Vijay Prema

Anyone know what/who is good to follow regarding #OpenSourceAI? (other than that hashtag)

Including news, models, and high-quality clients or other related high-quality/notable software news. And hopefully without noise, slop, hype, and drama etc.

#AI #opensource #models

Privacy isn't just about not being spied on.

Your mind is a private sovereign space. Having it invaded and manipulated by things you didn't ask for is an invasion of that privacy, and arguably much more serious than what people typically consider privacy-invasion.

Being able to completely control what goes into your mind through your eyes and ears should be the basic standard for any software you choose to use or any media you view.

#humanetech #privacy #distraction #digitalminimalism

Very cool little site with nifty DIY improvements for my new family ebike, Aventon Abound LR.

https://betterabound.familybikeride.org/

#ebike #cargobike #aventon

I kinda like that "we are not the same" meme, as it highlights the importance of the intention behind an action, rather than the action itself. This seems sorely lost in many peoples judgements of actions, including their own, and including both "good" and "bad" looking actions.

You can cherrypick any subset of actions for yourself or someone else and make blanket judgements. But intentions are often more consistent and revealing.

#intention #spiritual #meme

Finally, signs of a real crackdown on dark-patterns. Banning kids from social and chat does nothing but allow platforms to continue exploiting Adults with dark-patterns. Its the dark-patterns that are the problem and what should actually be banned.

https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-preliminarily-finds-tiktoks-addictive-design-breach-digital-services-act

#calmtech #darkpattern #socialmedia #tiktok

Is it just me or does most of the apps out there suddenly now have some kind of automatic "year in review" thing? I guess its because gen AI makes it easy. On the other hand there can be a certain sense of dread about it as it just reminds the user how much the company is spying on them.

#ai #yearinreview #apps #privacy

I was reminded again by a post, that the Fediverse appears to be losing active users in recent months.

What could this actually mean though?

Personally what first comes to my mind are positive things:

- Less noise doing the rounds.
- More people are turning away from distraction.
- This is natural for a network that lacks people/algos pulling strings in the background to keep up engagement - there will be ups and downs.

#calmtech #fediverse

So after adding quote-posts to Mastodon, it seems the "quote-post apocalypse" did not eventuate.

I like to think it's because the user-base of Mastodon contains a much higher density of "well intentioned" users and far fewer of influencers, bots, attention-seekers and monetization etc. And the reason there are few of those, is because the user has full choice to never see them.

Intentions matter and so does **user-quality**.

#intentions #quotepost #mastodon

Lately I've been tossing around this concept of "user-quality".

It's not something I have heard talked about much in tech.

The idea is that instead of trying to design and scale your app to the maximum number of users (usually the "marginal user"), design it around only attracting or grouping users based on "quality". What is quality? for me that is only interacting with users with good intentions, and/or good first-hand knowledge.

#quality #wisetech

So Collins dictionary awarded "vibe coding" the word of the year.

But what is more ridiculous is their actual dictionary definition of it:

> the use of artificial intelligence prompted by natural language to assist with the writing of computer code.

Yikes....

Personally I would define it as:

> the use of artificial intelligence prompted by natural language to write computer code, without any significant understanding nor review of the code

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/vibe-coding

#LLM #vibecoding #collins

After all the personal services I have self-hosted for many years, in the long-run what are my top 5 in terms of usefulness and daily usage?

1. Nextcloud
2. Miniflux
3. Linkding
4. Kimai
5. HomeAssistant

Thank you devs and community 🙏

#SelfHosting #OpenSource #Nextcloud #Miniflux #Linkding #Kimai #HomeAssistant

How the normally dreaded "Privacy Policy Update" should be done.

✅ Clear, simple, and dread-free notification email.

✅ Link directly to the applicable markdown file commit, easily allowing a diff between previous versions.

✅ Privacy gets better/clearer instead of worse/ass-covering.

#codeberg #ToC #privacy #transparency

A fairly dire collection of scientific snippets about the side effects from unchecked use of tech... probably only getting worse now with AI.

https://ledger.humanetech.com/

#Enshittification #tech #humanetech #socialmedia #BigTech

I had already liberated all my Kindle books months ago and was about to sell my old Kindle Oasis in light of Amazons recent decision to disallow downloading ebooks for reading in non-kindle software.

