Notices by 𝓻𝓻𝓪 (rra@post.lurk.org)

TLSv1.3 (OUT), TLS handshake, Client hello

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atcqMWqB3hw

This piece about bitcoin mining and noise pollution has such a density to it..

the notion of noise pollution and its effects

the way the mine looks, where it is, why it is there and how it sustains and necessitates fossil fuel plants

the way the noise pollution wilts humans, animals and the trees and how the article centers discusses them (that portrait of the atrophying dog)

the former oathkeeper, trying to address it but so firmly stuck in his ideology of "non-political"

Only oversight is that they could have really underscored that decibels are a logarithmic scale and an increase of 3db is double the power emitted.

https://time.com/6982015/bitcoin-mining-texas-health/

https://www.nrc.nl/nieuws/2024/03/15/poetin-komt-tanken-bij-vlissingen-a4193179

Last week the NRC reported about a little-known refueling (bunkering) point in the south-west of the #Netherlands, at the entrance of the Schelde near #vlissingen. The newspaper uncovered that it is being used by a #shadow #fleet of often badly maintained and very old tanker vessels which play a pivotal role in turning sanctioned Russian #oil in to not sanctioned oil. The vessels make their way from Baltic ports along the North Sea, either to India or Turkey. The newspaper called this bunkering point "Putin's petrol station", because on the way back the sanctioned vessels stock up on fuel. The ships all fly under several different "flags of convenience" and as their companies get put on sanction lists, the ships move to other owners.

It is not often that international politics, global capital, supply chains, the news and infrastructure congeal the way it does at Putin's Pitstop so I had to go take a look #infrastructours.

infra thread!

> In relation to other struggles in Germany, with this occupation, we want to take the next step in the fight for climate justice, because we are trying to bring in water as an issue, and we are trying to debunk the narrative of “green growth,” the idea that electric cars are solving the problem. At the same time, this occupation is related to the anti-fascist movement, because Elon Musk is also part of the fascist problem.

https://crimethinc.com/2024/03/08/germany-the-fight-against-the-tesla-gigafactory-some-occupy-the-forest-some-shut-down-the-power-grid

@CrimethInc

Low-Tech Magazine explores techniques of the past and combines them with the knowledge of today to propose more sustainable futures.

Based on this idea, Kris de Decker and Roel Roscam Abbing organize an evening exploring concepts from the Internet's history that can help create a more sustainable future internet. With talks by Kris De Decker, @rra and @timrodenbroeker

How about systems where independent publishers could own their platform? Or what about media where you actually get to see posts from those you follow?

The evening will start with short talks and then make space for a larger discussion and chats over a drink. Are you curious what fresh ideas from the past can tell us about the future and who are the people working on them? Join us at #Akasha Hub in #Barcelona on the 21st of February.

More info: https://www.meetup.com/es-ES/akashabarcelona/events/299157033/

Poster design by @johannagratzer

In 2015 I organized a tour of data centres, internet and energy infrastructures to explore the question why data centers are built where they are built (https://test.roelof.info/projects/infrastructours/).

After the tour there was a lunch where people could make their own Double-Irish Dutch Sandwiches.

The recipe helps complete the picture of what makes "a good environment" for a multinational company and their data centers.

I rediscovered it again the other day and added it to my blog: https://test.roelof.info/log/double-irish-dutch-sandwich/

#broodje #kaas

Smartphone manufacturers have recently begun announcing they will support their newer models of phones with at least five years of software updates. They like you to believe they are taking responsibility by themselves at the benefit of us the consumer.

The reality is that the new EU #Ecodesign guidelines are forcing them to do this if they want to stay on the European market:
https://repair.eu/news/new-eu-rules-smartphones-and-tablets-will-follow-new-ecodesign-requirements-by-june-2025/

via @jessika_richter

@tchambers @mastodonusercount In the chapter "Seven Theses on the Fediverse" (https://monoskop.org/images/c/cc/Mansoux_Aymeric_Abbing_Roel_Roscam_2020_Seven_Theses_on_the_Fediverse_and_the_Becoming_of_FLOSS.pdf) which was written at the end of 2019 we have 3.5M accounts and 5000 instances.

When was the last time you saw a CW? Is it just me or did these fade out of use?

Did you know gas stations in Sweden have an ingredient list for fuels? Did you know some 'bio diesel' is almost 100% animal fats?

The Dutch public broadcast organization NPO ( (like a BBC or PBS) is now running its own mastodon instance with handles on its main domain!

Radio 1: @nporadio1

The instance itself is at https://social.npo.nl/

@despens forget the facebook algorithm, people will get red pilled on about:blank now

@marieverdeil libre office calc spreadsheets :)

The lessons of Chile’s struggle against Big Tech

By Evgeny Morozov

"As we commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Chilean coup, it’s tempting to see #Allende as a tragic but hapless figure, who spent most of his short-lived presidency fending off efforts to unseat him. [...]

And yet, for all the problems and crises, there were plenty of radical, utopian and even otherworldly initiatives that still have the power to inspire us today. Surprisingly, many of them had to do with technology; Letelier’s push for the tech equivalent of the IMF was just one of many examples.

Common to all of them was an understanding of #technology through the lens of geopolitics and heterodox economics – a lens that got destroyed by the global neoliberal transformation that followed the coup. While Pinochet embraced the Chicago School of #economics Allende’s government was the beneficiary of what might be called the Santiago School of technology. And as we contemplate a post-neoliberal future, free of the Chicago Boys’ influence, we have much to learn from these humbler but wiser Santiago Boys."

https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-essay/2023/09/salvador-allende-fight-big-tech#selection-2019.0-2027.512

@Moon Yeah the level of research ethics varies a lot with disciplines and countries, which is also why we shouldn't just rely on that. Making it easier to respect wishes will go a long way though.

As for research on the fediverse I agree that it will be even more skewed demographically than Twitter if you want to make claims about 'people online' or whatever. However I think there are specific areas of research that the fediverse allows for. On interoperability and governance for example as there is a lot of corporate misinformation on that front. In European commission hearings Facebook for example claimed that e2ee interoperable chat was not technically possible, as a way to soften the interoperability requirements for their chat offerings..

In June I attended a workshop on #research on and through Mastodon by @ccamara and @__nate__. Part of the discussions during that workshop focused on understanding how computational research could happen on the Fediverse. Prompted by the upcoming mastodon 4.2 release, I wrote down some thoughts on what that can mean for scraping-based academic research on the fediverse.

My tldr: this type of research is going to happen regardless of whether people want it or not. Calls for changing research methods are insufficient. Instead, we could focus on mechanisms for cooperative actors to better navigate consent computationally. The new 4.2 toot:indexable flag possibly provides a model for this.

https://test.roelof.info/log/toot-indexable/

technological autonomy not autonomous technology

@jine Two Bits by C. Kelty has a more global perspective. (https://read.dukeupress.edu/books/book/1136/Two-BitsThe-Cultural-Significance-of-Free-Software)

bit tangential but KAOS by Autistici/Inventati has background on european activist scene (https://networkcultures.org/blog/publication/kaos-ten-years-of-hacking-and-media-activism/)

regarding the mastodon.social #spam I just tried and confirmed there is not even anything like a captcha during the sign-up process. I made an account with a throwaway mail provider within seconds.

Why does Mastodon not group DMs from people you don't follow in a specific view? Twitter has this as "Message Requests" (which by the way for me are filled with the same kind of mention spam as that currently originates from M.S., because spam logically follows from open sign ups)

@lain big german coast guard energy