Notices by Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)
-
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Thursday, 22-May-2025 07:33:34 JST 
Per Axbom
I identified with that famed XKCD cartoon for too long. Drawing a new panel myself made it easier to manifest another way of being. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Tuesday, 13-May-2025 06:48:49 JST
Per Axbom
I was reading a debate on LinkedIn where one side was arguing that "AI" image generators are more energy-efficient than hiring a photographer (or buying a stock photo).
One argument that made me do a painful face-palm was the notion that photographers need to eat, so they consume more energy.
The thing about humans is… wait for it… they ALWAYS need to eat. You can’t shift production to a computer and argue that it’s more efficient because it doesn’t eat. The human will keep eating(!) You are only adding energy-use.
These types of arguments illustrate a deep obliviousness towards human wellbeing. The argument only works if you expect the human to eat less when their job is taken away. Or die.
Their only data point for “AI" energy use was the point of generation, neatly excluding:
- all the energy used when scraping the internet for all the required datasets
- the energy used when building the model itself
- the energy used for required human workforce tasks, such as labeling (I bet those humans have to eat too)
- the energy used when building required data centers, both in-use and speculative investments (so many eating humans involved)
- the energy for hardware production and ongoing replacements
- the fact that the ease-of-use (and being “free”) encourages way, way more image generation than ever before…
Oh, and one more thing…
The image generator feeds on, and requires, photos and images taken and made by humans… who eat. Damn those humans.
Oh wait, the person doing the prompting… that person has to eat as well. It’s almost like it’s a human imperative.
Worth noting is also that none of the big "AI” companies are at all transparent about their energy consumption for this technology. Nor water consumption. Nor noise pollution. Nor e-waste. So there’s a ton of speculation.
I just wanted to make clear that I’m all for allowing humans to eat. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Wednesday, 30-Apr-2025 17:16:07 JST
Per Axbom
I hope the people who always say "I have nothing to hide" in support of surveillance understand how it's people who had nothing to hide who are being detained and deported by the Trump administration.
But I won't hold my breath. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Friday, 14-Mar-2025 17:58:23 JST
Per Axbom
You can’t say ”it’s not worth making it accessible for only 1% of our users”. That’s a logical fallacy. And reveals a lot about your understanding of the subject area, and your value system.
If you had made it accessible to begin with, people with disabilities could’ve been 20% of your user base.
And it would have been better for 100% of your users.
#a11y #accessibility -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 10-Mar-2025 21:15:19 JST
Per Axbom
A backdoor can be meticulously documented, have limited access, include a variety of security measures, and be carefully developed with the best of intentions. But it's still…
…a backdoor. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 10-Mar-2025 21:15:17 JST
Per Axbom
Gotta love that this is the second paragraph in the Wikipedia entry for Backdoor:
"In the United States, the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act forces internet providers to provide backdoors for government authorities. In 2024, the U.S. government realized that China had been tapping communications in the U.S. using that infrastructure for months, or perhaps longer; China recorded presidential candidate campaign office phone calls —including employees of the then-vice president of the nation– and of the candidates themselves."
More on this story:
https://reason.com/2024/10/11/chinese-hackers-used-u-s-government-mandated-wiretap-systems/
« "The problem with backdoors is known—any alternate channel devoted to access by one party will undoubtedly be discovered, accessed, and abused by another," David Ruiz of the internet security firm Malwarebytes Labs wrote in 2019. He noted that cybersecurity researchers had been making that argument for years. They've been repeating themselves for years because their warnings appear to fall on deaf ears. » -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 24-Feb-2025 20:06:57 JST
Per Axbom
My latest post/newsletter is now out. It’s a notable one where I share tips about software and services you can use to replace the big tech variants. I know people are looking.
https://axbom.com/big-trek/ -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Thursday, 06-Feb-2025 03:12:21 JST
Per Axbom
I want to see more pledges like this one by #Posthaven. We should be able to trust that our content can outlive us.
I’m sad for all the beautiful texts by great writers that have been lost because of how internet publishing tends to work.
Do check out posthaven.com -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Wednesday, 27-Nov-2024 06:31:28 JST
Per Axbom
Ah… Sweden. The committee on AI has released their report to the government today.
The general feeling is a recommendation to go all in on a specific yet ill-defined technology without asking if it’s the right tool for the job.
But they do seem to be very certain that it’s all very urgent and we will all be left behind if we don’t act now.
