Notices by Alecs Ștefănescu (catileptic@chaos.social)

@baldur I think that Meredith Whittaker's talk from this year's CCC Congress (38c3) might be a good companion to these thoughts: https://media.ccc.de/v/38c3-feelings-are-facts-love-privacy-and-the-politics-of-intellectual-shame

It speaks about this concept of "the politics of intellectual shame" and how the tech industry profit-making is predicated on shaming people into quiet cooperation or support. The opposite of that, of course, is "saying the quiet part out loud", expressing dissent and the kind of "thinking in the public space" that your articles are so good at!

@thisismissem - not sure why i am tagged, i don't work on either the mastodon code base nor on Kitten-related code :)) wish i could help but i effectvely have no idea about these decisions
@aral - awesome work! the growing array of apps and tools you create & maintain are firmly in the "hope for humanity regained" category

@aral @JulianOliver

this is a great resource! :) (also relevant to me, personally, since i host my own websites). Thank you for linking it!

If you have the broad strokes of what's missing in your mind or in your notes, Aral, I would be happy to volunteer some time and writing, to get them on paper and update this piece of writing. :) Let me know if you think it could work.

Border authorities in China can search electronic devices as well as collect emails, pictures, and videos of foreigners entering the country. No warrant needed. These searches can be conducted in case of emergencies - although it seems like there are no checks & balances in place to reign in or even track when this is being done. Or why.

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2024/07/1e30a810e2ba-china-starts-smartphone-inspections-to-boost-anti-espionage-efforts.html

Can Google sink lower than this?

Google employees publishing an extremely toxic #WebDRM proposal in their own names, then raining down with "respectability politics" on the comments.

Framing centralized control of who gets to browse the Internet as "safe for users" is playing the age old card of authoritarianism being in the interest of the "weak and feeble-minded".

There will be no civil engagement with proposals of domination and coercion.

@aral my dream is to have Computer Science courses in colleges talk about a career as a tech activist, or a programmer in the civic society as a very reputable and viable career option.

I work as a programmer supporting journalists and activists exclusively. I've worked for the IT industry in the first part of my career. In my mind and, really, in my body, these two environments feel drastically different.

The humanity in tech keeps us sane.