neil @neil@social.coop
Pinned toot
Spread good vibes and good info.
What's are some good intro to electronics projects? Something hands-on that teaches you some basics and you make something fun (and maybe even practical...). Massive bonus points for things that involve buying as little new stuff as possible - ideally you can salvage a bunch of the components and parts you need out of stuff you can buy second hand, or out of broken things.
Digital technology’s effect on the environment.
https://neweconomics.org/2018/11/disrupting-the-climate
It uses a lot of raw materials; produces a lot of CO2 in manufacture; and the ‘cloud’ uses a vast amount of energy in use.
"Throwing away a product early and getting the latest one is hugely wasteful, with a high environmental and social impact."
Things we should do: use materials more efficiently; make things more repairable; use renewable energy.
I guess I'd probably also add ‘abolish capitalism’ to the list.
My keyboard is about 15 years old – a classic and still going strong!
The mouse has stopped working though. Hope I can fix it.
""We can do better, Astra Taylor insists. The online world does offer a unique opportunity, but a democratic culture that supports work of lasting value will not spring up from technology alone. If we want the Internet to truly be a people’s platform, we will have to make it so."
"Online, just as off-line, attention and influence largely accrue to those who already have plenty of both. A handful of giant companies remain the gatekeepers, while the worst habits of the old media model — the pressure to seek easy celebrity, to be quick and sensational above all — have proliferated in the ad-driven system."
I’d like to read The People’s Platform by Astra Taylor. Looks pretty on point to me.
"The Internet has been hailed as an unprecedented democratizing force. A place where all can participate equally. But how true is this claim? In a seminal dismantling of techno-utopian visions, The People’s Platform argues that the Internet in fact amplifies real-world inequities at least as much as it ameliorates them."
@ohhelloana Hello, Ana!
Glitches -N- Clicks by Herre Jorna
A nice album of glitchy minimal techno. If you like clicks'n'cuts, hums and static and grooves, check it out!
https://archive.org/details/HerreJorna_942/5.HerreJorna-ClickPlay.mp3
neil
boosted
Playing with making the circles concentric.
I heard you like posts so I wrote a post about my posts
https://doubleloop.net/2018/12/16/two-spikes-in-my-posting-history/
Enjoying it greatly so far. It’s a lot lighter than I remember Banks’ books being (maybe I’m just thinking of The Wasp Factory…). I came back to it after a recommendation from a friend, of science fiction with some thought experiments around a socialist society. The Culture, a race within the novel, are I believe what one podcast I listened to recently called ‘space communists’, warts and all, so it should be interesting to see how they’re explored.
My book at the moment is Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. I’m fairly certain I’ve read it before, many years ago (my Mum had most of his books when I was growing up) – long enough ago to remember only brief flashes of it.
neil
boosted
I've set up a page on the Sunbeam City wiki for resources about starting and running cooperatives and grassroots movements.
Feel free to add to it!
With Microsub and indie readers with built in reply capability, the indieweb is starting to feel a lot more social for me. This is great!
A very nice Christmas Homebrew Website Club in London this eve.
Blog posts were written, h-feeds were unmunged, replies were sent, ideas were discussed and mince pies were consumed.
Back in the New Year!
We did some protesting in Brussels today for the right to repair, and against the watering down of repairability legislation https://therestartproject.org/restart-project/first-ever-protest/
neil
boosted
@chartier The goal, ultimately, it to make a new sort of OMG! Ubuntu, but for everything going on in the federated social web. I am also expanding the scope to cover Free Software development, along with off-the-grid technologies and some solarpunk / renewable energy stuff as well.
✔️ federation
✔️ renewable energy
✔️ cooperatives
Sounds good to me.. anyone know more about ii?
"REScoop.eu is the European federation of renewable energy cooperatives. We are a growing network of 1,250 European energy cooperatives and their 1.000.000 citizens who are active in the energy transition."
Upcoming HWC London on Wednesday 12th December:
https://hwclondon.co.uk/meetups/20181212
This will be the last one before Christmas! 🤶🎅 (… AKA Ho Ho Homebrew Website Club) Mince pies may be on the agenda...
Finish that blog post you’ve been working on. Demo personal websites and technology. Discuss the independent web. Join a community with like-minded interests. Bring friends that want a personal site!
