Stratechery Pushes Back on AI Capital Dystopia Predictions
Stratechery’s Ben Thompson has published a lengthy rebuttal to Dwarkesh Patel and Philip Trammell’s widely discussed winter break essay “Capital in the 22nd Century,” arguing that even in a world where AI can perform all human jobs, people will still prefer human-created content and human connection.

Patel and Trammell’s thesis draws on Thomas Piketty’s wor … ⌘ Read more

@eldersnake@we.loveprivacy.club

Steps to world domination:

1. “Invent” “AI” (by using other people’s data).
   
2. Get people hyped about it and ideally hooked on it.
   
3. Only provide it as a cloud service. But hey, if you want to, you can run it locally!
   
4. Buy all hardware available on the market, so that nobody but you can build more systems.
   
5. All PCs of consumers and competitors are too weak now and can’t be upgraded anymore.
   
6. Everybody depends on your cloud service! Win!
   

All of that is possible because corporations don’t have a “conscience” in capitalism. Nobody forces the RAM manufacturers to sell all their stuff to just one or two buyers, but since the only goal of that manufacturer is to make money, they do it.

VC Sees AI-generated Video Gutting the Creator Economy
AI-generated video tools like OpenAI’s Sora will make individual content creators “far, far, far less valuable” as social media platforms shift toward algorithmically generated content tailored to each viewer, according to Michael Mignano, a partner at venture capital firm Lightspeed and who cofounded the podcasting platform Anchor before Spotify acquired it.

Speaki … ⌘ Read more

@movq@www.uninformativ.de How about “Quongsi”? I generated the first five letters with pwgen --no-capitalize --no-numerals 5 and since that already showed up in DDG search results, I simply appended the last two, which yielded nothing on DDG and Google).

What kind of project is it? Maybe we can help you find a name or nudge you in the right direction.

China Launches $21 Billion Venture Capital Funds To Invest in ‘Hard Technology’
An anonymous reader shares a report: China on Friday launched three venture capital funds to invest in “hard technology” areas, state broadcaster CCTV reported. The capital contribution plans for the funds have been finalised, each with more than 50 billion yuan ($7.14 billion), according to the report. The funds will primar … ⌘ Read more

PayPal Applies To Become a Bank As US Loosens Regulatory Reins
PayPal has applied to become a US bank by forming a Utah-chartered industrial loan company, signaling a push to deepen its financial services “as companies rush to capitalize on a friendly regulatory environment under the Trump administration,” reports Reuters. From the report: If approved, the move will help PayPal to strengthen its lending offering … ⌘ Read more

At least 22 killed as fire rips through office block in Jakarta
The fire broke out on the first floor of an office building in Indonesia’s capital around midday on Tuesday, with at least 100 firefighters deployed to contain the blaze. ⌘ Read more

DJ Tim Westwood pleads not guilty to rape and assault
The former BBC Radio 1 and Capital Xtra presenter denies 15 charges at a court hearing in London. ⌘ Read more

‘Essential for water safety’: Fears Canberra won’t have enough pools
As temperatures soar, advocates of public pools in Canberra say they want to see greater support and investment for facilities in the national capital. ⌘ Read more

Outback opal miners allowed to operate in new national park
The Queensland government’s purchase of Vergemont Station last year led to months of uncertainty for miners with tenures inside the former cattle station, which is larger than the Australian Capital Territory. ⌘ Read more

Israel wants new buffer zone between Syrian areas it occupies and Damascus
Benjamin Netanyahu is demanding Syria establish a “demilitarised zone” between the border with the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights and capital Damascus, as part of any possible peace deal with the new Syrian government. ⌘ Read more

Thai PM admits flood failures after trapped victims wait days for help
Thailand’s Health Ministry estimates that more than 160 people were killed in the disaster across nine provinces, but at least 110 of those died in Songkhla, where Hat Yai is the capital. ⌘ Read more

Perth braces for scorching start to summer as new beach bus launched
WA capital is bracing for a 38C start to December, as the state government launches a free bus service to one of the city’s most popular beaches. ⌘ Read more

Mexico Unveils Plans To Build Most Powerful Supercomputer In Latin America
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the Associated Press: Mexico unveiled plans Wednesday to build what it claims will be Latin America’s most powerful supercomputer – a project the government says will help the country capitalize on the rapidly evolving uses of artificial intelligence and exponentially expand the co … ⌘ Read more

