Notes
Investment firms buy estate of 112 new houses in Dublin to rent out
Finance and tax laws that enable this need to be revoked now. Unacceptable.
Adtech vs. iOS, explained - Open Rights Group Clear explanation from UK Open Rights Group.
Just finished: Red Dust by Ma Jian đ
DRI Facebook Action - Digital Rights Ireland Digital Rights Ireland, who have a good track record, are taking mass action against Facebook. All affected in EU invited to join.
DPC launches inquiry into Facebook in relation to a collated dataset of Facebook user personal data made available on the internet - 14/04/2021 - Data Protection Commission. DPC needs to be properly resourced. Nowhere near at the moment.
Robert Watt may seek to rein in Tony Holohan Thoughtful piece. I had never heard of James Deeney.
Changing the model
In his post Is content moderation a dead end Benedict Evans writes
Hence, I wonder how far the answers to our problems with social media are not more moderators, just as the answer to PC security was not virus scanners, but to change the model - to remove whole layers of mechanics that enable abuse. So, for example, Instagram doesnât have links, and Clubhouse doesnât have replies, quotes or screenshots. Email newsletters donât seem to have virality. Some people argue that the problem is ads, or algorithmic feeds (both of which ideas I disagree with pretty strongly - I wrote about newsfeeds here), but this gets at the same underlying point: instead of looking for bad stuff, perhaps we should change the paths that bad stuff can abuse.
Iâve been thinking about why micro.blog is such a civil place to just write or link to ideas or find new people to interact with. Itâs exactly because whole layers of mechanics that enable abuse simply do not exist.
Contrary to what Benedict believes, I do think part of the problem is ads (not all) and algorithmic feeds.
A big thank you to the micro.blog team.
Thomas Zurbuchen: Adventures in Astrophysics The Knowledge Project Ep. #108
In this episode, Thomas and Shane discuss the origin of his passion for astrophysics, commercial spaceflight, exciting experiments going on at the International Space Station, the challenges of space flight, how he makes decisions, whether humans will ever live on Mars, and more.
Listened to this earlier. Found it absolutely fascinating.
Unionism in a tailspin is bad for Unionism but itâs bad for everyone in Northern Ireland too⊠â Slugger O’Toole I lived in Belfast for a couple of years and it is utterly depressing that we now have a new generation of kids getting caught up in violence. This piece is an excellent analysis of where we are.
Clueless in California
The Facts on News Reports About Facebook Data
Utterly tone deaf. Private information about up to 1.5 million Irish Facebook users now searchable online. You might think it would be a good call for someone in Facebook to put a call through to the Data Protection Commissoner. Nope.
From the Irish DPC statement yesterday.
“The DPC attempted over the weekend to establish the full facts and is continuing to do so. It received no proactive communication from Facebook. Through a number of channels, it sought contact and answers from Facebook..”
Other Voices - RTĂ PlayerTake some time out and listen to these Other Voices.
Inside a viral website - Not Fun at Parties This is great. Laughed out loud at the end. Well played.
Your Work Peak Is Earlier Than You Think - The Atlantic This resonates with me. A good read.
SiĂșcra Roxanna Nic Liam - YouTube ana mhaith ar fad
The end of Silicon Valley as we know it
This is the best essay that I have read in a very long time. It begins with Silicon Valley, but is really a serious piece about addressing Climate change, the failings of Capitalism in its current form and how we might build towards a better future.
Itâs one of those rare pieces where you have to immediately stop and consider in a deeper way what youâve just read. I will be re-reading this several times, following all the links and reading what they point to as well.