Cerstin Mahlow @CerstinMahlow@qoto.org

In light of recent developments regarding the #twitter API (it will no longer be free) and the likely ripple effects this will have on other websites and services, I humbly submit this updated version of an old #xkcd comic:

https://xkcd.com/2347/

Just in case anyone is feeling this way but doesn’t know how to express it: an academic career does at pretty much every stage require you to learn how to produce entirely new genres of writing, often on the fly—we often provide too little guidance & too few models for each one, with some strange expectation that folks will just figure it out.

Figured out research papers? Write a dissertation!

Finished the diss? Make it a book! Write a grant proposal!

Did those things? Write a statements of your research, service, & teaching philosophies for your dossier!

Case in point, just this semester—nearly 2 decades after I started grad school!—I wrote my very 1st letters evaluating tenure cases—another entirely new genre I’ve never once read, because I was always on the other side of that process.

So just: it’s not that you can’t write or think—it’s maybe that you’re being asked to think & write in new genres all the time

So. We all know what the spoons theory (#spoonie) is. You might even have heard of the derivative #fork theory as it pertains to mental health.

But Pina (a.k.a. ADHD Alien) has given people with #ADHD the perfect metaphor for our struggle with executive dysfunction: Buttons.

http://adhd-alien.com/2019/07/16/why-can-you-do-it-now/

Now for there to be a button emoji that isn't a generic circle or circle-in-a-circle. 🥺

Nous avons eu la chance de pouvoir discuter des enjeux de la préservation du jeu vidéoà la RTS. Merci beaucoup de nous avoir donné l'occasion de faire découvrir ce sujet.

https://www.rts.ch/play/tv/forum/video/forum-des-idees-les-jeux-video-un-patrimoine-a-preserver?urn=urn:rts:video:13750209

#textverdunkelung #neuigkeiten #frage

#Twitter geht einmal mehr rücksichtslos gegen die eigene Community vor, indem es seine kostenlose Schnittstelle abschaltet. Der Schritt gefährdet nicht nur zahlreiche Non-Profit-Projekte, sondern auch Wissenschaft und Journalismus. Ein Kommentar.

https://netzpolitik.org/2023/ende-der-kostenlosen-api-musk-zerstoert-was-twitter-gross-gemacht-hat/

Schöner Text darüber, was Bücher in einem Haus aussagen bzw. nicht aussagen. https://www.tor.com/2023/02/02/theres-nothing-wrong-with-anyones-personal-library/

We are truly in the post-API age (Freelon 2018): https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10584609.2018.1477506

Good night and good luck to all the social computing and computational social scientists out there.

Jetzt handeln! Microsoft stellt kostenloses Teams ein, löscht Daten im April

Seine klassische Gratisversion von MS Teams hat Microsoft abgekündigt. Nutzer sollen aufs kostenpflichtige Teams Essentials umsteigen.

https://www.heise.de/news/Jetzt-handeln-Microsoft-stellt-kostenloses-Teams-ein-loescht-Daten-im-April-7480475.html?wt_mc=sm.red.ho.mastodon.mastodon.md_beitraege.md_beitraege

#CloudComputing #Microsoft #Microsoft #MicrosoftOffice #MicrosoftTeams #news

Their bodies are used to sand the rough edges and sharp corners off the technology, to normalize it so that it can climb up through the social ranks, imposed on people with more and more power and influence. 20 years ago, if you ate your dinner under an always-on #CCTV, it was because you were in a supermax prison. Today, it's because you bought a premium home surveillance system from Google, Amazon or Apple.

https://pluralistic.net/2021/07/29/impunity-corrodes/#arise-ye-prisoners

24/

#Netflix has unveiled the details of its new anti-#PasswordSharing policy, detailing a suite of complex gymnastics that customers will be expected to undergo if their living arrangements trigger Netflix's automated enforcement mechanisms:

https://thestreamable.com/news/confirmed-netflix-unveils-first-details-of-new-anti-password-sharing-measures

If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/02/02/nonbinary-families/#red-envelopes

1/

For important categories, ambiguity is a feature, not a bug. The fact that you can write anything on an envelope (including a direction to deliver the letter to the granny flat over the garage, not the front door) means that we don't have to define "address" - we can leave it usefully hairy around the edges.

21/

A year ago, Proctorio suffered a massive setback in the SLAPP they filed against me. Their appeal was quashed before they even got to argue their case! They were ordered to pay legal expenses I incurred fighting their meritless appeal, but I'm still waiting.

https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2022/01/31/proctorio-loses-appeal-lawsuit-against-academic-critic

Before Christmas, we asked you what you would charge for iA Presenter and you said: “Much more than you!” We heard you, but we don’t quite believe you just yet. Unfortunately, we forgot to ask you where you are from, which, when it comes to pricing, matters.

https://ia.net/topics/how-much-would-you-charge-for-ia-presenter-part-2

@luca

Tbh, hopefully it will force the social science researchers to diversify their dataset and finally read the papers published weekly since 2015 with titles along the lines of "Stop doing research with Twitter and generalizing it, it's a weird website with weird demographics and weird interactions".

To do before next week: Go to https://twitter.com/settings/connected_apps and make sure that you have an alternative option (mail/password) to log into any of the services listed there. Depending on how bad #Twitter handles this, you may not be able to log in after the API shutdown.

Twitter is killing free API access. This will probably kill one of my commercial side projects as well as #fedifinder.

It all depends on how much the basic tier will cost and what it offers. Paying 10€ for the same access as we have we the free one right now, would work. If it's usage based like their higher tiers (starting at $99), I don't see many projects survive.

This will destroy so many things. From research to programming packages to services.

One positive outcome will be that Twitter won't be the default for learning programming with APIs anymore, students won't be drawn to it like in the past, maybe even companies will stop use it to listen to customers because most tools will become more expensive and free options will vanish.

A year ago, this would have devastated me. Today, it still stresses me, but I am further on my journey to emotionally disconnect from Twitter.

Tweet: https://twitter.com/twitterdev/status/1621026986784337922

Impro5. #kaengurucomics