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Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

richardosgood.com

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Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#211

Post by pjc50 »

wongarsu wrote: post #193
rootlocus wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have abundant free flow of information today and yet I see a rise of tyranny. "This is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause." feels more grounded in reality.

Peak free information flow was in 2010. When "social" media had its big break through, and nobody had learned how to control it yet. That time gave us the occupy movement, the Arab spring, and lots of hacktivism for the social good (mostly under the Anonymous umbrella). Then the counter movement happened. And let's just say by 2016 social media was firmly under control and became a force against the people

Yeah. I was saying "twitter gives you a revolution whether you need one or not". It's not automatic that the revolution will be progressive. And in the case of the Arab Spring, a liberal revolution gave rise to elections which brought in a much less liberal government, which is why the whole thing collapsed in short order.

But social media is also uniquely good at developing "negative polarization". Some of the counter movement was organic simply because people hated the progressive wins they saw.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#212

Post by b112 »

srean wrote: post #203
antman wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have peak flow of propaganda and disinformation to a cartoonish level.

Unfortunately we do not have a solution for countering this kind of a 'denial of service' attack on information consumption. It is trivial to concoct believable lies as compared to the effort needed to debunk them in a way that is effective at social scale. Perhaps the only weapon is to teach how to think for oneself. Who is going to invest in that in a scale necessary? Those who have the resources to do that do not…

Indeed. And with AI and video generation, it's now (or within months) literally undetectable. The closer we get to US midterms, the more we'll see how bad it really can get this time around.

And the US elections in 2028? I can barely imagine.

And the massive problem is, most people I talk to still think what they see on youtube is real. But of course, people thought the TV show Survivor was real, too. It's not a new phenomenon.

But it is at crazy levels. I like your 'denial of service' designation, because even knowing the problem, maybe you can't find real info still.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#213

Post by 0ckpuppet »

rootlocus wrote: post #181
N_Lens wrote: post #34

“As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth’s final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to informatio…

We have abundant free flow of information today and yet I see a rise of tyranny. "This is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause." feels more grounded in reality.

queue Nina Janowicz at the piano

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#214

Post by [deleted] »

rickoooooo wrote: post #57
hungryhobbit wrote: post #2

Really cool project! I can't wait until it's formalized enough that I can just buy a $20 light bulb, update it wirelessly somehow, and then have my own little "light bulb library" server.

That's exactly what this project is. You can buy the same tasmota bulb I used and flash it over the wifi. No disassembly required.

[deleted]

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#215

Post by LudwigNagasena »

latexr wrote: post #201
LudwigNagasena wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What exactly is this "information wants to be free" discourse? The arguments for and against freedom of speech as a foundational social principle span at least 300 continuous years.

> What exactly is this "information wants to be free" discourse? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_wants_to_be_free > The arguments for and against freedom of speech It’s not about freedom of speech but about access to information.

The discussions about intellectual property rights are quite recent, but the idea that "lies are also information and can travel even better using the same flow" was well-explored over 300 years of discussions about freedom of speech (and not only discussions, but also jailings, executions, witch hunts, etc).

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#216

Post by prox »

wongarsu wrote: post #193
rootlocus wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have abundant free flow of information today and yet I see a rise of tyranny. "This is how democracy dies, with thunderous applause." feels more grounded in reality.

Peak free information flow was in 2010. When "social" media had its big break through, and nobody had learned how to control it yet. That time gave us the occupy movement, the Arab spring, and lots of hacktivism for the social good (mostly under the Anonymous umbrella). Then the counter movement happened. And let's just say by 2016 social media was firmly under control and became a force against the people

I believe we are in crisis. The distance between what is said and what is known to be true has become an abyss.

Of all the things at risk, the loss of an objective reality is perhaps the most dangerous. The death of truth is the ultimate victory of evil. When truth leaves us, when we let it slip away, when it is ripped from our hands, we become vulnerable to the appetite of whatever screams at us the loudest. (from S2 Andor)

The loss of objectivity is one of the greatest losses. People who are online to want their trench to “win” are advocates for loss. People who abuse their position to only proclaim their side is the best, the all-knowing, the superior, or whatever the flavor is of the day, are advocates for loss.

And as we have seen, we are losing a lot by losing objectivity.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#217

Post by latexr »

LudwigNagasena wrote: post #215
latexr wrote: post #201

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What exactly is this "information wants to be free" discourse? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_wants_to_be_free > The arguments for and against freedom of speech It’s not about freedom of speech but about access to information.

The discussions about intellectual property rights are quite recent, but the idea that "lies are also information and can travel even better using the same flow" was well-explored over 300 years of discussions about freedom of speech (and not only discussions, but also jailings, executions, witch hunts, etc).

I think it should be pretty obvious that dissemination of information and lies today—when you can’t even know if the person on the other side is real or from your own country—is much different than 300 years ago. The “information wants to be free” motivation is much closer to the world of today than the one in your distant past.

More importantly, I don’t understand why you’re so hung up on that. What difference does it make? If you agree with the conclusion, why are the dates of when the idea started so important? It doesn’t matter to the discussion, it’s only distracting from the point.

Re: Banned book library in a wi-fi smart light bulb

#220

Post by chadgpt3 »

pibaker wrote: post #177
Pxtl wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "information wants to be free" discourse of just under 30 years ago feels so charmingly naive now that we've seen how lies are also information and can travel even better using the same flow.

And who shall we appoint at the supreme arbitrator of what is lie and what is knowledge? Some of us remember when they assured us that the novel virus in china was not to be afraid of.

Some of us remember when they assured us ivermectin could cure it.
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