One of the worst things of teaching at the university is that students are constantly graduating. I wish I could prevent you all from graduating.

This is a sticker that I got from students who graduated last year. These were very impressive students. They played an important role in the city-wide protests against the silence and complicity of this society in the face of the ongoing genocide.

• N.B.1: 14 July 2025: I originally posted this on 12 August 2024. But the content is now new and improved.
• N.B.2: A small discussion can be found underneath this Lemmy post.
• N.B.3: To skip the explanation, and immediately create and download your own version of the new graph, click here: https://mishathings.org/co2-graph. It runs on a small server, so you might need to have a bit of patience. Also it works better on a desktop/laptop than on a phone 😬).

A powerful but problematic graph

For some years now, I have seen this graph go around on social media. I think it’s a powerful image, because it shows us so clearly that it is happening in our lifetime and under our watch.

This is the second part of a two-part series. See also this article. Both articles first appeared in a slightly different form on the blog of OpenTech(AUC).

“…if we can’t convince people to take over the means of production when it only requires a USB stick with Linux and a short online course on bash/python, how are we ever going to gain control over (and share the fruits of) other, more material and inert kinds of technology?”

This post is part of a series about the alleged return of feudalism with the advent of Big Tech.

What is capitalism? What words, ideas and/or concepts would you generally associate with it?

Some might say it is all about “technological development” driven by the “desire to be rich”. Others might say something like “greed” and the “naked pursuit of power”.

But greed, lust for power and even technological development have been around for much longer than capitalism.

This post originally appeared on the website of OpenTech(AUC).

Imagine you’re at a house party, and people are getting drunk. Slowly but steadily, they are raising their voice. And as more and more people do, you are going to have to raise your voice as well. At the end of the night, everyone is screaming in each others’ ears, without being any more audible than when everyone was talking at a normal volume.

This blog post first appeared in February 2024 on the website of OpenTech(AUC).

Whatsapp is a bad deal

Normally, when you feel you’re getting the short end of a stick, for example when the supermarket sells you expensive mushy cauliflowers, or when the organization you volunteer at treats you disrespectfully, you go and find what you need somewhere else.

This ability to “defect” to an alternative when you feel you’re not getting a good deal, is an important “power” that helps you get reasonable deals.¹

Bonuskaartweigeraars van Nederland: het heeft (enigszins) zin wat we doen!

Ik ben zo iemand die geen vaste bonuskaart heeft. Soms vraag ik een kassamedewerker of ik even tijdelijk een bonuskaart mag lenen. Soms neem ik een eigen bonuskaart mee, maar die heb ik dan hooguit een paar weken. Ik ben gewoon nog niet klaar voor zo’n long-term commitment.

Ik heb daarbij altijd het idee dat ik het de Albert Heijn op die manier moeilijk maak om mij als consument te doorgronden. Of dat ik daarmee in ieder geval niet bijdraag in de hedendaagse informatie asymmetrie, waarin de grote bedrijven ons veel beter kennen dan wij hen.

Tiny interaction among holobionts on Mastodon:

Post by @sundogplanets@mastodon.social

View on Mastodon