Jakarta Moves Ahead of Tokyo As World’s Most Populated City
schwit1 writes: Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta, tops a ranking that is increasingly dominated by Asia: the world’s most populated city. It edged out Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, and Japan’s Tokyo to earn the title in a new United Nations report. [PDF]

With an estimated population of nearly 42 million residents, Jakarta soared from 33rd place in the previou … ⌘ Read more

Iran’s Capital Is Moving. The Reason Is an Ecological Catastrophe
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Scientific American: Amid a deepening ecological crisis and acute water shortage, Tehran can no longer remain the capital of Iran, the country’s president has said. The situation in Tehran is the result of “a perfect storm of climate change and corruption,” says Michael Rubin, a political analyst at the Am … ⌘ Read more

US Employee Well-Being Hit New Low In 2024, Survey Reveals
alternative_right shares a report from Phys.org: New research from the Human Capital Development Lab at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School analyzes the state of the American workforce in 2024 and shows an overall decline in employee well-being compared to years prior. […] The latest research confirms a decline in general employee well-being since 20 … ⌘ Read more

‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ is Expanding Fast, and That Should Worry Everyone
An anonymous reader shares a report: When Nigel Morris tells you he’s worried about the economy, you listen. As industry observers know, Morris co-founded Capital One and pioneered lending to subprime borrowers, building an empire on understanding exactly how much financial stress the average American can handle. Now, as an early investor … ⌘ Read more

Is Video Watching Bad for Kids? The Effect of Video Watching on Children’s Skills
Abstract of a paper on NBER: This paper documents video consumption among school-aged children in the U.S. and explores its impact on human capital development. Video watching is common across all segments of society, yet surprisingly little is known about its developmental consequences. With a bunching identificat … ⌘ Read more

Deadly Blasts in India and Pakistan Set Region on Edge
The rare explosions in the country’s capitals have not been directly linked, but there are fears the governments will blame each other after their previous military conflict alarmed the world. ⌘ Read more

Why the ultra rich are abandoning New York, as the city loses its finance-capital status
High local taxes, housing costs and a drop in finance-industry jobs mean New York City is losing its allure. ⌘ Read more

The Great Decoupling of Labor and Capital
Comments ⌘ Read more

Delhi’s cloud seeding effort fails to ease smog, raises questions on effectiveness
India’s efforts to combat air pollution by using cloud seeding in its sprawling capital New Delhi appear to have fallen flat, with scientists and activists questioning the effectiveness of the move. ⌘ Read more

RSF forces in Sudan’s civil war are preparing for mass genocide
Comments ⌘ Read more

Explosions shake Moscow streets as drones spread chaos across Russia’s capital ⌘ Read more

@arne@uplegger.eu Reicht, wenn die Kinder lernen, wie Arbeit und Disziplin geht. https://movq.de/v/e92f4b59ec/capitalism.mp4

Top nature group to unveil new ‘red list’ of threatened species
The world’s top conservation body is holding its world congress starting Thursday in the Emirati capital Abu Dhabi and will unveil its updated “red list” of threatened species. ⌘ Read more

Every third school in Vilnius lies in a high air pollution zone, Lithuanian study reveals
A study carried out by researchers at the Center for Physical Sciences and Technology (FTMC) revealed that 37% of primary and secondary schools in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, are exposed to harmful air pollutants due to their proximity to major high-traffic roads. ⌘ Read more

@movq@www.uninformativ.de I’m glad it make sense for you 😅 I will never understand it. All I know is that I’m a conservative socialist and there’s a lot of “stupid shit”™ happening in the world (including my own country). I still blame extreme Capitalism.

@prologic@twtxt.net I’m not smart enough to answer that question. 😅 Certainly feels like unregulated capitalism. Governments being too slow and/or unwilling to intervene … It’s a mess.

