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review
TheLudicReader
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Pickpick

Can't say that I completely understood everything Lanier said, but I did get the main message: social media is ruining the world and we are its slaves. Not Litsy.

CoverToCoverGirl I have been shouting this for twenty years, so almost from the beginning. Litsy is an exception. I only have a Facebook account (7years) because it was needed for an account for my small business or Litsy would be it. I‘m very happy that schools are starting to ban them and Australia is setting age restrictions on many of these unfettered platforms. Just my thoughts and opinions. 5d
ShelleyBooksie Aww, snuggle kitty ♡♡ 5d
TheLudicReader @CoverToCoverGirl you are not wrong. I deleted FB in January and do not miss it at all. I still have Instagram, but I don't post much and mostly use it to see what my kids are up to or watch bookish content. I am so worried about young people today. I see their phone addiction and lack of critical thinking skills every day in the classroom. 5d
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dabbe I tried to get my district to order the tagged book in the hopes that it would be a text to assist students in those desperately-needed critical thinking skills. The two parents on the reading committee said “No.“ 😳 Therein lies a major problem in this country. 🤦🏼‍♀️
OTOH, I see us doing lots of what your picture shows when I'm there. I hope Lily will tolerate me! 💜
5d
nanuska_153 @dabbe those parents probably spend a lot of time checking their social media while they are with their kids and don't want to explain to them why they can use it while their kids can't. Honestly, I don't know what might damage the kids more, having social media or having parents that rather look at their phones than spend quality time with their kids 4d
dabbe @nanuska_153 🎯🩵🎯 4d
TheBookHippie I sent your birthday card with a letter today!!! Here‘s hoping it arrives in time and I added the postage correctly!!!! 🤣🫣🤦🏻‍♀️😝🎉👀 Should arrive faster than the holiday card!!! OY. 1d
DogMomIrene I really want to read this one. But I‘m not buying books right now. I hit “notify me” in the Libby app for my library, so hoping they get it soon. 22h
AmyG A little something is coming your way for your bday. I can only pray it gets there, let alone in time! 🤣😘 17h
48 likes9 comments
review
Billypar
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Pickpick

#tuesdaytunes @TieDyeDude
I always felt a little guilty for using Spotify given the little to no pay that artists receive. But Pelly's book details a long list of other problematic behavior. I never listen to the Spotify-made lists much, but they are a huge part of their business model. Artists get added to them based on less than transparent ways involving their record labels or sometimes from the artists themselves paying for the privilege 👇

Billypar Or some artists agree to make generic 'chill vibes' music for small amounts of money and without their identity linked, which supplants authentic ambient artists from playlists. And if all that's not bad enough, there's a whole phony music pseudoscience underlying all this that tries to identify the least offensive, most homogeneous music possible to promote while generating ever increasing fake subgenre labels to trick people into thinking 👇 1w
Billypar they've discovered some kind of new, niche musical scene that doesn't exist. The whole thing is demoralizing, and it sounds like Spotify's employees who may have joined out of a genuine love of music are becoming increasingly disillusioned with their tech-bro leadership. I may be too addicted to delete my account, but this definitely reminded me of how important it is for music fans to find other ways to support our favorite artists. 1w
CSeydel It‘s so frustrating because they really have a good service. I don‘t feel guilty about making playlists and listening to them — much of what I listen to on Spotify, I already own on CD or cassette (or both!), anyway — but I‘ve definitely started to be more cautious about Spotify-supplied playlists. And more intentional about buying concert tickets and merch rather than just streaming. 1w
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Billypar @CSeydel Yeah, concert tickets and merch are really the best ways. I also do like Bandcamp - I think the streaming payment is only marginally better, but it's great for discovering new indie artists and makes it easy to buy their songs, albums, and merch. 6d
CSeydel @Billypar Yes, everyone always recommends Bandcamp, and I made an account. I‘m sure it‘s better for discovering new artists, but most of the artists I usually listen to aren‘t on there - I thought it would be a replacement for Spotify, but it‘s very different. 6d
Billypar @CSeydel Oh yeah, it doesn't replace Spotify by a longshot for me either. But I'm very happy with the artists/albums I have found there. 6d
The_Book_Ninja I retired from the music industry. I have 2 albums on Spotify…I have no idea who put them there or where the royalties go but it‘s so minuscule I don‘t let it bother me. But if you‘re not going to listen to music in solidarity with musicians you shouldn‘t listen to any format (besides live) because I‘ve been ripped off by record labels, managements and distributors. It is what it is 3d
Billypar @The_Book_Ninja Yeah, definitely true. The author was wise not to portray streaming as across the board worse than other models, just bad in a different way than the traditional exploitative practices of record labels. 2d
The_Book_Ninja @Billypar 👍🏼yep…if they can find a way to shaft you, they will. 2d
Bookwomble @The_Book_Ninja Capitalism wears a t-shirt with that logo: If I can find a way to shaft you, I will 😉🫵🏼 👕 Looks good topped of with a MAGA cap 😏 2h
38 likes1 stack add10 comments
review
annamatopoetry
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Pickpick