However, just in the nick of time I found a recently released jailbreak that works on the device. I then installed Koreader which offers a vastly better reader experience with easy access to alternative book platforms including my self-hosted server.

https://kindlemodding.org/jailbreaking/WinterBreak/

#winterbreak #kindle

#Graze browser extension for Mastodon has a huge new update after more than a year!

I found it really enhances the in-browser Mastodon experience, and provides seamless convenience for actions across different instances.

Some very nice new features, which can be configured to your liking. Find it in your browsers extension store.

https://graze.canny.io/changelog

While I believe in mindfulness and awareness a lot more than simplistic blanket bans (that can just be circumvented), the fact that Australia recently banned most major social networks for under 16s, should highlight just how toxic these apps are even for adults who care about their own wellness.

The ban includes Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, Instagram and X. Notably, Youtube is exempt even though I think its just as bad when accessed directly instead of an alternative client.

#wisetech

Wowsers... I barely use PayPal but I just wanted donate money to another open source project and this is the fee??!!??

Does that seem right?

Changing the currency conversion type makes no difference to the fee but I bet they are making a killing there too.

#junkfees #fees

Rode on a bus to my babys swimming lesson. Now chilling in an upmarket mall sitting on a velvety couch with my baby sharing a bowl of home made oatmeal, in front of a Louis Vuitton store and another one selling Debeers diamonds. Enjoying being very present, relaxed and content.

That saying "Being in the world but not of it" comes to mind.

#chill #consumerism #voluntarysimplicity

Quitting the "scrollables" is totally worth it.

I quit all the big centralized scroller apps. Yes finally even YouTube has been deleted from my phone and blocked/privacy-redirected on my laptop.

Now I use:
- Miniflux RSS feed
- Curated Mastodon feed
- Podverse podcasts
- Freetube + Grayjay for music and video search/follow
- Kavita ebooks

I could reduce to just RSS but the other clients are nice to use for their respective media type.

#digitalminimalism #wisetech #distractionfree #scrolling

Probably most people are an "Accelerationist" of some form. It just depends in what area you are lacking patience or fearful or overly excited about.

Is there something you want to accelerate?

Many people feel we are close to some catastrophe. I find that this kind of tension can be self-fulfilling when it proliferates.

Maybe its a matter of taking the foot off the accelerator of our own minds and seeing where our power truly lies..

#Accelerationism #voluntarysimplicity #mindfulness

@GreenerFutures

Haven't read the book but sounds like its advocating a moderately regulated form of capitalism?

The idea that unfettered market forces are the solution to everything is like saying the "race to the most unethical and profitable solutions" will always save us.

Also "clean technology" is currently always manufactured by fossil fuels.. because its cheaper to.

I find personal #degrowth and #voluntarysimplicity pleasant. I hope others find their love for it, regardless of system.

@shojiwax Personally the two biggest things that naturally led me to the Solutions without thinking about it, are: #minimalism and #spirituality. Maybe these are captured by #voluntarySimplicity which I had not heard of till now.

A big part of Spirituality (not to be confused with religion/dogma) is seeing that materialism is a fail, and developing inner-worth instead. Realizing that everything (i.e. environment, other living things/people) is interconnected. Naturally you reduce consumption.

My thoughts on "Peak Experiences" in the context of spirituality. What they are, pathways to have one, getting the most out of it, how to avoid the pitfalls and excessive "chasing".

https://vijayprema.com/the-role-of-peak-experiences-in-spiritual-practice/

#meditation #mindfulness #peakexperiences #luciddream #psychedelic #consciousness #spirituality #yoganidra

https://fortune.com/2023/05/14/tesla-lawsuit-software-updates-batteries/

This reminds me that nobody really owns a Tesla. The cars are all at the mercy of its manufacturer.

For example if "your" car ends up on the wrong side of an A/B test, you could lose. In some cases it could inflict permanent degeneration of the functionality.

I'm sure this extends to mobiles, potentially even laptops, running proprietary OS, especially if there are mandatory updates and permanent Internet connections.

#tesla #abtest