@wall0159@aus.social avatar

wall0159

@wall0159@aus.social

Can we use our technology wisely, so that we can have human and planetary flourishing? If we keep chasing the old pattern of Competing for Resources and Acquiring Status then we will probably fail.

Parent (he/him), engineering PhD, data scientist, musician, scientist, nerd, ... advocate of #permaculture, #degrowth, #retrosuburbia, open source software #FOSS, cargo bikes, and #frugalHedonism. I live on Kaurna land, and watch in sadness and anger as we make a complete hash of it.

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jpm, to random
@jpm@aus.social avatar

A 600dB truck horn, for when you need to deafen God from across the universe https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006139224416.html

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@jpm dB is a logarithmic scale. Every 3dB is double the energy. A plane taking off is about 130dB, and there are about 170 energy doublings to get to 600 dB. I'm guessing the energy of a 600 dB horn would be like a super nova ;-)

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@jpm that's a good point - I didn't think of that!

Though I wonder what 200 doublings of moving a hydrogen atom would be..?

stfn, to random
@stfn@fosstodon.org avatar

I finally bought an 18650 charger, something I've been planning for a long time

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@stfn that's cool. What do you use the cells for?

brood, to random
@brood@zirk.us avatar

download everything. that service is going to die. be your own librarian.

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@hugoestr i still listen to 50c audio CDRs that i burned 20 years ago @hazelnot @brood

PaulWay, to random
@PaulWay@aus.social avatar

A friend at work tells me that Rio de Janeiro, where he lives, hit a new peak of 60.1 Celsius from Sunday to Monday.

At what point do I ask him whether he drives a petrol car, or cooks using fossil fuels?

Never? Because that's not polite or helpful?

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@PaulWay agree, but I'm unconvinced that the type of car makes at much difference as many people think

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@PaulWay, thanks for your considered response.

I agree in principle with everything you've said, though I would emphasise that the most significant thing we need to do is behavioural change, and that simply spending money doesn't cut it.
Electrification is a necessary but insufficient step -- we must combine electrification with a significant cut in consumption -- both of time-of-use-energy, and manufactured/embodied energy.

To manufacture a new petrol car releases about 10 tCO2, and to manufacture a new electric car releases about 15-20 tCO2. Some simple maths shows the problem if Australia replaces its car fleet (20 million cars).

Simply, we can't make 20 million cars (of any type) and remain within our carbon budget (though currently, due to accounting trickery, we pretend that emissions that occur in China are a Chinese problem, even though they are manufacturing the goods that we buy)

Because of this, we must, as a matter of priority, move away from the private car as a model of transport. This is the reason that my family's predominant transport is bicycle and public transport. This is doable for most Australians, but it takes some effort.

fifischwarz, to scifi Dutch
@fifischwarz@waag.social avatar

'Everybody needed a cup of tea sometimes.'

8/52 ★★★★☆

Delightful, wholesome, heart-warming.

@boeken
@bookstodon

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@fifischwarz @boeken @bookstodon I really loved this book - heard about it on Mastodon. Have just read the sequel, which is also great

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@fifischwarz @boeken @bookstodon I've read the first Wayfarer only and loved it too. Shed a few tears... I've reserved the second at the library ;-)

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@fifischwarz @boeken @bookstodon oh yeah, I know what you mean :-) it's great to discover a fabulous new author and have their whole back-catalogue ready to read - such promise!

wall0159, to random
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

Such an important and relevant article. Very worth a read. To quote 18th century thinker Edmund Burke:

"If you lay down a rule that because the people are absurd, their grievances are not to be addressed, then it is impossible that popular grievances should receive any address at all, because the people when they are injured will be violent; when they are violent, they will be absurd – and their absurdity will in general be proportioned to the greatness of their grievances, and then the worse their suffering, the further they will be from their remedy."

https://theconversation.com/modern-democracies-are-in-crisis-could-18th-century-political-theorist-edmund-burke-help-us-find-a-way-out-220341

mcc, to random
@mcc@mastodon.social avatar

The phrase "I want someone to invent the AK-47 of ebikes" keeps drifting through my head

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@whitequark @mcc I've just taken delivery of a bafang Mid drive. Looking forward to installing it on my cargo bike!

dan613, to climate
@dan613@ottawa.place avatar

We have all the tools needed to avoid the coming #ClimateCrisis. Don't let anyone tell you we can't or we shouldn't.

#ClimateAction

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@dan613

(I have supported strong action on climate change for over 20 years, and I still do, but..)

I think this is simply not correct. Taking action to "safeguard our future" requires considerably more than shifting 2% of our wealth.

We need to radically alter many fundamental aspects of how society works, including

  • energy
  • agriculture
  • transport
  • manufacturing

I think it's dangerous to understate the reality of what is required.

This claim reminds me of Nordhaus' dangerously-misguided remark that climate change will have a negligible effect because agriculture is only 3% of GDP

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@GreenFire, well given the global economy is averaging about 3% annual growth, reallocating 2% p.a. away from fossil energy implies 1% p.a. growth in fossil energy consumption. Do you think that's compatible with future human flourishing?

@dan613

Daojoan, to random
@Daojoan@mastodon.social avatar

When I was in my early 20’s, I hustled my ass off. I worked 2 jobs and a side hustle. I drank 8 cups of coffee a day and popped No Doz pills to work at night.

