I found out the other day that Numerical Control - ie CNC machines - were pushed by the US Air Force as a means to break shop floor unions. The early ones had no economic advantage but DID shift the type of labour from the floor to the office (who weren’t unionised).

Just a fun thought when one considers “software is eating the world” and AI/ML trends.

#Union #Tech #AIEthics

Might as well post some of my art so this place doesn't stay empty during these early days.

"Sphinx of black quartz, judge my vow!"

This pangram (a sentence using every letter of the alphabet) is so much more bad-ass than the stupid "quick brown fox" that I had to illustrate it. A tribute to master Jean Giraud (aka Moebius).

#illustration #moebius #digitalArt #fantasyart

for a long time, the fediverse has cultivated a culture of strategic illegibility & guided the technical affordances to aid in this illegibility: those who try to become part of the fediverse by making genuine connections are welcomed, but those who try to make large lists, indexes, or archives, or who try to optimize reach or scale-up size, are treated with suspicion

this makes a lot of sense: the culture of the fediverse is a refugee culture. for the first decade, people came here because they felt unwelcome or excluded elsewhere. maps that are readable to outsiders can be used to find and exterminate the vulnerable.

now, for the first time, most people on the fediverse don't understand why people might not want to be found by everyone