Which will win, my distaste for history of science or my love for medieval shit? Medieval shit, it turns out. A concise little summary of how it's wrong to label the medieval era as stagnant, with lots of interesting bits about engineering, astronomy, clockwork, but more importantly their impact on society. That said, Gimpel is VERY based in the mid-1970s and draw some far fetched (we've seen) conclusions about the fate of the western world.

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annamatopoetry
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"... That christianity, by destroying classical animism, brought about a basic change in the attitude towards natural objects and opened the way for their rational and unabashed use for human ends..."

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REPollock
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Pickpick

I didn‘t expect this to read like a memoir (a genre I typically don‘t read) but I appreciate how the author interweaves her own history and story with the illuminating information about facial recognition and image processing AI technologies.

I‘m glad I have read other books about the different technologies grouped together in the description of “AI.”

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ImperfectCJ
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Pickpick

I'm not sure if this short book was compelling on its own or just along with my other reading/experiences, but it definitely struck a chord for me. A Silicon Valley insider, Lanier makes a distinction between social media that uses what he terms BUMMER algorithms to target and manipulate users and other, less insidious types of online interaction. I don't like his Solitary/Pack terminology, but aside from that, it's a very convincing read.

TheLudicReader I am currently reading Lanier‘s book, too. I am becoming increasingly distressed about social media…I dumped out of FB in January and don‘t miss it at all. Insta is probably next. 2w
ImperfectCJ @TheLudicReader His comparison to lead paint was really helpful to me, the idea that I'm not leaving social media forever, just until a better system is in place. And then I remind myself that I was keeping in touch with people fine before Facebook, and I just need to remember what that looked like. The fact that it's difficult to remember is a bit alarming to me, how thoroughly social media has changed how I relate to people. 2w
43 likes2 comments
quote
JLaurenceCohen
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"Project Shield was established to protect dissidents against repressive governments. Brian Krebs, however, needed protection from three teenagers."

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ImperfectCJ
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"What if listening to an inner voice or heeding a passion for ethics or beauty were to lead to more important work in the long term, even if it measured as less successful in the moment? What if deeply reaching a small number of people matters more than reaching everybody with nothing?"

As one whose passion for blogging diminished with the push to focus on SEO and who's feeling odd about using IG to promote voiceover work, this quote resonates.

ImperfectCJ And just for the record, Lanier is specific about what about some social media is insidious (he refers to it by the acronym BUMMER), and Litsy doesn't do it, so while I'm on the verge of quitting Meta, I don't plan on leaving here (unless the business model changes dramatically and in a bad direction or unless I find myself changing in ways I don't like because of how I use Litsy). 2w
32 likes1 comment
review
ManyWordsLater
Podcasting for Dummies | Tee Morris, Chuck Tomasi, Evo Terra
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Pickpick

Not book related. BUT I launched a podcast!

Take a listen! Review! Subscribe! Tell your friends!

It would mean a lot to me. ❤️❤️❤️🎧

www.Momsamongotherthings.com/podcast

#selfguidedwomenandgenderstudiescourse

review
shanaqui
Pickpick

This was interesting and clearly involved a lot of research, though I eventually found myself glazing over because it felt a bit repetitive. The problems with Spotify boil down to the same basics: remuneration of artists is poor, it's built to make money for the creators, it pivots at random to any metric where it can make the numbers go up, it's opaque...