bread is to drive. The power coming out of the mains includes energy from coal or gas.But. Even if they invested in solar panels, and an inverter, and a battery system, and only used an electric toaster, and baked the loaf themselves in an electric oven, and walked/cycled/drove an EV to the store to get flour and yeast, there are still embodied carbon emissions in that loaf of bread.Just think about the diesel powered trucks used to transport the grains and packaging to the flour factory, the energy used to power the milling equipment, and the diesel fuel used to transport that flour to the store.Basically, unless you go completely off grid and grow your own organic wheat, your zero emissions toast just ain't happening.And that's for the most basic of food products!Unless we get the infrastructure in place to move to a 100% renewables and storage grid, and use it to power fully electric freight rail and zero emissions passenger transport, pretty much all of our decarbonisation efforts are non-starters.This is fundamentally an infrastructure and public policy problem, not a problem of individual consumer choice.#ClimateChange #urbanism #infrastructure #energy #grid #politics #power @green
(DIR) Post #Aa5v3dWBGxEcW1fEQq by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-09-24T10:42:52Z
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Elon lied about the monkeys — and he shouldn't be trusted to put his Neuralink chips in human brains."They are claiming they are going to put a safe device on the market, and that's why you should invest," Ryan Merkley at the Physicians Committee, told Wired. "And we see his lie as a way to whitewash what happened in these exploratory studies."Really heartbreaking reading what happened to the monkeys. People quite rightly think of Elizabeth Holmes as a fraud for making false medical claims about what the Theranos machines could do. So why aren't Elon's claims at Neuralink being held to the same level of scrutiny?https://futurism.com/neoscope/terrible-things-monkeys-neuralink-implants@technology #Elon #Neuralink #ElonMusk
(DIR) Post #AbEfKEkd0W4aWCTPBQ by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-10-28T04:41:16Z
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@JoshuaHolland Michael Moore captured the scale of the protests in the music video he directed for the System of a Down song Boom. It's worth watching as a reminder of just how big and global those protests were:https://youtu.be/bE2r7r7VVic?si=JhWxoKLzlKq-CqdsWhat's a little disheartening now is how many of the talking heads who were cheerleaders for this war are still around, especially in the Murdoch/Fox News media.The likes of Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson (then on CNN), Wolf Blitzer, were all big proponents. Likewise, Andrew Bolt in Australia.Most have not acknowledged the long-term consequences of invading Iraq and Afghanistan, or their role in it.Countless people were killed in Iraq and Afghanistan. And for what?Iran ended up being the big winner of regime change in Iraq. It would not be anywhere near as powerful as it is today if not for the Iraq war.The emergence of Isis was a direct consequence of the Iraq invasion.Meanwhile, the Taliban is still in power in Afghanistan.And once it became apparent how big a screw-up it was, Dubya pushed the Palestinian Authority for elections in Gaza to get "a quick win" in the Middle East.Hamas won those elections. We can see how well that worked out in the long term.Those long-term consequences still haven't fully played out yet.All this to secure access to oil, at a time when we already knew that burning fossil fuels causes more frequent and severe bushfires, heatwaves, droughts, floods, and forest fires.And the most disheartening thing has been the lack of any reckoning or serious institutional introspection over it all.
(DIR) Post #AbkrY2Al8TurUMyZ1s by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-11-11T03:30:35Z
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Elon's "extremely hardcore" toxic work culture means people are forced to take Adderall without a prescription to meet their workload. Just ask SpaceX employees."Some SpaceX workers resorted to taking Adderall to keep up with the pace of work at the company's launch facility, and others found themselves falling asleep in the bathroom during long workweeks, a recent Reuters investigation found."Travis Carson, a former SpaceX worker at the company's facility in Brownsville, Texas, told Reuters some workers took Adderall — a stimulant designed to help people with ADHD improve their focus and concentration levels — without a prescription to keep up with the pace of work."Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/spacex-workers-took-adderall-slept-bathroom-iv-treatments-deadlines-report-2023-11What a nightmare! #Elon #ElonMusk #X #SpaceX #Twitter #business #economy #finance @technology
(DIR) Post #Ad2J3QHZ6K80dat0kq by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2023-12-21T13:19:01Z
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So WarnerDiscovery now wants to merge with Paramount Global.Because apparently what the world needs now is even more media consolidation.This is more than just a merger between two big Hollywood studios. It's a merger between two conglomerates that themselves were created through the merger of big media conglomerates.Paramount Global came about through the merger of CBS and Viacom.Along with Paramount Pictures, it also owns CBS in the US, Channel Ten in Australia, and Channel Five in the UK.Oh, and also MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, VH1, Showtime, Comedy Central, Miramax Films, United International Pictures, Pop TV, and CMT, among many other assets.WarnerDiscovery was formed from the merger of Discovery Inc with WarnerMedia, which itself was formed by merging Time Inc with Warner Communications, and then Turner Broadcasting.Along with Warner Brothers, it owns CNN, DC Comics, The Oprah Winfrey Network, HBO, Cartoon Network, TBS, TNT, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, New Line Cinema, Castle Rock Entertainment, and a lot more.And all that will be owned by one mega-corp if this deal goes through.Now whose interest would such a deal serve? Consumers? Creatives? Employees?Or just Wall Street...https://amp.smh.com.au/business/companies/warner-bros-and-paramount-plot-56-billion-hollywood-megamerger-20231221-p5et17.html#media #business #finance #WarnerMedia #WarnerDiscovery #capitalism #politics
