Notices by Ethan Marcotte (beep@follow.ethanmarcotte.com), page 5

Duke University Libraries are canceling their subscription to Basecamp. Their post explaining the move is very good, and worth your time: https://blogs.library.duke.edu/blog/2023/11/30/why-were-dropping-basecamp/

@eaton I went through something similar a few years back — though at a much, much, MUCH smaller scale — and ultimately decided true best thing for all involved was if I kept my old posts in a deep, dark mineshaft. https://ethanmarcotte.com/wrote/thread/

long shot, but what the heck i’ll put this out into the world:

if you work for an outlet or publication that’s pulling together an end-of-year book list, i’d love to get you a review copy of YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION for consideration. let me know!

https://abookapart.com/products/you-deserve-a-tech-union

📕💖

#bookstodon #unions #1u #YDATUbook

i would happy to be candid in my communications with the openai board

so incredibly candid

PEOPLE OF BOSTON! Do you work in tech? Are you curious about unions? Let’s have a meetup about it!

On Tuesday 28 November at 7pm, join me and veteran labor organizer Rand Wilson at Remnant Brewing for an evening of discussion: we’ll talk about unions, the path to forming your own, and the challenges (and possibilities) of organizing in the tech industry.

Space is limited; RSVP here! https://tinyurl.com/ydatumeet

#BostonMA #CambridgeMA #SomervilleMA #unions #TechUnions #UnionizeTech #1u

unfortunately, as you know, computers

motherfucker shipped the `img` tag and he’s out here acting like he invented clouds

I can’t quite believe it: my new book, YOU DESERVE A TECH UNION, is finally here. 📕🎉

I am so proud of this little book, and more than a little overwhelmed that it’s, like, finally REAL.

Thank you so much to everyone who’s supported the book, or preordered it, or talked it up to their friends. It really means the world to me.

💜

https://abookapart.com/products/you-deserve-a-tech-union

#YDATUbook #unions #TechUnions #1u #books #bookstodon #publishing

i don’t think i’ve EVER deployed something to my website more quickly than i just did, ha ha BYE https://platform.openai.com/docs/gptbot

@kissane it’s still a little wild to me that “unlisted” still shows up in everyone’s home timelines

“It isn’t ‘AI’ that has worked to eliminate writers’ rooms and it isn’t ‘streaming’ that’s shifted the revenue shared with writers and other artists to pennies on the dollar. It’s companies that have done that, often exploiting the loopholes in their labor and royalty contracts that allow them to do so.”

new @tim just dropped, and it is GOOD https://amazonchronicles.ghost.io/alexa-will-not-replace-us/

@davatron5000 “Let’s circle back in Q3 to see if you’ve been replaced yet.”

Tech workers: if you, like me, have ever wondered about how automation will impact your work, you should probably pay close attention to how “artificial intelligence” figures into the WGA strike. https://www.wgacontract2023.org/strike-hub

WONDERFUL NEWS https://blog.bandcamp.com/2023/05/19/bandcamp-and-bandcamp-united-release-joint-statement-on-union-vote/

Congratulations to all the workers at @bandcampunited on your union!

“A spokesperson for OpenAI said no one was available to answer questions about its use of AI contractors.”

well, yes https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/innovation/openai-chatgpt-ai-jobs-contractors-talk-shadow-workforce-powers-rcna81892

#labor #TechLabor #InvisibleWorkers

obligatory: https://bukk.it/unseen.jpg

WHAT WONDERFUL NEWS https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/bandcamp-union-1234695308/

#unions #TechUnions #TechLabor

Sounds like the leadership at Bandcamp is gearing up to fight @bandcampunited’s union campaign. If you’d like to show up to support the workers, here’s how: https://union.place/@bandcampunited/110136308462128979

#unions #TechUnions #TechLabor

oh hey, the union’s got a lovely little website outlining how you can support them, if you’d like to https://www.bandcampunited.org/show-support

(via @jalcine, @shauna)

I’ve been doing a bunch of interviews over the last year, and using an automated service to get text transcripts from my recordings. It’s been…fine, but the accuracy’s been all over the map.

Recently, @eaton pointed me toward https://github.com/openai/whisper/, and my goodness the accuracy seems *uncannily* good. No speaker identification, sadly — just timestamps — but whisper’s transcripts seem to be such a jump in quality, at least over what I’d been using.