falktx @falktx@mastodon.falktx.com

Over the next two weeks, I'll be publishing a series of four (well, 4.5) posts about Meta's role in the genocide of the Rohingya in Myanmar.

Part I is up now, along with a little meta-post with notes on terminology and sources and ct.

https://erinkissane.com/meta-in-myanmar-part-i-the-setup

https://erinkissane.com/meta-meta

These posts are aimed squarely at people like me and my tech-world peers—people who work on and care about social technologies.

Want UblockOrigin for life

Some kinda augmented reality that replaces all display advertising with classical art or gifs from /r/aww

Quote attributed to Banksy put it best:

Unity posted an "apology". But the only thing they're sorry about is "confusion".
No need, there is no confusion. Cut the bulls**t.
I'm sure if they'd let the CEO say something he'd call us game developers f****ing idiots again.
The company needs to recycle the entire upper management at this point.

#Unity #UnityTechnologies #GaneDev

if you're into #LinuxAudio or simply #Ardour you definitely need to follow @PaulDavisTheFirst and @x42

#FollowSaturday #fff #FediFollow

Cardinal (the self-contained, portable plug-in version of VCV Rack) finally has it's own website!

https://cardinal.kx.studio/

Which beautifully explains what it is and lets you play with it right in your browser :)

#Audio #AudioProduction #Synthesizer #VCV #VCVrack #Modular #EuroRack #FOSS #FOSSaudio #LibreSoftware #FreeSoftware #MusicProduction #SoundDesign

It is a Friday for Future! As the @fff movement gathers for the next global climate strike to demand #EndFossilFuels I can't help but think:

Will we, as educators, decision-makers, and ecosystems of student support, finally answer the call for an #education that REALLY empowers learners to bring much needed systemic #change? The answer will determine how relevant our educational institutions can be in a world on fire!

Let's protest, reimagine, and redesign!

https://fridaysforfuture.org/september15/

Videos from FOSSY released (Software Freedom Conservancy) https://lwn.net/Articles/944497/ #LWN

FAQ from Unity says that for WebGL content in the browser, it counts as an "install" for every "initialization of the runtime on a client device" — which would seem to mean every page load.

Nobody involved in writing this policy understands the product. It's wild that their attempts at clarification are actively making this worse.

https://forum.unity.com/threads/unity-plan-pricing-and-packaging-updates.1482750/

Our 'What is #FreeSoftware' video is now in Portuguese 🇵🇹 ! Thanks for making it happen! 👏

https://media.fsfe.org/w/1ERZG1KCiQaimLpjcJGh1f

And this weekend, @llas goes to Portugal! He will be in Aveiro participating at @FestaSoftwareLivre ! If you are around, give him a call!
#SoftwareFreedom

Hello #fediblockmeta, many people are discussing #thebadspace #blocklist after they blocked tech.lgbt, but few people went through all 355 pages to look at it the #badspace contents. I did that and want to share my findings.

I don't want attention or followers, but I want this post shared, so I am posting from an alt.

https://thegoodspace.neocities.org/

Cool and nuanced post by a friend about trying out the state of the art of AI generative tech for music

(contains obligatory ads for her company, that's how startup blogs work, but the article is worth a read)

https://blog.tonicaudio.com/ai-and-songwriting/

Since I’m new to JavaScript, I wrote:

𝚒𝚏 (𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔) { 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔(); }

…like an idiot. Then, I realized I should be adapting to JavaScript culture and make it inscrutable, so I re-wrote the line to:

𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 && 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔();

But I suspected there was something even more nightmarish, and sure enough, of course. This is how _real_ JavaScript developers do it:

𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔?.();

And by “real JavaScript developers,” I mean “monsters”.

Google’s widely opposed ad platform, the “Privacy Sandbox,” launches in Chrome

Chrome now directly tracks users, generates a "topic" list it shares with advertisers.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/09/googles-widely-opposed-ad-platform-the-privacy-sandbox-launches-in-chrome/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Mozilla: It’s Official: Cars Are the Worst Product Category We Have Ever Reviewed for Privacy https://lwn.net/Articles/943699/ #LWN

Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, ByteDance, Meta, Microsoft

These are the first 6 companies designated as ‘gatekeepers' under the Digital Markets Act.

They have 6 months to ensure their core platform services comply with our rules, including:

✔ Allowing users to unsubscribe and remove pre-installed services
✔ Allowing the download of alternative app stores

❌ Banning tracking outside of their services without consent
❌ Stopping ranking their products more favourably

➡ https://europa.eu/!NbfBbn

#DMA

Secret Panel HERE 🐸 http://tapas.io/episode/2943645

“Oh wow, your scam email was really impressively well done!” - “Thanks, I actually was just phishing for compliments”