Notices by Srijit Kumar Bhadra (srijit@shonk.social), page 3

@esther@strangeobject.space

I prefer a middle path as explained here. Every aspect of capitalism is not bad. For me, being anti-capitalist does not necessarily imply a wholesale rejection of all aspects of capitalism, but rather a desire to address its negative impacts and explore alternative economic models for betterment of masses.

It is not an illusion that capitalism has revolutionized the world's material conditions and significantly increased human output; many people have profited from this. However, it is also not an illusion that capitalism does significant harm and perpetuates preventable kinds of human misery. Capitalism is both an inequality-enhancing and growth-promoting mechanism. Furthermore, it is becoming increasingly evident that capitalism, driven by the insatiable desire for profit, is killing the environment.

The actual disagreement is whether it is feasible to achieve the productivity, innovation, and dynamism that we see in capitalism without the negative consequences. Anti-capitalism is possible not only as a moral response to the world's damages and inequities, but also as a practical way to developing an alternative for better human flourishing.

#anticapitalist #anticapitalism #capitalist #capitalism

Impact of social media and instant messaging apps on interpersonal relationships

My Perspective

Instant messaging apps like WhatsApp, Telegram Messenger, Signal Messenger etc. (primarily WhatsApp in India) do boost one to one connectivity among friends, acquaintances and family members. It also helps improve communication related to mostly once in a while transactional and sometimes friendly topics like family matters, medical, school and college education, fun side of personal life through photos and videos. Jokes and memes, through forwards, add spices to one to one communication. Group chats and social media like Facebook and Twitter strongly influences one to one communication through instant messengers.

There is another side of instant messaging i.e. the not so nice aspects. Dopamine is a brain chemical that plays a vital role in mood regulation of human beings. It seems that entire society is driven by the feel good factor due to constant availability of cheap dopamine through group chats and social media. Unless it is transactional or related to business, most one to one chats survive as long as the recipients gets positive social stimulus and dopamine influx. It doesn’t matter if something is good or healthy for us, as long as we get that quick dopamine fix.

From my experience of chatting since the days of Yahoo! Chat, I see that loss of reward stimuli and dopamine activity lead to one or both the recipients disengage at the slightest pretext. Read receipts, online status, last seen status etc. further add to anxiety and feeling unimportant or betrayed. There is lack of patience and empathy. Sharing contrarian or critical views, on matters connected to society and politics, often cause functional impairment and getting ignored or blocked.

Reference: Dopamine, Smartphones & You: A battle for your time

#Life #Wellness #InstantMessaging #Dopamine #Smartphone #Relationships

The day before yesterday, I learned that a neighbour we had known for nearly seven years had passed away. We were not in touch for the last many years. I did think about him a few times during these years and wanted, at least, to send a text message and inquire about his well being. It never happened.

Now the fact that I can never contact him has left an unexplained void in my mind. And also a tinge of lasting regret.

There are many people with whom I should be in touch but this does not happen. I keep thinking if this is the result of a traffic-infested, hectic city life with a terrible work-life balance, my own negligence, or the present impact of social media and instant messaging apps on our lives and societies.

I have lost those days and times when I used to meet people just to spend some time together with no business or vested interests..

#Grief #HumanTouch #Human #UrbanLife #Urbanism #CityLife #WorkLifeBalance

I love dosas. And I love the buttery Davangere benne dose even more. Under normal circumstances Davangere benne dose followed by a cup of filter kaapi is one of my preferred choices for breakfast or evening snacks.Davangere benne dose or Butter Dose is a type of dosa which traces its origin from the city of Davanagere in Karnataka, India. The term "benne dose" in English language simply corresponds to butter dose. It is prepared by addition of generous amount of butter while preparing the normal dosa, and accompanied by coconut chutney. Its batter is very different comprising a mixture of rice, dal, puffed rice, etc. and is prepared on wood fired pan. It is similar to masala dosa or set dosa but smaller in size, made out of rice batter and much more butter. It is served with liberal helpings of butter sprinkled on it.The off-white colored paste in the photo is called coconut chutney which is another delicacy mostly in the southern part of India.Coconut chutney is a south Indianchutney, a side-dish or a condiment, common in the Indian subcontinent. The condiment is made with coconut pulp ground with other ingredients such as green chillies, tamarind, salt, coriander and water. Coconut chutney is made with both red chillies or green chillies. It is served with dosas, idli, bajji, bonda, and vada. In Karnataka, coconut chutney is also served with rice dishes such as pulao, puliyogare, tomato baath, and vangi baath.#Dosa #DavangereBenneDose #BenneDose #Dose #Mastindians #MastIndia #Karnataka #India

@StillIRise1963@mastodon.world @Aphrodite@chaos.social @essjayjay@tech.lgbt

There is no reason why a course related to Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the corresponding implementation status should not be a mandatory in every school and college of this planet. Each and every existing student will get to know that education is a fundamental human right for everyone. Over time, we can aspire to have a generation of people around the world who understand thatWhereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the worldAll we need is political will.

