Notes
Ireland in Frame Fabulous street photography.
Flying on Mars Is Getting Harder and Harder - NASA Mars
Love reading about this.
The signals from Europe re the record fine of €225m for Whatsapp and the fine of up to €500m for Google by the French could, I think, be simply summed up in one sentence.
We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.
About time.
On the right track
Hit a milestone this week. From Dad in his 80’s to my daughter in her early 20’s, the family are all vaccinated.
Thanks to a Government who are doing their best in difficult circumstances, our Health Service and those at EU level involved in procuring vaccines.
It is a little disconcerting that while rapidly closing on 90% of the adult population fully vaccinated, we still have one of the highest COVID rates per 100k population in Europe.
Delta is different.
I’m optimistic though.
Lots of flags flying and good luck notices in East Cork this week ahead of the hurling final. Great to see.
RTE is is failing the Irish public
Here are two different headlines about the same piece of scientific research published in the journal Nature Climate Change. First from the Guardian. Climate Crisis: Scientists spot warning signs of Gulf Stream Collapse followed by the sub headline.
“A shutdown would have devastating global impacts and must not be allowed to happen, researchers say”
And here is the same story from RTE, the National State Broadcaster, the one the Irish public funds and expects to keep us informed. Atlantic currents weaken, signalling weather changes
And in the meantime, Southern Europe burns.
This level of reporting from RTE has to stop.
I recommend subscribing to this.
Twitter. Account Deactivated.
A few weeks ago, I had a conversation with someone around the theme of how much calmer life seemed to be before mobile phones and particularly social media apps. I’m old enough to remember A and B buttons in phone boxes on the street.
A few days ago the Twitter app let me know I was 14! years on Twitter and why not celebrate with a tweet. Unfortunately, in the last year, opening up Twitter more often than not made me angry, despite me putting a lot of effort into creating specific topic lists.
I have learned much from individuals on Twitter but I’ve come to the conclusion that the negatives now outweigh the positives and so Twitter now follows Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp to my personal app junkyard.
I’m not giving up on news and comment. RSS has worked fine for me for longer than 14 years. Netnewswire and Feedbin work really well together to bring me what I want to read, when I want to read it. Micro.blog is a calm place to post something big or small.
Sometimes, the tools based on the old ideas of how to do things are the best.
Why there is no solution to our age of crisis without China
This is really excellent.
Amazon Fined 746 Million Euros Following Our Collective Legal Action – La Quadrature du Net
Bravo, La Quadrature du Net.
Finished reading: A Whole Life by Robert Seethaler 📚 Loved it.
Vaccine rollout going well now in Ireland. 84% of adults with at least one dose. 69.2% of adults fully vaccinated.
How RTÉ News is covering climate change
The message has finally got through. There is so much more that they can do to inform and educate.
Audit Algorithms.
By law, companies should be required to have their algorithms audited, just as their financials have to be audited. It’s time to end the unfettered power of algorithms specifically designed for one purpose only (revenue growth) without any regard for the common good or for any harms the algorithm may cause.