(DIR) Post #AhOJi0PUxNlVsWXUTA by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-04-29T13:17:50Z
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@DJDarren The Verge did a documentary on this a while ago. I guarantee you will be very angry by the end of it.Basically, back in the 1980s, there was a company called Sun Remarketing that built a business buying unsold Apple computers, refurbishing then, and supporting them.They even went so far as to create new operating systems and upgrades for them.Lots of people couldn't afford the latest Mac, but we're happy to buy last year's model.Using a range of underhanded legal tactics, Apple deliberately put them out of business, resulting in thousands of working computers being deliberately dumped in a landfill.The reason was simple: It was more profitable for Apple to dump unsold computers in a landfill and force everyone to pay full price for the latest machines.Planned obsolescence is very much Apple's business model.https://youtu.be/rZjbNWgsDt8?si=63sB-mT58DERKA8y#Apple #Environment #RetroComputing #Recycling #Technology #Computers
(DIR) Post #AhqeoFhJij5zglwPb6 by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-05-13T12:24:35Z
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@futurebird The real question with the white blazer is...Annie are you okay? Annie are you okay? Are you okay Annie?Just kidding, the blazer looks great 😊
(DIR) Post #Ahu9S2BkwinzTQwbUu by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-05-06T02:11:32Z
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Looks like Sydney Trains is going to drop the jargon from its PA announcements.From the SMH:"Commuters will soon be told to “get off” the train, rather than “alight”, after Sydney Trains resolved to overhaul its station announcements to favour colloquial language."The phrase “this train terminates here” is also being retired, due to concerns the word “terminates” is difficult to understand."https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/this-phrase-terminates-here-sydney-train-announcement-overhaul-20240502-p5foby.html@sydneytrains #trains #sydney #nsw #transit #planning #train #UrbanPlanning
(DIR) Post #AiNpe4PYL6A7V6enY0 by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-05-29T11:29:11Z
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Want to see the National Library of Australia on Mastodon?Let them know by filling out this survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeU0qddTjTS_j7TG6t9MtuKWk7yWNYtRZZW-z6Ax2x6V7jOfA/viewformAnd make sure you share this post so as many people as possible on here have the chance to fill in this survey.
(DIR) Post #AikinMBi4cQdox0Bhw by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-06-09T13:33:43Z
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@futurebird "In Q1 2024, Tesla reported that it made 433,371 vehicles. Of those, 386,810 were actually sold. This means the automaker has an extra 46,561 vehicles it didn’t sell."https://jalopnik.com/so-many-unsold-teslas-are-piling-up-that-you-can-see-th-1851526312Tesla's market cap was several times GM's and Ford's, despite lower profits and revenues.Most of tgat value was hype. The expectation that Tesla would disrupt tge auto industry with EVs, and self-driving tech that never existed.The rest of the auto industry has figured out how to make decent EVs.Elon has completely squandered the massive first mover advantage he had.There's now a glut of EVs.One in every 10 cars Tesla makes isn't selling, and is sitting in an open-air lot somewhere.Elon's talk about Tesla now being an AI company was hype to keep the share price inflated long enough for him to make an exit.He's now trying to rip as much cash as he can personally from Tesla before the bottom falls out of its share price.
(DIR) Post #AjLfuZgAfTpddP70U4 by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-06-27T09:25:45Z
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@futurebird A clear example of virtue signalling by easily offended snowflakes who want to use big government to shut down freedom of speech and freedom of expression. They just keep pushing their agenda while infringing on the rights of ordinary freedom-loving citizens who don't agree with their "correct" political positions.And whose tax dollars are going to be spent to enforce this agenda? It's yet another example of the kind of wasteful spending by fiscally reckless rightists. </snark>
(DIR) Post #AjUMX4rGwaDag71g2q by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-07-01T14:00:38Z
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@futurebird It's a really good insight.And it's not just Trump supporters who make decisions based on emotions and feelings.If you're a person who tends to think through things rationally, it's important to remember that not everyone thinks in the same way.And the logical arguments and reason that might persuade you could have little impact on a more emotion-led thinker.There's a reason why ads went from full page lists of claims and features at the turn of the 20th century, to mostly emotional appeals.Appeals to reason stand no chance with many people. But appeals to emotion can be very persuasive.