#HumanRights #StandUp4HumanRights #universaldeclarationofhumanrights #humanrightsforall

@nitin@thinktanki.social

After stopping UNRWA financing, the US plans to transfer aid to other groups operating in Gaza.The United States is pushing for an immediate and serious investigation into the allegations at UNRWA. We’ve been talking about those for a couple of weeks now. As you know, the United Nations has already launched an investigation. The secretary general this morning just announced an independent review led by former French Foreign Minister Colonna on UNRWA policies and procedures with recommendations. All of those things will be under review, I imagine.From the U.S.’s perspective, we want to see concrete results for these approaches. And meanwhile, we’re going to continue to consult closely with other donors on how to continue to meet urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza. We also simultaneously – as you heard Matt talk about, we of course want to be able to continue supporting the important work that is happening in Gaza and the region, and we are looking at what options exist for supporting civilians in Gaza through partners like the World Food Programme, UNICEF, and other NGOs.~ Vedant Patel, Principal Deputy Spokesperson

References:
1. https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-february-5-2024/
2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-suspending-unrwa-funding-us-aims-to-send-aid-to-other-groups-operating-in-gaza/

#IsraeliLivesMatter #PalestineLivesMatter #Gaza #Palestine #Israel #HumanRights #UNRWA

Buying an electric vehicle in India

Dr. Katharine Hayhoe aptly speaks my mind here.And most people don't have the resources or money to do what you do, because the system is skewed in the direction of maintaining our dependence on fossil fuels. This is the case for electric vehicles (EV), in India, at present. Though it may not be apple to apple comparison, from the same manufacturer, today an entry level crossover electric vehicle is costing approximately 50-60 percent more than a corresponding petrol vehicle with manual transmission.

The next interesting aspect is the operation and maintenance cost. According to a study done here, the following conclusions are interesting considering an annual running of 18000 kilometres per year.One will have to drive the EV for over 7.5 years to break even over the petrol, and almost 7 years over the diesel. What’s also worth mentioning here is that the EV’s battery has a warranty of 8 years, and could be expensive to replace.Another study shows that the total ownership cost of a petrol vehicle, in India for first five years with a driving distance of 10,000 km per year. is approximately 30-35 percent less than an equivalent electric vehicle. The equations will change if cost of fuel continues to increase annually at a significant rate.

With respect to carbon emissions, when considering the whole life cycle, from manufacture to scrapping (and, hopefully, recycling), the following facts emerges according to an article titled "Do electric cars really produce fewer carbon emissions than petrol or diesel vehicles?"Lucien Mathieu, T&E’s cars director, said that even if you choose a worst-case scenario – vehicles made and driven with electricity largely from coal – the electric car will win out after about 70,000km (about six years of driving). “The more you drive an electric car, the better it gets,” he said.The above is largely the scenario for India till now. As per an article, dated December 19 2023India relies on coal for about 70% of its power generation and aims to add 17 gigawatts of coal-based power generation capacity in the next 16 months.I accept that the economic sustainability of a petrol and electric vehicle, India and other countries, will be determined by criteria such as usage frequency, trip distance, charging infrastructure availability. Full charging of an entry level electric vehicle takes takes around 8.5 to nine hours to fully recharge the battery. Unlike fuel stations, charging infrastructure is limited, even in a city like Bengaluru, India. Many apartment associations do not permit private charging station in the pillar adjacent to the corresponding car parking space.

Car ownership may be costly, and the initial cost of ownership isn't the only thing that can break the bank. The many recurring expenses that come with owning a car can quickly mount up and have a big impact on one's spending plan. And purchasing an entry-level electric vehicle requires even more financial resources and supported infrastructure. And some of us, who can barely manage to buy an entry level petrol vehicle, in India, will not be able to afford an electric vehicle as of now.

