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The Social Dilemma
by JamesI watched The Social Dilemma on Netflix. Much of the information presented I already knew - big tech mines all of our personal data and manipulates us to increase screen time in whichever way they can.
The movie itself has a story in-between the interview clips that help demonstrate the effects that social media (and cellphones) enable within a family. In one scene the son's cellphone's screen's cracks and the mom says that she'll replace it if he can not use his phone for a week, since, as he says "it's no big deal".
The algorithms notice his usage has changed, i.e. stopped, analyze that similar people in his area haven't changed their usage and start a "reactivation" sequence, to suck him back in. To tempt him to open the app they find a recent event that will entice him back in and, like a drug addict, he's back.
It reminds me of the seemingly random push notifications I get from instagram when I haven't used the app in a few days. Nothing is random with social media, but it didn't occur to me that they were trying to "reactivate" me and just how slimy that is. There's no regard for the "user" - only their advertisers, which is their real user.
Most of all, watching The Social Dilemma makes me grateful for the indie web, communities like micro.blog, and apps like Sunlit that allow social media without algorithms without manipulation for advertisers, powered (more or less) by RSS and other open standards.
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by James
The more I think about it, the more I think Apple should knock FB/Instagram down a peg with a iWeb-powered micro.blog style blog-based social network.
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Checkin to ChΓ’teraisΓ© (γ·γ£γγ¬γΌγΌ ζΈε‘θΈε ΄εΊ)
Sweets for guests. And maybe me too. π
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by James
Easy 5km after work. Starting to cool down a bit in the evenings in Yokohama. So nice.π
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by James
Excited to read my new books from Stripe Press. Hard cover feels so nice. Typesetting an entire book in a sans-serifs less so. But either way ππ
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by James
Summer Mt. Fuji π»
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Blogging Makes the Internet Fun Again
by JamesHaving a blog again, especially one weekly post is changing how I interact with the internet. It's making it fun again.
Like most I had a blog in the early 2000's and it slowly faded from use with the rise of FB, Twitter, and other social media. But by limiting myself to those platforms, I also limited how I could share.
There is no "save draft" of a tweet. And you can only fit so much nuance in
140280 characters.Now, with a blog, when I find something that looks like I'd want to share or I might want to share, I simply append the link to the latest The Week post. Then, either throughout the week, or in the 15 minutes before posting, I expand upon that link, maybe even add some context. Sharing has become more about than just sharing some random link or video. I have the space to show how it relates to me and make it personal, rather than just a simple retweet that gets lost in the stream.
I didn't realize it, but I was missing that space. My own cubby on the internet. No longer being locked into a format, time, or design decided by someone I don't know gives me a place I can call home.
No algorithms. No ads. Just me.
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Checkin to Kanagawa Prefectural Police Drivers License Center (η₯ε₯ε·ηθ¦ε―ιθ»’ε 許γ»γ³γΏγΌ)
The DMV by any other name is still, the DMV. Already 50 people ahead of me.
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Checkin to Yayoidai Station (SO33) (εΌ₯ηε°ι§ )
Itβs so hot out already.
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The Week #9
by James- I started working on a new, lighter design for my site. Which you're probably looking at right now. It's heavily inspired by solar.lowtechmagazine at the moment, but I'm planning to tweak it more as time goes on.
- I made the short drive to Kamakura with the family to visit Patagonia. I used to visit Kamakura regularly, but with the surge of tourists and overtourism it's become so full of people that I try to time my visits to "off-season". With tourists not being allowed into the country it was so much quieter. It feels a lot like when I first visited Japan in 2006.
- While in Kamakura I took the opportunity to ride one of my favorite trains, the Enoden. Leo's getting old enough where we can ask questions of each other. My favorite exchange of the trip was when I asked him if he likes riding the train. His (translated) response: "I like riding the train. Mom, do you like riding the train, too?". It was cute to see him wanting to make sure that mom was also having a good time.
- I found this guy that collects photos from flea markets in Japan. Whenever I See pictures like these, I always wonder about the people in the photos.Who are they? What they did? How'd life treat them? Worth a visit.
