Related Recs

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In an imperfect world, don‘t try to be perfect. Just do your best.

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS A RANT Consumerism. All of us are consumers, so none of us are in the place to lecture people on their lifestyle choices, no matter what we do in life—suffering was probably involved or we have negatively impacted the planet in some way, we are just not consciously aware. Smart Phones To manufacture the smart phone/devices we all have, it requires 12,670L just to produce the single product. Now look at how normalised smart devices are, how common they are. Think of all the water it would have taken to produce the phones you have in your back pockets next time you are in a group of people. That is just water consumption during the production process, not the CO2 emissions. Data Centres Internet is one of THE LARGEST sources of water consumption. Did you know that in most data centres, 40% of the facility is dedicated to cooling systems? A standard large sized data centre consumes the same amount of energy that 50,000 homes consume in a single day. In order to cool that much, it requires around 19 MILLION LITRES of water DAILY. And did you know that not all data centres are ‘active’ data centres, there are data centres that sit there idly, waiting for the main data centre to fail so it can fulfil its job as the backup. There are data centres consuming that much power while not in active use, just waiting for a potential fail to keep companies like Amazon and Netflix running smoothly. Meta Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat. Meta. In 2023, Meta’s data centres consumed ~14,975,435 MWh of electricity. Do you know how much water alone meta consumed in 2023 to cool its data centres? 3881 Megalitres. That is 3.88 BILLION LITRES. And the demand for social media is growing. (Your whole feed is curated using AI!) I say this because I am peeved. I am peeved when I am told off that my choice to wash the dishes in the sink is worse than putting my dishes in the dishwasher. I don’t like to be lectured about which facilities I use are bad for the environment. The bus or the car you take to work uses petrol, that petrol was likely taken from a middle eastern country that has not known peace due to it’s oil facilities, and they are constantly under siege from foreign countries. The cobalt used in your smart device’s lithium-ion batteries was probably mined using child labour. Same goes for the cocoa in your chocolate. The coffee beans in your morning beverage. I am not a saint, I partake in EVERYTHING I just listed. But for the love of God, I will not take someone judging me or others for a minor scale pleasure, because when you look at the big picture—we are all at collective fault. We are consumers, and unless we are all ready to lay down our swords, it is just going to keep growing. Technology it developing faster than the eye can see, and we cannot keep up. In this perfect world, I am not perfect. But I will keep trying my best. I eat a vegan diet because I want to minimise my carbon footprint, I don’t have active meta accounts, I grow my own veggies and water them with potable water—but I still buy from large supermarkets because I do not have time to be self-sufficient, I forage, I walk if I can or I carpool when I have the opportunity to. But that is still not perfect, as I type this I am consuming the exact thing I just complained about. There is no perfect in this imperfect world as long as there is a demand. And, oh boy, is there a demand. Just do your best, do what you believe will have an impact and keeps your conscience clean at night. You got this. It all accumulates, I guess. Just, before ANYONE criticises someone’s actions or choices unless it’s immediately causing harm to another, just reflect. I have left out so much detail, and I am not going into it because frankly, it’s too much and I don’t want to. (I have links to the cites I used for the figures if you want to do your own research)

@jilly

Jan 29, 2025

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Tik Tok is a sellout

Unfortunately, it seems likely that somehow Tik Tok, Meta, and Trump are already in cahoots, which means Tik Tok will never be the same of course, but it also means there's something going on behind closed doors. With Shou reposting MAGA propaganda and now the signing in to Tik Tok through Meta appearing, and even more, I don’t think it’s looking great for the future of Tik Tok. Trump is not "saving" Tik Tok. I think a couple very important things are happening. First, they're gaining control of the information that we have been sharing with each other on Tik Tok. They don't like how quickly we can spread news and info, and in turn how quickly we can rally against things happening. Second, Trump will use "saving Tik Tok against what the government banned" as an excuse to do what he wants. He's establishing that his orders, even those going against what passed through congress, are the ones that are "correct" and should be followed. He's hoping that the majority of Americans see this act as purely a good thing he did for the people. We've been played. Our country is in danger. People who support Trump are supporting his numerous actions that have been unconstitutional and against what this country actually stands for, all because they are brainwashed. Unfortunately, when (not if) it comes out that there is a connection to Meta/Zuckerberg/ Trump/or a group that works with any of these entities, we'll know that it's the end of the Tik Tok era. Tik Tok will begin collecting and using our data in the same way Meta does, in the same way it was once accused of doing, all to turn a profit for those who will benefit from it. The algorithm will change and the content we see will change. Al will become more prominent than it already is and will learn from content creators, comments, and messages. I hope as many of us as possible can remain steadfast in staying away from Meta, X, and even Tik Tok if it comes down to it and continuing to pursue decentralized social media forms that aren’t controlled by one person, that don’t inhibit free speech and the sharing of information, that don’t block certain news, and don’t turn into channels for state media like I think Tik Tok might. 

@saylor

Jan 19, 2025

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user ownership: turn perfectly imperfect into a cooperative

The best internet platforms enshittify when they take on VC funding, either exiting to the market or a larger acquisition as a result of the pressures of venture capital. It’s all downhill from there: Investors and leadership will strip the company for parts, enforce mass layoffs, sabotage the user experience, all in the name of maximizing returns. What if Perfectly Imperfect took a different route, and exited to its community of users, paid subscribers, and workers? What if PI became a solidarity cooperative, or something similar? Let’s think about how to safeguard the legacy of this clearly beloved platform.

@newjersey

Nov 29, 2024

Top Recs from @thejk

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being a little late on cultural 'things'

Social media can encourage us to constantly seek out the novel and makes us feel like we're missing out if we don't. It's much better for peace of mind, in my opinion, if we let go of the immediate, and use impermanence as our filter for information. We don't all need to watch the latest streaming show, or hear the latest album. What needs to find us, and what we need to find, usually finds a way

@thejk

Mar 13, 2024

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father john misty's cover of "the suburbs"

Arcade Fire has to relinquish their publishing to the man

@thejk

Feb 6, 2024

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"dancing in the dark" - Bruce springsteen

One of the greatest melodies created by human beings A song about sex that doesn't say sex. The music industry worst nightmare of being told by your artistic-interfering label that you need a hit single, but then the hit single you created was "Dancing In The Dark"

@thejk

Mar 18, 2024