#ElectricCars #ElectricVehicles #EV #Environment #Climate #India # CarbonFootprint #GlobalWarming #ClimateCrisis #ClimateEmergency #NetZero #CarbonEmission #ElectricCar #ElectricVehicle #MastodonIndians #MastIndia #India

cc: @mastodonindians@a.gup.pe @srijit@mas.to

@gerrymcgovern@mastodon.green

This issue that Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) are harmful to road safety is also applicable in India, where we are obliged to cross roads, even with children, in the absence of proper zebra crossings and pedestrian traffic signals. Earlier these SUVs with car bumper crash guards (bassed since 2017 in India) used to look even more monestrous on Indian roads.

As per a news report dated December 9, 2023, the chairman of the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) expressed concern about the growing trend of sport utility vehicle (SUV) sales worldwide, including that in India.“Recent studies in various countries have shown that the car industry’s relentless push to sell ever larger and heavier SUVs in every segment is bad news for road safety, but particularly for those driving smaller, more efficient vehicles, and vulnerable road users. It’s critically important for countries like India that the government push the market towards vehicles that are fit for purpose and safer for all road users,” David Ward added.Reportedly, David Ward made the above statement while addressing the three-day Global Road Safety Initiative event organised by the Institute of Road Traffic Education (IRTE), in partnership with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, Government of India, and association with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP).I persinally prefer small cars which are more suitable challenging road conditions in India.The Global NCAP chief is concerned about the rising trends and sales of SUVs in India, particularly in light of the low level of traffic awareness in the nation. He thinks that carmakers’ promotion of more massive and weighty SUVs in a variety of market segments would hurt traffic safety, especially for pedestrians and smaller cars.

For the first time in my lifetime, I am being asked to pay 15 USD or 20 USD per month for Large Language Model (LLM) based software services which unambiguously state the following in their terms and conditions.

1. Output may not always be accurate.
2. The output must be evaluated for accuracy and appropriateness i.e. double-checking of responses for accuracy is mandatory.
3. Output may be incomplete, incorrect, or offensive i.e. may contain misleading information and/or factual inaccuracies.
4. Output may be due to hallucination. In this context, hallucination refers to the creation of erroneous or misleading information.

Similar to large language based software services, there are image recognition, recommendation systems which can also produce incorrect, inaccurate and offensive output. How many users are willing to pay a monthly subscription of 15-20 USD for such software products and services? Most of us pay for expert-assisted medical diagnosis, which requires the collaboration of healthcare professionals and advanced technologies. If one is unfortunate, such a diagnosis may be wrong or inaccurate. However, medical diagnosis is not the widely adopted, scalable solution that Large Language Model (LLM)-based software service providers are hoping for.

References:
1. https://openai.com/policies/terms-of-use
2. https://brave.com/leo/

#Bullshit #Chatbots #LLM #ZeroTrustIInformarion #ChatGPT #LargeLanguageModels #LargeLanguageModel

The Global Liveability Index 2023, from Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU), is available now. It ranks the cities that have the best and worst living conditions and quality of life around the world. EIU’s liveability index quantifies the challenges presented to an individual’s lifestyle and standard of living in 173 cities worldwide. The index measures cities on five broad indicators — stability, culture and environment, healthcare, education and infrastructure. The highest score a city can get is 100.

Bengaluru (Bangalore) secured 148th spot with a score of 58.7. Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Ahmadabad have slightly better scores.

I believe Bengaluru (Bangalore) has the competence and the bandwidth to rank much better. All that is required in political will. If somebody has lived in Bengaluru even for few weeks, the first obvious expectation for improvement will be better traffic management, roads, public transport and cleaner city with less pollution. Bengaluru has the highest traffic density of any major Indian city, with close to 12.5 million vehicles for a population of 11 million. This clearly shows that there is lot of scope to improve the efficiency of public transport system which will deter people from using personal vehicles.

#City #CityLife #CivicLife #StandardofLiving #Liveability #LiveabilityIndex #GlobalLiveabilityIndex #LiveabilityMetrics #LiveabilityScore #Bengaluru #Bangalore #MastodonIndians #MastIndia #India

cc: @mastodonindians@a.gup.pe @srijit@mas.to

@notesnook@fosstodon.org
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#Notesnook #Markdown #WriteNotes #Notes

I came across this quote too late in my life. Such quotes boost self-esteem which is how we evaluate and perceive ourselves.Don't give people so much power that their silence leaves you questioning your worth.Silence of few persons, who could have been nearest and dearest to me had bothered me and tortured me till recently when I decided that I cannot allow to punish myself any further. I have forgiven them to reconcile my past and have nothing to do with them in future.

