Dave T-W @davoloid@qoto.org
- Location
- Mostly London
- Pronouns (plz)
- he/him
MOVED PROFILE: Now at https://mastodon.me.uk/@davoloid
Joined Oct 2022
@sellathechemist Estate management continues to be a challenge, especially for large Departments. Over the past decade or so we've become more and more fragmented, now in about 9 buildings.
@m0xEE I mean I remember reading in 2012 that girls were getting turned off science and maths by about 10 years old. So if initiatives targeted post-16, undergraduates or those entering employment, that's going to be a very slow improvement.
@m0xEE Yeah, I'd say the landscape of "Women in tech" has changed in the last decade or so. Programmes that were novel and vital should have become embedded in diversity and inclusion initiatives. And there is still a huge gender imbalance in many industries, so orgs do have to analyse what's happened in that time.
Dave T-W
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It's Professor Snyder. Listen to facts and wisdom. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mId4LefqBck
Dave T-W
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Today, we filed our final brief in Hachette v. Internet Archive, the publishers’ lawsuit against our library. For four years we've been fighting for library rights—what our founder, @brewsterkahle, calls “a battle for the soul of libraries in the digital age.” https://blog.archive.org/2024/04/19/internet-archive-stands-firm-on-library-digital-rights-in-final-brief-of-hachette-v-internet-archive-lawsuit/
@m0xEE Disappointing. The comments have some interesting points about the organisation, as well as the expected sweeping negative ones about these sorts of ventures.
Dave T-W
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Women Who Code (WWC), a U.S.-based organization of 360,000 people supporting women who work in the tech sector, is shutting down due to a lack of funding: https://slashdot.org/story/427440
TFW you can't afford a GF who codes :marseysigh:
TFW you can't afford a GF who codes :marseysigh:
Congrats to the @uclcs #AthenaSwan team who have received Gold Award for the 2024 submission!
So good to see! I was on the assessment team from 2012-2020 (through Bronze and Silver) and since then EDI initiatives have branched out into other areas where we're underrepresented.
Dave T-W
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
- Location
- Mostly London
- Pronouns (plz)
- he/him
MOVED PROFILE: Now at https://mastodon.me.uk/@davoloid
Joined Oct 2022
