Back

@anildash Bring back ThinkUp!!

And, well, enjoy the well-deserved break?

@anildash I suppose https://mastrojs.github.io is too similar to Glitch for you?

@anildash Once you’ve rested and recharged, consider rising to the moment. Media literacy, facts, human rights, and democracy are all under attack and need the support of conscientious, human-centric technologists like you, @anildash . If that winds up being your path, HMU.

@anildash Your head's in the right place, but if I were still in tech, my priority would be: how is my work harming the Facebook/Google hegemony specifically, and the surveillance-industrial complex generally?

Framing it reactively might not sit well, but we are in a war and we are losing. A positive spin like "building community" risks being a platitude like "don't be evil".

The priority for anyone with ethics in tech must be to destroy advertising, AI and crypto. All else is wainscoting.

@jwz I don’t disagree. I’m not averse to antagonistic framing, I’m just generally trying to think affirmatively about what I’m moving *toward* first. That might reveal what I have to destroy if there’s something in my way.

@anildash @jwz - there’s plenty of need for “seize the means of production” solutions that actually enable folks without massive capital to operate without dependence on the oligopolies.

@anildash @jwz You are moving towards the general increase of the agency of those with the least. Your are destroying the power of those with the most power who do no otherwise increase the agency of those with the least.

I don't know exactly how to do this without increasing my own power but what I won't do myself is assume that I need more power to effect this.

@anildash You already alluded to it in your post. Rebuild a progressivism movement akin to the one that brought us out of the Gilded Age. A movement that's big enough that politicians want to appease it. One that supports unions and dismantles extractive monopolies. One that hires more Lina Khans. One that holds private equity to account. 1/

@anildash I've thought about reaching out before, so since you asked...can I pique your interest in helping with digital public spaces for local music?

We manage local music collections that are entirely run by public libraries, with their community of artists. Today it's a niche with two dozen libraries who've directly licenced a few thousand albums from local artists. The mission is to empower any library that wants to do this with affordable supported tools to do so.
https://musicat.co/libraries

@anildash Respectfully, you are a man of means that most of us lack. Use every last dollar at your disposal and your full media reach to fight this emerging fascist dictatorship, including going after your peers. Tech hasn't been focused on solving real problems in nearly a decade, and despite whatever good intentions may exist under the idea here, the reality is that trying to do some new tech thing will require you to partner with, lean on, or fund via people who are actively working to push this agenda along despite the chaos and pain it will inevitably cause, simply because there's gold in them there hills. We must all be better than them and meet this moment, or there won't *be* a next big thing.

@anildash Something for creators. With the AI boom, a lot of people are feeling anxious

@anildash The Gumroad dude has pissed lots of people off so that’s an opening for a similar service. Dribbble has also lot its luster these past few years.

Otherwise, just work towards something you always wish existed. I don't want to upload my gaming clips to YouTube so I'm building my own video platform.

I believe a creative renaissance is upon us and I'd much rather be working on my project than $DAYJOB. Anything creative needs creative people at the helm.

@anildash "As a creator and a person who loves media and culture, I see huge potential in writers and coders and artists and musicians and video makers seizing even more of the power of owning their own work, and connecting directly with their own communities.“

Yes, please. If you find a way to manifest this potential, I'd love to help.

@anildash you deserve all the time to rest and recharge (and dodge blue shells) that you can get.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I can help meet the moment out there. I’m not a community activist or political organizer. I’m just a decent coder who cares a lot about our information systems and our democracy. Find a way to bring together other like-minded devs and product people and media professionals to make things that help the people on the front lines. Democracy Scrums.

@anildash
I mean, get to the point where you're clocking a fast time with Bowser on Ghost Valley, obviously.
Then, some variation on roving reporter.

@anildash This might not be as service-ful as you're thinking, but after years, and some good interop tech, the adoption of Internet calendar standards for things is still pretty low - for example, I can subscribe to an MLB calendar for a favorite team, but I can't subscribe to a tour calendar for my favorite band. What's holding people back from adoption?

@anildash I think we need a “YC” accelerator, but for creating democratic institutions in pursuit of better governance, instead of profit. Instead of finding one good project, build a machine the creates good projects. 2^Anil!

@anildash let’s talk?

@anildash Finally time to mull this over today.

You have strong simultaneous skills in getting folks to listen to you AND being a gadfly when appropriate. I'd like to see your ability to positively brighten / illuminate/ expose applied to our blind spots.

Delicate work to keep ostensible allies with problematic actual behavior from turning away, but a huge area for potential impact.

I'd love for you to lean in on progressive projects and progress where folks who should be helping aren't.