@movq@www.uninformativ.de Yeah I’m worried about this too. What’s the systemic problem at paay here? Capitalism at it’s extreme? 🤔

Aditya Birla Capital Threat Intelligence Report: A 360° View of External Digital Risks ⌘ Read more

Anti-Musk sentiment runs high in Adelaide, capital of South Australia, as 95% of submissions to a local council oppose a proposed land sale to Tesla ⌘ Read more

Russia launches major aerial attack on Ukraine capital ⌘ Read more

Streamlining application deployment on Kubernetes at RBC Capital Markets: A journey with FluxCD
As we learned from the first blog in our series, RBC has taken a holistic approach on our cloud journey, as it enables technologies across our enterprise. In today’s post, we’re going to share how Capital Markets… ⌘ Read more

03:45 You can pretty blame capitalism for everything that’s wrong with anything 🤣

Grab the iPhone 16e Default Wallpaper
Perhaps you recently saw that Apple had released the iPhone 16e and drooled with envy at the iPhone 16e default wallpaper, which sort of looks like a drop of Liquid Metal (why did macOS Sequoia autocorrect capitalize “Liquid Metal”? Who knows, but it did it again, so let’s go with it) or maybe a water … Read More ⌘ Read more

The generative AI con
Everywhere you look, the media is telling you that OpenAI and their ilk are the future, that they’re building “advanced artificial intelligence” that can take “human-like actions,” but when you look at any of this shit for more than two seconds it’s abundantly clear that it absolutely isn’t and absolutely can’t. Despite the hype, the marketing, the tens of thousands of media articles, the trillions of dollars in market capitalization, none of this feels real, or at least real enough to s … ⌘ Read more

Royal Bank of Canada’s Cloud Evolution
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) is a global financial services institution and Canada’s largest bank (based on market capitalization). Technology is vital for RBC to deliver cutting-edge services to our clients and advance our businesses, ultimately… ⌘ Read more

** Not what I was expecting **
A while ago I was talking with someone about books. I mentioned that I like to read capital R romance novels, and like 19th century literary realism.

This person excitedly recommended Victor LaValle’s The Changeling. Knowing nothing about it, and because I pretty much say“yes” to any book recommendation I get from a real live person that I can find at the library, I’ve been reading it.

My dude. What the fuck!? This is just horror. 🥲😨 ⌘ Read more

Mozilla Hosts “Feminist, Decolonial, LGBTQIA+, Climate Justice using Al” Event
After laying off 30% of their staff, Mozilla Foundation flies to a Zambian resort to promote Marxism & anti-Capitalism. ⌘ Read more

Taiwan is famous for bubble tea but is now brewing its way to coffee fame
From premium pour-overs crafted with sought-after Taiwanese beans to affordable lattes brewed late into the night, Taiwan has become a true powerhouse for specialty coffee enthusiasts. ⌘ Read more

Dilli Hai Dilwalon Ki
(Translation: “Delhi is for the warm-hearted”) A Delhi guide by Kunal Kushwaha, Field CTO at Civo The capital city of India, Delhi, has roots that trace back thousands of years. Known as Indraprastha in ancient texts dating as… ⌘ Read more

Tasmania firms as the capital of Pinot Wine in Australia
Tasmania wins the National Pinot Challenge again ⌘ Read more

Think $5.50 is too much for a flat white? Actually it’s too cheap, and our world-famous cafes are paying the price
Our recent survey of Australian capital cities found the average price of a small takeaway flat white at speciality venues is $4.78. But in some international capitals, it’s almost double this, even after adjusting for local purchasing power parity. ⌘ Read more

Erlang Solutions: Blockchain Tech Deep Dive | 6 Principles
Blockchain technology is transforming nearly every industry, whether banking,  government, fashion or logistics. The benefits of using blockchain are substantial. Businesses can lower transaction costs, free up capital, speed up processes, and enhance security and trust.

We’re mapping out the six key principles for blockchain integration success, so businesses can navigate the challenges and opportunities this disruptive tec … ⌘ Read more

@adi@twtxt.net @prologic@twtxt.net It’s worth bearing in mind that

• Fairphone has taken a considerable amount of VC funding so, sooner or later, that bill will become due: (see: https://techcrunch.com/2023/01/31/fairphone-growth-capital-raise and https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/fairphone)
  
• Fairphone comes with Google Play apps by default, so it’s also a spyware vector (see: https://mastodon.ar.al/@aral/110978014080809471)
  

I used to have a lot of hope for them but these two ingredients mean that enshittification is virtually inevitable.

Also, regular reminder - fuck capitalism and may the wealth horders get what they deserve

How to brew the perfect cup of tea
While Melbourne might be considered the coffee capital of the world, there’s still a lot of debate about how to make the perfect cup of tea. ⌘ Read more

Mango-picking robot snaps up $1 million in venture capital
A robot designed to pick mangoes and hopefully ease worker shortage issues, expected to ”create ripples through the supply chain”, has landed $1 million in venture capital. ⌘ Read more