Mastodawn

Leaning heavily on @pluralistic I wrote a thing about how the intertwined enshittification of our public and private sectors requires us to think hard about what we mean by ‘progress’.
https://savemefromwhatiwant.blogspot.com/2026/03/progression.html

Progression

What does the word ‘progress’ mean to you? What do you think of when you hear that word? Does it conjure up a relentless march of technology...

Edric Apr 5

In which @Rushkoff gets AI pilled, anthropomorphises a next word guessing machine and falls for the “Anthropic are the good guys” line whilst their LLM is actively being used by the US military for target selection in Iran.
Finally he seems to think that when the luddites understood the harms of the automated loom, they used one to weave some slacks for their friends and family.
Needless to say this is not my favourite episode of Team Human.
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/team-human-with-douglas-rushkoff/id1140331811?i=1000758793475

The Internet Felt Like This in 1994. AI Might Be Our Last Chance.

Podcast Episode · Team Human with Douglas Rushkoff · 2 April · 22min

Apple Podcasts

Edric Mar 29

Molly White Mar 29

the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology has more All-In podcast hosts than professors

Edric Mar 29

RE: https://mastodon.social/@404mediaco/116313265332639169

The thing I keep coming back to with this is what did they spend all that money on? Were there thousands of very highly paid developers just playing pong all day? Are there data centres the size of small towns sitting unused? Are there 7,000 tonnes of Horizon Worlds branded stationary in a landfill somewhere? Where did all that money go??
So much money, just so the most boring man alive could try and buy the future.

Edric Mar 3

My friend created this new internet radio station. It only plays Swann’s Way at the moment, but the plan is for all books of the Scott Moncrieff translation to be on there eventually. I swapped out one of my usual tech doom podcasts for a spot of ‘Combray’ last night and it was like a balm to the soul. Give it a try…
https://proustfm.com/

Proust FM

Edric Feb 25

Oh dear god. The stock markets are now reacting to science fiction.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/feb/24/feedback-loop-no-brake-how-ai-doomsday-report-rattled-markets?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

‘A feedback loop with no brake’: how an AI doomsday report shook US markets

Shares in Uber, Mastercard and American Express fall on back of apocalypse scenario posted on Substack

The Guardian

Edric Feb 9

Randahl Fink Feb 9

Reporter Hannah Natanson has been writing articles about the corruption of the Trump regime. The result: Now Trump has sent the FBI to raid her home and seize all her devices, so they can identify her sources.

The insightful Liz Oyer has the story: https://youtube.com/shorts/2CkE7YXpaL4?si=sGiMkyEo3HiuNWo8

Edric Jan 6

Cult leader: “When I said the rapture was coming next year, I meant *next* year.”

Remember the problem with cult leaders is not that they accurately predict the rapture, it’s the harm they do to their followers who are waiting for the rapture. #ai

Edric Dec 19

Global heating is making you fat…
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/dec/19/higher-carbon-dioxide-food-more-calorific-less-nutritious-study

Food becoming more calorific but less nutritious due to rising carbon dioxide

Researchers noticed ‘dramatic’ changes in nutrients in crops, including drop in zinc and rise in lead

The Guardian

Edric Dec 13

In case you’ve forgotten, you’re just a unit to be optimised. Happy Christmas meat sack.