Brian Beach has moved @bwbeach@qoto.org

Here’s the story of how a 37-follower Twitter account seeded a propaganda narrative about Hawaii that made headlines around the world, thanks to a network of right-wing influencers — and amplification by both Russian and Chinese state media.

My latest — a very deep dive into a coordinated campaign:
#socialmedia #disinformation #propaganda
https://open.substack.com/pub/weaponizedspaces/p/russia-amplifies-right-wing-influence?r=1aupz&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post

Signs of collapse and signs of an ecological society emerging coexist right now, in my opinion. The news covers the scary parts, and we need to know, and not look away. But lets not miss the little shoots of a saner more connected ecological-social-economic system either. What's a hint of a life-sustaining society emerging you've seen of late?

I like to make sure almost every line of code I write is under a commercially friendly OS license (usually Apache 2) for genuinely selfish reasons: I never want to have to solve that problem ever again, so OS licensing my code now ensures I can use it for the rest of my life no matter who I happen to be working for in the future

Bike-friendly infrastructure goes hand in hand with public transit, which can and should be wheelchair accessible, much more than taxis or private cars. And then e-bikes add a whole class of people who can’t comfortably ride a regular bike but aren’t ready to use a mobility scooter to the group of people who can zip around the city independently. I’ve seen so many disability accommodations on bikes here, even bikes driven by arm power as well as recumbent and tricycle bikes.

I was thinking about Blue Zones. If you don't know what they are, they are areas in the world where people traditionally live longer than average. People tend to focus on the diets of these people trying to suss out the secret of their longevity. Their diets are full of vegetables, beans, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fats (you know, that crazy stuff our doctors are always talking about, when we mention some new fad diet), but it's only part of the picture. The Blue Zones are Okinawa, Ikaria, Sardinia, Nicoya Peninsula, and Loma Linda. What truly set them apart is they live in surroundings that nudge them toward good behaviors. The streets are built for people, not cars, they naturally move every hour, eating is more communal, slower, with conversation. They have fewer mechanical conveniences, this promotes more activities as a community. Being alone isn't the same option as it is in most modern lives. The Community is necessary to thrive. Health and longevity is about so much more than what you eat. But most of us don't live in communities like this, so how do we change this?

Glasgwegians are proud to welcome so many athletes to the city for the UCI Cycling World Championships, but Shell’s Greenwashing is certainly not welcome here.

XR Glasgow highlighted its disgust at the ongoing relationship between oil giant Shell and British Cycling, the UK’s main governing body of cycle sport.

Shell shouldn’t have anything to do with cycling, and we feel for any competitor having to bear the dirty shell on their shoulder.

"Anything that can't go on forever will eventually stop." When the reckoning finally reaches the wealthy, when the accounting eventually arrives for the plutocrats, when the people finally force the klept to pay up, they will say here is where that reckoning began.

@pluralistic details the Sackler's brazen bankruptcy:

https://pluralistic.net/2023/08/11/justice-delayed/#justice-redeemed

I mean, forgive me if i'm not filled with confidence and trust by zoom putting *one* (1) "we promise we will not" line in a legally-non-binding blog post, while they leave unchanged the actually-legally-binding ToS language which says "…but we could tho."

Like, on this reading, "consent" still just seems to mean "clicking through the ToS and using Zoom." REAL consent implies the ability to say yes or no to Some Options.

Now, I will note that there is an "opt out" process specifically for zoom's "AI" assisted meeting summaries feature, but it has to be set at the "Customer" level, meaning the company, corporation, university, or medical office, NOT the "User" level, meaning you and me as individuals.

But also, again, zoom's non-binding PR crisis blog post saying some nice words about what they really promise super swear not to do doesn't ACTUALLY negate the fact that their ToS as still currently worded gives them the RIGHT to do whatever the actual fuck they want with our recordings and other data uploaded into their ecosystem

Add to all of that there's there's no discussion of what happens if *my* university or org opts out but there's another person who's credentialed into the call via their university or org which has opted *In*.

So. What about that, zoom?

Anyway. This is all still a hot nightmare mess.

Are Libraries the Future of Media?

Fantastically innovative and great work from Kate Harloe at Popula, building on the ideas of @victorpickard @libraryfutures and other visionaries

A Must Read

#journalism #libraries #albany #communities #cities #media

https://popula.com/2023/08/07/are-libraries-the-future-of-media/

My new project, https://AltTextHallOfFame.org, is a celebration of the effort, ingenuity, and creativity that goes into making the web a friendlier and more inclusive place, one captioned image at a time.

#AltText #AlternativeText #ImageCaptions #accessibility #a11y #WebAccessibility #AltTextHallOfFame

OK last announcement.

If you live in *Ohio* you should have voted "no" by now. But, if you haven't you still have till the end of Aug 8th! Time to search up your poll site and get going!

(But, don't feel bad if this referendum caught you off guard, Ohio Republicans are hoping no one will show up to vote.)

Vote NO on issue 1. It's a strange constitutional amendment that changes the threshold to make it possible for a small group to veto everything. It's the only thing on the ballot.

@BruceMirken @Mary625 @BlackAzizAnansi @LoganFive

One of the things we need is ranked choice voting. I want to be able to vote for a third party candidate without risking that be a vote that puts another Trump in office. Ohio is currently trying to ban it, if that tells you how much the republicans are intimidated by it.

The Picasso Moth is misnamed. This is clearly the work of Mondrian.

https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/244168-Baorisa-hieroglyphica

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baorisa_hieroglyphica

#Nature
#MothWeek
#Bugstondon
#insect