Tagging: Technology

1. rolltime - A New HOPE (2022): ActivityPub Four Years Later: The Good, the Bad, and the Fedi

   This talk by rolltime helped me to understand the concepts and history of the Fediverse how it has been implemented and what make it better than a straight-up Xitter replacement. They have some interesting thoughts and provocations for creating more curated and valued engagements.

2. Where I get my podcasts

   My workflow to solve the lack of openly accessible podcast audio files and RSS feeds.

3. Cory Doctorow - DEF CON 32 - Disenshittify or die! How hackers can seize the means of computation

   A fantastic ~50 min teardown of the what, how and why behind big tech companies are taking a shit on the internet. This talk gave me hope for a better future!

4. A solution seeking a problem

   Kyoto based pottery studio Asahiyaki uses ~1000 pieces from its 400 year collection to train an neural network to generate new ideas for pottery pieces. Interesting but I can’t help but notice the affect on the design process as described by Matsubayashi Hosai the studio director.

   

5. Disrupting Japan Podcast: How to sell innovation in cut-throat, low-margin industries

   A fascinating conversation with the Elephantech startup that is changing the manufacturing of printed circuit boards (PCB) from a subtractive to additive by using ink-jet printing process; reducing waste and manufacturing costs and helping to make a much-needed decarbonisation shift in the tech industry.

   Links to context and related content:

   • Techcrunch article from 2022
   • Elephantech presentation

6. Is the clock ticking for TicTok?

   The argument for and against banning TikTok, the staggering magnitude of data stolen by the Meta Pixel.

7. AI Fireside Chat - Scott Salisbury and Matt Garbutt - DIBI Conference 2023.

   Thirty minutes of honest conversation about the inputs and outputs of machine learning, what drives our motivation to use it and the ethics of our choices. There were some really interesting questions from a research standpoint that makes me want to track down the other talks.

8. For the RSS lovers in the room, we hear you.

   If you’re looking for some delicious brain food to feed upon look no further than the smart folks at optional.is/feeds/ – All killer, no filler.

9. New book! Dr. Smartphone: An Ethnography of Mobile Phone Repair Shops.

   An absolutely fascinating look at the the culture of mobile phone repair shops. I want this book!

10. Is Progressive Enhancement Dead Yet?

    @heydonworks’ second instalment of his highly entertaining videos on accessibility and web technologies.

11. Webbed Briefs

    @heydonworks’ snack-sized videos about the web and its technologies.

12. Smartphone vs Dumbphone - where’s the middle ground?

    Is going “full dumbphone” really necessary? Here’s my thoughts on dumbing down the smartphone