Even though it was late in my life, they taught me not to be that way. It has been a waste of time trying compete for their attention and respect. I should have moved on much sooner.

#SelfEsteem #SelfWorth #SelfConfidence #SelfHatred #SelfPity #Silence

The fact that misinformation and propaganda existed even in the Roman Empire and prior to the battle of Actium during 31 BC between Octavian and Mark Antony, shows that the perils of misinformation and disinformation are here to stay with us for ever. Disinformation is a subset of misinformation that is spread intentionally.
The paper titled "The psychological drivers of misinformation belief and its resistance to correction" discusses in great detail regarding why people share misinformation, barriers to belief revision, information to combat misinformation and related practical implications for practitioners, information consumers and policymakers. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all answer. In addition to regulations without curbing freedom of speech (which does not include amplification of that speech), the authors suggest that the most important approach to slowing the spread of misinformation is substantial investment in education, particularly to build information literacy skills in schools and beyond.Overall, solutions to misinformation spread must be multi-pronged and target both the supply (for example, more efficient fact-checking and changes to platform algorithms and policies) and the consumption (for example, accuracy nudges and enhanced media literacy) of misinformation. Non-text-based corrections, such as videos or cartoons, also deserve more exploration. Additional transnational research is needed to explore questions about causality, including the causal impacts of misinformation and corrections on beliefs and behaviors.Crowdfunded news portals, which are based on donation from individuals while maintaining high stands of accountability and transparency, are a relatively new phenomenon in the media landscape. These new generation news portals have several potential advantages like financial independence, public engagement and diverse content and content creation outside of mainstream media scope.

#GenerativeAI #Misinformation #Disinformation #Brainwashing #Manipulation #Manipulations #FakeNews #Polarization #SocietalPolarization #Polarisation #SocietalPolarisation #Propaganda #NeagtiveInfluence #InformationWar #InforWar #ZeroTrustInformation #ClimateCrisis #MastodonIndians #MastIndia #India

The global risks due to misinformation and disinformation may be more than that posed by climate-related risks such as the loss of biodiversity and ecosystem collapse.

On 10th January 2024, Global Risks Report 2024 was published. While climate-related hazards remain a prevalent topic, the report identifies misinformation and disinformation as the most serious short-term threat.

According to the report "foreign and domestic actors alike will leverage misinformation and disinformation to widen societal and political divides" during the next two years. This risk is heightened by a huge number of upcoming elections, with more than 3 billion people expected to vote in 2024 and 2025, including in major economies such as the United States, India, and the United Kingdom. The proliferation of mis- and disinformation around the world may cause civil upheaval, but it may also lead to government-led censorship, internal propaganda, and restrictions on the free flow of information.Though the climate-related risks represent 5 of the top 10 threats during a 10-year period as the world approaches or crosses "climate tipping points", I believe misinformation and disinformation will continue to be ranked among top three risks much beyond the next two years. There is apparently no short term contingency plans and long term mitigation plans apart from effective role of independent fact-checking organizations. I do not know how these fact-checking organizations can deal with the assault of bad actors using Generative AI (including deepfakes) that will dominantly contribute to misinformation and disinformation by flooding the global information systems with false narratives in future. Misinformation and disinformation will also aggravate climate related risks. According to a research done by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, we have "reached the tipping point where humans are unable to meaningfully differentiate between AI-generated versus human-created digital content." I am convinced that Zero Trust Information is the right paradigm in this age of ChatGPT, Google Bard and Bing chatbot for regular end users.

#GenerativeAI #Misinformation #Disinformation #Brainwashing #Manipulation #Manipulations #FakeNews #Polarization #SocietalPolarization #Polarisation #SocietalPolarisation #Propaganda #NeagtiveInfluence #InformationWar #InforWar #ZeroTrustInformation #ClimateCrisis #MastodonIndians #MastIndia #India

My tribute to the Primary Caregiver or Homemaker of the House

It is not easy to earn money to bring food on the table for the family and pay the bills.

