Bits
“The ideal subject of totalitarian rule is not the convinced Nazi or the convinced Communist, but people for whom the distinction between fact and fiction (i.e., the reality of experience) and the distinction between true and false (i.e., the standards of thought) no longer exist.” #internet #ai https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/whats-happening-to-the-internet
“It was never a terrible idea, at least, to use computers to connect to one another on occasion, for justified reasons, and in moderation (although the risk of instrumentalizing one another was present from the outset). The problem came from doing so all the time, as a lifestyle, an aspiration, an obsession. The offer was always too good to be true, but it’s taken us two decades to realize the Faustian nature of the bargain.” #socialmedia https://archive.ph/US4Na
A conversation with #bluesky CEO Jay Graber #fediverse #opensource https://www.wired.com/video/watch/social-media-reboot-a-conversation-with-jay-graber
#fediverse #decentralization ..” #bluesky is a platform that resolutely wishes it wasn’t. And that has profound implications for what its users want the platform to be, and what it can’t; in short, why it will not save us. … excessive dependence on #socialmedia platforms creates an ugly feedback loop that can swallow our dreams whole.” https://www.liberalcurrents.com/bluesky-wont-save-us/
Film & Video
“In short, Sun Ra had a religious cult. Only instead of killing people, or drinking Kool-Aid, or committing mass suicide in preparation for some comet flyby, or trying to take over society through covert operations and all-out extortion of members … Sun Ra’s cult played jazz. They played jazz constantly, they played jazz with determination and fervor, and they played jazz in hats made of tin foil, sequins, duct tape, and purple rayon.” https://www.metafilter.com/79781/The-Sun-Ra-Quilt-of-Joy#2479221
Sound & Music
What we have now is a perverse, frictionless vision for art, where a song stays on repeat not because it’s our new favorite but because it’s just pleasant enough to ignore.” #music #economics #spotify https://archive.ph/5Lx61
Politics & Economics
“I think of our move as being more than just ‘protest’, which implies that we academics lack the power to change the publication system directly … by starting new journals that are open, not-for-profit, and have high academic standards.” #publishing #openaccess https://carbonchemist.com/journal-editor-mass-resignations-what-do-they-achieve/
“.. the only tool that can secure economic justice for workers who truly can’t help but do their jobs is solidarity.” #art #economics #politics https://pluralistic.net/2024/12/21/blockheads-r-us/#vocational-awe