We constrain our imaginations when we subordinate our creations to names owned by fascist tycoons. Imagine the author of a book telling people to “read my Amazon”. A great director trying to promote their film by saying “click on my Max”. That's how much they've pickled your brain when you refer to your own work and your own voice within the context of their walled garden. There is no such thing as “my Substack”, there is only your writing, and a forever fight against the world of pure enshittification.
Children who have not yet lost much of their sense of wonder and fun have helped us to find an ethic about computing: Do not automate the work you are engaged in, only the materials. If you like to draw, do not automate drawing; rather program your personal computer to give you a new set of paints. If you like to play music, do not build a “player piano”: instead program yourself a new kind of instrument.
Alan Kay, Microelectronics and the Personal Computer (1976)
Has the tech world kept up this image, their promise, their goals? No. Even with AI now and the ads released for Gemini, ChatGPT and others, they still bank on the utopian world state they failed to deliver even until now. It's like we're made to believe it is always just. out. of. reach. but the next technological advancement will fix it and finally make it real.
(3) To name is to understand. This is McMuskism: it’s McCarthyism on steroids, political persecution + Trump + Musk + Silicon Valley surveillance tools. It’s the dawn of a new age of political witch-hunts, where burning at the stake meets data harvesting and online mobs.
(14) Pay in cash. Ask yourself what an international drug trafficker would do, and do that. They’re not going to the dead drop by Uber or putting 20kg of crack cocaine on a credit card. In the broligarchy, every data point is a weapon. Download Signal, the encrypted messaging app. Turn on disappearing messages.
(17) There is such a thing as truth. There are facts and we can know them. From Tamsin Shaw, professor in philosophy at New York University: “‘Can the sceptic resist the tyrant?’ is one of the oldest questions in political philosophy. We can’t even fully recognise what tyranny is if we let the ruling powers get away with lying to us all.”
(18) Plan. Silicon Valley doesn’t think in four-year election cycles. Elon Musk isn’t worrying about the midterms. He’s thinking about flying a SpaceX rocket to Mars and raping and pillaging its rare earth minerals before anyone else can get there. We need a 30-year road map out of this.
Many climate fiction enthusiasts I have spoken with over the years rightfully praise KSR for tackling such a daunting topic in a world where we cannot imagine any climate future. I fully agree with them: a bold approach by a well-known author opened a lot of new readers to the movement.
At the same time, I think we NEED to be aware of the book's limitations, often invisible to someone who hasn't experienced a lot of the situations described in it – or has never read less popular positions on the topic. All my research into Solarpunk narratives teaches me that it’s not enough to say that something is missing: we must imagine an alternative, a step forward, even if just as a naive proposal.
If we allow ourselves to read “The Ministry For The Future'' as “let's continue with neoliberal capitalism; blockchain will save us; let the brown people bloody their hands”, then we might delude ourselves into thinking that there's nothing more to do. We might refuse to answer any uncomfortable questions about our position in the world, hoping that after a lengthy career in banking or UN we rightfully deserve our peaceful retirement in the beautiful Alps. The world will sort itself out.
On respire et on répète. Twitter n'est pas la rue. Twitter est un produit de niche. Cette niche est celle du pouvoir et de l'espace médiatique. Celleux en parle le plus sont les personnes qui y ont investi un capital et le possède toujours, ou sont attachés aux miettes de ce qu'il en reste. Les autres ont simplement fui cette plateforme. Il n'y a pas de rue par défaut. Est-ce qu'il y a encore une rue sur le web ? Est-ce qu'il y en a déjà vraiment eu une ?
La niche a plusieurs sens. Cela peut autant être un concept issu de l'écologie, l'habitat des oiseaux mais aussi là où l'espace réservé des chiens, qui ressemble souvent à une sorte de cage.
I don’t say all of this to revel in my curmudgeonly Luddism. I say it because I’m living proof that you can be a fulfilled, modern, very online, technical expert & creator and completely sit out this hype cycle.
Seriously. You can just not use any of these generative AI tools.
Make it Yourself is a digital book that showcases this incredible talent, bringing together over 1000 useful DIY projects to demonstrate just what is possible when you make things yourself.
La CNC achetée d'occasion il y a deux ans et qui est toujours dans son carton me hante plus que d'habitude ces derniers temps. L'idée d'aménager un coin bricolage/fabrication digne de ce nom est souvent la suite logique de cette boucle de pensée. Une ressource qui vient à point nommée et semble être une mine d'inspirations et d'idées.
Le projet et le format me rappellent A Pattern Language sans raison évidente.
J'étais quand même désemparé : cette équipe était parfaite et j'avais toujours imaginé que nous bouclerions la boucle ensemble. Cela me paraissait convenu, mais cette convention n'avait probablement plus rien à faire ici. On voyage pour que les choses surviennent et changent ; sans quoi on resterait chez soi. Et quelque chose avait changé pour lui, qui modifiait ses plans. De toute façon nous n'avions rien promis ; d'ailleurs il y a toujours dans les promesses quelque chose de pédant et de mesquin qu nie la croissance, les forces neuves, l'inattendu. Et à cet égard, la ville était une couveuse.