Dave T-W @davoloid@qoto.org
- Location
- Mostly London
- Pronouns (plz)
- he/him
Just another worried little citizen of this modern-day Pompeii. Techie at UCL, working on Process Automation with MS Power Platform. Scatterbrain, interested in education, languages, Space and lots of disparate things. sorry.
Keeping my space toots at @astrodad as an experiment in self-moderation :)
*Background banner is a photo Yorkshire flag in blue and white, in front of a classic bell tent, in a field of similar tents at a festival.
Joined Oct 2022
Dave T-W
boosted
Anyone who says "If you're not paying for the product, you're the product" has been suckered in by Big Tech, whose cargo-cult version of markets and the discipline they impose on companies.
--
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/2024/04/22/kargo-kult-kaptialism/#dont-buy-it
1/
@pluralistic I've been seeing many responses to this in my feed and must admit I was like "Wait, what?" with your opening statement. That's definitely had its day as a useful maxim.
Dave T-W
boosted
Long thread/23
The more *any* platform's stakeholder stands to lose by leaving, the worse the platform can treat them without risking their departure. Thus the beneficent face that tech turn to its most cherished tech workers, and the hierarchy of progressively more-abusive conditions for others - worse for those whose work-visas are tied to their employment, and the very worst treatment for contractors testing the code, writing the documentation, labelling the data or cleaning the toilets.
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Dave T-W
boosted
Long thread/22
This is the economists' "collective action problem" - a phenomenon with a much better evidentiary basis than the hypothetical, far-fetched "dopamine loop" theory.
To understand whom a platform treats well and whom it abuses, look not to who pays it and who doesn't. Instead, ask yourself: who has the platform managed to lock in?
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Dave T-W
boosted
Long thread/17
Because *all* capitalists are surveillance capitalists...when they can get away with it. Sure, Apple blocked Facebook from spying on Ios users...and then started illegally, secretly spying on those users and lying about it, in order to target ads to those users:
https://pluralistic.net/2022/11/14/luxury-surveillance/#liar-liar
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Dave T-W
boosted
Long thread/16
This theory is great for tech companies: it elevates giving them money to a democracy-preserving virtue. It reframes handing your cash over to a multi-trillion dollar tech monopolist as good civics. It's easy to see why those tech giants would like that story, but boy, are you a sap if you buy it.
16/
Thoroughly enjoying this BBC4 #PetShopBoys retrospective. All the hits, from Glastonbury, TotP etc. and lots of factoids I didn't know.
@rasterweb I used to really enjoy the logo reviews at Under Consideration, but sadly they're now subscriber only. Amazing how much subtle changes can refresh a brand... or send it towards indistinguishability.
Dave T-W
boosted
This fall, we return to Bubble City for the most important comic book election of your life.
JUSTICE WARRIORS: VOTE HARDER
An original graphic novel out 9/10/24 —Check out some preview pages here:
https://comicbook.com/comics/news/matt-bors-ahoy-comics-justice-warriors-vote-harder-exclusive/#4
@CatDad@mas.to @rebeccawatson This is precisely the reason I double-check my sentence if I use the word "female". Or add a subject, e.g. "female academic staff". That Ferenghi voice is like a little alarm reminding me.
@mammaj @davidallengreen "Succession" was so close to the truth. They know this game is rigged in their favour and waving a chequebook will always make the problem go away.
Dave T-W
boosted
I’m my own worst enemy but the enemy of my enemy is my friend so I’m also my own best friend it’s just basic math
Was wondering what the current state of the #Dnipro Reservoir was and what plans there might be for after the war. Rebuild, rethink or reverse all have different environmental, economic and cultural impacts. Good article from Science, Jan 2024.
Social lunch meetup today hearing about some recent #ComputerScience outreach initiatives, including our AI and #Bias module. This was developed in collaboration with Thinking Black (founded by one of our Cognitive Neuroscience PhD students).
Essays and Poetry from TB's work published in their Anthology:
https://www.thinkingblack.co.uk/product-page/thinking-black-anthology-vol-i
@uclcs is organising the 17th #LondonHopper colloquia on 24th May 2024 at #UCL. The event is for female #postgraduate students and researchers building a career in #ComputerScience.
Submissions to present your #research in a 300-word abstract are open until 3rd May.
You have only to see the monologues that people have performed on yt to know there's a deep story here.
Thinking specifically of the ones by Robert Longstreet and Victoria Pedretti.
transcribed here https://www.reddit.com/r/HauntingOfHillHouse/comments/gq987k/s1_spoilers_mr_dudleys_monologue_transcribed/
https://www.reddit.com/r/HauntingOfHillHouse/comments/11hhb5p/nell_crain_full_monologue/
Although the original scenes are impossible to beat.
Finished "The Haunting of Hill House" last night, another beautiful haunting tale from Mike Flanagan. Absolutely brilliant psychological drama disguised as a ghost story.
@neil It's almost 30 years since I first darkened these doors as a long-haired A-level student coming for an open day.
@emilygorcenski Ooh that's a nice quiz! Some of the photos are aged way more than I'd expect. Although it's picking up incorrect metadata from Wikimedia:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Irish_City_Tours_Dublin_Tour_bus_(78-D-951)_ex-WMPTE_6895_(TVP_895S)_%26_Dublin_Bus_Dublin_Sightseeing_Tours_bus_D603_(603_ZO),_August_1998.jpg
Said 2011 when it's actually 1998. I guessed 1996.
Current TV: The Haunting of Hill House. Another #Flanaverse spectacle, spooky goings on, woven into a psychological drama. Many of his ensemble regulars, and the fantastic dialogue he's known for.
But episode 6 is technically brilliant as well, consisting of several long takes, moving between sets and periods of time in the story. It took me a moment and I had to rewind to check I hadn't blinked between cuts.
https://youtu.be/Gkhz2W2Gk4g
- Location
- Mostly London
- Pronouns (plz)
- he/him
Just another worried little citizen of this modern-day Pompeii. Techie at UCL, working on Process Automation with MS Power Platform. Scatterbrain, interested in education, languages, Space and lots of disparate things. sorry.
Keeping my space toots at @astrodad as an experiment in self-moderation :)
*Background banner is a photo Yorkshire flag in blue and white, in front of a classic bell tent, in a field of similar tents at a festival.
Joined Oct 2022
