If you've ever wondered why some Wi-Fi is free (like in hotels), it's because typically data about your browsing is sold to countless ad companies that will happily buy it.

Had to use the hotel WiFi recently on a trip, and after clicking "agree" to their terms of service, the Little Snitch firewall on my Mac went bonkers. I must have denied 20-30 outbound requests to advertising networks. It still worked, though, so I'm guessing I didn't manage to block all of it.

A common refrain is that the web is _turning into_ garbage because of LLMs.

But that's not really true. It's just that the garbage is _drowning out_ everything else, especially in search engines that themselves have decided to go into the garbage generation business.

What can we do? We can promote the #IndieWeb right here. Highlight the good, perhaps obscure websites and blogs you come across, especially the ones that aren't loaded with ads & trackers.

The web is still full of awesomeness.

The problem with #COP28 & the close involvement of the #fossilfuels industry in one utterance:

The president of COP28, Sultan Al Jaber, has claimed there is “no science” indicating that a phase-out of fossil fuels is needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C!

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/dec/03/back-into-caves-cop28-president-dismisses-phase-out-of-fossil-fuels

"Major oil and gas companies agree to cut methane by 80%"

This is a con.

"Agriculture accounts for 91% of biogenic methane emissions.

A recent report by WWF found that the world’s five biggest meat and milk producers, including Fonterra, emit the same amount of greenhouse gases as major oil company ExxonMobil"

But count on people waving this around like an accomplishment; when they are really just showing how little respect they have for us.

#science #cop28 #climate #climatechange #energy

EIon Musk’s Wealth
2009: $.6B
2023: $249B

Jeff Bezos’s Wealth
2009: $6B
2023: $153B

Mark Zuckerberg’s Wealth
2009: $.6B
2023: $105B

Federal Minimum Wage
2009: $7.25
2023: $7.25

Billionaire tax rate: 8.2%
Worker tax rate: 13%

Pay workers.
Tax Billionaires.
Save our economy.

It's absurd that people are traveling to COP28 by private jet.

https://theconversation.com/why-are-people-still-flying-to-climate-conferences-by-private-jet-218459

As @pluralistic writes:
In the “Shitty Technology Adoption Curve,” oppressive technologies are first imposed on people who don’t get to complain.

In this case: soldiers.

“The role of AI, machine learning, and predictive algorithms in health care is getting more attention as this technology advances, and we in the Military Health System are no exception,”
https://www.health.mil/News/Dvids-Articles/2023/10/12/news455622?page=6