I always wonder how far behind it’s possible to be left. It’s not like there’s a scale, or a point of reference. But damn, it’s urgent. We should essentially be panicking. You know, because those are the perfect conditions for well-reasoned decision-making. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 11-Nov-2024 22:44:24 JST
Per Axbom
AI bros keep saying that AI will solve the climate crisis. Nobody knows what this means. Humankind has known for 50 years what is needed to combat climate change.
Part of that solution is NOT to build things like AI, that increase energy use, lead to freshwater shortages and contribute to a massive growth of e-waste.
The cognitive inertia is real.
When AI bros say AI will solve the climate crisis they are really saying they will find a way to keep destroying the environment, killing off species and triggering extreme weather events without they themselves having to change anything about their lifestyle. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 21-Oct-2024 08:12:40 JST
Per Axbom
If you don't have an RSS feed you don't have a podcast.
And that is a hill I will die on. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 07-Oct-2024 17:18:02 JST
Per Axbom
The idea of having to REGISTER to vote is very foreign to people in Sweden.
In Sweden and many other countries you are automatically registered to vote when you turn 18 (or of legal voting age) and never have to think twice about it.
And yes, people in prison can vote as well.
I don't know how widespread this knowledge is in countries where you have to register.
Automatic eligibility to vote of course only works in countries that enforce mandatory residency registration. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Saturday, 28-Sep-2024 15:16:05 JST
Per Axbom
This is Woj Zaremba, co-founder of OpenAI , addressing yesterday’s departures from OpenAI.
I read this and feel like I need to cleanse myself. I have no idea what is going on in the world anymore. Dissertations will be written about this note. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Thursday, 26-Sep-2024 01:59:04 JST
Per Axbom
Would you rather have an RSS feed than another newsletter but the site doesn’t offer one?
Kill the Newsletter is a great service that gives you a unique e-mail address (for subscribing) and generates a unique Atom feed for your reader, containing all delivered newsletters.
Stay private and updated.
https://kill-the-newsletter.com -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 05-Aug-2024 23:21:39 JST
Per Axbom
Every time I see someone write about the westernized misrepresentation of Ikigai, I sigh. Because it’s of course been blended up with capitalism and hyperbole to become essentially a sales pitch.
Ikigai, to the Japanese, was never about what you can get paid for. Taking care of your grandkids can also be your Ikigai. The stuff you do after work can be your Ikigai. And it changes over time. To me it feels like western thinking really pollutes a lot of beautiful insight and opportunity.
Also, Ikigai is not a Venn diagram.
To be fair, if that framework is helpful to you and inspires you, by all means use it. But it’s not Ikigai. Catching up with your friends can be.
If you’re curious about what Ikigai means to the Japanese, give The Ikigai Podcast a chance: https://ikigaitribe.com/podcasts/ – It’s a series of interviews with Japanese professors, authors, experts, and people living their ikigai. -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 05-Aug-2024 20:52:15 JST
Per Axbom
"I added gen AI to my product and 10x:ed my carbon footprint." -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 05-Aug-2024 17:03:25 JST
Per Axbom
@HistoPol Thanks. Yes, I'm meeting with the doctor right after the scan and will bring this up. You're right that many people won't be as confident asking questions and calling attention to discrepancies.
I ask for everything in writing and last time one of the nurses wrote a great text for me detailing everything that would happen to me. Otherwise I would not have known myself… 😬 -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 05-Aug-2024 16:14:15 JST
Per Axbom
CT-scan today. The nurse who placed my PICC line also took my blood pressure. When detaching the cuff, the pen she had in her hand pressed against my side and drew a long ink line across my new green shirt. Themselves not noticing I pointed out "you just drew a line on my shirt with your pen". They said "I'm really sorry", packed up the stuff and left.
It felt like a weird interaction. And yes, it also wasn't painless.
Now trying to change perspective and have to assume they were very stressed. Lots of things in the interaction felt rough and rushed which would seem to support this.
Anyway. I doubt it will wash out, which made me a little sad. But also, it's just stuff.
#PatientStories -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Monday, 05-Aug-2024 16:14:09 JST
Per Axbom
And now I just had to remind the head nurse that I was supposed to get medicine 30 mins ago to address my previous negative reactions to the contrast fluid.*
They had no note of this, searched, found it and thanked me for reminding them. Feels like many are back from their vacation today.
*Supposed to be administered 2 hours before the scan.
#PatientStories -
Embed this notice
Per Axbom (axbom@axbom.me)'s status on Saturday, 03-Aug-2024 03:27:22 JST
Per Axbom
@HistoPol Thank you 🫶
All GNU social JP content and data are available under the