#atlantic-ocean-currents — Public Fediverse posts

When I first dipped my toes into the then shallow pond of weblogging my first (and very temporary) blog was build on the Manilla blogging platform by Dave's company, UserLand Software. And soon after that I discovered RSS. I fell in love with both ideas. I can truly say that Dave Winer got me starting blogging. I am happy that I continued with the project and that many others have joined in (although many dropped out along the way).

So Dave was present at the creation of some cool stuff, but it was blogging that brought him to a wider public. “Some people were born to play country music,” he wrote at one stage. “I was born to blog. At the beginning of blogging I thought everyone would be a blogger. I was wrong. Most people don’t have the impulse to say what they think.” Dave was the exact opposite. He was (and remains) articulate and forthright. His formidable record as a tech innovator meant that he couldn’t be written off as a crank. The fact that he was financially secure meant that he didn’t have to suck up to anyone: he could speak his mind. And he did. So from the moment he launched Scripting News in October 1994 he was a distinctive presence on the web.

Like many of us, he realised that what came to be known as the blogosphere could be a modern realisation of Jürgen Habermas’s idea of “the public sphere” because it was open to all, everything was discussable and social rank didn’t determine who was allowed to speak. But what he – and we – underestimated was the speed and comprehensiveness that tech corporations such as Google and Facebook would enclose that public sphere with their own walled gardens in which “free speech” could be algorithmically curated while the speakers were intensively surveilled and their data mined for advertising purposes. - The blogosphere is in full bloom. The rest of the internet has wilted by John Naughton.

Scientists plan to reintroduce tauros, bred to resemble extinct aurochs, to the Scottish Highlands, restoring ancient landscapes near Loch Ness by 2026. Fascinating! — Giant tauros have been bred by scientists to resemble ancient extinct aurochs – now they're heading for Scotland

The jumbo squid population in the Gulf of California has plummeted, causing sperm whales to leave the area. Environmental changes, including warming seas, are likely responsible for these shifts, with potential ripple effects on the region’s marine ecosystem. — The jumbo squid population has crashed in the Gulf of California – and the consequences could be huge, say expert

John Gruber responds to a piece by Kevin Roose about iOS 18’s new contact-sharing controls, claiming they’re controversial. Apple now lets users select specific contacts to share, instead of their whole address book. Roose argues this hurts social app growth, but I agree with Gruber that this seems long overdue. Gruber thinks John Nick Heer’s response captures his thoughts perfectly. Mine too. — Consider the Plight of the VC-Backed Privacy Burglars

Earlier this week, Panic Software announced that Transmit will lose Google Drive support due to Google’s expensive and time-consuming security review process. Although this decision was tough and debated, they decided it was not worth the ongoing costs. Panic will instead focus on other features. They’re hopeful Google will revise its policies someday. — End of the Road for Google Drive in Transmit

I read about the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) potentially reaching a tipping point, which could trigger dramatic climate shifts by 2050. The AMOC moves heat across the Atlantic, influencing global weather patterns. If it weakens further, the northern hemisphere could cool, and global climate belts might shift, causing chaotic weather, flooding, and droughts. Scientists estimate a 42–76% chance of collapse in the next few decades. This concerns me deeply, particularly for the Eastern Caribbean islands where I grew up. We’re already vulnerable to hurricanes and sea-level rise—how much worse will it get if the AMOC destabilises? It’s unsettling to think that the fate of those island countries could depend on the urgent need to curb global warming created by wealthy Western Countries. — The Atlantic Ocean's currents are on the verge of collapse. This is what it means for the planet

https://islandinthenet.com/sunday-paper-dave-winer/

#AtlanticOceanCurrents #BBCScienceFocus #Blogging #DaveWiner #GiantTauros #GlobalWarming #IndieWeb