Peter Drake HAS MOVED @peterdrake@qoto.org

Rooftop solar is the future, but it's also a scam. It didn't have to be, but the US decided the best way to roll out distributed, resilient, renewable energy was to let Wall Street run the show. They turned it into a scam, and now it's in terrible trouble. which means *we're* in terrible trouble.

-

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/2024/01/27/here-comes-the-sun-king/#sign-here

1/

When I was a smartass computer nerd in the 80s and 90s, an eternal theme was friends and family sheepishly asking me for tech support help, and me slowly, patiently explaining to them that computers aren't scary, they're actually predictable, they won't explode or erase your data (unless you really make an effort), and they operate by simple (if somewhat arcane) rules. Edit > Cut, then click, then Edit > Paste. Save As. Use tabs, not spaces. Stuff like that. Maybe not easy, but simple, or at least consistent and learnable.

But that's not true anymore.

User interfaces lag. Text lies. Buttons don't click. Buttons don't even look like buttons! Panels pop up and obscure your workspace and you can't move or remove them -- a tiny floating x and a few horizontal lines is all you get. Mobile and web apps lose your draft text, refresh at whim, silently swallow errors, mysteriously move shit around when you're not looking, hide menus, bury options, don't respect or don't remember your chosen settings. Doing the same thing gives different results. The carefully researched PARC principles of human-computer interaction -- feedback, discoverabilty, affordances, consistency, personalization -- all that fundamental Don Norman shit -- have been completely discarded.

My tech support calls now are about me sadly explaining there's nothing I can do. Computers suck now. They run on superstition, not science. It's a real tragedy for humanity and I have no idea how to fix it.

#HCI #UX #UI #okdoomer

free solo

#Caturday

Good news everyone

Electricity generated by fossil fuels fell by 22% in the UK over the last year. This means that in 2023 such fossil fuel use was at levels not seen since 1957.

Source:
https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-electricity-from-fossil-fuels-drops-to-lowest-level-since-1957/#:~:text=The%20amount%20of%20UK%20electricity,lowest%20level%20in%2066%20years.

This is among the most important media files I have saved on my computer.

TLC can say what they want, but I've caught like seven waterfalls.

I envy the people of the 1970s for their perfectly preserved civilisation in the geological record. A thin layer of pristine styrofoam on a layer of lead from petrol exhaust on a layer of illegally dumped asbestos, easily dated due to all the nuclear weapon testing.

What about our generation with its paper straws and spotify playlists and fast fashion?!? Nothing to show in the fossil record except our beautifully preserved corpses made of micro plastics.

The plan is working!

@inthehands Outside of you is a wolf, a goat and a cabbage.

Some good news to celebrate: EU fossil fuel CO2 emissions hit 60-year low.
“The 8% reduction in emissions should be celebrated, but more must be done to wean the EU off fossil fuels, reduce reliance on petrostates such as Russia, whilst also leaving the world a better place for the next generation.”
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/jan/24/eu-fossil-fuel-co2-emissions-hit-60-year-low

Why must bad things always happen to good people