Mastodawn

CORRECTION!
Turns out the Reddit post I shared isn’t credible so I’m retracting screenshots.
These things only distract from the real issues, which are serious enough on their own.

I do believe the exploitation & manipulation concerns are legitimate though.
The Human Rights Watch’s report does lay out thoroughly, how platforms exploit workers, underpay them, & avoid responsibility -all while framing it as progress.

Worth a read even if the whistleblower post was fake

https://www.hrw.org/report/2025/05/12/the-gig-trap/algorithmic-wage-and-labor-exploitation-in-platform-work-in-the-us

The Gig Trap

The 155-page report, “The Gig Trap: Algorithmic, Wage and Labor Exploitation in Platform Work in the US” focuses on seven major companies operating in the US: Amazon Flex, DoorDash, Favor, Instacart, Lyft, Shipt, and Uber. These companies claim to offer gig workers “flexibility” but often end up paying them less than state or local minimum wages. Six of the seven companies use algorithms with opaque rules to assign jobs and determine wages, meaning that workers do not know how much they will be paid until after completing the job.

Human Rights Watch

justforfun Dec 29

kravietz 🦇Dec 28

Being aesthetically impaired I rarely post photos or art, but this…

A Man Feeding Swans in the Snow, Poland | Marcin Ryczek

justforfun Dec 26

Show thread

Mike Olson Dec 26

Cory Doctorow, @pluralistic, “Picks and Shovels.” The third book in the Marty Hench series. If you’re a Homebrew Computer Club wannabe with a fascination for forensic accounting, you won’t find a better character or story arc than this collection. Episode three lives up to its predecessors.

https://bookshop.org/p/books/picks-and-shovels-a-martin-hench-novel-cory-doctorow/c61cac2a169d7bfe

justforfun Dec 24

Jess Rose Dec 24

Early Christmas present from me if you're reading this and you're a:

- Senior web developer
- In London
- Really into books and libraries
- Looking for work rn

I am excited to inform you that the British Library is hiring a new head of web development

https://ce0752li.webitrent.com/ce0752li_webrecruitment/wrd/run/etrec179gf.open?WVID=5071482BMD&LANG=USA

justforfun Dec 9

Jason Evangelho 🐧🎒Dec 9

And we are FEDERATED! This is awesome!
Follow @WelcomeHome for all your Linux For Everyone videos, podcasts, news, and notes.

#Fediverse #Linux

justforfun Nov 29

Chuck Darwin Nov 29

With the holidays upon us, it's easy to default to giving the tech gifts that retailers tend to push on us this time of year:
smart speakers, video doorbells, bluetooth trackers, fitness trackers, and other connected gadgets are all very popular gifts.
But before you give one, think twice about what you're opting that person into.
One big problem with giving these sorts of gifts is that you're opting another person into a company's intrusive surveillance practice,
likely without their full knowledge of what they're really signing up for.
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/12/think-twice-giving-surveillance-holidays

Think Twice Before Giving Surveillance for the Holidays

Electronic Frontier Foundation

justforfun Nov 6

Cat Hicks Nov 6

Nearly 6,000 UCSD students receive CalFresh benefits (the California SNAP) which means these thousands of students are now struggling to eat. An emergency effort is underway to help -- and all efforts are being MATCHED by an anonymous donor. They could use support.

I hope you will consider donating, and do please share either way. I was a student who could not afford enough food consistently when I was in college. My heart breaks for them and all they go through.

https://basicneeds.ucsd.edu/donate/index.html

Donation

For anyone else considering the seasonal pursuit of carving a pumpkin and spending time looking through dollar store toolkits or scrolling through dozens of identical crappy plastic tool sets in attractive clamshell zip cases on Amazon, let me save you some time.

The magic term you want is "drywall saw".

(If you're one of those maniacs who uses high speed rotary tools on your gourds, disregard my words. I have no wisdom for you.)

justforfun Oct 19

Ewen Bell 📸Oct 19

Roughly two decades ago I came across the concept of "YayMe.txt".

This fella described how he keeps a file on his computer, and everyday when something nice happens he'll open up that text file and write down the date with whatever the nice thing was.

It might be that he rode his bike to work that day instead of driving the car. Or a client who sent a nice email to show their appreciation. He just keeps adding to the YayMe.txt file, so that over time it becomes a compendium of good things that have happened in his life. Mostly, things that reflect on himself.

Because we have no trouble reminding ourselves that we are too old, or too fat, or too bald, or too slow, or lack skills, or lack confidence, or whatever. We do this all day every day without even trying. YayMe.txt is a way to try and remember that there are good things in your world, and that for the most part you are one of those good things.

Two decades later I have a file in my notepad titled "YayMe.txt", where I drop screenshots of those emails and posts and whatever else that marks today as a good day. I start a new one each year, because the note file gets very full.

#YayMeDotText