And it is not at all easier to maintain the house and actually execute to bring the food on the table for the family 24x7x365. This is what the Primary Caregiver or Homemaker of the Indian family relentlessly does till the last day of their life, under normal circumstances, without expecting any returns. A home assistant or a cook may reduce the burden to some extent. But the mind share and the ownership remains with that unconditional commitment to perform the duty even in the absence of a helping hand. Also, under unfavorable health conditions and circumstances, the tasks and the responsibilities usually neither get lighter nor get delegated as long as they is able to stand on their legs.

The situation can actually get worse when the Homemaker seeks a professional career. Now it is akin to moving with two legs on two different boats in a river. For example, recently I got to know of a primary caregiver and a busy anesthetist who had to arrange the pick-up and drop of the child and milk for the aged parents even while in the operation theater. The show has to go on come what may!

Only those who suddenly get plunged to perform this mind-boggling humongous and to a large extent monotonous task, due to mishaps or other unfortunate reasons, realize in no time what the Homemaker was capable of!

The above is based on my observation of Indian society as an Indian who has always lived in India. The same could be true in all other countries and societies.

#Homemaker #Caregiver #MastIndia #MastodonIndians #India

cc: @mastodonindians@a.gup.pe @srijit@mas.to

@beastoftraal@mastodon.social

Thanks for sharing "We must jump in before laws are made" by Ashwin Mahesh.

I wrote about democracy here.Democracy only means “rule by the people”. Democracy is greater when individuals vote on those matters assigned to the public sector.Author Ashwin Mahesh has nicely summarized how our democracy operates.They operate on the principle that once they have been elected, voters should leave it to them to do as they choose, and trust them unquestioningly. This reduces everything in representative democracy to nothing more than pressing a button on election day. So, in a nutshell, that is all about Indian democracy. To the best of my knowledge, with this unethical approach our elected legislators are not violating any law or our Indian constitution.

Author Ashwin Mahesh also mentions Bengaluru Metropolitan Land Transport Authority (BMLTA) Act, 2022 as an exception.But at least some of this can be changed and some citizens’ groups are taking a more active interest in knowing and even steering the work of legislatures and governments. We saw this in the way the BMLTA Act was passed, to create an integrated land transport authority for Bengaluru. More than the government, this law was championed by advocates of public transport and sustainable mobility. They took it upon themselves to propose the legislation, and even wrote parts of it. That was followed by months of rallying sections of the public, and also nudging the government to introduce the bill.I am unable to see any significant impact of BMLTA Act till now. It is possible that due to this BMLTA Act, urban mobility in Bengaluru is not getting worse and I can hope for improvement in near future.

#Legislature #Democracy #IndianDemocracy #Politics #IndianPolitics #Bengaluru #UrbanMobility #India #MastIndia #MastodonIndians

@HeavenlyPossum@kolektiva.social “The low expected turnout in the upcoming elections reflects a popular rejection of the…political system, which is suffering from a legitimacy crisis and the absence of real opposition forces to vie with the parties in power…”People decline to vote because they recognize that voting will not produce meaningful change, because it’s not worth it and because they don’t want to participate in a corrupt system…You are only highlighting political apathy. That may not be the only reason in India. In mega cities of India, including Bengaluru, the calculation of low voter turnout percentage is wrong due to:
1. Out-of-sync voter lists in mega cities that have a lot of migration and inter-city movement. It may require significant effort to get the name added in the electoral roll after migrating to another city.
2. Duplicate entries and improper deletions, during an effort to clean up the electoral rolls, leading to the disenfranchisement of genuine voters.

The above does not necessarily mean that citizens can be absolved. Indian political parties must introspect why their election manifestos and candidates are failing to motivate voters to come out and vote enthusiastically.

#VoterTurnout #Elections #Politics #Demographics #ElectoralRegistration #VoterRegistration #VoterID #MastodonIndians #Mastindians #MastIndia #India

Reference: https://www.thehindu.com/elections/karnataka-assembly/low-turnout-not-poll-apathy-but-out-of-sync-voter-lists-say-analysts-and-citizens/article66839921.ece

@Amelia@transfem.social

Yes

@Amelia@transfem.social

I am unable to access https://shonk.social from Firefox.

@panos@dev.joinsharkey.org @Amelia@transfem.social @Marie@transfem.social

I am aware that intuition is subjective. I usually bookmark a link to read it later. That link need not be my favourite. So "Favourite" as "Bookmark" appears counter-intuitive to me.