(DIR) Post #AkQBqqXh35JIN810MK by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-07-29T11:34:30Z
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@futurebird So I asked Mr Snowy about your theory.He informed me that he's more of an floof beast, rather than a cartilage beast...
(DIR) Post #AkQFs322UxhhDJ2Oem by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-07-29T12:19:36Z
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@futurebird He feels a lot like a shaggy rug — the kind that was popular back in the '80s.That said, during malting season, he can easily shed a ball of fluff that's bigger than him. So I really wouldn't want to rule out that he's made of some form of celestial dark matter that doesn't obey the laws of thermodynamics...
(DIR) Post #Akw9B87XJyDnsRTjEW by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-08-13T05:09:22Z
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@flowerpot @mekkaokereke There's a hierarchy of Sydney's universities.There's Sydney Uni.Then there's the University of NSW. If you don't make it to Sydney Uni or UNSW, or you want a degree in a subject they don't offer, there's UTS.And if you don't make it into Sydney Uni, or UNSW, or UTS...Well...Then there's Macquarie Uni.I mean... It's okay. The main campus is way out in the suburbs, 17 kilometres/10 miles from the centre of Sydney, on the opposite side of the harbour.In a suburban business park.It has a Metro station now! And it's across the street from a giant shopping centre with an ice skating rink!And like many things in Sydney, it's named after an early colonial governor named Lachlan Macquarie.Amongst his many other crimes, Lachlan abducted around 40 Aboriginal children from their parents and forcibly had them sent to an institution he set up. It was called the Blacktown Native Institution for the Education of Aboriginal Children.(Yes, it was actually called that: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blacktown_Native_Institution_Site )Think I'm some leftie with a black armband view of history?Well, here's the man in his own words:"I have directed as many Natives as possible to be made Prisoners, with the view of keeping them as Hostages until the real guilty ones have surrendered themselves, or have been given up by their Tribes to summary Justice."In the event of the Natives making the smallest show of resistance – or refusing to surrender when called upon so to do – the officers Commanding the Military Parties have been authorised to fire on them to compel them to surrender; hanging up on Trees the Bodies of such Natives as may be killed on such occasions, in order to strike the greater terror into the Survivors."RayGun is a lecturer at Macquarie University, which was named in this man's honour.
(DIR) Post #Akw9B98HYgPd12pq2C by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-08-13T15:06:01Z
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@jedsetter @flowerpot @mekkaokereke I'm not coming after Rachael because of who the university she works for was named after, or what he did.I'm pointing out that her performance has a much bigger social and historical context.How and why do we get this white Australian woman making a fool of herself by badly appropriating Black American culture, while throwing in poorly executed appropriated Aboriginal dance moves?Because, like all of us, she's the product of her cultural, economic, social, and political environment.And that context is a white Australia that has barely begun even acknowledging the genocidal atrocities committed against Aboriginal people. On stolen land. Fully sanctioned and encouraged, systematically, by the state.Lachlan Macquarie was the living human embodiment of that. Just read his endorsement of genocidal acts. Of the lynchings. Of the massacres. Of the displacement. Of the stolen land. Of the stolen children.The fact that universities, whole suburbs, shopping centres, train stations, and even banks and hospitals are named in his honour, unquestioned, speaks volumes.Without that reckoning from Australian society and its institutions, there can be no justice. No reconciliation. No equity. Without that reckoning, there is no understanding. Only ignorance.How does this country keep producing the RayGuns? And Iggy Azaleas? And Sam Newmans? And Chris Lilleys?How do we produce the Rupert Murdochs? And Channel Sevens? And Alan Joneses? And Andrew Bolts? And Pauline Hansons?Because of the same ignorance, the same lack of reckoning, that says uncritically it's okay to name a university in the honour of someone like Lachlan Macquarie.Yes, the two things are very much linked.
(DIR) Post #Ao7oaXp1i4bUW2w8Aa by ajsadauskas@aus.social
2024-07-30T04:26:22Z
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Mastodon, it's really simple.You want everyone to leave the dodgy car salesman's X-hole?You want a future where social media is community-owned and decentralised, instead of a corporate surveillance sphere?Well, those things won't happen until Black Twitter migrates here.And Black Twitter won't touch this place until there's proper moderation in place.The issues raised by Mekka, Timnit, Kim, Sam, and others are not a peripheral issue.Fixing moderation is absolutely central, core work that is mission critical for the Fedi being successful.And if you don't do it, then please don't complain when (not if) everyone leaves for BlueSky.EDIT: In terms of the kind of moderation tools that are needed, take a look at this post by Mekka: https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/112860109548583248