A bunch of things (which I added to my Tumblr) for your eyes and ears plus brain to spend time on (as no longer on Twitter).
READ
“Musk is speedrunning the enshittification curve, and yet Twitter isn’t collapsing. Why not? Because Musk is insulated from consequences for fucking up – he’s got a huge cushion of wealth, he’s got advertisers who are desperate to reach his users, he’s got users who can’t afford to leave the service, he’s got IP law that he can use to block interoperators who might make it easier to migrate to a better service. He was always a greedy, sadistic asshole. Now he’s an unconstrained greedy, sadistic asshole. Musk 2025 isn’t a worse person than Musk 2020. He’s just more free to act on his evil impulses than he was in years gone by.”
Pluralistic: Enshittification isn’t caused by venture capital (20 Jan 2025) – Pluralistic: Daily links from Cory Doctorow
“According to Meta’s testimony, as relayed by plaintiffs’ counsel, Zuckerberg cleared the use of LibGen to train at least one of Meta’s Llama models despite concerns within Meta’s AI exec team and others at the company. The filing quotes Meta employees as referring to LibGen as a “data set we know to be pirated,” and flagging that its use “may undermine [Meta’s] negotiating position with regulators.” The filing also cites a memo to Meta AI decision-makers noting that after “escalation to MZ,” Meta’s AI team “[was] approved to use LibGen.” (MZ, here, is rather obvious shorthand for “Mark Zuckerberg.”)”
Mark Zuckerberg gave Meta’s Llama team the OK to train on copyrighted works, filing claims | TechCrunch
“I’ve always lived my life restlessly: business travel, a new home every few years, a relentless pursuit for something more. Some have called it ambition; others say I’m driven. I just think I have a hard time sitting still – physically and mentally. There’s undoubtedly a propulsive energy that keeps me going. Is my RLS the kinetic force? Perhaps it is. And maybe not. Of course, I’ve suffered for decades. But I like the idea that my physical restlessness parallels how I navigate the rest of my life. Certainly, thinking about RLS as something more than twitchy legs is the only thing that partially calms my brain as I saunter into bed hoping, praying, that tonight I might finally lay still.”
I clock up to 20,000 steps a night: my life with restless legs syndrome | Well actually | The Guardian
“During a seven-day trial in June, 2023, the 16 youth plaintiffs argued that the state’s promotion of fossil fuel infrastructure had jeopardized their physical and mental health, traditions, and recreational interests. Anthropogenic climate change has already had myriad impacts on Montana, including shorter winters with less snowfall, more frequent wildfires, and the reduced availability of wild game and ceremonial and medicinal plants. These impacts are expected to worsen as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations rise.”
‘We have been heard’: Montana youth score a major climate victory in court | Grist
“And given the nature of these other devices and that users won’t realize what’s taking place, there are serious implications. Identity Week warns that “organizations using Google’s advertising tech can implement fingerprinting without violating Google’s policies and complying with the requirements of data protection law… Fingerprinting is so hindering to privacy expectations because it relies on signals that are not easy to wipe. Even if data is ‘permanently’ deleted, fingerprinting biometrics could detect and recognize your identity.”
Google Starts Tracking All Your Devices In 6 Weeks—Forget Chrome And Android
“The planets are not exactly lined up, so they will appear in an arc across the sky due to their orbital plane in the Solar System. During clear nights in January and February, all of the planets except Mercury will be visible – an event sometimes called a planetary parade. On 28 February, though – weather permitting – all seven planets will be visible, a great spectacle for observers on the ground.”
Seven planets are lining up in the sky next month. This is what it really means – BBC Future
WATCH
EXPLORE
When you finally worked out Bookface / Beta / Instagran / Whats(that)App probably aren’t the best ways for keeping in touch with those you love due to questionable ethics of it’s leaders / creators etc, plus all the data you’ve given it along with access to your contact list which added people without their permission, then follow this Electronic Frontier Foundation ‘how to’ so you ‘Don’t Let Them Collect and Monetize Your Personal Data’ (good luck as I wish I could delete my account but they won’t let me)!
Installed StopTheMadness to get rid of the insipid ‘Sign-in with Google’ pop-up plus block many other stupid web things and is working great (worth the money).
Check out the free online service that Postspark provides to beautify screenshots, really nice and easy to use.
If you’re looking to create a gif or convert a file into one then check out ezgif.com, does it all.
Apparently Every Color Ever provides names plus hex code for all 16.7million colors, fun.
RSS-Bridge is an online tool for creating an RSS feed for websites missing it.
SVG to PNG – converts SVG files to PNG, for free, online.