And then I burned the fuck out. And crashed hard.
And it wasn’t worth it.

There’s a lot of folks who will tell you: “grind to the point of exhaustion. Chase wealth and rest later. Make work your only religion.”

That advice is poison. It will leave you broken and hurt and tired and alone.

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@Daojoan the other thing I've realised over the years: this striving is considered a virtue, but at root it's nothing more than competition for resources

simon_brooke, to random
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

That's the wind turbine almost completely ready to go back up. There are two more washers I want to replace before it goes back up to the top of a tall mast exposed to driving wind and rain, and I'll need to order those. But it's mostly done.

The almost fully rebuilt turbine, with the cowling closed up. The three bladed air screw can be seen leaning against the wall behind it, and the nose cone is on the floor to the left of the picture. Behind the nose cone are salvaged parts from the generator which got destroyed, which will be kept as spares.

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@simon_brooke @withaveeay just note (for other people) that this turbine requires wind at 10 m/s (36km/h or ~26 mph) to generate 250W.

For this to be useful, you need to be in a windy location and elevate the turbine above all wind obstacles within about 100 m

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@simon_brooke
Scotland is certainly blessed with abundant wind resources! :-)

@withaveeay

simon_brooke, to Israel
@simon_brooke@mastodon.scot avatar

So let me see if I've got this right. There is an "International Rules-Based Order". The key institution which underpins this order is the . The ICJ has ruled that must take action to prevent in . The main agency succouring those at risk of genocide in Gaza is . In an apparently-coordinated demonstration of contempt for the ICJ ruling, a number of key nations have withdrawn financial support for UNWRA, citing unproven allegations against some staff. >>>

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@petealexharris i think Israel/Palestine, like Ukraine/Russia, is basically a proxy war

@HeavenlyPossum @simon_brooke

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@petealexharris @HeavenlyPossum @simon_brooke ,

this is more a thought-bubble then an assertion.

Having said that, I do wonder if there is some truth to it. "Proxy" is not all or nothing.

I can imagine the Russians thinking that Ukraine is a western proxy - especially with the talk of (eg) the US being happy for the war to help bring down the Russian regime, destroy their economy, etc. Arguably, Russia is also a proxy for Iran who are happy to use Russian blood to test western resolve, explore new methods of war, and deplete weapons reserves.

I guess Israel is, in many ways, a US proxy - that doesn't stop them trying, in turn, to influence/manipulate the US. Similarly, Hamas is, at least partly, probably an Iranian proxy.

I don't have inside geopolitical knowledge and am not an expert - this is just conjecture, but both wars do look a bit like the sort of conflicts that arise on the borders of failing empires.

PS. None of this justifies or excuses any of the horrors that have been committed. Israel, Hamas, and Russia have a lot to answer for. As usual, civilians suffer.

nathanlovestrees, to newmusic
@nathanlovestrees@disabled.social avatar

New Hiatus Kiayote, spectacular grooves as always:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3HkLJLoUHQbKwjn3krWvpg?si=bgFyE4WjQCuR5dZHlRKoSA

#NewMusic #HiatusKaiyote

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@nathanlovestrees my favourite band. Can't wait to hear their new song

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@nathanlovestrees that is an amazing song! have you heard Nai Palm's cover of Electric Ladyland?

inquiline, to random
@inquiline@union.place avatar

What is a "conspiracy theory" that you actually believe?

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@inquiline we live in an enlightened age during an era of progress

SallyStrange, to Economics
@SallyStrange@eldritch.cafe avatar

"Debunking degrowth" or trying to, anyway

"In the degrowth literature, a caricature of the typical economist is presented as believing in unlimited economic growth, and that growth should be pursued regardless of its environmental impact. This is a straw man. It would be a naïve economist who did not recognise that constraints exist. And economists usually limit their projections to a few decades to come, rather than to the infinite future, in which they supposedly believe in unlimited exponential economic growth. Certainly, there are theoretical economic growth models which portray the possibility of exponential growth into the infinite future, but economists have had enough common sense not to assume stylised theoretical models are the be-all-and-end-all when it comes to public policy."

Then why, Mr. Tunny, is it so hard to find an economist who can tell us when the economy should stop growing?

https://www.cis.org.au/publication/debunking-degrowth/

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@HeavenlyPossum was it Nordhaus who said that it didn't matter of agriculture failed because it's only about 3% of GDP?

@SallyStrange @pleaseclap @simon_brooke @violetmadder @mwt

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@_chris_real @yianiris @simon_brooke @SallyStrange
I second reading Graeber - an excellent thinker

danyork, to threads
@danyork@mastodon.social avatar

It's great to see that #Threads is getting serious about offering #ActivityPub integration so that communication can happen with #Mastodon and the broader #Fediverse.

We NEED open, interoperable protocols that for this kind of communication and interaction. It's a key way to unlock the walled gardens that control so much of messaging.

And it's great to see a company the size of Meta getting behind ActivityPub. Kudos to the teams involved.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/13/24000120/threads-meta-activitypub-test-mastodon

tip @Techmeme

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@danyork @Techmeme
Frankly, I think it's naive to think that Meta are approaching this with good intentions. Their goal is likely to envelop/consume the Fediverse

impactology, to random
@impactology@mastodon.social avatar

How do you define critical thinking

wall0159,
@wall0159@aus.social avatar

@impactology @paninid my partner suggested another component is to consider multiple perspectives, which I think might be a part

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