I Deleted my Facebook Account

...tions. If I had the urge to post something on social media I first asked myself why I wanted to do this. I also read books, articles and listened to podcasts by media theorists exploring the mechanics of social media. In the end I came to the conclusion that the privacy problems of social media are minor when compared to the spiritual and psychological ones. It seems to me that the main systemic problem of Facebook and other social media platforms...

Read…

Cartrivision: The Netflix of 1972

Self described “hardware/software necromancer” @foone posted some remarkable hardware necromancy in Twitter about an Ebay auction for a rare 1970s television containing a Cartivision, a long forgotten forerunner to the VCR. As @foone put it, Cartrivision is an early (1972) home video format which had some wacky DRM nonsense (well, ARM I guess, it’s not digital) and it only lasted about a year, and one of the reasons it’s impossible to play now is...

Read…

Saturday Tweets: Dogs, Land Use, Kale and Rocket Cats

Adam Curtis on the dangers of self-expression: https://t.co/No2cjEZ9dO — Root Simple (@rootsimple) August 4, 2018 Cities in CA inland areas must make street tree changes to adapt to future climate. @ucanr research finds that trees now in #Fresno, #Ukiah, #Stockton and others expected to do poorly in 2099. https://t.co/Bpi42R6uNo pic.twitter.com/RR5lpIVCOl — Jeannette Warnert (@jwarnert) August 3, 2018 #Breaking – About 100 goats are on the loose...

Read…

Saturday Linkages: One Year Behind the Mask

...In Japan, His Disaster Art Saves Lives Dutch Oven Cornbread In Your Fireplace = Easy La La La La La La How grey was my valley: forgotten Welsh architecture – in pictures Elon Musk declared himself ‘technoking’. He’s just a hyper-capitalist clown Giving Up the Ghost: On the Legacy of Mark Fisher Rick Roderick – Self Under Siege Why Bikes Make Smart People Say Dumb Things...

Read…

RIP Michael Brooks

...n. I have to be honest that I’ve been very gloomy of late and often find myself doomscrolling the covid news and the latest twitter outrage. I took great comfort every week in Michael’s honesty and insight about the trouble we’re in combined with his humor. Michael was only getting started. I hoped that, as I grew old, I would see him become a major media personality and politician and a voice for working people. His passing is a tremendous loss....

Read…