Max Westen @max@fam.westen.xyz

If you’re a developer in 2021 and you’re adding tracking devices from Google, Facebook, etc., to your sites and apps, the one thing you can’t do any longer is to feign innocence. You know exactly what you’re doing and you’re complicit in perpetuating surveillance capitalism.

Small is Beautiful: The public stack and how to fund it

Live stream – tomorrow (Thursday) 5PM Cork (UTC +0) / 12PM New York (UTC -5) / 9AM San Francisco (UTC -8)

Join Sander van der Waal, research director at Waag, alongside Martine Delannoy, Chief Foresight Officer for the City of Ghent and Karl-Filip Coenegrachts from Cities of People as we discuss what the public stack is, why it’s necessary, and how we can fund it with public money.

https://small-tech.org/small-is-beautiful/

99% of programming is figuring out why you received a banana when you asked for an apple.

(And the answer is always “because you actually asked for a banana all along.”)

"Instagram now forces people to sign in to view public profiles"

https://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2019/10/28/instagram-now-forces-people-to-sign-in-to-view-public-profiles/

#deleteInstagram #joinPixelfed

just to follow up on my #FuckCloudflare posting from a while ago and their "solution" for TOR users and captchas I'd just like to say this:
1. They are outright lying outside of a handful of websites nobody cares about.
2. CloudFlare isn't to be trusted, their business model is to intercept traffic and monetize it, and they will do whatever is possible to legitimize themselves whether through marketing lies or other means.

They are expanding their traffic accumulation business model to IPFS and TOR only because these alternative systems which serve the purpose of protecting users can't be milked for profit and they feel threatened.

Don't use CloudFlare and don't feel pressured to visit sites which use CloudFlare and block you with captchas which will track your browsing.
(corrected hashtag: #FuckCloudFlare )

The fediverse is impressively hungry for anti-harassment tools!

The other day, I released https://t5.codesections.com/ —a tool to learn who you favorite most. It's a fun tool and spread widely with 30 boosts.

Yesterday, I released https://mastodon-de-mob.codesections.com/ As an anti-harassment tool you only use when being actively mobbed, I thought it would be of niche interest.

But instead, it's been boosted nearly 100 times(!), and is still going strong.

@Gargron this might tell you what features people want

So this is how democracy dies. With thunderous applause #article13

This year, Apple is redefining the word advanced. This is the most advanced definition of the word advanced yet. We’re calling it Advanced XS. With Advanced XS, Apple is taking the word advanced to the next level. This is a huge day for the word advanced.

Now, Jony Ive will repeat exactly what we just said in a British accent.

Computer says no

Kunstmatige intelligentie technieken die bijvoorbeeld zelfstandig patronen kunnen ontdekken in grote hoeveelheden gegevens, kan vaak niet uitleggen hóé bepaalde beslissingen worden genomen. Dit soort black boxes is ongewenst als het gaat om beslissingen die ingrijpen in de persoonlijke levenssfeer van burgers.

Een direct gevaar van te grote afhankelijkheid van algoritmes is het risico op discriminatie.

Technologie is niet neutraal.

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2018/09/10/digitale-overheid-openbaar-bestuur-moet-beter-weten-dan-computer-says-no-a1615867

"Satire is meant to ridicule power. If your are laughing at people who are hurting, it's not satire, it's bullying."

Terry Pratchett

"La satire a pour but de ridiculiser le pouvoir. Si vous vous moquez des gens qui sont déjà blessés, ce n'est pas de la satire, c'est du harcèlement."